Digital Digest: iPhone, Sony Ericsson, Zune, Yahoo, Soapbox
iPhone reports continue to surface; Sony Ericsson unveils M-Buzz music service; Zune pricing details leak; Yahoo Music to sell DRM-free album, Microsoft testing YouTube rival.
iPhone rumors continue
Although digital media buffs had plenty to sink their teeth into with Apple's announcement last week of movies in iTunes, a new batch of updated iPods, Nanos, and Shuffles, and wireless video streaming to the TV, many were left disappointed that a long-rumored, music-playing iPhone was not on the list of new products unveiled by Steve Jobs that day. But those rumors aren't going to go away any time soon, as now several online reports have Jobs unveiling he iPhone at the Macworld conference in San Francisco in January. Think Secret reports this week that manufacturing issues have delayed the announcement of the iPhone but they've been resolved. The iPhone will have a 3-megapixel camera, a 2.2-inch display and built-in iTunes without the 100-song limit that stifled the success of Motorola's iTunes-ready ROKR phone.
Sony Ericsson unveils M-Buzz store
Sony Ericsson today announced the launch of M-Buzz, a mobile music service focused on developing artists. As previously reported, the joint venture between Sony and Ericsson has made a priority in recent months of developing a music service to complement its popular music phones. M-Buzz will initially feature a limited selection of Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists like Kish Mauve, Embassy, Iggy, and The Head Set--and will offer full-track downloads, music videos, bios, and tour information accessible over Sony Ericsson mobile phones. M-Buzz is an enhanced version of the company's PlayNow ringtone service, and will work on its W850 and W950 Walkman phones at launch.
"M-Buzz is all about breaking new artists; it's about giving tomorrow's stars, the artists that have not yet been picked up by major record companies, the exposure they deserve and the possibility for them to reach a wider audience," Sony Ericsson's Martin Blomkvist said in a statement. The M-Buzz service will go live on October 2 in markets already offering the PlayNow mobile music service.
Sony Ericsson has been battling it out with Nokia in selling music-centric phones, with each touting its fast-growing sales numbers in recent quarters. Nokia acquired digital music distributor Loudeye last month and intends to launch a music service of its own.
Zune pricing details leak
Microsoft last week took the wraps off its forthcoming Zune player and music store and laid out everything but the price and launch date. Now everything but the latter might be on the table, as Wal-Mart inadvertently posted the 30GB device on its Web site for $284, a price that would compete with Apple's recent price reduction to $249 for its 30GB iPod.
Yahoo to sell DRM-free Jesse McCartney album
Yahoo Music has made no secret of its feelings about digital rights management (DRM) technology, which it and all the other legal digital download stores use to restrict what a music buyer can do with purchased music. Yahoo Music chief Dave Goldberg questioned the industry's use of DRM at a conference last February, and the company rolled out a customized, DRM-free test of Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair" in July. Now Yahoo is offering a complete album in unprotected, DRM-free MP3 format, selling Jesse McCartney's Right Where You Want Me for $9.99. The move is a test, as Yahoo is also offering the album in its standard Windows Media DRM format for the same price. McCartney is Hollywood Records.
Microsoft begins testing of YouTube competitor
As it begins its catch-up efforts in the digital music game with its Zune project, Microsoft is also looking to catch up to YouTube in the video-sharing category. The Seattle-based software giant today began testing Soapbox, its online video-sharing service that it hopes will be a major component of MSN Video. Soapbox will be offered to a limited number of users during an invitation-only test phase, but Microsoft said on Monday it will go fully live as a part of MSN Video within six months. Microsoft is a late arrival into the crowded video upload and sharing market, following offerings from Google, Yahoo, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit, and News Corp.'s social networking site MySpace. Last month, Sony Corp. agreed to pay $65 million to buy video-sharing site Grouper.com.
