The beginning of the end of record stores

Berka (third from left) with American band Boys Like Girls at the launch of the new Nokia Comes With Music X6 phones.


THE music retail industry is changing. Once people who wanted to listen to their favourite artists would go to a music store and buy their album, in CD format.


But now, it's different. The new generation of youngsters would just go online get the songs they wanted. It's easeir that way and costs less or even free.


For these users, they were born in the Internet age and buying and getting things online have been what they do everyday.


For the industry, tuning to what the people need and like is vital, and Nokia has made a good start with its "Comes With Music" initiatives.


Knowing what its young users want, the gloabal phone vendor has bundled its latest phones, the X6, with songs offerings, for free.


According to the company's general manager, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Vlasta Berka, the new phone comes with Nokia's Comes With Music service, offering users unlimited access to million of tracks from a diverse catalogue of international and local artists.
"The service offers consumers a new way to discover and download music, revamping their entire digital music experience," he said at the launch of the phone in Kuala Lumpur recently.
The Nokia's music catalogue comprises a diverse range from all four major record labels, namely Sony Music, EMI Group, Warner Music Group, Universal as well as independent record labels.
With Comes With Music-enabled devices, users will have access to download and keep high-quality tracks on Ovi Music.


Currently, there are 3.5 million songs and growing worth RM80 million for download over the Comes With Music service for the next 12 months.
What Nokia is doing could help the industry fight music piracy as consumers can legitimately download songs from the correct source.


This way, music makers can be rewarded better over what they do. Hence, help fluorish the local music industry.


Besides that, partnership with the local music industry is important and Comes With Music provides great opportunity for local artists to get their music heard by fans locally and internationally.


Meanwhile, Recording Industry Malaysia (RIM)'s chairman and Universal Music Group International senior vice president, Asean, Sandy Monteiro said the service offered by Nokia will revive the slow music industry, in terms of CD sales.
Over the last 10 years, the music industry has dropped 50 percent worldwide. Ironically, he said although the music industry looks like a sinking industry, the consumption of music is higher than ever as people are now moving online to get their music.


Monteiro said in 2004, digital music download accounted for five percent of the industry sales, but last year, it had grown to 30 percent," he said, adding that in a few years' time digital downloads will over take CD sales.
Monteiro said local artists will benefit as they will get their share of royalty every time their song is downloaded.
Apparently, there is a mechanism that track the number of downloads, etc so that every artist will get what they deserve.

Sony greets 2010 with fresh technologies

THREE-dimensional TVs, Blu-ray, Internet and network-enabled tech will be among the hot consumer product trends from Sony Electronics for 2010 as the company steps up efforts to offer users new enhancements in the consumer electronics market.
Its president and chief operating officer Stan Glasgow said under the three umbrellas of the consumer tech above, Sony is rolling out new products and technologies that will change consumers' perception and experience.

"The new products will see Sony uniting its strength in the electronics, movies, music and games arena, he said at the new products showcase at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010 in Las Vegas, US.
"We’re serious about delivering entertainment experiences that inspire, excite, and engage consumers. At the same time, we’re committed to providing them with the content they want everywhere and anywhere,” he said of Sony's direction in the consumer electronics market.

This year will see Sony making big moves in the 3D TV and related 3D tech areas. The new products from Sony will change how people view TVs, acquire high definition and 3D content, and use social networking sites.
Its new 3D capable Bravia NX800 LCD televisions for 2010 will include its first full HD 3D integrated TV, bundled with two pair of active shutter glasses as well as a built-in transmitter. The Edge LED Backlit LCD series will feature screen sizes from 22 to 60 inches to suit the broadest range of consumers.

The 3D TV is said to feature Monolithic design that allows it to be displayed at a six-degree upward slant, for natural viewing experience.
Complementing these sets are two other series of 3D-capable models that will have many of the same features, with the active shutter glasses and 3D Sync Transmitter which come separately.

Besides that, Sony’s 3D initiative also extends to several other products, including a soon-to-be announced Blu-ray 3D player and home theater system, in addition to upcoming 3D announcements for Vaio PCs and digital still cameras.
"To ensure there is "live link" in the 3D space, we (Sony) does not only coming up with the products, but also working on content creation, acquisition, production to distribution and presentation in theaters and the home," said Glasgow.

In an agreement announced at CES, Sony has signed on to be an official sponsor of ESPN’s new 3D network. Under the agreement, ESPN will utilise Sony professional HD cameras for its productions.
"ESPN will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events in 3D during its first year beginning with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match on June 11 featuring South Africa vs Mexico," he said.

Other events to be produced in 3D include up to 25 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, Summer X Games, college basketball, NBA basketball, college football and basketball.
On the Blu-ray department, Glasgow said the technology is now an integral part of several Sony products.

The entry-level BD players, PlayStation 3 systems, Vaio PCs with read/write drives, a 400-disc mega-changer that utilises Gracenote Music and Video ID technology to the latest networked player that combines full Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD, and SA-CD functionality with the ability to instantly stream movies, videos, music and more from Netflix, Amazon video on demand, YouTube, Slacker Internet Radio, Pandora, NPR, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, and more than 25 content providers through the Sony Bravia Internet video platform.

Another new product by Sony at the CES is the Dash device. "It takes on a new dimension on how people access and customise content," said Glasgow.
The Dash device, which looks like a digital photo frame, is a personal Internet viewer with a seven-inch colour touch screen to allow users to have quick, customised information and entertainment.

"The Dash device accesses a wireless home network and continuously updates information designated by the user. That information is then delivered by more than 1,000 selectable free apps to give consumers customised Internet content," said Glasgow, adding that being connected these days is critically important, but equally important is the ability to choose and personalise content like Facebook, etc.

On the digital book front, Sony also announced the third addition to its Reader line digital book products, the Reader Daily Edition, joins the Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition, and offers wireless access to new releases and The New York Times bestsellers in Sony’s Reader Store (www.readerstore.com).

Continuing its efforst in the digital imaging sector, Sony this year is making new enhancement to its Cyber-shot digital still cameras, digital SLRs and Handycam camcorders.
"The new enhancements will give consumers more flexibility in creating and managing their content," said Glasgow.

He said Sony’s new consumer Handycam camcorders, Cyber-shot digital still cameras, and several other devices are now be capable of using SD and SDHC as well as Memory Stick flash memory cards.
Additionally, Sony will introduce SD and microSD memory cards in sizes ranging from two to 32 Gigabytes. Sony will continue to advance the Memory Stick format and will now add the SD format to its full-line media offerings as well (microSD/microSDHC cards will range from 2 to 8 Gigabytes).

Besides that, Sony is also unveiling 17 new camcorder models, starting with a new prosumer model, HDR-AX2000 that delivers full HD performance with film-like progressive scan.
The social media activities the past years has gotten Sony's attention and the company has come out with a special camera device known as Bloggie to cater to this Web community.

Its new Bloggie camera models MHS-PM5 and MHS-CM5 include some of the same features and shooting options found in more expensive cameras, such as face detection and image stabilisation, along with the ability to easily upload content to popular video sharing Web sites in an ultra-compact body.

Finally, Sony has also introduced a new element of Sony’s digital imaging plans is the TransferJet feature, a wireless high-speed data transfer technology that allows two TransferJet-enabled cameras to communicate and transfer files simply by bringing the TransferJet marks on each product within one inch of each other. The Transfer Jet technology will also find its way into Sony’s VAIO notebook line, starting with the F Series.
To transfer photos, TransferJet-enabled still cameras must each utilise the TransferJet Memory Stick media. The technology will be featured in the Cyber-shot line beginning in February and other Sony products throughout 2010.

The Sony product announcement was highlighted with a special appearance by singer Taylor Swift, who will document her life using Sony products.

The promise of 3D

THREE-dimensional (3D) products and content are expected to hit the consumer market in a very big manner starting this year.
Although none of the products are visible yet in local stores, vendors like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba, Philips and many more have generally "agree" that 3D will be the technology moving forward, after plasma, LCD and LED.

The recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010 in Las Vegas witnessed some of the 3D products that will hit the market starting summer this year.
Among them include 3D TVs and glasses, 3D Blu-ray players, and 3D content effort.
For those who still wonder what 3D TVs are, they are a new breed of TVs that allow you to view content in 3D. Meaning by wearing the 3D glasses, you see the content moving towards you or at least not in the limited retangular borders of the TV.

The whole industry is really up to this technology that the whole floor dedicated to home entertainment products was dominated by 3D TVs by all the major players like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, LG. Even Chinese manufacturer TCL came out with an impressive set of 3D TV technologies.
The companies' approaches to this new technologies may be slightly from one another, but their aims are similar, that 3D TVs and accessories related to it are set the change the TV and home entertainment industry for good.

Sony, for instance, made its entry into this market with the Bravia series, the XBR-LX900 series. The TV is not just able to play 3D content, but with added connectivity features like Internet video capability with integrated 802.11n WiFi connectivity. This means users can not just view content from a local source like a Blu-ray player or satellite, but stream them from the Web.
Samsung, meanwhile, showcased the company's might in the TV display arena and signaling its readiness to take on other players anytime.

It's range of 3D TVs product lineups include ED-backlit LCD and PDP TVs of the 7000 series and above, as well as the 750 series LCD TVs.
Samsung shows that it's moving a step ahead in the all-new 3D TV arena. Its 3D TVs can be viewed without having to put on special 3D eyewear, meaning that consumers still can view the content in 3D using their naked eyes. China brand TCL also came out with the same concept with eyewear-free 3D TVs.

Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Toshiba all announced that their some models 3D TVs will be available on the market 2010 this year, but certain model will come either later in the year or in 2011.
None of these companies unveiled the prices for their new 3D TVs, but consumers can expect to burn their pocket with this new line of home entertainment panels.
Following the announcements of the 3D TVs, these players also came out with products that will play the content. This include 3d Blu-ray players, 3D eyewear, 3D cameras and camcorders, and plans for more 3D content.

The 3D content may be at the moment, but be prepared to see floods of it coming later this year. The Blu-ray disc association has agreed upon a 3D standard, which allows 3D movies and games to be released on Blu-ray disc players and Sony's PS3 video game consoles which will soon hit the market by mid this year.
ESPN will start broadcasting in 3D this summer with a World Cup football match. Also Discovery Communications, Sony and Imax announced plans for a joint venture that will roll out the first 24/7 dedicated 3D television network in the US next year.

So, you may be wondering when will the first 3D TVs an its related products will be available in Malaysian shores.
According to Sony officials I talked to at CES, Sony will stat displaying its 3D products in its stores worldwide starting February, but products will only be sold in Summer, that means around second or third quarter of this year.
So it's not a long time to go.
Price-wise, none of the companies at CES unveiled their prices for the 3D TVs, but based on the current LED LCD TVs, I guess the 3D TVs would be around at least RM10,000 for start, I could be wrong. Mmmmm