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Norway's one-stop hacking expert, Jon Lech Johansen, has now reverse-engineered the encryption coding in Windows Media Player that prevents .NSC files from being accessed by users of other platforms.Geek-to-nerd translation: An .NSC file carries information about a media stream, including the port name and file address of the stream server. When Media Player opens the file, it decodes this information and connects to the stream server the code specifies. Johansen doesn't believe there's a rational reason to encrypt this information since, upon opening the stream, the information is usually…
For lifelike audio presentation in your living room, what could be better than the real thing? When it comes to putting the sound of a piano in your home, nothing comes close to, well, a real piano. For more than a century, several companies have marketed player pianos, first using rolls of punched paper, and most recently sophisticated MIDI programs. But if a real piano represents the ultimate audio performance in your living room, who has the ultimate real piano?
Yamaha thinks they do, in the form of their new Disklavier Pro 2000, just now heading into dealer showrooms at a chart-…
Loudspeaker designer and manufacturer Richard Vandersteen has heard enough: He is embarking on a crusade to right an egregious wrong he sees being perpetuated by the marketing scribes and salesfolk working in the consumer electronics business. Though he was miles away, at his company headquarters in Hanford, CA, his passion for spreading the audiophile word came through the telephone loud and clear.
"There is a common misconception today," Vandersteen states, "one that has been aided and abetted by a strong marketing effort from certain Hollywood firms, that the requirements for a home-…
As a result of the RIAA's aggressive attempts at legislation and lawsuits, it is widely understood that government control is an integral component of the music industry's plans to limit the ways in which copyrighted music can be used. But how far will the industry go to control the technology used to play back your favorite tune?
How about fingerprinting every consumer as they push Play? Earlier this year, biometric security company Veritouch announced that it was working with Swedish design firm Thinking Materials to create a portable media player called the iVue. The iVue is no ordinary…
Money and legal pressure can make even the fiercest tiger change its stripes. Nearing the end of prolonged litigation with the music industry, Napster has begun to go commercial.
The brainchild of college student Shawn Fanning, Napster originated as a "peer-to-peer" audio file sharing system that let users upload and access music files on the hard drives of all connected users. Massive law suits by the music industry followed. In a case before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, Napster's defense has been that it is an Internet service provider and therefore not liable for the behavior…
The Home Entertainment Show, scheduled to take place in NYC April 28–May 1, is only weeks away! Throughout the Show, ticket holders can experience the finest consumer electronics and convergence products on the planet—PLUS enjoy a variety of live music performances by popular jazz, folk, rap, blues, and classical music recording artists.
A benefit concert sponsored by XM Satellite Radio will be held Friday, April 29 at 8pm, with a headline performance by improvisational jazz-funk ensemble Medeski Martin + Wood. Tickets to this special concert are available at www.mooreatix.com—proceeds to…
Despite the almost daily news reports that some music company has found a way to make people pay for music over the Internet, the fact is that very few people have done so. Most people who are getting their music on the Net are getting it free and like it that way---regardless of the quality. A survey released June 9 and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts---a long-term supporter of National Public Radio---appears to validate this common observation.
Called the Pew Internet Project, the study investigates the Internet’s effect on society. Part of the study published in April includes…
The final piece of the TGI/Mordaunt-Short/Epos jigsaw puzzle (see previous story) seems to have fallen into place, with the news that Mike Creek (of the UK's Creek Audio) is purchasing the Epos loudspeaker brand, effective March 1.
The saga began last fall, when the TGI Group (Tannoy Goodmans International) announced that it was planning to close its Mordaunt-Short/Epos operation within the next three months. However, between Christmas and the New Year came the announcement that M-S/Epos had been purchased by the Audio Partnership, a British manufacturing/sourcing operation that includes…
CD prices have been a sore spot for many music lovers. Our own online polls indicate that Stereophile readers think CDs cost too much (most think they should be under $10), while Stereophile editor John Atkinson has pointed out that for smaller labels, the economics of CD production only work when the prices are kept higher.
But what about online music pricing? Grabbing a song off of iTunes gets you the music, but with no full color booklet or CD in a jewel case that you can eventually trade or sell, are you still willing to pay CD-like prices? And consider that to fully load up a single…
We get so confused department: Officially, it's day one of the show, even though we've already been here a whole day. But—as we keep having to remind ourselves—it's not all about us. Today was the day the showgoers arrived.
The difference in energy level was remarkable. Yesterday was the busiest press day ever at a Home Entertainment Show, but today, the halls were abuzz with excitement and anticipation. Us too, actually.
With good reason. Our first stop was Ray Kimber's IsoMike room. IsoMike is a baffle system Kimber developed that increases the apparent separation between two (…