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nuTsie brings iTunes to your mobile… sort of

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nutsie.jpgMelodeo has introduced nuTsie, a new service which lets you stream iTunes music from your home computer (sort of – read on) to your compatible wireless mobile phone. The beta of nuTsie is currently free.

nuTsie, assuming it survives what will probably be an Apple lawsuit soon, says it lets you enjoy “hi-fi quality music” and offers you the ability to shuffle your iTunes playlists and songs from your phone. The way it works is that you export the metadata about your iTunes music collection and upload that data to the online service. nuTsie “compares the list of the songs in your iTunes library and playlists with all the music already stored on nuTsie’s Web servers, and then streams those same songs to your mobile phone. It plays all the songs in a shuffle mode. nuTsie pays the artists and recording industry based on your listening to their music.”

What’s interesting to note about this service is that it does not in fact stream your iTunes music collection from your home computer, which gives you the ability to enjoy music even if your PC is turned off. The potential major downside of all of this is that if you have a lot of fringe music in your collection you may not be able to enjoy it if it doesn’t exist on nuTsie’s servers.

A social element also exists with nuTsie in that you can share your music tastes and playlists with friends through a Web page. Melodeo hopes to expand this sharing to your mobile soon.

Originally posted on June 5, 2007 @ 1:37 pm

Apple iTunes Plus starts selling DRM-free digital tracks from EMI

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iTunes PlusApple Inc begins selling unprotected digital music from EMI Group Plc on its iTunes store, an event that will most likely set the trend for music businesses online.

This came about when Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs requested EMI, Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music to allow them to take off the digital rights management (DRM) restriction from iTunes tracks sometime February, as it prevents people from playing songs on mediums other than the iPod. Among the four top-selling music labels, EMI took the first step and partnered with Apple as they launched iTunes Plus, providing DRM-free tracks at $1.29 apiece, with better sound quality than regular copyright-protected songs that are priced at 99 cents per download.

To start off, iTunes Plus’ DRM-free roster includes songs from Coldplay, The Rolling Stone, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Pink Floyd, and several Paul McCartney’s classic albums.

With this new setup, Apple projects to sell more than half of the 5 million DRM-free songs on iTunes by the end of the year.

Originally posted on May 30, 2007 @ 2:33 pm

Apple to bring Youtube on Apple TV

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Youtube on AppleStarting mid-June, Apple TV users will be able to watch Youtube videos directly from their tube, Apple announced. Youtube members can log on to their accounts right from their televisions and enjoy this free software update that comes in a video-streaming set-up box. Along with this, users can also play videos and movies stored in their iTunes wirelessly with Apple TV.

“This is the first time users can easily browse, find and watch YouTube videos right from their living room couch, and it’s really, really fun,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “YouTube is a worldwide sensation, and Apple TV is bringing it directly from the Internet onto the widescreen TV.”

With the recent launch of the iTunes Plus, which allows people to download tracks without copy-protection, and now, this Youtube integration, Apple could have copyright issues looming in the horizon. Viacom Inc, MTV Networks owner, who once sued Youtube for “massive intentional copyright infringement” after seeing thousands of their copyrighted videos streaming in Youtube without permission, said that they would welcome the opportunity to license their content to Apple.

Apple also announced that Apple TV will soon be available with 160 gigabyte hard drive, for better viewing and storage.

Originally posted on May 30, 2007 @ 10:28 pm

Apple retail stores ban MySpace

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applestore.jpgApple confirmed that it has blocked access to MySpace in its retail stores. Their reasoning is straight and simple: “Nearly 2 million people visit Apple stores every week. We want to provide everyone a chance to test-drive a Mac, so we are no longer offering access to MySpace in our stores,” a statement from Apple said.

An Apple store employee told CNET that “MySpace is a big issue for the Apple stores because people come in, Photobooth themselves (using Macs’ built-in webcams), then stick their picture up on their MySpace account and loiter at machines for hours.”

Originally posted on May 26, 2007 @ 9:15 am