News Archive for 05/08/22

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Podcasting on phones

08/22, 4:05pm

Podcasting now available on mobile phones

Pod2Mob today announced the launch of its podcast streaming service, which allows podcasts to be played on mobile handsets. The software, which Pod2Mob claims is the first to market, could increase the podcasting audience from roughly 25 million to an estimated 700 million listeners. Looking forward, sales of mobile phones are predicted to reach one billion annually by 2009, according to Gartner Research. The software provides an open directory where podcast feeds can be added, which the system automatically tracks and updates. Any podcast can be streamed to the phone, and the software enables a favorites feature for easy storage and retrieval of desired podcasts.

iPod battery upgrade ships

08/22, 2:20pm

Fastmac ships 'longest lasting' iPod battery upgrade

Fastmac today announced that it has begun shipping "the longest lasting battery upgrade" for Apple’s 4th generation iPod with Click-wheel: "All customers that placed pre-orders through the company’s website will receive their shipments in the next few days, along with their free gift with purchase." Fastmac has also extended the free charger with iPod battery offer until midnight, August 31st, 2005. Orders placed via the company web site will receive their choice of a free travel charger or cigarette lighter adapter. Fastmac's TruePower battery upgrades replace the iPod's original internal battery with a larger capacity and longer lasting advanced power cell battery. The upgrades offer 20%-70% more capacity than the original OEM battery and up to 7.5 times as many charge cycles, according to the company.

Apple holiday competition

08/22, 2:00pm

Apple's competition heats up for the holidays

Apple's competitors Samsung, Sony, MSN, Creative Labs and others will turn up the heat this holiday season hoping to seize some of the market that has been dominated by Apple since the birth of the iPod revolution. Apple currently commands 80-percent of the MP3 player market and 75-percent of online music sales and with the debut of podcasting generated two million subscriptions in less than a week. Senior research analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, however, commented that "it's pretty much impossible" for anyone to sustain an 80-percent market share in a consumer electronics business for more than two or three years. Record executives are eagerly awaiting the increased competition, because a less dominant Apple spells a more robust market for digital music, according to Reuters.

Belkin TuneSync

08/22, 11:00am

Belkin announces TuneSync for iPod, iPod mini

Belkin today announced TuneSync, its new iPod dock with built-in USB 2.0 hub and stereo-out jack. Featuring five USB 2.0 ports with LED indicators, TuneSync charges and syncs iPods and iPod minis while providing port and power status. Over-current detection and safety technology is included to help protect connected devices. Designed to work seamlessly with both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices, the TuneSync lets you connect up to five USB 2.0 devices, such as your printer, scanner, hard drive, digital camera, thumb drive, media readers, and more. It also includes LEDs to monitor device activity for master power status and all port activity. TuneSync will begin shipping in North America in November for $60.

Yahoo Japan vs. iTunes

08/22, 7:30am

Yahoo Japan counters iTunes, offers free song preview

Yahoo Japan has launched a new online music service that allows customers to listen for free to any of 100,000 songs before buying them as the company tries to counter Apple's iTunes Music Store, according to The Associated Press. The aggressive marketing move by the nearly 5-year old Yahoo Japan service comes a few weeks after Apple's launched iTunes for Japan. "Other Internet music services in Japan offer only 30 seconds from free sampling, making Yahoo's the first to offer free listening to full-length songs.... The free songs will have sound quality comparable to that of FM radio, but listeners will be able to pay to download and save higher quality recordings. While users won't be able to choose the free songs or save them on computers, Yahoo thinks the offering will help generate increased advertising revenue and traffic at its sites." Yahoo will reportedly allow companies such as Toyota and Asahi to advertise on video commercials before the free songs, according to the report.