Looks like what we reported turned out to be true — social networking sharing (sending information to Facebook and Twitter as well as app organization). Apple’s iTunes 9 is now officially official and there’s some great features in here. Application organization for iPhone/iPod touch apps, home sharing which will share your entire iTunes content on up to five machines, support for iTunes LP (referred to as project Cocktail in the past) and much more. It’s available now.

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Our same source is back at it again and we have some further clarification on the iTunes 9 rumor we posted a couple days ago. We really have to take this information at face value, but again felt it was worthy enough to be published. Here’s some of what was just told to us about iTunes and something else entirely:

• The social networking integration that we reported iTunes 9 would have seems to be part of a bigger social networking push by Apple. We’ve been informed that Apple has plans to tie iTunes 9 into a “Social” application that they plan to release in the future. It was said that the application (separate from iTunes) will be similar to Yahoo’s OneConnect offering and consolidate all your social networking services. (iPhone application? Desktop app? Wasn’t clarified to us).
• The application will allow you to broadcast what music you’re currently listening to, allow you to share your music with people on your network, connect with your friend’s friends (no clue on that one), and update all of your statuses at the same time. ITunes 9 will let you broadcast music statuses as well.
• As far as the iTunes application organization feature, we’ve been told it allow you to sort your applications alphabetically, by genre, date added, and of course, custom arrangement.

That’s all what we have for now. Again, this isn’t confirmed and some of it seems a little far-fetched, but let’s see what happens here. It’s going to get interesting

Thanks, Lindsey!

We’ve just received a tip from a pretty reliable source that detailed for us some of iTunes 9’s upcoming features and they’re pretty exciting.

One of the new additions to iTunes is said to include Blu-ray support which lines up nicely with a recent Apple Insider report about Apple integrating Blu-ray into their new iMac line-up. Something else that will most likely make a bunch of people happy is that we’ve been told iTunes 9 will finally include the ability to visually organize and arrange your iPhone and iPod touch applications. Something that wasn’t so clearly described was some kind of Twitter/Facebook/Last.fm integration. Maybe broadcasting what song you’re playing to your friends?

Let’s see how this pans out. Even though we weren’t given a timeframe on a possible release, that yearly Apple iPod event around the September timeframe would most likely be a reasonable place to expect this sort of announcement we believe.

Thanks, Lindsey!

Are you enjoying your brand new iPhone 3G S? Did you get a 16GB or a 32GB? Well, that won’t matter if people are experiencing what we are. There seems to a problem with sound files on the 3G S and the result after they’re triggered. After they are done playing — like the unlock sound, SMS sound, for instance — the iPhone emits a high-frequency tone. No, we’re not kidding. Something pretty high around 15KHz. We’ve confirmed this isn’t a local isolated issue with our phone, and since some people can’t hear these types of high-pitched tones, your iPhone might produce it yet you’d never notice.

We’re 99% sure it’s software related because if you set the phone to vibrate, big surprise, no high-pitched tone. So, anyone out there experiencing this? It’s amazing this was skipped over in the many reviews published, but oh well. Hopefully Apple fixes it soon because this is kind of painful and pretty outrageous. Hit us up and let us know!

We’re pretty big fans of music here at BGR, so we can become a little scrutinizing when it comes to the headsets we use on a daily basis. What we’re looking for is a headset that can deliver clear, clean and crisp sound at all volumes (there is nothing worse than getting garbled noise when you crank it up). Sure we have a few pairs laying around HQ that we’ve grown fond of but we can still check out some new ones from time to time, right? We’ve been testing out the Platinum i-Series and the Pro i-Series buds from iHarmonix over the past week or so and to be honest, we weren’t expecting much from these mid-range buds. You know what they say about judging a book by its cover though, so hit the jump for the skinny.

Let’s start out with the Platinum i-Series. The headset’s wires are designed nicely with a thickness and coating that keeps them from getting tangled — always a good feature when you’re stuffing them into a bag or pocket. They also have an in-line microphone with a button to send/end calls and to pause music. The build quality seems good enough for the unit to last as long as your phone or MP3 player will. Unlike the Pro i-Series, these come with three different rubber earbud sets so that ears of all sizes get the perfect fit. The sound quality is definitely impressive and beats most headsets we’ve tested in the same class and price range for sure. Bass is clear and heavy without getting distorted at higher levels and you almost feel like your chest should be getting rumbled by a subwoofer. Almost. Unlike similar headsets, the bass doesn’t take away from the mids or the treble however, so the balance is damn near perfect at low or high volumes. We came away very impressed.

Call quality on the Platinum i-Series is also very good for both the iPhone 3G and on the BlackBerry we tested them with. Although the caller can sound a little on the sharp side, it wasn’t that bad and it didn’t hurt our ears. For the most part, they sounded very natural and there was little to no background noise – even outdoors. Our friends on the other side of the line said we sounded crisp and clear, but a little distant at times. While they could understand and hear us perfectly they reported that we sometimes sounded like we were on speakerphone, albeit a really good one.

Next up is the Pro i-Series and we’re a little less excited about this particular model. The overall quality of the headset itself is just as good as the Platinum, but unfortunately it doesn’t perform as well as the Platinum when compared side-by-side. When compared to other headsets in the same price range, it is definitely above average but part of the problem is the earbud attachments. They come in large and slightly larger. The memory foam earbuds, which are like earplugs you roll and put into your ears, were difficult to place in the ear canal and were very uncomfortable. The rubber earbuds were much easier and more comfortable to wear, but weren’t a perfect fit. Because we had some difficulty getting these in our ears, sound quality suffered a bit without question.

When listening to the same songs with these headsets, we noticed that we had to turn up the volume a bit more to get the same effect as the Platinum series. However, once the volume started going up the sound started to become muddled. Of course, it probably isn’t best for your ears to listen to music that loud, but if you wanted to drown out outside noise so you can enjoy your music in a loud environment, it might sound a little distorted. Call quality is just as good as the Platinum series and has the same mic button, too. Actually, when listening to callers on the iPhone, they sounded a little better through the headsets than they did on the phone’s earpiece. Voices sounded natural and clear with little noise in the background and our friends said the same on their end.

So, are the iHarmonix earbuds worth it? At $59.95 for the Platinum and $39.95 for the Pro we definitely say yes for both — with the caveats that 1. your ears have to be the right size for the Pro i-Series to work out well and 2. you don’t need to get up near max volume, ever. For the money, it’s pretty tough to beat the Platinum i-Series and it’s definitely worth forking over the extra $20 over the Pro i-Series. The Platinum was just way more impressive — to the point where we think we’re going to keep them around for daily use.

iHarmonix Platinum product page
iHarmonix Pro product page

Slacker created a bit of buzz for their radio application for BlackBerry during CTIA but since then, the relatively popular internet radio provider has been extremely quiet. Now that CES is here however, the company has gone ahead and officially announced the launch of Slacker Radio for BlackBerry. With 100 stations categorized by genre and over 10,000 artist stations, Slacker also allows users to create their own stations which other users can listen to. Album reviews, artist bios and cover art are also tightly integrated into the program. Streaming radio for mobile devices is quickly becoming a crowded field but the major benefit of Slacker is that it allows users to store their favorite stations on a memory card which Slacker claims increases battery performance up to five times (when played back) in comparison to a constant-stream of music. For now BlackBerry users who want to try out Slacker must live in the US (it seems you can bypass this by entering any valid US zip code though) and have a device running OS 4.3 and up. The Storm is currently not supported but will be sometime in the near future when an update is released.

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When Apple annouced that iTunes users now had its consent to free their iTunes-purchased music from the hellish enslavement of DRM, people across the world rejoiced. That is until they tried to remove the DRM themselves. Users in Canada (amongst other nations) are reporting that iTunes is refusing to allow them to convert their protected files into .DRM-free MP3 files for use on devices that don’t bear the Apple logo. Was Apple only intending for this service to come to the US due to legal issues? Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before those regions currently without the option to unchain their libraries but until we get official word from Apple, we have to fear the worst. If you’re living outside the US, hit us up in the comments and let us know if you’re experiencing any de-DRMing difficulties.

Mr. Phil hasn’t announced this yet, but after opening iTunes, we’re now presented with an option to upgrade our library (of UMG music) to DRM-free iTunes Plus status! It looks like it costs $0.30/song to upgrade to iTunes Plus, but this also includes music videos at $0.60/video! So there should be no DRM restrictions on those as well. So happiez.

Updating…

Alright, it’s just been announced, so here’s the run down:

• Pricing at $0.69, $0.99, and $1.29 based on the labels and how old the song is
• All songs in iTunes will eventually be DRM-free
• In addition to pricing, as previous rumored, you can now download all music from your iPhone over 3G instead of just Wi-Fi only!

Apple has dropped DRM from iTunes, according to various reports. While we’ve been waiting for this for a pretty long ass time, it’s said that the actual deal was only inked in the last week or so. What does this mean for you if Apple actually announces this tomorrow? Well, for starters, older music would drop to $0.79/song, but this would open the possibility of pricing current “hits” for more than $0.99. Most likely $1.99, if we had to guess. The good news is that any new music would be DRM-free out of the gate, with the older titles slowly being freed from their chains over the course of the next little while. Additionally, those same sneaky sources have reported that Apple has also got past another hurdle: music downloads over 3G. We’ll see if this pans out, but it sure as heck makes sense, and boy, would it make iTunes an even bigger goldmine.

[Via AppleInsider]

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On October 13, President Bush signed a highly controversial anti-piracy law. The dictator President has put into effect a law that will appoint an intellectual property czar (yeah folks, you heard it right) that will report directly to the President (again, you heard that right) on how to keep hax0rz from illegally obtaining copyrighted materials. The targets are primarily music, movies, and TV, but you can bet this will be leaking over to other stuff with copyrights. The bill was, of course, backed by none other than the RIAA and MPAA (our favorite institutions!). Say good-bye to the phrase “DRM Free” everyone. Apparently, counterfeiting and piracy costs the U.S. $250 billion annually… that’s a lotta billions for free tunes and movies. Any devices used in piracy may have to be forfeited to Big Brother, lest “firemen” come into your house and burn down your gadgets Fahrenheit 450 style.

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Talk about great reads. Muxtape founder Justin Ouellette finally let the cat out of the bag today and published a lengthy report of his recent trials and tribulations. For outsiders looking in, reading about dealings with the unmitigated disaster that is the music industry is like a guilty pleasure. Rage seems to build with each passing paragraph and one can’t help but think, “are they really this stupid?” Ouellette’s recount of his experiences in recent history fits the mold perfectly. The behind the scenes plan for Muxtape was anything but ill-intentioned; Ouelette had some pretty big ideas and spent a great deal of time reaching out to labels in an effort to move music consumption forward in a very symbiotic manner. In fact in the midst of an extended series of meetings with major labels that seemed to be progressing, albeit slowly, the RIAA struck without warning and dropped an axe that would force Muxtape to go offline. It registered a complaint with Amazon Web Services, Muxtape’s host, that required Muxtape to dump a launrdy list of content within one business day or risk having his data deleted and servers shut down. The rest, as they say, is history.

Ouelette has plans to relaunch as a service geared exclusively toward bands:

The new Muxtape will allow bands to upload their own music and offer an embeddable player that works anywhere on the web, in addition to the original muxtape format. Bands will be able to assemble an attractive profile with simple modules that enable optional functionality such as a calendar, photos, comments, downloads and sales, or anything else they need.

This is a far cry from the original Muxtape model and it will likely have a much more difficult climb in terms of being widely adopted. Here at BGR, we’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for the relaunch and we wish Ouellette all the success in the world. As for the RIAA and music industry in general, it is becoming increasingly difficult to support any means of music distribution that puts money in their pockets. The dilemma of course is in order to financially support the bands you enjoy, you are also feeding the hand that bites. Talk about a catch 22. Whatever, music industry. Keep doing things your way because it seems to really be working out well for you. We’re sure people will be lining up in droves to buy music on microSD cards. You know, just like how we all went running out to get their hands on Ringles. That went over really well.

Do yourself a favor and hit the read link.

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It looks like the big guys aren’t the only ones feeling the wrath of the RIAA these days, and it’s only bound to get worse. Muxtape, a service that allows users to upload music from their personal libraries to create an online mixtape, currently services less than 90,000 unique visitors per month according to Compete. That won’t keep it under the RIAA’s radar it would appear, as the service went down yesterday with the note “Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA” on its homepage. A post on the Muxtape blog provides the following message:

No artists or labels have complained. The site is not closed indefinitely. Stay tuned.

It’s funny; rather than embrace this newer wave of online music providers, it appears that labels and the RIAA are intent on destroying these emerging technologies and completely eliminating new revenue streams that have the potential to become massive. By putting a fair royalty scheme in place, the RIAA stands to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars in the short-term and this figure would only increase as internet radio stations and other online music sites continue to gain momentum. Instead, the RIAA is trying to run these sites into the ground in order to maintain the current power structure – even if that means losing out on all of this new money. Users of sites like Muxtape aren’t going to replace their “free” listening habits with purchases, they’re going to find other off-shore sites with similar functionality. Apparently for the RIAA,  “nothing” is better than “something” when that “something” helps illustrate just how useless the current record label model is these days.

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If you haven’t heard about these yet, then you need to hear them! Dr. Dre teamed up with Monster a couple years back to design a fantastic pair of studio headphones. Though it was probably Jimmy who put the deal together. What you get is a listening experience that puts a pair of tuned studio monitors on your head, and that’s a good thing. There are some headphones that offer decent low-end reproduction, but they’re smoked by the Beats. Plus, mids and highs come through incredibly clear with some of the best audio reproduction we’ve ever heard on some ‘phones. There are a couple minor downsides, though. First off, since they offer noise-cancellation, they are powered by two AAA batteries. Secondly, they are sort of a mix between open air and closed headphones, so when you’re crankin’ Soulja Boy on your next flight, expect the seven closest passengers to start doing the superman because they’ll likely hear your music. Open airs let the sound pass through the headphones which is why you get that full natural sound — the drivers are a little exposed to the outside — and not that distorted mess some of us are accustomed to. They’ve even included a special cable which houses a call answer button and mic, so you can take your calls while listening to music on your iPhone or BlackBerry. Nice! Industrial design? Please, this is Dr. Dre. You know they’re going to look great, and they do. With a black lacquer finish and red color scheme, they’ll definitely stand out from the crowd, for better or worse. They’re a tad bit large, and while well constructed, we can’t help but feel that the folding mechanism to store the headphones is going to be a problem. Oh well, Monster will just send us another pair if that happens…

Click on over to our Monster Beats headphones gallery!