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Google to launch MP3 store in coming weeks?
Details are still scarce here, but the New York Times is reporting that Google is about to launch a new MP3 store, as part of its ongoing foray into the music business. According to sources within the industry, the platform, not surprisingly, would be directly linked to Google Music Beta and may launch within the next few weeks -- perhaps even before Apple unveils iTunes Match, at the end of this month. It remains to be seen, however, whether Big G will be able to finalize negotiations with record labels and publishers before launching the initiative in earnest -- a potentially major hurdle, considering Google's recent track record. As you may recall, previous negotiations over a proposed locker-type storage service ultimately broke down earlier this year, amid concerns over licensing and illegal file-sharing. As one label executive told the Times, the recording industry desperately wants to "make sure the locker doesn't become a bastion of piracy." An MP3 store, of course, isn't exactly a radical proposal, but its future will likely hinge upon Google's ability to mend relations with a sector it recently characterized as "unreasonable and unsustainable."
iTunes Match not coming to the UK until 2012?
Music collectors in the US will be able to subscribe to Apple's iTunes Match service this fall, but it looks like our friends across the pond will have to wait a little longer before lofting their libraries up to the cloud. According to sources within the British recording industry, licensing negotiations between Apple and the country's major labels have only just begun and likely won't be concluded until 2012. A spokesman for the Performing Right Society, an organization that protects the rights of musicians and songwriters, likened the situation to the launch of iTunes, which only spread to international markets some 14 months after launching in the US. Speaking to the Telegraph, Forrester Research vice president Mark Mulligan echoed these predictions, while offering some insight into the industry's approach: "Apple's cloud music service will not launch in the UK until at least quarter one of 2012. These types of negotiations take a long time... For one thing the UK arms of all the major record labels are biding their time and waiting to see how the service affects download sales in the US before they sign up to anything." Neither Apple nor any of the major labels have commented on the negotiations, but if things drag on we'd be willing to share our cloudy iTunes in exchange for a crack at Spotify.
CTIA sues San Francisco over cellphone radiation law
San Francisco may have signed cellphone radiation labels into law, but the stickers won't stick without a fight -- the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA) just filed a complain in federal district court, claiming the new law supersedes the FCC's authority to regulate radio emissions and misleads consumers into believing some phones are safer than others. As we've discussed previously, the CTIA does have something of a point. Every phone that makes it to market is rigorously tested for cell phone radiation levels, and those that pass fall below a specific 1.6 watt per kilogram threshold already. But hey, we're all for bombarding our brains with that much less radiation, as long as our calls stay connected and our text messages arrive on time. If only there were a label for that... Read the CTIA's full complaint at our more coverage link.
Raid Rx: Shaking the bad healer label
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. Not getting the respect you feel you deserve? Pickup raids passing on your skills and services? You ever wonder why that is? Even though healers are typically one of the most sought-after classes, it is incredibly easy to completely shoot yourself in the foot and get looked over. How exactly does a healer get labeled as a "bad" healer? A better question would be, how would a healer get un-labeled as one?
EnergyStar program certifies 'gasoline-powered alarm,' other imaginary abominations
It'd be pretty difficult for you to reach Engadget without having seen the EnergyStar logo on something along your way here. Whether it was as part of your motherboard's bootup sequence or on the box of your new TFT monitor, EnergyStar certification has become a de facto standard for most electronics being manufactured nowadays. What you might not have known -- but probably could have guessed -- is that the process for obtaining that sticker is far from bulletproof. The American Government Accountability Office has recently done a bit of spy work by putting forward imaginary products and false claims to the validating authority, and regrettably found its bogus items "mostly approved without a challenge." The auditors' conclusion was that the program is "highly vulnerable to fraud," and the stuff they've had certified would seem to corroborate that verdict. Hit up the Times article for the full story of governmental incompetence while the Department of Energy -- the body responsible for running the program -- tries to get its act straightened out. [Thanks, Adam]
San Francisco considers displaying phone radiation levels next to price tag
If the San Francisco Department of the Environment gets its way, starting as soon as next month Bay Area residents might start noticing the radiation levels of cellphones displayed prominently next to their respective price at retail outlets. This is, of course, despite no definitive research that the handsets cause harm and the FCC's insistence that the devices sold to consumers are safe. The proposal is being endorsed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who as it's noted is not about to stop using his iPhone anytime soon. Not to worry, Maine, you'll still keep the top spot for most ridiculous cellphone warning label.
Windows 7 logo program already 6,000-strong with products
The Windows Ecosystem Team has gone official with the new 'Compatible with Windows 7' sticker, which we sincerely hope won't be as laughably misapplied as its Vista-related predecessor. Set to appear on hardware, software and peripherals, the label is intended to reassure customers that they'll have the "optimal Windows 7 experience" thanks to "robust testing requirements" and a longer testing cycle. That's good to hear, as is the fact that already over 6,000 products have been given a passing grade, meaning that -- surprise, surprise -- when you get your Windows 7 machine, it will most likely be compatible with everything you own or intend to buy. An intriguing tidbit is that one logo will cover all flavors, including 64-bit, meaning that you'll have to wait for Intel's Pineview chips to come around the turn of the year if you want to get a certified Atom-based Windows 7 netbook. Update: Okay, so it looks like we were a little off the mark here. To be clear, this program is primarily intended for peripherals and accessories you purchase after you get a computer, which is why testing against 64-bit Windows 7 is a requirement. We're sure we'll see plenty of Atom netbooks running Windows 7 with a slightly different sticker on 'em just as soon as October 22 rolls around -- you just won't be able to buy an Atom-based mobo with this particular sticker on the box, because it won't run 64-bit Windows 7. You know what else you can't buy? A dragon.
Mac 101: Learn more about your files at a glance
Welcome to another edition of Mac 101, TUAW's series for beginners. Today, we show you how to get more bang for your desktop real-estate buck with Finder icon labels. Have you ever wanted to know how large a picture on your Desktop was, but didn't want to open it (or even just hit ⌘I to get info)? Or instantly know how many items were in a folder? Mac OS X lets you display that information right under (or next to) the icon itself. How? Easy! Click on your Desktop, and choose Show View Options from the View menu (or just hit ⌘J.) Then, click the radio button next to Show item info. Voíla! Instant metadata for your Desktop files and folders. For pictures, the Finder will show their width and height in pixels. You can also adjust the position of the labels associated with the icons on your desktop. Instead of having the file and folder names beneath your icons, why not have a change and put them to the right? Just click either Right (or Bottom, if you prefer the default) under Label position. For other awesome beginner tips, visit our Mac 101 category.
Mac 101: Where'd my send button go?
More Mac 101, TUAW's series for beginners. My mom called me up last week with this question about Mail: "Where did my send button go?" Turns out she had mistakenly clicked the white chiclet (pictured) in the upper-right hand corner of her message's compose window, hiding her toolbar. When she clicked it once, Mail remembered her settings and hid the toolbar for other message windows, too. So, just clicking that chiclet showed the toolbar again, and brought her send button back. Magic. Also, you can hold down command and click the same chiclet to show and hide icons and text labels in the toolbar. Repeatedly clicking with the command key held down cycles through all your options. Now that my mom is happily sending emails again, I can sleep well knowing all about the new Bob's Big Boy and the local woman who was on Survivor.
Hey Folders! adds colored folders to Finder
Hey Folders! is a handy utility from the maker of Mail.Appetizer that extends the Finder's colored label feature to labeled folders themselves. As you can see, the entire folder icon takes on the color of the label, though files (fortunately) do not receive the colored overlay treatment (I wager that would result in some really funky looking icons). Hey Folders! requires a small amount of manual work to get it to start with each login, however, as you simply need to add it to your startup items if you want it to augment your finder 24/7 (it's a background process known as a daemon; it won't appear in the dock or menubar - only in a process list like Activity Monitor). Full instructions are listed at the Hey Folders! site. Note: at the moment, Hey Folders! is PPC only, but the developer told me a Universal Binary version is 'coming soon.'Hey Folders! is offered as freeware from Bronson Beta.
Memorex iPod wraps
Memorex has entered the fast paced world of iPod coverings. Announced at CES (where Engadget is spending many caffeine fueled hours trying to cover every single new product released), the 'Printable Wraps for iPod,' wins my CES iPod accessory award for lamest/most straightforward name of a product. These things are just like the HP iPod tattoos in that they are stickers that you can print out designs on and slap onto your iPods (iPods with video, shuffles, 4G iPods, nanos, and minis versions are all available).A pack of 10 will set you back $14 bucks, but it also comes with Memorex's exPressit label maker application that allows you to choose from 1500 preloaded backgrounds, or any background picture you might have.[via Mobilemag]
Automated labels the mac geek way
Tagging is all the rage now adays. Web 2.0 companies have risen and fallen over tagging. People love it so much that some folks would like to tag files in the Finder so that they can leverage Spotlight%uFFFD for their own purposes. However, wouldn't it be cool if you could automatically 'tag' files? Well, Mac Geekery is on it with this little bit o' command line magic that will do just that (when combined with cron).
Fix non-iTMS video labels
Another gem from MacOSXHints covers a method, albeit not exactly pretty, for labeling TV video files you bring into iTunes as TV shows. This helps with organizing videos and I believe using the new Search Bar in iTunes 6 (Edit > Show Search Bar).The MacOSXHints post offers a command line tool by the name of AtomicParsley for doing the editing and applying the correct label, while a commenter on the post created a GUI wrapper for it. Make sure you follow the instructions when using a tool like this, because it's playing around with some real low-level stuff in your video files.While these are some handy tools, I'm much more of a fan of simply editing all the files in iTunes using Get Info and applying a Grouping label. A Smart Playlist can then organize everything for me - no fuss, no muss.
