digital downloads
Music
Mos Def Selling New Album Through T-Shirts
4:20AM Sean Fallon | These days it takes a little more effort to push an entire album of music. For some, it’s free digital downloads, for Mos Def, it’s t-shirts. More »
Software
Dell Download Store Selling Microsoft Apps- But Not Cheap
4:14AM Wilson Rothman | Didn’t hear? Dell launched a download store in January. Today they became the only third-party retailer to sell Microsoft downloads. Problem is, they sell Office Home and Student for $US130, where Amazon sells it, in the box, for $US95. [Dell]
Entertainment
2:13PM Nick Broughall | Along with its new range of Blu-ray recorders and players, Panasonic were also showing off their new Viera Cast IP technology, which is built into pretty much everything in the new range. It’s an IP entertainment solution, and while it’s no Netflix or TiVo yet, it has the potential for greatness, if only they can get the right partners on board. More »
Panasonic’s Viera Cast Isn’t As Awesome As It Can Be… Yet
2:13PM Nick Broughall | Along with its new range of Blu-ray recorders and players, Panasonic were also showing off their new Viera Cast IP technology, which is built into pretty much everything in the new range. It’s an IP entertainment solution, and while it’s no Netflix or TiVo yet, it has the potential for greatness, if only they can get the right partners on board. More »
Games
I Love Downloadable Media, But It Makes For a Crappy Gift
8:00AM Mark Wilson | iTunes, Netflix, Amazon and even PSN are all pretty good at distributing downloadable movies and music. But all of these data files, as easy as they are to buy, make for a crappy gift. More »
Games
Sony Slowly Backing Away from UMD, Snuggling With Digital Distribution
8:50AM Matt Buchanan | The rumours Sony is working on a PSP2? Pure confusion, says Sony exec John Koller. Rumourmongers are somehow mistaking its push to digital distribution, away from UMD, as work on PSP2. Uh huh. [SAI] More »
Entertainment
In Spite of Downloadable Movies, I Still Choose Blu-ray
7:20AM Mark Wilson | Since Blu-ray was announced, there’s been a lot of talk about its impending obsolescence in the face of digital downloads. Just last week, Samsung took a low blow at the format, predicting its lifespan to be only five years. Sony fired back, claiming that the “Blu-ray format will not only coexist with the networked era, but will actually enhance it for many years to come.”
Entertainment
PlayStation 3 Movies Can Only Be Redownloaded Once
10:45PM Mark Wilson | I’m not sure how many of you are buying (aka not renting) movies from Sony’s PlayStation 3 video store, but to those who are willing to drop $US15 on a permanent, DRM’d digital product, know that Sony only allows you to redownload these products one time. More »
Online
8:47AM Nick Broughall | The rumours we heard back in May were true – Sanity has now officially launched its music subscription service, LoadIt, the same service it promised back when Microsoft launched Vista in January 2007. But anybody looking for the future o music consumption should look away fast, otherwise you might sear your eyeballs with the incredible lack of value in Sanity’s proposition.
For a start, it’s so packed full of restrictions that it makes Cuba look like the centre of the free world. First off, there’s the Windows Media association – we knew this was always going to happen, but it essentially means that Mac and Linux users are a no-go. And, of course, anyone who uses an iPod – each song is WMA with DRM, so only Plays For Sure MP3 players will work with this service.
Then there’s the track limits. For $29 a month you get – wait for it – the ability to download 300 songs each month. Over time, that’s probably not too bad a proposition – 3,600 songs each year isn’t terrible value for money. But that first month, when you want to load up your non-iPod MP3 player… You can only grab 300 songs. Worse is that if you do download more than 300, there are excess charges, although what they are isn’t spelled out on the LoadIt website. As a point of reference, Napster’s subscription service in the US offers unlimited downloads for US$12.95 a month.
And finally, there’s the subscription model itself. You pay $29 a month for your music. After a year you might have built up a decent collection. But if you stop paying your subscription fees, all that music will disappear like smoke in the wind, and you’ll be left with nothing but a credit card debt and an empty MP3 player.
More »
Sanity Finally Launches Music Subscription Service
8:47AM Nick Broughall | The rumours we heard back in May were true – Sanity has now officially launched its music subscription service, LoadIt, the same service it promised back when Microsoft launched Vista in January 2007. But anybody looking for the future o music consumption should look away fast, otherwise you might sear your eyeballs with the incredible lack of value in Sanity’s proposition.
For a start, it’s so packed full of restrictions that it makes Cuba look like the centre of the free world. First off, there’s the Windows Media association – we knew this was always going to happen, but it essentially means that Mac and Linux users are a no-go. And, of course, anyone who uses an iPod – each song is WMA with DRM, so only Plays For Sure MP3 players will work with this service.
Then there’s the track limits. For $29 a month you get – wait for it – the ability to download 300 songs each month. Over time, that’s probably not too bad a proposition – 3,600 songs each year isn’t terrible value for money. But that first month, when you want to load up your non-iPod MP3 player… You can only grab 300 songs. Worse is that if you do download more than 300, there are excess charges, although what they are isn’t spelled out on the LoadIt website. As a point of reference, Napster’s subscription service in the US offers unlimited downloads for US$12.95 a month.
And finally, there’s the subscription model itself. You pay $29 a month for your music. After a year you might have built up a decent collection. But if you stop paying your subscription fees, all that music will disappear like smoke in the wind, and you’ll be left with nothing but a credit card debt and an empty MP3 player.
More »
Online
Get Ready for iTunes Taxes
4:00AM Matt Buchanan | Digital content makes a lot money–over US$130 billion in sales a year–but most of that actually isn’t taxed. Yet! Realising they’re leaving vast streams of green untapped, states are getting wise–nine this year have considered digital download taxes, and five of those passed them, for a total of 17 states that tax digital purchases. And don’t worry, they’re totally coming to a state near you, it’s only a matter of time. More »
Entertainment
