Introducing Engadget Mini!
CES is about to start, and as usual, we’ll be covering the show wall-to-wall, with liveblogs, hands-ons, news and, of course, Best of CES. One thing we’ll be doing differently this year is providing you with a quick and easy way to access our CES coverage — and more — from your smartphone or computer. Engadget Mini, which is available now for iOS and Android, is an app that features headlines from Engadget; the best of our social media content from Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other sources; exclusive headlines, photos, and videos; and our picks for the best tech news from around the web and the social universe. You can also catch the latest updates to Mini right here on Engadget, or on the Mini web site.
Mini is a mix of creation, curation and conversation — think of it as a companion microblog to Engadget — and an experiment to see what a next-generation real-time feed might look like. We’re still kicking the tires on this thing, but we can’t think of a better time than right now, during CES, to share it with you, and we hope you’ll find it to be an exciting new way to keep up with the show. Download it now, bookmark the site and join us in our Mini forum, where you can share your feedback and get more info on this great new addition to Engadget!
Filed under: Meta
Source: Engadget Mini for Android (Google Play), Engadget Mini for iOS (App Store), Engadget Mini
Digital Music Sales Decline for First Time Since Opening of iTunes Music Store
For the first time since the opening of the iTunes Music Store in 2003, digital music sales have decreased year-over-year, reports Billboard.
In 2013, sales of individual digital tracks declined 5.7% from 1.34 billion units to 1.26 billion units, while digital album sales fell to 117.6 million units from 117.7 million units in 2012. The report notes that industry executives have cited music streaming services for the regression in digital music sales.
While industry executives initially refused to attribute the early signs this year of digital sales weakness to the consumer’s growing appetite for streaming, in the second half of the year many were conceding that ad-supported and paid subscription services were indeed cannibalizing digital sales.
While SoundScan has not yet released its annual streaming numbers numbers, so far industry executives have been reporting that the growth in streaming revenue has been offsetting the decline in digital sales revenue.
Music streaming providers experienced a surge in popularity during 2013, as major services such as Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio announced new free listening tiers for users in the wake of Apple launching iTunes Radio. Apple is also said to be expanding iTunes Radio service to the U.K, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand within the first few months of 2014, ahead of competitor Pandora’s own expansion.
Overall, album sales as a whole declined 8.4% in 2013, dropping to 289.4 units from nearly 316 units in 2012, with physical CD sales declining 14.5% to 165.4 million units from 193.4 million units in the prior year. iTunes also saw its market share rise to account for 40.6% of total U.S. album sales, as Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” became the year’s best selling single with 6.5 million tracks sold. 
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This activity tracker lives in your shoe’s insole
We’re still several days out from CES, and we’ve already seen previews of a couple of fitness tracking devices. It’s far, far too early to start talking overall trends for the show, but it seems pretty safe to suggest that we’ll be seeing even more before the week is out. At the very least, Footlogger (“-logger,” not “-locker,” mind) offers a bit of an alternative to the standard wristband devices. The insole-based gadget is probably more in-line with those socks we saw the other day, but arguably has the potential to record even more detailed information about things like foot strike position – as for how such a product would stand up to the stress of of daily running, however, we certainly can’t say.
3L Labs is talking up a wide range of potential uses for Footlogger’s three-axis accelerometer and eight pressure sensors, including the standard activity tracking and sports recording fare. The company is also making some interesting healthcare claims here, including rehabilitation monitoring and even potential early disease prediction. You can check out the company’s admittedly dated-looking site in the source link below.
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Footlogger
T-Mobile CEO resolves to transform industry in 2014
T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legere, has taken to Twitter again vowing that T-Mobile’s transformation is far from over. In the picture above you see Legere’s handwritten resolutions from 2013 and the new resolutions for 2014. However, there is a shift in title from “Shake up the wireless industry” to “Transform the wireless industry”, which include 5 topics:
- Continue to remove customer pain points
- 4G LTE – go faster, go LOUD
- Un-shackle the family from those other guys
- Make waves at CES 2014
- Give AT&T a break… or not
Certainly my favorite is the last one, even if you’re not a customer of either one, it is still entertaining to see T-Mobile and AT&T battle it out. The most recent battle between the two is currently going on as we speak, where AT&T is offering T-Mobile customers up to $450 per line to switch carriers.
T-Mobile was certainly on fire in 2013 by “Shaking” things up in the wireless industry with their no contract plans and lower prices. Hopefully, we will see more transformations that will keep customers happy and change the way other providers do business! Let us know what you think!
Source: Twitter
The post T-Mobile CEO resolves to transform industry in 2014 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
FISA court reauthorizes NSA to collect call metadata (again)
Need another sign that the NSA’s phone surveillance program is considered legal? The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is happy to oblige. This week FISA renewed the agencies’ authority to collect call metadata, echoing an October approval from the same court. That’s actually standard — the program needs to be reassessed every 90 days, but typically the authorizations fly under the radar. This time around, the Director of National Intelligence declassified the action “in order to provide the public with a more thorough and balanced understanding of the program.”
Even so, its not giving detractors any ground: the announcement also reasserts the program’s legality, citing the “holdings of the United States District Courts of the Southern District of New York and Southern District of California, as well as the findings of 15 judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on 36 separate occasions over the last seven years.” The statement at least closes on an amicable note, promising to be open to tweaking the program in ways that “achieve our counterterrorism mission in a manner that gives the American people greater confidence.” Check out the full statement at the source link below.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Huffington Post
Billboard: Digital music sales decrease for the first time ever, vinyl continues to grow
It was inevitable: After years of highs and then a plateau, digital music sales saw their first decrease in 2013. Last year, digital song purchases dropped almost six percent according to a Billboard report, while digital album sales dropped 0.1 percent. Compact discs continued their downward spiral as well, and took a 14.5 percent loss. On the flip side, pure analog music (read: vinyl) showed an increase of 31.9 percent — representing a full two percent of music sales. Until Nielsen’s SoundScan report for streaming hits, however, we won’t know how much of an impact the likes of Spotify or Rdio are having on purchases. We have a hunch it’ll be rather telling.
[Image credit: karola riegler photography/Flickr]
Filed under: Internet
Source: Billboard
Fox to Stream Super Bowl Free to U.S. Viewers, NFC Playoff Games Streaming Behind Pay-TV Wall [iOS Blog]
Fox Sports has announced that it will stream all its NFC playoff games and the Super Bowl online, though only the Super Bowl will be available to iOS users through the Fox Sports Go app. Fox’s playoff games do not appear to be available for streaming via the iOS app.
However, though the Super Bowl — along with CBS’ AFC playoff coverage — will be viewable by all viewers without requiring any authentication, Fox’s NFC playoff games will require authentication through one of several cable companies.
The network will carry the 49ers v. Packers wild card game on Sunday at 4:40PM EST, plus the NFC divisional games at Seattle and Carolina on January 11 and 12, plus the NFC Championship game on January 19.
The NFC playoff games will require authentication through certain cable services including Comcast, AT&T U-Verse, Cablevision and several others. The NFL is hugely popular in the United States, with NFL-related content accounting for 9 of the top 10 most-watched TV programs of 2013.
The Super Bowl will kick off on Sunday February 2 at 6:30PM EST from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Fox Sports Go is a free download through the App Store. [Direct Link]
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HTC One 2/M8 Preliminary Specs! Galaxy S5 and Note 4 Design Patent Images! – The ManDroid Show
Happy Friday Android gang. Time for the last ManDroid Show before we head to CES. The HTC One 2, or M8, specs of been leaked…kind if. Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 design patents surface, giving us a little taste of what it might look like. Yes, we will be at CES next week, and I will try to do as many videos as possible. Enjoy the show!
News Topics
HTC One 2/M8 preliminary specs
Galaxy S5 and Note 4 design patent images
Samsung foldable tablet design patent images
T-Mobile New Year’s resolutions
Daily Roundup: CES 2014 preview, new Acer tablets, Veronica Mars movie trailer and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
CES 2014 preview
CES 2014 is right around the bend, soon to flood the internet with product releases, demos and the occasional giant robot. To help prepare you for the madness, we’ve complied our predictions for this year’s conference. Click the link for our CES 2014 preview.
Acer announces new Iconia tablets
Acer refreshed its tablet lineup with the Android-powered Iconia A1-830 and B1-720. Though both slates pack mediocre specs, their $149 and $130 respective prices make a them a great option for folks on a budget. Click through for specs and details.
Acer unveils 27-inch monitor/Android PC
The TA272 HUL is Acer’s latest $1,099 desktop monitor, equipped with an “NVIDIA Tegra quad-core processor” that let’s it double as a touchscreen Android PC. Click on through for more information.
AT&T offers up to $450 to leave T-Mobile
AT&T’s latest promotion offers up to $450 to new customers who switch from T-Mobile. Follow the link for details about this limited time offer.
Filed under: Misc, Blackberry, Acer
Pandora’s Android app gets an alarm clock function, right on time
There’s no denying it — many people will need extra motivation to get up at a reasonable hour after sleeping in during the holidays. It’s a good thing, then, that Pandora has just given its Android app the alarm clock and sleep functions that reached iOS nearly a month ago. Most of the functions are the same. You can still tell Pandora to wake you up to your favorite streaming station, and you can hit the snooze button if you’re not quite ready to greet the new day. Android users do get a few OS-specific perks, including support for recurring alarms and the luxury of switching apps once the alarm has been set. If you need some tunes to make the early morning a little more bearable, you’ll want to swing by Google Play to grab Pandora’s update.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: The Next Web
Source: Google Play, Pandora
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