amazon

Download DRM-free Police album 'Synchronicity' for $1.99 (today only)

I've gushed before about AmazonMP3, the online music store that sells DRM-free MP3s at reasonable prices. Head there today and you can get The Police's Synchronicity--not just the song, but the complete album--for only $1.99. Head there tomorrow and you'll find another album on sale for around the same price. Wowza.

This "MP3 Daily Deal" is a new thing at AmazonMP3. Lest you think it's a clearinghouse for crummy albums no one wants, I give you Exhibit A: Synchronicity (arguably The Police's best album). Exhibit B: Coldplay's Parachutes (one of last … Read more

Hyperic service peers into Amazon cloud

Cloud computing is growing in popularity, thanks in large part to the availability of Web-based services that take some of the pain out of IT.

But when things break, it isn't always easy to know why: Is the problem in the application or in the cloud?

Hyperic, a San Francisco-based company specializing in Web management tools, has one answer. It's launching a new service, called CloudStatus, that reports on the health and performance of Amazon Web Services.

The free service, in beta testing now, works with Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, Simple Storage Service, SimpleDB, Simple Queue Service, … Read more

Zoomii: A very fun way to browse books on Amazon

If you're not one of the cool kids with a Kindle, the good news is that paper books are still quite popular and less likely to be taken at gunpoint by muggers. The sad truth is that browsing through them on the Web is not nearly as fun as loitering in a bookstore (or on the Kindle), which is why Zoomii was created.

Zoomii is a virtual bookstore with simple bookshelves that highlight Amazon.com's massive collection. It's set up to work just like Google Maps. You can zoom in and out, and simply drag your mouse … Read more

MP3 Insider 101: MP3 players for audiophiles

Can a machine determine which MP3 player actually sounds best? Find out in this week's episode. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 101

Amazon "Daily Deals" and "Friday Fives" - no link yetAudiophile MP3 Insider: http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6490_7-6623443.html?tag=feat.1 Philips GoGear SA6185: http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-video-players-pvps/philips-gogear-sa6185-8gb/4505-6499_7-32626866.html?tag=prod.txt.1 Colorful MP3 players: http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6490_7-6546135.html?tag=feat.3 Radius Atomic Bass earbuds: http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/radius-atomic-bass-earphones/4505-7877_7-33070258.html?tag=links;review AOL streaming radio for iPhone: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-6490_7-9968909-49.html… Read more

Amazon.com deals deals on MP3s

Thirty-nine. That's the number of PR-related pitches I've received in the past 24 hours. Out of those, just one fulfilled my write-up requirements of being a topic that is both interesting and related to digital music. That's a 2.5 percent pass rate...and today's a good day. So perhaps I am just caught up in the excitement of having a new item to talk about, but I think Amazon.com's new "Daily Deal" promotion is pretty sweet. Each day, the MP3 store will feature a different album offered at a deep discount. … Read more

My Kindle display self-destructed

I was planning to write about how much I'm loving the Amazon Kindle. I got one to try to consolidate some of the weight and clutter I routinely carry with me on trips in the form of books/magazines/newspapers, and spent several hours on my Cincinnati to London flight absolutely loving the device.

The wireless connectivity and other technological features of the Kindle are nice, but that's not where it shines, in my view. No, it's the feel of the Kindle that is amazing. I read for hours, surprised by how well it rested in my hands and by the exceptional display.

Well, the display was "exceptional" until it stopped working. I got to my hotel an hour ago and, since I couldn't yet check in, decided to open up the Kindle to read. Despite having used it just two hours ago on the train into London, and having done absolutely nothing that could have physically impacted the screen (Rode in a taxi? Checked in at my hotel? The Kindle was safely protected in my bag all the while...), the screen is apparently dead.… Read more

'Wii Fit Girl' not a marketing ploy for Nintendo

Titled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend a Wii Fit," the YouTube clip shows 25-year-old Lauren Bernat hula hooping in time with the fitness video game in her T-shirt and underwear. The video has been viewed more than 2.4 million times and was suspected to be a viral marketing ploy for Nintendo's Wii Fit.

The speculation emerged after learning that both Lauren Bernat and Giovanny Gutierrez, who filmed the footage, work in advertising. Gutierrez works as the director of Interactive Media for Tinsley Advertising in Miami, Florida. Bernat works as an account executive at the … Read more

Google's right, but cloud computing's timeline isn't so clear

Earlier Tuesday, a Google executive by the name of Rishi Chandra made the argument that the move to cloud computing was just a matter of time.

""The next 10 years of innovations are going to be in the cloud. Enterprise software is not going away, but there is a transition taking place," he said during a conference taking place in Boston.

I don't know whether it will be 10 years or not, but that's the trend. Nobody still seriously argues that it won't be easier to run word processors or spreadsheets off a central … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 741: 3Gasm

All the iPhone and App Store news you can shake a stick at. Plus, RIM and Palm say they're thrilled about the new iPhone. Huh. Us, too! But it's a delayed, uh, 3Gasm, since the phone won't be coming out until July 11. In other news, Amazon broke itself, the MPAA wants to break your movie recording, and SanDisk kills the TakeTV and Fanfare less than a year after it was born. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 741

Live blog: Steve Jobs at WWDC 2008 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9960064-37.html

What’s good for … Read more