FCC filing uncover Microsoft Zune player details

Toshiba, whose Gigabeat line of MP3 players has long been critically praised but has suffered the same miniscule market share numbers of every iPod rival, apparently has an ace in the hole. The company is making the Zune player, the would-be iPod killer Microsoft is rolling out later this year, according to a recent Toshiba filing with the Federal Communications Commission. As previously reported, the Zune player will have a 30GB hard drive, three-inch video screen, built-in FM tuner, wireless capability, and will come loaded with audio and video content from artists Hot Chip, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS). The FCC filing also reveals that Zune users will be able to send each other streaming versions of songs wirelessly, adding a social-networking element called a "DJ" tool.

According to the filing, the music sent from one user to another--a user can send music to four other Zune users at a time--is the same as what the first user is listening to; if the first user stops listening, the stream is interrupted, just as a listener would cease to hear music if an actual DJ tuned it off. "Once your DJ setting is on, you don't need to do anything else in order for others to listen to your stream," the filing explained. "If someone tunes in, you will see an onscreen notification that you have a listener." Users will also be able to send each other photos and playlists. Microsoft confirmed the upcoming Zune player, as well as a standalone digital media store, last month.

AOL Music lands Dylan album stream, XM show

iTunes may have landed a preorder promotion with Bob Dylan's upcoming Modern Times album and subsequent tour, but it isn't the only digital music player riding the rock icon's coattails. AOL Music said today that it has landed a full stream of Modern Times, which hits stores tomorrow. Meanwhile, online radio service AOL Radio said it will begin simulcasting Dylan's weekly XM Satellite Radio show, Theme Time Radio Hour, starting Wednesday. The Web radio service will also stream 18 Theme Time radio shows back-to-back this weekend starting Friday. "Dylan fans like me have long wondered what music moves and inspires the man, so to hear him playing DJ on the Theme Time Radio Hour is as insightful as it is entertaining," AOL Music's Erik Flannigan said in a statement. "We're thrilled AOL Music will expand the audience for this truly one-of-a-kind program."

iPod maker sues reporter for defamation

Although Apple has completed its audit of a Chinese manufacturing facility and found no violations, the operator of that facility is not yet ready to move on. iPod manufacturer Foxconn has sued a reporter and an editor at a Chinese newspaper, China Business News, for running an article about the working conditions at its iPod factory, saying the article damaged its reputation. The lawsuit, which seeks $3.77 million in damages, has caused a Chinese court to freeze the personal assets of the reporter and editor at the publication. The issue appeared to conclude earlier this month when Apple issued a report, following a two-month audit of the facility, finding that although some violations of its policy had occurred there, no workers had been abused. The China Business News yesterday said that it "stands firmly behind its journalists and will bear all possible consequences in this case." The publication's report on the issue came four days after the UK's Mail on Sunday first broke the story.

Report: Digital music sales to hit 1.1 billion Euros by 2010

As digital sales keep skyrocketing and the overall music market continues to stagnate, the big question on the minds of music execs the world over is simple: When will digital sales make up for the overall decline in sales? A new report says it will be a while, at least in Europe. Market-research firm Screen Digest said today that online music sales won't begin to offset the decline in overall music sales in the European market until 2010. The firm said the online music market will more than double, from $155 million last year to $358 million by the end of this year and will eclipse $1.1 billion by 2010. "Online sales alone are not going to be enough to halt the decline in music sales," Screen Digest analyst Dan Cryan said in a statement. "We believe with the right strategy--including mobile and online--that the worst might be over by 2010. The industry must adopt a broader approach to selling music, looking beyond the traditional single and album."