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Release Date: August 05, 2009
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Discover New Music

  • Life's Rich Pageant

    • 8 out of 10
    • R.E.M.
    • In the long series of R.E.M.'s evolution, this album (finally?) showcases their ability to capture on tape what had been happening in the live for years: heartfelt, sweat-filled performances that just
  • Odyssey Number Five

    • 10 out of 10
    • Powderfinger
    • Guitar-driven rock out of Australia, Powderfinger has not seen much exposure in the States, but should get a nod for their toe-tapping songs. Building off their previous release, "Internationalist" (
  • Physical Graffiti

    • 10 out of 10
    • Led Zeppelin
    • This album bears every flavor of genius from the five records that came before. It is, I believe, the band's finest. With Physical Graffiti, Zep came raging back to their musical home territory -- har
  • Billy Miles

    • 10 out of 10
    • Billy Miles
    • Take the voice of a young Billie Holiday and stuff it into a svelte, petite body with the face of an angel, and you have some idea of what it's like to experience the music of Billy Miles in her self-
  • 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

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News

NYT: Cell Phone Design is Back to the Drawing Board

Companies that design and manufacture cell phones are going back to the drawing board and rethinking what customers want in a phone, according to the New York Times on Friday. Of particular concern is that younger customers can be more influenced by their peers than by the company’s marketing. They’re looking at how Apple has been so successful.

LG is one company using focus groups and listening well to customer feelings. "Our job is to be behaviorists and psychologists," said Ehtisham Rabbani, LG’s vice president for product strategy and marketing. "We constantly have to be reminding ourselves that we tend to be geek types and our customers are not."

All of a sudden, millions of dollars are at stake for companies that don’t execute well with their mobile phones products. Most notable has been Motorola who went for market share by devaluing their RAZR and lost the gamble. Even more troublesome is the rate at which customers switch allegiance and influence their friends. "The world has changed," said Jeremy Dale at Motorola. "There is more relevance in what other consumers say than what the company is saying."

Another trend is the rate of innovation. If a company can’t keep up in the innovation war, they get bad word of mouth in an increasingly connected social network.

Carriers are customers too, and the vendors have to make sure they understand what the carrier needs to make those teenage girls happy. With so much at stake and with the technology moving so fast, companies can’t afford to get it wrong. AT&T’s ROKR was one example. "At the end of the day it�s a judgment call," said AT&Ts; Steve McGaw. "We don�t always get it right."

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