Crave

(Credit: Napster)

Probably the biggest piece of digital music news to come out of CES 2008 was that Napster was planning to offer its complete catalog of more than 6 million tracks in the unprotected MP3 format.

On Tuesday, with the launch of version 4.5 of the software and store, that announcement becomes a reality. Although digital music stores such as eMusic, Amazon MP3, and even Napster itself already had MP3s on offer before this point, the collective catalogs of all three didn't even come near the volume of tracks you can find in the entire Napster library. All four major labels and thousands of indies are represented in the store, and every track will be available at the standard 99 cent price point.

Napster's Web-based store with the online media player window open.

(Credit: Napster)

In addition, Napster's Web-based store, which is all that is required for MP3 purchases and downloads, is compatible with every operating system. And--of course--the MP3s can be played on any MP3 player, portable video player, or music cell phone. Currently, 95 percent of the catalog is encoded at 256Kbps, which is reasonably high-quality for an MP3, and each track comes with hi-resolution album art (at least 1,000x1,000 pixels). Although Napster has quite an international presence, the MP3 store will only be available to U.S. residents for the time being.

Napster will continue to offer its online and To Go subscription services for $12.95 or $14.95 per month, respectively. The music associated with a subscription will remain in the protected WMA format with the time-out capability.

The company did make some improvements to its online interface. It now features a "liquid layout," which resizes everything within both the store and media player windows when you adjust the size of either window. Napster has also improved its download management system so that users can better view what has been purchased already and whether it was ever downloaded after the purchase.

Sadly, because of label restrictions, Napster will not be offering any type of trade program for customers who have a library of DRM-protected WMA files that they purchased a la carte. However, the licenses on those files will continue to be supported by the service, so no need to worry about a repeat of the MSN Music scandal. At least not for now.

Those crazy guys behind the LimeWire file-sharing application have set up a DRM-free music store--LimeWire Store--where users can choose from 500,000 MP3s, taken from the catalogs of absolutely no major labels. Alternatively, users can download free, lossless versions of millions of songs from every major label using the usual LimeWire "technique." Which, RIAA lawyers would likely argue, is illegal.

If skepticism were a flavor of ice cream, we'd be sitting here with the world's most excruciating brain freeze. Napster managed to redeem itself by having its name bought by another company, having its P2P application vanquished and by offering titles from major labels. LimeWire, however, still operates its hated-by-the-entertainment-industry network of downloaders, and we don't expect Sony or Warner Music to sign any distribution deals until its roster of artists are blocked from the controversial network.

To be fair, LimeWire's new service (which is currently in beta) could be a great place to go looking for new bands and underground artists. In contrast to eMusic's subscription model, LimeWire offers pay-per-track pricing, so you can quickly pick and choose your downloads without committing yourself to recurring monthly charges.

Downloads go for anything between 30 cents (15 pence) and 99 cents (50 pence), with subscriptions varying between $10 (5 pounds) a month for 25 songs, and $20 (10 pounds) a month for 75 songs. eMusic offers plans from 8.99 pounds for 30 songs a month, to 14.99 pounds for 75 songs a month, but it backs those with a library of three million songs. The LimeWire Store is also only available in the U.S., but we couldn't find a single song we'd want to buy for 15 pence anyway.

As a purely Web-based service at the moment, the site is at least attractive, with music reviews written by LimeWire's "real live music-loving employees, drawing upon their years of music industry experience." Terrific.

Maybe those people pirating FLAC files of Amy Whinehouse or Peter Andrex from LimeWire's usual service will have more love than we do. We think you'd be better off watching Encoded.

(Source: Crave UK)

If Amazon's music store going international wasn't enough digital music news for you today, 7digital took the liberty of announcing its international roll-out plans today, and its CEO took time out to talk to us one-on-one.

(Credit: Crave UK)

The DRM-free 7digital download store is often discussed alongside iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon as a major player in the music download world. It was one of the first online stores to host EMI's DRM-free catalog and now offers more than 3 million tracks, the majority of which are sans-DRM.

Today it announced it's set to receive 4.25 million pounds of investor funding (about $8.44 million). The deal is expected to be finalized toward the end of next month. The U.S. is expected to receive a big fat intravenous injection of 7digital love as a result of this deal, meaning that the well-established iTunes and Amazon could be in for a tussle.

This news is one of a string of interesting moves made by the U.K.-based firm. Last year it struck a deal with Last.fm--which itself is hitting the headlines again lately--that allows users of the popular music-streaming site to buy songs from 7digital within the Last.fm environment. Later in '07 it announced DRM-free songs were outselling DRMed versions at a rate of four to one--news that surprised no-one.

We spoke today to 7digital's CEO Ben Drury regarding the company's announcement. He told us that the plan is to offer the same service in the U.S. as is currently available in the U.K., but that licences differing from region to region make offering identical services tricky.

Amazon's recently struck deals with all four major labels for DRM-free downloads is something 7digital wasn't likely to ignore. When asked how the company intended to compete with Amazon in the U.S., Drury said the plan was of course to secure the same deals, and that they were "in talks" with the remaining major labels.

Regarding Amazon's announcement to invade the U.K. with its roster of major label backing, he said, "We welcome [Amazon] into the U.K. marketplace" and that it "will help move [the DRM-free industry] forward."

Finally, with more and more companies pedaling ahead in the mobile downloads market, Drury told us "we've been looking at the mobile market for four years now." Not surprisingly, he saw the previous lack of flat-rate mobile data plans as having been one of the main issues, but now they're becoming more common Drury expects 7digital to move into the mobile download arena.

This is probably going to be one of the most exciting and productive years not just for digital music, but for DRM-free and wireless downloads of digital music, regardless of what device you choose to invest in. You should also expect lossless downloads, as we've previously predicted. Curiously 7digital has offered lossless downloads of Radiohead songs before, as did Russian rebels AllOfMP3.com on a vast range of titles.

Excitement builds.

(Source: Crave UK)

I stopped by the packed Nokia booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to get an update on the Nokia Music Store announced over the summer. It's already online in the U.K. (PC only), with a library of nearly 3 million songs.

Will the Nokia Music Store PC app be as attractive (and popular) as its CES booth?

(Credit: Matt Rosoff)

The Web-based store looks fairly standard. But according to the folks at the booth, later this year Nokia will launch an associated desktop PC application that promises some unique features, including the ability to transfer songs directly from the store to an attached phone via drag and drop (no stop on the PC necessary), and over-the-air sync of playlists from the phone (created on the fly) to the PC. Interesting, but I still think selling DRM-protected WMA files is going to be a problem for it.

The $100 ZoneBridge enhances the wireless connectivity of a Sonos setup.

(Credit: Sonos)

Sonos today issued a flurry of announcements that will further augment the appeal of its Digital Music System: compatibility with two additional premium music subscription services--Best Buy's Digital Music Store (BBDMS) and the revamped Napster; a new software update that adds a handful of useful features, including search; and confirmation of the ZoneBridge BR100 networking accessory. The details, in brief: ... Read more

Well, you can't say they didn't warn you.

Apple released an update for the iPhone on Thursday that brings the Wi-Fi Music Store to the device, as well as several security fixes and enhanced features. But, as expected, it also turns iPhones that were unlocked to run on cellular networks other than AT&T's into little more than emergency call boxes.

Macworld reported two iPhones in its office with SIM (subscriber identity module) hacks did not work after the update was installed. A message prompted the phone's owner to install "an unlocked and valid SIM card" before the phone could be completely activated. It's almost like the phone was in the same pre-activation limbo stage that frustrated many iPhone users waiting for activation the first weekend the device went on sale.

Gizmodo is reporting that both the original SIM cards as well as new SIM cards from AT&T won't work in iPhones that had been activated with the original SIM card, then unlocked from the network. That could present a huge problem for iPhone owners who thought they could get around the reactivation process by getting a new AT&T SIM card.

Other reports are trickling in of similar experiences. It appears that those who downloaded the "jailbreaking" software application that lets you install third-party software aren't running into the same problems if they are still using AT&T's network. However, they are reporting that their third-party applications have vanished upon reactivation.

Did you hack your iPhone, and have you had similar problems after installing the latest update? Let us know.

Apple gave hacked iPhone owners another warning that they might have trouble with the latest software update, and many did.

(Credit: Apple)

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Today's oh-so-sweet $200 price cut on the iPhone had a nice little side effect. Those refurbished 8GB iPhones sold exclusively through Apple's special deals section that were on sale for $499 last month have been given the price cut treatment, as well, although only by $50 this time around, bringing the grand total down to $349 for an (almost) brand new iPhone. If you're looking to save $50 on an iPhone to spend on some music to fill it up using the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, this is a pretty sweet deal while supplies last. Keep in mind, however, it being a refurb and all, that you won't be the first to grace its glass surface with your face grease.

The new Nokia N95.

(Credit: Nokia)

Nokia shot to center stage of cell phone land today by unveiling a gallery of new handsets and services at an event in London. We can't get across the pond to cover the news in person (though we did get a very short preview of the handsets last week), but we'll bring you the highlights here. Be sure to click through to read more details on each announcement. Or if you prefer pretty pictures, take a gander at our slide show.

North America finally will get its own version of the powerful Nokia N95. Though it looks just like the existing N95, it adds a few extras, such as more RAM and longer battery life. It also offers 3G support for North American networks. Welcome also to a new N95 with a whopping 8GB of internal memory.

The Nokia N81.

(Credit: Nokia)

There are two new editions of the Nokia N81. Nokia showed off an 8GB model and a version that can accept microSD cards up to 4GB. Both will offer high-end features and will support Nokia's newly launched Ovi Internet brand, where you can download songs from the new Nokia Music Store and games from the company's new N-Gage service.

Speaking of which, the Nokia Music Store will offer millions of tracks from a variety of music sources. You'll be able to browse for music, buy a song directly over the air to your phone, or add a song to a wish list for a later download.

The Music Store will be available through the Ovi brand of Internet services, which is also the focal point for reviving Nokia's unsuccessful N-Gage brand. But instead of bringing us another awkward N-Gage device, Nokia is developing a new N-Gage gaming platform. You'll be able to browse through a wide selection of game titles, download free trials, and purchase games directly from Nokia. The service will also offer community portal for playing games with friends, or even strangers.

The Nokia 5610 Xpress Music.

(Credit: Nokia)

Finally, Nokia also introduced two new Xpress Music devices. The 5310 and 5610 offer the nifty, high-end multimedia features you've come to expect from the Xpress music line. The 5310 has a slim candy bar design, while the 5610 is a slider phone.

All phones and services should be available beginning in the fourth quarter of this year. We don't have specific North American availability information, but we'll pass on the details as soon as they come. And you can bet that we'll have full reviews of the phones as soon as we can get our hands on them.

Nokia launches Ovi, an Internet services gateway

(Credit: Nokia)

Along with announcing a brand-new lineup of handsets, Nokia is also venturing into the brave new world of Internet services. It's called Ovi, which is "door" in Finnish, and it signifies Ovi's open access to existing social networks like MySpace, Flickr, and Facebook right from a compatible Nokia phone. But the big news here is that Ovi will also be a gateway to Nokia's newly launched Internet services, which include the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and N-Gage games. Though Ovi can work on any personal computer, it is really designed for the mobile experience. It will go live in English in late 2007, while additional features and languages are expected next year.

Nokia N81 with the Nokia Music Store

(Credit: Nokia)

The Nokia Music Store will have millions of tracks from a variety of music sources that include everything from major artists to independent labels. You can browse for music, buy the song directly over the air to your phone, or add a song to a wish list for later download. If you like, you may also download the song to your PC and later load it onto the phone. The Nokia Music Store also supports full track streaming on the PC. Another neat thing about the Music Store is there will be a music recommendation engine based on songs you have purchased. Songs are available in 192kbps WMA files, and can be managed either via Windows Media Player or Nokia's own Music PC client. As for pricing, a song will cost one euro each, while a whole album will go for 10 euros. But the interesting part here is that Nokia will also allow you to have a subscription for PC streaming for 10 euros a month.

Right now, compatible Nokia phones include the following: Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic, Nokia 5700 XpressMusic, Nokia 6267, Nokia 6500 Classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 7500 Prism, Nokia 7900 Prism, Nokia N75, Nokia N76, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N91 8GB, Nokia N95, and Nokia N95 8GB. Music Store will open in certain European markets later this year, with additional stores opening next year.