div>TechConsumer News is a feature we started out of a hobby of tracking the latest happenings within the consumer related technology sphere. The goal is to provide a concise, compiled overview of the most intriguing stories from the last few days. Feel free to give us feedback or send us tips.
Here’s the latest in TechConsumer news:
Apple announced that it has expanded its iTunes Plus offering (read: DRM-free music download catalog) to over two million tracks and lowered the price of all iTunes Plus tracks to just 99 cents (used to be $1.29). All iTunes Plus tracks are DRM-free 256 kbps AAC files (not MP3). Apple claims that the iTunes Plus catalog is “now the largest DRM-free catalog in the world.” This announcement comes less than a month after Amazon started offering DRM-free music starting at $0.89 per track.
Best Buy, the largest U.S. consumer electronics chain, says it has pulled all analog televisions off store shelves. It told its stores to stop selling the products at the beginning of the month and has explained that flat panel and HD screens have taken their place. This news is, of course, connected to the plan of broadcasters to stop transmitting analog signals in February 2009. For more details, see our previous coverage on the largely unknown switch from analog to digital happening in a little over a year.
Google “Shared Stuff” profiles have been integrated into Google Maps so that Google Maps users can post and share photos, links, business reviews, personal maps, etc. See this video for details.
Google Unveiling Gphone Plans In Two Weeks & Wants to Change the Cellphone Industry
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[...] couple weeks ago, Google got social by integrating Google “Shared Stuff” profiles into Google Maps so that Google Maps users can post and share photos, links, business reviews, personal maps, etc. [...]