Player

Blinkx to Create Video News Player for ITN

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 8, 2006 - 4:06am.

San Francisco - Blinkx, the operator of a searchable index of Web video, announced on Wednesday that it has been hired by news organization ITN to develop the company's official ITN player, and make ITN news searchable through the Blinkx index. Over 80 ITN news clips will be indexed on Blinkx each week, and will be available both from Blinkx.tv search results and on ITN.co.uk through Blinkx's DirectPlay service. San Francisco-based Blinkx added that it partnered with online rich media advertising provider Eyeblaster to insert advertising into all searchable ITN content, revenue from which will be shared by Blinkx and ITN.

SwissMemory Releases Swiss Army Knife MP3 Player

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 6, 2006 - 5:12am.

Austin, Texas - Chipmaker SigmaTel announced on Monday that its portable audio chip was used in the creation of the SwissMemory s.beat digital audio player, a device that features an MP3 player embedded within a Swiss Army Knife. SwissMemory will offer 1GB and 2GB versions of the device, which come either with the traditional Swiss Army Knife tools, or in an airline-friendly version without the tools.

Sony Acknowledges Issues With Player Software for Digital Walkman

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 31, 2006 - 7:13am.

London - Sony has acknowledged that the music software that comes with its new Walkman digital music players can result in some performance issues, and recommends that users download an older application while it fixes the Connect Player 1.0 software, The Register reported. Some users have reported that the bundled Connect Player, which integrates the Walkman players tightly with Sony's Connect online music store, can crash when transferring songs to a Walkman, or else run very slowly. Sony has apologized and said it is now investigating the issues.

Cable TV Firm Charter Launches Music Service for Portable Players

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2006 - 2:52am.

St. Louis - Charter Communications, the nation's fourth-largest cable TV provider, on Tuesday launched Charter Music To-Go, a new tier for its premium music subscription service that lets users download unlimited songs to portable audio players. Powered by MusicNet, the portable Charter digital music subscription service will offer access to a library of over 2 million tracks for $9.99 per month on a selection of around 25 Windows-based portable players.

LG Electronics to Ship Blu-ray DVD Player in the U.S. in Q2

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 6, 2006 - 6:25am.

Las Vegas - Korea's LG Electronics announced on Friday that it will ship its first Blu-ray Disc next-generation DVD player, the LG BD199, in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2006. LG did not provide pricing details for the device, which is based on Blu-ray DVD technology developed by Sony. Samsung also plans to introduce a $1,000 Blu-ray DVD player in the U.S. in the spring.

Apple iPod Takes 60% of Japanese Portable Player Market

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2005 - 4:09am.

Tokyo - Apple has announced that its iPod digital music player now accounts for 60% of all players sold in Japan, citing a report in Business Computer News, while its iTunes Music Store has also become the leading digital music retailer since launching in Japan in August. The company's market share for the iPod has surpassed 50% of the Japanese market since September, BCN reported. "It has been a tremendous year for Apple and music in Japan with the opening of the iTunes Music Store and the introduction of the impossibly small iPod nano and fifth generation iPod," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.

Sony Car CD Player Includes USB Port for 1GB Flash Memory Card

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 1, 2005 - 4:30am.

Las Vegas - Sony Electronics on Tuesday introduced a car stereo receiver that features a USB port engineered into the faceplate, which can accept a 1GB flash memory card filled with digital music tracks loaded from a PC. The $350 Xplod MEX-1GP AM/FM receiver also plays CDs and MP3 CDs.

tags: Sony | CD | Player | 1GB | USB | Memory Card |

Report: Apple iPod Shuffle Ups Flash-Based Player Market Share to 58%

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 4, 2005 - 10:18am.

London -- The iPod Shuffle, Apple's flash memory-based digital music player, accounted for 58% of all flash-based MP3 players sold in April, up from 43% in February, according to a Merrill Lynch report citing NPD sales that was reported on U.K. news site The Register. The data indicates Apple's hard drive-based iPod commands 90% of that MP3 player market segment, while its iTunes Music Store sells 70% of all downloads purchased in the U.S. The report also found that the iPod accounts for 40% of the MP3 player market in Japan.

Report: DVD Title, Player Sales Grow Double Digits in First Quarter

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 19, 2005 - 8:48am.

Los Angeles -- More than 400 million DVDs were shipped to retail during the first quarter of 2005, a 21% increase over the same period in 2004, bringing the total number of DVDs shipped since the format's launch to 4.3 billion discs, according to a report industry trade group The Digital Entertainment Group. Additionally, the report found that 7.5 million DVD players were sold in the first quarter, a 13% increase over last year. DVD players are now in 73 million U.S. households; around 46% of DVD-owning households also report having more than one player. The DEG estimates more than 80% of U.S. households will own at least one player by the end of the year.