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Ears-on with Sony Ericsson MH907 Motion Activated Headphones

by Richard Lai posted Nov 4th 2009 @ 3:57PM

What we have here today isn't just another pair of ordinary headphones: Sony Ericsson's MH907s are button-free, minimalistic headphones that activate upon the magical touch of your skin. Well, your ears to be precise. You must bear in mind that the MH907s are exclusive to Fast port-equipped Sony Ericsson phones thus excluding the forthcoming XPERIA X10 -- so chances are you're already not interested. That said, we shall see if Sony Ericsson is really going to change things forever with these gleaming buds featuring SE's SensMe Control technology, or by just stopping everyone from using their 3.5mm headphone jacks. Read on to find out how these €39 ($57) headphones fared.

Nokia grants service extension to early UK Comes With Music buyers

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 15th 2009 @ 12:33PM

Being a serial early adopter can be a rough existence -- you pay more, you deal with more bugs, you stand in long lines (disproportionately in the cold, it feels like), and you deal with less-experienced customer service staff. Every once in a while, though, cosmic balance swings in the other direction and rewards you for all of your trials and tribulations. Take Nokia's Comes With Music service, for example, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary of British service by extending the original one-year agreement by an additional 90 days for those who were "among the first" to sign up. They're not specifying what the cutoff is here, but subscribers are being told to keep an eye on their email -- so get ready to enjoy another 90 days of unlimited download bliss.

Sony Ericsson plans music-focused event for the 21st, shrouded in mystery

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 15th 2009 @ 3:29PM

"Put your ears in control." That's the best clue we've got about the stuff Sony Ericsson plans on showing next Monday, when it'll be holding a webcast at 11:00AM GMT+1 to "see how the way you listen to music changes forever." Given that PlayNow Plus is still a big up-and-coming push for the company, the announcement could be entirely software and service related -- but we know we've got some Android goods in the pipe that need to get shown at some point, and let's be honest, there's always room for another miscellaneous Walkman-branded phone or two in the lineup. We''ll know what's what soon enough.

[Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk]

T-Mobile, Sony Ericsson bring PlayNow Plus to Netherlands

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 11th 2009 @ 4:52PM

Unlimited music services have been met with generally mixed reaction around the world, but Sony Ericsson's still interested in getting down in the trenches and duking it out with Nokia for supremacy in a battle of Comes With Music versus PlayNow Plus. The company is now taking its service to Holland through a partnership with T-Mobile's local outpost, launching on the W995 slider for €9.95 a month (about $14.50) when paired with an internet plan (starting at €9.95) on a two-year deal. The good news is that they're chucking in the first six months of service for free, but the bad news is that it's not entirely clear what happens to your downloaded music when you cancel the subscription -- odds are it vanishes into thin air, but we'll stay optimistic until it launches next month and we hear the details.

Rhapsody App approved by Apple: 8 million tracks streaming to the ether (update: video!)

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 10th 2009 @ 1:31AM

We had a feeling this day was coming. After Spotify's subscription music app was approved, offline listening intact, there was every indication that Rhapsody was next for christening. Especially with the feds watching Apple's every move. The free download just went hot and requires a $15 per month Rhapsody To Go subscription -- you can try it for free for a week -- and streams 64kbps quality (ugh) music over WiFi or cellular data (only, no off-line access) from a catalog of about 8 million tracks offered by the MTV and RealNetwork tie-up. Now go 'n get it.

Update: Added video demo after the break.

[Via Komo News, thanks Bill Y.]

Read -- Rhapsody App [iTunes link]

Continue reading Rhapsody App approved by Apple: 8 million tracks streaming to the ether (update: video!)

Pandora comes to Android, world's networks that much closer to buckling

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 9th 2009 @ 4:08AM

As must-have mobile apps go, Pandora ranks high on the books -- with the proliferation of 3G and WiFi, it comes dangerously close to obsoleting the need to carry around your own 8, 16, or 32GB worth of tracks -- and another big-ticket platform has now joined the compatibility short list. This time around it's Android that's getting hooked up, offering a home screen widget and background playback (we'd expect no less on Android) over whatever type of network connection you've got handy. Using Wham! as a station seed is still indefensible, but we'd say the argument for scooping up a G1, myTouch 3G, or Sprint Hero (when it's available, anyhow) just got a bit stronger.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Spotify launches on iTunes App Store and Android Market, premium members only

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 7th 2009 @ 5:13AM

As expected, Apple has blessed Spotify's streaming subscription music application with a home in its iTunes App Store. Additionally, the app is also making a first, less ballyhooed appearance on the Android Market. The free app allows you to stream any of its nearly 4 million tracks over WiFi or 3G and syncs playlists for playback while disconnected. It's available exclusively to Spotify Premium members in the UK, Sweden, Spain, France and Norway -- only the iPhone app is available in Finland. Great, so does that mean Rhapsody is next? Magic i-ball says all signs point to yes. Video overview of each app after the break.

P.S. We're seeing reports that the iPhone app won't play music in the background. The fix? Android.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read -- Spotify on Android
Read -- Spotify on App Store

Continue reading Spotify launches on iTunes App Store and Android Market, premium members only

Nokia Comes with Music US launch smartly pushed back to 2010

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 4:58AM

Not that most Americans could care, but Nokia is pushing back the US launch of its DRM-laden Comes with Music service into 2010. CWM, you'll recall, is Nokia's "free" all-you-can-eat music service that bundles the 12-18 month music subscription cost into the inflated handset price -- although like any DRM music scheme, solutions already exist to break the CWM shackles. The delay is probably a wise move considering the weak state of Nokia's US partnerships required to offset consumer costs, lukewarm response to its latest handsets, and the fact that most US consumers share a broad distaste for DRM music. We'd rather see Nokia launch late but with a compelling proposition than launch now in blind adherence to a timeline.

iTunes 8.2.1 brings Pre's music syncing capability to a halt (updated)

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 15th 2009 @ 7:37PM

Palm itself had warned that the Pre's iTunes sync functionality could be broken at a moment's notice (and at Apple's whim), but we're pretty sure no one expected it'd happen this quickly. We've been able to confirm that version 8.2.1 of the software prevents the sync from working, meaning that you've got to add music the old-fashioned way -- the Pre functions as a USB drive, too -- until Palm gets around to patching the hack (if they decide to patch it, that is). This could end up being a protracted game of cat-and-mouse, which is entertaining to watch but nightmarish for the consumers down in the trenches actually trying to use this stuff. Funny thing is, Apple's straight up saying in its release notes that the update "addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices" -- in other words, they weren't being verified before, and now they are, thank goodness. Peaceful sleep is once again within our reach.

Update: Apple's now gone beyond the "verification of Apple devices" phrase, calling out the Pre by name in a statement issued to BusinessWeek: "It also disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre. As we've said before, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players." In other words, "we told you this was going to happen, and it did." For its part, Palm appears to have re-issued the same statement it made a while back, saying that Apple's move is a "direct blow" to its users. Words are one thing, but here's the real question: is there a quick counterstrike fix planned from Palm's side?

iPhone musicians invited to perform live with indie legends Good Night, States

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jul 14th 2009 @ 2:44PM

Good Night, States, it seems, are a trusting lot. These indie rockers have not only supplied soundbanks (for use with the Noise.io iPhone app) for their songs, but if you check 'em out at Mr. Small's in Pittsburgh this Friday you can plug your iPhone or iPod into the house sound system and jam along with the group. Noise.io, if you've not seen it before, bills itself as a "highly advanced sound synthesis workstation," with a unique touchscreen interface and all kinds of features sure to make softsynth fans positively giddy. Ready for your fifteen minutes of fame? Pick up your copy at the App Store for $8.99, and then proceed to the read link to get started -- but not before you peep the video demonstration after the break.

[Via Speed of the Pittsburgh Sound]

Continue reading iPhone musicians invited to perform live with indie legends Good Night, States

Palm Pre said to sync up nicely with Apple's iTunes

by Darren Murph posted May 28th 2009 @ 10:01AM

There's been no direct confirmation just yet, but Fortune has it that Palm's hotly anticipated Pre actually syncs with iTunes. Yeah, iTunes. According to the report, the Pre works "seamlessly" with iTunes on a Mac, with the only notable limitation being that it can't handle older DRM-laced files from the sad, sad days of our past. Even wilder, we're told that the iTunes Store "treats the Pre just as it would an iPod or an iPhone" save for the aforesaid exception, which leads us to wonder how Apple will react. There's little doubt that this factoid sweetens the Pre value proposition for diligent Mac users, but is this functionality kosher with the software's creator? We already saw Tim Cook glance sternly at Palm while uttering that if anyone else "ripped off its intellectual property, it would go after them," and we highly doubt he plans on backing down if push comes to shove. If true, this could definitely trigger an interesting chain of events -- we'll know soon enough, now won't we?

[Via TUAW]

Samsung's M7600 Beat DJ music phone on sale at O2 UK

by Darren Murph posted May 23rd 2009 @ 2:17PM

Quite a bit has gone down in the cellular realm since Barcelona opened its beautiful doors to host Mobile World Congress 2009, but how could we ever forget this gem? Samsung's M7600 Beat DJ is about as close as we'll ever come to a real live Pilotfish Ondo, and after months of waiting, it's finally on sale across the pond. Available for purchase right now at O2 UK, the Bang & Olufsen-infused handset packs a 2.6-inch OLED panel, perfect for mixing, scratching and texting your mum when you stay out too late. It's all yours for between £0.00 and £146.80 ($233) depending on your choice of contract, and if any of you kind, gentle Britons feel like importing a few for the deprived Yanks over here, drop us a note in comments.

[Thanks, Todd]

Sony Ericsson's facial recognition patent plays the perfect song to complement your mood

by Ross Miller posted May 21st 2009 @ 11:56PM

We don't expect this to be indicative of any near-term projects for the now financially hindered phone maker, but one of Sony Ericsson's recently unearthed patents paves the way for some interesting uses. From what we gather, while listening to music on your device, a picture of your face would be taken. That image would then be run through software that interprets your mood, and an appropriate next song based on those emotions would be picked -- so much for the art of mixtapes. Presumably, it'd also require a phone or device with a camera mounted on the same side as the screen, so unless mobile video conferencing takes off in a huge way, we can't see people paying extra for a phone or device with this configuration. And if you just got dumped over SMS, we hope it doesn't intepret those tears as a good time to play that Damien Rice song you two fell in love with. Hit up the read link for the full patent details.

[Via Slash Gear]

NTT DoCoMo's spatial audio tech provides superhuman hearing

by Darren Murph posted May 11th 2009 @ 9:06AM

Upon first read, we were inclined to believe that the words gracing our eyes here simply couldn't be true. But then we realized that this is NTT DoCoMo, and beyond the realm of feasibility is where this company resides. In a beautiful attempt to provide superhuman-like hearing to all Earthlings, the company has developed a highly efficient mobile spatial audio transmission technology that enables "a mobile phone user to assign a spatial position to each sound source when listening to multiple sound sources, such as during a game or a conference call." Put simply, the tech allows a user listening with headphones to "hear each speaker's voice as if it were coming from a unique direction, creating a virtual face-to-face communication environment." We're not told specifically how many voices the average bird can hear before it becomes too overwhelming, but we'll go out on a limb here and say three or four, max.

Nokia Music veep addresses slow Comes with Music sales in the UK

by Laura June posted Apr 29th 2009 @ 11:33AM

After some rather disheartening (albeit unconfirmed) estimates last week that Nokia's Comes with Music service had snagged only 23,000 subscribers in the United Kingdom, Rob Taylor, vice president of Nokia Music says that the company is pretty "happy" with what its learned there so far. He admitted that the UK launch (the service's first) devices -- the 5310 Xpress Music and the 8GB N95 -- were "slightly out of date" at the time pointing out that the service was doing much better in subsequent markets, which all boast the 5800 as their hero device. Taylor said he also recognized that Nokia needed more retail partners to help move units, and that the company is not "giving up" on the UK as a market for CwM, adding that they'll be bringing the 5800 there in the future. No word on when that might happen yet -- but we're going to keep out eyes peeled for you.