SHOW #105 - NerdBoyTV: Amazon Penny Sale

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee discusses Amazon.com's "Penny Sale" on smartphones for Mother's Day, Amazon's $0.69 mp3s, an iPhone app for kids called "Animal Phone," and the Top Five Viral Videos of the week on YouTube.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Beatles arrive on iTunes, at last!

CLICK to read article on Yahoo! News: "Yep, it's happened. A treasure trove of Beatles albums popped up on iTunes early Tuesday, a day after Apple promised an 'exciting announcement' from iTunes.

Digital versions of such classic Beatles albums as 'Abbey Road,' 'A Hard Day's Night,' 'Help!,' 'Magical Mystery Tour' and 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' were selling for $13 each, with double albums like the 'White Album' going for $20.

Also available is a massive Beatles box set for $150, while individual tracks are selling for $1.30 each.

The Beatles, of course, were one of the last remaining digital music holdouts, and rumors of the Beatles arriving on iTunes (or going digital in any way whatsoever) have been circulating for years.

Apple teased the arrival of the Beatles on its website Monday with a banner that read: 'Tomorrow is just another day. That you'll never forget.'

Speculation on what the teaser meant ran the gamut from a cloud-based version of iTunes (powered by Apple's gigantic new data center in North Carolina) to a long-rumored iTunes-based music-subscription service.

Later in the day, though, there was increasing chatter that Apple's big news could be the arrival of the Beatles catalog on iTunes, and by late afternoon, Billboard, the Wall Street Journal and other publications had confirmed that the Beatles were at last set to go digital.

Whether Tuesday's Beatles announcement actually ranks as a day we'll 'never forget,' however, is up for debate.

Many, including me, were hoping that Apple would at last announce a Web-based version of iTunes, complete with a cloud-based digital locker for all your music. For now, it looks like we'll have to keep on waiting.

So, thoughts? Is the arrival of the Beatles on iTunes truly an unforgettable event, or did Apple and the Fab Four overplay their hands?

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

iTunes song samples may double in length

iTunes song samples may double in length | Apple - CNET News

"Apple's iTunes, the largest music retailer, will boost the amount of time users are allowed to sample a song, sources told CNET on Monday.

On Wednesday, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage at the company's annual September media event, he is expected to announce that iTunes users will be allowed at least twice the amount of time to sample a song, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the move.

An Apple spokesman said the company doesn't comment on speculation and rumor.

Currently, iTunes offers 30-second snippets of songs, a feature designed to give users a taste of the music to help them decide whether they like it enough to buy. Some users have long complained that half a minute isn't enough time to really hear a song.

Numerous other digital-music services offer much more time, including Pandora and Google's YouTube. Pandora has become a leader in digital radio, and while a user can't pick and choose which songs they want to listen to, they do get to hear full-length songs free of charge. By contrast, YouTube users do choose which full-length songs they want to hear by picking whatever music video they want, but these songs can't be legally captured or transferred to digital-music players.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

SHOW #84 - NerdBoyTV: Clickfree Transformer SE

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee takes the Clickfree Transformer SE automatic backup unit for a test drive. The Transformer SE converts any external hard drive into a Clickfree backup drive.

VIDEO: How To Navigate Around iTunes

In this screencast, we’re looking at the basic features and tools of iTunes and the way it’s set out. You can add songs, videos, visit the iTunes online store and do all kinds of things with iTunes.

How To Navigate Around iTunes on Howcast

Internet Age re-inventing music business: Bandwidth

By Glenn Chapman / AFP: Yahoo! Tech

"Music and Internet worlds merged on San Francisco's posh Nob Hill as insiders brainstormed about industry rocking Web 2.0 trends from social networking to smart phones with cameras.

Internet technologies will transform a music industry in which recording studio revenues have tumbled along with CD sales, according to those gathered for an elite Bandwidth Conference.

'The technology is really there to empower the consumer and the artist,' said Gracenote vice president of product and content management Stephen White.

'It is about creating better experiences around music, and we think the same is true for movies, TV, and other entertainment content.'

Gracenote specializes in music recognition technology and is used in Apple's iTunes online shop. Sony bought the California company last year for a reported 260 million dollars."

NerdBoyTV FIND: TuneUp — Clean Up Your iTunes Collection

TuneUp Tour Video from TuneUp Media on Vimeo.

CNET Prizefight: Apple iTunes vs. Amazon MP3

"When Amazon launched the beta version of its DRM-free MP3 store back in 2007, many predictions were made regarding whether the online retail giant would have what it takes to take on its counterpart in the digital music space, Apple iTunes. Although Amazon MP3 has yet to reach iTunes status in terms of catalog size and overall digital media sales, the lure of the ever-compatible MP3--which shows no signs of popping up in Apple's domain--combined with the pricing deals offered on the site and consistent growth in terms of selection is set to gain Amazon some serious headway in the coming months."

Apple planning streaming "iTunes Replay" video service?

Apple planning streaming "iTunes Replay" video service? : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech: "Rumor has it that iTunes users may soon be able to stream their movie and TV video purchases from just about anywhere, à la Amazon 'Video on Demand' and Netflix 'Watch Now.' Will it happen for real? I sure hope so.
The hot tip comes from AppleInsider, which claims that Apple is 'wrapping up' the streaming service, dubbed 'iTunes Replay,' for iTunes 8.

Details on the service are sketchy; AppleInsider says that the service would support both TV and movie purchases over iTunes, but doesn't specify whether you'd be able to watch purchased videos directly over a Web browser (as you can with the Amazon and Netflix streaming services), or if the iTunes software client would be required."

Apple's Macworld Surprise Is the Software

Apple's Macworld Surprise Is the Software - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

"Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller kicked off the Macworld show Tuesday with a keynote focusing on a new 17-inch Macbook Pro that looked quite good, along with new versions of iLife and iWork.

Unlike the rumors, there was no new Mac Mini announced. But what may get the most attention may be the changes to iTunes, with new prices and lots more songs offered without DRM.

Schiller started by talking about iLife 09, and in particular, iPhoto 09, which adds both Faces and Places. The first is a new face detection feature, which lets you tag a person's face in a photo, and then the program will try to find other photos with that have the face. Schiller noted that no face detection algorithm is perfect, and that's certainly been true on the web sites and other programs that have offered similar features. The trick will be seeing how well it works in real practice."

Apple cuts copy protection and prices on iTunes

Apple cuts copy protection and prices on iTunes (AP) by AP: Yahoo! Tech

"SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. is cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and plans to make every track available without copy protection.

In Apple's final appearance at the Macworld trade show, Apple's top marketing executive, Philip Schiller, said Tuesday that iTunes song prices will come in three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies will choose the prices, which marks a significant change, since Apple previously made all songs sell for 99 cents.

Apple gave the record labels that flexibility on pricing as it got them to agree to sell all songs free of 'digital rights management,' or DRM, technology that limits people's ability to copy songs or move them to multiple computers. Apple had been offering a limited selection of songs without DRM, but by the end of this quarter, the company said, all 10 million songs in its library will be available that way."

Name that tune by just singing or humming a snippet

Name that tune by just singing or humming a snippet: Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

"Scenario: You got a fat iTunes gift card for Christmas and you're loading up on music... but there's that one song that you're dying to download that you just can't remember the name of, or even who sings it, for that matter.

You can try searching for lyrics -- if you have 'em straight -- or you can let your voice do the searching. Check out Midomi, an ingenious website that lets you sing or hum a few bars of any song to figure out what it really is."

SHOW #056 - NerdBoyTV INTERNET: Audible.com

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee takes you to the Audible.com website where you can purchase and download audiobooks, newspapers, and magazines. For a very low fee per audiobook, you can have the world of books playing on your iPod or computer.

Listen up! Music is everywhere on the Web

Listen up! Music is everywhere on the Web - Music- msnbc.com

"OK, so the idea of paying for radio seemed a whole lot better back in the good old days, when phrases like “financial crisis” weren’t in every other news story. If the Sirius XM subscription doesn’t seem like such a good idea anymore, well, you’re not alone. According to the tech blog CrunchGear.com, the company CEO Mel Karmazin is apparently now dreaming up ways to get cash-strapped would-be listeners to subscribe."

Apple event predictions: New Nano, Touch, price drops?

Apple event predictions: New Nano, Touch, price drops? : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech

"A revamped Nano appears to be a lock, along with tweaks for the Touch and a new version of iTunes. We might have to wait on those rumored new MacBooks, however.

That's the word ahead of Tuesday morning's media event, which Apple finally confirmed earlier this week via a 'Let's Rock' invite decorated with that ubiquitous dancing iPod dude.

Of course, the rumors have been flying fast and furious in the past few days, and I've done my best to marshal them into some kind of order—starting with …"

SHOW #045 - NerdBoyTV REVIEW: Zune 4GB

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee reviews Microsoft's Zune 4GB MP3 Player and compares it to Apple's comparable iPod Nano.

Napster rolls out all-MP3 download store - Yahoo! News

Napster rolls out all-MP3 download store - Yahoo! News: "Napster Inc. begins selling MP3s Tuesday, a move the online music service hopes will lure iPod users and turn around Napster's sliding fortunes.

The company is the latest to make the switch to the unrestricted file format, which makes it music tracks compatible with virtually any music player or other device."

Foneshow Makes Podcasts Available On-the-go

Foneshow is a new service that lets you listen to Podcasts on your cell phone. And you dont need a computer or a copy of iTunes to listen in. (May 14)