Rhapsody, the digital love-child of Real Networks and MTV, is best known for its DRM'd subscription music service. As such, the globe's population of sheep-white-earbudded, sidewalk zombies have been completely off limits to its charms. Until today. While its DRM'd subscription deals remain in place, Rhapsody is now offering unprotected MP3 downloads via its Rhapsody MP3 store and via partners including Verizon's VCAST over-the-air service and Yahoo. We're talking 5 million DRM-free tracks (generally priced at $0.99 per song, $9.99 per album) from Indies and the four majors. Uniquely, all tracks can be previewed in full before downloading. Rhapsody VP, Neil Smith said, "We're no longer competing with the iPod, we're embracing it." Perhaps, but Rhapsody's planned $50 million marketing assault on iTunes with the help of MTV's TV networks doesn't exactly make them best of friends. We're not DRM-free across the industry yet (in fact, far from it), but things are certainly moving in that direction.

Update: Signup now with the Rhapsody MP3 store and get a $10 credit which can be applied to your first album.

[Via Reuters]

Are you ready for some football? How about full-length, live coverage of 24 NCAA bowl games. Sounds good, right? Just forget about big screen HDTV though, this is MediaFLO on your itty bitty cellphone display. Fanatics (in every sense of the word) will have access to games provided by ESPN Mobile TV, CBS Mobile and FOX Mobile through Verizon's V CAST Mobile TV. Unfortunately, none of the BCS Championship games will be available on the service. You will however have access to Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, the Meinke Car Care Bowl, and Papa John's.com bowl to name just a few. "Must see" games Verizon -- really?

Prepare to get your shine on VZW customers -- the LG VX8700 is up, pretty, and ready for purchase. As a wink-wink, nudge-nudge in the direction of LG's Shine branding, Verizon calls the new clamshell a "shiny new addition" to their LG lineup. No surprises on the specs: V Cast support, stereo Bluetooth, microSD expansion and 2 megapixel cam. Ink a 2-year deal and she's yours for $179.99 after $50 online discount. Now go get it, the first Shine has arrived Stateside and is exclusive to Verizon.

[Thanks, V-Doc and everyone who sent this in]

Just in case you missed it, Verizon launched its VCAST TV mobile television service today. We've had a pretty good idea March 1st was the special day for a couple weeks now, and while those coverage maps leaked yesterday sort of spoiled any remaining suspense you might've had about the launch, we just thought we'd give you one last reminder that you can start getting your MediaFLO on starting now -- if you're willing to fork over $13+ a month, and are lucky enough to live within the minimal coverage area, of course. Previous posts on the topic are below, just in case you missed 'em.

• Samsung u620, VCAST TV details go up on Verizon's site
• Verizon's VCAST TV launch maps, pricing
• Verizon's V CAST Mobile TV going live March 1st
• Verizon slips pricing details for Samsung U620
• VCAST TV launch tentatively set for March 1
• MobileESPN lives... on Verizon
• Verizon's VCAST TV launch in detail
• Verizon Samsung U620 loaded up with MediaFLO mobile TV

Nah, Verizon Wireless isn't snapping up Alltel just yet or anything, but the carrier is formally announcing its plans to launch its much-anticipated V CAST Mobile TV service right on schedule. The March 1st date that's been floating around is purportedly true, meaning there won't be any unforeseen delays in enjoying the mobile TV abilities of your forthcoming SCH-U620 or VX9400 -- if you're in a launch market, that is. Currently, the exact whereabouts of launch capabilities is a bit ambiguous, and curiously omitted are major markets such as "New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Las Vegas," but the provider reportedly plans to have a good deal of these "major markets" covered by the "end of Q1," or March 31st. The service will utilize Qualcomm's MediaFLO mobile TV network, which AT&T also plans on eventually using, and will offer up programming from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. Unfortunately, we're still in the dark in regard to an official pricing structure, but with only T-minus two days 'til kickoff, the remaining minutiae should surface soon enough.

MobileESPN is back from the dead sheriff, only this time as a zombied version of its former self. No longer an MVNO, the service for sportos is now limited exclusively to Verizon Wireless subscribers under a new multi-year deal. According to the AP, the deal is not yet finalized but should be announced sometime today with a service launch in "the coming months." And it's free for those of you already ponyed up for VZW's VCAST service and compatible phone. Verizon is also expected to announce later today that the ESPN channel on their MediaFLO-based VCAST TV service will feature much of the same programming you're already familiar with -- albeit, presumably in bite-sized chunks more suitable to TV on the go. This must be what the execs at Verizon had in mind when they passed on the iPhone. Braaaaains, give us your brains!

[Thanks, unfuccwittable]

Yeah, MediaFLO support is cool and all, but the SCH-U620 definitely felt like the "me-too" handset at today's Verizon press event; it just couldn't hold a candle to the LG VX9400's drop-dead good looks. 'Course, it was quite a bit smaller than the LG, and folks partial to the conventional slider form factor will feel more at home on this one. As with the VX9400 (and the service itself), pricing and availability are to be announced at a later date. Click on for some more shots.

It may not be Chocolate -- but in terms of style, the VX9400 isn't very far off. From the pictures, we'd thought that this was going to be one heavy, wide, unusable disaster of a handset, but we were dead wrong on every count. The phone can be used against the ear whether open or closed (obviously crucial for easy access to the keypad and quick taking of a call while watching TV), the pivot is smooth, and the glossy black top contrasts nicely with the silver bottom. The MediaFLO-based VCAST TV service, announced during the press conference today, is fully functional on the phone; we caught wind that Vegas and Seattle are fully live (among other markets) so it seems reasonable for Verizon to meet its goal of launching before the quarter's out. The video was smooth and quick to load, and the interactive guide (which loads via the FLO link) seemed well laid out. Click on for more pictures!

Well folks, we told you just over three weeks ago about "advanced talks" between Verizon and YouTube, and it looks like as of today, the two lovebirds have just tied the knot officially. with their joint service will launch next month. However, there are a couple of points to take stock of: first, it's exclusively on Verizon, which means it's going to run on V CAST -- costing you an extra $15 a month, that is, assuming you have a V CAST-capable handset. (According to one analyst, Roger Entner, only about 10 percent of Verizon's 20 million users with such phones have signed up for the service so far.) Second, Verizon's exclusivity is only going to be for "a short time," and it's more than likely that T-Mobile, Sprint, Cingular and friends have already been knocking at YouTube's door. Third, as you probably know, YouTube is a two-way street (you know, that whole "user-generated" thing we've been hearing so much about) and as such, Reuters is reporting that you'll be able to post videos directly from your handset with the use of a "five-digit short code instead of an email address." Finally, the Mercury News points out that you won't have access to all of YouTube, just what Verizon decides that you'll want via its proprietary YouTube channel. So that means you can probably forget about catching episodes of "Ask A Ninja" on your bus ride home. Still, diluted YouTube is better than no YouTube; we can almost hear thousands of freshly-bought VX9900s flipping open to check out the content already.

Read - Reuters
Read - San Jose Mercury News

Hang on to your handsets, fellas, because we've got a hot one that's just come over the transom. Verizon's going to be releasing a slider called the U620, which will come with VCAST Mobile TV, the rebranding of the MediaFLO mobile television service that is poised to go tête à tête with Vue. Beyond that, you've got some EV-DO data, stereo Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel cam, a MicroSD card slot, and speech-to-text voice recognition action up in there as well. While this scant info may just seem like a tease, it's all we've been able to glean from the depths of the interwebs for the time being -- as usual, we'll update as best we can.

Verizon seems to be throwing as many trendy extras as humanly possible into its (oftentimes overpriced) monthly add-on pool, and may now be nearing a deal with the video clip-broadcasting extraordinaire, YouTube. Not long after announcing a simplistic fee-based system to keep your contact list from being destroyed, Verizon Wireless "is in advanced talks" with YouTube in a deal that would bring the zany segments we all love to your very own mobile screen (and television, too). America's second-place carrier is looking to grab an edge in the marketing department as it hopes to "further its efforts to expand into internet and entertainment services." Under the terms being discussed, V CAST users would have access to YouTube videos for a currently undisclosed price, and Verizon reportedly hopes to "offer YouTube videos as an on-demand feature" while watching TV (FiOS anyone?). YouTube isn't selling the rest of its soul without caution, however, as the deal could end up being exclusive in nature, but only for a limited time. We'll keep you posted on how much "America's most reliable wireless network" plans on bumping your already overwhelming monthly bill should this deal go down.

With release dates galore, unboxing pics and of course a whole former life as Korea-only hawterness, you can understand if we're happy to be "done" with this one. Verizon has finally released LG's Chocolate phone, the VX8500. There's a mostly a dearth of surprises: sexy slider action in a 0.69-inch thick form factor, V Cast Music store support, 1.3 megapixel camera and some speedy EV-DO. The biggest news is that along with the release, Verizon is dropping the $15 monthly fee from their V Cast Music store, making downloads "only" cost the two buck fee for dual PC and phone downloads. So, if you haven't already bought one and sent us unboxing pics, you can pick up the $150 phone (after a $50 rebate) and be the coolest kid on your block for at least five seconds.

Read - Verizon launches Chocolate
Read - Verizon drops V Cast Music monthly fee

Last time we checked in on Motorola's V3m -- a slight music-centric update to the EV-DO V3c -- we weren't quite sure if this was going to Verizon or Sprint, but it looks like Verizon won out in the end, and are apparently going to be offering the handset for $150 with a 2-year contract. The phone features a MicroSD slot for music and video storage, and a 1.3 megapixel camera, but there doesn't seem to be a lot else new going on here. Music wise, the phone is designed to work with Verizon's V CAST music and video services, but we're not sure of codec support beyond those downloads (though MP3 seems a given and PlaysForSure is likely).

[Thanks, Ryan]

UPDATE:  OUR RSS FEED IS EXPERIENCING SOME DIFFICULTIES, BUT RATHER THAN CONTINUE TO WITHOLD THE PODCAST, WE'RE POSTING IT.  WE'RE WORKING ON IT, THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE!

On our second day of CES coverage we didn't exactly get much more sleep, but we did manage to have the best keynote coverage of anyone anywhere. Marc Perton, our resident keynote ninja, sits down with Peter to talk about his day spent with Moto, Dell, Samsung and Sony. Besides the keynotes, we pontificate on Verizon finally adding V CAST Music, SanDisk rocking two new MP3 players, and TiVo yanking a keynote at what looks like the last minute. Plus, Peter interviews Dell CEO Michael Dell (yeah, that Michael Dell). The Engadget podcast from CES is a-go!

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Hosts
Peter Rojas and Ryan Block

Producer
Randall Bennett

Music
J J J - Jobs that Require Headphones

Format
38:54, 17.8 MB, MP3

Program
03:33 TiVo announces the Series 3 DVR, but kills their press conference
05:20 Verizon VCAST Music
06:02 Sandisk intros new PMPs
07:09 Recap of Intel's keynote
16:17 Marc Perton on Sony's keynote
20:42 ... and on Michael Dell's Keynote
25:59 ... and on Samsung's press event
28:14 ... and also on Motorola's press event
33:09 Interview with Dell CEO Michael Dell

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