Apple In The News…Again…and Again!!

It seems that in the recent past, Apple has almost had a monopoly on getting into the tech news headlines. Recently, the Cupertino computer CEO was spotted at a downtown coffee shop sharing a cup of joe with Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Even though the two companies had been throwing stones at each other, the sight of the two of them casually chatting certainly got it’s share of press coverage.

Then of course, the release of the iPad got a historical amount of coverage. So much so, that it may have even surpassed the original release of the iPhone. And the hype still continues with this, what Apple refers to as, ‘Magical’ new device. Actually, the iPad is a sweet device, but that is for a future post.

Next came Apple’s record shattering quarterly financials in which the computer company posted record profits. Although, this was overshadowed by other Apple news, it still got it’s fair share of press coverage.

Then the new iPhone conspiracy. Apparently an Apple employee, while celebrating his birthday, left behind a new iPhone prototype in a California pub, which was picked up by a patron, and then sold to the blogging site Gizmodo, which of course, had to scoop the story. The press coverage that this received was substantial and is still being talked and written about. Actually as far as I am concerned, this story means nothing to me as it will not get me a new iPhone any faster. The only benefit that this story may have is to the iPhone competitors, such as HTC, who at the same time released it’s new smart phone, the Incredible. In fact, some conspiracy theories, even speculate that Apple planted this iPhone so that it could be found and steal the limelight away from the release of the HTC Incredible. Sounds far fetched to me, but who knows.

But with all this going on in Apple Land, the story that has my attention, is the announcement of Apple’s decision to shut down the music streaming site La-La. Late last year, Apple Inc., purchased the site for $85 million, leaving many speculations as to what Steve Jobs had up his sleeve.

Well, in my mind, it has become apparent that it is inevitable that Apple is going to integrate a streaming service into it’s iTunes store, which would allow users to access their content from any internet connected device from any location. Especially, since it has been rumored that Apple is in hard negotiations with the top 4 record labels for rights to implement this feature, and could be the reason for Apple’s $1 billion server farm project, located in North Carolina. If these talks were not going favorably, then I can see no reason why Apple would decide to shut down La-La. However, with the closing of this site, which coincidentally is going to occur on May 31st, shortly before the announcement of the new iPhone is expected sometime in June. This just all seems to add up. If this turns out to be true, this could be a near death blow to other music streaming sites especially if Apple can make this competitively priced, as conquering the popularity of iTunes is a tough mountain to climb.

This has been something that I and many like me have been waiting for, from iTunes, for a long time. Streaming music, in the Cloud, appears to be the way in which we are heading, and what better way to introduce a music service like this, than at the premier showcasing of the new iPhone. Seems like a perfect match to me…..

What do you think?

Avatar

After, what seemed like an eternity, I finally got the chance to go see the newly realeased movie Avatar. Although, I did not get to see the movie in 3-D, the movie did not disappoint. Directed by James Cameron who also made the blockbuster movie Titanic. Cameron devised the plot and ideas for this movie 15 years ago, long before the technology needed to create it existed. Well after 4 years of production and $230 million later, I finally got to witness the epic film.

Set on the far off world of Pandora, which contains a very rare, and precious natural resource, which could hold the answer to Earth’s energy problems. Avatar is seen through the eyes of a wheel chair confined, ex-Marine named Jake Sully. Although Jake no longer has the use of his legs, he has never lost his warrior spirit. When Jake is recruited to the distant human outpost on Pandora, he excepts an offer to enter into the Avatar project, a program in which Human DNA is blended with the native people of the planet, known as the Na’vi,  thus giving him the ability to use his legs again, breath and interact, even though the planet’s atmosphere is toxic to humans. Jake enters into the Na’vi clan with the intention of gaining valuable field information about the Na’vi, who have always been a hindrance to the mining operations on Pandora. What Jake cannot foresee is the relationships that develop with the Na’vi people, especially with his mentor and trainer, the beautiful Neytiri. What ensues is an emotional and action packed journey into the Na’vi.

The movie is beautifully directed, and uses the most high tech special effects that have ever been used in a movie. The filmed utilizes about 40% live action and 60% computer generated action and is visually stunning.  Although, the movie is not overly graphic, there are some scenes that contain graphic battles, and scenes with indigenous creatures that may not be appropriate for younger children. However, the plot line is both exciting and moving. Some scenes had me on the verge of tears, while others had me wriggling in my seat, and wanting to stand up and cheer.

The musical score and sound effects are equally impressive. The audio successfully sets the tone for each and every scene.

Overall, this movie is an epic production that ranks right up there with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The only thing dissapointing in this movie, although being 160 minutes long, is that it was too short. I found myself not wanting it to end. This is definitely one of my favorites.

It gets a huge “2 Thumbs Up” without a doubt.

To view the movie trailer, scenes, music, and stories regarding this film, go to AvatarMovie.com by clicking HERE

Let me know what your thoughts are about this movie….Leave a comment!!!!

Fa-La-La, La-La.com

Playing music via the “Cloud” seems to be the way that the future is heading. Streaming music from sites like Pandora and not downloading and storing the music locally on your hard drive is gaining momentum. Evidence of this is the iPod rival Zune mp3 player from Microsoft. When you visit the Zune Marketplace, similar to Apples iTunes Store, you have the option of subscribing to a music service know as the Zune Pass. This allows you to stream an unlimited amount of music directly to your computer or Zune player for a monthly fee. Once you subscribe to this service, it also allows you to download 10 free songs per month, which almost negates the monthly service fee. Even though the popularity of the iPod and iTunes music store has far exceeded the market share of the Zune Store, it still does not have the Music Service feature.  A feature that is sadly lacking. Apple must be aware of this, and today this has become evident as the New York Times has announced that Apple has purchased the online music streaming site called LaLa.com.

LaLa started out in 2006 as a music cd trading site in which account members could trade cd’s with other members for $1 plus a 75 cent shipping fee. This soon blossomed into a music streaming site in 2008, in which members could stream music directly from the site to their computer. The current model allows members to listen to a song once for free and offers an unlimited listening plan for 10 cents per song.  For an additional 79 cents, members can also purchase the DRM free songs.

Apple’s purchase of this online music company verifies that they are going to be attempting to implement a music service plan on their iTunes store. LaLa has had an agreement with the major record labels allowing them to stream this music, and according to their website, has a library of over 6 million titles. However, the agreement with the record labels states that this contract is non-transferable, meaning that the music library and the contract allowing the music to be streamed is not part of the sale.

So what is Apple buying then?

What they are apparently getting is the engineering technology as well as the engineers themselves, which includes LaLa founder and creator Bill Nyugen. With the resources that company has, coupled with the knowledge base will allow Apple to create an online music streaming service and up the ante with competitors like the Zune store, Pandora, Yahoo Music, and others.  From the NY Times article: “One person with knowledge of the deal, but who was not authorized to discuss it, said that the negotiations originated when Lala executives concluded that their prospects for turning a profit in the short term were dim and initiated discussions with Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president in charge of iTunes. This person said Apple would primarily be buying Lala’s engineers, including its energetic co-founder Bill Nguyen, and their experience with cloud-based music services.”

This makes sense based on Apple’s current business model for it’s popular iPod music player line. Allowing access to the vast amount of titles on the iTunes music store without having to download the song directly to your computer will give a user something that has not been available from Apple. The ability to simply fill up an iPod with music, and paying the monthly fee, will give users an incredible amount of flexibility in their music selections.  This is “Cloud” computing at it’s best. The downside to all of this, is that you will not actually own the content. Should you stop paying the monthly charge, all of the music will simply go away.

But as for myself and other music lovers, I anxiously await the release of this ability at the iTunes music store.

Tell me what your thoughts are about Apple acquiring LaLa as well as your views on “Cloud” computing.

Q & A #1

KC from NY wrote to ask……Hey Chuck, I was thinking about downloading Limewire to get music…You seem like the best person to ask…is it ok to do?
thnks kc

KC, What a great question…..

I would highly recommend AGAINST using Limewire.  You have to understand how that works.  All P2P (Peer to Peer) sites share bandwidth with users from all over.  You just never know who you are connecting with and what “other stuff” they may be sending you.  You just have no idea who these other users are and there are a lot of bad guys that hang out on sites like Limewire.  Not only that, once you download a song from Limewire, by default that song goes into a special hidden folder which allows other people to download it from you.  You can shut this part down but you need to know exactly how to do it.  The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is actively seeking out people who are sharing music illegally, which is what you would be doing.  The chances of them finding you is slim, but I would not take the chance.  Read my post HERE.

Now there are some places where you can get music legally for free.  Free is good.  One of the sites is Songbird, you can read about it HERE. There are also some really cool streaming sites that will play whatever you want, and these are also free.  Pandora.com and Last.fm will both do this. You can enter an artist and it will create play lists of songs by that particular artist or another one whose style is very close to theirs. Rhapsody.com is a site in which you can play online radio, based on the genre that you select, for free. For iPhone owners, Rhapsody is also available at the app store.  Yahoo Music and AOL Music both offer internet radio which are quite good.

Now, should you like Classical Music, here is a link where you can download classical tunes legally for free.  Click HERE.

Again, I never recommend p2p sites to get music.  You just never know, and quite frankly, it would be just a matter of time until you get something other than an mp3 file. If you want to get music that will be yours, then the only way is to use the iTunes, Zune (for Zune users) or Amazon music stores. These sites offer DRM (copy protection) free music. That is the only legal way anyway.

Got a question, you can contact me at theedibleearth@gmail.com….

Wicked Cool Site #13

For all of the concert go’ers out there, this is a must have.  It is a very small add-on to iTunes that will create a new Visualizer showing all of the concerts in your area on an iCal and Google Calender-like interface.  Like I said, if you enjoy seeing your favorite artists live, this is a must have.  It bases it’s search on songs that have been recently played as well as tunes that are in your Music Library.  It is simple to use too and even better, it is free.  iConcertCal can be downloaded HERE for both OSX and Windows. Once you download and install the add-on (note that iTunes must be closed when installing) you simply need to re-open iTunes, click on the View option, then select Visualizer and click on the iConcertCal option.  Then click on the Show Visualizer option and you will see the iCal and Google Calender-like display with artists, concert dates, options to purchase tickets, and much more.  All based on your location and iTunes selections and right in iTunes.  To return to your music playlist or library, simply click the Return option in the Now Playing display.  This is a really cool, light weight, and easy to use add-on for your iTunes.

A MUST HAVE!!!!!

Check it out and let me know what you think!!!!

Capitol v. Thomas

This is an issue in which the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been hoping would happen for a real long time.  However, after all of the hoopla, it appears that this whole thing may be backfiring in their face.  The recording industry has had a long going paranoia about stealing music, thus the DRM (Digital Rights Management) that had been poisoning our recordings for a long time.  DRM is nothing more than copy protection, but quite frankly, the only people who get hurt are the ones who are legally downloading and PAYING for their music.  People who are “pirating” music can by-pass the copy protection almost as fast as they release.  Apple has had on going “discussions” about removing the DRM from music that is downloaded from iTunes.  Finally, the recording industry ceded and allowed Apple to sell music from iTunes without DRM, but Apple had to concede something too, thus the tri-leveled pricing structure now found on iTunes.  Frankly, I will gladly pay a few more cents for songs without the copy protection.

Now enters Jammie Thomas, a Native American single mother of 4 children from Brainerd, Minnesota. Thomas was visiting the popular sharing site Kazaa and downloaded 24 songs illegally from the site. In steps the RIAA and decides to sue Jammie for copy protection infringement.  Normally in cases such as this, most people concede to the RIAA and settle out of court by paying a few thousand dollars, but Thomas decided to fight this.  Well, the case did not go too well for her as the court ruled her of being guilty and fined her an astounding amount of $222,000 in infringement penalties.  Well, things changed when the judge ruled that he had been misinformed about whether the law read that merely “making available” evidence that constituted guilt or whether the actual data would have to be presented.  Thomas had surrendered her hard drive which contained no evidence of Kazaa or the music files in question.  The judge had informed the jury that the actual files did not need to be presented as evidence.  Because of this misinformation the judge proclaimed a mistrial and the process started all over.  Thomas probably felt that things were going her way at this point.  Well, along came the retrial with a new jury, well guess what? They found her guilty again, but this time ruled that she should pay damages to the tune (forgive the pun) of $80,000………PER SONG or $1.92 million dollars.  This may sound like a victory for the RIAA, but as it turns out, it is fast becoming egg on their face.  First of all, Jammie Thomas, remember she is a single mother of 4, is never going to be able to pay the ridiculous amount.  The recording industry knows this as they have been trying to negotiate a settlement, but to date, Thomas is not interested. I think the artists whose songs were illegally downloaded have got to be embarassed by this publicity.  Now let me make something clear, the suit was filed not by the artists, not by the recording studios who make the recordings, but by the distribution company that delivers the CD’s to the stores from which they are purchased. They are so afraid of “sharing” music as they have not been able to keep up with the newer technologies and are cornered, so instead of concentrating on the real “pirates”, they go after the Thomas’ of the world.

Now all this being said, Jammie Thomas was definitely sharing copy protected music on her computer, which is something that I do not condone.  However, $1.92 million for 24 songs seems a little much.  How about a slap on the wrist, let’s not make an example here.  After all, haven’t we all used Limewire, Kazaa, Poisoned, and other torrent sites at some point or another.  The warning that I am giving here is that the RIAA is not going after people who download the music, but instead concentrating on people who are redistributing it.  Anyone who knows anything about these sights is that you are doing this automatically when you download music from them.  These files go into a special folder and are then available to anyone who wants to download it from you and many others who share the same file……this is how Bit Torrents work.  Unless you tell the sight that you do not want to share your files with others, it is done automatically.  This is where you can get yourself into trouble, just like Thomas.  Whether or not she was willingly distributing the songs to other people is not the issue here.  She is small time, just like you and me would be.  My warning……beware of Sharing and Bit Torrent sites, like Limewire and Kazaa as aside from the risks of also downloading malware with your music, you also could face the risk of receiving the dreaded letter from the attorney’s of the RIAA.

What are your thoughts?????  Comments???