Labels, Apple Debate 'Total Music'

Apple and major record labels have reportedly stepped up negotiations concerning the idea of bringing the "Total Music" concept to iPod devices. According to sources, Apple in the last month reached out to all four major labels to discuss the prospect in more detail. However sources stress a deal is not imminent. Of the many questions to be answered: How much will Apple pay the labels for access to the music? FT reports Nokia will provide about $80 from each device sold to pay for a year’s worth of music, while Apple is offering $20. However Billboard.biz’s sources dismissed those figures as pure speculation. (Billboard, Coolfer, Silicon Alley Insider)

Tiscali expands IPTV service

Tiscali has launched a new PVR (personal video recorder) for its ‘Tiscali TV’ IPTV service in the UK. The Tiscali+ has a 160 GB hard drive and three TV tuners, allowing users to record two channels while watching a third. The PVR supports high-definition content and is compatible with the BBC’s iPlayer, and Channel 4’s 4oD, on demand services.

Samsung's music-mobile phone takes on Apple

Samsung Electronics and Adidas have joined the race against Apple and Nike to offer a device that plays music and keeps track of workouts. Samsung's miCoach music-mobile phone includes a heart-rate monitor, a sensor to attach to a pair of running shoes, and a Web workout journal to help people design and keep track of fitness programs. The Nike+iPod system also keeps track of workouts, telling runners the distance traveled, calories burned, and other information. (Infoworld)

RIM Co-CEO to Music Industry Execs: “Don’t Disintermediate Yourselves As Hit-Makers”

Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research in Motion, maker and developer of Blackberry devices, outlined his vision for the company as leveraging the convergence of social networking and multimedia in a morning keynote at the Canadian Music Week's digital music & media summit. He also challenged the music industry to embrace social networking to reach fans of all genres and sub-genres of music: "Don't disintermediate yourselves as hit machines", Balsillie said to the room of music industry professionals. (Digital Media Wire)

Online handset sales to triple in the five years to 2012

Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts the online handset retail market in 2012 to be worth over double its 2007 level. Europe will lead the online market, accounting for 47% of global online handset sales revenues in 2012. North America will hold onto its second place, while Asia Pacific will see a four-fold increase. The report concludes that total handset retail revenues through all channels will reach US$180.9 billion by 2012, up 23% on 2007. (IntoMobile)

Review : Upgraded Apple TV is one-stop movie box, but rental terms rankle

The latest software update, which arrived last week, takes Apple TV to a whole new level: It can now download rented movies directly from iTunes, with no need to involve the home computer. Some of the movies are even in high definition, finally providing a picture that's a match for our flat-panel sets. (AP)

Rethinking the Cell Phone

An Israeli startup has made a modular mobile phone that can work on its own or slip into other electronic devices. Launched this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Modu can be used as a stand-alone phone. But more important, it can also be slipped into a variety of "jackets," such as in-car MP3 players, Global Positioning Systems, and larger cell phones, that expand the Modu's functions and change its look. (Technology Review)

Wii Expected To Take Installed-Base Lead From Xbox

The popularity of Nintendo's Wii among casual gamers is expected to power the video game console's installed base this year ahead of current leaderMicrosoft Xbox 360, a market research firm said Thursday. The installed base of the Wii is expected to rise to 30.2 million units in 2008, up from 18 million last year, iSuppli said. This will take the Wii beyond the Xbox 360's projected total of 25.7 million this year. By 2011, the PlayStation 3 is expected to have an installed-base of 38.4 million units, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 39% from 10.3 million units last year. (Information Week, Forbes)

Little Ears Are Big Bucks for Music Players

Taylor Witmer loves her new iPod Nano. There's only one problem: The ear buds keep falling out. And while that's a pretty common problem for joggers, in Taylor's case, it's because her 5-year-old ears are just too small. That's right -- she's in kindergarten. Nearly one-third of digital-music-player users these days have to be in bed before 9 p.m., and that's opened a market for specialized players and ancillary products -- not to mention exploding demand for kid-themed video and music content. (Ad Age)

Musical mobiles take aim at iPod

Music-optimised handsets were big in 2007 but this year the convergence of phones and MP3 players will be complete, mobile makers say. The ability for music player phones to download tracks directly over fast 3G networks, with all purchases charged straight to the monthly phone bill, means the mobile could replace the PC as the device of choice for storing and acquiring music collections. (The Age)

The Macworld Flipside: Apple's iPod Sales Growth Slowing

In his Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs boasted that Apple has sold 4 billion songs via iTunes and that it has sold 4 million iPhones since last June. But no mention of iPod sales. Why not? One reason: iPod sales growth is slowing. Year-over-year sales growth has declined for the past three consecutive quarters: From 50% in the Dec. '06 quarter to 17% in the Sept. '07 quarter. If Apple hits the Wall Street consensus when it delivers Q1 results on Jan. 22, it will sell a record 24.7 million iPods. But that means y/y sales growth will be just 17% again. A year ago, Apple reported that Q1 iPod unit sales increased 50% y/y; in the Dec. 2005 quarter, y/y growth was 207%. (Silicon Alley Insider)

Music server market set for five years of growth

ABI Research released a study predicting a shift in the digital music server market from desktop PCs to dedicated music servers. Revenue for dedicated music server hardware, including embedded-Linux products, is expected to grow to $3.2 billion by year-end 2012, says ABI. The dedicated music server market has been hampered by high costs and difficulty of set-up, says ABI. Yet, dropping component prices, the use of standards-based off-the-shelf components and industry standards groups such as the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) are helping to expand the market. (Linux Devices)

Apple gets moving to present its new vision

Mobility and music are expected to take centre stage tomorrow as Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, introduces new products at the computer maker's annual MacWorld conference in San Francisco. While Apple has kept quiet about its plans, analysts familiar with the company's suppliers in Taiwan say Mr Jobs could unveil a small, "sub-notebook" computer and other portable products. Mr Jobs is also expected to reveal updates to Apple's iTunes music store, including a new video-on-demand service that will allow iTunes users to download and rent a film. (Financial Times)

Last.FM’s Scrobbler Moves To Logitech Hardware

The world’s largest (and my favorite) music social network, Last.FM, has officially partnered with Logitech, whose Squeezebox and Squeezebox Duet network music systems will now scrobble the tracks you’ve been listening. The Last.FM's scrobbler is a software which detects the tracks you’re listening to (it uses plugins for various types of music listening software, such as Winamp, foobar, Windows Media Player etc), and adds them to your online profile on Last.FM. (Mashable)

Philips partners with Rhapsody music service

Philips and RealNetworks will offer a unified music download service to home audio systems as well as portable music players from a single provider, filling what they argue is a gap in the market. The two companies plan to launch the Rhapsody service for Philips devices in North America around the end of the first quarter, executives said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Reuters)

Microsoft Gains Traction In Media Devices

Just last week, Microsoft apologized for persistent glitches in its Xbox Live video-on-demand service. It took $1 billion in charges in its 2007 fourth fiscal quarter to cover warranty expenses stemming from a widespread hardware malfunction in the Xbox 360 game console. Those events left many of the company’s detractors positively aglow in schadenfreude. But Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, which includes the Xbox, the Zune and other media platforms, is doing a lot better than those critics might think. (Forbes)

Dutch group loses bid for MP3 player levy

A Dutch rights organization which compensates artists for the use of their copyrighted material on Tuesday lost its court bid to remove a government block on new levies on MP3 media players. The Netherlands already has a levy on blank CDs and DVDs but the government says the musicians' and actors' group Norma was not distributing the cash efficiently and wanted the problems solved before new levies were created. (Reuters)