When Sony did that, we consumers screamed bloody murder.
In Apple's defense, the "feature…
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Apple's release of its latest version of the iTunes software for Macs on January 10 promised "stability and performance improvements" over the 6.0.1 version already in existence. It also included a new iTunes MiniStore feature that "watches" what you click on your library or playlist and, when you double-click on a selection to play it, changes its display to reflect "matches" you might consider purchasing. This means that iTunes 6.0.2 is sending your now-playing information to an outside server.
Musician, martial artist, and electronics whiz Ben Blish has loved audio since he was a little kid staring into the glowing tubes of his father's Scott hi-fi equipment. Thirty-four years after catching the bug, he still nurtures it daily.
Blish is one of many audionuts who are keen on classic Marantz equipment. Most such hobbyists are content to collect a few rare pieces, or assemble a mint-condition "classic system." Blish has done that, but he's also gone a huge step further: he's built an online temple to Marantz gear of the 1960s and '70s. His Marantz pages---part of an extensive…
Fans of Macintosh computers and Betamax videotape are fond of pointing out that in the free market, the best technologies don't necessarily win. That scenario may be playing out again in the case of VQF, a digital audio transfer and storage technology originally developed several years ago by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.
Officially dubbed TwinVQ, the system was licensed to Yamaha for its SoundVQ player and its SolidAudio portable. Over the years, interested engineers and hobbyists have developed several software utilities, encoders, and players for the format. Its adherents claim VQF…
As any major college dude will tell you, the file-sharing genie can never be put back into the digital audio bottle. But that hasn't stopped the music business from pursuing its scorched-market policy while simultaneously applying various use-restriction technologies to every digital audio format in sight.
Quit while you are only slightly behind, say four researchers from Microsoft who recently weighed in with their provocative analysis: The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution. The paper defines the "darknet" as a collection of networks and technologies used to share digital…
The man who signed the Beatles to their first recording contract has joined garageband.com, an online venture for musicians. On October 21, the San Francisco-based website announced that Sir George Martin has assumed the position of chairman of its advisory board. The board's membership includes some of the music industry's best-known professional and creative talent, according to garageband.com co-founders Tom Zito and Jerry Harrison.
Harrison is a record producer and former member of the rock band Talking Heads. The site was launched in September, with the goal of identifying the best…
Radio will finally go digital in 2001. Among the oldest analog media, radio will be the last to make the transition, but it should make much faster headway in the market than digital television has. Satellite digital radio broadcasters XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. are both on schedule to go live in the coming year, aided by partnerships with automakers to make digital receivers available as options in new cars. A strong automotive aftermarket for digital radio receivers is expected, with some industry insiders predicting that the first models will…
The healthy trend for the audio market continues: the Consumer Electronics Association reported last week that revenues from factory shipments of audio products to dealers this February increased by 8% over last February, to a total of $542 million. "The fantastic sales in February spurred the year-to-date total for audio sales to more than $1 billion; a 6% increase over the first two months of 1999," said the CEA.
According to the CEA, the portable audio sector posted the largest increase in the month, climbing 16%, to revenues of $135 million. The CEA says that contributing to the…
New Zealand's Perreaux Industries began creating audio products 30 years ago, starting with the GS 2002 integrated transistor amplifier in 1974, and landed in the US in 1980 with the PMF 2150 amplifier. Dozens of new audio products have been developed since then, many of them groundbreaking, and the latest designs are again available in the American market.
Sanibel Sound of Virginia recently announced it is now the exclusive distributor for the Perreaux line in the US. Sanibel's Steve Davis says his plan is "to offer the range through our well-established network of authorized resellers…
Recordings more than 100 years old can now be heard on the Internet, thanks to a new program established by San Diego-based startup MP3.com. Among the sonic treasures is Thomas Edison narrating a "phonographic trip around the world" recorded in 1888. The site offers copies of Edison cylinder recordings and early 78 rpm discs, all available for free.
Music historian Michael Loughlin worked closely with the Edison National Historic Site to produce the recordings in MP3 format. "It is my goal to make MP3.com the premier place on the net to access historic recordings," Loughlin said. "With…
Jonathan Scull stuffs as many "relatively inexpensive" building tweaks as he can fit into "Fine Tunes" #21. Find out about basic room and electrical treatments on the relative cheap.
Designing loudspeakers is not a task for the faint of heart. But that doesn't stop thousands of would-be speaker builders each year from messing around with cabinets and parts in an attempt to improve on the other loudspeakers out there. Of those thousands of hobbyists, tens form companies, and perhaps one each year strikes gold.
To look at what makes such people tick, we present "Paul Barton: It Doesn…