snapshot 11/14/07

Singing a New Zune
Microsoft has greatly improved the Zune hardware and software this time. But it seems to be competing with Apple’s last efforts, not its newest ones.


New Direction For SnoCap: Free, 15-Song Embeddable Mixes
SnoCap, the Shawn Fanning-founded company that MySpace tapped to create the MyStores used by its artists to sell MP3s, has long asserted the value of its proprietary digital registry, which lists 6 million songs along with their metadata and acoustic fingerprints. The company, which is currently seeking a buyer, has packaged this registry in a compelling new way for bloggers and users of social networks, who can use SnoCap's new Boomshuffle service to create 15-song mixtape widgets that can be embedded wherever HTML is used


Jay-Z Pulls iTunes Distribution on Latest Release
Jay-Z has opted not to license his latest album effort to iTunes, a move designed to protect the album format. The album, American Gangster, is connected to the major motion picture bearing the same name. Discussing the move, Jay-Z noted that "as movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles." Fans can download the entire album download from other digital stores, including Amazon, Rhapsody, and Rocafella.com. But Apple requires all artists to offer individual downloads, a sticking point for Jay-Z.


Burning Question: Where Can I Buy DRM-Free Music?
With both EMI and Universal on board, Wal-Mart currently has the best selection of major-label music. Sure, the browser-based store works only with Internet Explorer (Firefox is coming), editorial is less than comprehensive, and navigation is clunkier than driving a U-Haul. But it's well worth it for unfettered tunes at rock-bottom prices.


This Holiday Season, Electronics Top Wish Lists
The survey, by the Consumer Electronics Association, hints at what some retail analysts are predicting: Entertainment gear and gadgets will take a larger share from consumers' wallets this holiday season. "We believe this Christmas season could be dominated by three major categories within the consumer electronics space: flat-panel televisions, videogames/accessories, and Apple-branded products," Credit Suisse analysts wrote in a recent note to clients.


Creative sells 25 million MP3 players
It's been a long and winding road, but Creative announced today that it's sold 25 million MP3 players since it first shipped the parallel port-only Nomad in 1999. While that's not quite as many players as a certain fruit company, it's still a pretty astonishing number, and it speaks to the giant shift that's taken place in how we all consume media here in the future.


Haier and AOL's PMP makes its debut as the ibiza Rhapsody
We haven't heard much of anything about Haier and AOL's WiFi-enabled PMP since CES way back at the beginning of the year, but it looks like the device has now finally made its way out the door, with it now dubbed the ibiza Rhapsody. From the looks of it, there's three different versions of the player, including a 4GB, an 8GB, and a 30GB model (each also available in a range of colors). Apart from that, however, the players all appear to be identical, with each boasting a 2.5-inch display, an FM radio, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and, of course, integrated support for Rhapsody-To-Go and AOL's video service. Nice enough specs to be sure, although the player isn't exactly on the cheap side, with Amazon currently listing the 4, 8, and 30GB players for $230, $250, and $330, respectively.


Live Free or DRM
The upcoming DVD release on November 20 of Live Free or Die Hard will be the first to allow digital copies to your PC and one other USB-attached device. That’s two copies for the price of one DVD. The folks at Fox are calling this a Fox Digital Copy, and plan to roll it out with future DVDs as well. The catch: any device you put it on needs to be compatible with Microsoft’s PlayforSure DRM technology. That excludes all iPods, Sony PSPs, and even Zunes.