By Compiled from Times wires
Published June 2, 2003
Apple Computer won rave reviews when it launched its Music Store in April, allowing online music lovers to download songs for 99 cents each.
Now the competition is picking up, with RealNetworks offering 79-cent downloads. But there's a catch.
Listen.com, which offers Internet radio broadcasts and other programming, also requires a $9.95 a month fee. Apple charges no subscription fee for its service.
"We're starting to see the business model experiments," said Michael McGuire, an analyst with Gartner G2.
Companies are trying to allow consumers to copy music from the Internet onto personal computers and CDs legally, cheaply and with few restrictions, while still satisfying major record labels wary of piracy.
Apple's Music Store approach has been popular, with more than 2-million downloaded songs in the first 16 days after its launch.
Listen.com offers a different strategy. It charges customers a $9.95 monthly fee for access to online radio stations, custom playlists and other programming. It claims "tens of thousands" of subscribers, but is hoping for more by lowering the fee to burn songs to 79 cents, down from 99 cents.
The company decided on the 79-cent price after a six-week experiment, in which Listen.com charged 49 cents a song, chief executive Sean Ryan said. The move attracted more subscribers and boosted song downloading, although he declined to reveal figures.
Listen.com may allow customers to burn songs for a fee without buying a monthly subscription, Ryan said, calling 2003 "the year to test business models."
"Error message" popups to be labeled as ads
A California company has agreed to label as advertisements its Internet popup ads that impersonate computer error messages, according to a lawyer who had sued the advertiser.
Bonzi Software Inc. also agreed to other changes in a settlement approved by a Spokane, Wash., County judge.
On behalf of people in eight states who complained about the company's popup ads, attorney Darrell Scott sued Bonzi in November, saying its ads were deceptive.
The lawsuit contended that Internet users who clicked an "OK" button, thinking it would make the dialogue box disappear, were instead sent to a Web site promoting Bonzi software for preventing Internet intrusions or speeding up Internet connections.
The ads came under such headings as "Security Alert" and carried warnings such as "Your computer is currently broadcasting an Internet IP address. With this address, someone can immediately begin attacking your computer."
In a statement, Bonzi attorney Saro G. Rizzo said the company settled to avoid litigation costs and insisted it never broke the law.
Linux in a Mini-Box
In the fiercely competitive computer world, manufacturers offer many claims to distinguish their products. Andrei Bulucea, a project manager at Ituner Networks, has a particularly striking boast for the Mini-Box M100: "It's completely silent. If you need to sleep with a computer, this is what you want."
While it is not intended to be a portable computer in the conventional sense, the Mini-Box is as small as its name suggests, measuring roughly 8 by 8 by 1 inches. The computer available for $496 at www.mini-box.com) is supplied with a Linux operating system stored on a Compact Flash memory card. But it can run Windows if a laptop hard disk is slipped into a built-in slot.
A tiny liquid crystal display panel and 14 keys allow users to control the computer, but there are standard outlets for a full-size keyboard, a monitor and other peripherals.
Bulucea suggested that people could use the Mini-Box for specialized "start and stop" tasks such as switching home security on and off. Because the tiny computer requires only a 12-volt power supply, it could be easily integrated into a car, he said.
"It's for consumers who are fed up with big, clumsy computers," he said.
Sony shows off new PlayStation 2
Sony Corp. showed a revamped PlayStation 2 video game machine with a built-in DVD recorder and TV tuner, which can download movies and music and is a key part of the company's new business strategy.
The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant said last week the PSX is a "crossover" between game machines and consumer electronics devices that works more like the PlayStation 2 in using a game controller to quickly search and select functions.
The PSX, which has a hard drive that can store data, goes on sale in Japan this year and is planned for introduction in the United States and Europe early next year, Sony executive deputy president Ken Kutaragi said. He refused to give a price.
Microsoft withdraws faulty Windows XP upgrade
Microsoft Corp. withdrew a security improvement for its flagship Windows XP software last week after it crippled Internet connections for some of the 600,000 users who installed it.
Microsoft officials said the update, which had been available as an option since May 23 on its Windows Update Web site, apparently was incompatible with popular security software from other companies, such as Symantec Corp.
Microsoft said Internet connections failed immediately for an unspecified number of more than 600,000 computers using Windows XP who downloaded and installed the update. Consumers could reconnect only by removing the update, which promised to improve reliability for types of secure Internet connections commonly used by corporations.
