Search Results for: soft play

Not much rattles Apple. Disciplined and focused, the company lavishes attention on its own elegant products and rarely deigns to discuss rivals. Yet here was Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer and designated stand-in for ailing CEO Steve Jobs, erupting during an earnings call in late January at the mere mention of a pip-squeak competitor. The pest in question was Palm, the fallen pioneer of handheld digital organizers, which two weeks earlier had unveiled a new smartphone, the Palm Pre, to rave reviews. Not only did the Pre have features the iPhone couldn’t match – snazzy multitasking, universal search, a… Read more »

No matter who is crowned the next American Idol on Wednesday night, season eight has already been one for the books. After a wild five months that has included emotional breakdowns from near-finalists, a comedian/singer who almost crashed the top 13 with his over-the-top shtick, the first top 13, a wild card round, a judges’ save and some serious bickering in the expanded judging panel, you’d think that whatever happens on the finale would be anticlimactic. But thanks to the surprise exit of early favorite Danny Gokey last week, tonight’s sing-off between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert has injected some… Read more »

The Flaming Lips will go from spending “Christmas on Mars“ to Earth Day in Washington, D.C. when they perform a free concert at the National Mall Apr. 19th. Additional bands will take the stage in 10 cities nationwide as part of this year’s Earth Day Network & Green Apple Festival Day. Joining the “Soft Bulletin”  band in the Nation’s Capitol will be moe., Los Lobos, DJ Spooky and emcee Chevy Chase. The 10-city festival, which “emphasizes environmental volunteerism in solidarity with the new administration’s ‘call to service,’” is jam band-packed this year, with artists like Galactic playing in Atlanta, Soulive… Read more »

Print Back to story By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer 1 hr 14 mins ago LOS ANGELES — Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Monday to threatening and assaulting his girlfriend, fellow music star Rihanna The 19-year-old R&B singer entered his plea, speaking in a soft voice, while standing alongside his lawyer, Mark Geragos His mother sat in the first row, red-eyed. Within moments of the hearing, a lawyer for Rihanna said the singer was hoping a plea deal could be reached before the case goes to trial. “She would be pleased if this was over… Read more »

MySpace Music announced that Lily Allen performing 3 Secret Shows on 3 continents. The British singer will put on intimate concerts for her MySpace fans in New York, Tokyo and London at no charge. Lily will kick off the global Secret Show series with a performance at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on February 10th. The concert marks the first time a single artist will take part in multiple MySpace Secret Shows on a global level. The New York show, sponsored by TurboTax ® Federal Free Edition, signifies Lily’s debut concert celebrating the release of her new album,… Read more »

Last month the music industry and Apple, long uneasy partners, seemed a picture of harmony when they agreed on new terms for pricing on iTunes, Apple’s online music store. Behind the scenes, however, the relationship remains as tense and antagonistic as ever. The announcement on Jan. 6 seemed to signal a rapprochement between the music industry and its biggest distributor: record companies gave up their demand for copyright protection (called digital rights management) and Apple allowed flexible pricing, so the labels could charge more for new or popular tracks. But according to one music industry executive involved in the negotiations,… Read more »

The internet is awash with reports that the 30GB Zune is committing suicide across the planet. Not just one of them, either. It seems that some weird bug is simultaneously causing the music players to kill themselves, like lemmings leaping from a cliff. While the Zune is a distant also-ran in the MP3 market, which is dominated by Apple’s, the Microsoft-made device has gained critical approbation with its most recent, version 3.0 models, whose features are quite competitive with the iPod line. Many users appreciate the player’s built-in FM radio and “Zune Social” features, which facilitate the communal sharing and… Read more »

With his spiky mohawk, cluttered canvas of tattooed skin and punk rock pedigree stretching back to childhood, Travis Barker isn’t exactly pleading to be taken seriously as a hip-hop head. A former drummer for the multi-platinum-selling power pop trio Blink-182 who also has done turns behind the kit for rock outfits including the Aquabats, +44 and Box Car Racer, he boasts impeccable Warped Tour credentials and critical props as one of modern rock’s most exciting, exacting percussion players. But a funny thing happened when Barker posted a video of himself on YouTube last September drumming thunderously in time with Southern… Read more »

It’s 4 a.m. on the last night of the South by Southwest music conference, and Jim James is belting out Rod Stewart’s “You’re in My Heart.” A few hours earlier, the My Morning Jacket frontman dazzled an intimate crowd at an Austin church with a mostly solo acoustic set, and the full band’s three other performances during the week were some of the most acclaimed of the industry event. But of all the places James could be right now, it’s a cozy terrace suite at Austin’s famed Driskill Hotel, surrounded by a few close friends, a bucket of Miller Lites… Read more »