mtv
Online
Goodbye, Productivity: MTV Music Site Posts Every Music Video Ever
12:30AM Adam Frucci | I hope you’ve got some time to kill, because the new MTV Music website is pretty much the coolest thing ever for music fans. At long last, the MTV name is being associated with music videos again, because the “music” channel has gone and put its entire archive of music videos online, all embeddable and in high quality. It’s like Hulu for music videos, only with less ads (for now). And it’s awesome. More »
Games
6:20PM Nick Broughall | Like many of you, we’ve been hanging out for EA to get off their backsides and launch Rock Band in Australia. But when they announced they were releasing Rock band 2, and we still hadn’t seen an Australian release date, some of us here turned our attention to Guitar Hero IV, and their firm release date of November 17.
Well, now EA is trying to get our attention back by announcing that the original Rock Band will finally hit Aussie shelves on November 7. Of course there’s no word on pricing, or whether or not Rock Band 2 will be launching straight afterwards either, but a date of any description is better than nothing for rock-hungry gamers.
But, as ex Giz editor Seamus (who’s taking care of Kotaku at the moment) said to me when we discussed the announcement – it kind of makes you wonder, now that Rock Band 2 is available overseas – whether or not we’re just getting the old Rock Band 1 stock they couldn’t shift anymore. Probably not, but the timing is a bit suspect…
More »
Rock Band Dated For Oz: November 9
6:20PM Nick Broughall | Like many of you, we’ve been hanging out for EA to get off their backsides and launch Rock Band in Australia. But when they announced they were releasing Rock band 2, and we still hadn’t seen an Australian release date, some of us here turned our attention to Guitar Hero IV, and their firm release date of November 17.
Well, now EA is trying to get our attention back by announcing that the original Rock Band will finally hit Aussie shelves on November 7. Of course there’s no word on pricing, or whether or not Rock Band 2 will be launching straight afterwards either, but a date of any description is better than nothing for rock-hungry gamers.
But, as ex Giz editor Seamus (who’s taking care of Kotaku at the moment) said to me when we discussed the announcement – it kind of makes you wonder, now that Rock Band 2 is available overseas – whether or not we’re just getting the old Rock Band 1 stock they couldn’t shift anymore. Probably not, but the timing is a bit suspect…
More »
Entertainment
Justin Timberlake Presents New MTV Reality Show Called “The Phone”
11:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | Hey, Justin Timberlake here. Just checking to see if you senoritas are n*sync with my plans to bring sexy back to reality television. Next season, MTV’s going to rock your body with a new reality game show called “The Phone,” to be executive-produced by yours truly. Here’s the premise: More »
Computers
Pavilion dv2800t Artist Edition, HP and MTV Lovechild
1:10AM Mark Wilson | “Created by young people, for young people,” the Pavilion dv2800t laptop adorned by the winning design from MTV/HP’s Global Design Competition has just gone on sale. Along with the colourful finish, the desktop wallpaper mirrors the style and buyers get a matching messenger bag as well. More »
Gadgets
CBS, MTV and MySpace Get Chummy With Chumby Network
12:00AM Matt Buchanan | While chumby has been available in beta for a while and we had our hands on the final version last week, today is the official public launch of the little Wi-Fi beanbag, as well as the Chumby Network, with big media content partners CBS, MTV, The Weather Channel, AOL Shoutcast, Scripps and more. The network is ad-supported, but you’ll be able to watch Letterman Top 10, grab MTV news (the scrolling app I sorta complained about) and more. We’ll have a full review later this week of the new fully loaded chumby. More »
Press
Yahoo Dumps Music Service, Sends Customers to Rhapsody
12:32AM Wilson Rothman | As if it hasn’t been a rough enough patch for Yahoo, the company just announced that it would be ditching its iffy attempt at all-you-can-eat DRM music, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and turn what subscribers it does have over to Rhapsody. This is good news for people who may have signed up for Yahoo before reading reviews; in our observations, Rhapsody is a much better service. The only thing that strikes fear in us, from the press release: “A simple process…will convert Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers’ music libraries to Rhapsody.” Uhhh, just don’t call it ConvertsForSure, okay? Thanks. Press release after jump. More »
Gadgets
Sony Stands By UMD, But Not Too Close
12:41AM Mark Wilson | Sony announced last week that, yes, it’s still releasing UMDs, baby! Partnering with MTV, PSP owners will soon be able to purchase “Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection,” volumes 2 and 3; “Jackass,” volumes 2 and 3; “Wildboyz,” volumes 1 and 2; “Viva La Bam,” volumes 2-4; and “Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection.” While Sony has to know that UMD has become a game-only format, small, thematic releases like these aren’t really going to hurt/help the format or the bottom line. It’s like gambling on the penny slots after losing for a few hours of $20 blackjack. [Reuters] More »
Entertainment
TiVo Adds Several Thousand Music Choice Videos On Demand
12:30AM Wilson Rothman | You know Music Choice, the provider of beloved music-only cable channels from Adult Top 40 to Salsa Y Merengue? Well, they’re coming to TiVo with nearly 1,000 music videos at launch, and several thousand in all. You can access them at no charge through the TiVoCast interface. Remember videos? As if to remind us, TiVo asked original MTV VJ Martha Quinn for a comment: “In a way, I see this as a new video revolution whereby fans pick the videos they want to watch and when.” Sounds like Martha’s just convinced herself to retire. (Awww, we love you Martha!) No word on the music-only channels, though, and we can’t live without our Underground Rap (Uncensored) channel. More »
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RealNetworks and MTV Form Rhapsody America Music Service With Verizon Over-The-Air Downloads
2:30AM Wilson Rothman | UPDATED Real and MTV are putting together a Voltron-like online retailer called Rhapsody America in order to better combat Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The V Cast Music over-the-air service from Verizon Wireless will form the 3G-powered mobile-distribution arm. Though no pricing or timing details were announced, Verizon’s John Stratton did allude to the future availability of over-the-air all-you-can-eat subscription downloads. The positioning is obvious to anyone who’s watched the bloodbath of non-Apple music stores over the past few years. Urge was supposed to be Microsoft’s darling, and the key to its Windows Media Player 11 and Vista music strategy. That is, until the new baby Zune came along and Urge was left playing in the road like a foster child. An article today in the Wall Street Journal said that the Verizon Wireless angle is also clear, since Apple “angered” many carriers by deciding to go exclusive with AT&T. Regarding DRM-free music, Real chairman Rob Glazer said that the company started its trial of DRM-free tracks fro Universal today, but did not indicate if DRM-free music would ever be available for download to a cell phone. As the Journal predicted, Urge’s GM, Michael Bloom, will run the new company, and the Urge brand will cease to exist. [WSJ] More »
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