iTunes Offers Bob Dylan Set, Tickets
Apple has forged an exclusive arrangement with Columbia Records to offer customers early access to Bob Dylan's new album "Modern Times" for $13.99. Buyers will also receive a special code that can be used to buy concert tickets for Dylan's upcoming tour 10 days before they go on sale September 9.
This isn't the first time Apple has tried such a promotion. A Red Hot Chili Peppers pre-order and ticket offer backfired in May when customers failed to receive their codes. Apple will additionally make available a digital box set containing nearly 800 tracks spanning Bob Dylan's career on August 29 for $199.
Microsoft Demos Xbox HD DVD Drive
At the DVD Forum in Los Angeles Monday, Microsoft took the wraps off its upcoming external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360. When laid flat, the add-on is about half the width of the console and nearly as high. The Xbox will handle all the audio and video processing, Microsoft said.
The Redmond company did not disclose how much it plans to charge for the HD DVD drive, which will go on sale for the holidays, but said it will be one of the cheapest such players. Sony is taking a similar tack with Blu-ray, but has opted to utilize the technology for the PlayStation 3's main optical drive. The PS3 is slated to debut in November.
Two Arrested in Military Laptop Theft
Two Virginia teens were arrested and charged over the weekend with the theft of a laptop which contained data on 25 million active-duty and retired military personnel. However, police reports indicate that the two claim they were not aware of what the laptop contained until the theft received national attention in the media.
Jesus Alex Pineda and Christian Brian Montano, both 19 of Rockville, MD, have been charged with first-degree burglary and theft, with Montano also being charged with conspiracy. Charges are also pending against a third suspect, although he will be treated as a juvenile. The laptop was recovered on June 28, but it was not until Friday that a tip led police and the FBI to the two suspects.
Yahoo, MasterCard Offer Music Promo
Yahoo has teamed up with MasterCard to offer a special promotion for its online music service, the two companies announced on Friday. Through October 4, when a MasterCard customer uses their card to purchase a year of service from Yahoo! Music Unlimited, an additional year free will be added to that user's account.
Further seasonal promotions are planned between the two companies, both to drive card usage and also bring new subscribers to Yahoo's fledgling music service. Yahoo! Music Unlimited has a catalog of more than two million songs, and is available for $6.99 USD monthly or $59.88 USD annually for streaming only, and $11.99 USD monthly or $119.88 USD annually for the option to download and transfer songs to a portable device.
Ford, GM, Mazda Add iPod Support
Apple said Thursday that it had struck agreements with Ford, General Motors and Mazda to offer seamless iPod integration in 2007 automobile models. In Ford and General Motors cars, a majority would provide the feature, while Mazda has decided to include the feature across its entire lineup.
"Now more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration, with General Motors alone making it available on all 56 of its models, representing millions of cars and trucks," Apple marketing vice president Greg Joswiak said. The Cupertino company also said it had sold more the 58 million iPods since the product's launch.
Google, XM Sign Radio Advertising Pact
Google said Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with XM Satellite Radio to make the service's advertising inventory on non-music channels available to Google advertisers through the dMarc service it bought in January. When Google integrates its radio advertising platform into adWords in the fourth quarter of this year, subscribers would now be able to place both terrestrial and satellite radio advertisements.
"This partnership with XM Satellite Radio will provide a powerful marketing and distribution tool for Google advertisers," Google radio head Ryan Steelberg said. "By providing access to XM's premier satellite audience, Google advertisers will have an easy way to target, schedule, deliver and measure satellite radio campaigns in a timely and efficient manner."
Lycos Mail Beta Offers 3GB of Storage
Lycos said Wednesday it had released a beta of the latest version of its Web-based mail service, offering users 3GB of storage and the capability to send unlimited attachments of any size. The company said Lycos Mail is intended for those who need to share large file attachments. In comparison, most other services only permit files of up to 10MB to be attached to e-mails.
Lycos said the remaining feature set of the service was essentially the same as the previous version. The webmail ofering is the second service to be imported from parent company Daum Communications of Korea. In October, the service launched Lycos Planet, a version of Daum Planet, which is an interactive networking site.
Sirius Live Portable to Launch Shortly
While Sirius has gained considerable ground in terms of subscriber growth, in the receiver department some may see the smaller satellite radio service's selection to be lagging that of its larger rival XM, especially in portability. That may be about to change, according to comments from CEO Mel Karmazin on Tuesday during a conference call. Karmazin said beta testing is under way for the "Stiletto,' the company's portable live satellite radio product, which it hopes to launch by the end of August.
Details of the unit were not provided, and it is unclear whether it would save selected songs in a similar fashion to XM's new live portables. Sirius' excitement over the product may be leading it to raise its end-of-year subscriber projections yet again; the company now expects to reach 6.3 million subscribers, up 100,000 from previous forecasts.
RadioShack to Sell Dual Tuner TiVo
TiVo said Tuesday that its new dual tuner digital video recorder was now available in about 3,000 of RadioShack's largest stores in the US. The agreement substantially increases the number of neighborhood stores offering TiVos, further expanding the company's retail presence. In addition, RadioShack will sell the Wireless-G Network adapter accessory, allowing users to connect TiVo to their home network.
"Partnering with RadioShack will increase the distribution and penetration of our TiVo DVRs, particularly among the 42.5 million analog cable households," TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said. The device also fits in with RadioShack's new business model, which is turning to brand-name products over its traditional affinity for in-house brands. The TiVo unit will be available for $249.99 USD, of which $150 is refundable through mail-in rebates.
AMD Server Share Jumps in 2Q
Analyst firm Mercury Research said Tuesday that AMD's server share jumped in the second quarter to just over a quarter of the market, while its overall processor share continues to increase at the expense of Intel. AMD now holds 21.6 percent of the market, while Intel holds on to 72.6 percent. This is nearly a10 point slide from last year for Intel, when it had an 82.2 percent share. AMD has gained just over five percent from a 16.2 percent market share in the second quarter of 2005.
AMD has been able to successfully corner Intel, chipping away at its market share with processors that are more powerful and power efficient. AMD's Opteron line has proven to be a major success for the company, although Intel hopes its new Xeon processor will be able to reverse that trend. Additionally, Intel expects its Core 2 Duo consumer processors will halt AMD's gains in that market.
Microsoft Turns 2-D Pictures into 3-D
Microsoft has released a technology preview of a application it calls "Photosynth," which has the capability to turn two-dimensional images into three-dimensional landscapes. The program does this by analyzing several different images of the same object, and then reconstructing it in 3-D. The user would be able to virtually "walk" or "fly" through this space, Microsoft says.
Photosynth is slated to be demonstrated at the Siggraph 2006 computer graphics conference in Boston on Wednesday. Photosynth was born out of Microsoft's Live Labs, a group of scientists and engineers that are studying new ways to use the Internet. The group was founded in February 2006 by Dr. Gary Flake, who joined MSN as a distinguished engineer in April of last year.
Apple Recalls MacBook Pro Batteries
Apple has issued a worldwide recall for a number of batteries that shipped in the 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks between February and May. The company will send out a new battery to customers who complete a request form.
According to Apple, it "recently discovered that some 15-inch MacBook Pro batteries supplied to Apple do not meet our high standards for battery performance." The company says the batteries do not pose a safety risk. MacBook Pro owners can find out if they are affected via Apple's Web site; exchanges can only be requested online and not at the company's retail stores.
E! Adds Programming to iTunes
E! Entertainment Network said Thursday that it had added four of its most popular shows to the iTunes Music Store, which would be made available the day after the episodes air. New episodes of "The Soup," the network's weekly look at pop culture news, "Dr. 90210," "The Simple Life: 'Til Death Do Us Part" starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, and the new season of "The Girls Next Door" are available.
Like all shows on iTunes, episodes cost $1.99 USD per download. Additionally, past seasons of the shows would also be made available. According to Apple, since launching the video service on iTunes, over 35 million videos have been sold.
Intel Plans August Core 2 Duo Launch
Intel said on Thursday that it was aiming to ship its new Core 2 Duo processors next month, with the desktop models shipping in early August and the laptop models shipping late in the month. While pricing has not been announced for the laptop processors, a total of ten desktop chips will be shipped with prices ranging from 21,230 yen ($182.50) to 115,900 yen ($996.30), according to Reuters. The chips were originally known by the code names "Conroe" and "Merom."
Both processor models consume less energy and are more powerful than their predecessors. Intel will also issue a "Core 2 Extreme" processor for high-performance systems. The new processor lineup replaces the original Core Due, and is seen by analysts as a move to counter recent market share gains by competitor AMD.
MSN to Stream 'Arrested Development'
MSN and Fox said Wednesday they had reached an agreement that would give Microsoft exclusive rights to stream the entire three-season run of the cult favorite comedy "Arrested Development." The deal will make all 53 episodes of the show exclusively available for three years on MSN at no charge.
A spokesperson for MSN said that the site also plans to build an interactive community around the offering, allowing fans to interact. Fox also announced that the show would be available in high-definition through HDNet, and on G4 in standard definition beginning in October of this year.
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