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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
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  • Abnormal Anonymous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Congo Norvell
    • Very few albums manage to capture snapshots of a quality of life in the manner that Congo Norvell's sophomore record, "Abnormals Anonymous," does.

      Comparisons to the Velvet Underground are

  • The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered)

    • 10 out of 10
    • Pink Floyd
    • Okay, someone had to say it, and though others on the iPO staff are more qualified to review this album, I decided the time was now. This is the quintessential concept album. Though others came before
  • Is This It

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Strokes
    • The Strokes set the music world on fire with this 2001 album, with headlines declaring that the New York band was here to save Rock and Roll. While the band hasn't made as much of a splash since t

  • With Teeth

    • 4 out of 10
    • Nine Inch Nails
    • In the sprawling post-A&R rock and roll world, there are two camps: the Beatles and the Stones. The Beatles are the artists that like to explore, evolve, and change styles. The Stones are the artis

  • Playing the Angel

    • 8 out of 10
    • Depeche Mode
    • Oddly enough, Playing The Angel is a return to form for Depeche Mode, even though it may well be argued that they never truly deviated from their roots in their more recent offerings. In the

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News

Apple Tapped Media Player Inventor in Burst Case

When Apple settled a lawsuit with Burst over patents used in the iPhone it enlisted the help of Kane Kramer, a Brit that patented a portable media player concept nearly 30 years ago. While Mr. Kramer’s name isn’t well known, the products that eventually grew from his idea -- including the iPod -- are.

According to the Mail Online, Mr. Kramer patented his idea in 1979, but lost his patents in 1988 after the board for the company he formed split and failed to come up with the money needed to renew them. Once the patents lost their protection and technology caught up, several companies began producing portable media players.

Apple decided to contact Mr. Kramer to see if he would testify in the lawsuit Burst had filed over alleged patent infringements involving the iPod.

"I was up a ladder painting when I got the call from a lady with an American accent from Apple saying she was the head of legal affairs and that they wanted to acknowledge the work that I had done," he said.

He agreed, so Apple flew him to California where he underwent 10 hours of questioning by Burst’s legal team.

Apple was able to settle with Burst for US$10 million, and is now in talks with Mr. Kramer over payment for the copyright he holds on his original music player concept drawing.

"To be honest, I was just so pleased that finally something that I had done which has been a huge success and changed the music industry was being acknowledged," he said. "I was really quite emotional about it all."

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