Prophecy

Subscription music's future, Part 1

Rhapsody launched the first high-profile subscription music service in December 2001, in the middle of a revolution. The first iPod had just hit the shelves, streaming Web radio sites like Live365.com were in full bloom, and the masses were just warming to the idea that they could preview and discover music online. A service like Rhapsody, which promised subscribers unlimited access to its growing music catalog, made music junkies salivate. It also pointed the way to a brave new world where people no longer needed physical or virtual media.

The future didn't go quite as planned, however. Because … Read more

Which XNA game do you want for Zune?

Microsoft's announcement at today's Game Developer's Conference made some waves in the gaming community, but for the growing faction of Zuneowners, it felt like an exciting glimpse into the product's future.

While Microsoft hasn't made any formal announcements regarding games coming to the Zune, they dropped a big hint today when they demonstrated a game developed using XNA Studio running on a Zune 80. Its a move that makes plenty of sense, considering that Apple has been slowly and steadily releasing games for the Zune's competitor, the iPod. Gaming on the Zune also capitalizes on a theme Microsoft already has some credibility with, by way of XBox 360.

We might not know when Microsoft will start releasing games for the Zune, or how much they will cost, but we have some idea of what types of games will be released. The following list of XNA games and descriptions is quoted from Microsoft's XBox 360 site (videos via YouTube):… Read more

Will iPod movie rentals take off?

From an iPod perspective, the biggest announcement from Macworld 2008 has to be iTunes video rentals. Beginning in February, those of you who own an iPhone, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, or 3G iPod Nano, will be able to rent and transfer movies from iTunes. iTunes movie rentals will be priced at $3.99 for new releases and $2.99 for older titles. While I'll have to wait and see how well renting movies in iTunes works, at first glance this looks like a huge win for the iPod.

Only a few competing MP3 players have dipped their toes into integrated video rental services. Specifically, the Archos line of portable video players and the Samsung YP-P2 have an arrangement with CinemaNow, which allows identically-priced movie rentals. While Apple might not be the first to pioneer DRM-protected movie rentals, no one has pulled it off at this scale. The built-in audience of iTunes users and iPod owners provides a staggering amount of leverage for Apple to completely change the way people rent and watch movies. But will it really stick?… Read more

Weird science: Lisa the foreplay robot

Could the next frontier of gadget interface design be modeled after female sexual arousal? Multimedia artists Matt Ganucheau, Kyle Machulis, and Kelly Moore have designed a female mannequin that uses strategically placed sensors to control audio playback. The mannequin, affectionately named Moaning Lisa, was unveiled at the recent Arse Elektronika conference, as part of a showcase of emerging erotic-based technology. While Lisa is currently programmed to only play a catalog of more than 200 female moans, her open-source architecture is capable of handling anything from an MP3 music library to advanced audio synthesis.

It may sound like Weird Science, but … Read more

Zune vs. Samsung

Welcome to my first post on the newly relaunched MP3 Insider blog. I'll be updating this blog regularly with MP3 player-related rants and predictions. If you're a fan of the MP3 Insider podcast I co-host with Jasmine France, you'll probably enjoy this blog as well. I wanted to start with something classy, but instead, let's get the ball rolling with a juicy product smackdown.

After having a day to reflect on Microsoft's latest Zune offering, I began to think that perhaps the iPod vs. Zune battle is a little too obvious. Whether the iPod's … Read more