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Apple deleted users' non-iTunes music and didn't tell them about it
Long before Apple was shoehorning the latest from U2 into your iTunes account, it was deleting songs originating from rival services. Tell us if this sounds familiar: You grabbed Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster from Amazon MP3 in 2009, threw it in your iTunes library, went to sync your 160GB iPod classic and got an error message saying you needed to restore the device's factory settings. According to The Wall Street Journal, upon restoring, non-iTunes music would disappear. In the courtroom for the anti-trust case, prosecuting attorney Patrick Coughlin said that Apple directed the software to not tell users about their now-missing songs, too. Cupertino countered by saying that its actions were to thwart any attempts at hacking into iTunes and that users were kept in the dark for a reason. As security director Augustin Farrugia testified: "We don't need to give users too much information... We don't want to confuse users."
iTunes maintains its music download dominance as Amazon plays catch-up
Nearly 10 years after the iTunes Music Store first opened up for business, iTunes remains the market leader in digital music downloads. According to a research report published by the NPD Group earlier this week, iTunes accounted for approximately 63 percent of all digital music downloads in 2012. Trailing behind is AmazonMP3 with a somewhat respectable 22 percent share. While Amazon has a ways to go before even getting close to Apple, the world's largest online retailer has been making significant gains in that regard. In 2011, Amazon's share of the digital music download market checked in at 15 percent, representing a solid 50 percent increase year over year. "Since the launch of Apple's iTunes store, digital music downloads have become the dominant revenue source for the recorded music industry and iTunes continues to be the dominant retailer," said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD. "There's a belief that consumers don't need to buy music because of streaming options, when in fact streamers are much more likely than the average consumer to buy music downloads." The report adds that 44 million Americans downloaded a digital song or album last year. To help contextualize the raging success that is the iTunes Music Store, Apple in early February announced that consumers had downloaded over 25 billion songs. That averages out to about 15,000 songs downloaded per minute. The iTunes Music Store currently offers over 26 million songs to choose from and is available in 119 countries.
Amazon MP3 adds Ford SYNC support for Android, makes you vocalize your bad taste
If we're being honest, many of you probably won't care too much about the latest update to Amazon MP3 for Android. Why? Well, the big new feature is Ford SYNC support, and we're pretty sure that a majority of cars on the road aren't packing the in-dash infotainment system yet. But, it is still quite a popular feature in new Ford vehicles and there's definitely a healthy number of drivers out there eager to put their Amazon music collection just a voice command away while they toil away in rush hour traffic. Version 2.8 of the app also includes the requisite bug fixes and a tweaked store that displays more search results. But we know all you really care about is the ability to tell your car to "play Usher" without feeling judged. Time to celebrate.
Alcatel One Touch Shockwave reaches US Cellular, takes your bumps and scrapes for $50
Those of us picking budget smartphones in the US seldom have the choice of a toughened smartphone, and it's even more of a challenge when we're not signed on to one of the top four carriers. US Cellular is offering the cost-conscious a (hardened) olive branch by shipping the Alcatel One Touch Shockwave. Skip past the creaky Android 2.3, 800MHz processor, 3.2-megapixel camera and 3.5-inch, 480 x 320 display -- a shock- and water-resistant shell as well as Dragontrail-based glass should keep the smartphone working through most forms of casual abuse. We also don't mind having preloaded Amazon Appstore and media apps, although the frugal 2GB microSD card in the box won't leave much room for any downloading. We'd at least keep the Shockwave on the short list when the $50 price and long-lasting design will leave ample funds for just about everything else.
Amazon rumored clinching major labels for cloud music rights, iTunes Match feels the heat
When we last checked in, Amazon was thought to finally be pushing for full music rights in its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services. It might be a smooth operator at the negotiating table: subsequent tips to CNET maintain that the top four major labels (a currently-independent EMI as well as Sony, Universal and Warner) have all signed deals that will let Amazon offer the same scan-and-match music downloads and streaming as Apple's iTunes Match. The pacts would let Amazon offer access to every song a listener owns without having to directly upload each track that wasn't bought directly from Amazon MP3. Aside from closing a conspicuous gap, the deal could end a whole lot of acrimony from labels who were upset that Amazon preferred a free-but-limited service over having to charge anything. The online shop hasn't said anything official yet (if at all), but any signatures on the dotted line will leave Google Music as the odd man out.
Download Amazon MP3s in Terminal with clamz
If you've ever wanted to download Amazon MP3s via Terminal or over ssh, or ever found yourself unable to use the "Amazon MP3 Downloader.app" then I have good news for you: there is another way. The problem Amazon's MP3 Store annoys me to no end. I love the deals that they occasionally offer, but in order to download the files, you have to download the Amazon MP3 Downloader. Inside that dmg file is an installer application that doesn't use the normal .pkg format. The special installer failed to install the application on my Mac. I managed to install it manually (as well as the plugin that needs to be installed to "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/"), but then the application kept crashing after each song. So, to recap, Amazon doesn't use the standard package installer, and their installer failed to work; and they don't use normal downloads, and their non-standard downloader failed to work. This is why you should stick to standards -- they've been better tested for a lot longer than your "roll your own" solution. Stop reinventing the wheel. The ".amz" file that you download from Amazon is an XML file which includes a download URL, but you can't access that URL to download the music directly. I was all ready to start sniffing TCP headers and try to figure out what special headers the Amazon MP3 Downloader.app uses, when the same thought occurred to me: "Don't reinvent the wheel." The solution I was able to find the solution on Google code, specifically at http://code.google.com/p/clamz/ which is described as "is a little command-line program to download MP3 files from Amazon.com's music store." Side note: I needed to install 'libgcrypt' in order to get clamz to build, which I did using Homebrew simply by typing brew install libgcrypt (assuming you already have brew and Xcode installed). The clamz page also mentions libcurl and libexpat, but those were already installed on my Mac. Once I had the necessary libraries installed, installation of clamz was as simple as the instructions on its homepage: Then I just had to get a "fresh" .amz file from Amazon. To do that, I went to the Amazon Cloud Player, clicked the checkbox at the top to select all my music (see #1 below) and then clicked "Download" (see #2 below): Note that if you have more songs than will fit on one page, you may have to do this repeatedly for each "page". I only have 230 songs in my Amazon Cloud Player. That downloaded new ".amz" file on my computer called "Amazon-MP3-1321140421.amz" (yours will be named something similar but different). Then I ran this command simple command: clamz --output-dir=~/Music/ ~/Downloads/Amazon-MP3-1321140421.amz and watched with sheer delight as clamz downloaded all of my Amazon music files. I accidentally closed my MacBook Air before it was finished, but was able to resume the download simply by adding the --resume flag: clamz --resume --output-dir=~/Music/ ~/Downloads/Amazon-MP3-1321140421.amz When it finishes, you can delete the .amz file, as the links it contains will expire anyway. You can always download another one later. Thanks, Internet This simply would not have been possible without the help of the open source community, both the developer behind clamz (Benjamin Moody) and the awesome folks behind Homebrew. After I finished using clamz I also found pymazon, but I'm not sure if that works on Mac. Since I criticized Amazon's non-standard downloader, someone might say "Well, iTunes is a non-standard downloader, too!" That's a valid point. If I had been trying to download from iTunes and it failed to work, I would not have been so fortunate to find an open source solution.
YouTube 'Merch Store' makes your artist channel a one-stop shop for the groupie goodies
Know what beats selling CDs (or USB sticks) and swag out of the trunk of your struggling band's party wagon? Striking a deal with Google to pitch those wares on the interwebs, that's what. Rolling out to official YouTube partners over the next few weeks, the newly created Merch Store will offer fans from all across the globe an opportunity to purchase MP3s, tickets for concerts and gatherings, and, of course, merchandise straight from your dedicated page. Helping ol' Mountain View make these coffer-filling goodies available are a handful of established online retailers like Amazon, iTunes, Songkick and Topspin. So, if you just can't wait for the Rebecca Black arena rock tour to blitz through your small town, keep clicking refresh on that artist channel for the inevitable slew of merchandising, merchandising.
Ad-supported Kindle 4 has built-in $30 "upgrade", gets rid of embedded special offers
Was it too cheap? Well, here's some great news for fourth-generation Kindle users already tiring of its embedded ads looking cheap alongside their Vertu phones. You can now pay Amazon the requisite fee and unsubscribe from built-in advertising and offers. Visit the Manage your Kindle webpage and you can edit your subscriptions for the newest entry-level e-reader. There seems to be no option, however, to do the reverse just yet. Would Amazon hand over $30 to push those special offers into our currently ad-free Kindle?
Amazon Kindle (2011) impressions
Price was one of the recurring themes at today's Amazon event in New York City, and nowhere was that factor more present than with the new Kindle. At $79, this truly is an entry level device, and certainly the company made some sacrifices to hit that price point -- most obviously, the reader doesn't have the touchscreen featured in both the Kindle Touch and the latest Nook and Kobo devices -- though like those products, the Kindle did lose its physical keyboard, giving it a much smaller footprint than the last generation. In place of the infrared touchscreen are a series of buttons: Home, Menu, Keyboard and Back. In the middle is a toggle button that lets the user scroll through menus -- that activity can be performed pretty quickly with the physical buttons, and flipping through pages is not problem with the familiar buttons on either side of the screen. Where one really misses the presence of touch, however, is with the on-screen keyboard -- typing is performed by clicking one's way through the virtual keyboard, a familiar task for anyone who has ever entered their name at the beginning of a video game with a console controller. Of course, typing is a secondary task on a device like this, so for many users this may not be a deal-breaker. For those who foresee the need for such functionality, however, $20 will buy you an upgrade to the Kindle Touch.%Gallery-135083%
HTC EVO 3D review
The first time we saw the rumored Supersonic we were blown away. HTC and Google had just wowed us with the Nexus One, and here we were looking at something even better -- a 4.3-inch phone with WiMAX wrapped in a white body. This prototype was buggy and had abysmal battery life, but it was real. Four months later it landed in our hands at Google I/O. We're of course talking about the EVO 4G which went on to become a runaway hit for HTC and Sprint as the first ever 4G smartphone in the US. And here we are a year later with the HTC EVO 3D, the legitimate heir to Sprint's mobile kingdom -- at least until the Motorola Photon 4G comes along. When we first played with the 3D-capable handset at CTIA we were suitably impressed, but we left with a lot of unanswered questions. How do the 1.2GHz dual core processor and qHD display affect battery life? Is 3D a compelling feature or just a gimmick? What is 2D camera performance like with the lower specced camera? Is the EVO 3D a worthy replacement for the EVO 4G? Find out in our review after the break. %Gallery-126409%
Amazon launches 69-cent MP3 store for chart-toppers
Those with more obscure tastes may not find much to their liking, but we're guessing Amazon's latest move to sway customers from a certain other music store will please plenty of folks. The company's just launched a new $0.69 section on its website, which offers best-selling tracks for (you guessed it) 69 cents apiece. That's down from $0.89 before, which already had iTunes handily beat in terms of pricing -- Apple is still asking $1.29 for many of the same songs. Hit up the source link below to check out the current chart-topping singles available.
Amazon MP3 app hits BlackBerry phones
It may not quite be enough to bring non-BlackBerry users into the fold, but RIM has finally scored one long awaited coup to keep its current users happy -- it's just announced that the Amazon MP3 application is now available for download from the BlackBerry App World. While still technically in beta, the app will let you purchase and download music both over WiFi and over the air, and it includes plenty of BlackBerry-specific functionality, including sharing via BBM in addition to the usual social networking features, and full integration with BlackBerry's Universal Search and Media Library. Hit up the link below for a closer look, or simply download it yourself to try it out first hand -- it is free, after all.
DoJ making preliminary inquiries into Apple's music endeavors while iTunes dominance continues
It's all just noise right now, but the United States Justice Department is purportedly having a "very preliminary conversation" with Apple regarding the company's music business, wondering in particular if anything it's doing (or has done) would violate antitrust legislation. According to unnamed sources familiar with the situation, DoJ staff seem most interested in whether or not Apple's dominance in the market enabled it to unfairly prevent Amazon's music service from exclusively debuting new songs. Beyond that, details of the investigation are few and far between, but it's coincidentally coming down on Cupertino when its iTunes numbers are on the up and up. The latest NPD research figures show that over a quarter of the music purchased within the US is now procured through iTunes -- 28 percent, if you're looking for specifics, which is up 4 percentage points from Q1 2009. Meanwhile, Amazon has pulled into a tie with Walmart for second place, which may or may not coerce Wally World to ditch its morals and finally start stocking that uncensored version of My World 2.0.
Leaked Dell Streak flyer shows multitude of color options, confirmed specifications
There's no denying that the Mini 5 is real, but up until now, we've had to provide all of our own promotional material. At long last, it seems as if the suits in Round Rock are finally getting around to crafting the first advertisements for the upcoming slate, and while we knew about the 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, capacitive touch front buttons, front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting) and the 30-pin docking connector, we weren't aware of Dell's plans to reveal a slew of vivacious color options. If this here flyer proves legitimate, we could eventually see the Mini 5 available in an array of premium finishes and hues (thanks, Design Studio!), and we're hoping for a few different spec builds as well. So, are you opting for the pink, or are you crossing your fingers in hopes that Dell allows you to print that embarrassing shot of you and Mr. T on the rear of one? Update: Oh, snap! We just landed a few more official slides from an internal Dell document, and it's safe to say that the company is going to call this beauty the Streak. Or, at least that's the internal codename. Better still, it looks as if it'll launch with an Amazon content partnership, which will bring a Kindle e-book reader app, Amazon MP3, Amazon video streams and pretty much any other material that Amazon sells in digital form right to the slate. C'mon now -- how's about a ship date and a price? %Gallery-87842%
Amazon MP3 swings open doors to UK in Android 2.1
Direct access to Amazon's MP3 store from Android is old hat for American customers -- it's been preloaded on the time-weathered G1 since day one -- but it's still a foreign concept for users in a host of other countries, notably the UK where they've been enjoying Google's platform for nearly as long as the Yankees have. That looks poised to change, though, with the introduction of Android 2.1 now that Brits running Nexus Ones have played around with their handsets long enough to discover that the Amazon MP3 app is preloaded and quoting prices in -- yes, you guessed it -- pounds sterling. There's yet to be official word from Amazon on the matter so it's unclear whether pre-2.1 phones will ultimately be able to get in on the action -- but in the meantime, anyone desperate for access had better cobble up the quid for a Nexus import.
DoubleTwist now powered by Amazon MP3 store
Here's the choice promised by DVD Jon last week: Amazon MP3. Doubletwist is now powered by Amazon's 5 million strong music store in support of its vision to connect consumers with all their media across any device. The interface is bare-bones simple to navigate (no apps, TV shows, or Movies to clutter the experience) as you preview and purchase music with your Amazon credentials -- tracks are downloaded into your doubleTwist library where they can be synced with BlackBerry or Android handsets, the Palm Pre, PSP or hundreds of other devices. Amazon access is only available to US users from the Mac-only software at the moment. A PC version is "coming soon" along with more country support. See it in action after the break.
Palm Pre User Guide: the highlights, so far
When word that Sprint Gurus had gotten hold of the Palm Pre User Guide came across our desks yesterday, we couldn't wait to get our eyes all over it... and then we saw that it was almost as long as Infinite Jest. Okay, we kid, it's not as bad as all that -- just 344 pages of heretofore unseen glorious tidbits. So here's what we've culled thus far: first, the Pre's main musical squeeze, Amazon MP3, will queue your music downloads when on the 3G network for later download when the device is on a WiFi network -- which is sure to cause annoyance and dismay the whole world over (and by "world" we mean the Pre's world, which is US only). There is however, plenty of good news: the Pre will, in fact have IMAP IDLE (AKA Push) Gmail capabilities, meaning that you'll get your spam nearly the moment it hits Gmail's servers. Finally, the previously spied Reminder field in the Pre's Contacts has been found out, and it's a really awesome feature allowing you to make a note and attach it to a particular contact, so that the next time you are in contact with that person, the reminder will pop up and... remind you. For anyone suffering mild memory loss (like us) little touches like this are sure to make the Pre a more attractive proposition. Hit the read link for the full manual, and let us know what you find. Warning: the user's manual is a PDF, and has an insanely huge Sprint Gurus watermark across every blasted page. [Via Pre Central, My Pre]
Advantageous mp3 simplifies Amazon comparison shopping
The most recent iTunes update introduced variable priced, with many popular tracks now priced at $1.29. Needless to say, this makes Amazon MP3's 99 cent tracks that much more attractive. Advantageous mp3 is a little script and application combo that makes comparison shopping between iTunes and Amazon a snap.Basically the Advantageous installer adds both an AppleScript to iTunes and a small application to your Mac. When you're browsing in the iTunes Store if you invoke the script from iTunes script menu in the menubar it will start the little application and search for the track in Amazon (via your default browser). It's not perfectly reliable (for instance, it didn't work with Choosy as my default browser and it messes up some searches), but it is a convenient way to surf for music in iTunes but take advantage of lower prices at Amazon. So now you can do to Apple what you've been doing to Barnes & Noble!Advantageous mp3 is a free download from Robert Palmer.[via Engadget]
PSA: Advantageous auto-checks Amazon MP3 pricing from iTunes
So now that iTunes variable pricing is live, cross-shopping with Amazon is going to be a Thing -- and while we're certain slicker utilities will pop up soon, for right now we'd install Advantageous, which is just a little script that automates an Amazon search query from within iTunes. Yeah, it's not perfect -- it fails if you're logged in with iTunes store credit and it's far from bulletproof otherwise -- but it's a fine way to at least have kids or the less computer-savvy stop and check prices with at least one competitor before laying down an extra thirty cents on each purchase. This is has been a public service announcement... with guitars.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read - Advantageous for WindowsRead - Advantageous for Mac
iTunes Store now infected with variable pricing, Amazon still $0.99
As promised, variable pricing has now been implemented at the iTunes music store. Already, we're seeing most of the top 10 singles and 33 of the top 100 hitting the top price-point of $1.29 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps AAC). Interesting as Amazon's uncomfortably similar top 10 list has all these tracks priced at $0.99 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps VBR MP3). A handful of tracks (nine in the top 100) do hit the higher $1.29 price further down Amazon's list. Now, if you believe Steve (someone who originally postured against this price structure), then it appears that the music labels are charging Apple more for the rights to sell its music than Amazon based on this quote attributed to Jobs in the Apple press release from January: in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points-69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29-with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29. Regardless, we know where we'll be purchasing our Miley Cyrus from now on. [Thanks, Jesse]Read -- January "Changes Coming to the iTunes Store" press releaseRead -- iTunes top songs [Warning: iTunes App link]Read -- Amazon top songs
