Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

AT&T’s latest offering, the Sony Ericsson W760a Walkman phone may not be that big as other mobile phone announcements made recently, but it certainly scored a first for the U.S. mobile phone market—the first 3G Walkman phone ever to hit stateside. 

The W760a like the previous Sony Ericsson Walkman phones, W350 and W580 released by AT&T, features Sony’s famous Walkman music player and AT&T’s Mobile Music applications.  You’ll have access to XM Radio, eMusic mobile and Napster on the W760a. 

Find out more about Sony’s Walkman phone after the break.

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You have probably heard about Best Buy‘s aggressive move today to grab Napster.  Clearly leveraging their position as a retail giant, Best Buy hopes to cash in on content going into those players it sells.  But there is more to it than just linear logic.  Take these for example:

It’s illegal?  I’ll buy it.

Today’s new marketing technique: build something illegal that kids love.  Get busted.  Come back a “lite” version of yourself (the kids all know your name, so why not?).  Then sell out to a big company.  It is pure genius when viewed in the rear view mirror.  It has me thinking what can I do that is illegal?

See how Apple and Netflix have a lot to lose if Best Buy plays its cards right after the break.

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Sections: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Content, Portable Video, Originals, Web, Online Music/Video

Napster has just launched its first mobile music video service, Napster Clips in Japan. This new service puts a premium on unlimited access to a high-quality digital video service that would complement Napster’s music subscription service. In partnership with Japan’s NTT Docomo, Napster is offering this service via the mobile operator’s new N960IL onefone mobile handset.

Napster Clips is highly dependent on the broadband network which is ably supported by NTT Docomo’s communication infrastructure. Hence users are assured of a continuous video viewing experience from the N906il handset through either NTT Docomo’s 3G/FOMA network or the new Home U service. The latter is a high speed wireless LAN connection through home broadband network.

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Sections: Video, Portable Video, Video Providers, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video

Apple’s iTunes Store better watch it’s back, because here comes Napster with not just another online music service, but one that now offers a whooping 6 million DRM-free music tracks. With this number of available tracks Napster has now become the world’s largest major label MP3 catalog and the largest library of independent music worldwide.

Beginning today, all digital music that is downloaded from Napster will be a DRM-free MP3 that is compatible with any MP3 player or music phone, including yes you guessed it right, the iPod and the iPhone. Downloaded music will remain at 99 cents for a single track and $9.95 for most full albums. Most of Napster’s digital music is encoded at a 256kbps bitrate and shall include album art. In addition, users can freely browse Napster’s catalog without any obligation or commitment to purchase. Napster is also offering a web-based on-demand streaming service which users can access from anywhere using computer with Internet connection.

Read [Business Wire]

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Sections: Audio, Web, Online Music/Video

Shawn Fanning, who rose to fame as the founder of the legendary music sharing network Napster before crashing back to earth thanks to the likes of Metallica and the RIAA, has turned up in a new role as a Volkswagen spokesperson. The new ads from the German automaker portray a classic 1964 Volkswagen Beetle named Max hosting a talk show. His guests have included Leonard Nimoy from “Star Trek”, David Hasselhoff from “Baywatch” as well as Bobby Knight and Heidi Klum. Each guest discusses a particular trait of the Volkswagen brand.  Max, the Beetle talks about how Fanning brought music sharing to the world and Fanning talks about how the Volkswagen has developed clean diesel fuel. When Max argues that Fanning’s thing is cooler, Fanning wryly replies “Yeah but your thing is legal and trust me, legal is cooler!” Not surprisingly, the word Napster isn’t actually mentioned at all but it didn’t have to be. Everyone knows what “free music sharing service” is being talked about! Keep reading to check out the video…

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Sections: Gadgets / Other, Transportation, Web, Websites, Online Music/Video

AT&T has announced two new music applications; mSpot’s Make-Ur-Tones and mSpot Remix. Likewise, AT&T also announced its plan of expanding the Napster Mobile service it gives under the AT&T network. All three music applications provide mobile music lovers the freedom to choose the music they want to listen to and use in their AT&T mobile phones.

Available for a monthly subscription of $6.99 for three ringtones, the mSpot Make-UR-Tones allows customers to search for music tracks from the AT&T Media Mall, cut a 30-second part of the song using the a built-in editor, preview the output and then download the personalized ringtone to their phone. Unfortunately, mSpot Make-UR-Tones will only work with the Samsung SYNC, Samsung A737, Samsung A747 and the Motorola V3xx.

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Sections: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video

Napster and O2 have reached an agreement that would make available 5 million music tracks to O2’s mobile subscribers. The deal is set to expand O2’s limited music database while bringing another milestone in Napster’s move towards transforming its services into a legitimate online song shop.

Under the Napster-O2 deal, digital tracks from Napster can be sold to UK users for 99p or a bundle of 5 tracks for £4, roughly around $2 per track. When O2 subscribers buy digital songs from the O2 portal, the digital tracks will be automatically sent to both their mobile phones and to their registered email addresses.

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Sections: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video

Napster is embracing DRM free and have announced that they are going to shift their whole catalog to MP3 exclusively. This means that the largest on-demand subscription service will work on pretty much every MP3 player on the market. According to Napster they are the first in the market to go 100% MP3 and the unlimited music model will remain at the core of their business.

“Napster To Go is a portable subscription service and is supported by a wide array of device manufacturers including major mobile phone manufacturers, who are expected to ship new Napster To Go compatible handsets in 2008.“

We should get more information on availability soon, but hopefully this will force other providers into a similar move and end up in a level playing field with more competition.

Via [GeezZone]

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