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Switched On: ZuneForSure
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The moon has only four major phases, but as the Zune -- that satellite around Microsoft's gravitational pull -- enters a familiar fifth phase, what some consider a pale reflection of the iPod has made few waves despite inspiring its share of romantics. Zune began as a new salvo against the iPod as Microsoft grew frustrated in its attempts to make inroads versus Apple's soaring digital media device with its abysmally named and convoluted PlaysForSure rights management scheme. PlaysForSure had actually achieved some level of acceptance on digital music players and even handsets, but as Steve Ballmer has explained, devices that sell in the tens of millions of units per year -- as opposed to hundreds of millions like PCs and handsets (Kin notwithstanding) -- can be a good opportunity for vertical integration of hardware and software. And so was born Zune, welcoming us to the social with its chunky profile, brown color option, "double shot" facade and the quirky and later abandoned WiFi-based song-squirting sharing feature. Its next major iteration introduced the "squircle" -- a rounded square clickable trackpad that surpassed the click wheel just as Apple was gearing up for the game-changing iPod touch: strike two.
Microsoft turns the DRM screw on MSN Music owners
Ever wonder why we loath DRM around here as much as we do even when companies come along offering free, all you can eat deals? Well, if the Sony ATRAC debacle didn't serve as a warning there's always this: Microsoft just announced that it will no longer supply authorization keys for songs purchased from the defunct MSN Music service. That means that the PlaysForSure music you purchased will only play on your registered computers (up to 5) for as long as they shall live. As Microsoft puts it, "If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play." It's worth noting that the move also locks the registered PC into whatever OS it's running -- any major update or switch to Ubuntu for example, would kill all your music, dead. Now imagine what would happen if iTunes shuttered its store -- Steve won't be around forever you know.
Qtrax promises unlimited, legal P2P downloads from all major labels. Probably too good to be true.
You know what your mother always used to say about things that seem too good to be true, but the deafening amount of hype and hyperbole being thrown about in reference to the "game changing" Qtrax with "25 million tracks" is quite distracting enough to take note of. According to the Qtrax website, the P2P client -- Windows only, a Mac version is slated for March 18th -- will be available at midnight EST, but while Qtrax is confident of its supposed deals with the majors, a few of those labels claim to be short of an actual deal with Qtrax. The business model is simple enough: DRM'd tracks count the number of times they're played and then report back to the mother ship -- which will divvy up revenue based on ad sales. It sounds like there's PlaysForSure under the hood, and Qtrax claims it'll have an iPod-friendly version ready before too long, but there's a disturbing lack of detail on the official site. There is $30 million of VC funding behind the venture, so they clearly expect some results, but $30 million and high hopes certainly is no guarantee of label support of a crazy -- and perhaps entirely overdue -- scheme like this. We'll be certainly watching for what happens at midnight.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Read - Qtrax Read - Times Online (It's a go) Read - NEWS.com.au (Labels back away) Read - ZDNet UK (Rupert Goodwins weighs in)
Microsoft rebrands PlaysForSure to Certified For Windows Vista, confuses world
Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM just took another step closer to the grave with the help of some rebranding. Those of you with players from SanDisk, Nokia, and Creative among others, looking for compatible music from Napster, Real Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, Wal-Mart and such must now look for the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo, not PlaysForSure. Of course, Microsoft's Zune is also certified for Windows Vista, just not certified for Windows Vista so it won't play back the same protected files. Man, could DRM get any more consumer unfriendly?[Thanks, Andrew]
A Team MC-213NF PMP sadly not affiliated with Mr. T, might run Linux
Although Taiwan's A Team Computer doesn't actually have anything to do with the TV show, the company's MC-213NF PMP has a lot in common with Murdock, BA, and the rest of the gang: it's tough, versatile, and shamelessly derivative. The flash-based unit comes in capacities from one to eight gigs and features a 2-inch screen, FM radio, 25-at-time picture viewing mode with slideshow capability, decent video codec support including MP4 and XviD, voice recorder, NES and Game Boy Color emulation, PlaysForSure compatibility, an "iPod-like" user interface, and, most interestingly, a Linux SDK for "fast UI / feature customization." No word on pricing or availability, but the unit appears to be an ODM design -- check out the "logo" branding in the press photo -- so hopefully we'll see this thing pop up outside of Asia.[Via PMP Today]
iriver clix gen 2 unboxing and hands-on
The new iriver clix is officially out, and as usual we have a bevy of pics for ya. In case you missed the announcement back in January, the clix gen 2 is the follow-up to the original clix (AKA the iriver U10). Specs include 4GB of storage, a 2.2-inch display, built-in FM tuner, integrated digital voice recorder, up to 24 hours of battery life for music playback (5 for video), and PlaysForSure support (though thankfully you can switch the clix from MTP to USB mass storage mode if you don't want to play with DRM).
Xbox 360 gets H.264, MPEG-4, PlaysForSure in Spring update
We're the first to admit that we're not experts when it comes to things like video codecs -- we leave that job up to our friends at Engadget. Don't get us wrong, we know a little something about codecs (see above!), but eych-dot-two-sixty-four? Em-peg-four? Dubbya-em-dee-are-em? Yeah, these are all codecs that the Xbox 360 will support when the Spring Dashboard update rolls around next month but what do they all mean?Lucky for us, the folks at Red Kawa -- makers of video conversion utilities like Videora Xbox 360, PSP Video 9, PS3 Video 9, and Wii Video 9 -- are experts in all things video conversion and they break the announcement down like this: "This puts Microsoft at the head of the pack in the Apple TV vs PS3 vs Xbox 360 video battle royale." Oh SNAP! They break down the details so we don't have to ... c'mon PS3, H.264 Main Profile only? All the kids want H.264 High Profile support nowadays!Actually, the kids really want Xvid and DivX support so they can watch their torrents of bits, which Red Kawa reminds us this isn't. First, it doens't support the AVI container (so there!) and the 360 only supports MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile while Xvid videos are encoded as MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile. Any questions?
Xbox 360: now with H.264, MPEG-4, PlaysForSure
Color us tickled, but we totally missed some of the finest points of all in Microsoft's Xbox 360 spring Dashboard update: they're totally tricking out the video (finally!). No longer will we be confined to our very least favorite video codec, WMV -- the new update will enable Windows Media Connect or Media Center streaming MPEG-4 up to 8Mbps, H.264 up to 15Mbps, and PlaysForSure WMV videos (and, as we understand it, PlaysForSure audio as well). Wow, finally we can actually use the 360 to play video that wasn't recorded off our Media Center or converted by our Zune software (cough, hack). See, was that so hard, Microsoft? Now just hold on to your asses until the week of May 7th, Xbox fans, that's all you've gotta do.
Sync your Creative Zen with your Zune Pass tracks lately?
Even before the Zune came out we heard that while the software wouldn't sync to other players (and the player to other software), the DRM the Marketplace used was basically compatible with PlaysForSure. Although we haven't seen anyone try and document the process, Zune Pass user AIZEE showed off a couple of screencaps successfully loading DRMed tracks onto his Creative Zen with Creative Media Explorer. We didn't verify the process and thus can't guarantee Zune Pass tracks will work on the portable of your choosing, but again, we're not too shocked that somebody could get their Zune music to authorize on another device. Somebody call us when someone gets the Zune itself to sync with Napster or Rhapsody, ok?
Questioning the security of a closed FairPlay
Ken Fisher at Ars Technica thinks something smells fishy about Steve Jobs's claims that licensing a DRM system will lead to its defeat. By comparing the security track records of iTunes's FairPlay and Microsoft's rival and heavily-licensed PlaysForSure, Ken might also have a good point. As history goes, FairPlay has been cracked four times (including Real's own hack for their store), while PlaysForSure has suffered only one true crack in its time. Perhaps more significant than either of these numbers, however, is that none of these DRM breaches were the result of secrets being shared from the inside; they apparently were all spearheaded by creatives from the community who might not hold digital rights management in the highest of regards. Of course, the issue isn't nearly this cut and dry. The iTunes Store's 800-pound gorilla-like popularity can help explain its greater number of breaches (however: wouldn't one be more interested in cracking the store that offers unlimited music via subscription?). In the end, Ken settles on revisiting the possibility of licensing DRM. Since Jobs already let the 'get rid of DRM' cat out of the bag, however, I'm thinking the public isn't going to put the idea to rest anytime soon.
Zune 2.0: How Microsoft could beat the iPod
Besides being snarky and asking why Microsoft bothered in the first place, I've been thinking about the more significant aspects of the Zune, such as what it means (and could mean) to the market and the culture of the industry. There is a lot to be said about the fact that Microsoft is paying a record label tax on every device sold and the terrifying precedent that sets, as well as the IP-trampling and DRM-wrapping Wi-Fi sharing feature. Through all this I realized that Microsoft *could* have a great product on their hands - if they got to working on some true innovation (instead of - at best - an unpolished gimmick), and cleaned out the criticism todo list. It wouldn't be easy, especially in light of the uphill battle that seems to be getting steeper by the week, but it could theoretically be done, and we all would be better off if it happened (remember: competition is good for you and me). After the break, I've listed a a few fundamental elements and features that could propel the Zune not simply into the position of a justifiable contender to the DAP throne, but that of a truly innovative and culturally significant product like the iPod has become.
Zune AV cable dissected, just like iPod's
AnythingButiPod took a look at the Zune's AV Cable and surprise, surprise... found it to use yet another unique pinout configuration for pumping audio and video out to the TeeVee. However, this time you don't have to get locked into the vendor-specific accessory game since the Zune AV cable shares the same ground location of both the iPod (video) AV Cable and better yet, those off-the-shelf camcorder cables you probably have sitting around the house. As a result, you can use the other cables as long as you route the cable colors correctly for AV-hookup to your TV: iPod AV cable, swap left and right audio; el cheapo camcorder cable, swap video and right-audio. Unfortunately, in yet another drubbing for PlaysForSure devices, the AV cable which works interchangeably between Archos devices, the Zen Vision Series, Cowon iAudio, and even Toshiba's other DAP -- the Gigabeat -- won't work with the Zune. Not without the help of a Xacto knife, anyway.
Microsoft quits the MSN Music store
In another strong example of Microsoft's continued "investment" in PlaysForSure, it's pulling out of MSN Music, the big M's very own store for selling the not-completely-dead-yet music format. Now, instead of offering up fairly generic tracks at fairly generic prices, the MSN Music store will offer prospective listeners the choice of hopping over to Microsoft's Zune store, or Real's Rhapsody. We've gotta give Microsoft props forwarding on to a competitor like that (or, at least props for following the terms of a 2005 legal settlement), and in its defense, the URGE store Microsoft started with MTV is still going strong, but with Real slowly moving over to their own DRM, FairUse4WM alive and kicking, and now the MSN Music shut-down, things aren't looking great for PlaysForSure. The changeover happens on November 14th, and Microsoft promises that purchased tracks will continue to work. MSN Music will live on as a music content site, with the "Buy" buttons forwarding users on to Zune or Rhapsody.
Cingular teaming with Napster and Yahoo to roll its own music service?
According to The Wall Street Journal, those in the know are predicting Cingular to announce a music service for its cellphone network as early as tomorrow. It seems that despite rampant rumoring of an iPhone and related wireless iTunes service, Cingular is taking things into its own hands -- with a little help from Napster, Yahoo and eMusic. Initially the service will just involve rolling out PlaysForSure functionality to handsets so that they can play subscription tracks from the major non-Apple music services, but Cingular is also planning a wireless music store with pay-per-track and all-you-can-eat offerings. The phones will also purportedly feature Cingular's "Music ID" tech that will allow a user to hold the phone up to a speaker and have the song playing automatically matched with the Napster database and available for purchase. Of course, there's enough room in the world for more than one music service, and right now it appears Cingular is fine with squeezing both Apple and the PFS onto its network. The word is that (as rumored) Apple and Cingular have signed a deal to co-develop an iPhone, and the same article predicts a January launch at the Macworld Expo. Apple also has recently been awarded a phone-related speech recognition system that adds even more fuel to the fire. Being the seasoned iPhone rumor-mongers we are, we'll take all of these reports with a few grains of salt and sit back to see what actually happens.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read - Cingular to announce music service [Thanks, Maurice]Read - Apple and Cingular forge iPhone deal [Thanks, Ben]
Rhapsody hits the big 4.0
Along with all that SanDisk and Best Buy fraternizing that Real announced this morning, they've released the new 4.0 version of their Rhapsody music service. Perhaps the biggest change is under the hood: they're basing the player on the new "Rhapsody DNA," which is a technology platform that combines Real's Helix DRM, custom firmware for players (like the Sansa), and a web service API that allows for Sonos integration and other capabilities. What this means for the consumer is that Rhapsody 4.0 operates with the Sansa player in a much more integrated fashion than your average PlaysForSure syncing scheme. The new Rhapsody allows you to subscribe to genre or artist "Channels" which are automatically refreshed on your Sansa; drag and drop tracks into your library or onto the player; and create dynamic playlists that are, again, synced to your player automatically. There are other minor enhancements, mostly based around music recommendations, along with a decent facelift and a library import feature that can pull in stored music files, including files from "other services" -- which we're guessing refers to PlaysForSure files only. Prices are the same as ever: $9.99 for "Unlimited," and $14.99 for "Rhapsody To Go." Real is also promising week-early access to certain "hot new albums," and while all Rhapsody features will be available in the Best Buy Digital Music Store, there's going to be some exclusive content there as well. Real also announced today that they'll be pre-loading 30 hours of Rhapsody music onto all Sansa Rhapsody players sold.
Napster Japan goes live
After making big plays in North America and Western Europe, former P2P piracy powerhouse and current legitimate download service Napster has finally set up shop in Asia, bringing its war with iTunes to the world's second-largest music market: Japan. Although the Japanese store is actually owned more by Tower Records Japan than Napster itself (53.5% versus 31.5%, but considering that Tower.com/Digital hasn't exactly made a huge splash, the branding choice seems to be right on), the services offered are distinctly Napster, with the tried-and-true basic, Napster To Go, and a la carte models having been ported over for this implementation. The initial cache of 1.9 million tracks will come from a mix of Japanese and foreign artists, with domestic tunes costing 200 yen ($1.70) and Western songs going for 150 yen ($1.27) -- the same price that Apple charges for its wares. Besides the all-you-can-eat PlaysForSure subscription option not available from iTunes, the real draw here will supposedly come from Napster's partnership with NTT DoCoMo, which will eventually result in direct-to-mobile downloads (hear that, Apple / Softbank?). Overall the move seems like a good one for Napster -- which may or may not be seeking suitors to help buoy its stock price -- and for fans of Japanese music as well, because now we know that our Kahimi Karie and Pizzicato Five albums deserve to fetch much more on eBay than the usual crap we try to unload.
Viodentia responds to Microsoft, releases FairUse4WM 1.3
After yesterday's news that Microsoft was launching a lawsuit campaign against the John Does responsible for FairUse4WM, we weren't expecting the next volley to come so soon. So it's somewhat contrary to expectations that Viodentia has released the newest version of his software to counter Microsoft's latest PlaysForSure IBX update (dated 9/23, regarding the memo which we recently printed). We asked Viodentia about Redmond's accusation that he and/or his associates broke into its systems in order to obtain the IP necessary to crack PlaysForSure; Vio replied that he's "utterly shocked" by the charge. "I didn't use any Microsoft source code. However, I believe that this lawsuit is a fishing expedition to get identity information, which can then be used to either bring more targeted lawsuits, or to cause other trouble." We're sure Microsoft would like its partners and the public to think that its DRM is generally infallible and could only be cracked by stealing its IP, so Viodentia's conclusion about its legal tactics seems pretty fair, obvious, and logical to us. An American megacorp swinging around bogus indictments in order to root out a hacker? Surely you jest!
Microsoft sues Viodentia for copyright infringement
Microsoft filed a lawsuit in federal court last Friday against "John Does 1-10," for breaking their PlaysForSure DRM software. The defendants include Viodentia, the famed hacker who has now twice broken Microsoft's DRM through his application FairUse4WM. Microsoft alleges that Viodentia and his posse infringed on the company's copyright by creating and distributing their program. From what Viodentia told us in our interview with him yesterday, we know that he doesn't live in the US, so it's unlikely that this suit will have any meaningful effect on him for now. Further, given that Microsoft admits that it doesn't know how to find Viodentia -- and we assume that a hacker of his caliber would be good at covering his online tracks -- this suit appears (again, we invoke the "we are not lawyers" clause here) to actually be a way to get at the records of Google and Yahoo, where Viodentia is said to have email accounts. A declaration filed yesterday in Seattle federal court by Andy Cookson, a Microsoft investigator, states: "Among the third parties who have possession of such information are email service providers Yahoo! and Google. Subpoenas to those entities is likely to provide information about the defendants' locations, and also provide additional information about third party services used by the defendants. With such information, through subpoenas to third parties, it is reasonably likely that I will be able to identify defendants." In other legal filings yesterday, Microsoft declared that it "expects to complete its Doe discovery and identify defendants in 120 days." [Thanks, resource]
Best Buy's Insignia NS-DVxG DAP: watch out, iPod
Like many of the TiVo VIPs who rushed to order their Series3 boxes so that they would arrive the next day (unfortunately, things didn't turn out so well), we're big proponents of immediate gratification, which is why we still shop at brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy despite the increased selection and better prices found online. One thing we don't go to Best Buy for, however, is the Insignia Store, which sells super-cheap "top-notch quality" OEM gear that is supposedly full of "high-tech features" -- but which is really just targeted at consumers on the tightest of budgets. Anyway, the latest "feature-filled" product to take its place among the rest of the Insignia elite will be the NS-DVxG DAP from Joytoto, an absolutely hideous looking player that AVING amusingly implies could topple Apple's reigning champ. Besides the flimsy controls and cheap-looking case, the DVxG does actually offer some compelling functionality, including video playback on the 2.2-inch LCD, wireless headphone and file transfer support via Bluetooth, PlaysForSure compatibility, and a microSD slot to supplement what appears to be 6GB of internal storage. These players should be joining the illustrious ranks of the Insignia family come October, and though pricing hasn't yet been announced, it wouldn't shock us one bit if you end up getting a good deal of change after slapping down two Benjamins.Update: It went through the FCC, so there you go. Here and here.
FairUse4WM peeps stay one step ahead of Microsoft
Mere days after Microsoft started pushing a new IBX version for "protecting" PlaysForSure files from its users, the FairUse4WM guys have thrown down a new version that deals with that and other little DRM-circumvention obstacles. The new release -- version 1.2 -- knocks out DRMv1 files you've ripped yourself with protection, breaks down individualized WM9 files and has a workaround for WM11beta2. Of course, we're guessing it won't be long until Microsoft has another quick update to break FairUse4WM again, but it seems like a more drastic update might be in order to shut down this hack for good. We're sure you're well familiar with our stance on this whole issue, and hope that version 1.2 treats you right.
