3.1 LAD

A rádio converge com os LAD (uma opinião)

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)

Receptores de rádio nos iPods ou (trans)emissores?

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)

«O futuro dos LAD depende da rádio» (e da múisca nova)

«(...) 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").»

«No dia em que todos os LAD estiverem on line a rádio hertziana acaba»

«“The day that an MP3 player is always connected [to the internet] is the day when broadcast radio vanishes” says Pandora.com’s Tim Westergen, a leader in the fight to save Internet Radio.»

Música num LAD: quatro em um

«There are essentially four ways to put music onto a portable player: rip it from a CD or other storage media, download it from the Internet, get it streamed from the Internet or receive it by satellite. The new Stiletto 2 from Sirius Satellite Radio does all four, using one device. It’s a satellite receiver, a Wi-Fi receiver for both streaming and recording from the Internet, and an MP3 player that can accept music files copied from a hard drive. Sirius has expanded from its satellite service and now streams most of its 130 channels with its Internet radio service. The Stiletto 2, which sells for $330 with a monthly subscription of $13 a month, provides the satellite channels as well as Internet radio when in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot, or plays downloaded files. The files can include those from music services like Rhapsody or Yahoo Music.» fonte: «A Versatile Portable Player Can Carry a Tune From a Satellite, the Internet or a Hard Drive», NYT, 3/01/07, stephen Miller

Creative tenta apanhar iPod

«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

LAD incorpora rádio

«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]

A memória dos leitores; infinita?

«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

LAD são televisões

«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

Transformar LAD em rádios digitais...

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

A relação entre a escuta de rádio e os LAD

- 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.

LAD com FM?

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»

A penetração dos LAD nos EUA

«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

O LAD da Microsoft

«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?»

Mais uma ameaça (?) ao iPod?

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:

«"Today, a small New York City company called MusicGremlin Inc. is rolling out a fresh approach to denting the iPod hegemony: the wireless music player. Its new $299 Gremlin portable player has built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking, so it can download songs from an accompanying  subscription service directly, without requiring the use of a personal computer.

"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.

 

Os LAD são mesmo um fenómeno!

«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

iP...obre

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)

 

Um LAD a menos de 10 dólares (no Japão)

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

Novos modelos da Panasonic têm rádio!

«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.)

LAD são bons no trabalho?

«Portable music players such as iPods are increasingly showing up on the job, a trend that's being praised as a boon to productivity as well as criticized as a safety risk and employee distraction (...) The use of MP3 players isn't music to everyone's ears. While many employees who use the miniature music players believe they help them focus on work by blotting out background noise or revving up their energy, some employers see MP3 players as creating a distraction from work — and a safety and security risk.»