Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Music lovers holding a Verizon subscription will better be able to say “I can hear you now” to their favorite musical artists, as Rhapsody and Verizon team up to offer users with certain V Cast phones DRM-free PC downloads. In obvious competition with iTunes, Rhapsody is still behind in the numbers game (about 5 million in their online library as opposed to iTunes 8 million), however, the bonus of not being stuck with DRM puts them ahead in many people’s minds. This way, you can play the music on any PC, MP3 player, or other digital device. Bonus.

So how much is it going to cost you? The songs are going at 99 cents each, and most albums will be $9.99. You’ll also find a Windows-only download utility that will import your music directly into iTunes, RealPlayer, or the Rhapsody client; Mac users will get their songs in a ZIP file. Select Verizon Wireless V Cast phones (including the upcoming Chocolate 3, the new Dare, the Samsung Glyde, the Juke, the RIZR Z6tv, and the RAZR V9m) can purchase tunes from Rhapsody over the air, and get an MP3 “master” PC download in the bargain.

If you jump on the ball, Verizon is running a special through July 4th: The first 100,000 people to sign up with the MP3 store will get their first album free.  And hey...free is always good.

Via [Yahoo! Tech]

Change is messy.  Paradigm shifts, revolutions, restructures – any way you phrase it, widespread change entails considerable effort and uncomfortable periods.  The same rings true with digital alterations.  Challengers to the ubiquitous MP3 format face serious challenges despite their technical superiority to the old standard.

The foremost contender is the MT9 format.  This upstart enables every user to split an audio file into six channels—vocals, guitar, bass, percussion and so on –- effectively making ordinary Joes into amateur recording producers.  The format provides unprecedented widespread technical access to users as they isolate specific channels in their audio files.

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Product: Kicker iK500 iPod Speaker System
Price and Availability: Currently available and retailing for $299.99
Rating: 9/10
Pros: Simple, easy to set up and use
Cons: Docked iPod sits a little “off”
Overall: Solid sound with a great overall look

While we were able to review the iK500, which is made for the iPod, Kicker also offers the ZK500 for the Microsoft Zune, which also retails for $299.99.

The iK500, after first getting it out of the box has a nice look to it. Keep reading for the rest of the review…

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Sony has started shipping its weird egg-shaped music device, the Rolly in the United States. Released in Japan back in September 2007, the Rolly packs two integrated speakers which are capable of producing surround sound. It boasts 2GB of flash memory, Bluetooth, ATRAC and MP3 music file format support as well USB connectivity.

But aside from these features, what makes Rolly innovative or should we say a novelty item is the fact that it was designed to move to the beat of the music that it plays, thanks to its built-in robotic technology. It comes with pre-programmed choreography for three songs, “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and Earth Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland.” In addition to this features, the Rolly also comes with 700 colors which light up to the music beat.

If this new Sony music player sounds interesting to you, it currently retails for $400 at all Sony Style retail stores.

Via [I4U News]

Assuming that the Microsoft Zune will most likely never see the light of a Korean day and knowing that Koreans are longing for it, Samsung has taken the lead and announced its Zune-like MP3 player - the Art Noveau version of its Yepp T10.

Available only for the Korean market, this new iteration of the T10 boasts of 4GB internal memory, a specialized GUI to match its art noveau design, a 2-inch QVGA screen, Bluetooth 2.0, DNSe 2.0 technology, double bass, improved equalizer, FM radio and Samsung Media Studio.

Like we said, this classy MP3 player is currently available only in Korea. It would have been great if Samsung will market this internationally as it comes in a very affordable price of around $139 US.

Via [Akihabara News]

The Zvue Spirit, the latest MP3 player to show its face, and quite a face it has. It certainly lives up to its Spirit name, with the red, white and blue flag design, not to mention its star shaped control pad. The Zvue Spirit will retail for $36 and be available beginning July 4, 2008. Aside from its patriotic outer shell, the Zvue Spirit is a pretty basic player that offers 1GB of storage and can play MP3, WMA and WAV files. The Spirit also comes with “fifteen great rock/pop/country songs creates a fun, patriotic, listening experience.”

Product [Zvue] Via [anythingbutipod]

Finally here’s something that actually does what it advertises. Ubanana’s uCan - a waterproof MP3 player that you can actually wear in up to 10 feet deep water. But the best thing about this uber-cool looking gadget is the fact that all the essential parts that you normally get from a normal MP3 player are actually integrated within the gadget itself. Yes folks, that means no dangling wires that connect the earphones to the body of the MP3 player, its all integrated into the player itself.

The uCan has 1GB of memory which can store around 250 MP3 or 500 WMA files and gives out up to 15 hours of battery life. But we wouldn’t advise you to go diving into the open sea and stay under water for 15 hours just to enjoy using the uCan MP3 player, your supply of oxygen might not last that long. You can snag the uCan for $150 once it hits the stores sometime in July 2008.

Product [Ubanana] Via [Switched]

Creative has unveiled their latest MP3 player, the MuVo T200, which is overall just a run-of-the-mill player. The T200 comes with 2GB or 4GB of storage space and can play MP3, WMA and WAV files. The player has a USB thumb drive style to it, complete with an end cap that removes to expose the USB port, the player can also be used to store and transfer files.

In addition to the basic music player along with thumb drive functionality, the T200 features a small 128 x 32 pixel color LCD, FM radio, voice recorder and works from a built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery that offers up to 9-hours of playback.

The 2GB model is available in black, white or pink and the 4GB model comes in black or white. The MuVo T200 is currently available and retails for $99 and $149 respectively.

Product [Creative] Via [akihabara news]

Universal Music Group is joining the ranks of music companies who are giving away their music for free and in a legal way. The company has announced that it has reached an agreement with file-sharing site Qtrax to offer free, legal downloads of all its digital music. If you would recall, Qtrax announced sometime in January that it has the support of “all major music labels” in its revenue generating ads music download service. But some of this music companies denied Qtrax’s claim, including UMG. Prior to these events, Qtrax was forced to shut down its service a few months after it was launched in 2002 to avoid some legal troubles.

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Just as quickly as we learn that any new Radiohead tracks will soon require your wallet, Nine Inch Nails opens up with two free singles and then a complete album, all for free.

Following up on the success of Ghosts, Trent Reznor and his crew offered up both Discipline and Echoplex as singles, both of which are available as free downloads. While its nice to get the odd track for free we could not really expect to get a complete album, but that is exactly where they have gone.

The most recent release is the 10-track album called The Slip, and it is 100% free, both in terms of DRM and money. Its available for download in a variety of formats ranging from MP3 up to lossless and even if you wanted you cannot pay. Although Trent Reznor has been very public in the past about his dislike for the record industry, he has really been standing behind those words lately.

Read [NIN]