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I can never find my music - it's maddening. My house, office, and car
are littered with empty jewel cases. Those jewel cases that actually do have CDs
often contain the wrong one. It's no better on my computer because I
have several computers (desktop, laptop, home, work) that always seem
to have partial catalogs. What I need is a safe, dry spot for ALL my
music: MP3 files, my CDs and all my handcrafted playlists. But I also
want to be able to listen to my music from anywhere on any
device.
Given
my frustration, I set about finding a better way to manage and use my
music library. Leaning on the experience from my MP3.com days, and with the help of some smart guys at Linspire, I designed MP3beamer - a music appliance that we're making available
today. It's designed to not only keep track of all my music, but also
make sure that I can play it anywhere in the world: my house, work,
from a PDA/phone as I move about or even at 30,000 feet on a cross-country plane trip in a middle seat.
Think of an MP3beamer as a DMR - Digital Music Recorder. Many people know
what a TiVo or DVR (Digital Video Recorder) is - in fact about 7% of US
homes have one today. MP3beamer is the music equivalent of a DVR. It's designed
to store all your music so you can play it back when and how you
desire. But unlike TiVo, MP3beamer connects to much more than just your
home entertainment center. You can listen to music in a wide variety
of places - You want your music on your portable device when you're out for a
jog, on your laptop when stuck in an airplane, accessible from every
room of your house (no wires please!), your work and home computers, or
even on that smart phone or PDA. MP3beamer makes all this possible today!
Let me explain how I got my music into my MP3beamer. I collected CDs
from
drawers, trunks, cabinets and shelves and inserted them into the
MP3beamer machine. It's easier than popping toast into a toaster
because you don't have to touch anything - it's all automatic and it only takes
about 3-4 minutes per CD. (I do have a confession to make - I
actually paid one of my kids $0.20 per CD to insert CDs.) Next, I downloaded some of the tracks I purchased from my music locker
on MP3tunes, a new MP3 music store launched two weeks ago. Finally, I had some MP3 files that I copied over the net to MP3beamer and
then imported. Together it was about 1800 tracks.
Now I'm able to
listen to my personal music in brilliant
stereo quality from just about any device with speakers or a headphone
jack. Over the last couple of weeks, I have discovered a lot of my old favorites
and found some new faves from MP3tunes and I've been able to play all the music from:
- iTunes on Microsoft Windows XP computer
- Lsongs on Linspire laptop/desktop
- My home stereo
- TV in my entertainment center
- iPod
- MP3 player I use when jogging
- PDA phone when moving about San Diego
You're probably wondering how it all works. There are
several software components that make up MP3beamer. Of course it runs the Linspire operating system - Linux is ideal for a music
applicance because it's low cost, durable, and immune to viruses that
plague Microsoft Windows computers. Then there's the MP3beamer software,
which is the brains because it communicates using various protocols
(this is fancy name for computer languages) so you can use
your music
on iTunes, home stereos via media receivers, Java devices and over the
internet. MP3beamer includes Lsongs, which is the software used to
auto-rip your CD collection. It also includes MP3beamer Sync - a small
utility used to mirror songs from MP3beamer to iTunes so you can access
your music without an Internet connection. You'll find screenshots, videos,
and lots more information on the MP3beamer web site describing it in much greater detail.
There are two ways to get your own MP3beamer machine and be the first
person on your block with a DMR. First, you can buy a powerful
PC with the latest Linspire software ready to go for $399 from
Sub300.com. This sleek computer is 1/3rd the size of a normal computer,
but loaded with power and an 80gb hard disk which should hold about
1400 CDs. (MP3beamer by defaults rips CDs at 192kbps which creates a
larger file but has great audio clarity.) Buyers will CNR latest
MP3beamer software after receiving the unit and be ready to go! If you
already have a computer, you can purchase MP3beamer software for $69.95
and it includes all the software to install Linspire and then add
MP3beamer.
We're also having a challenge for music fans to win a free $399 MP3Beamer machine.** I
will send an MP3beamer to the first person to identify any of the
following mystery songs from MP3tunes:
1 - Electronic: Try to identify this MR fave
2 - Rock: This song was recommended by our support department
3 - Country: Find out who this beautiful voice belongs to
You will find
these three songs on MP3tunes.
If you think you know the identity of the artist and track
title, please send an email to mp3beamercontest@mp3tunes.com. The first person
to identify
both the artist and the track title for any of the songs will receive an
MP3beamer machine.** Anyone can listen to free sound clips of all the
songs on MP3tunes, so you can do a little hunting to find the song.
However, since there are more than 300,000 songs on MP3tunes, each day I'll
share on the forum a clue to help
you find the right song, until someone correctly identifies it. I've
already posted the first clue. We'll also make a post in the forum
when someone correctly identifies each of the songs. Happy listening!
-- Michael
** One MP3beamer per household. Sorry, band members of the mystery
song are not eligible!
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