Siren of Japan has new MP3 player called the DP100, designed in a compact frame for personal audio on the go. The player comes with a lanyard that fits through a loop hole built into the frame of the player so it’s easy and secure to carry around.

The Siren DP100 comes in 3 capacities of 512MB, 1GB and 2GB and has an internal rechargeable battery that allows up to 18 hours of continuous playback. A USB connection allows the transfer of music files, and the DP100 can double as a mass storage device to hold files of any type through a simple drag and drop from Windows. That same USB connection charges the battery, and an AC adapter is included for a straight AC charge if needed.

The OLED display looks to be nothing fancy, showing active file information and the remaining charge on …

Macrovision CEO Fred Amoroso has written an open letter to address his feelings on the letter that Steve Jobs wrote regarding digital rights management (DRM) of Apple iTunes music along with offering his companies services to manage the Fairplay DRM.

In the letter from Jobs last week, he had addressed concerns rising with iTunes consumers about the DRM restrictions on downloaded music, which include the number of devices and computers that a single downloaded music file could be transferred to. While Apple is not the only company that has a DRM that restricts its downloaded music to its own music players, Apple has been under increased ridicule due to the large popularity of iTunes and iPods.

In his letter Jobs had also proposed that they do away with a DRM all together and allow purchased music …

In a speech at the 3GSM World Conference in Barcelona on Wednesday, Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group, spoke out in support of a digital music DRM (digital rights management), most likely in counter attack to the open letter from Steve Jobs of Apple regarding their DRM.

“DRM and interoperability are not the same thing,” said Bronfman. “We believe in interoperability…Consumers want it and should have it. We at Warner, and I hope the rest of the music and content industry, will make it as easy as possible to achieve interoperability.”

Apple has been under some ridicule lately for its music DRM which restricts music downloaded from Apple to be used only on iPods, as well as restricts the number of computers and iPods that the music files can be transferred to.

Some argue that this system is unfair and …

This MP3 player from TASCCAM is designed with the guitar player in mind, housing many features which make it easier for the up and coming talent to jam along with the player.

The MP-GT1 model from TASCAM is an MP3 player small enough to fit into your pocket but large enough to run for 9 hours on one set of batteries and hold 240 songs. Music files can be loaded through a USB connection from your computer straight to the player.

Features of this specialized musicians MP3 player include the ability to slow down the playback without changing pitch, looping playback to hear a particular “riff” repeatedly, and the ability to manually change the pitch of a song to match that of your guitar. Having no ear for pitch whatsoever, I have to assume this is a good feature.

The player also has a …

In a twist on the Comic Book Guy’s famous catch phrase, we are giving praise to some of the best, if not the best, earplug style headphones that we have seen lately. The M-Audio IE-20 XB Reference Earphones are professional grade in-ear style earphones, but they are more than that. They have a large bass driver that makes these earphones really stand out.

Usually earphones lack the low end oomph that larger head phones have. This is not the case with the IE-20 XB, however, as they deliver great bass performance, as well as high-end and mid-range. The XB stands for Extended Bass and M-Audio means it. The IE-20 XB has two dedicated speakers built in, one for low frequencies and one for mid-range and high frequencies. The earphones themselves are …

Napster has been named the exclusive provider of subscriptions for AOL Music. Napster will be replacing AOL Music Now as the only music subscription service integrated into the popular music destination.

The AOL Music Now service currently has 350,000 subscribers. These customers will be notified that their accounts are being migrated to Napster and will be given the option to opt out of the service. The companies expect the migration to be completed within the next 60 days.

Napster, a pioneer of digital music, now offers an expanding portfolio of Web-based music listening and sharing applications, as well as various subscription services.

This is a final move in AOL’s shift away from a fee-based music to focus on free music supported by advertising. AOL will continue promote the Napster service throughout the popular AOL Music site.

A new cold war of sorts is brewing in the online music industry. The Russian music store AllofMP3.com is planning to continue business as usual even as US lawsuits are pending.

The US music industry is claiming that AllofMP3.com is operating illegally. AllofMP3 claims that it is following all Russian laws.

AllofMP3 offers MP3 downloads that are free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) schemes that most US music download sites use. The company also charges much lower rates sometimes by as much as half or lower. For instance, we found Gwen Stefani’s “Wind It Up” for 42 cents on AllofMP3 versus 99 cents on iTunes (www.applie.com/itunes).

In a recent post on its blog AllofMP3 claimed that the court case against AllofMP3 was “imprudent.”

They continued:

“AllofMP3 understands that several US record label

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Well, this is pretty much exactly how it looks. It is an MP3 music player that looks like a PEZ dispenser. No, you cannot load it with candy since the AAA battery and the tiny 512 MB player are in the way.

This particular version is the “PEZ Pal Boy”, but there are more versions on the way according the the web site. The player will hold about 120 songs, is compatible with USB 2.0, Windows and Mac’s and plays MP3, and WMA files. It can also be used as a a USB drive for files.

If you tip back the head of the MP3 player/dispenser, the on/off switch is where the candy would normally come out. The feet flip open to load the battery, and there is a play button and USB interface on the side next to the raised PEZ lettering. The player …