eMusic to ditch subscription requirement, allow a la carte purchasing

By Adam Poltrack February 11, 2013

emusiclogo — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you steered clear of eMusic because of its subscription fee, you’re in for a treat. The Web-based music and audiobook purveyor announced today that it’s abandoning its subscription requirement. The service – which had operated exclusively by giving users a set amount of download credits based on the monthly plan they chose – will now feature an a la carte option. Going forward, users who wish to purchase individual songs or albums can do so at “retail price.”

The move has led many to speculate about the health of the music service, but the company claims the move is strategic, not desperate. With no-sub-required services like Spotify and iTunes dominating the marketplace, it’s not much of a stretch to think that eMusic simply saw the writing on the wall and decided to tweak its business model. Then again, given the difficulty of getting anyone to pay for anything on the Internet, we wouldn’t be surprised if a weakened bottom line was partially responsible.

Either way, if you were staring covetously at eMusic from the sidelines, now’s your chance to make a move and start hoarding your favorite music.

Good news for those who liked being locked into their subscriptions too: plans will continue to be available for the foreseeable future.

Topics

Contributor

Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…

Computing

M4 vs. M3: How much better are Apple’s latest chips?

An official rendering of the Apple M4 chip.

Apple has announced the M4 chip, its successor to the M3 that’s currently found in a bunch of Macs and iPads. The M3 is an excellent chip and a real leap above the M2 that came before it, so the question is whether the M4 can manage a similar feat.

Right now, the M4 is only in the iPad Pro, and that means information about how good it is and what it does is rather limited. But if you’re interested in finding out more, you’re in luck, as we’ve gathered up everything we know about Apple’s M4 chip and compared it side by side with the M3. If you want to learn more about Apple’s next chip -- and how it compares to the M3 -- read on.
Where can you find these chips?

Computing

iMac deals: New, renewed and refurbished iMac computers

Apple iMac with Retina 5K Display review close

If you're in the Apple ecosystem and need a desktop computer rather than something like a MacBook, then you'll want to go for the Apple iMac, which is one of the best all-in-one computers on the market. There are quite a few screen sizes and specs to pick from, and if you're willing to go for a renewed option, you can get some older yet still powerful iMacs for a great price with desktop deals. Even if you aren't, there are still some great Apple deals you can take advantage of to save yourself some money, which is why we went out and scoured the internet for the best deals we could find. If you need something portable, check out MacBook deals. For extra savings, check out refurbished MacBook deals.
Apple 21.5-inch iMac (2018) Renewed -- $409, was $460

Even cheaper than any of the MacBook deals going on, this Apple 21.5-inch iMac (2018) might be a few years old but it offers plenty of juice for the price. That's the beauty behind many iMacs -- they last a long time thanks to offering reliable hardware and the benefits of MacOS, which tends to mean they stay fast for awhile. In the case of the 2018 21.5-inch iMac, you get a 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor paired up with 16GB of memory which is a great set of specs for ensuring you can get plenty of work done.

Computing

Intel’s next-gen desktop chips may embrace these two major changes

Intel Core i5-14600K processor inside its socket.

Intel Arrow Lake is said to be coming out later this year, but the leaks have been scarce -- until today. According to Benchlife, Intel is readying 13 new processors, but forget any mentions of a 15th-gen CPU -- these chips all follow Intel's new branding and will be dubbed the Intel Core Ultra 200 series. That’s the first big change. What else is new, other than the name? If Benchlife is correct, the loss of hyperthreading will be the other notable difference.

Arrow Lake CPUs will be the first desktop generation to follow Intel's new naming scheme, and thus, the first under the new Core Ultra umbrella. Meteor Lake paved the way, but those are laptop chips, whereas Arrow Lake processors are coming to desktops. This includes the Core Ultra 200 K-series, which encompasses the unlocked versions of CPUs that have a processor base power (PBP) of 125 watts, as well as the locked Core Ultra 200 non-K variant that maxes out at 65 watts.