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Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • Mezzanine

    • 6 out of 10
    • Massive Attack
    • "Black Milk" knocks me off my feet in this collection of moody and eclectic songs. Massive Attack uses samples and keyboards in a very unique way, but not all the songs pack the same punch.

  • Quadrophenia

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Who
    • Quadrophenia is everything that Tommy wanted to be, a rock opera that told a story, but one where every song could still stand alone. It was also Pete Townshend's farewell tribute to the Mod

  • 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.

  • So Jealous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Tegan and Sara
    • So Jealous is the third album from these sisters, and easily the one to single out for an introduction to their music. Some people may not get on board with their vocal styles, which are slightly

  • 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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Just a Peek

Hi-Def FM Radio Tags That Song

Did you see this? I know this has been around for awhile, but there is something significant going on here.

Apple and a company called iBiquity Digital teamed up to provide a service to folks with digital HD radio that will let people "tag" a song they hear for purchase at the iTunes Store.

The service is called iTunes Tagging and it’s pretty cool technology. Because it is digital radio, information about each song played is streamed to your receiver. If the receiver has the ability to store a small amount of data it can store the info on any song you tag. When you sync your radio with your computer any stored song located on the iTunes Store is made available for you to buy.

This answers a nagging problem with any non-subscription music service: How do average Joes and Jills find new music?

This service also gives radio, in general, a huge shot in the arm. I don’t know about you, but the only reason I turn on a radio these days is to receive the signal from my iPod’s FM transmitter, and maybe check the weather for pop-up hurricanes. (This IS Florida after all.)� I used to listen to radio all the time, but commercials started taking up more airtime. It got so that 15 to 20 minutes of every hour was taken up by loud, annoying ads that insulted my intelligence and left me deaf. Even National Public Radio (NPR) had these increasingly frequent fund raising telethons where they came just short of begging the public for money. (I think NPR should be fully funded by tax dollars as it is one of the few easily accessible public services, but that’s just my opinion.)

Fed up with the ad jibber-jabber I wound up turning the radio off altogether and fired up CDs and, now, my iPod when I want music.

Hi-Def Radio could change that by offering CD quality tunes and fewer commercials, and now, iTunes Tagging. It would certainly be an attraction to me even if I only occasionally turn the radio on.

One thing I sorely miss is discovering new music, and radio, for all of its problems, was the best way to get introduced to new stuff without having to go through a lot of effort: just turn on the radio and listen.

Of course, this begs the question to be asked: How will Apple support Digital Radio?

You may (or may not) know already that Apple has included hardware in iPhones that will let you receive FM radio. Will the iPhone pick up Digital FM radio?

I don’t have a clue, but it does seem like a reasonable thing to do.

There you are out in the wild, jamming to a new tune on your iPhone. Since to song rocked you tag it. The next time to fire up iTunes on your iPhone a list of tagged songs appear and iTunes asks you which, if any, you would like to buy. You buy them all, they get downloaded into your iPhone, you jam to new tunes that automagically get synced to your Mac or PC at home, and all is right with the world.

What’s not to like about a scenario like that? All I can say is, bring it on.


Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.

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