Appletell

Online retailer Amazon has teamed up with the 800 lb. gorilla of search engines, Google, to announce a new online music store that will allow users to purchase MP3s from Amazon via mobile devices using Google’s new “Android” operating system. Apple immediately announced it would be discontinued, as it “replicates functionality found in iTunes.”

Okay, I made that last bit up.

From Wired:

Owners of the device will be able to browse, search, preview and purchase music on the Amazon MP3 store using the phone’s cellular connection. In order for purchased MP3s to download, the phone must be connected via Wi-Fi. (The mobile iTunes store, on the other hand, remains completely offline without WiFi.)

Oooh, burn!

MORE »

Adobe Systems officially announced this morning the Creative Suite 4 product family. The CS4 programs will feature a new workflow and “hundreds of feature innovations,” including tighter integration with Flash technology across the entire product line. The updates will be seen across Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design editions, Creative Suite 4 Web editions, Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Creative Suite 4 Master Collection, as well as 13 point products, 14 integrated technologies and seven services.

Some of the major applications receiving updates are Photoshop CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, InDesign CS4, Illustrator CS4, Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver CS4, After Effects CS4, and Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

MORE »

Wondering how to turn off the “arrows” and “Genre” listings in iTunes 8? Annoyed that Apple has taken the options away? Never fear, a quick cut ‘n’ paste in the Terminal app is all you need.

Details after the break.

MORE »

In a recent article on his personal blog, Adam Fisher-Cox has details on how he thinks (and now how I think) the new Grid View in iTunes 8 should work. I personally have had issues with the Grid View (details in my review of iTunes 8), and this has the potential to be the perfect fix for those issues. Take note, Steve Jobs, as this may be a great idea for you to take in to consideration for iTunes 8.1.

Read on for more thoughts on the fix.

MORE »

It’s finally here. The latest installment of the app that changed the way we listened to music has officially been announced. At Apple’s Let’s Rock event, the first item on the docket was this new piece of software. With new features such as Genius and HD TV Shows, many changes have been made to the system. Some of them are great, some of them are OK, and some of them just plain suck. 

Read on for my review of iTunes 8.

MORE »

I’ll admit it, I got into Oasis late. After they fell out of favor with the British press and lost the American spotlight (undeservedly, I might add), I heard “Go Let it Out” and thought, “Hey, these guys just may catch on.” It’s not entirely my fault, though. I was living in New York City at the time, meaning the only thing I could hear on the radio was sports talk.

Regardless, I’m still a fan of the band, and I’m greatly looking forward to Dig Out Your Soul, their new album due out October 7th in the U.S. It’s good to know there are still rock bands out there who always look like they really want to beat you up...and could.

And it’s even better to know an A-list band such as Oasis is making use of Apple’s GarageBand. Dig out the details after the break.

MORE »

The iPhone and iPod touch have a pretty good amount of storage space on them, but let’s face it—your music library is likely larger than the space you have on your device. So, you have to pick and choose which songs you want to have with you at all times. That problem must have bugged Simplify Media, because they’ve got an app to help keep you and your music together forever.

The app, also called Simplify Media, lets you stream songs from your home computer and even your friends’ computers; up to 30 in total. All you have to do is download the app for your Mac, Linux, or PC, create an account on their website, and then get the app for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Jump past the break for details on how to get this app for free for a limited time.

MORE »

Cynical Peak Software has announced that Rivet, an application that will help you stream your digital life (music, photos, movies) from Mac OS X to your Windows Xbox 360, has been released as version 1.1, bringing better media browsing support while fixing stability issues. More specifically, it makes media updating on your computer more CPU friendly and transcoded images more hard drive friendly. It supports a slew of formats, including AAC, MP3, WMA, H.264, DIVX, AVI, WMV, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, RAW, TIFF, PSD, and PDF, and costs $18.95.

One of my favorite features of this application would have to be the organization aspect. According to the description, Rivet makes sure that, “[e]very movie or photo folder that you share is exactly replicated on your Xbox 360.” You are then able to “[o]rganize them into subfolders by TV show, genre, or whatever you want. The entire folder structure will be there. No more scrolling through a huge, flat list.”

Sounds pretty great to me, I might even buy this myself to make use of that 360 I have lying around. Let’s just hope this streaming doesn’t give it the red ring of death...I can’t handle any more of those.

Product [Rivet]

Those who want a digital stereo voice recorder with Apple reliability and Alesis quality, this is for you. Last Friday, Alesis announced the new ProTrack iPod recording system. 

With this tool, you can slip in your iPod (2G or 3G Nano, 5G Video, and iPod Classic are supported), and, using either an included AC power adapter or AAA batteries, record away. From the Alesis Press Release:

ProTrack provides convenient, direct-to-iPod stereo digital recording to iPod in a portable, handheld form factor. Users can capture live audio anywhere and anytime with their iPod or iPod nano. ProTrack’s smart design integrates the iPod into the recorder, with included sleds to securely mount supported iPod models to the recorder.

As you can see from the quote, the ProTrack is mainly aimed at musicians, but the accessory could be used for any other type of recording need. The attachment includes a universal iPod dock, integrated microphones, LED indicators, and knobs for power, limiter and volume. No word on the price as of yet, and this one can be expected sometime later this year.

Via [Engadget]

SonicMood, an ambient music generator from Bit of Paradise, just got some great new features. The newest release, version 4.8.6, provides the user with refined software and a brand new service from Bit of Paradise: SonicMood MP3s. From the application, you can download either a 30 minute or 120 minute version of all 28 moods provided in the application.

You may think, “Ambient music. Oh, that’s nice.” But there is more to it then just noise. A recent study conducted by the American Society of Hypertension proved that listening to just 30 minutes of ambient music with a homogenous rhythm can “significantly reduce high blood pressure,” along with other health benefits, such as being a natural sleep aid. Another benefit to SonicMood over ambient music found on the web is that SonicMood’s music is generated “automagically.” Automagically is the term coined by Bits of Paradise for the algorithms that generate ambient music, making it so the user will never hear the same sequences twice. 

Other new features in 4.8.6 is shortened code, improved drag and drop functionality, and many other new features, some of them not visible to the user. SonicMood costs $12.95. 30 minute MP3s are $1.69 and 120 minute MP3s are $3.49. All are available from the SonicMood website.

Product [SonicMood]