Sony unveils music-friendly Mylo wireless device

Sony is hoping music and instant messaging can be a potent combo. The Japanese electronics giant today unveiled the Mylo, a $350 wireless device that looks like a PlayStation Portable but acts like a music player with a heavy bent toward instant messaging. With the Mylo, which stands for "my life online," Sony is banking on the continued expansion of Wi-Fi wireless networks, which are increasingly available on college campuses, in busy public spaces, and in homes with wireless broadband connections.

As a music player, the Mylo works with tracks in MP3, Sony's ATRAC, or Microsoft's WMA formats and comes with 1GB of flash memory. The company also touted its upcoming release of a 4GB Memory Stick flash memory device for $170.

The device has a 2.4-inch screen and a slide-out thumb keyboard, is available in black or white, and comes embedded with three free instant-messaging services: eBay's Skype, Yahoo's Yahoo Messenger, and Google's Google Talk. It offers 45 hours of music playback, around seven hours of instant-message chatting, Web surfing, and more than three hours of continuous Skype Web-based telephone call time.

"The Mylo personal communicator puts the fun parts of a computer in the palm of your hand," Sony's John Kodera said in a statement. "It's ideal for people who want to stay connected to their online friends and family, but not be weighed down by a PC or buffeted by charges for IM and texting on cell phones."

The Mylo will hit stores in September.

iTunes, Bob Dylan link up for album-concert promotion

iTunes has inked another deal that ties album preorders to first dibs on concert tickets.

Similar to the deal iTunes struck with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, fans who preorder Bob Dylan's Modern Times, his first new studio album in five years, will get first crack at tickets for shows on his fall tour.

Modern Times hits retail and download stores August 29. Those who preorder the record through iTunes will receive a ticket presale code the following day, giving them more than a week's jump on the general public for concert tickets, which go on sale September 9. Dates and venues have not yet been announced for the tour, although Dylan kicks off his third annual summer tour of US minor league baseball stadiums Saturday in Michigan.

Fans who buy Modern Times will also get some bonus content, including five Dylan videos: "Cold Irons Bound," which was shot during the filming of the feature Masked & Anonymous; "Blood in My Eyes"; "Things Have Changed"; "Jokerman"; and Dylan's performance of "Love Sick" at the 1998 Grammys.

iTunes is also now selling the huge Dylan digital boxed set, dubbed The Collection. The boxed set features every song from his studio albums, as well as 42 rarities and an exclusive digital booklet. The box will sell for $199 and will be available August 29.

Yahoo Music, MasterCard team up for two-for-one download deal

Yahoo Music is hoping to lure new subscribers and boost retention in a new promotion deal with MasterCard. The digital music subscription service is offering two years for the price of one to anyone who signs up at the annual rate ($60, or $120 for the ability to transfer music to portable devices) with a MasterCard. Yahoo launched its subscription service last August but doubled the price for it last October. The new promotion ends October 4.

Report: Mobile music revenue to hit $14 billion in 2011

The mobile-music market has mostly been about ringtones to date, but all that will change very quickly, according to a new report from UK-based Juniper Research. The report says that worldwide mobile music revenues will reach $14 billion in 2011, with the percent of revenue driven by ringtones to fall from 81 percent in 2006 to 51 percent in 2011.

"Until now, ringtones have dominated mobile music, but the balance is shifting," Juniper research director Bruce Gibson said in the report. "Full track music has been the central offering of many 3G service launches around the world, and as 3G usage gathers pace, the mobile-music market is preparing to enter a new growth phase."

Digital Music Group bolsters its catalog

Fledgling download distributor Digital Music Group, which buys the rights to oldies and rarities and licenses those tracks to download stores like iTunes, inked several new deals today to bolster its catalog. The Sacramento-based firm signed distribution deals with Fuel 2000 Records, which specializes in classic rock from the likes of Jethro Tull and Bill Wyman; Roadshow Records, which includes R&B/funk bands like BT Express and Brass Construction; and electronic label Tone Casualties Records.