Facing an outcry over imminent royalty fee increases for Internet radio operators, the music industry body that lobbied for the changes has attempted a peace offering. SoundExchange, the nonprofit group that collects the fees on behalf of hundreds of major and independent record companies, said on Tuesday that it would give “small” Webcasters the option …

Crave is a fan of curves. Curves are aesthetic and useful at the same time. Curves are what make motor racing entertaining — where would ickle Lewis Hamilton be without wheels, corners and those girls who hold the umbrellas? Yes, we’re big fans. So it was with much excitement that we noticed how wonderfully curvy the new Samsung LE32R87 is. …

Critics of digital rights management have long insisted that record labels could boost sagging sales by offering music unencumbered by copy-protection schemes. Apple’s iTunes and e-tailer Amazon.com are in position to test this hypothesis in the coming months. On Wednesday, Amazon announced that it plans to sell digital songs from record label EMI Group that will be DRM-free. Amazon’s unprotected …

Napster said on Tuesday it agreed to make its music subscription service available on Motorola’s mobile phones. Napster and Motorola will develop promotional efforts for North America, the United Kingdom and Germany designed to let consumers listen to Napster’s music on many Motorola music-enabled handsets. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Digital kids Software for kindergarten Beethovens By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: May 14, 2007 4:00 AM PDT Child prodigies are rare in any artistic pursuit, but new music composition software is making it easier for parents and teachers to raise a little Beethoven. Sibelius, a well-known maker of software that’s used by musicians as well as composers …

Pioneer has certainly managed to pack a helluva lot into the LX01. Firstly, it’s a Freeview receiver with PVR functionality. You can save programmes to the built-in DVD writer or 160GB hard disk. But that’s not all — it’s also a fully fledged surround-sound system offering eight channels of glorious cinema-style audio. The most interesting feature is the new surround-sound …

My Toshiba 32WL56 has only one HDMI port, which is already used by the Sky HD Box. I want to buy an upscaling DVD player to get the best out of my collection, do they need an HDMI port or can I use the Scart? If I can’t, is it possible to plug two HDMI cables into an adaptor? Robert …

High-definition projectors are ten a penny these days, so we think we can be forgiven for missing the ViewSonic PJ258D, released earlier this year. “Better late than never,” goes the saying, and who are we to question the authority of anonymous saying-makers? The PJ258D is a high-definition DLP projector and — here’s the hook, gadget fans — comes equipped with …

Ohio University recently informed students that the use of peer-to-peer technology has been banned from the campus computer network. The reasons cited range from network congestion to malicious software to piracy. While the university acknowledges that there are legitimate uses of P2P technologies, the blanket ban on the technology stands. By instituting this ban, Ohio University has demonstrated a serious …

If you want a new television and have some money left over after the government has finished taxing you, may we suggest a shiny new model from Samsung? The LE46M87 is from a range it ambiguously calls ‘Bordeaux’. We’ve licked it, and it doesn’t taste anything like wine. If anything, it was a little salty. The M87 TVs are really …

So you’ve got a 50-inch plasma in the lounge, a 32-inch LCD in the bedroom and a waterproof TV in the bathroom. That only leaves the kitchen devoid of entertainment. No need to panic, though — Bush has released what could well be the smallest HD Ready television your money can buy. The catchily named LCD15W08DVDHD has a 15.4-inch widescreen …

As regular readers will know, the first of the month is a momentous day on Crave — it’s the day we announce hot new products that we’re giving away, completely for free. True to form, we’ve just launched a brand-new competition on CNET.co.uk. Seeing as summer is well on its way, we thought this month we’d give you gadget-lovers a …

The Beatles burst onto the international music scene more than four decades ago. But while these boys from Liverpool sang that all you need is love, the battle over the money they generated continued well into the 21st century. A reported recent settlement indicates that the parties have come together. While confidential, the terms must be financially mutually acceptable. (Perhaps …

I keep looking to make the jump to a new TV, yet every time I look at them the standard Freeview picture is poor in comparison to my five-year-old Toshiba 32ZP18 TV. Are there any LCD/plasma televisions that can match my current TV for standard definition material to make my ‘jump’ worthwhile, especially given that the majority of content is still standard definition? Lee Graham You’ve just asked …

Warner Music Group and Bertelsmann have settled a lawsuit regarding Bertelsmann’s involvement with Napster’s music service in 2001, both companies announced Tuesday. Bertelsmann will pay $110 million to Warner Music, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement reached by the two companies did not require Bertelsmann to admit liability. Both Bertelsmann and Warner Music …