Hasta La Gadget!

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a cell phone comes with an unlimited music subscription. Now, flip it on its head and say the cellular carrier was the one offering the all-you-can download audio buffet — built right into a totally unlimited data, text and voice monthly slate — and you’ve basically got the new $55 Muve Music plan from Cricket Wireless. Cricket doesn’t have the reach of the big four US carriers and may not even have coverage in your area, but that didn’t keep it from tempting Universal, Warner, Sony and EMI from signing over millions of songs. It’ll debut on the new Samsung Suede featurephone pictured at right, which comes with a “special” 4GB Sandisk encrypted flash memory card (et tu, slotRadio?) that will likely protect the music from prying pirate claws… at least for the weeks or months it takes the open-source community to rip it a new one.

The Suede will reportedly hold about 3,000 songs, which (barring antics) will be irrevocably tied to the phone and only play there, and disappear entirely if users stop paying for the Muve plan. PC Magazine got a brief hands-on with an early version, and says there’s a bit of irksome audio compression, but also some Zune-like social networking features, too. The service will debut at CES on January 6th, and spread to other devices and other markets over the course of 2011. PR after the break!

Continue reading Cricket launches new wireless plan with unlimited music for $55 a month

Cricket launches new wireless plan with unlimited music for $55 a month originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the Misa Digital Guitar? Well, it’s called the Kitara now, it’s taken on a fresh lick of paint, and it’s ready to be pre-ordered now for an April delivery. The Kitara discards old fashioned strings and has you strumming along on a multitouch display instead, populating the fretboard with a litany of buttons that modify the aural output from your digital input. It has an onboard synthesizer, but the real magic will happen once you plug it into your own audio equipment and start experimenting. Basically, it’s like the Kinect of electronic music — just needs a few inventive souls to harness its potential properly. They’ll need fat wallets too, mind you, as turning this invention into a viable product has meant a lofty $849 starting price in the US. See a video demo and the full Kitara press release after the break.

Continue reading Misa Digital’s stringless Kitara goes up for pre-order: $849 for a truly unique musical instrument

Misa Digital’s stringless Kitara goes up for pre-order: $849 for a truly unique musical instrument originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s nothing like a Fanny Wang. Perhaps that’s what people will be saying later this month, when the Fanny Wang Headphone Company officially launches. The headphone promises to marry high-style and great sound, and it’s available now for pre-order for $149.95.

The same sound engineer who designed the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones tacked the Fanny Wang, says a Fanny Wang representative. They Fanny Wang is social, as each model includes a built-in “DuoJack” inline splitter, so that friends can share in the Fanny Wang experience. These on-ear phones feature 40mm titanium drivers, a luxury ear cushion for extended wear, and the ability to collapse for easy travel. The Fanny Wang will come in red, black, or white. We’ll post a review as soon as we can get our hands on a Fanny Wang.

Even for a renowned outlet like Art Lebedev Studios, it’s hard to get quirky, design-centric products out in a commercialized, race-to-the-bottom world. Far too often, dreams die at the production line, and some of the best designed gear in the world stalls on the drawing board. Somehow or another, Sherwood Forlee and Mihoko Ouchi have managed to overcome the traditional production limitations and bring this particular fantasy to life. If you’ll recall, we heard about The.’s Speak-er back in January of this year, and while we knew plans were in place to start shipping ’em to end-users before the dawn of 2011, we maintained a healthy level of skepticism — there’s nothing quite as heart-wrenching as having your bubble burst after ratcheting your hopes up too high, you know? Today, we’re thrilled to say that the Speak-er is now shipping to those with $99.95 to spare, and if you care to hear what we think about the most awesome set of desk speakers this planet has ever known, head right on past the break.

Continue reading Speech bubble-shaped Speak-er now on sale, we take a listen

Speech bubble-shaped Speak-er now on sale, we take a listen originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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