Hear Cool Tune, Click, Own It

Promotion deal pushing music companies to switch to DRM-free MP3 format

(NEWSER) - Pepsi and Amazon aren’t music producers, but they may inspire large-scale changes in the industry, Reuters says. The two companies will launch a music download promotion of MP3 songs during the Super Bowl next year, a deal pushing music titans like Warner Music and Sony BMG to consider distributing songs in the same format, which bypasses digital rights management technology. More»

Unlocked phones will be 'irreparably damaged' by upgrade

(NEWSER) - IPhones that have been unlocked to work on cellular networks other than AT&T may be damaged "irreparably" by an iPhone software update being released this week, Apple warned yesterday. What's worse, the company says the unlocking also voids the warranty, so users would have to pay for replacements out of pocket. One of the features included in the update will enable users to buy music over a WiFi connection. More»

Price-fixing lawsuit focuses on wrong targets: David Carr

(NEWSER) - When the Justice Department decided to take on "the monopolistic monolith that threatened to dominate the book industry," it chose the wrong targets —five large publishers plus minor e-book player Apple—while ignoring the all-powerful Amazon, writes a dumbfounded David Carr in the New York Times . "That’s the modern equivalent of taking on Standard Oil but breaking up Ed’s Gas ’N’ Groceries on Route 19 instead." The DOJ's price-fixing lawsuit will keep e-book competition alive ... by basically helping Amazon squash the other players and once again reign supreme. More»

But DoJ suit expected to be bad news for readers in long run

(NEWSER) - Just after the Department of Justice launched its antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five major publishers , Amazon announced plans to slash e-book prices. But while the move is expected to cut the prices of major titles from $14.99 to $9.99 or less, analysts believe the benefit to consumers will be short-lived. Amazon, which already controls around 60% of the e-book market, can afford to sell books at a loss to boost Kindle sales and the price-fixing lawsuit is expected to give it an overwhelming advantage, allowing it to drive competitors out of the market and start dictating its own terms to publishers. More»

Flash lovers, rejoice!

(NEWSER) - Surely you’ve heard by know that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet isn’t an iPad killer . But it does have a few desirable traits that the iPad doesn’t. The Huffington Post lists six of them:

• It supports Flash: Many iPad and iPhone users wish that Apple would take a page from Amazon’s playbook when it comes to this.
• It’s cheaper: A Kindle Fire (which does not offer 3G) will run you $199. For the cheapest iPad 2 model, which also does not offer 3G, you’ll shell out $499.