Firefox was a small, alternative browser when it launched back in 2002, popular among more elite computer users, but certainly not mainstream. Since then, it's gone on to capture nearly 20 percent of the total browser market, despite the latest version (2.0.0.14) having some irritating flaws, including sucking up large amounts of memory if you leave it running for awhile. The new release, Firefox 3, will hopefully fix all that and more -- you can try out a test release here. It's due to drop in the coming weeks, and when it does its developers want to set a new Guinness World Record for most downloads in a single day.

They're not saying exactly when the browser will be released, but they're already taking pledges for downloaders to indicate their intent on that day, whenever it may be. Eager Firefox 3 users can register for updates at the site, but you can be sure we'll let you know as soon as it's available. [Source: Spread Firefox via Slashdot]

For many, the name Napster still evokes memories of the carefree early days of music downloading, when songs were free and illegal, but nobody seemed to mind. Those days, of course, didn't last long, with the service being effectively shut down by pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was later re-launched as a legal download service, but never quite regained the sort of attention it had in its previous life.

Now, the site is being re-launched yet again as an MP3 download store designed to directly take on the competition from Amazon and Apple.

Apple's iTunes is, of course, the reigning leader in the music download space. Lately, though, online music buyers have been rebelling against the restrictive copy protection that Apple still forces on many of its tracks, and the proprietary format that only really works on Apple's iPods isn't helping, either. Apple last year launched a DRM-free store last year -- DRM- or copyright-free means that the tracks can be played on any MP3 player -- but the majority of the iTunes offerings still have copy restrictions. Similarly, Amazon launched its amazonmp3 service last year, featuring songs in the industry-standard MP3 format and no copy protection.

Now, Napter is also offering MP3 downloads free of copy protection, with most tracks priced at $.99, or $9.95 per album, which is slightly higher than Amazon's offerings. Even so, Amazon can't compare to Napster's six million copyright-free tracks available for download right away, which makes it the world's largest MP3 store. The two services will surely keep competing, which is good news for consumers, and it remains to be seen what iTunes will do to keep up. [Source: AOL News]

The blissfully tax-free nature online music shopping may be coming to an end. Buying virtual goods such as MP3s has been pretty much tax-free ever since the iTunes store launched in 2002, even though various money-hungry politicians around the country have been itching to levy Internet specific taxes for just as long. The latest is Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon from City of Industry, California, who wants to start applying a sales tax of 8.25 to 8.75 percent on digital downloads in an effort to remove the state's $8 billion budget deficit.

Calderon wants to update a 75-year-old law that indicates taxes must be applied to "tangible goods." Movies and music for download have so far been exempt from this tax, since users can't really touch or feel them. You can, however, see and hear them when played on a computer, which is good enough for Calderon. By also applying the tax to purchases of online pornography, Caleron believes he can increase state tax revenue by $500 million annually (still leaving $7.5 billion to go).

However, don't fret just yet, West Coast downloaders: Love 'em or leave 'em, the Republicans in California have your back. They are opposing this measure and are expected to block it from passing, meaning your $.99 downloads will stay just that -- at least for now.

From Mercury News

Related Links:

• Amazon, NY Governor Battle Over Online Sales Tax
• New Mexico Considering Video Game Tax
• Canadians May Face iPod Tax

The writers' strike is over -- or nearly so anyway. According to reports, most of the players involved have come to terms and all that remains now is an official vote from the various unions and guilds involved. If all goes well, it'll be over by Wednesday.

One of the big sticking points had been how writers should be compensated for shows broadcasted online, something they were previously receiving nothing for. The answer, according to the pending deal, is a flat fee of up to $1,200.

That would be on top of whatever amount they'd get for the traditional, on-air broadcast of the episode. $1,200 may seem like a lot, but with television stations losing traditional viewership and moving more and more content online in an attempt to stay hip, it may not be too much longer before "traditional" television broadcasting becomes the exception rather than the norm.

What happens to this contract when major network shows are being exclusively distributed online? We're hoping that when that time comes, the various players involved can do a little better at negotiating than they did this time. Nobody likes a strike -- or months of re-runs.

From Valleywag

Related Links:

• Woman Fined $2,000 For Losing Cable Boxes -- to a Tornado
• Netflix Pre-Empts Apple With Unlimited Movie Downloads
• Today Show Host Licks MacBook Air On-Air

If you need more evidence that everything is moving online, then look no further than 'Mission Praise,' the multi-million selling British hymn book. The entire collection of traditional hymns and newer songs of praise is available online at www.missionpraise.com for an annual subscription fee of £40, or about $79.

The collection of over 1,800 songs will be searchable and downloadable, and features lyrics, sheet music, and musical backing tracks. The new service will likely prove popular among some the smaller so-called "mega-churches" and evangelical congregations that often project lyrics on large screens for worshipers to follow.

From Reuters

Related Links:

• Louisiana Town Ditched 666 Area Code Over Religious Concerns
• The Kosher Phone for Orthodox Jews
• Church Lures Worshipers with Free iTunes Songs

Fortune magazine, like everyone else under the sun, is getting in on the year-end list making fun with The '101 Dumbest Moments in Business'.

Of interest to us is number 58. "Radiohead - Can't wait for the follow-up album, 'In Debt.'" Apparently circumventing the record labels to collect all revenues directly as a band and treating your fans as something other than just consumers is bad business. Who knew?

We wonder if Fortune is just part of the old guard, terrified to see the end of the traditional record label dominance. Lets break down the numbers for the guys at Fortune. In its first week, Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' was downloaded 1.2 million time legitimately and over 500,000 times illegally. This means that the number of legitimate copies of the album far out-strips pirated copies, something no other popular album seems to be able to accomplish anymore. According ComScore's questionable reports only 38 percent of those who downloaded 'In Rainbows' actually paid for it, and those people only paid an average of $6 a pop. So that means 456,000 people (making it one of the fastest-selling albums of the year, by the way) paid a little shy of $3 million directly to the band, as opposed to almost $7 million to a record label who would have funneled much less than $3 million to the band.

This entry on their list makes sure Fortune will be on our list of 'out of touch companies, publications, and people who will desperately cling to relevance in the coming years.'

From Fortune

Related links:

• Radiohead to do Free Web Show on New Year's Eve
• Download Stats are Wrong, Says Radiohead
• Most People Downloading Radiohead's New Album for Free
• Did Radiohead's Experiment Fail?

Nokia is about to make a whole bunch of people very unhappy, but it doesn't matter since those people aren't consumers. Nokia is preparing to launch an unlimited music download service to pair with some of its multimedia-focused handsets like the 5300 seen above. Nokia's new service is a challenge to the pay-per-track model that has made Apple so much cash with its iTunes store. It will also take money straight out of the service providers' pockets, who often offer their own pay-per-track download service.

The particularly threating thing about the new Nokia service is that not only can users download an unlimited amount of songs from a catalog of millions, but the tracks can be burned to CD and kept after the contract with Nokia expires or is terminated.

Nokia has already enlisted Universal Music Group in the service and is talking with the other major record labels. Currently, mobile music downloads make up roughly 13 percent of music sales, and this may be a sign that record companies are finally accepting that listeners are not willing to pay the absurd prices normally demanded for music. It may also get them to realize that allowing consumers to download music for free (or nearly free) through legitimate channels is better than forcing them to turn to outlets such as Pirate Bay.

From Reuters

Related links:

• Wal-Mart Tells Music Labels to Offer DRM-Free Music 'or Else'
• Gift Guide: Nokia N95 Multimedia Device
• AT&T Releases Samsung SLM with Napster Music Downloads

Verizon's FiOS service has already been putting the heat on cable providers in the ISP realm, offering blisteringly fast downloads and impressive upload speeds at prices comparable to most cable providers.

Depending on where you live, you can nab a connection at speeds up to 50 megabits downstream and 5 megabits up. Many cable providers have begun to catch up with Verizon in the quest for the fastest download speeds -- for example, Cablevision offers a 30-megabit download package, which matches the fastest Verizon speeds in many markets. At these speeds, a full length album downloads in seconds and a DVD-quality movie in just a couple of minutes.

Most service providers have not put as much focus on ramping up their upload speeds, however, which is what lets you send or post big files quickly. Most cable companies are stuck in the 256 kilobit to 1.5 megabit range, falling far short of Verizon's 5-megabit speeds. But rather than let other providers catch up, Verizon is boosting its upload speeds... for a price.

Verizon unveiled a new 20/20 plan that, as the name implies, allows a 20-megabit download and upload speeds. The plan is only available currently in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. In these markets, the 20 megabit download package is the mid range service and costs $55 a month. For $10 more, Verizon will boost the upload limit from 5 to 20 megabits, allowing users to send data at the same breakneck speeds they receive.

In the new Internet where file sharing and uploading photos and videos is king, a fast upload connection quickly proves its usefulness. Sending hi-def video to friends and family without having to occupy your computer for days becomes a reality, and online back-up services become actually useful.

We'd still rather see Verizon keep the current price points and give us symmetrical service at all levels, but this is a step in the right direction.

From BetaNews

Related Links:

• Old Lady Gets World's Fastest Broadband
• Cox Ups its Broadband Speeds
• Newer, Faster Cellular Internet

Loading up a PC with (legally or illegally) downloaded copies of TV shows and movies has become quite the norm for many people. The problem is watching the latest cinematic, special effects blockbuster on your 17-inch computer monitor isn't exactly the pulse-raising experience it was meant to be. We're also pretty sure the cheap-o Staples swivel chair isn't the most comfortable place for watching a two hour epic. And though perfectly doable, streaming TV shows to a media extender or plugging your computer into your TV isn't always the most seamless or easy thing to do.

With the introuction of the Sansa Take TV, SanDisk is hoping you'll forget about that temperamental home Wi-Fi network and glitchy media extender. Why? Because the SanDisk Sansa Take TV is simple and straightforward. It's essentially a USB flash drive with built-in video playing capabilities. You plug the Take TV into the USB port on your PC and just drag and drop video files to it. Afterwards, you physically move the Take TV to the included portable A/V dock, which connects the conventional way to any TV, and presto, you've got 'Dexter.'

The best thing about Take TV is how small it is -- not much bigger than a standard USB drive, and the dock and remote fold up nicely for carrying with you anywhere (in fact the remote control serves as the cover for the whole thing when not in use).

To coincide and pair with the Take TV, SanDisk is launching Fanfare, a video downloading service with both free (ad supported) and for-pay content from CBS, Showtime, and, for some reason that we don't quite understand, the Weather Channel.

The 4 Gigabyte Take TV costs $99 and stores roughly five hours of video, while the 8 Gigabyte runs $149 for about 10 hours. Both models are availale online from the SanDisk Web site.

We saw the Take TV at last year's Consumer Electronics Show and it was one of our top picks at the show. Since it specializes in Flash drives, SD cards, and other forms of memory (not to mention the excellent Sansa Connect), SanDisk is reliable in this area of portable memory, storage, and playback. Despite the paltry selection of TV shows on its Fanfare service (for now, at least, since it's in beta), SanDisk may well have a winner with Take TV.

How about you? Would you rather carry this little USB-drive sized device and plug it into your TV or would you prefer lug around an iPod and an iPod video dock?

From SanDisk.

Related Links:

• Xbox 360 With Built-In HD-DVD Capability On Its Way?
• DVDs Now Come With Computer Video Files for PC's and Video Players
• Watch Fox Repeats Free on iTunes

Radiohead has always been one to buck trends and eschew traditional music industry trappings. After its masterpiece (and greatest album ever!) 'Ok Computer,' the band decided to totally abandon guitars, anything resembling pop-song structure and music videos. It recently severed ties with music label EMI; then, last week, Radiohead decided it was also done with Apple and iTunes because the band didn't want to break up its upcoming album into individually available tracks -- as required by iTunes.

Radiohead has now officially announced this new self-released album, 'In Rainbows' which will be available on October 10. Initially, the album will only be available as an electronic download through the Web site InRainbows.com. Later, it will be pressed and made available as a massive and expensive (£40, or $81.18) box set that includes three copies of the album: one on vinyl, one on CD and the previously available all-digital version.

Believe it or not, Radiohead is asking fans to name their own price for the downloadable version. Pre-order the album for an October 10th download and at checkout you are asked to enter whatever price you feel is appropriate. Seriously. Wanna pay a penny? Then do it. Wanna throw a little more cash at the band? Donate $10 or $20 -- it's up to you.

At the moment, the site to pre-order 'In Rainbows' either crawls or is completely unresponsive -- not a surprise given Radiohead's popularity and humankind's appetite for free -- so give it a bit before trying to snag yourself a download code. In the meantime check out AOL Entertainment's unofficial 'In Rainbows' listening party -- a collection of live concert performances of 'In Rainbows' tracks culled from camera phone videos on YouTube.

From AOL Entertainment

Related Links:

• Ex-Ramone Sues Apple and Wal-Mart
• Trent Reznor Tells Fans to Steal Music
• Prince Sues Three Sites Over Piracy of his Music

AT&T is finally getting ready to offer music downloads straight to your phone, but not that phone. AT&T has signed a deal with EMusic, the Web's second largest music download shop to iTunes. EMusic focuses on independent labels, unlike offerings from Verizon and Sprint, which traffic in mainstream artists such a Prince.

The AT&T plan will cost more than EMusic's Web service; downloading 5 songs a month will cost you $7.49, where as 30 tracks cost $9.99 from the Internet store.

The service will initially be available on select Nokia and Samsung phones. AT&T may be playing catch-up in the music downloading field compared with other cellular providers, but they are offering a unique service. We guarantee you won't find tracks from The Wrens on your Sprint handset.

From The New York Times and Engadget

Related links:

• One Million DRM Free Tracks from EMI
• Canadians May Face iPod Tax
• Make Money With Your Zune

The artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince distributed thousands of copies of his new album 'Planet Earth' for free along with the U.K. publication 'The Mail.' It was supposed to be a limited promotion, but given the free nature of the album, people are having no compunctions about going ahead and posting the thing online for anyone to download ... somewhat at odds with the petite rocker's plans to release the album for sale (i.e. not free) in the U.S. and Canada on July 24.

As of this posting, the album is easily found online for downloading, an action that may or may not be illegal. The giveaway was an attempt to drum up interest in Prince in the U.K. where his albums have sold poorly lately. For the record, Prince will also be giving away copies for free to concert goers, so if downloading isn't for you and you don't feel like buying the thing at stores, perhaps a nice show would be in order?

From BBC News

Related Links:

• Verizon Gives Away Prince's New Single
• No One Buying CDs in Stores Anymore?
• Illegal Russian Music Site Closes. Or Did it?
• Is The Compact Disc Format Dead?

Who said nothing in life is free? In a whirlwind of cross-promotional, down-your-throat synergistic marketing, Verizon has teamed with Prince to offer free exclusive downloads, starting today, of the new single 'Guitar,' from the petite rocker's upcoming album, 'Planet Earth,' weeks before its release.

The hoopla is being stirred up to promote Prince's new jams, as well as Verizon's new V CAST Song ID feature. Song ID allows a Verizon customer to hold his or her phone up to any audio source. Song ID identifies the track and lets the user buy either the ringtone, ringback tone or full-track -- right from the phone.

To get 'Guitar' for free, head to Verizon's music site, play the Prince video and hold your Song ID-enabled phone up to your computer speakers. The song is free, but the ringtones will cost you.

Hey, if you're a fan of Prince's patented blend of guitar funk and helium-voiced shrieks, this deal can't be beat.

Related Links:

• Sprint Takes Pandora to Go
• iTunes Plus Released

Kids today . . . they've got no guts. A new survey released by the Business Software Alliance shows a drop of up to 24 percent in those aged eight to 18 who illegally download copyrighted materials.

The top four reasons cited by participants for not engaging in digital thievery were:

• Fear of viruses (62 percent)
• Fear of legal trouble (52 percent)
• Fear of spyware (51 percent)
• Fear of Mommy (48 percent)

The number of respondents who cited parental supervision as a major motivating factor in their reluctance to illegally download copyrighted works increased by eight percent from 2004. This shows that if parents educate their children about the Internet and spend time with them -- you know, actually parenting -- they can influence their children's behavior.


From Mac World

Related Links:

• One Third of Business Software is Pirated
• Blame Canada

With CD sales continuing to barrel roll into oblivion, record companies are scrambling to come up with new sources of revenue. Warner Music Group is certainly one of those most affected, today announcing a $27 million second-quarter loss and 400 job cuts. In hopes of stopping the cash hemorrhage, Warner has launched a new online video unit, Den of Thieves. Lead by Jesse Ignjatovic from MTV and Warner's Evan Prager, the Los Angeles-based division will focus on creating video programming to promote Warner's artists, shows and videos on sites such as YouTube and MySpace, as well as on traditional TV.

Den of Thieves represents the latest old-guard leap onto the online video bandwagon. The NBA and MLB both offer video content for download on YouTube, iTunes or their own sites. VH1's 'Acceptable TV' is both a show and a Web site that allow users to produce their own sketches in the hopes of getting them on TV. In February, Anheuser-Busch launched Bud.TV, a sketch comedy site helmed by former SNL writers. And so on, and so on.

Whether Warner's move into online video will translate into CD sales is questionable. After all, it's likely the same tech-savvy youngsters the company is targeting are the very same people that have no qualms downloading Warner's music illegally.

From 'USA Today'

Related Links:

• American Eardrums Under Attack
• Find Songs by Lyric at Yahoo! Music
• Why Vinyl Records Are Back