The Dutch consumer protection agency Consumentenbond is the latest to pressure Apple on restrictions on downloads that tie songs bought on iTunes to being used with iTunes and iPods. Consumentenbond spokesman Ewald van Kouwen said his group had filed a formal complaint with the Dutch antitrust watchdog NMa asking for an investigation into Apple’s “illegal […]

The iPhone is not a smartphone, but “a second-rate cellphone”, according to ABI Research analysts Stuart Carlaw and Philip Solis. ‚ÄúConsumers will not be willing to settle for a second-rate cell phone just to have superior music,” argues Stuart Carlaw. “Apple must get the phone engineering part of the equation right, and it is difficult […]

GetData Software has introduced Recover My iPod, an¬†application designed to recover iPod music and video files that you don’t have backups for. The program works on all iPod models and can recover a range of files, even after the Reset or Restore buttons have been activated at the wrong time. Features: Recover music, video and […]

Apple’s use of digital rights management (DRM) to control the use of downloads from iTunes is illegal, the Norway’s Consumer Ombudsman has ruled. The blow follows the news that consumer groups in Germany and France are joining Norway’s action against Apple. “It doesn’t get any clearer than this. Fairplay is an illegal lock-in technology whose […]

Real Networks is pushing for abandoning DRM’s music formats, which some are interpreting as a sign that record labels are contemplating removing restrictions from digital downloads. ‚ÄúThere is a groundswell, and I say that on the basis of private conversations,‚Äù said Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks, which sells digital music protected against piracy through […]

Malachi and Company have announced the rollout of its second-generation MP3-compatible fitness shirts under the new name, SyncWear clothing. The short-sleeve fitness shirt includes two key features: a redesigned dual-layer, 3-in-1 side pocket to hold a flash-based MP3 player such as the iPod Nano and cord management via two fabric loops along the side and […]

A prescient email by a senior Microsoft executive shows that there were concerns in 2003 about Microsoft-based portable media players “sucking”, to the point that partnering with Apple was considered. Microsoft’s Jim Allchin was so distraught by his user experience with partner digital music devices on the market in 2003 that he considered calling Steve […]

NexTune, a Redmond WA. based music software company, has announced the release of its new desktop music player, online music recognition service, and Music Store. According to the company, NexTune’s digital music software is the first desktop application capable of playing multiple digital music formats, including songs purchased from Apple’s iTunes Music Store and from […]

According to reports in Forbes and elsewhere, German and French consumer groups have joined a Nordic-led drive to force Apple to make its iTunes online store compatible with digital music players made by rival companies. Currently, song purchased and downloaded through iTunes will only work with iPods and iTunes. Likewise, iPods generally can’t play copy-protected […]

The major music labels agreed to support a new music service, Ruckus Network, that will offer free music downloads, with some substantial restrictions, to any college student. Though it offers free music, the service has struggled to generate interest with students and to find a way to pay for the service because the free songs […]