The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), a consortium of technology vendors for promoting short-range wireless networking, has announced a program to make it easier to find products that will let you listen to music wirelessly. The Bluetooth SIG recently launched the Experience Icon Program to guide and help consumers purchase interoperable products implementing Bluetooth wireless […]

Microsoft appears to be ignoring the exploding world of podcasting, leaving users of its hardware and software products to either manually manage podcasts or to look for third-party solutions. The most recent version of Windows Media Player 11, just released, still doesn’t have podcast support. There’s no indication that podcast support is planned for future […]

iDisguise has introduced two new anti-theft cases for iPod nanos that are designed to look like mint candy tins. The cases are meant to be used when an iPod is stored away and not being used. The stealthy cases face competition from Altoids tins, which some mint-lovers have converted to use as curiously strong iPod […]

Another research group is predicting a slow start for Microsoft’s Zune portable media player. According to Gartner, the Zune is unlikely to find much success during the 2006 holiday season. “Microsoft‚Äôs claimed differentiation for Zune is based on applying Web 2.0 community concepts to the music experience,” notes Gartner. “With the inclusion of an integrated […]

iFixit, a site that sells Mac and iPod parts and upgrades, has published a guide to disassembling the latest iPod shuffle. The dissection reveals the density of the electronics in the new shuffle:

Microsoft announced today that it was ending sales of music from MSN Music, its 2-year old attempt to create an iTunes killer. While Microsoft officially plans to continue to support the PlaysForSure format, the company is eliminating Windows Media Format music downloads from its site and introducing a new format with the Zune media player. […]

According to Matthew Inman, “Every iPod owner passes through seven distinct phases.” This illustrated guide depicts the journey all iPod owners must undertake.

Most iPod owners planning to buy another MP3 player will consider Microsoft’s Zune, according to ABI Research. ABI says that many prospective MP3 player buyers‚Äîeven owners of iPods‚Äîwould be likely to choose Microsoft’s Zune player. “Our conclusion,” says principal analyst Steve Wilson, “is that iPod users don’t display the same passionate loyalty to iPods that […]

Apple today announced the launch of iTunes Latino, a dedicated area within the US iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) featuring Latin music, music videos, television shows, audiobooks and podcasts. iTunes Latino offers hundreds of thousands of Latin and international music tracks, including exclusive tracks and albums available only on iTunes.‚ÄúLatin music has been a huge hit on […]

Apple‚Äôs new iPod shuffle, the world‚Äôs smallest digital music player, will be available in Apple‚Äôs retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers this Friday, November 3. Nearly half the size of the original, the new iPod shuffle is half a cubic inch in volume, weighs half an ounce and features a minimal aluminum design with a […]