Spotify moves away from delivering music through peer-to-peer networks
Spotify has always streamed at least some of its music over peer-to-peer listener networks, helping it deliver music quickly while saving some cash on bandwidth and servers. However, the service is now ready to leave that tradition behind. It tells TorrentFreak that it’s phasing out peer-to-peer connections, with plans for everyone to use dedicated servers in the months ahead. As the firm explains, there’s simply no need for peer links at this point — Spotify’s servers can deliver “best-in-class” performance all by themselves.
The move should reduce the amount of data you use when checking out hot tracks at home, which could help if you’re on a basic or capped internet plan. We’d also note that the transition should be relatively inexpensive for Spotify itself. Music doesn’t chew up as much bandwidth as video services like Netflix, so Spotify isn’t very likely to find itself paying extra connection costs to price-sensitive internet providers.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: TorrentFreak
Stock Android Camera Now in the Play Store! Fleksy Keyboard Update to 2.1! – App Updates
Happy Hump Day guys. Time to talk about some app updates that hopefully you already have. Google updated a couple of their apps today, but the big story is the fact that the stock Android camera is now available in the Play Store. They also added a Chrome remote app to control your PC with your device. Oh don’t we just love Google.
App Updates
Google Play Services update
Stock Android camera app now in the Play Store
Chrome Remote Desktop app
YouTube update
Chromecast update
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Sony pumps up its PS4 update with game pre-loading and SHAREfactory video editor
Sony just announced sales of seven million PlayStation 4 consoles and promised more details on its upcoming software update would follow soon, now here they are. We still don’t have an exact timetable for when firmware 1.70 will arrive, but now we know more about its new “SHAREfactory” video editor and that game pre-loading is in the update. Many people are familiar with pre-loading via Steam and other PC services, which allows gamers to download pre-ordered games ahead of their release, then simply unlock the digital copy on the day it’s “released.” All it takes is enabling the PS4′s “auto download” feature, and you’re done, no more waiting while overloaded servers choke on release day.
The other big addition is SHAREfactory, a rich video editor app that will let gamers spice up their game recordings (which are getting a resolution bump to 720p) with filters and effects, music and picture-in-picture feeds from the PlayStation Camera. The music element is particularly interesting because it mentions both provided tracks and the ability to import your own original songs, even though the PS4 can’t play MP3s right now. If that’s a surprise addition to the list later, we won’t argue. One other tweak is letting users decide which friends they will share a clip or screenshot with from the Share menu itself, instead of having to go back into settings first. Additionally, a Japanese press release indicates the update will bring Remote Play to Sony’s Vita TV mini-console and the ability to archive those HD Ustream / Twitch broadcasts online.
While the Xbox One’s Upload Studio shares some of the same features, Sony is going a step further by letting users post SHAREfactory videos directly to Facebook, or move them directly to an external USB storage device to upload them elsewhere (YouTube). We called out the PS4′s lack of a video editor when we compared the two system’s services and apps, and while we’ll have to wait for some hands-on time to be sure, that gap may be closed. Of course, if you prefer DIY capture and editing, FW 1.70′s HDCP-off that will allow video capture of games over HDMI will be the big addition, but this makes it easier for anyone to try it. Now, if only we knew when we will get to see the new update (and, hopefully, successive ones to fill in missing features like MP3, Blu-ray 3D, DLNA).
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: PlayStation Blog
Bloomberg: Apple wants to plug Shazam directly into iOS
It’s easy to track down iPhone apps that name catchy tunes, but it now looks like Apple wants to spare you from having to search in the first place. Bloomberg sources claim that a future version of iOS will incorporate Shazam’s song recognition in the same way that the existing mobile platform integrates Facebook and Twitter. While built-in music detection wouldn’t be a new idea (just ask Windows Phone users), you could ask Siri to tell you what’s playing rather than hit a button. There aren’t any clues as to when the feature would reach iOS. However, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference begins in early June — if the rumor is accurate, there’s a good chance we’ll get the full scoop in a matter of weeks.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple
Source: Bloomberg
This machine creates careless synthetic whispers
What do you get when you combine a few respirator bags, some silicone air valves and a motion detector? A contraption that produces a synthetic version of our most sensual form of communication, the whisper. By fudging the aforementioned items together with a few other crude bits and bobs, designer Minsu Kim has built The Illusion of Life, a machine that he says mimics the breath temperature, humidity, smell and vocal qualities of a whisper. If you’re asking yourself “why?” you aren’t alone. Kim says that these artificial murmurs work to facilitate “strong bonds of communication and connection between the user and a machine.” In effect, using intimate human interaction to bring you closer to a gadget.
Modern tech has already surpassed what the human eye is capable of perceiving, but he says that Life serves to explore which of the other five senses technology should stimulate next. Laugh now, but once the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch or Scarlett Johansson start whispering your to-do list, you’ll likely thank Kim.
Via: The Creators Project
Source: Minsu Kim
What would a HTC Nexus phone look like? Greg Ives thinks he Knows
There’s been a lot of noise about Nexus phones and manufacturers ever since the Nexus 5 was released. Who will the next Nexus phone be made by? What version of Android will it be running? This is all just pure conjecture, but it keeps the rumour mill turning. I know that I personally don’t believe LG is going to be making any more Nexus phones (read my reasoning here), and probably one of the crowd favourites to take up the Nexus line of smartphones would be HTC; whether there’s any truth to that is up to you. And if you were wondering what a HTC Nexus phone might look like, Greg Ives thinks he has a pretty good idea.
The above concept render was made by Greg Ives (not to be confused with Apple head designer Jony Ive) and features a very HTC-esque smooth metallic design for the body and some very familiar icons on the screen. These icons of course are the alleged improvements that Google is planning for the Android icons, though we’re not really sure when, or if, these icons are going to arrive.
All the same, at least we have food for thought. What do you think about the Nexus phone situation? Do you think a HTC Nexus phone is on the cards? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
Source: Google+ via Concept Phones
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Aio Wireless takes a cue from Sprint’s Framily plan with new group discounts
Cheesy moniker aside, Sprint’s newly minted Framily plan is not one to be ignored. It allows you to save money by sharing an account with, well, friends and family, all while being billed separately on up to 10 lines. Following in similar footsteps, AT&T’s prepaid subsidiary Aio Wireless has now announced Group Save, which allows users to get a maximum monthly discount of $90 per account. It’s simple, really: the more lines you add, the more cash you save every month on your bill total, not per line. With Aio’s Group Save, you can have up to five lines; the first two get you a $10 discount, while lines number three, four and five knock off $30, $60 and $90 per month, respectively.
The Sprint offering, on the other hand, is a little bit more complicated. Each added line takes $5 off the initial $55 plan fee, but you can only get a maximum discount of $30 on each line, as opposed to, say, $40 if you had eight lines on an account. To be eligible to use Group Save, existing accounts will have to be on a qualifying Aio Wireless plan, including the Basic, Smart and Pro. Meanwhile, those of you on the $25 Talk & Text option will have to switch to one of the aforementioned to take advantage of these savings.
[Lead image credit: Nest Environments]
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Sprint, AT&T
Via: CNET
Source: Aio Wireless
Buy Halo: Spartan Assault on one Windows 8 device and kill Covenant on the others you own
One of the big promises that came out of Microsoft’s Build conference this year were apps that’d work across a number of Windows devices with a single purchase, and Redmond is using Halo to lead that charge. The first group of applications includes Halo: Spartan Assault and Skulls of the Shogun, both of which recently made the conversion to universal games — making them playable across Windows Phone, Windows 8 and RT devices for one price. If you’d rather not pay for your entertainment, though, Microsoft also converted the likes of Wordament, Minesweeper and Hexic too. However, as Windows Phone Central notes, buying the universal version of Skulls doesn’t grant access to the Xbox 360 version, nor does Spartan Assault’s universal purchase unlock the Xbox 360 or Xbox One versions. Given that the Xbox division is still pretty separate from everything else though, that isn’t exactly surprising.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: PCWorld
Source: Windows Phone Central
MIT designs a floating, tsunami-proof nuclear plant
What’s the safest place to put a nuclear reactor? Offshore, apparently. A new power plant design concept from MIT envisions a facility built on floating platforms, moored in deep water several miles off the coast. This, the concept’s creators explain, lends it several crucial advantages — making it virtually immune to earthquakes, tsunamis and meltdowns. Big promises, to be sure, but the professors’ reasoning actually makes sense: in deep water, tsunami waves aren’t large enough to cause significant damage, and earthquakes are usually only felt if you’re standing on the earth. Floating the reactor on the ocean also gives the plant access to easy, passive cooling, what MIT’s Jacopo Buongiorno calls an “infinite heat sink.”
The concept may be designed to prevent natural disasters, but some of its ideas sound a little dangerous on their own. Buongiorno describes an emergency situation that sees the plant venting radioactive gasses into the ocean, rather than into the air. This protects nearby populations from airborne radiation, but seems like a questionable move in terms of protecting the local environment. For now, it’s just an idea — but if the idea can be developed further, it could provide us with safer, more manageable nuclear power in the future.
[Image credit: MIT-NSE, Jake Jurewicz]
Filed under: Science
Source: MIT News
Google earnings focus on the search and ads that actually pay the bills
With all the modular phone concepts, balloon internet projects, robots and drones it can be easy to forget Google’s main business angle: search and advertising. Google reported its first quarter earnings today and didn’t have much to say about our favorite topics — we’ll hear more about those at Google I/O in June — or even its pending sale of Motorola to Lenovo. Responding to an analyst’s question, Google execs Patrick Pichette and Nikesh Arora mentioned the need to “keep evolving (search) results,” as it increasingly serves up info (sports scores, TV listings, restaurant menus) on its own website instead of just providing links. That’s probably also behind its push for Google Now results that bring up relevant info before the user even asks, on the desktop and mobile. In a brief reference to the Chromecast, Pichette called the $35 device a hit, mentioning the over 3,000 developers had signed up to build apps since the launch of the SDK.
Its revenue of $15.4 billion was up 19 percent over the same period last year, but investment types were hoping for more. Google has the same issue as competitors like Facebook, as they try to replicate their success on the desktop and keep users clicking on ads sent to phones and tablets. Still, as long as “cost per click” contributes heavily to the bottom line, it’s going to be a more important question on these investor calls than “so just how many units did Google Glass sell yesterday?”
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Q1 2014 earnings
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