Thursday, September 29, 2005

AOL Radio

Is it possible to launch AOL Radio's "Adult Alternative" station from this page? Let's see....

Also, one of the XM Station's such as "XM Fred".

OQO Model 01+


OQO Model 01+
Originally uploaded by jherskowitz.
The ultimate portable media player? If you've got $2K burning a whole in

your pocket and your don't mind waiting for a full-blown XP machine to boot

up, then this may be kinda cool for you music and videos. No sync

required... just download via WiFi and enjoy.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Treo + Windows Mobile 5 = Plays for Damn Sure

Awww yeah.... this is definitely a step in the right direction. A Treo

running Windows Mobile (and thereby Window Media Player) means that these

will be "Plays for Sure" devices fully capable of syncing and listenting to

all your subscription music content. Note to carriers - this is the

beginning of the end for your walled garden approaches. Once there is an

open platform and open access to the network(s), there is no reason the

public will pay a premium for content to be delivered specifically to their

phones.

BetaNews | Apple Maintains Margin with iPod Nano

BetaNews | Apple Maintains Margin with iPod Nano: "iSuppli dissected a 2GB iPod Nano and found $90.18 USD worth of parts. Combined with the $8-10 it costs to produce each model, the Nano ran about $100 USD to produce, said iSuppli. The player retails for $199 USD, meaning a profit margin of just under 50 percent."

It's interesting to see what Apple's costs are, but the margin quoted above is misleading since the retailers have to get their piece of the pie too. It's been a while since I've dealt with product that was sold through retail outlets, but in the past the Best Buy's and Target's of the world demanded at least 20 points of profit...

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Art: Dan Sutherland


Art: Dan Sutherland
Originally uploaded by jherskowitz.

So, my brother-in-law (and artist extrordinare) has FINALLY gotten a site up. Between my complete lack of artistic talent and his technological aversion, we make quite a pair.

Here is one of my favorite pieces of his recent work. Check out www.dansutherland.net to see some of his other stuff. The site and images don't really do it justice (as you can imagine), particularly considering many of the paintings are 5' tall....

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

E-Commerce News: Personal Tech : iPod Slayers Misdirecting Efforts

E-Commerce News: Personal Tech : iPod Slayers Misdirecting Efforts: "'When you combine the iPod and iTunes, there's still not much that can top that combination,' he said. 'It's more than just one or the other.'"

This is essentially stating the obvious, but it is the piece that everyone is missing.... there needs to be tight integration and working relationships between the music service, the PC software and the device to create an Apple killer. Samsung, get on the phone with Microsoft and a top tier music service provider, and make something compelling.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

TIME.com: Dear Google, I Have Found Another Suitor -- Sep. 26, 2005 -- Page 1

TIME.com: Dear Google, I Have Found Another Suitor -- Sep. 26, 2005 -- Page 1: "Negotiations are now at an impasse over key technology issues, such as whose instant-messaging platform would be used. But a variety of proposals remain on the table, including the creation of a separately traded company. 'We could take a more modest approach with co-marketing agreements,' the source tells TIME, 'but the bias is, if we're going to do this, let's really play to win.'"

The saga continues....

Media Center on Vista


Media Center on Vista
Originally uploaded by jherskowitz.
Some of the first screenshots are now making their way online...

BetaNews | Report: Mashboxx May Acquire Grokster

BetaNews | Report: Mashboxx May Acquire Grokster: "Mashboxx is in talks with file-sharing service Grokster over a possible puchase, a move that could be seen as an attempt to keep the embattled file-sharing service alive. "

Here comes the industry shakeout....

Friday, September 16, 2005

Microsoft Said to Be in Talks on Forming Link to AOL - New York Times

Microsoft Said to Be in Talks on Forming Link to AOL - New York Times: "A deal with AOL could provide widespread distribution for Microsoft's search system and a platform for developing Microsoft's own Internet-based services. An AOL merger would also provide a graceful exit from MSN's stagnant dial-up Internet service business, which still has several million subscribers. "

Offered without comment....

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Add muSick in the Head to the new My AOL Page

Just added... one click support to add this feed to your new personalized "My AOL" page. Scroll down to the Feeds section in the right hand column of this page and just click on it. Voila!

Alternatively, if you are just interested in some of my music-related charts (like my Top 10), then I've added this support to just that piece of this page.... then every time you go to your My AOL page you will see my latest Top 10 list.

CoolSmartPhone.com

CoolSmartPhone.com: "But wait - just to add to the excitement comes news of the Samsung i300, pictured right. It's going to be exclusive to o2 and will begins selling in October for around 79.99 Pounds. The 3Gb internal hard drive is capable of storing up to 1000 music files and features scroll-wheel navigation, enabling you to search tracks with ease You can also enjoy 3D sound through its stereo speakers and download music online. "

To go along with my last post.... here is the latest object of my affection. And it is going to sell for only $149?! I'll take three. Granted the iPod Nano is cool looking, but for less money I can get this... supports subscription music services, sports Windows Mobile 5 and WiFi (I believe). Best of all, it limits the number of devices I have to carry down to one. It's the day I've been dreaming of for 10 years.

Technology News Article | Reuters.com

Technology News Article | Reuters.com: "Once the chip was incorporated into a 32-gigabyte memory card, users of portable digital devices would be able to store some 200 years of articles from daily newspapers or some 8,000 MP3 music titles capable of playing for 680 hours, Samsung said."

Sweet. Flash memory continues to get bigger (capacity not physical size). Imagine your next mobile phone... Windows Mobile 5, Windows Media Player (with Janus Support) and 32GB worth of storage. All in a phone no larger than the one you have now. Mmmmm....

Pre-PDC Exclusive: Windows Vista Product Editions Revealed

Pre-PDC Exclusive: Windows Vista Product Editions Revealed: "Vista will feature two categories: Home and Business. In the Home category, Microsoft will create four product editions: Vista Starter Edition, Vista Home Basic Edition, Vista Home Premium Edition, and Vista Ultimate Edition (previously known as the 'Uber' Edition). The Business category will feature three editions: Vista Small Business Edition, Vista Professional Edition, and Vista Enterprise Edition."

So, I was almost right. I've been speculating for some time that Media Center would be bundled with the "standard" home edition of Vista. Well, Microsoft has announced no less than 7 different version of Vista, with MCE being part of the bigger "Vista Home Premium" edition. The article speculates that this will be the volume seller, with it being the equivalent of XP Pro. Good news for those of us awaiting mass market adoption of Media Center.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Digital Music News: SoniqCast, PassAlong Team on WiFi-Enabled Device Transfers

Digital Music News: "SoniqCast, a developer of WiFi-enabled MP3 players, has recently teamed with PassAlong Networks on a next-generation method for delivering music files."

I'll be the first to say that a wi-fi connected media player is very cool. In this scenario, I could just leave my portable player in my car and when I pull into my garage just have it pull and/or sync my latest content wirelessly. Maybe I'm just lazy, but one of my big pet peeves with other portable players is that I have to bring it inside an sync it every few days.

EFF: The Customer Is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music

EFF: The Customer Is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music: "In other words, in this brave new world of 'authorized music services,' law-abiding music fans often get less for their money than they did in the old world of CDs (or at least, the world before record companies started crippling CDs with DRM, too). "

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has posted a "Guide to Online Music" that is basically a list of reasons why DRM sucks and how consumers should basically just visit some alternative DRM-free solutions like eMusic and Audio Lunchbox. It's a noble cause, but you'd be waiting an awfully long time for any "big name" music to be legally distributed without copy protection...

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Where the hell am I?

Beleive me, I realize that I've been really bad with posting lately. Work has been keeping me extremely busy, and I promise to get back to it (posting, not work) this week.... stay tuned.