“Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.”

Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”

Ghosts I-IV - Track 1
Ghosts I-IV - Track 2
Ghosts I-IV - Track 3

Apple introduced and upgraded line of the popular MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops yesterday including the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, MutiTouch and much more.

“Multi-Touch technology from iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air comes to MacBook Pro in an amazing new Multi-Touch trackpad. Now you can pinch, swipe, or rotate to enlarge text, advance through photos, or adjust an image.”

“MacBook Pro has a standard hard drive up to 250GB and up to 4GB of RAM. So there’s more room for even bigger ideas.”

“The new Intel Core 2 Duo processors run at speeds up to 2.6GHz on a groundbreaking 45-nm process technology with up to 6MB L2 cache. And the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor now includes up to 512MB of video memory.”

“Connect storage, multimedia devices, and high-speed peripherals to your MacBook Pro. Along the sides, you’ll find a FireWire 400 port, a FireWire 800 port, a DVI port, optical audio in and out ports, and an ExpressCard slot. There are three USB 2.0 ports on the 17-inch MacBook Pro and two on the 15-inch models.”

Click here for more on the new MacBook line.

“At the heart of Newspond lies a fully automated news engine. This system continually watches over and reads hundreds of different websites, including everything from major news portals, to the tiniest blog, or forum. As a news story surfaces across one or more of these sites, Newspond notes every detail about it - from how fast a story spreads throughout the internet, to the amount of discussion surrounding the story, to even things like the rate at which people click on or bookmark the article and the size of each of the sites reporting it. Every detail is carefully noted, sized, and gauged, reading much faster than any human editor. That way, you don’t need to visit multiple news sites to figure out what’s going on.”

When you and Heidi got together for the Swimsuit shoot, the atmosphere seemed…
Hot! Yeah, she’s a wildcat. Pretty much every shot came down to one of us trying to get the other’s pants off. The one where I’m biting her — can I say A-S-S? — that was one of the craziest moments. She told me, ‘You need to just bite my ass.’ I was kind of mimicking, half-doing it, so she stopped and said, ‘No! Really bite it!’ It was one of the most surreal moments in my entertainment life.

How did Mrs. Ferrell feel about that?
My wife is incredibly accepting of all these things. She just rolled with it. She came by the shoot and walked in right at the moment when I was biting Heidi’s butt. Heidi felt slightly self-conscious for a second — and then she went right back into it. [Will stops to tend to his 3-year-old son, Magnus.]

Click here to read the rest of the Will Ferrell interview or head over to SI.com to see the 2008 swimsuit edition in all its glory.

Sony Ericsson is very well known for class and quality when it comes to mobile technology and their new line of phones are right in line with that thought. Several new Sony Ericsson phones were announced this week, but three in particular hit the mark including the new w980i walkman phone, the XPERIA X1 with full touchability and finally the all new G series.

The W980i (pictured above) is an 8GB Walkman (Mp3) phone with the works including a full 320×240 screen, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, HSDPA connectivity, MP3 and AAC compatibility, Bluetooth Stereo A2DP and TrackID, FM radio and much much more. This has to be one of SE’s best looking Walkman phones to date. More info at SonyEricsson.com.

Next up, the XPERIA X1 (pictured above) is a full blown Windows Mobile multimedia device including a unique slideout keyboard, 3-inch 800×480 touchscreen, Wi-Fi, and 400 MB of internal memory (expandable with microSD support). This thing looks pretty slick and is slated for a mid 2008 release. Get more info at SonyEricsson.com or check out the interface video HERE.

Finally, the new G series (G900 pictured right) features a full touch screen, Wi-Fi and a 5MP camera to keep you busy on the road. The new G series is SE’s middle of the line phone with a ton of great features with the looks to boot. You can find more info about the G900 by heading over to SonyEricsson.com.

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) and the world’s leading GPS manufacturer, today announced its entrance into the mobile phone market with the nüvifone, an all-in-one, sleek and slim, touchscreen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator. The nüvifone is a work of art in features, design and functionality and is destined to transform how individuals connect, communicate and navigate their life.

“The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.”

The nüvifone is an innovative mobile phone that has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons — “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions.

The nüvifone is the ultimate multi-tasker. Calls are easily initiated by tapping the “Call” button and selecting a name from the contact list or by using the on-screen keypad. When the user is trying to juggle talking on their phone while entering their vehicle to start a trip, the nüvifone makes the transition simple. When the nüvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.

Customers familiar with Garmin’s industry leading nüvi® product line will feel right at home using the nüvifone’s personal navigation features. It includes preloaded maps of North America, Eastern and Western Europe, or both, and allows drivers to quickly find a specific street address, establishment’s name or search for a destination by category using the nüvifone’s built-in database with millions of points of interest. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide the user to their destination. If they miss a turn along the route, nüvifone automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track, speaking the names of the streets along the way.

The nüvifone is Garmin’s first device to include Google local search capability, which harnesses the vast point of interest information available from the world wide web. Nüvifone users can search for locations like “coffee shops” and Google will sort the results based on the user’s current location and relevance. Information provided by Google includes a web-based rating so that users can select the most appropriate destination and route directly to it. In addition, the nüvifone includes a web browser incorporating premium features and touchscreen operation for an optimum mobile browsing experience. The nüvifone also includes personal messaging functions, including email, text, and instant messaging.

For the ultimate in safety, the “Where am I?” feature lets users touch the screen at any time to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. The nüvifone also helps drivers find their car in an unfamiliar spot or crowded parking lot by automatically marking the position in which it was last removed from the vehicle mount.

In addition to navigation, the nüvifone includes access to Garmin Online™, an online service offering constantly-updating information such as real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

The nüvifone also includes numerous mobile entertainment applications. The built-in camera allows individuals to take a picture that will automatically be tagged with the exact latitude and longitude reference of where the image was taken. The user may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the image to a recipient who can navigate directly to the location. The nüvifone also provides direct access to millions of geo-located landmark and sightseeing photographs available through Google’s Panoramio picture sharing site. The Panoramio photo search feature enhances the enjoyment and adventure of sightseeing in an otherwise unfamiliar location. Other multimedia functions of the nüvifone include a built-in video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC.

Garmin anticipates that the nüvifone will be available in the third quarter of 2008. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will be announced in the future. Additional information about nüvifone is available at www.garmin.com/nuvifone.

“Something we’ve wanted for years—for people who visit Last.fm to be able to play any track for free—is now possible. With the support of the folks behind EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner—and the artists they work with—plus thousands of independent artists and labels, we’ve made the biggest legal collection of music available to play online for free, the way we believe it should be.

Full-length tracks are now available in the US, UK, and Germany, and we’re hard at work broadening our coverage into other countries. During this initial public beta period, each track can be played up to 3 times for free before a notice appears telling you about our upcoming subscription service. The soon-to-be announced subscription service will give you unlimited plays and some other useful things. We’re also working on bringing full-length tracks to the desktop client and beyond.

Free full-length tracks are obviously great news for listeners, but also great for artists and labels, who get paid every time someone streams a song. Music on Last.fm is perpetually monetized. This is good because artists get paid based on how popular a song is with their fans, instead of a fixed amount.

We will be paying artists directly.

We already have licenses with the various royalty collection societies, but now unsigned artists can put their music on Last.fm and be paid directly for every song played. This helps to level the playing-field—now you can make music, upload it to Last.fm and earn money for each play. If you make music, you can sign up to participate for free.

We’re not printing money to pay for this—but the business model is simple enough: we are paying artists and labels a share of advertising revenue from the website.

Today we’re redesigning the music economy. There are already millions of tracks available, and we’re adding more every day. We will continue to work hard to bring this to everyone in the world.”

Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, because I have never heard of the “Black Cab Sessions” before today. But when I got word that The Kooks jammed a new song freestyle in the back of a cab I had to give it a look.

“A challenge has been laid down. Forget chart positions, forget ticket sales, or brand-extending toiletries or myspace friends or any other measure of success. From here on in, it’s all about how well you can rock in the back of a cab.”

“The Sessions are all about great music and the venue strips this to its essence. We aren’t picky about genre and will happily open the cab door to anyone who blows us away”

Click here to see Black Cab Sessions Chapter Twenty-Five featuring The Kooks, and head over to blackcabsessions.com for more great bands performing unplugged in the back of some random taxi cab.

If you already subscribe to HBO’s award winning programming, your service is just about to get much better. HBO of all companies is jumping on the download bandwagon and is ready to offer live feeds as well as full show downloads on their new service called “HBO on Broadband”. On Broadband will offer unlimited downloads of HBO shows and movies for subscribers which means you now have the freedom to enjoy your favorite HBO programming whenever and however you want. Starting this month, several episodes from HBO’s original series will be available including: “The Wire”, “In Treatment”, “The Sopranos”, “Sex and the City”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “Entourage”, “Six Feet Under”, “Big Love”, “Deadwood” and many more.

Similar to NBC’s service (NBC Direct), HBO will require you to download and install their proprietary media player which also serves as a download manager. However HBO’s application is highly interactive allowing users to rate and hold discussions on their favorite shows. Check back soon for more info about “HBO on Broadband”.

Last but definitely not least on the list of updates from Apple today is the stunning MacBook Air. I never thought I would say this, but I might actually have to switch to a Mac just to get my hands on the Air. This thing is .16 inches thick at the bottom and .76 inches on the top. Continue reading below for the full feature list or head over to apple.com for more details.

“MacBook Air is ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else. But you don’t lose inches and pounds overnight. It’s the result of rethinking conventions. Of multiple wireless innovations. And of breakthrough design. With MacBook Air, mobile computing suddenly has a new standard.

MacBook Air includes an oversize trackpad with multi-touch technology. You can pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image. This gesture-based input so successful on iPhone and iPod touch now comes to MacBook.

The innovative now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t port hatch flips down to reveal (and closes to hide) all the ports you really need: a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, and a micro-DVI port that supports DVI, VGA, composite, and S-video output. Even the MagSafe power connection has been reconsidered and slimmed to fit MacBook Air.

The backlit LED display allows for an even thinner build. It provides instant full-screen brightness the moment you open MacBook Air. The mercury- and arsenic-free display is also more power efficient, which translates to longer battery life.

MacBook Air comes with a way-more-than-generous 2GB of RAM built in — ample memory for working with your favorite applications. The 80GB hard drive provides plenty of storage space. And you have the option to upgrade to a 64GB solid-state drive, which has no moving parts for enhanced durability.

MacBook Air performance is as impressive as its form, thanks to its 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. This chip was custom-built to fit within the compact dimensions of MacBook Air.

Unlike most other ultraportable notebooks, MacBook Air includes a built-in iSight camera. It’s so smartly integrated, you hardly notice it’s there. The iSight camera and iChat software make video chatting easy anywhere there’s a wireless network.

The MacBook Air battery is our thinnest ever, yet it doesn’t compromise power. You can access the web wirelessly for five full hours.”

No computer? No Problem… The all new Apple TV “Take 2″ works just as well without a computer as it does with one, plus you get HD movie rentals and 5.1 digital surround sound to boot. Click here for more info or continue reading below for the entire press release.

Apple Introduces New Apple TV Software & Lowers Price to $229

Rent High Definition Movies Directly from Your Widescreen TV

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today unveiled all new software for Apple TV(R) that allows movie fans to rent movies on the iTunes(R) Store directly from their widescreen TV, and lowered the price of Apple TV to just $229. With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV, users can just click a button on their remote to effortlessly rent movies from a catalog of over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, with no computer required. DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals are $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99. Apple will provide the new Apple TV software free of charge to existing Apple TV owners when it releases the new Apple TV priced at $229 in about two weeks.

“With the new Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rentals, movie lovers can rent DVD-quality or stunning HD movies from their couch with just a click of a button,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “No more driving to the video store or waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail.”

iTunes Movie Rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movie rentals as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes. Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it — or watch it multiple times.

With Apple TV, users can also view photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac, they are automatically updated on Apple TV. Apple TV users can now browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 125,000 video and audio podcasts, view over 50 million originally created videos from YouTube or choose from a selection of six million songs, over 600 TV shows and 10,000 music videos to purchase directly from their Apple TV. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, all current generation iPods* or iPhone(TM).

Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort(R) 802.11 wireless networking, Apple TV now automatically plays all of your iTunes content without setup or management**.

Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers later this month. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US) for the 40GB model and $329 (US) for the 160GB model (US and Canada). Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod(R) games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

*Movie rentals work on iPod classic, iPod nano with video and iPod touch.
**Compatible with 802.11b/g/n. Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft
specification. Wireless video streaming requires an 802.11g/n network.

It’s no secret that Apple had to have been planning movie rentals through iTunes for a long time, but now it’s a reality. Every major movie studio you can think of including Fox, Warner, Disney, Paramont, Universal, Sony, Miramax and more are all on board to provide their movies for rent via iTunes 7.6 and the new and improved Apple TV. More than 1000 films are already available to rent starting at $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for older movies and $4.99 for HD movies. After renting a movie, you have 30 days to start watching it and 24 hours to finish watching it once you have started it. All rentals are transferrable to your iPod or iPhone as well. Continue reading below for the official press release or head over to apple.com for more info.

Apple Premieres iTunes Movie Rentals With All Major Film Studios

New Apple TV Software Lets You Rent Movies Directly from Your Widescreen TV

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced iTunes(R) Movie Rentals featuring movies from all the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema. Users can rent movies for as low as $2.99 and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods*, iPhone(TM) and Apple TV(R). iTunes Movie Rentals launches today and will offer over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound which users can rent directly from their widescreen TV using Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are priced at $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99.

“iTunes Movie Rentals instantly brings great movies from all the major studios directly to your iPod, iPhone, TV or computer — without having to drive to the video store or wait for DVDs to arrive in the mail,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Movie lovers can now discover and enjoy movies as simply and easily as music lovers discover and enjoy music today on iTunes.”
“Apple has created an incredibly easy and innovative way to rent and enjoy movies,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “Millions of movie lovers will be able to watch
wonderful movies from Fox and the other major studios whenever and wherever they want, be it on their computer, TV, iPod or iPhone.”
iTunes Movie Rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movie rentals as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been. Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it — or watch it multiple times.
The all new Apple TV software delivers an entirely new user experience centered around iTunes Movie Rentals, allowing movie fans to rent and watch movies right from their widescreen TV, with no computer required. Users can also view photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac they are automatically updated on Apple TV. Apple TV users can now browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 125,000 video and audio podcasts, view over 50 million originally created videos from YouTube, or choose from a selection of six million songs, over 600 TV shows and 10,000 music videos to purchase directly from their Apple TV. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, iPod(R) or iPhone.
Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort(R) 802.11 wireless networking, Apple TV now automatically plays all of your iTunes content without setup or management**.

Pricing & Availability
Movie rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac(R) or Windows require iTunes 7.6, available as a free download immediately from http://www.itunes.com. iTunes Movie Rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only and are $2.99 (US) for library titles and $3.99 (US) for new releases, and high definition versions are priced just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 (US) and new releases at $4.99 (US).

The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers later this month. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price $229 (US) for the 40GB model, and for $329 for the 160GB model. Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod games will not play on Apple TV.

*Movie rentals work on iPod classic, iPod nano with video and iPod touch.
**Compatible with 802.11b/g/n. Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft
specification. Wireless video streaming requires an 802.11g/n network.

As if you haven’t heard by now, the Macworld 2008 Keynote was this morning and there were several interesting new updates and products that were discussed which we will cover within the next few posts. For starters, the iPhone just got a new firmware update that gives users several new features including the ability to send SMS messages to multiple recipients at once, location triangulation on google maps, hybrid map view on google maps, and the ability to fully customize your home screen. The iPod Touch is also getting a new firmware today including email, Google maps, web clips, stocks, weather and even notes. iPhone users can update their firmware for Free but current iPod Touch users will have to pay an extra $20 for their updates. Read the full press release below or head over to apple.com to see these update in action.

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced a free software update for its revolutionary iPhone(TM) that allows users to automatically find their location using the redesigned Maps application*; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for their favorite websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the new iTunes(R) Movie Rentals right on their iPhone. With its revolutionary multi-touch user interface and pioneering software, users can
easily add significant new features to their iPhone through software updates whenever an update becomes available. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes (http://www.itunes.com).

“iPhone doesn’t stand still — we’re making it better and better all the time,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve delighted millions of users with this revolutionary and magical product and it’s great to share these improvements with them.”

Maps, one of the most popular and helpful applications on iPhone, has a new interface that is simpler and easier to use and adds incredible new features such as the ability to find your location automatically. With just the tap of a button, iPhone can now triangulate your position using nearby Wi-Fi base stations or cellular towers. You can use this as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. The new hybrid map view combines map view and satellite view so you can see major street names overlaid on satellite imagery.

Users can now create Web Clips — icons on the home screen that take you directly to your favorite websites, including to the exact spot you have zoomed into. Web Clips are a great way to easily track websites that you frequently check such as news, blogs, sports sites and movie listings. In addition, users can now customize their home screen by repositioning any of the icons, and even create up to nine different home screens that they can easily flick between.

iPhone’s new software update also adds the ability to send the same SMS text message to multiple people, and iPhone saves a history of your text messages, so with one tap you can send a new message to the same group.

With Apple’s new iTunes Movie Rentals, movie fans can rent movies on their computer, easily and quickly transfer them to their iPhone, and watch them anywhere on iPhone’s gorgeous 3.5 inch screen. Users can also now navigate forward or backward through their movies by chapters, select alternate language tracks and view subtitles, if available.

Pricing & Availability
The iPhone software update 1.1.3 is available immediately for free via iTunes 7.5 or later for all existing iPhone customers in the US, UK, Germany and France. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes (http://www.itunes.com). iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

Further information for iPhone can be found at http://www.apple.com/iphone.

*Availability and precision of Maps positioning features will vary depending on actual location.

“This milestone agreement lays the foundation for Sony to offer high quality video content in the DivX format to its retail partners for playback on next-generation DivX Certified devices,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. “Consumers want the flexibility and choice to enjoy high-quality video content from a range of retailers across a variety of devices. We are very pleased Sony Pictures Television recognizes the value of the DivX digital media solution and look forward to working together to offer a great experience to consumers.”

“We are dedicated to finding legitimate outlets for our content and to that end are excited to be working with DivX to provide retailers with an expanded ecosystem for the digital distribution and playback of our digital media,” said Michael Arrieta, Executive Vice President, Digital Distribution & Mobile Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television.

“This concept was designed before the Apple patent is widely publicized. Similar to ordering song through the web via iTune account, Semacode works like a digital “receipt,” allowing the user to use their iTunes account for the transaction (which will bypass credit card transaction/identification, and speed up the pick-up process).”

Once registered, there is a point system that comes into play as well which makes things even more interesting. You use points to vote for songs you like, but if that songs gets popular, you make even more points. Listen to music on “The Rack” (tracks that haven’t made it to the front page) and you earn free points as well. The more points you have, the more you can interact with the site. Earning points also gives you a higher user rating.

You will find a bit of everything (music wise) on TheSixtyOne.com from alternative to hip-hop which makes the site addicting to simply browse, listen and rate music you have never heard before. If you don’t know what to listen to, just click “The Radio” for a random mix music. This site is the definition of “social music” and the potential for TheSixtyOne.com to go BIG is very real. Check it out for yourself here.