Melodeo Looks to Stream iTunes Music
While Apple bills the iPhone as one of the only ways to get iTunes on your mobile phone, mobile multimedia company Melodeo is working on a way to change that. The company said Tuesday it will offer a service that allows users to use information stored in their iTunes playlists and then play songs on their phones. Since it is a streaming service, it will likely cost much less then downloading actual copies.
Melodeo has not decided on final prices for the offering, which is currently in beta. It is carefully considering the current copyright laws surrounding digital music to ensure any service would not run into legal troubles later. A final version of the service is expected within the next three months, possibly with the backing of a major wireless carrier, it told Reuters.
New RealPlayer Downloads Video Clips
Ostensibly acknowledging that focusing on its own audio and video formats has become a losing proposition with the near-ubiquity of Flash video, RealNetworks is preparing a new version of its oft-maligned RealPlayer software that supports Windows Media, Apple's QuickTime and even Adobe's Flash.
Rather than continuing to focus on building software for media already on the desktop, Real is taking a unique approach by letting users download videos off the Web. Although independent developers have created tools for downloading Flash videos from sites like YouTube, such capability is not currently supported by the major industry players. Users will be able to burn the clips to CD or DVD, and share the links with friends directly through RealPlayer. A free version of the new software is expected next month.
Microsoft: No Plans for Zune Outside US
Correcting a translation error that sparked a number of reports stating Microsoft planned to release its Zune portable music player in Europe, but not until 2008, the company now says it has no set timeframe. The confusion came in a response Steve Ballmer made to a German magazine.
In the proper translation, Ballmer said that "we decided not to enter new markets so far" and will not do so until "after we have reached some of the goals outlined. When this will be the case, I cannot tell you today." Zune product manager Cesar Menendez further clarified the situation, stating, "We will not expand the device family or our geographical footprint until we are positive that we can provide the best experience from the start."
Apple iPhone to Go on Sale June 29
Apple confirmed the launch date of its highly-anticipated foray into the mobile handset market in a Sunday night television ad: the iPhone is coming Friday, June 29. That doesn't mean the device will be easy to obtain, however, as Cingular customers are expected to line up in droves for the $599 USD phone.
While Apple has yet to prove itself in the mobile space and the iPhone lacks now-key smartphone features like a QWERTY keyboard and 3G capability, the company has built an innovative touch screen user interface that has iPod and Mac fans clamoring to be early adopters. Cingular has a multi-year exclusive deal with Apple, which means customers from other wireless carriers are out of luck for the time being.
Yahoo Raises Prices of Music Service
Yahoo is raising the cost of its online subscription music service between $1 and $3 per month, depending on the customer's plan. Initially launched in 2005 at a price of $4.99 per month, Yahoo Music Unlimited will now cost $11.99 per month when purchased annually.
Without a year commitment, the service runs $14.99 per month. The last price hike was made in November 2005, when Yahoo raised the cost by $5 to $9.99 per month. At the time, Yahoo kept a version of Yahoo Music Unlimited without the ability to transfer songs to portable devices at $6.99 per month. That subscription will now cost $8.99, although only $5.99 per month if purchased annually. Still, Yahoo claims it continues to offer the lowest price of any such music service.
ChoicePoint Settles With 44 US States
ChoicePoint said Friday that it had settled with 44 states over its loss of data on 145,000 consumers. The company is also to pay about $500,000 in fines. As part of the agreement, ChoicePoint will put in place better security to protect consumer data. The company is said to have data on just about every American consumer, and the states had argued that lax security allowed criminals to break into the company's systems.
In February of last year, the company disclosed data had been compromised in what was then called the largest case of identity theft in history. The incident spurred a federal investigation that resulted with ChoicePoint settling with the Federal Trade Commission in January 2006, and paying $15 million USD in fines.
Nokia Debuts New Middle, High End Phones
Nokia showed off three new phone models it will introduce over the next four months, including a candy bar and slide model, as well as a new phone that incorporates smoked glass into its design. The Nokia 6500 Classic is the company's thinnest phone yet at 9.5 millimeters, and is quad band and 3G capable, while a thicker slider version of the phone includes a 3.2 megapixel camera. The Classic will retail for $430 and the Slide $495, before carrier subsidies.
Also introduced was the Nokia 8600 Luna, the company's first phone to incorporate glass into the design. The phone is a slider model and incorporates stainless steel and smoked glass with features such as 3G support and a 2-megapixel camera. The Luna will retail for $940 before any subsidies, also making it one of Nokia's most expensive phones.
EMI, YouTube Sign Distribution Deal
Google said Thursday that it had signed a deal with EMI that allows users of its YouTube social video site to view videos and content from the label's artists, as well as use portions of the video in their own content. With the signing of the agreement with EMI, the site now holds agreements on content with all four major worldwide labels.
"We're excited to add EMI Music's stellar roster of artists' content to our site and make it available to our community," YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley said in a statement. The deal further insulates YouTube from lawsuits brought by content providers over the use of copyrighted content on its site. Recently, it has been sued by Viacom, which is looking for $1 billion in damages.
Magellan, TomTom Sued Over Mapping Patents
Britannica, the producers of the popular Encyclopedia Britannica reference texts, disclosed Thursday it had sued three companies over the infringement of patents owned regarding computerized mapping. Filed May 21 in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, it names TomTom, Magellan Navigation, and American TV & Application as defendants in the case.
The company is asking for injunctive relief and damages. None of the companies involved had comment on the matter, although TomTom said that it had no knowledge of the suit and was looking into Britannica's claims and suit against it.
AT&T Debuts Smaller, Lighter BlackBerry
Research In Motion said Wednesday that it had launched its smallest and lightest BlackBerry yet through US carrier AT&T, which begins carrying the device on Thursday. The BlackBerry Curve features a full QWERTY keyboard and will be usable on AT&T's EDGE network. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, microSD slot, and trackball navigation.
AT&T customers will also be able to use the carrier's Push to Talk functionality through the device, as well as access the company's music and navigation services. The Curve will be available for $199.99 after mail-in rebates and a two-year contract term. Data plans start at $29.99 per month, AT&T said.
Vista Edition of Halo 2 Delayed Due to Nudity
Hoping to avoid a "Hot Coffee" type incident, Microsoft said Friday that it is delaying the Vista release of Halo 2 to the first week of June, approximately two weeks behind schedule. At issue is the discovery of partial nudity in one of the scenes within the game, the company says. The issue is not easily found during game play, and has since been fixed.
The rating on the game will not change as the first run of discs are the only ones to include the content. A warning label will be placed on those discs, and a patch made available to remove the offending content. Subsequent shipments would have the patch pre-applied at the factory.
Apple Patches 13 Security Flaws
Apple released its fifth security update of 2007 on Friday, correcting 13 bugs in both client and server versions of its Mac OS X operating system. The most serious security hole could lead to arbitrary code execution or a denial of service attack, although most require local access to the Mac.
Many of the flaws patched by Apple are located in UNIX applications that ship with its operating systems. BIND, crontab, fetchmail, file, PPP, ruby, screen and texinfo have all been updated. Apple's own iChat application has also been patched to correct a buffer overflow that could be exploited by an attacker on a local network. More information is available on Apple's Web site.
NEC Employees Implicated In Fake Order Scam
Ten employees have been caught faking orders in order to receive kickbacks, Japanese electronics maker NEC disclosed on Tuesday. In total, the ten made over $4.1 million on $18 million in forged orders, however NEC said that it would not affect earnings. Criminal proceedings will likely be pursued against those involved. "It is extremely regrettable that these illegal trades have occurred and we deeply apologize to all the people that have been affected," NEC said in a statement.
This news comes as the latest in a string of bad news for investors. In 2006, NEC restated its earnings three times, due to inflated sales figures. It has also missed deadlines with the Securities and Exchange Commission to file required reports, and is facing the threat of a delisting from the NASDAQ.
Motorola Says No To 802.11 Draft Devices
Motorola is taking a pass on producing 802.11n products until the standard is fully ratified, the company told ZDNet UK on Friday. Officials say they would rather wait for the final standard to be worked out before releasing any products. While many other companies including Intel and Cisco have started producing 802.11n draft compliant devices, the standard could still easily change.
Disagreements still exist over the final makeup of the standard, which could render some 802.11n draft equipment useless once the standard is agreed upon. Motorola seemed to chastise the Wi-Fi Alliance's recent decision to begin certifying draft products, calling it confusing for consumers.
Linux-Powered Dells Begin Shipping
Dell began offering three systems with Ubuntu Linux installed on Thursday, in response to wide customer demand for such systems. The original plan to offer Linux surfaced in March, after 100,000 customers told the company through its IdeaStorm, a Web site designed to gauge customer's wants and needs from its systems. The three systems are: the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops, as well as the E1505n notebook.
Starting prices for the E520n and E1505n notebook is $599, while the XPS system retails for $849. Hardware support will be provided by Dell, although it said it would refer software support questions to the Dell Community Forum. Fee-based software support will be offered, however. "To the worldwide Linux community, I wanted to thank you for all your support," Digital Media Manager Lionel Menchaca said.
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