MP3 Players You Can Swim With

Ever wish you could take your iPod with you in the pool or the ocean? Here are a couple of solutions.

Atrix 4G: Faux Laptop With a Phone For Brains

Walt reviews the Motorola Atrix 4G Android smart phone, which acts as the brains of a small laptop device.

Pandora's Music Fees Are Huge! And Not That Bad.

The Internet radio service is handing over half of every dollar it brings into the music industry. But things could be a lot worse. And the royalty system that taxes Pandora also allows it to thrive.

T-Mobile Wants You to Know It Is Speeding Up Its Network, Too

As Mobilized told you last month, T-Mobile is indeed using the Consumer Electronics Show to announce its plans for a faster version of its existing HSPA+ network. It also showed off forthcoming tablets from LG and Dell.

Google Buys Phonetic Arts to Make Machines Sound Human

Google is beefing up its voice services with today’s acquisition of Cambridge, England-based Phonetic Arts. Google’s view is that voice will be critical going forward to making mobile devices with small screens and keyboards more useful.

Voices

A Day in the Life of a Deal

After years of litigation and ill will, it took two men just a couple of hours to hammer out the basic terms that would finally bring the Beatles’ music to the iTunes Store. Beatles songs are finally available in Apple’s iTunes store. But ATD’s Peter Kafka says that iTunes is all about apps these days, while digital music sales have flattened out – and even the Fab Four may have a hard time changing that.

News Byte

Apple's Song Remains the Same, But Could Get Longer

Apple appears ready for an extended play: It’s about to offer 90-second samples of songs for sale at its iTunes store, up from the industry-standard 30 seconds. Apple has been trying to offer the feature for months, and CNET says the company may still be negotiating with labels and publishers for the rights. But if the move helps sell more music, there’s no reason for the industry not to embrace it: Digital song sales have been stagnating.

Voices

Mobile, Not Net, Drives Indian Music Sales

any Indians enjoy streaming or downloading music on the Internet, whether the latest Bollywood hit or an oldie. But mostly people do this illegally on sites with pirated content, which is why there was an opening for Google to launch a service in India to let users to find legitimately licensed music, as WSJ reported today. (The service launched Friday and is available at www.google.co.in/music.)

Apple's Ping Wants Rock ‘n’ Roll, but No Sex and Drugs

When it comes to creating profiles on its would-be social network, Apple doesn’t want music acts thinking that differently.

Voices

ITunes Songs Aren’t Purchased but "Licensed," Court Rules

In a decision that could affect the financial relationships between record labels and performers, a federal appeals court in San Francisco on Friday ruled that songs downloaded from Apple’s iTunes store are not actually purchased, but are rather “licensed” by the ostensible buyer.

iPad: King of All Media?

Palm Agonistes

Warner Music Earnings: Out of Tune

Court Kills Preposterous Pirate Beatles Site