A proposito da sentença de Kurt Hanson: "There are lots of ways that radio can get involved in the digital revolution. This particular angle{na relação da rádio com os leitores de audio digital], unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be a particularly promising one.”, um comentário no seu blogue de Kelly:

«Not promising? There’s a lot to suggest to the contrary. While some have said that younger, tech-savvy MP3 owners have no use for radio. Clearly that’s not the case. Take a close look at the copy on the two gadget blogs below, which both praise Apple for adding radio. Mind you these are blogs for early adopters, who some believe aren’t listening to radio.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/10/apple-ipod-radio-remote-adds-fm-to-ipods/
http://www.gadgets-weblog.com/50226711/ipod_radio_remote_ifm_and_garmin_navi_350_at_pcmag.php

And when you look at Apple Store site, you’ll see product under their “top rated” iPod accessories. I encourage you to look at some of the reviews: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=4D4322C9&node=home/shop_ipod/ipod_accessories

In fact the iPod is one of the only MP3 players that doesn’t include radio as standard equipment. Of those that do, the Zune finds that radio goes very nicely, hand-in-hand with downloads. In fact Microsoft’s data shows that radio is the largest source for discovering music to download. So it’s good for download sales, good for radio and great for the consumer. Look at how many Amazon reviews of the Zune cite radio as a plus: http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-content-search/results/ref=cm_srch_q_rtr/?query=radio&search-alias=community-reviews&x=6&y=8&idx.asin=B000H0QDCC

Does radio need to accelerate it’s efforts to join the digital revolution? Absolutely! No argument there. But the progress being made with integration into devices like MP3 players is the kind of thing we should be encouraging.»

(fonte: Kurt Hanson, RAIN, Uh-oh -- the more popular iPod accessories are not FM receivers, but TRANSMITTERS! 29/02/08)

Recentemente foi anunciado que os receptores de rádio eram os acessórios mais requisitados para os leitores de audio digital, como iPods. Kurt Hanson descobriu a falácia:

«(...) while there was only one FM tuner in their list of top 100 best-selling iPod accessories, what appears on the list repeatedly is an assortment of a half-dozen different FM transmitters. (In case it’s not clear, these are little devices you plug into the bottom of your iPod to transmit its music to an unused frequency on your car radio, allowing you to listen to iPod music over your car stereo’s speakers.)

Amazon’s product description for Griffin Technology’s 9500-TRIPDA iTrip LCD/FM Transmitter with Dock Connector for iPod, for example, puts it this way: “It lets you avoid the hassle of bad reception and bad music on your car’s radio by transmitting your iPod’s music directly to your FM radio.” Yikes! That’s the opposite of the point they’re trying to make.

There are lots of ways that radio can get involved in the digital revolution. This particular angle, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be a particularly promising one.» (fonte: Kurt Hanson, RAIN, Uh-oh -- the more popular iPod accessories are not FM receivers, but TRANSMITTERS! 29/02/08)

«(...) MP3 players' future depend on radio.

"The Zune has an FM receiver because a Microsoft product study found that 46 percent of Zune owners listen to the radio receiver function at least once a week," he [CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau, Jeff Haley ]said. "And the radio feature has higher-than-average importance to Zune owners, scoring 8 out of 9 points." Haley also noted that in a product feasibility study, Microsoft found that 74 percent of respondents listed radio as their primary source for new music, leading online (31 percent) and in-store (8 percent). "The long-term success of an MP3 player requires users to continue to source and use new music," he said. "Without new music, the player becomes stale and irrelevant, relegating the MP3 to just one more fad. FM radio will definitely drive the success of the MP3 player."

He noted, however, that radio's future is also linked to MP3 players, over 100 million of which are in U.S. consumers' hands. "What would it mean for our business if all of those players featured access to radio content?"»

fonte: 'Audio Content Is Expanding Everywhere You Look', Radio Ink, 13/02/08

MAIS: «Also the FM adapter for Apple’s iPod ("it’s the #1-selling accessory").»

«Creative Technology is now tossing a $40 portable MP3 player into the ring, an aggressive pricing play aimed at lower-end buyers.  The player, dubbed the Creative Zen Stone, offers 1GB of storage and a fairly small size.  The length is just over 2 inches, the width is 1.5 inches, and the thickness is a mere 0.5 inches, dimensions that seem more like a pebble than a stone.  Regardless, the sizing puts the Stone is a class of very small players, a space that includes the recently-updated iRiver Clix and the heavy-selling iPod shuffle.  That segment has already produced strong gains for Apple, and most recently powered a substantial portion of iPod sales during the first quarter.  That has Creative taking notice, and pushing a potential consumer sweet spot.  "The Creative Zen Stone, at just $39.99, opens up a huge new market for MP3 players," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative during a product unveiling.  "Whether it's your only player or a second player to take with you anywhere, the low price lets you think of MP3 players in a whole new way."»

fonte Digital Music News, «Creative Plays Pricing Game, Tosses $40 Stone at Apple», 3/05/07

Etiquetas: iPod

«Lanzados a principios de este año, los modelos europeos de las series Sansa e200 y c200 no incluían sintonizador de radio FM debido al aumento de costes por exigencias de impuestos. Sin embargo, la demanda de los consumidores ha hecho que Sandisk haya tomado la decisión de ofrecer estos dispositivos tanto con la opción de FM como sin ella con la menor diferencia de precios posible.
Tanto la serie insignia Sansa e200 como la Sansa c200 con funcionalidad FM integrada estarán disponibles en tiendas próximamente. Todos los reproductores incluyen una ranura de expansión para tarjetas de memoria flash, permitiendo a los usuarios añadir hasta 500 canciones adicionales mediante una tarjeta microSD de 2GB1; amplia duración de la batería, extraíble y recargable2; visualización de fotografías; grabación de voz con micrófono incorporado, y gestión de derechos digitales (Digital Rights Management) no propietaria para permitir a los usuarios comprar canciones desde diversas fuentes de música digital»

fonte: «Sandisk incorpora radio FM en sus reproductores MP3», VNUNet.es, [13-12-2006]

«The iPod currently tops out at 80GB, and Archos tipped the scales with a 160GB player late last month. But what will future storage capacities look like? Storage prices are dropping, media collections are increasing, and the rest is just math. According to a prediction by Google vice president of European operations Nikesh Arora, the iPod of 2012 will be capable of handling an entire year’s worth of video releases. And within ten years, the same player may be capable of carrying every commercially-released song.»

fonte: Digital Music News, «Next-Generation Media Devices Promise Massive Storage», 29/11/06

Etiquetas: iPod, Zune, memória

«A Amazon já vende filmes e programas de TV por download. A Apple também. Os novos leitores de música digital são pequenos televisores portáteis. Desta vez, a revolução não vai parar!»

fonte «A revolução digital que está a mudar o mundo», DN, Nuno Galopim, 24/9/06

é a aposta da BBC, que estará a trabalhar num aparelho capaz de transformar os leitores de mp3 (e de outros formatos) em recpetortes de rádio digitais:

«Currently plans are at an early stage and there are no firm details for the capabilities of the gadget or how much it will cost. There is also no timetable for when the add-on radio might appear. "It's important for to us to make sure that people can listen to digital radio on their own terms," said a BBC spokesman. (...) "We have a duty to make sure digital radio is relevant and clearly portable MP3 players are a massive area of growth," he said. The plug-in gadget would not be limited to playing the BBC digital radio stations. Versions might also be available for mobile phones and cars.»

fonte: «BBC plans clip-on digital radio», Friday, 11 August 2006, 13:10 GMT 14:10 UK , BBC News

- Quanto mais rádio se ouve menos música nos LAD (mp3)

«According to a new Bridge Ratings consumer study the number of songs stored on MP3 players varies by amount of weekly radio listening. The study found an inverse relationship among those consumers who spend less than the average amount of time per week listening to radio of any kind (terrestrial, satellite, internet).

According to the study of 2900 persons between 12 and 64 years of age, the average weekly radio listening is 34 hours per week. This includes listening to terrestrial, satellite and internet radio. Listeners who spend less than the average 34 hours a week with radio of any kind tend to have more songs on their digital music players. The average user of a high-capacity digital music device stores only 349 songs the study found. One in four players holds between 100 and 499 songs, while 25 percent have 500 songs stored on them. 59% of those surveyed said their digital music player holds fewer than 100 songs.

Light users of radio average 410 songs while average or heavier consumers of radio average 289 songs.

The Bridge Ratings study was conducted during July and August of this year.»

fonte: «New Bridge Study Examines Radio Listeners' MP3 Players», Bridge Ratings; tambem aqui.

Alguém me pode explicar o que é que isto significa (ou o que é que, tecnicamente, isto quer dizer - que eu não percebi)?

«Gadgets which transmit MP3 players' output so they can be heard on FM radios may become legal in the UK. Communications regulator Ofcom is holding a public consultation over the issue until September. Using iTrips and other "low-power FM transmitters" is banned in Europe as their low-power transmissions can, in theory, interfere with legal stations. The devices and other similar MP3 player accessories are popular abroad and widely available online. The Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 forbids the use of radio equipment without a licence or an exemption. But the gadgets are now expected to become legal to use - without a licence - by 2007»

«one in five Americans ages 12 and up now owns a portable MP3 player, a new statistical high. Also, one in 20 Americans in that age group now owns more than one portable music player. There is also increased interest among younger consumers in watching video on their players, but even more interest in their players doubling as a radio»

fonte: «Portable MP3 Player Ownership Continues To Rise», FMQB, June 29, 2006

«Our esteemed colleagues at Engadget seem to have scooped the first look at Microsoft's Argo PMP, which ruffled a few Mac feathers when I reported on it yesterday.

I have to say, it looks nice; the 16:9 screen looks like it'll top the current 'video-capable' iPod (or the 'widescreen' iPod, which doesn't look like it'll be released any time soon), and while the controls look a bit on the iPod-ish side, the whole thing does have a nice, simple look to it.

If anything, it promises several things; to match the iPod in terms of a credible media player, to work in conjunction with an online music download service, it has wif-fi, it's rumoured to work with the Xbox 360, it offers a 16:9 aspect ratio for video -- and more importantly, it's not an iPod. I'll not hold my breath waiting to see if it has a video line-in, but you never know.

And remember folks -- competition is healthy, even if it does come from the guy with the bigger boat.»

fonte: http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/07/11/microsoft-argo-first-look/

E agora Edgard, «Will podcasting become Argocasting?»

A grande vantagem deste sistema é que não necessita de estar ligado a um computador para fazer a gestão do programa de música - como o iPod:

"Not only that, but Gremlin users can wirelessly exchange entire songs right from their players, legally, as long as both the sender and receiver are subscribers to the MusicGremlin Direct service, which costs $14.99 a month. This process, called 'beaming,' allows you to share songs with your Gremlin-toting pals, no matter where they are, without ever using a computer or a CD burner. You can even peer into other users' Gremlins to see what they're playing and what they've downloaded, and pluck any song you like from their devices, if they give you permission...»

fonte: http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/061506/index.asp, via Wall Street Journal Online.

«that of all of the new media tested – satellite radio, Internet streaming, text messaging, video games – the sharpest growth belongs to iPods and similar MP3 players. The iPod (and similar portable devices) has become a pop culture phenomenon, rapidly becoming a dynamic force in the way that music (and other content) is being purchased and consumed. From the 2005 to 2006 studies, iPod/MP3 ownership has risen sharply, from 21%-35% - which translates to 67% growth year-to-year. No other media activity has shown anywhere near that type of dramatic increase in our study».

fonte: «iPOD OWNERSHIP IS EXPLODING AND PODCASTING IS EMERGING AS A VIABLE CONTENT MEDIUM», JacobsMedia, April 24, 2006

Um LAD à venda em Portugal por €79,90 (e 512 MB; e rádio!)

A questão é importante porque a banalização dos LAD só se fará pela queda dos preços. E quanto mais LAD mais conteúdos serão necessários (e mais o podcasting terá viabilidade)

(iPobre? Obrigado E)

Não tem memória mas aceita cartões até 1 gb, é fino como um iPod shuffle e custa menos de 10 dolares (e, pelos vistos, tambem não tem rádio...)

«A very curious MP3 player emerged from Japan this past week from a company called Evergreen. Picture the most stripped-down, Spartan portable you can imagine, and you still may have to lower your expectations to arrive at the Evergreen DN-2000. The roughly 2-inch by 2-inch player has a crude matte black faceplate that is sans-display like the iPod shuffle. But unlike the shuffle, the DN-2000 comes with no memory. Instead, users must provide their own SD cards, though the player cannot read more than 1GB of removable storage. So what makes such a feature-deprived player interesting? The price. The Evergreen is now available from Yahoo Japan for 999 yen, which equals roughly $8.50 in US currency»

fonte: «Sub-$10 Portable MP3 Player Rattles in Japan», Digital Music News, 11/4/06

«Panasonic a présenté trois nouveaux modèles qui seront disponibles le 21 Avril au Japon. Ces trois modèles ne disposent pas, comme c'est souvent le cas chez Panasonic, de mémoire interne. Ils sont également tous déclinés en version "V" c'est à dire avec tuner FM et microphone!»

(obrigado E.)

«German company AVM just announced their new FRITZ! Mini. This handheld device combines a cordless phone and music player with an information service allowing you to view news, weather, and sports reports on the color display. Not good enough, well the handset will also alert you to incoming emails and text messages though how they accomplish the latter is a bit unclear. See, the 802.11g WiFi enabled FRITZ!Box is the key, it acts as a base station and information hub for the Mini by streaming music, information, and both VoIP or fixed-line calls directly to the handset. It doesn’t appear though, that the !Box packs any storage it’s own damned self, but you can slip in a Memory Stick or connect any MP3 player with USB support for playback to the Mini.»

fonte: Engadget, FRITZ! Mini: WiFi! phone, MP3! player, and! more, Posted Mar 10th 2006 9:27AM by Thomas Ricker 

Comentário: é possivel receber rádio via streaming.

dizem nos EUA: «"Selling an iPod preloaded with music is no different than selling a DVD onto which you have burned your entire music collection," the RIAA said in a statement to MTV.com. "Either act is a clear violation of U.S. copyright law. The RIAA is monitoring this means of infringement. In short: seller beware." Many people have been selling their used iPods online with thousands of songs preloaded on them.

Andrew Bridges, a lawyer for eBay that specializes in copyright and trademark law, told MTV.com, "It really depends on individual circumstances. I'm not sure the law is settled. If I'm a college student and I want to supplement my income by buying 100 iPods and selling them at a significant premium, that's probably not going to fly. But if I've had my iPod Shuffle for two years and I'm tired of it and I go out and buy a 60 gig video iPod and want to sell my old Shuffle, but don't want to purge the music first, that's probably legal."»

"Sales of MP3 players sang to the tune of a 159 percent increase in unit volume and a 121 percent increase in dollar volume over 2004"

"As the iPod continues to reign supreme over the portable MP3 market, some speculation is bubbling over a possible competitive entry from Microsoft. The software giant currently supports a wide range of portable MP3 players through its PlaysForSure network, which guarantees compatibility with various music stores and mobile phones. The underlying strategy is that consumers will favor a variety of devices, all threaded by a cohesive network of software and hardware compatibility. But that strategy has mostly been unsuccessful, despite the presence of several aggressive iPod competitors. According to a recent BusinessWeek article, Microsoft is now considering its own play, potentially taking Apple head-on" ("Will Microsoft Deliver Its Own Portable MP3 Player?")

Do Jornal de Notícias de 8/1/06, "Novos reprodutores para combater i Pod"

"Da Sony à Samsung ou a Sandisk, os fabricantes aproveitam-se da ausência da super poderosa Apple, que reserva o anúncio das suas novidades para a sua própria convenção, que se realiza a partir de depois de amanhã, em San Francisco, também nos Estados Unidos.

A Apple detém 75% do mercado, o que significa que ainda restam outros 25% que estas companhias tentam ganhar com aparelhos como o novo reprodutor de MP3 da Samsung, que é vendido com um slogan que faz referência directa, e ainda por cima pouco elogiosa, ao iPod.

Outras empresas, como a Echostar e seu reprodutor PocketDish, que oferece telas maiores para ver programas de televisão, asseguram que os seus produtos são uma alternativa mais barata ao popular e pouco económico iPod.

Sandisk, por sua vez, tem uma nova linha de reprodutores de 2GB, 4GB e 6GB de capacidade, com telas coloridas e compatíveis com os serviços de assinatura de músicas da Microsoft.

"Queremos polarizar o mercado com a Apple, e alcançar 35% ou 40% do mercado", disse o director-geral da SanDisk, Nelson Chan, na Feira Internacional de Electrónica (CES).

Outras companhias que apresentaram seus novos produtos foram a iRiver, com seu novo U10, um aparelho sem botões; Creative Labs, com o Zen Vision, com tela colorida, e a Sony.

A Microsoft, por sua vez, reconheceu que tem muito trabalho pela frente para alcançar os níveis de vendas do produto electrónico mais popular da década.

"Temos muito trabalho pela frente", disse o director-executivo da Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, em entrevista concedida na passada quinta-feira ao Cnet News.com.

Ballmer disse que o computador pessoal da Microsoft é o "mais popular", mas que no que se refere aos artigos portáteis, a empresa tem que tomar providências.

"Both SanDisk and Samsung unveiled their latest MP3 portables at CES on Thursday. What makes these units notable is that they are among the first high-capacity, low-profile flash units designed to go head-to-head with the iPod nano".

O LAD da SanDisk tem rádio que grava mp3, com 6 gigas.

"NYC-based MusicGremlin Inc. unveiled plans Wednesday to debut its own wireless digital audio player with integrated, interactive music service at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, slated to go down in Las Vegas in early January 2006.

MusicGremlin's handheld Wi-Fi player with incorporated service offers direct-to-device content delivery, optimized for use over 802.11b networks, according to company officials.

MusicGremlin designed its latest device with an embedded "music store" that allows users to download and share audio files, directly through their player.

The MusicGremlin product can link wirelessly to other MusicGremlin-enabled devices, either locally or via Internet. "(origem: "Portable Wi-Fi Player Offers Direct-to-Device Music Downloads", Bary Alyssa Johnson - PC Magazine Thu Dec 15,11:41 AM ET; via Future of Radio)

Ou seja, a música vem pelo ar!

Um excerto deste artigo "Free Radio Biz Tunes Out Sat Gains", Dec. 22, 2005, By Alex Woodson and Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter:

"Smulyan also invoked an old rule in the media industry that says newer forms of media rarely fully replace older ones. "The iPod of today was the CD five years ago and the cassette 15 years ago and the A-track 20 years ago and the citizen's band radio 30 years ago," he said. "The reality is people have fragmentation, but we haven't seen anything replace this particular radio experience."

É uma loja norte-americana que promove uma campanha didáctica:

"outlets like Circuit City are now hoping to hammer home the value proposition to maximize sales. The electronics chain just announced their "MP3s Made Simple" initiative, which aims to help consumers through concepts like device selection, downloading music, ripping CDs, and managing playlists. The store already has tutorials and information online, and is planning to position associates throughout its stores to demystify the buying process. Circuit City is selling a wide range of MP3 players, including iPods."

Por uma curiosa coincidência, no mesmo dia, na mesma cidade (Lisboa) vi duas vezes a mesma situação: no bar de um hotel de luxo e num restaurante, a música ambiente era (é) assegurada por iPods.

Em ambos os casos, os responsáveis pela animação desses espaços entenderam substituir os CD (originais ou regravados) por músicas passadas virtualmente para os iPods - o que lhes garante, num espaço mais pequeno, uma selecção muito mais vasta, sem problemas de armazenamento e possibilidades de selecção mais vastas.

O iPod veio para ficar.

A propósito: "Até que chegou o "I-Pod". Ou melhor: chegaram os meus amigos e os seus I-Pod’s, cada vez vez mais potentes, cada vez mais atraentes, e tudo o que o sempre sonhei num objecto do tamanho de um maço de cigarros, milhares de músicas, a possibilidade de as ouvir como eu bem entendo a cada momento, a ligação imediata a quaisquer colunas ou ao fanhoso som de um computador, enfim, o sonho de uma vida transformado em realidade" (Pedro Rolo Duarte, DNA  23/12/05, "As mesmas canções")

Mais: "according to a survey of consumer household technology purchase intentions by Ipsos Insight, the U.S. survey-based market research group. Almost a quarter of respondents (22%) anticipate buying a portable MP3 player or lower-storage Apple iPod Shuffle or iPod Nano (to use primarily for music) in the next three months, and 14% are interested in buying a portable multimedia device, such as the 30GB or 60GB iPod, Sony PSP, Creative Zen, or iRiver devices." (via Obercom)

Transcrevo esta notícia de hoje do DN, com o respectivo comentário pessoal (parece-me que isto não é novo, mas, a mais, não se perde...):

«A NBC chegou a acordo com a Apple para a distribuição de programas de televisão nos iPods e computadores. A televisão deixa, assim, de ter a exclusividade de ser o único ecrã a disponibilizar conteúdos de todos os géneros.
Ao anunciar o acordo, Jeff Zucker, presidente da NBC Universal Television, previu "dentro de um ano, vão ver-nos em muito mais plataformas. Seja num telefone celular, num iPod ou num computador. Não nos importa o ecrã".
A Apple já tinha assinado um acordo semelhante em Agosto com a ABC e a NBC esperou mais de um mês pelo resultado da experiência para se decidir.
A primeira experiência mostrou que a multiplicação de plataformas é favorável aos programas de televisão. No caso da ABC, desde que o seu principal noticiário passou a poder ser visto nos iPods, aumentou a audiência do programa transmitido pela televisão. O mesmo aconteceu com séries como Desperate Housewives.
O preço de cada programa é de 1,99 dólares. As séries estão disponíveis um dia depois da transmissão habitual, os noticiários três horas e meia mais tarde.
O acordo agora assinado disponibiliza programas da NBC, SciFi e USA Network e também antigas séries de culto como Alfred Hitchcock apresenta e Dragnet.
Diz Zucker que a principal vantagem é praticamente acabar com a pirataria. Programas como Batllestar Gallactica do SciFi que, com 428 mil tentativas de pirataria por semana, está no primeiro lugar de procura pelo mercado negro, "passam a estar agora disponíveis legalmente".
Os programas são passados nos iPods sem publicidade, o que pode ser considerado uma desvantagem para os anunciantes. Steve Jobbs, presidente da Apple, diz não estar prevista a inclusão de publicidade, "porque não é esse o nosso negócio. Mas nunca digas nunca...".»

Comentário: O que é isto mexe com a rádio?

Desde logo deve ser tido em conta um hipotético desvio da atenção da rádio (do audio, genericamente) para a imagem, a partir do momento em que a televisão deixa de ser fixa e pode ser vista em movimento (até agora a televisão precisava de estar agarrada a uma ficha eléctrica e sempre que nos movíamos deixávamos de ter contacto com ela). O audio (em musica gravada ou via rádio) não sofria concorrência. Agora há, portanto, mais um elemento a competir.

Depois, sobretudo nas gerações mais jovens, há a questão dramática da perda de hábito. A partir do momento em que a rádio não converge com os novos produtos (não há receptores de FM nos iPods e em muitos telemóveis), e estes são agarrados pelas novas gerações, a rádio deixa de contar. Em contrapartida, a televisão converge e cria hábitos ainda mais fortes.

Isto significa o quê? Estamos a falar do tal segundo choque que marca a rádio do século XXI. E nesta altura só vejo uma saída: a rádio posicionar-se como meio secundário em absoluto, criando produtos para serem ouvidos enquanto se faz outra coisa - porque continuaremos todos a poder libertar a audição enquanto os olhos ou as mãos desempenham um tarefa primária. O futuro da rádio passará (também) por isto.

Etiquetas: iPod, mp3, downloads, podcasting