News Archive for 06/05/11

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JBL launches Radial Black speaker dock

05/11, 6:00pm

JBL launches Radial Black

JBL has launched its JBL Radial Black, a speaker dock for iPod that delivers high- and mid-frequency sound with distortion-free bass. The Radial Black dock can send iPod photos and video to a TV monitor through a Video Out port, and is compatible with most docking iPods via a Universal Dock. A stereo mini jack allows users to connect a variety of other audio devices, such as the iPod shuffle or satellite radio. The wireless RF remote control operates the unit from up to 20 feet, and offers full access to the iPod to change tracks, browse libraries, adjust settings, and scroll through extras. The JBL Radial measures 12 x 10.5-inches, is priced at $300, and ships with a Harman Multimedia warranty.

49% of MP3 player owners have an iPod

05/11, 2:20pm

MP3 player owners, iPod

A new survey shows that 49 percent of MP3 player owners own an iPod, offering yet another reminder of Apple's dominance in the portable music player market. The world-wide market for flash- and hard drive-based players is expected to soar from 140 million units in 2005 to 286 million by 2010, according to a report from DMasia.com. Falling price points, legitimate subscription and pay-per-download online music sites -- such as Apple's iTunes Music Store -- are drivers for the market, as well as increasing flash memory capacities and greater functionality. Sales of low-end, flash-based players were particularly strong in 2005, especially in Asian markets where some players sell for as little as $25, according to the report.

French Senate amends iTunes DRM bill

05/11, 10:40am

France amends DRM bill

Apple can breathe a bit easier, but will still have to renegotiate contracts with music labels and copyright holders if it wishes use its propietary iTunes music protections in France. The French Senate yesterday approved a new softened version of its copyright bill that would force companies to open-up their digital rights management (DRM) technology to their competitors to allow interoperability between different digital music services and music players, such as the iPod. Apple's "closed" ecosystem currently only allows tracks purchased on iTunes to played on the iPod. The newly added amendment would allow companies to keep their own DRM technologies and protections if they have the the approval of the copyright holders themselves.

Real CEO says iPod users steal music

05/11, 9:10am

iPod users steal music?

Real Networks' CEO Rob Glaser says iPod users are stealing music. In an interview with The Guardian, Glaser said that while users purchase some music from iTunes, most of their collections are illegally obtained. "If you want interoperable music today, there is a very easy solution: it's called stealing. The average number of songs sold for the iPod is 25, and there are many more songs on iPods than 25. About half the music on iPods is music obtained illegitimately either from an illegal peer-to-peer networks or from ripping friends' CDs, which is illegal." Glaser noted that Apple's closed iTunes/iPod ecosystem pushes users to piracy to obtian non-copy protected, portable, interoperable music, but admits that Apple has been able to use iTunes to help drive sales of its iPod, where it makes most of its money, while other services struggle to make on money on music.