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Music Media

TunA and Socializing via MP3 Player 114

Posted by CmdrTaco from the do-you-hear-what-i-hear dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Wired is carrying a story about a new program in development called TunA. It will allow you to view other users playlists on their MP3 Player and also stream the music to your Player. Works through WiFi so it limits to mostly laptops for now. "
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TunA and Socializing via MP3 Player More

TunA and Socializing via MP3 Player

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  • proximity sharing (Score:5, Informative)

    by tobes ( 302057 ) * <(tobypadilla) (at) (gmail.com)> on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:09PM (#7633408) Homepage
    I think it's a great idea to be able to see what other people in your proximity are listening too. It really does bring a super-social aspect (as in you wouldn't be able to do it without technology) into the music experience. I definitely think that there is room for a non-proximity based playlist sharing mechanisim though. Of course, I'm extremely biased because that's exactly what my site does, but it seems to me that if you wanted to find out about new music that you would need a much larger sample set than "the people in my general vicinity".

    That being said, being able to sample the music in another persons collection is totally sweet. It's nice that they don't have to deal with the RIAA since the program would presumably work withougt a central server.

    • Re:proximity sharing (Score:5, Funny)

      by 1ns4n3c4rb0nb4s3dl1f ( 729658 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:14PM (#7633458) Journal
      I think it's a great idea to be able to see what other people in your proximity are listening too

      Until you chance upon me while I'm listening to KMFDM and you realize that there are some things you never wanted to hear. Then you spend the next hour trying to forget the experience.
      • Until you chance upon me while I'm listening to KMFDM and you realize that there are some things you never wanted to hear. Then you spend the next hour trying to forget the experience.

        Who wouldn't want to hear KMFDM, and furthermore why would they be frightening at all?
        • Who wouldn't want to hear KMFDM, and furthermore why would they be frightening at all?

          Well, you and I would survive, but when we hit a britney spears fan, it would be like a matter/anti-matter collision - the KMFDM would throw them out of balance, and the britney spears... ooh, the pain. I can't even think about it, it's so horrific.
      • I haven't listened to them since i was young and full of teen angst. I just found out though that sascha lives here in seattle, on queen anne hill. I bet his neighbors get a kick out of him.
      • KMFDM's the ultimate sound, and a message from Satan if you turn it around--That's the best explanation I can come up with for what you say.
      • Until you chance upon me while I'm listening to KMFDM and you realize that there are some things you never wanted to hear. Then you spend the next hour trying to forget the experience.

        Especially if you're listening to Adios. Ah... the putrid stench of losing half your band.

  • I have heard of this. (Score:5, Funny)

    by rf600r ( 236081 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:10PM (#7633415) Homepage
    My people call it "iTunes."
  • You can TunA program but you can't...oh nevermind....

  • ::cough:: (Score:2, Insightful)

    by mrpuffypants ( 444598 ) *
    ahem....

    ----> Rendezvous [apple.com]

    and

    ----> iTunes Music Sharing [apple.com]

    • and (Score:2, Interesting)

      by SweetAndSourJesus ( 555410 )
      Howl [swampwolf.com] and daapd [deleet.de] for those that would like to serve from a Linux/BSD box.

    • The difference.... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      The difference is that iTunes lets you pick what music you want to listen to from the other guy's collection, while tunA lets you listen to what the other guy is listening to *right now*. You get a copy of his stream, instead of your very own stream.

      At least that's my understanding.

    • Uh, no.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Lysol ( 11150 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:41PM (#7633723)
      Not the same at all. Specifically for the fact that it's meant as a 'social Walkman' and, as we all know, Walkman's are portable. iTunes is not and, no, a 12" Powerbook is not the portable I'm talking about. The iPod is portable, but lacks Wi-Fi and the varying operating system features TunA requires. This is meant strictly for palm computers, of which, a version of iTunes does not (will never?) exist.

      I just submitted this story a few hours ago. Rejected once again..
      • Sounds to me like something they can pop into the next upgrade of iPod. Only issue to look into is power consumption with streaming it constantly. In all honesty I understand that the portability is supposed to be useful, but there are usually not alot of places that I frequent that people have equipment good enough to stream this stuff.
        Maybe in a few years when enough people are carying handhelds with wi-fi tunA will be a useful program. And by that time, I trust the iPod will have wi-fi.
        But the point is

    • Re:::cough:: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by razberry636 ( 601469 )
      Indeed.

      Since iTunes started adding the ability to "share" music, I've come in contact with a few more Mac people on campus. Most people here at $my_school show their email address instead of listing their music under "Jason's Music" (the default). This gives us the ability to contact one another to say "Hey, nice music!" or something like that.

      Right now I'm listening to Bryan Ferry who I haven't heard in a long time from a student from France.

      One other observation that I'll throw out is that since Appl

    • Rendezvous doesn't enable streaming, just service discovery. It's used so itunes instances can find each other, but that's all.

      Rendezvous is basically an adaptation of DNS.. (but please, realize that doens't mean it replaces "the" DNS system we use.)

      They took DNS, adapted it to work over multicast, and that's about it.. and use it as a heirarchial, distirubted method of publishing services, and other information. IF you want to know what's out there, you send a query not to a DNS server, but to a multicas

  • Interesting Concept (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'm currently working on my thesis for my masters in psychology and this is a very innovative technology.

    In interviews that I conducted with several hundred subjects, I've found that the alarming trend that the introduction of new technology causes us to be more separate socially. We've seen it with office staff sending e-mail to individuals just a few cubicles away.

    Another expirement I'm currently conducting is to provide negative feedback to individuals who choose to use their cell phone to communicate
    • In interviews that I conducted with several hundred subjects, I've found that the alarming trend that the introduction of new technology causes us to be more separate socially. We've seen it with office staff sending e-mail to individuals just a few cubicles away.

      I've found that technology can cause us to be more separate physically, while allowing us to come together socially. I might chat online with a coworker a few cubicles away, but if I couldn't do that, I wouldn't be able to chat with them at all

  • Interesting way to screw the RIAA (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:14PM (#7633456)
    If an actual file synchronizing/sharing utility were to grow out of this, it would really mess with the RIAA's attempts to punish filesharers. All that would have to happen for a physical level for added security would be MAC address and SSID spoofer, so that the real hardware addresses aren't recorded. Even if the RIAA were to attempt to set up monitoring machines in busy areas, it wouldn't be very effective if the information was spoofed.

    Disclaimer: I don't think that artists should be ripped off. This is why I'm against the RIAA.
    • I'm not so sure about that. As someone points out, the distribution is superficially similar to radio. Radio stations have to pay royalties for the music they play.

      Actually, RIAA might even like this methodology. After all, they could lump the projected royalties due into the original cost of all music.

      Now for the bit that get's me modded down for going offtopic...

      Why the hell didn't RIAA just get in the game themselves? Too late now (one would assume) but after Napster, wouldn't it have been eas

      • Wait! Are you suggesting the RIAA actually get off their arses and DO something besides sicking their lawyers on ppl? Your a business genius! Wonder why they never thought of that. *shrug*
      • I definitely agree with your assessment of the RIAA's dropping the ball.

        If they had been smart, they would have flooded the filesharing networks with lower quality versions of the songs. This way, if people want the real thing, they'd have had to go buy it. Even as lossy as 128bit Fraunhauffer is, it's still more than adequate for most peoples' computer speakers. If they'd put 48bit mp3s out there, in such mass to make it difficult to find decent quality mp3s, then they'd have given people much more r
        • Oh no, I was thinking far closer to the ground than that...

          Allthough, that would be a logical step to take along with what I was thinking.

          But, to my way of thinking, why didn't they just put their own File Sharing software out there? Given, too late now, they have completely queered the pitch. But if you think about it, there was a point in time after Napster and before Kazaa where the time was ripe. If they could have got a product out there...

          There are a lot of variables in the equation, but li

  • I can see it now.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by nizo ( 81281 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:14PM (#7633457) Homepage Journal
    Clicking on others' avatars lets you see whatever personal information or messages they want to share with the world.

    I can hear the screams now, as I walk around with my own goatse.cx avatar on my player for all to see.

  • Mmmmmmmm, tuna...

  • like radio? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by r84x ( 650348 ) <r84x@yahoo.cOPENBSDom minus bsd> on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:16PM (#7633472) Homepage Journal
    "I'm not sure that a device that would allow streaming but wouldn't allow you to copy would be very popular," he said.

    So, I guess what he is saying is that radio is dying? People have listened to radio broadcasts of music for decades, and continue to, without being able to keep the music. What is different now?

    • I know it is not good practice to reply to my own post, but after it got modded offtopic, I felt I needed to clarify. The "technology pundit" quoted in the article says that "I'm not sure that a device that would allow streaming but wouldn't allow you to copy would be very popular." The technology of radio is still flourishing now, and is a more social medium than, say, an iPod, and tunA seems to be along the same lines.
    • "I'm not sure that a device that would allow streaming but wouldn't allow you to copy would be very popular," he said.

      I think you're right. He missed the point entirely. The problem is that he can't even think about the possibillity of radio being improved, enhanced, or otherwise changed. The RIAA and all of it's members are stuck with the mindset that the world will continue to accept their outdated model for music distribution. Their playing catchup (to be honest their not even playing catchup... the
    • r84x: So, I guess what he is saying is that radio is dying? People have listened to radio broadcasts of music for decades, and continue to, without being able to keep the music. What is different now?

      What's stopping me from keeping the music? (Besides the lame-excuse-for-music that is broadcast these days.) Reel-to-reel tape, then cassettes, have allowed that possibility for years. That was the original reason for voice over introductions, and fade-out overlaps, etc., wasn't it? To taint the recordi
    • You can copy radio easily with a tape recorder.
  • The RIAA could pretty easily start checking people's mp3 playlists. once they decide it's "too many" mp3's, watch them get a subpoena on your ass.

    It's really not that much of a stretch. At least they'd know the people they were catching actually owned a computer/mp3 files.

  • Music networking (Score:4, Insightful)

    by joekra ( 722518 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:18PM (#7633492)
    A more primitive take on this is DailyTunes.com [dailytunes.com]

    where you can make song recommendations to others for itunes songs. A very cool concept.

    • Just wanted to plug iRate (irate.sourceforge.net). iRATE radio is a collaborative filtering client/server mp3 player/downloader. The iRATE server has a large database of music. You rate the tracks and it uses your ratings and other people's to guess what you'll like. The tracks are downloaded from websites which allow free and legal downloads of their music. Not really iTunes related, but it's still a young project (version 0.2), but I think it has a lot of promise...

  • Great (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:19PM (#7633504)
    Now I don't have to strain myself trying to identify that tinny screeching sound coming from across the train.

    You know the one - too loud to ignore, but just not loud enough to work out what the damn song is.

  • Great ... just great (Score:5, Funny)

    by bryanzera ( 539455 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:19PM (#7633512) Homepage
    I get sick of hearing the buzzing of the trunk of the car with the huge fucking subwoofers that toddles down my street at the most bizzare hours of the day and night. I'm SICK of listening to other people's music. I think I'm going to stick with my walkman.

  • Finally.. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by msimm ( 580077 )
    P2P has socialized downloads like never before. Information need to be as fluid as conversation, technology has a (gasp, healthy!) social element that has been ignored for way too long.

    • Hrrmm.. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by msimm ( 580077 )
      Kind of sucks that you can be modded down (or up) by someone, but they can't comment on your thread to tell you why.
  • 1. Debbie Does Dallas
    2. Pamela and Tommy
    3. Paris Hilton
    4. Barney Sing-a-long
    5. Seduction of Stacey
  • Since when has Jobs had this particular nom-de-guerre?

  • I can hear it now... (Score:3, Funny)

    by mamer-retrogamer ( 556651 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:27PM (#7633595)
    RIAA to Smithers: "Release the hounds!"

    -Mike
  • Along a similar idea, my Tungsten C [palmone.com] can stream mp3 stations from Shoutcast [shoutcast.com] with Pocket Tunes [pocket-tunes.com]
    Not hifi wifi but it's wild to see in action the first time...
  • I didn't realize iTunes had changed its name! :)

    As a professor in a WiFi-enabled building, I've enjoyed sharing playlists with other iTunes users in the building for weeks now. Other than further loading the already-loaded 802.11b network, it's been a lot of fun.

    Again, why is this news???
    • enjoyed sharing playlists with other iTunes users in the building for weeks now

      As a J River Media Center User [musicex.com], I've been enjoying sharing playlists, audio, and video streaming and transcoding for years now. Welcome to the party. Tell me when iTunes grows up a bit to the point where it can handle rich, varied media.

      • rich, varied media

        Er... Real? WMA? If you mean mp3, ogg, aac, wav, aiff, mov(sorenson, etc), snd, or au, it already handles them quite fine...

        Personally, I could live without real and wma, no offense to anyone. Admitted, it does not handle mod or sid, but I couldn't see that MC9 does either.

        • Video codecs my dear, video. Once I was blind but now I can see. It's a multimedia application. Ignoring the external codec API handler, how many formats does MC support OOTB? 80+ Here are some of them:

          AAC AIFF AU AA APE AVI BMP BPL CDA DIVX GIF JPG MPL MID MPC MP3 M1V JMX OGG PNG MOV MP4 QT RAM RA RM SMIL RV SWF SHN WMA
  • If they could reduce the range/power requirements of Wifi how about MP3 players where you can share your files?

    How about Wifi enabled billboards that transmit a sample of the song? Or entering a clubs or other places for that matter.

    Yeah I know you're going to shout bluetooth, but it would be too slow at the time being.
  • I don't get it... is it fish or is it chicken?

  • caution (Score:4, Funny)

    by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 ) on Thursday December 04, 2003 @06:36PM (#7633686) Homepage
    A word of caution to fellow Slashdotters who may be more tech-savvy than female-savvy.

    Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ask a woman with an mp3 player if she has TunA. Odds are you will be smacked, probably with the mp3 player too if its that time of the month.

  • To give access to anyone around me to view my music. Sure you can disable it, or only allow specific people to view them, but then you can all ready to do in many ways.

  • iTunes... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Phroggy ( 441 ) * <slashdot3@@@phroggy...com> on Thursday December 04, 2003 @07:04PM (#7633971) Homepage
    This is a different concept than the music sharing feature of iTunes 4: with iTunes, you get access to my entire music library and can pick and choose what you'd like to listen to; with TunA, it's as if I unplugged my headphones to let you listen with me.

    I don't see why it should be limited to a wireless connection; surely it uses a higher-level protocol such as IP or NetBEUI or IPX or something that works just as well on Ethernet?

    One question I do have: will the playback be synchronized? Normally when you stream audio, it's buffered, so there's a delay. If two people are listening to the same thing, but it's out of sync by half a second, it'll drive both of them crazy...
    • i highly doubt the playback will be synchronized. even when using RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol) and a low-latency network, perfect synchronization is not easy...especially with a wireless network with less throughput/lower signal strength/more users.

      as most users would most likely be listening with headphones on their mobile devices (unless u pack up your speakers and generator wherever you go), you would hear a much more consistant, however not synchronized, audio stream using tcp.
      • I've toyed with the idea of broadcasting streaming data over 802.x networks, with success, even--I devised and halfway implemented a low-level one-way transport protocol which sits right below the link layer. I've tested this both on 802.11b and on a nonswitched ethernet.

        However, ven under similar operating environments, I can never get the audio to sync properly. Buffers seem to always fill at different times :)

        Anyhow, a connectionless, one-way protocol would probably work best for this sort of thing

  • My MP3 player is where I listen to all the girly effeminate music I wouldn't let me people catch me alive listening to!

    You can't take Tori Amos away from me!
  • Works through WiFi so it limits to mostly laptops for now.

    Though laptops usually come with WiFi and desktops usually without, WiFi is certainly available as PCI expansion cards.

    • I use two USB WiFi nodes: one for my desktop, one for my laptop. I'm connected to the net via my neighbours wireless accesspoint. No point in laying cable as the DSL-connection is only 2Mbps anyway.
  • Not just laptops here. Many handhelds have built-in 802.11b and even g in the market. One that comes to my mind would the Palm's Tungsten series. Sony's newer Clies also have 802.11b receivers. For handhelds that don't have them built-in, they can get SD/CF Wi-Fi card expansions.
  • because you can tune a piano, but you can't TunA fish!
  • Don't mind me, just testing... something...

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