Offering high-quality digital music samples increases odds of full product sales

October 8th, 2009 LONDON - Birds prefer to choose a mate who appears to be as attractive as themselves and has the same "market value", reveals a new study. In the research, boffins found that female zebra finches never tried to play out of their league and happened to choose low-quality males rather than their superior competitors.

September 10th, 2009 Copyright office leader balks at Google book dealWASHINGTON — The head of the U.S. Copyright Office has serious concerns with a class-action settlement that would grant Google the digital rights to millions of books that are no longer being published.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - German scientists have come up with a new concept for ultra-flat loudspeakers that can deliver full sound reproduction. Scientists at the Ilmenau-based Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (IDMT) say that such speakers can be integrated inconspicuously on walls or in furniture.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US not only increased its arms sales by nearly 50 percent last year but its share of world weapons sales also rose to more than two-thirds despite the global economic downturn, a newspaper reported Monday. The country expanded its ranking as the top weapons supplier with sales of $37.8 billion last year, or 68 percent of the world total, up from $25.4 billion in 2007, said The New York Times, citing a report from the Congressional Research Service, considered the US Congress' "think tank".

September 3rd, 2009 Google to draw up new privacy policy for booksWASHINGTON — Google has agreed to draw up a separate privacy policy for its digital library in response to a request from the Federal Trade Commission. The concessions come amid a growing outcry among critics who believe a class-action settlement with U.S.

August 5th, 2009 LONDON - A third of people in the European Union say they have never used the internet, according to an EU report, which examined the region's digital landscape over the last five years. What's more, the study found that more than one in four Europeans had never used a PC.

June 29th, 2009 High court won't block remote storage DVR systemsWASHINGTON — Hollywood studios and television networks lost their bid Monday for the Supreme Court to block the use of a new digital video recorder system that could make it cheaper and easier for viewers to record shows and watch them when they want, without commercials. The justices decline to hear arguments on whether Cablevision Systems Corp.'s remote-storage DVR violates copyright laws.

June 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that music can help alleviate pain and provide therapeutic benefits for babies undergoing common medical procedures, including circumcision. It is believed that playing music helps calm babies and stabilize some of their vital functions, reports Live Science.

May 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Playing music to babies can help reduce pain and encourage better oral feeding, a new study suggests. The research, published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, claimed that increasing numbers of neonatal units are using music as a method to help improve behavioural and physiological outcomes or to manage pain during common procedures such as circumcision.

April 22nd, 2009 Amazon launches HD movie rental, TV show salesSEATTLE — Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday it is adding high-definition video to its on-demand service, offering consumers the ability to rent movies and purchase television episodes shown in HD.

April 19th, 2009 Decades after the MGs, Booker T takes center stageINDIO, Calif. — Booker T.

April 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Mandy Moore has said that she doesn't like hearing her early music, as she was a "pop puppet" at the time who was allowed to record only those tracks that were authorised by music bosses. The crooner shot to fame at the age of 15 after the 1999 release of her debut 'So Real'.

April 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Want to avoid making unnecessary purchases? Well, then keep your hands off the object, for a new study has shown that merely touching an item increases the feelings of ownership people have for the object, prompting them to purchase it. In 2003 Illinois state attorney general's office had warned holiday shoppers to be cautious of retailers who encourage them to hold objects and imagine the objects as their own when shopping.

March 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - When it comes to making big in the business world, being honest, kind and respectful gives an individual a real competitive advantage over his/her peers, according to a new study. Researchers at North Carolina State University have shown that project managers can get much better performance from their team members by treating them with honesty, kindness, and respect.

March 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Forget about laboriously assigning keywords to maintain an overview of your favourite music and photos, for now the mood player can sort the data according to your mood and that too without much of an effort. Be it melancholic songs, dance rhythms or romantic background music, the mood player can recognize musical characteristics and sort songs according to moods.