Wireless Internet Napster Enters Ringtone Market
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Music download sewvice Napster will try to claim a piece of the growing market for mobile phone ringtones through a partnership with Dwango Wireless, which specializes in wireless content.
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(InfoWorld) - Napster will launch its first mobile download service for Europe in Ireland later this month on TelefÃ³nica's O2 Ireland network. Customers will have access to Napster Mobile's catalog of 3 million songs, ring tones, and artist images. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, which isÂ hosting and managing the serviceÂ for O2, will provide other content. The service will be available initially to O2 Ireland customers with handsets using NTT DoCoMo's I-mode mobile internet service. By January, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and Java-enabled handsets will also be able to use the service. By February, songs purchased on Napster Mobile will be sent to a user's PC as well as their handset, the companies said. Napster does not currently have a PC download service in Ireland. The Napster Mobile application will be shipped with some I-mode handsets by O2. The application includes features such as a recommendation engine, which can pick other songs that a user may like based on their past picks, plus abilities to search, browse and preview content. Last month, Napster agreed with TMN Portugal to launch Napster Mobile for its 5 million subscribers, but no timetable was given for the start of the service. Other European countries are expected to follow.
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(InfoWorld) - Napster, the remade version of the popular Internet music sharing service, is in talks over a sale or possible strategic partnership, the company said Monday. The announcement comes as a steady stream of new competitors enter the market, includingÂ SanDisk with partner RealNetworks, andÂ Microsoft with its Zune MarketplaceÂ strategy. It also comes amid a sharp downturn in user figures for Napster, which has seen its user base erode to 512,000 users at the end of June, from 606,000 at the end of March. Napster said it has hired UBS Investment Bank to assist management in the "evaluation of strategic alternatives," in response to interest from a third party in potentially acquiring or establishing a venture with the company. Napster also said it remains in a strong position to continue building its own business, with or without such a deal, highlighting its cash position of $97 million. The announcement sent Napster's Nasdaq-listed stock up 12.4 percent in after-market trading, to $3.99. The company set no timetable for finalizing the evaluation, and said the talks may not result in any deals. Formed in 1999, Napster popularized peer-to-peer music sharing on the Internet, gaining notoriety when a recording industry lawsuit ultimately shut it down and set the precedent for further legal victories over similar online services. A few years after the legal defeat, RoxioÂ bought the rights to its name, and in late 2003Â re-launched itÂ as a legal music download store. Napster faced stiff competition from the moment of its rebirth, mainly from Apple ComputerÂ and its popular iPods, and the iTunes Music Store. Napster currently offers a free 512MB digital music player, or a 1GB one for $50 to users who sign up for its monthly service for three months. It also started an advertising-supported music service in May that allows users to listen more than two million songs at no charge, up to five times each. The company reported a net loss of $9.8 millionÂ in the three months ending June 30, on revenue of $28.1 million.
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MacCentral - Digital music service Napster LLC on Thursday announced the release of Napster To Go, a new Windows-compatible portable digital music subscription service that lets user move an unlimited number of songs songs from Napster to compatible MP3 players for a US&#36;14.95 monthly fee. A &#36;30 million marketing campaign kicks off Sunday during this year's Super Bowl, and is aimed squarely at Apple's iTunes Music Store.
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Napster Inc.  said on  Monday it was considering selling the company or other possible  ventures with outsiders looking to hook up with the  once-notorious online music service.
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Napster is making its new Napster To Go service available on AT&amp;T&#39;s Audiovox smartphone. It comes with 28.5mb of internal flash memory, which holds up to 6 songs.
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Shawn Fanning, once reviled by  record labels as the creator of renegade song-swap service  Napster, on Thursday launched a new service designed to turn  the threat of still popular peer-to-peer services into an  opportunity for music companies and artists.
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Napster is rocking, even if it's doing so before smaller crowds.
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A mobile music service that enables users to download music to many cell phones has been launched by a British startup.
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Third-party ringtone creators for the iPhone believe there's a viable market for their software.
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Napster creator Shawn Fanning introduces a new licensed file-sharing service with unlimited choice of tracks.
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Users have found a way to skirt copy protection on Napster Inc.'s  portable music subscription service just days after its high-profile launch, potentially letting them make CDs with hundreds of thousands of songs for free.
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A new generation of Wi-Fi-equipped digital audio players is coming from companies like AOL, Archos, iRiver and Sandisk.
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This service leverages new Windows Media 10 technologies to enable Napster subscribers to download music to portable devices, a technology called Janus.
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Napster on Wednesday said that Napster to Go, its fledgling portable music service, is now available to AT&amp;T Wireless subscribers who use the Audiovox SMT5600 smart phone.
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Next year, wireless operators will debut ways to share a favorite ring tone. But don't expect a Napster free-for-all.
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Snocap, the digital music company  founded by Napster creator Sean Fanning, is testing a new  service that enables bands to sell their music from Web sites  like MySpace.