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Report: iPods stealing radio listeners
When I read this article at Podcasting News, I immediately saw myself. The very first iPod accessory I really fell in love with was my original iTrip FM transmitter, which I bought a couple of years ago. I have since replaced it with a RoadTrip, but one thing remains the same: It comes with me each and every time I get into the car. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've listened to terrestrial radio in the past 2-3 years. I don't know about your town, but where I live, radio programming stinks. Why should I sit through six or seven songs I don't like, not to mention all those extremely annoying ads, just to hear one I do? Plus, thanks to podcasting, I can get many of the great NPR shows that I enjoy.Apparently, I'm not alone. According to Bridge Ratings, terrestrial radio's penetration could drop from 94% to 85% by 2010. Nearly 30% of respondents between the ages of 12 and 24 stated that Mp3 player use accounted for their abandoning radio. While I'm not in that demographic, I certainly share the sentiment. My iPod blows radio away.So, what's your take? Do you still listen to radio when your iPod is around?[Via Micro Persuasion]
Pioneer Inno XM2go DAP reviewed
We've had our eye on the Pioneer Inno and Samsung Helix combination DAP/XM2go receivers ever since they were announced at CES, and although the devices certainly looked to have a winning combination of features, we had several concerns that we were eager to see addressed in a hands-on. Well our wait is over, as a fairly gushing, and very thorough, review of the Inno by satellite radio enthusiast site Orbitcast has allayed all of our fears, and convinced us that the Inno, which both plays and records XM streams as well as handling your MP3's, is really as hot as the specs make it sound. Orbitcast is particularly impressed with the ease of managing content on the device, with powerful search functions, automatic track separation (when recording streams), and intuitive controls helping Inno achieve that delicate balance of features and simplicity. With reception actually better than older XM2go models, pretty decent battery life, excellent stock earbuds, and improved playback control, the only downside here seems to be the way in which the Inno partitions its memory: during the initial setup you must choose from only two configurations -- 100% storage devoted to XM content or a 50/50 split between XM and your own tracks -- and if you want to switch modes at a later date, your entire library of recorded swag gets wiped.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
SCEE VP says PS3 will cost 499 to 599 euros
In a radio interview with Générations Europe 1 yesterday, George Fornay -- president of Sony Computer Entertainment France and vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe -- let a little something slip: the PlayStation 3 will cost between €499 and €599. That's somewhere between $613 to $736 in American dollars! He was sure to point out that while this might sound like a lot of money for a game system, it was in fact cheap for a Blu-ray compatible playback system. Yay?Since I can't seem to get the radio stream to work (and don't understand French if I could) Update: The radio stream has started cooperating, though the French thing is still in the way. If you speak Français, you can jump to the 8-minute mark for the scoop. The news comes to us (via Google's translation services) from Play France. Now, this could be a language barrier problem, but the untranslated page still reads "entre 499 euros et 599 euros donc."Sony already told us it was going to be expensive and we already know the parts ain't cheap, so either Mr. Fornay is trying to set up an unrealistic price expectation -- only to have it shattered when the PS3 price is revealed to be $7.50 -- or he broke the first (and second) rules of the Sony executive's PS3 club: don't talk about the PS3. This thing is going to cost that much just like the PSP was gonna cost $500.
Motorola to sell auto biz to Continental for $1B
Motorola, which has been shedding non-core businesses for years (including its semiconductor business, which was spun off to become Freescale in 2004) will scrap another of its classic lines, the company's automotive electronics arm, which includes sensors, telematics and safety-related electronics. The division will go to Continental AG, a German company best known in the US for its tires. The sale further focuses Motorola's business on cellphones and other communications technologies such as cable modems, two-way radios and set-top boxes. The move takes Motorola out of the automotive industry for the first time since 1930, when the company created the first successful car radio (hence the name "Motorola"). Of course, Moto's been out of that sector for years, and most car owners are unlikely to notice that the current divestiture has even happened, since most of the assets being sold are related to behind-the-scenes systems that don't include heavy consumer branding.
ATSC tuners update
It looks like we are on the home stretch of this digital switchover. All most TVs over 36-inches have had tuners for about 9 months now and a good amount of 27-inch and larger now have them as well. Next year at this time we will see the majority of TVs 13-inches and bigger with them as well. The price of digital tuners have dropped with Radio Shacks leading the way at $69. Main-stream media and big box retailers are finally getting the story right and properly informing their readers/customers. And the big one of switching the over-the-air stations to a digital broadcast seems to be moving along nicely. How is it on your front? Is your OTA TVs good to go? How about your family members?
Day 2 with the iPod Radio Remote
So, I've been using the iPod Radio Remote for a full two days now, and I'm still very pleased with the device, but I noticed a few new details that I wanted to share. First off, if your headphones unplug from the Radio Remote while listening to regular tracks, the iPod doesn't pause the track as it does with the regular jack up top. Also, the audio coming out of the iPod's jack is slightly louder than the audio coming out of the Radio Remote. I've found my favorite use for this is to have the headphones plugged into my iPod which is in my inside coat pocket, and then let the Radio Remote dangle down where I clip it to the bottom of my coat for easy control while I'm commuting. Who needs one of those fancy iPod-integrated jackets when you can use one of these?
ROKR E2 dumping iTunes for an iRadio service?
MacRumors picked up on a New York Times report that the forthcoming ROKR E2 will be dumping iTunes in favor of a new subscription-based iRadio service, featuring over 400 channels of commercial-free radio. So basically: instead of a phone that can freely play all of your music, you can pay a reported $7/month for what is basically XM/Sirius in your phone. For those of you still waiting for an iTunes-based ROKR successor, the recently-announced RAZR v3i sounds like it won't dissappoint. In my opinion though, following up the less-than-stellar ROKR with a new version that doesn't even support playing my music is two steps in the wrong direction.But what do you guys think of this? Do you want a ROKR phone with a radio-on-steriods in it, or are you already yelling "I want my iTunes library!"
