Thanks to a firmware update, Microsoft addressed some of the little niggles in the Zune HD. Matt Miller upgraded his device to version 4.3 and sees a fair number of positive changes:

• Faster web browser
• Option in browser for desktop or mobile sites
• Predictive text in the keyboard
• Auto capitalization
• Larger landscape keyboard
• Toggle between seek or presets for radio
• Support for future 3D games
• Other minor updates and improvements, not specifically identified

The above video — which is ironically silent showing off an audio device — offers a glimpse of what Matt is seeing after his update. The predictive text and keyboard enhancements alone are worth the free price of admission for the upgrade.

Shazam has been one of the best free apps for the iPhone since early in the iPhone product life.  That changes with the introduction of Shazam Encore, a pay per view listen version that removes all limits from the free version. Specifically the free version of Shazam now limits you to 5 tags per month, and the Encore version offers unlimited tags. You’ll pay $4.99 at the App Store for that unlimited tagging in Shazam Encore, but you’ll also get these features:

• Improved speed performance: making it even quicker for users to tag tracks and learn more about their music.
• Music recommendations: users can discover other music similar to the track that’s been tagged to enhance their music collection and knowledge.
• Find what’s hot and popular: Shazam music charts generated by millions of other Shazamers can be accessed to help users keep up to date with the new tracks and players in the music scene.
• Search music: easily find music by artist, album or track from over 8 million songs.
• Drive and Tag: Shazam automatically enters into car mode when the iPhone is placed in an in-car dock to make it simple to discover what’s playing on the radio even when driving.

Note that existing Shazam owners still have unlimited tags, only new customers of the free version have the limit. The $4.99 fee for Shazam Encore is a one-time fee.

Custom earbuds are nothing new, professional artists use them all the time. Their buds are extremely expensive and far beyond the reach of us regular folks. Yurbuds, on the other hand, are cheap and aim to provide the same long-term comfort from the expensive type.

The key to the Yurbuds is the fitting process, and they’ve developed a unique way to measure the ears of each customer. It works like this — customers put a regular earbud in the ear and then snap a picture of the ear with the bud in place. Yurbuds have software that can derive measurements and ear shape from the photo. They take their resultant measurements and then make a pair of soft buds that fit that particular ear. The Yurbuds can be slipped onto any regular pair of earbuds for maximum comfort. They can also be used with many Bluetooth headsets. Not too shabby for $20.

Most of our focus was on mobile media on various devices, so we hit a wide range of handsets, media players like the new ZuneHD, and other gear. All of us shared what devices we carry and why — my answer was probably the most wishy-washy, simply because I often switch between my iPhone 3GS and my Palm Pre. From a media standpoint, I can get away with that because I have the ability to stream my entire music library to either from a Windows Home Server. That solution ought to work on Derek’s ARCHOS, not to mention most any other mobile device with a browser — it’s digital freedom, baby! Folks interested in mobile media on the go ought to enjoy this show. And I certainly enjoyed having the conversation with three of my peers. Good times!

If the name DoubleTwist sounds familiar — it should. James pointed it out earlier this year as a way to convert and transfer media files to his BlackBerry Storm. But now DoubleTwist has matured. It’s no longer Mac only, as the Windows beta version is official. Even better — the application now hooks directly in to Amazon’s music store. I hit the store on a daily basis through Amazon’s website, but I’m now going right through DoubleTwist. Why hit the music store every day? Amazon offers a different MP3 album nearly each day for as low as $3.99. I often get full albums for a buck or two, if not free on occasion, with this method. And previewing the songs for the daily album broadens my musical horizons — even if it’s an album that I wouldn’t normally consider buying, I’m getting exposed to various sounds and artists.

On the Mac, DoubleTwist has the same look and feel as iTunes and offers DRM free music. But unlike iTunes, the new DoubleTwist client syncs music on dozens of devices: the Palm Pre, most BlackBerry models, Nokia N- and E-series devices, Windows Mobile 5 & 6 devices (on PC only), the Sony PSP, and even my Amazon Kindle. With DoubleTwist, you can create and manage playlists or you can use the app to listen to music as well. I also see a social or sharing aspect with a friends list, but I haven’t investigated that too much. I never got into those types of features for media, which probably explains why I never embraced Last.FM like many of you have.

Unfortunately, I can’t initiate the divorce papers between my iPhone and iTunes just yet — DoubleTwist currently works with iPhone OS 2 at the moment, although support for version 3.x is in the works. Once support for Apple’s latest iPhone OS arrives in DoubleTwist, I think I’m about through with iTunes and its device lockdown.

No worries, I headed to the Pandora Android web site and found that it is indeed out for the Android platform. In fact, the HTC Hero on Sprint is specifically supported.

I figured since it’s not in the Android Market, for some reason I would just follow the other instructions from the Pandora team to get it:

1. Android Market – not there
2. Visit pandora.com from the phone – gets a “device not supported” page
3. Scan barcode – tried a couple of apps, but nothing would scan this code

Well, this is certainly odd. Pandora says it supports the Android platform, but not in any form I can find. Did it ever appear in the Market, and is anybody using it on an Android phone?

Regular readers know that I couldn’t do without Skype. The voice over IP service has been a daily staple in my routine since early 2005. Since I use it so much, I’m a perfect candidate to test out new Skype accessories like the FREETALK Everyman USB headset I have on loan. I was initially skeptical because of the headset’s low, $22.88 price tag. But as they say, the proof is in the pudding. After using the Everyman headset for Skype over the past few weeks, it’s easily worth every penny and then some. Have a quick look — and listen — to the audio quality.

Tomorrow is the official launch day for Microsoft’s ZuneHD, but it’s already on sale in a roundabout way says Engadget. Deal site LogicBuy notes that you can order the new device from Dell and use a 15% off coupon code for either the 16 or 32GB unit. That knocks the prices down to $186.99 and $246.49, respectively if you’re willing to order online and wait for delivery.

When I owned the original Zune, I felt at the time that it had a competitive advantage over Apple’s iPod line. Admittedly, renting music through a subscription service isn’t for everyone, but the experience was worth it to me. In fact, I owned a Zune before I ever owned an iPod — how many people can say that? With another 15% off the price of a ZuneHD, I’m tempted to pick one up, but probably won’t. Had there been no music subscription service that worked in the Apple ecosystem, I would have already ordered a discounted ZuneHD. But Real’s Rhapsody for iPhone app was approved, just as I thought it would be.  For the same $15 a month, I can stream millions of tracks to my current handset without buying a new device.

However, there is at least one benefit that the Zune Pass offers over a Rhapsody-To-Go subscription. Microsoft allows you to download and keep 10 MP3 files each month, so it’s like a music subscription with a free monthly album. Microsoft also wins out for now in two other areas: local storage and sound quality. With the Rhapsody app for iPhone, you can only stream music — meaning that it requires connectivity. With a ZuneHD, you can pull down tracks to store locally and listen while offline. The ZuneHD also supports a higher bitrate than Rhapsody for iPhone — 320kbps for the ZuneHD which easily wins over the lowly 64kbps of Rhapsody’s streaming. While the ZuneHD also includes an HD Radio tuner, these factors still aren’t enough for me to justify a hardware purchase at this point.

That’s just me and my preferences though. And there are various pros and cons to either approach. Is the 15% discount on a ZuneHD enough to get one headed your way? I know that some folks simply can’t pass up a good deal when they see it.

Our friends at NewTeeVee not only got their hands on the Nano right away, but they shot two videos of the little iPod in action. The first is a good overview of the Nano, and the second is a great side-by-side video that compares the quality of the Nano camera with the Flip SD video camera. It’s a great way to get a feel for how good (or lacking) the Nano video recording ability might be. Check it out and see for yourself.

“How do I get ringtones on my Palm Pre?” is a question I continue to see, both in email and in comments. It’s actually quite easy thanks to the Palm Pre’s USB Mode. This morning before heading out to the airport, I grabbed an MP3 file of the ringer used by the fictitious CTU in “24″ from the web. To get the file on my Pre, I simply connected my Pre to a computer with the USB cable. Doing so offers three options: “Just Charge,” “Media Sync” and “USB Mode.”

I tapped USB Mode, which mounts the Palm Pre like any other external drive, which you can see in the screencap. At that point, it’s nothing more than a quick drop and drag of the MP3 ringtone into the Ringtones folder on my Pre. After ejecting and unmounting the Pre, the new ringtone file appears in the Pre’s “Sounds & Ringtones” app. Just select the new ringtone in the list and you’re done! There’s no need to use a third-party app for this on the Pre and the method is supported on all platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux. Once the webOS 1.2 update hits, there might be a way to accomplish the same thing without a computer involved. I’m hoping that MP3 files can simply be downloaded directly via the browser, much like we’ll be able to do with photos.

By the way —  I don’t use the Media Sync feature to get music from iTunes to my Pre, either. I use the same general USB Mode method as above, but I copy the song folders to the Amazon MP3 folder on my Pre. You might be able to put the audio tracks anywhere you want on the Pre, but I like keeping the MP3 files together for easier management.

(via Mashable)

Up to now, Napster’s music service for mobiles was available solely on certain handsets through AT&T, but now just about any U.S. phone with a browser can stream preview or purchase music from Napster’s catalog of over nine million tracks. Subscribers get five MP3 downloads per month as part of the base plan, although on some phones — the iPhone, in particular — these and other purchased songs are sent directly to a computer as Apple doesn’t allow for 3rd party song downloads. Best Buy is wisely leveraging the Napster brand with this news. Any contract phone purchase made at Best Buy this month will include a $15 Napster credit — good for three free months of music subscription and 15 included MP3 downloads.

Update: I received clarification from Napster indicating that you can only preview or purchase music from your handset. You can’t stream tracks to your phone through the new mobile site. Post is updated accordingly.

That is what Google Listen brings to Android — the ability to combine podcast listening along with other popular web audio content with just a few screen taps. Google Listen is limited to English content for now, and in addition to providing podcast handling (listening, queuing, subscribing), it can show a list of popular searches. You can find audio content on just about any topic of interest once you install Google Listen. You can find it in the Android Market, of course.

Sirius says the dock works with your vehicle’s speakers through an included cable that routes music through your radio’s auxiliary input jack. Some older vehicles and radios don’t support such a jack, so you’ll want to double-check on that before buying. When I had XM, I used a wired cassette adapter, which would likely still work — I could plug the adapter in the iPhone headset jack and pipe tunes to the speakers. The supplemental iPhone application used to control the radio can also be used to tag songs for later download via iTunes. I’m still a die-hard Amazon MP3 store shopper, so while that’s not particularly appealing to me, it probably is to the instant gratification types out there.

• The “Now Playing” screen has a scrollable progress bar showing the current play time and time remaining. To skip to any part of the song, just drag the bar to the desired location in the song.
• Did you ever find yourself several levels deep in the app and wanting an easy way to get back to the main menu? All you have to do is swipe the titlebar from right-to-left and you’re taken back to the main menu.
• Sometimes when listening to a song, it reminds you of another favorite song from that artist. On the “Now Playing” screen, click the artist name, song name, or progress bar to bring up a list of the artist’s albums and songs.
• When you have a huge song collection on your Pre, it takes a long time to scroll to a particular song, artist, or album. All you have to do is click the “ABC” button in the middle of the titlebar, and an alphabet list is displayed. Click on the desired letter and you’ll be taken instantly to that section of the song, artist, or album list.
• Ever want to know when your favorite artist was born, or how many albums they’ve sold in their career, or even what school they went to? When viewing the “Now Playing” screen, open up the app menu and select “Wikipedia” to bring up their wiki page
• The original Music Player app had a wonderful YouTube search option for both artist and song name; however searching for the song name can sometimes produce inaccurate results. Try searching for John Lennon’s “Woman” and most likely you’ll get a couple thousand results with “Woman” in the title. Now when you search for “song name”, it will search for “ArtistName SongName”

That “ABC” button is worth the price of admission for this app, which happens to be free. A big thumbs-up (or finger swipe) to the developer of this app.

Hands up — who wants a music subscription service on their Apple iPhone? OK, I just put both hands up and everyone in the Starbucks is wondering where the invisible mugger is behind me. The industry has long pondered Apple jumping into the music subscription market, but it hasn’t happened yet. So Rhapsody is attempting to make the leap, since Apple hasn’t.

The company just submitted an iPhone version of their music subscription service to Apple’s iTunes App Store and at first glance you might think it doesn’t stand a chance to get approved. But I see at least two reasons why it will get approved.

First of all, both Slacker and Pandora already have applications in the App Store. Like Rhapsody, these services offer streaming music direct to your handset. The main difference is that both Slacker and Pandora do so for free — Rhapsody offers their “to go” service for $14.95 a month. That might be considered an issue since Rhapsody would make money on the iPhone while Slacker and Pandora don’t. But that leads into the second reason why I think Rhapsody will find approval.

If you hear a song you like on Rhapsody and want to buy a licensed copy of it from your iPhone, Rhapsody offers a “Buy on iTunes” feature, which puts more cash in Apple’s coffers. I caught a quick glimpse of the link in this video demo of the Rhapsody iPhone application.

I didn’t see a purchase link to any other music store, so it looks like Rhapsody conceded their own MP3 music store to Apple’s in the software. Why do that? It offers the application a much better chance of getting approved and it opens up the tens of millions of iPhone owners to plunking down $14.99 a month for a Rhapsody music subscription. Sounds like a win-win to me.