Podcast - Weekly Roundup: Digging up the DRM Debate

Direct Link: MP3 Version Ah, the DRM debate. What’s more important: protecting intellectual property or protecting fair use? As the iTunes Music Store careens towards its 3rd birthday, Editor Bryan Chaffin and Anchor Ricky Spero duke it out over the best way to move digital downloads into the future. Join the discussion on one of…

TMO Reports - French DRM Law Could Have Worldwide Impact

TMO recently had the opportunity to discuss the proposed French law to regulate copy protection and digital rights management (DRM) with intellectual property expert William Hart from the New York office of Proskauer Rose LLP. The bill passed the French lower house on March 21, and is now on its way to the upper house…

Hidden Dimensions -- An Exercise in Disruption

One of the ways to get ahead in the world of high technology is to have a good understanding of all the key components that make up a technical ecosystem, understand the customer, understand the weaknesses of the competition, question easy and familiar assumptions that may not really hold, have a coherent plan, and then…

Microsoft Delay May Help Apple

Microsoft’s never ending quest to delay the release of Vista, its next version of Windows, is still on track as Bill Gates announced that consumers won’t get to see the operating system until at least January of 2007. The continuing delays from Redmond may work in Apple’s favor with the next version of Mac OS…

IPO at SxSW: The Future of Radio

The annual South by Southwest Music Festival, which wrapped up its 20th year this past weekend, brings together hundreds of artists—most unsigned or belonging to independent labels—with thousands of industry insiders and music fans. As such, perhaps it’s only fitting that one of the panel sessions catering to this eclectic and open-midned crowd this year…

Just a Thought - Been There, Done That, Time to do it Again

Earlier this month Microsoft took the wraps off of its supposedly secret hotsey-totsey project known as Origami. What was revealed overwhelmed and underwhelmed the public and media alike; a small tablet PC capable of running a full version of Windows XP. While that description would likely put most folks in the ‘underwhelmed’ bucket, a closer…

Apple Hot Deals Update For MacMall, Ramjet

The new MacMall Hot Deals page has offers on the Sony SDM-S205KB 20-inch LCD Display with DVI, the MicroTek ScanMaker S400 flatbed scanner, Enfocus PitStop Pro 6.5 & Instant PDF 3.5 bundled, Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Portable Photo Printer, LaCie 120GB USB 2.0 Safe Mobile Hard Drive with Fingerprint Access Control, X2Gen MG17R 17-inch LCD…

French Law Doesn't Open AAC Format Yet

Controversial legislation to force Apple and other online music resellers to open their copy protection to competitors is not currently being included in France’s National Assembly proposal package that is set for approval on March 21. According to Red Herring, however, the option is still under discussion. The proposed law was intended to force companies…

Free iPod Site Faces Privacy Violation Claims

Gratis Internet, which is well-known for its offers of free iPods and other merchandise, sold personal information about 7.2 million users to e-mail marketing company Datran Media, which on Monday agreed to a US$1.1 million fine with the state of New York. Ryan Singel reported for Wired News that Gratis wasn’t supposed to sell that…

Mousepos?: The Ultimate Mouse Finder

With a quick tap of the F1 key, Mousepos? dims your screen and highlights the area surrounding your mouse pointer, making it easy to find your cursor on large displays, and to highlight areas during presentations and training. Itis also handy when you are using a PowerBook or MacBook Pro in low light conditions. When…

Microsoft Blogger Gives Up on an iPod Replacement

Microsoft employee Omar Shahine, who is a manager in the Windows Live Mail team, recently ended a 17-month search to find a suitable replacement for the iPod. While he loved the MP3 player, he disliked iTunes, so he set out to find a new one that met his extensive list of criteria posted on his…

Hidden Dimensions -- Why Apple Has Not Advertised Mac OS X

Many theoretical physicists believe that we live in a ten (possibly eleven) dimensional space. There are the familiar three dimensions of physical space plus one of time. But there may be extra dimensions, hidden and unseen, that are required to support the unification of gravity, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics. The hidden dimensions are required for…

Ted Landau's User Friendly View - Fair Use Under Fire

The other week I had an ethical debate with myself. It didn’t last long. But it started a ball rolling that led to this month’s column. The subject: copying movies and music for personal use. It all began when my wife and I went to see the last year’s film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.…

Just a Thought - iPod Hi-Fi: Huh?

Someone help me out here: I think I’m missing the point of Apple’s newest iPod accessory, the iPod Hi-Fi, and it’s bugging the bejeezus out of me. If we stroll into any Apple Store, Store-in-a-Store (CompUSA), or one of the increasing number of iPod vendors, like Target, Wal-Mart, or BJ’s, we are apt to find…

Analyst Looks at Value of 'Chatter From iPod Suppliers'

He continued: “While we understand that some of these data points appear to be painting a more negative picture of iPod sales, we believe a better indicator is actual data (vs. chatter/rumors) that is directly applicable and has a history of correlating highly with actual iPod shipments, such as point-of-sale monthly NPD data.” With 56…

Apple Hot Deals Update For Sweetwater Sound

The new Sweetwater Sound Hot Deals page has offers on the Blue Snowball USB Cardioid/Omni condenser mic with stand and cable, the Waves (GTR) Guitar Tool Rack with seven modeled amps, Sonyis MDR-7506 pro-grade foldable headphones, Steinberg Cubase SE, TAPCO Mix.50 5-channel USB ultra-compact mixer with 1 mono mic/line input, 2 stereo inputs and tape…