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February 2001Napster's $1 Billion Offer Napster has offered $1 billion to the recording industry in exchange for permission to continue running the file swapping service, to which (of course) the record industry wasn't so interested - they want Napster to die. Earlier, Napster has also stated their intentions to add copy protection to the revamped file sharing service. Tech Report also has an editorial on this issue.
3D Spotlight has a guide that takes you through the configuration and the windows available in Napster. Try them out before the service is shut down, and everyone has to pay subscription.
The EAX site has an interview with Sam Hall from Bizarre Creations, who did the audio in the game Fur Fighters. The EAX@Play page has also been updated with new games supporting EAX.
Sonic Foundry has announced the new features in Sound Forge 5.0, one of the best wave editing software available. It includes 20 DirectX audio plug-ins including the popular XFX series, and CD ripping and burning right out of the box. It will be released in March 2001. Check out the press release, or if you are eager, try the beta version.
T-Break has a pictures of upcoming products from Creative. There is a shot of the Cambridge SoundWorks Slim500 flat-panel speakers packaging , and multiple angle shots of the PlayDock speakers for the Nomad Jukebox.
Looking to spend that extra cash in your wallet? AnchorDesk has a story on the hottest portable MP3 players at the recent CES 2001. CNET has a roundup of 2 mid-priced home theater speaker systems.
Beta Bites has a preview of the new Winamp 3 player that will be released "when its done". The current versions are at 2.7x, so I suppose it won't be too long before it is released. Besides going thorugh a complete architectural overhaul, allowing the decks to be component-ized, it still doesn't look all that different to me.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Napster and they are likely to subjected to damages, although the service won't be shut down immediately. See the legal update page at Napster and also check out these news items at CNET News.
Here's a short article at TechTV on a new 10.2 multi-channel surround demo from the people behind THX. Its not available yet, but its possible. Do you need that many speakers?
Computer peripheral maker Logitech has announced their acquisition of Labtec, a company which makes speakers, microphones and other audio products. This quote from The Register says it all: Logitech has a massive presence in computer retail; with Labtec under its wing, the company could give Creative Labs a run for its money as the pre-eminent supplier of branded peripherals to the consumer and OEM sectors.
Microsoft just released this update. Get it from here.
Digital Silence has an article that examines the future of Dolby, digital decoding, and where surround sound is heading.
I guess many of you have tried Gnutella and think it sucks because it slows down modems, and recently you can't get much from your searches. Well its time to try BearShare. I think its hands down the best file sharing client that I've seen, especially in download management. It automatically retries failed downloads unlike Napster which stops once it fails and does not resume downloads. Files which cannot be downloaded are even greyed-out in the search list! These are just two of the many cool features! What's more, its free and there are no ads. Here's an news item from Washtech.com on BearShare.
Macweek has an article on the new music software that debuted for the Mac. I wonder if the SBLive! for Mac can handle these high-end music software though. It may be aimed more at the consumer and gaming crowd.
The folks at 3DsoundSurge sends news that their Sound Blaster Live! Player 5.1 review is up. I've added it to our master list of SBLive! 5.1 reviews.
MacCentral has a news item on the upcoming Sound Blaster Live! for Mac. Here are some interesting snippets: It will be closest to the Platinum model, he said -- featuring a MIDI port, Mic in, Line in, digital out, speakers/headphones out and rear speakers out -- but without the Platinum's external controls faceplate. It will support two- and four-channel audio and promises to improve performance in games and other audio-intensive applications by offloading many audio effects, including 3-D effects, from the CPU. When the Sound Blaster card ships, games will be able to use four-channel audio on the Mac, but because DVD movies rely on the Mac OS Sound Manager, Creative won't be able to support surround-sound in DVD movies. Heiden said that Mac OS X will support multi-channel audio, but Creative is waiting for finalized Mac OS X Software Development Kits before announcing OS X compatibility.
Alan Cheung has informed me that the excellent Grand Piano One SoundFont is now available for purchase online. Now you do not have to wait a long time for the CD to be shipped to you, instead, you can download it from the web. Thanks to Alan for sending me the demo version of the SoundFont. I am constantly impressed by the quality and realism of the piano patches. It is right up there with the best pianos found only in expensive hardware synthesizers and samplers. This SoundFont clearly showcases the potential power of SoundFonts when they are done properly. I can't wait to hear what Studio AX is up to with GP Fidelity when it is due to be released this month!
An offer from yet another great GM/GS SoundFont replacement. Until 31st January 2001, you can get the sYnerGi 100 for $15.99!
Adrenaline Vault has an interesting article that discusses the traits of gamers.
As many of you may have already heard, Napster with their partnership with Bertelsmann, will start to charge subscribers beginning in June or July. Check out this news at ZDNet and the comments at Slashdot. Will you be jumping ship?
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