Big news today for music fans. Apple today announced that in April 2009 the iTunes Music Store will begin offering music for 69¢, 99¢, and $1.29 per individual track (most albums will still sell for $9.99). However, the bigger news in my opinion is that Apple is expanding their DRM-free iTunes Plus library (encoded at 256-Kbps AAC) to 8 million songs from their store’s total 10 million tracks. The last 2 million songs are planned to be available by March 2009. What’s more, all iTunes users can update their entire library with one-click to the higher quality DRM-free tracks at 30¢ a piece (or 30% of the album price). On the iPhone front, owners will be happy to learn that they can purchase songs – at the same price and quality – over their cellular 3G network as they have via Wi-Fi. MORE »

The day all you iPhone and Slingbox owners have been waiting for has just about arrived. Sling Media will be demonstrating a version of the SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone at Macworld this week, which the company says should be available in iTunes the first quarter of 2009. Also on display will be the new SlingPlayer for Mac HD that will allow Slingbox PRO-HD users to stream HD content to their desktop or laptop. Interestingly, the new SlingPlayer is a web-based application that’s only accessible via Sling.com. Additional details are provided below. MORE »

A new study from international research firm Parks Associates finds consumer demand for networking features will drive the next wave of consumer electronics purchasing, particularly for imaging and mobile devices such as digital cameras, photo frames, and mobile phones. Digital Media Evolution, a new survey from Parks Associates, finds nearly 50% of U.S. broadband households want a digital camera with networking capabilities, with nearly 40% similarly interested in a networked digital photo frame. MORE »

Admittedly, it’s been a while since we’ve covered any portable media player (PMP) products on this site. This is mostly due to the fact that the segment has been fairly stagnant over the past year – not to mention… smartphones from Apple, Nokia, HTC, etc. of late have been eating away at their market share. In any case, Cowon has recently launched their latest and greatest PMP called the Cowon S9 that’s sure to impress the most discerning of users. The S9 does everything a traditional PMP can do, but packs one of the most kick-butt touch interfaces that we’ve seen in a while. On top of that, the S9 is an extremely capable device that can play just about every codec you can throw at it. Some of the more noteable features inlcude: audio recording via external mic or line in, A/V out, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP / AVRCP profile for pairing wireless headphones or A2DP stereo audio receivers, 3.3-inch display (16 million colors @ 480×272), 500Mhz P3 processor, 16GB flash memory card capacity, cross-compatibility with Windows / Mac / Linux, and a heck of a long lasting lithium polymer battery giving users approximately 11 hours of video viewing or 55 hours of music playback. If you’re interested, Amazon is shipping it for $239. The only CONS I see is that the S9 doesn’t support H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC or include Wi-Fi for Internet browsing like many of the cutting edge PMPs do.

In an effort to provide Niveus Media Server and Niveus Storage Server – Cargo Edition owners a higher end movie experience, Niveus Media has integrated the ability for people to download HD quality feature films from HDGIANTS’ movie collection directly through the company’s Niveus Movie Library application. The Niveus Movie Library, for those unfamiliar, is a proprietary movie management application that aggregates and displays stored — and now… available — movies along with high-res cover art and detailed metadata. According to the press release attached below, all movies downloaded from the service will be accessible from the system they were downloaded to as well as Media Center Extenders and other network PCs. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing for each HD title, but a preview of the selection can be viewed here.

CORRECTION: Just got an email from Niveus stating the following: “The movies are not downloaded via Niveus Movie Library (or any medium for that matter). The customer orders the movie package from the dealer and HDGIANTS sends the dealer a hard drive with the content. The dealer then loads the content onto the customer’s server and it is integrated into the Movie Library.” Sorry, folks. The press release gave me a different impression after reading it. However, now that we’re getting clarification on how the process works… too bad it’s not the case as previously thought (in regards to downloading HD movies directly through the Niveus Movie Library application).

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I know… I know… you’ve all seen plenty of iPod adapters for transmitting audio to a nearby stereo wirelessly. Well, Audioengine thinks they have a compelling product that beats most anything out there. Why? For two reasons mainly: 1) the company uses a proprietary 802.11 technology that seeks out unused 2.4Ghz subchannels to provide lossless audio fidelity at a range up to 30ft, 2) the Audioengine W2 sender adapter (the unit that connects directly to your iPod) can be paired and function with up to 8 separate receiver units throughout the home. In addition, the Audioengine W2 receiver has been designed to be powered by its included AC adapter or via USB. The sender, on the other hand, is powered directly from the iPod and only uses as much power as required to maintain a clear audio connection. The Audioengine W2 is available now and retails for $169. MORE »

Ok. So I’m a little puzzled and intrigued by what the Neuros LINK is supposed to be exactly. A quick once over reveals that Neuros is intent on jumping on the Internet TV bandwagon by releasing a set-top capable of providing access to content from popular online video portals like Hulu, YouTube, Fancast, NBC, CNN, CBS, and others. The kicker is they’re following ZeeVee’s Zviewer approach by offering a custom browser-based content portal to navigate media from the various providers; BUT the system is also being bundled with a slew of popular free open-source software (MPlayer, VLC, Xine) on top a full installation of Ubuntu 8.10! As you can imagine, the potential of this living room friendly, HD capable $300 box is seemingly endless — if you’re comfortable playing in the Linux environment. (Something tells me we’ll be seeing users installing Boxee on here in no time.) Full specs below | ZNF Photo Gallery: Unboxing & Setup. MORE »

It’s obvious the Marantz IS301 Wireless iPod Dock is going to be the next must-have device for iPod owners here in the U.S., if we can convince Marantz to import their uber A/V device to us next. Here’s why: users get a a stand alone dock that accepts all iPod models (sans the iPhone 3G for some reason) and transmits its audio and video feed wirelessly to a separate TV/Stereo receiver unit up to 32 feet away (provides RCA, S-Video, Component outputs). What’s more, the dock can pair with a Bluetooth A2DP compatible cellphone and playback a user’s selected media directly from the handset. According to the company’s press release, the Marantz IS301 will hit Japan in January ‘09 and retail for ¥26,250 ($271 USD). [via]

Now here’s a music subscription model I can endorse! Microsoft is announcing that it has made agreements with major and independent music labels to offer unlimited, on-demand access to its subscription music service, Zune Pass, for $14.99 per month. But the best part… each month subscribers will get to KEEP 10 tracks to add to their permanent collection at no additional charge. What’s more, according to the company’s press release (attached below), Zune will soon have 90% of its music collection available in DRM-free MP3 format. MORE »

Ian Dixon over at TheDigitalLifestyle.com has posted a video demo of Windows 7 (PDC build) running on his old Samsung Q1 UMPC. Surprisingly, Windows 7 is running quite snappy (admittedly with some technical issues) and only used about 650MB of system memory while in operation. Ian comments that when Vista was installed the whole system was just sluggish – testament that Windows 7 is far superior and more streamlined than Windows Vista.