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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
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Genre: Rock
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Discover New Music

  • Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic)

    • 6 out of 10
    • Alanis Morissette
    • Ten years after the original release, comes the traditional celebratory acoustic re-recording. The album has held up remarkably well. While it is not as meaningful to me as it was when I was sixteen,
  • Aretha Sings the Blues

    • 6 out of 10
    • Aretha Franklin
    • While she didn't always have the best taste in song selection, Aretha Franklin is a must-study for anyone with interest in the human voice. She has the kind of powerful, recklessly passionate deliv

  • Gimme Fiction

    • 10 out of 10
    • Spoon
    • Gimme Fiction by Spoon is a terrific album by an Austin band that I was lucky enough to catch on an Austin radio station during a Christmas visit.

  • 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

  • Guero

    • 10 out of 10
    • Beck
    • Beck is the modern master of the groove, and Guero is merely the latest example of this. From the opening power chords of "E-Pro," to the Pac-Man cuteness of "Girl," to the dirge-like lullab

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News

Korean Firms Accuse Samsung of Playing Favorites w/Apple

Korean MP3 player manufacturers are crying foul over Samsung's agreement with Apple to supply the iPod maker with NAND flash memory at 30-40 percent below market pricing. The companies accuse Samsung of putting other Korean manufacturers at a disadvantage, according to a report from Korean publication Biz/Tech, a charge Samsung officials denied.

“There was nothing unfair about the businesses with Apple,” said Hwang Chang-kyu, the CEO of Samsung’s semiconductor division.

Instead, the pricing benefit Apple is getting stems from the fact that it was an early adopter of Samsung's new MLC style chips that can store twice as much information at a substantially lower cost than the SLC chips used in other MP3 players. Effectively, this helps keep iPod nano costs down, while maintaining the performance users expect from Apple products.

Other manufacturers, however, aren't so happy. They fear that this will serve to tighten Apple's strangle-hold on the MP3 player market. “It’s true that the company that has the largest market will have the edge. Buying 100 units and buying one can’t be same," Chang-kyu said.

Currently, Apple is the only company purchasing MLC memory, but Samsung says the chips are available to any vendor that wants to purchase them.

There is additional information in the full Biz/Tech article.

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