Using The Nokia Music Store
First and foremost, rather than be a standalone piece of software like iTunes is, the Nokia Music Store is essentially just a Web site that integrates itself into Windows Media Player 11.
From a Microsoft Windows based computer, the interface is intuitive and easy to use. You can search through artists quickly, with feature sections advertising the latest, hottest, most must-have tracks available.
Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, there are a number of different options to take. You can add the song to a wish list, play a 30-second snippet, or download it directly to your Personal Computer.
It will then automatically add the track to your WMP 11 library, and sync it to your Symbian S60 handset next time you connect it to your PC. The Web site itself is clean, and offers a lot of features, as well as interactive demonstrations to help you learn how to use it.
Alternately, you can use the upgraded 3-D multimedia menu on the N81 or N95 to access the Nokia Music Store directly from a handset.
From the handset, the experience of browsing and searching for music is almost identical to that of the PC. You can add songs to wish lists, but not stream the 30-second snippet over the air.
After making your song selection, it will download the song to your phone and add it to the library. Cover art comes with the song. The quality of the WMA songs is 192 k/bits per second.
Unlike other over-the-air phone-based music download sites, there is only one version of the song.
If you have downloaded the song to your handset, it will automatically sync and upload the track to your WMP library on your PC, providing you with two copies of the song. The tracks are protected by DRM.
According to Nokia, the songs come with 5 licenses. This means you can sync it to 5 different devices in any combination of PCs, phones or media players that support WMP DRM. You have unlimited syncing between these devices and the PC, and the songs can be burned to CDs.
Part of iTunes’ success is its seamless ability to work with the Apple iPod and Apple iPhone.
After seeing demonstrations of how seamless it was with the Nokia Music Store, I have to say that I was impressed.
It wasn’t quite as smooth as iTunes, but it wasn’t far off the mark either and the ability to download tracks directly to the handset is a major advantage the Nokia Music Store has over iTunes.
This won’t be much of a problem for Nokia or its customers in Europe, which has more advanced GSM-based 3G wireless networks available. It is clear that the European markets are what matter most, as that is where the service is launching first.
Nokia didn’t say if there are plans to launch the music store in the U.S. Until it makes more handsets with the U.S. version of 3G built into them, though, that doesn’t matter all that much.
For the time being, the Nokia Music Store will be a solid alternative for Europeans, where Nokia sells the bulk of its high-end handsets.
More Information: Nokia Press Release
My Thoughts On An Interesting Day Job
Most of my Geek With Laptop readers and visitors have what I consider to be a “normal” day (or night) job to put beans on the table and of course, what some consider “normal” will vary from person to person.
Some of my readers don’t even have jobs, they might be students or living off state unemployment but lets leave that subject matter for another discussion down the road.
Disclaimer: To protect the people, places and things involved in what I’m about to quote on my blog, I won’t say where this job description came from or who it’s directly about but this is almost a word for word quote:
I am self employed as a Dominatrix.
Basically that means I dominate submissive men for a living. Things like feminize, beating and humiliating them is normal. As an added bonus, I do it while wearing a strapon.
It pays really well. I make well over $200.00 per hour. I perform live sessions and I also do telephone and webcam sessions.
You’re either in shock, have passed out, laughing your butt off, puzzled or saying “hey, why are you posting my job description”.
When I read this job description, I had all but two of the above reactions:
- I didn’t pass out
- it’s not my job description
For the record, I’m a very open minded person and don’t judge people for their choices of work or play, just don’t force your ways on me. Let me make my own decisions.
So here’s the question of the day, what would you do if you heard that someone you knew, was a friend of, a co worker, etc. had being a dominatrix as a job description?
Would you run, hide or yell out “beat me, whip me, make me write back checks!”?
Your thoughts are requested. Thanks in advance.
Microsoft Bound By GPLv3 Says Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation says Microsoft’s deal to resell Novell’s open source software stack makes it a party to the GPLv3 and extends patent protection automatically to all open source users.
The FSF, creators of the controversial new software license designed to fend off lawsuits against open source users insists that Microsoft is bound by the license through its marketing alliance with Linux distributor Novell.
Microsoft “cannot declare itself exempt from the requirements of GPLv3,” the Free Software Foundation said in a statement issued this morning.
The FSF published the General Public License, version 3, on June 29, 2007.
Among other things, it states that companies that distribute open-source software licensed under GPLv3 cannot extend patent protection to some users of the software and not others, regardless of how or from whom the user received it.
Microsoft, which claims that Linux and other open source software programs violate its intellectual property rights, has pledged not to sue customers of open source distributors with which it has formal agreements. Those distributors include Novell and Xandros.
In the press release the FSF said that Microsoft’s deal to resell Novell’s open source software stack makes it a party to the GPLv3.
As a result, the patent protection Microsoft has promised to Novell customers automatically extends to all open source users, the FSF claimed.
If any user receives a discriminatory patent promise from Microsoft as a result of purchasing a copy of a GPLv3 program from a Microsoft fulfillment agent, Microsoft would be bound by GPLv3 to extend that promise of safety to all downstream users of that software.
The FSF also said that it will “ensure” that Microsoft “respects our copyrights and complies with our licenses.”
Linux itself is not licensed under GPLv3, but other parts of Novell’s distribution are covered by the new license.
In July, Microsoft said it would exclude software covered by GPLv3 from its alliance with Novell.
Microsoft has also said it believes that the anti-lawsuit provisions in GPLv3 have no legal standing.
So what do you think Geek With Laptop readers? Does Microsoft need new legal council or is the Free Software Foundation just trying to stir the pot and get more notice of GPLv3?
A Clean New Internet
Sometimes, when things aren’t going your way, the best way to handle things is to simply walk away.
At least, that’s the philosophy being followed by the Japanese communications ministry, which apparently intends to build a new Internet.
According to an Associated Press story, the Japanese government, concerned about growing “quality and security” problems, is working to set up a research organization by the fall of 2008. With luck, they’re hoping to have the new network up and running in 10 to 15 years.
It will be interesting to see how the new network will keep out the hackers, spammers, and loudmouths who are causing it to be built in the first place.
My own experience, as a confirmed packrat, is that if you create a nice, clean space in order to escape an overcrowded room, that space will eventually accumulate the same amount of junk as the first.
I strongly suspect that a new Internet, no matter how carefully planned, will be prone to the same phenomenon or will be so controlled that it will lack the creativity that the current whirlpool offers.
Thoughts?
Quote of the Day
Quiet, the commercial is on… if we don’t watch these, it’s like we’re stealing TV!
- Homer Simpson
Yahoo Mail Adds Mobile Text, Microsoft To Its Mix
Yahoo Mail earlier this morning emerged from a year-long public beta period with two significant new features as well as other refinements.
Yahoo Mail now includes the ability to send text messages to mobile phones. It also now allows users to send instant messages to both Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger users.
John Kremer, VP of Yahoo Mail said in a blog post:
Not only are we launching a brand new version of one of the most popular Web mail services in the world, but we’re unveiling a solution to my texting woes, and giving people around the world more ways to connect.
With the new Yahoo Mail, people can send and receive free text messages in their e-mail to and from any mobile phone number in participating markets including the US, Canada, India and the Philippines.
Yahoo claims that the new Yahoo Mail is more responsive than it was during beta testing, that it includes advanced search options for sifting through e-mail messages and that users now have six new color themes to choose from.
U.S.-based users of Yahoo Mail can take advantage of new shortcuts to underline words in messages, to add events directly to their Yahoo Calendars, to add friends to their contacts, to view a Yahoo Map of a selected address, or to perform a Web search on a selected word.
To establish the potential impact of text messaging capabilities on Yahoo Mail, Kremer cites statistics showing that 69% of US mobile phone users between the ages of 18-39 use text messaging (Harris Interactive, June 2006) and that half of Americans age 18-25 say they sent or received a text message over the phone every day (Pew Research Center, January 2007).
Whether text messaging will lift Yahoo Mail’s flat growth rate remains to be seen.
Yahoo is planning to roll out co-branded versions of the new Yahoo Mail to partners like AT&T, Verizon, and Rodgers, as well as to users of its Yahoo Small Business users in the fall.