Competition for the next generation Internet television platform is starting to heat up. Microsoft, seeking to expand offerings on its Xbox 360 console, has reached an agreement with Hollywood firm the Safran Company to produce original shows for distribution on the system. The company represents clients like actor and producer Sean Combs (“Monster’s Ball”), actor and writer Nia […]

Microsoft’s downloadable media portal, the Zune Marketplace, announced the publication of Zune’s first video podcast, a behind-the-scenes profile of metalcore band The Black Dahlia Murder. Zune sent a video crew out to shadow The Black Dahlia Murder on the New York City stop of their current US headlining tour, capturing a day in the life […]

Microsoft¬†has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! to challenge Google’s dominance in Internet search services and advertising. According to Bloomberg.com, Microsoft’s $31/share offer is 62 percent more than Yahoo’s closing stock price yesterday. In the months leading up to Microsoft’s offer, Yahoo!’s stock has been declining in value, dropping 18 percent this year […]

Apple’s had to deal with a lot of stupid lawsuits over the years, but this one takes the prize. An antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple on Dec. 31 charges the company with maintaining an illegal monopoly on the digital music market – because iPods don’t support Microsoft’s WMA format. “Apple’s iPod is alone among mass-market […]

With the latest update, the Microsoft Zune now offers the ability to subscribe and unsubscribe to podcasts directly on the Zune itself. This is a useful new feature, especially combined with the Zune’s ability to wirelessly sync. via Zune-Online

Despite the issues many tech-savvy music fans have with digital rights management and encrypted media files, it looks like the future of digital music will be based on closed, proprietary systems. Apple’s iTunes/iPod combination has rapidly risen to dominance, a fact that has caused both the music industry and other portable media player vendors a […]

Microsoft is moving quickly to respond to FairUse4WM, a free program which threatens to undermine Microsoft-based online music service offerings. FairUse4WM, a so-called DRM-stripper, lets users remove the rights management software from music downloads in Microsoft‚Äôs Windows Media DRM (digital rights management) 10 and 11. The formats are used by many online music services to […]

The 1089 is equipped with a 1.8″ 30GB hard drive, a 3″ TFT LCD display, a USB 2.0 connection for transfering files and a built-in FM tuner. And WiFi.

Microsoft is making deals to deliver its attempt at an iPod-killer, the Zune, loaded with free music from record companies wanting to promote their bands. According to Microsoft’s Cesar Menendez, the Zune will come preloaded with audio and video from CSS, Hot Chip and 30 Seconds to Mars. No word on podcasting support on the […]

Pocket Podcasts, an open source podcast client for Windows Mobile devices, has been updated. The beta 2 version adds support for RSS viewing, podcast downloading over WiFi and video support, when combined with TCPMP. “Now you can turn a Pocket PC into a wireless-enabled “Video iPod” with excellent podcast support,” notes Wes Henderson at the […]