Month: February 2007
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Spontaneous human combustion: Skype to blame
A Voice over IP service was to blame for a man in Massachusetts bursting into flames at the weekend. The man, David Reed, held an executive position at Lotus in the early 1980s, and was a Fellow at HP Labs. He is said to be recovering from the spontaneous human combustion at MIT Media Lab,…
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Orb turns MySpace into a personal radio station
Just as you thought the MySpace phenomenon was running out of steam, tomorrow will see the biggest innovation to the site since it launched. This one doesn’t come from MySpace itself, however, but Orb Networks. Orb already allows you to listen to or view media stored on your home PC (music, playlists, photos or TV…
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“The biggest attempt at recording theft ever attempted”
The husband of the late classical pianist Joyce Hatto has apparently admitted to “doctoring” sound recordings issued on his own record label. William Barrington-Coupe issued over 100 CDs of his wife, who hadn’t performed in public for 30 years, on his label Concert Artists Recordings. Recently Hatto, who died last year, had been rediscovered to…
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Pot, dial kettle: Closed Skype wants open networks
eBay’s proprietary VoIP service Skype wants the Federal Communications Commission to change its rules on how cellular networks operate. It’s demanding that the US regulator extend a 1968 legal decision, which permitted any device to be attached to the AT&T network, to apply to mobile operators. It also wants a new industry body to decide…
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‘Hoax’ stuns classical music world
Gramophone magazine has unearthed what one sound recording expert describes as “the biggest attempt at recording theft ever.” Thanks to the internet, the formerly obscure British classical pianist Joyce Hatto had become a critical favorite shortly before her death last year. In 2005, the Boston Globe described her as “the greatest living pianist that almost…
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Unlimited mobile music for £1.99 a week
In what may prove to be the most far-reaching digital music launch since iTunes, Omnifone today took the wraps off its MusicStation service. The service gives mobile phone users access to the big four labels’ music catalogs on-demand for £1.99 (€2.99) a week, using a player that runs on mid-range feature phones and GPRS or…