Digital Noise: Music and Tech

Update 4:15 p.m. PDT: Two clarifications. First, Remote Media Streaming is not limited to music--you can also stream video and pictures. I focused on music because that's the main topic of this blog. Second, you are required to associate a Windows Live ID (which used to be called Passport) with each computer whose library you want to share, and each computer you want to be able to access that library. I assume Microsoft took this step to avoid complaints or possible litigation from content owners.

In the announcement of the impending release of Windows 7 RC (basically the final beta), Microsoft on Wednesday confirmed a rumor that I first saw reported by Zack Whitaker of ZDNet last month: a new feature called Remote Media Streaming will let you access the music library on your home PC from another computer over the Web.

(Credit: Renai LeMay/ZDNet Australia)

It's like Slingbox, only instead of accessing the cable box or DVR sitting in your home, you're accessing the music files stored on your home PC.

It could get really interesting, if combined with Windows Live ID--simply associate a Live ID with your home machine, and you could get immediate automatic access to your music library whenever you log on with that ID on another machine (though you might need the Windows Media Player 12 on that accessing machine).

This is the first exciting new digital-media feature I've seen in Windows 7, but it seems to be at cross-purposes with other Microsoft efforts. For instance, one selling point of Windows Home Server is the ability to access files remotely, and while I suppose that some families might use that feature to access their financial records or homework, it seems like digital media would be the most interesting use. Offering that feature in Windows 7 takes some of the steam out of Home Server.

Then there's the whole Zune factor--for the last two years, the Media Player has languished untouched while the Zune PC software has been updated several times. Now, just when I had finally abandoned the Media Player, it looks like I'll have a reason to re-employ it.

From Microsoft's perspective, does it really make sense to have two product teams working on different digital-media clients for the PC? I don't think so, and eventually, Microsoft may have to pick a winner. I thought that Zune had the inside track, but now I'm not so sure.

Images: A peek at Windows 7 release candidate

Update at 5:10 p.m. PDT: Changes were made based on a draft version of the Windows 7 Reviewers' Guide.

Microsoft took the wraps off the next version of Windows Tuesday at its Professional Developers Conference, and the Web's abuzz with first impressions and previews--most of which are positive.

It looks like Microsoft is making the right moves to counter some of the problems with Vista: application and hardware compatibility are top priorities, and most of the UI tweaks I've seen so far seem helpful rather than arbitrary, as many of the changes in Vista seemed to be. But the release of Windows 7 is still a year away, and there will no doubt be modifications between now and then.

But forget the big picture...what's in store for digital audio in the next version of Windows? Here's a quick rundown of what in known based on the very early pre-beta shown in Los Angeles:

The Media Center interface in Windows 7 will scroll through album covers in your collection when you play a song.

(Credit: Charlie Owen, Microsoft)

• Media Player not dead. Windows 7 will ship with a new version of the Windows Media Player. This is somewhat surprising, given Microsoft's complete neglect of the Media Player since Vista's release and its emphasis on the Zune PC software, which has its own playback and organizational features. But apparently Microsoft has realized that native playback of digital media within Windows is too important to force people to download an application separately. This is not the case with some other applications--for instance, Windows 7 will not come with Mail/Outlook Express, Photo Gallery, or Movie Maker--instead, users will have to download Windows Live versions of these applications. (Or PC makers will have to pre-bundle them.)

• Non-Microsoft formats supported. Microsoft is at long last capitulating to the inevitable and natively supporting AAC audio (as well as H.264 video--both are parts of the MPEG-4 standard), which has become a dominant format thanks to Apple's AAC support in iTunes. For years, Microsoft used the Player to promote its own Windows Media format--for instance, it didn't support full-bitrate ripping of CDs to MP3 until Windows Media Player 10, released in 2004--but apparently the Media Player team is following Zune's lead here.

• Networked music. Microsoft promises major ease-of-use improvements for home networking in Windows 7 (hallelujah), and streaming home audio is no exception. You'll be able to stream media from any Windows 7 PC to any network-connected device that supports version 1.5 of the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standard, and vice-versa. The Windows Media Player will even transcode your media on the fly to the appropriate format for each device on your network. This sounds great on paper, but of course the devil's in the implementation details. Still, it's a great step forward from Windows Media Connect in XP and Vista, which only supports the Xbox 360 and a handful of other devices.

• Bluetooth audio. Windows 7 includes a Bluetooth audio driver, meaning it will natively support Bluetooth speakers and headphones--no installation required. (The lack of support for Bluetooth audio in Vista drew lots of complaints.)

• Intelligent routing. Microsoft promises that audio will flow more reliably to the proper devices--for example, a song will naturally play over your speakers, while a Voice-over-IP call will flow to your headphones. Again, nice idea, but wait to see if the implementation works.

• Libraries. A new feature, Libraries, will arrange similar types of files from across your PC--and across all the PCs in your network--within a single virtual folder. So all your music, even files you've neglected to put in your MyMusic folder, will appear in this virtual Music Library, which should make it easier to organize and find songs outside the context of the Media Player or Zune (or iTunes) libraries.

• Music Wall. It looks like the Media Center team has borrowed a trick from the Zune PC software: when you're listening to an album in Media Center, the background will gradually scroll through images from all the album art in your collection.

Dell gave up on MP3 players in 2006, after three years of fighting the iPod juggernaut. Initially, Dell's players relied on Musicmatch software for library organization, content syncing, and online music purchases, although they synced with the Windows Media Player as well in case of problems with Musicmatch (which CNET reviewer John Frederick Moore encountered back in 2005 with the flash-based Dell DJ Ditty). The reviews were middling at best, and the players never got much above 3 percent market share.

The Dell DJ Ditty, discontinued in 2006.

(Credit: CNET reviews)

According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, Dell is considering re-entering the MP3 player market later this year. This time, the company is considering building its own software based on technology it gained in its acquisition of Zing, as well as a modified version of somebody else's subscription music service, most likely Rhapsody's.

Let's leave aside the question of whether the world needs yet another end-to-end hardware-software-services play in the MP3 player space. (Ask Microsoft how that's going with Zune.)

This is about something much bigger and more interesting: the shift of power in the PC market away from Microsoft and toward the hardware manufacturers. The process has been going on since the Department of Justice's antitrust settlement with Microsoft back in 2001--a lot of onlookers derided that settlement as toothless, but it actually made a difference with regard to Microsoft's relationships with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers--Microsoft parlance for the big PC makers like Dell and HP). Instead of being allowed to push them to include whatever software Microsoft bundled with Windows, the OEMs were free to choose their own bundling strategies. If Microsoft wanted placement, it would have to pay like everybody else.

Fast forward a few years. Vista launches to mostly bad reviews. Apple launches a series of brilliant advertisements slamming Vista. These advertisements, combined with the popularity of the iPod and a generally smoother experience on the Mac (even Ballmer admitted it last week) create a big spike in Macintosh sales. That hurts Microsoft a little bit, as Windows still has more than 90 percent of the market for personal computing operating systems. But it hurts the PC makers more: even the biggest ones, Dell and HP, have only about 30 percent share.

Instead of relying on Microsoft to fight back against Apple, Dell's taking matters into its own hands. The company's been focusing on better design for some time now--that's phase one, since Apple consistently wins praise for its hardware design. Phase two: create a differentiated consumer experience for digital media and entertainment, and make it available only on a Dell. The MP3 player's just a side note.

Which raises the question: how much marketing should Microsoft do for Windows anyway? Rumors have been flying about a $300 million rehabilitation campaign for Vista. Why bother if OEMs like Dell are going their own way anyway? Instead, Microsoft should focus on building the most reliable, secure, multipurpose operating system it can, one that the OEMs will be happy to put on their PCs and that end users will be happy to adopt. Forget the user interface bells and whistles. Scale back on the included apps, which Microsoft now has to pay OEMs to place anyway. Just build a great OS, let the OEMs figure out how to use it, then leave the sales, marketing, and user experience details to them.

It's the law of entropy: as your digital music collection increases, you're bound to run into mislabeled songs, duplicate tracks in multiple file formats, and other problems. Apple's iTunes does a fine job of displaying song data and letting you edit it--as long as the song's in a format that iTunes supports (if you try to import a WMA file, for instance, iTunes will ask if you want to convert it first). Microsoft's Windows Media Player has an advanced tag editor, but it's buried a few menu options down, and it only lists songs in your My Music library. And as I've mentioned before, the new Zune software apparently wasn't designed to help you manage your library--it's hard, and in some cases impossible, to edit song data.

Reading through the Zune forums, I came across a very helpful post from user Khu entitled "10 ways to reduce your Zune-related stress." In that post, he suggests using a program called Mp3Tag to edit metadata (such as song order) before you fire up the Zune software (which does a nice job of auto-importing songs from My Music and any other folder you choose into your Zune library).

I downloaded and installed Mp3tag, and it's exceptionally helpful. As you can see in the screenshot, you can point it at any folder on your hard drive and it will list all music files in that folder. You can arrange them any way you like. Arranging them by album title me to see when I had duplicate WMA and AAC (.mp4) files for a particular album--a common occurrence for me, since I rip into WMA and then use iTunes to make the songs playable on my iPod. Since my Zune supports AAC files, and my iPod doesn't support WMA, I could delete the WMAs to save space. It also showed me where the file title didn't match the song title, where song order was missing, and any other flaws. Changing data is easy--use the upper left panel, type what you want, and hit save.

Kudos to Florian Heidenreich, the person behind the program and the site. He's offering it for free, but donations are welcome--if you download it, don't be cheap.

Mmm, metadata. Mp3tag shows it all (more than could fit into this screenshot) and makes it easy to edit.

(Credit: Screenshot)