Synchronization - your timeline data can now be stored on the musicDNA backend server and synchronized in real-time as you go, as well as manually at any time; this enables full back-up and restore functionality as well as preparing the ground for sharing timelines with friends and family. Synchronization requires a free musicDNA account - signup and privacy guidelines are at www.musicdna.info.

Dual Navigation Mode - you can now toggle between Sequential and Calendar modes allowing easy navigation at different zoom levels and one-step unpacking of your stacked listening events.

Migration from version 1.0.x to version 2.0 includes a process for a one-time upload and conversion of your existing event datastore, so that all the old events from your timeline are saved as well as the new ones.

Calendar Mode Update - the start and end dates of the timeline are now displayed using much more helpful dates / times which vary depending on the current zoom level.

View modes - based on user feedback, this has been reversed so that flicking up now takes you through Album Art - Map Tiles - Text Notes - Snapshots.

Hints screen - "How to use musicGPS" now starts with a very quick Quick Start Guide; the tips and hints have been expanded and rearranged, and are now live - so that user feedback can be incorporated.

download full Hyperion Records & musicDNA press release

Semantically sticky

The Hyperion catalogue is a very valuable source of information about music – thousands and thousands of musicians, pieces of music, and recordings. musicDNA is about sharing expert musical knowledge, about joining up musical data so that people and computers are both speaking the same language. That means, instead of googling for ambiguous phrases, and navigating around flat wiki-pages, we’ll be able to have a meaningful conversation. You, me, and the rest of the internet. Hyperion recognizes the true value potential in making their data “semantically sticky” so that we’ll all be able to talk about it – when the full musicDNA service is launched later this year.

Read my psi

musicDNA is made up of an index of musical subjects each with a published subject identifier (PSI) – composers, works, bands, albums, gigs, listeners – and an ontology* or map of the relationships between them. It means that when you talk about George Gershwin on your blog or listen to George Gershwin on your iPad, you’ll be able to let musicDNA know you’re talking about the same George Gershwin as in Hyperion's wide-ranging catalogue – and you’ll be able to join up details of your music-making directly with that of your influences and musical heroes. If you’re a musician, that means you’ll be giving people lots of new access points to your music. If you’re a music-lover, you’ll be discovering more about what you already like as well as music that’s new to you. If you’re an organization like Hyperion you’ll be establishing a keystone position in the evolving digital eco-system. That’s what Web 3.0 is all about. And musicDNA is ready for it. Are you?

This version of the application is a free upgrade and provides the following new functionality:

• Enhanced Music Player Controls - besides an updated design, the new music player controls now let you control the music player's shuffle and repeat features. The Browse and Mix functions are now combined in a single Library button that lets you choose music from your iPhone or iPod's media library. You can close the new controls by tapping the background - anywhere on the screen outside the music player controls.
• Service Alerts - You can now turn off the service alerts which tell you when musicGPS cannot determine your current location or when the Google Maps servers are unavailable: there is a switch for service alerts in the configuration screen.
• Context-Aware Timeline Dates - If the currently displayed section of your timeline covers only part of a day, then the start and end dates will simply show the time (and not the date). If it covers part of a week, then it will show the weekdays and so on.
• Hints - there is now a quick start guide at the top of the detailed "How to" hints, which can be accessed via the configuration screen.

*Full location and snapshot functionality is available on the iPhone only, as the iPod touch does not have the iPhone's GPS capabilities or a camera.