Los Angeles, CA. Virgin Records will release David Bowie’s latest single “Telling Lies” tomorrow (Sept.11) exclusively on the web. Virgin claims that this release marks the first time a major artist has released a full song on the Internet.

The song will be available at the official Bowie web site, and through the Virgin web site. Fans and web surfers will be able to listen to the new single immediately via RealAudio streaming audio, or download the track as an audio file with compact disc quality. Downloads are free. The music will not be sold in stores or heard on the radio until a later date.

Bowie is currently working on a new album in New York.

Buena Park, CA. The Yamaha Corporation U.S. business development office today announced free public distribution of the beta version of Yamaha’s MIDPlug software. MIDPlug is a plug-in module for Netscape Navigator™ version 2.0 or later. It is a software synthesizer that automatically plays General MIDI files embedded in web pages.

There are several competing MIDI-playback plug-ins already available, including Crescendo (Windows, Mac), MacZilla (Mac only), and Netscape’s own LiveAudio (included with version 3.0 of Netscape Navigator, Windows and Mac). But Yamaha is touting MIDPlug’s superior sound quality, built around its XG synthesizer technology. The “soft synthesizer” built into MIDPlug features 360 voices (including the full set of 128 General MIDI voices), 32-note polyphony, 8 drum kits, plus reverb. It can also output the MIDI data stream to drive external MIDI playback equipment.

MIDPlug is available for PowerPC’s running Macintosh OS 7.5, and Intel Pentium-class machines running Windows. The current beta version can be downloaded from the Yamaha web sites in the U.S. and Japan. Full commercial versions are planned for both Macintosh and Windows platforms, but no release date or pricing strategy has been announced.

Fremont, CA. Aureal Semiconductor Inc. yesterday announced Aureal 3D (A3D), a technology that creates the illusion of surround sound using a single pair of ordinary speakers or headphones. A3D is based on the pioneering spatial simulation software developed over the past nine years by Aureal’s subsidiary Crystal River Engineering.

Crystal River’s 3D audio technology has been used in virtual reality research labs, theme park rides, and million-dollar flight and driving simulators. It has also seen use in recording studios to create 3D effects for movies, most recently “Twister” and “The Cable Guy.” Aureal acquired Crystal River in May 1996.

To distinguish A3D from competing technologies such as QSound™ and Spatializer™, Aureal is positioning its product as an effective way to deliver surround sound from encoded movies and video. In this environment, encoded audio will be projected over two speakers by A3D as five simulated virtual speakers to create a surround experience the company is coining as “A3D Surround.”

“Aureal 3D sets the standard by which others will be judged,” said Dolby Labs Technology Director Roger Dressler. “The technology will enable consumers to realize the benefits of Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Digital (AC-3) surround soundtracks in multimedia PC’s without the use of five speakers.”

Aureal also expects to see A3D incorporated into interactive applications such as computer games and web sites. The technology has already been licensed to several companies, including PC card manufacturers Diamond Multimedia and Oak Technology. Aureal plans to support upcoming 3D audio APIs from Microsoft and Apple, as well as the VRML 2.0 Internet standard.