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Discover New Music

  • Supernature

    • 10 out of 10
    • Goldfrapp
    • On their latest CD, Supernature, Goldfrapp has put together a successful mix of 1980-era New Romanticism, German cabaret, and T. Rex glam that leaves you riveted even through the album's lulls. It's a great amalgam that sounds current without sounding at all dated.

  • War of the Worlds

    • 10 out of 10
    • Jeff Wayne
    • With the new movie adaptation of H.G Wells' classic Sci Fi invasion tale, War of the Worlds, currently on theater screens everywhere, there's new interest in Jeff Wayne's rock opera version, and it is
  • The Life Pursuit

    • 8 out of 10
    • Belle & Sebastian
    • The Life Pursuit is a sort of Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. You get Belle & Sebastian's peanut butter (its wistful, often irresistible pop) dipped in a 'Have A Nice Day!' and glam 70s chocol

  • King James Version

    • 4 out of 10
    • Harvey Danger
    • The sophomore effort from Harvey Danger, I was really looking forward to this followup to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" Unfortunately, "King James Version" failed to deliver any of the bri

  • Trouble

    • 8 out of 10
    • Ray LaMontagne
    • At first, Ray LaMontagne might strike you as just another breathy-voiced knockoff of folk/rock guitarists like John Mayer and Jack Johnson. But he's actually got a better voice than either, he tell

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News

Apple Patent Application Could Protect Against Hearing Loss from iPod

Apple, Inc. has filed for a patent for a technology that would allow an iPod or iPhone to automatically adjust its maximum volume depending the length of time one listens to it. According to a patent application filed in Europe, its express purpose is to protect against hearing loss that may occur from long iPod sessions at loud volumes.

"Since the damaging effect on users’ hearing is both gradual and cumulative," Apple wrote in its application, "even those users who are concerned about hearing loss may not behave with respect to their portable media players in a manner that would limit or minimize such damaging hearing effects."

Apple’s solution, and first reported by the London Telegraph, involves a method that constantly analyzes the music being played and the length of time it is being listened to. From that, a maximum volume is determined automatically.

According to the application, "The refining is configured to prevent/minimize harm to hearing of the media player user based, for example, on the actual volume of media playback and time/duration profiles provided by occupational safety and/or other organizations."

Several news outlets, including the Telegraph, have grabbed the news of this patent application and reported that Apple is coming out with an iPod that has this technology. It’s important to note, however, that no such announcement has been made, and the patent itself has yet to even be granted.

While Apple could certainly do so at some point, it’s also possible that this is merely one of the many methods and technologies for which the company applies for a patent that never makes it into a product. The flip side to that dose of reality, however, is that the patent application is an explicit acknowledgement that some hearing loss could occur from prolonged iPod listening, and failure to act on that knowledge while the preventive measure exists could be seized on in this age of litigation.

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