DRM-free Music?: Amazon follows Apple

Amazon announced today that it plans to launch an online music service that will sell only DRM-free music tracks. EMI Music Group--which has already announced a similar arrangement with Apple iTunes--is a major label under this arrangement. In addition, there are supposedly 12,000 unnamed labels.

Amazon indicated that its DRM-free MP3s will free customers to play their music on any device-- such as Apple ipod, Microsoft Zune and others (in addition to burning CDs). EMI is clearly seeking to broaden their channel to consumers beyond Apple itunes store with this arrangement.

Does this pose a major competitive threat to Apple iTunes? Only if certain labels decide to distribute their music through Amazon (and not Apple). Otherwise, it is competitively neutral between Apple and Amazon while allowing the music labels to have multiple channels.

The question then is: Will Wal-Mart be far behind?

Nike +

Nike+ is the revolutionary product that smartens-up your shoes and ties together your running and media consumption experience. Through accessing the excess capacity of the iPod Nano, the Nike+ product is able to inform the user about distances traveled and help focus training regimens through recorded data. This product is able to do all this with an additional cost to the user of only $30. It also creates greater lock-in for Apple (more items & lifestyle tied to their product line) and Nike (they build the only compatible shoes) and spurs additional sales of Nano (no other iPods are compatible with the + product.)

How this impacts media: As people become busier and as podcasts become a more prevalent source of people's news, consuming this media while multi-tasking will become ever more prevalent and necessary in our daily lives. This product also allows the Nano to become a smarter device. Currently the product is only communicating with the shoes, but with the creation of the iPhone, a future product that utilizes GPS mapping and logging to record routes or help the user navigate a pre-planned route are plausible product extensions. In this future, live broadcast or selected news feeds that are selectable on the go will help athletes stay connected during their morning jog.