MP3

Gone are the days when you had to haul expensive, large equipment to a wedding or party to crank out the tunes. Now that music has gone digital, you just need your computer and an expansive MP3 playlist. And with Virtual DJ, you can mix and scratch your tunes like a professional to be the life of the party.

Now, we don't have a lot of experience with DJ software, but we think it speaks to Virtual DJ's smart design that we were able to immediately drag and drop a track to play. The program immediately pulled our … Read more

YouTube hosts millions of free videos, including tons of tunes; so much that it's sometimes easier to download and save your favorites. You have many choices when it comes to free tools that can do the job. One of the best we've seen is MP3 Rocket, a tool that can search for, find, download, convert, and save video and music files from YouTube. It handles most video formats, including HD, and audio formats, too. It also shows online TV programming, plays 'Net radio, and even accesses lots of games.

MP3 Rocket's tabbed interface involves an integrated media … Read more

In the past week, CNET has reviewed three separate media devices, each costing $300, and one of them was a television. And guess what: the TV wasn't terrible.

The three products were the TCL L40FHDP60 ($309), the 3M Streaming Projector ($299), and the Apple iPod Touch ($299). Seeing them all together got me thinking: which one of these would I actually buy if I had the money? Is there something else I'd rather do with my $300?

Until we find out whether the Apple iPad Mini exists, I cast the net out a bit farther and two other … Read more

With Apple's new round of iPods comes a fresh round of questions about the usefulness of dedicated MP3 players. Smartphones these days can all hold a decent amount of MP3s and we carry them with us wherever we go. Do we need a portable device just for music?

The excitement surrounding new iPods is a fraction of that surrounding new iPhones, but Apple keeps dutifully updating the line with new colors, shapes, and capabilities. There are still plenty of other MP3 players from other brands available, too.

I have an old-generation iPod Touch that sits in an alarm clock … Read more

Feeling a touch of terror as the dentist moves the drill closer to your face? Perhaps some tunes emanating from the tool will assuage your anxiety.

That's the idea behind Dr. Dhanni Gustiana's musical drill. The dentist from Java, Indonesia, modified a regular dental drill to play MP3s instead of its usual ominous high-pitched buzzing. The drill even takes requests, though I'd highly recommend staying away from Slayer or Cannibal Corpse. … Read more

We have to admit that it had been years since we used RealPlayer, and we weren't quite sure what to expect from this version. Nor were we particularly excited about trying it out; we have a media player already, thank you, and what could RealPlayer possibly do that we hadn't already seen before? Quite a lot, it turns out. In addition to managing and playing your media, it can also download and convert videos, keep certain content private, and more.

RealPlayer has a sleek and intuitive interface that opened with a page touting its latest features. After a … Read more

Being a cheapskate can get expensive. If you're anything like me, you're intimately acquainted with the phrase, "too good a deal to pass up." And so you end up spending a lot in order to save a lot. Oh, the cruel irony.

Today, I'm going help you get a lot without spending a lot. I've rounded up three pretty sweet deals, and the most you'll pay for any of them is two bits. (That's 25 cents for those of you not familiar with old-timey vernacular.)

1. 25-cent Android apps.

To help celebrate … Read more

Imagine you just got a shiny new Mac computer, and you'd like to transfer all your music from your MP3 player to it. Unfortunately, iTunes can't do that, but that is where Senuti comes into the picture. The application's simple interface will handle the process and copy your files within minutes.

While Senuti's basic interface is easy enough to follow, it's a good idea to take a few minutes to read the online Getting Started guide to make sure you don't inadvertently erase your iPod's library. For the record, selecting "Prevent auto-syncing … Read more

Like clockwork, Apple never fails to refresh its iPod lineup every fall. In recent years, though, one can't help but notice that the ritualized iPod unveiling has lost some of its gusto compared with the fanfare surrounding the iPhone and iPad.

Still, Apple remains the top manufacturer of portable media players. Those of us old enough to remember the "iPod wars" that occurred nearly a decade ago can attest to the fact that Apple's tenacity in making the world's most popular MP3 player laid the groundwork for the success of the iPhone (pour one out for the Zune, friends). Apple may have moved on to bigger, better products, but maintaining its dominance in the diminishing world of MP3 players is just good housekeeping.

And so, the 2012 Apple iPod lineup offers a mix of new and old.… Read more