Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and gamer
The DRM battle continues! The latest news revolves around EMI being in talks with retailers to sell music DRM-free vs. Warner Music Group’s clear “No!” fired back at Steve Jobs (who recommended a DRM-free music world earlier this week). Here’s the scoop on each side:
Read More “EMI Interested in DRM-Free While Warner Says No Way to Steve Jobs” »
So all in the same week we have the following news:
1) Steve Jobs embraces a DRM-free world but says his hands are tied.
2) Amazon & Tivo join forces to bring you Amazon
3) Wal-Mart announces digital movie and TV show downloads from all six of the major studios.
Let’s take each of these and have a closer look:
Read More “Will DRM die or thrive? Apple, Amazon, Tivo, Wal-Mart not sure…” »
Wow. We’re not even through January and DRM is knocking at heaven’s (hell’s?) door. The latest news comes today with Norway proclaiming that Apple’s DRM via the iPod and iTunes is illegal. France, Germany, and Finland joined with Norway in releasing the following statement:
“We believe consumers have a right to play material purchased online on a portable device of their own choice.”
Read More “Death of DRM Roundup: The World Wants Unrestricted Music” »
So unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the past couple days, you’ve inevitably heard that Apple released its highly anticipated iPhone, fusing the ubiquitous iPod with the even more ubiquitous cellphone. Apple Computer even went as far as changing it’s name to Apple Inc. to illustrate just how serious this move is. The company has officially graduated from computer company to consumer electronics superstar.
But Cisco, the company that owns the iPhone trademark (incidentally, the latest rendition of the Cisco iPhone was hurriedly released three weeks ago: a VOIP phone that was and is talked about more for its name than anything), is now suing Apple.
Read More “Apple Releases iPhone, Changes Name, and Gets Sued: All Smart Moves” »
More rumors are surfacing around Amazon offering DRM-free MP3s to compete with Apple’s iTunes. Only this time the rumors include other MP3 download services and are coming from the mainstream press (does that make it more or less credible?). Looks like certain key executives have converted to the idea that digital downloads should be sold as unprotected MP3s.
Read More “Get Ready for DRM-FREE 2007: Amazon, LimeWire, MySpace, eMusic, Yahoo Music” »
A cellphone that doesn’t yet exist has never been so popular. For the past few months, rumors have been flying about Apple’s entrance intothe multi-billion dollar cellphone market with a feature-rich iPod cellphone. Apple has been called “hypersecretive” and has refused to comment on the speculation which, of course, feeds the speculation fire even more.
Read More “Apple Stock Near Record High: iPod Cellphone Rumors Trump Flawed iTunes Stats” »
Looks like rumors are afloat that Amazon
The company is apparently telling labels (politely, I’m sure) that it is only interested in selling DRM-free mp3s (meaning, once you download the song, it’s yours for whatever purpose you see fit, no more restrictions like you can burn only X amount of times or you can only have it reside on X computers, etc.). The second difference is that Amazon seems interested in offering variable pricing.
Walt Mossberg of WSJ fame (subscription required) often answers popular tech questions coming from readers. One noticeable question answered this week, which coincidentally comes right on the heels of Microsoft announcing that it expects to sell 1 million Zunes by June:
We have not had good luck with iPods, and I’m ready to try an alternative. Which ones should I consider? Is there a way to transfer the music we purchased from iTunes to another player?