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As a subscriber to Rhapsody and TiVo, I was thrilled to see RealNetworks and Tivo team up to make the digital music service available on any broadband-connected TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 standalone box.

Now for the first time, I have access to Rhapsody's music library of 4 million tracks in my living room through my home theater system. No extra hardware and no extra cost.

The inteface is pure TiVo, operated via the TiVo remote. While navigation is slower than online browsing - and not quite as satisfying - the music sounds stunning through my home theater system.

Overall, a fine job by the folks at Rhapsody and TiVo.

Next: imagine combining Rhapsody/Tivo and Slingbox... and having mobile access to Rhapsody's music library...

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Inc. Magazine has a great feature article on Ultimate Ears:

"How Jerry and Mindy Harvey saved Alex Van Halen's hearing (what's left of it), learned some important lessons about business, and built Ultimate Ears, a $22 million company that is deeply embedded in the culture of the music they love."

Having had a chance to meet Jerry and some of the folks at UE a couple of years ago, I enjoyed reading this story behind the story.

Related Links... my other posts about Ultimate Ears:

My friends at Ultimate Ears will soon release "limited edition" units of their newest product innovation: the "triple.fi 10", high-end triple-driver earphones.

As some of you may recall from my previous review, I use Ultimate Ears UE-10 customer in ear monitors with my iPod.

I am excited to see UE releasing the triple-driver universal fit earphones for people who want an incredible listening experience, at a price much lower than the custom UE-10's ($399 vs. $900). If they are as good as these advance reviews suggest, they will be worth every penny of the $399 price.

Here is a round up of reviews of the triple.f1 10:

Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones
Digital Producer Magazine

Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10 Pro (5 stars, Editors' Choice)
PC Magazine

Hands On with the New triple.fi 10 Pro
LAPTOP Magazine

Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones (A-, Highly Recommended)
iLounge

An article today in News.com "How to succeed in the gadget biz" about a book by George Bailey and Hagen Wenzek titled "Irresistible! Markets, Models and Meta-Value in Consumer Electronics".

"In our industry the prices fall very quickly, unlike appliances where manufacturers can sell the same product the next year," said Sean Wargo, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association. "We've succumbed to a constant source of deflation."

Innovation helps you stay that deflation, Wargo said. Take portable CD players. Ten years ago, you could buy a decent one for $50. Now, instead, people are buying $300 MP3 players. "The benefit of new technology is allowing the industry to grow revenues at a substantial rate. (Consumers are) willing to pay more for a new product, (but you must) convince them to by the new product at a premium over the old product," he said.

The article talks about innovating rather than becoming a commodity play.

According to the article, Apple as an example does two things: It innovates, and it gives customers what they want.

"That's sort of the secret formula for success that the book talks about," said Bailey.

PC World published an article "The 100 best products of the year".

Of PC World's top 100, products that I use regularly include #17 Google, #36 Apple iPod, #45 Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro and #69 Rhapsody

I would add the following favorites to the list:

A fascinating inside look at what went wrong with Sony's Connect digital music project. A case study in how not to manage the engineering side of a digital media consumer business.

What happened at the start?

Digital media start up Kinoma had developed a specialized code base called FSK, a new system for handling multimedia files as they're transferred online, to PCs and between handheld devices. By early 2005, Kinoma demonstrated prototype digital music software dubbed KTunes, which was based on FSK. For Sony, with a severe case of Apple envy, partnering with Kinoma could provide a way to jump-start their digital music effort.

Seemingly a good match. NOT. The project, said one high-level Sony insider, was an "unmitigated disaster."

What went wrong?

I recently ditched the earbuds that came standard with my iPod, and upgraded to UE-10 (UE10) custom in-ear monitors from Ultimate Ears.

We're talking studio reference with a true 20Hz to 16k frequency range - you hear precisely what the artist intended.

I have "wow" moments every day with my UE's, hearing layers of music and instruments in my favorite music that I never even knew were there.

The triple driver configuration delivers what I like to call "high definition" for your ears. I'm blown away by how music sounds.

The UE-10's also provide 26db of isolation passive noise-cancellation - these are terrific for flying. Several people have asked me how the UE-10's perform vs. the very popular Bose Quiet Comfort 2 noise canceling headphones. In my head-to-head tests on multiple flights, I strongly preferred the UE-10's for noise reduction - and music was no contest, with the UE-10's far superior to the Bose Quiet Comfort 2.

The only thing more impressive than the technology: the people behind the product. While on a tour of UE's laboratory in southern California, I had the chance to meet Jerry Harvey, co-founder and inventor. Jerry struck me as being the consummate inventor, with great passion for the product. I've also had the privilege of getting to know Mike Dias, who handles artist relations and VIP customers. Mike is professional in every regard. In a world in which I rarely feel connected to the people who create the technology I use, my experience with Ultimate Ears has been exceptional.

This is one of the few products I've used where I can find no negatives about the product. The UE-10's deliver as promised. Perhaps the only negative I see is price - but if you can afford them, these are well worth the price.

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