MusicDNA - The Future of Music?

It has been revealed this week that the creators of the MP3 have made a new music file format. They have called this new format "MusicDNA". These files will work like MP3s but allow extra content such as videos, artwork, lyrics and blog posts to be included in the file. This content is continually updated keeping the file up to date.

Am I excited about this? In a word....no.

This is hardly an great evolution of what we currently have. When you download new music from iTunes you can get a digital booklet with it, do you really want anything else? I can imagine checking blogs or reviews etc before purchasing the music but after?

Over the past 20 odd years there have been big leaps in the way we play our music. In my mind the main reason for moving forward should always be because either the quality is greatly improved or because the new media makes is more easily portable. Being more easily portable isn't really an issue nowadays with the ability to carry 100s of thousands of MP3s on a single device.

The jump from vinyl to cassette was massive and the walkman was king. Moving on to CD the jump in quality was huge. Even minidisc had it's day due to it's size.

Whether MusicDNA becomes the next BluRay or Betamax remains to be seen. To me though it's like needlessly putting things together that exist on their own well enough in the first place. This is not an evolution.

TomTom Feat. Snoop Dogg

Are you frantically wondering what to get someone for Christmas? Stressing over getting a thoughtful and unique gift? Well search no more because your prayers have been answered...



That's right, what more could you want than Snoop Dogg in your car telling you to take the next rizzle or the 3rd exizzle?!

Here's Snoop explaining the simple concept and inspiration, for 3 minutes...



So there you go. Who wouldn't want this in their stocking?...(me)

Lean, Green, Playstation 3

Remember when Sony released the Playstation 2 Slimline? What an improvement that was on the original brick they threw out. Well thankfully they've done it again.


Ok so now for the science...

* 120gb hard drive
* 32% smaller than the standard PS3
* 36% lighter than the standard PS3
* Uses 34% less power than the standard PS3
* Should retail at £249
* Has Sony Bravia sync feature allowing control via TV remote and it will switch off when the TV is turned off.
- It will only have 2 USB ports
- No feature for installing other OS's (so no more linux on PS3 for you geeks)


(Click picture to enlarge)

It's a great look for the PS3 and will no doubt boost sales. Is it enough to close the gap on the Xbox 360 and Wii? Time will tell, although i'll stick with my 360 for now. Even if it breaks I could still replace it for about £100 cheaper than the new PS3.