European Commission ‘Concerned’ About Apple’s Streaming Music Plans
European regulators are scrutinizing Apple’s discussions with record labels for its much-rumored streaming music service, according to Financial Times. The report claims the European Commission has contacted several labels and digital music companies to request information about their agreements with Apple, although these actions do not guarantee it will launch a formal antitrust investigation.
The report, citing people familiar with the matter, claims that the European Commission is “concerned” that Apple will use its size and influence to persuade the music groups to abandon free, ad-supported services such as Spotify. Apple has nearly 1 billion iTunes users, and the company could face hefty fines and be required to change its business practises if committed of wrongdoing.
Apple is expected to launch a revamped streaming music service at WWDC in June, and its rumored price tag of $7.99 per month would be a few dollars cheaper than rivals such as Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music. The service will reportedly be deeply integrated into iTunes on Mac and the stock Music app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and apps will also be available for Apple TV and Android.
Deals: 12,000 mAh Jackery battery for $29.95, Eton solar-powered speaker/battery for $44.99 on Amazon
Today’s Amazon Gold Box promo includes two interesting products: a 12,000 mAh power bank from Jackery available for $29.95 and a solar-powered speaker/power bank from Eton going for $44.99.
Jackery’s Giant+ 12,000 mAh power bank features a sturdy aluminum case with anodized finish and two USB ports (5V/2.1A and 5V/1A), allowing you to charge two devices at once. The Panasonic-based 12,000 mAh battery cells should be good for charging the average Android smartphone three to four times or more.
Only the black model of the Jackery Giant+ is currently available for $29.95, and if you prefer the orange, silver, or gold models you will have to pony up an extra $10. The list price is $129.95, but Amazon routinely discounts the Jackery Giant+ to around $40. Still, $10 off is still a decent deal for a product that enjoys an excellent 4.6 stars rating.
Get the Jackery Giant+ external battery for $29.95
The second product on sale today is the solar-powered Eton Rukus Bluetooth speaker/battery, available for $44.99. The Eton Rukus can be charged from AC or from the sun and can act as a power bank, making it a great addition to the backpack of any camper. The device is splash resistant (IPX4) and shock resistant, and features a 5V/1A USB out. Of course, it can also pump up some decent sound through its stereo speakers.
The Eton Rukus has a 4.4 stars score across hundreds of reviews.
Get the Eton Rukus solar-powered speaker/battery for $44.99
Both deals are valid until midnight Pacific time. Happy shopping!
Galaxy Note 4 getting Lollipop in India, Brazil, UAE and more
Samsung has been slow at updating the Galaxy Note 4 to Lollipop, only having released the update in a small number of markets, starting in February. Now it looks like the Korean tech giant is ready to speed up the process, with Note 4 users in India, Brazil, UAE, and the Baltic countries reporting the arrival of Lollipop.
SamMobile reports that, for now, Lollipop is hitting two Galaxy Note 4 models in particular, SM-N910C and the SM-N910G. Given that these models are available in multiple countries, it’s likely that the OTA will arrive soon to other regions as well.
So far, the Note 4 Lollipop update has begun in the Baltics, Brazil, Bulgaria, Caucasus countries, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates.
The update is about 1GB in size. As always, note that unlocked devices may get the update ahead of carrier-branded models, which are subject to extra certification steps. To check manually for the Lollipop update, go to Settings > About phone > Software updates.
Samsung’s implementation of Lollipop brings the new lockscreen notifications, new notification style, new recent activities, improved battery life and performance, as well as a number of smaller visual changes.
Any update notification on your phone? Let us know.
Interview with Apple’s Kevin Lynch reveal more details on the Apple Watch project
WIRED has published a new piece on the Apple Watch, citing an interview with Apple’s human interface designer Alan Dye and VP Technology Kevin Lynch.
The article itself walks us through the birth of the Apple Watch project and how the idea was transformed into the resulting product that will launch later this month. Lynch was brought aboard to head up software development for Apple’s new smartwatch, but when hired Lynch was completely in the dark as to what his responsibilities would be.
Apple not only changed the way we listen to music with the iPod, but the iPhone and iPad also mark times when Apple took product categories to the next level. The Apple Watch is believed to be that next game-changing product. Lynch talks about how Jony Ive, Apple’s VP Design, tasked the iPod team to create a revolutionary device. This resulted in numerous experiments and ideas, some even utilizing click-wheels.
There were just experiments—the iPod crew had made something with a click wheel—and lots of ideas. The expectations, however, were clear: Apple’s senior vice president of design, Jony Ive, had tasked them with creating a revolutionary device that could be worn on the wrist.
Instead of attempting to cram as much functionality into the smartwatch as possible – effectively rendering the smartphone useless – Apple opted to streamline tech usage. The idea behind the Apple Watch project was to introduce a product that would require only seconds of attention, allowing the wearer to focus on life in general.
Apple toyed with reworking iOS for the smaller wearable, but this idea was eventually dropped due to the user interface requiring uncomfortably long interactions.
Figuring out how to send a text was illuminating. Initially the process was a lot like texting on an iPhone: addressee here, message here, confirm message. Tap to send. “It was all very understandable, but using it took way too long,” Lynch says. Also, it hurt. Seriously: Try holding up your arm as if you’re looking at your watch. Now count to 30. It was the opposite of a good user experience. “We didn’t want people walking around and doing that,” Dye says.
This led to Apple removing features from the Apple Watch altogether, favoring efficiency over available functionality. Instead of physically interacting with the watch itself, the feature Short Look would be able to determine whether to mark a message as read or archive it for later reading by calculating how long you glanced at the device attached to your arm.
Every task on the wearable had to be completed within a set amount of time – just a few seconds. Minute details were also scrutinized, including different types of Taptic Engine feedback. Apple ran numerous prototypes by Ive, each to reveal different notifications to the wearer.
“Some were too annoying,” Lynch says. “Some were too subtle; some felt like a bug on your wrist.” When they had the engine dialed in, they started experimenting with a Watch-specific synesthesia, translating specific digital experiences into taps and sounds. What does a tweet feel like? What about an important text?
The team sampled sounds of various objects, everything from bell clappers and birds to lightsabers. They then began to turn recorded sounds into physical sensations. So – in some small way – lightsabers helped tune the Taptic Engine for notifications.
The Apple Watch is also the first product where the company is offering a variety of options for the consumer to customize their latest gadget. From the type of Apple Watch selected to the various bands and even screen sizes, there’s plenty of room to make the watch reflect individual personalities, which was a major goal for the project to begin with.
Strongly recommended for you to read through the WIRED piece in full for more details and a sneak peek at various Apple Watch assets supplied by the company.
Source: WIRED
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EE offers its customers a free, swappable Power Bar mobile charger
Forgetting to charge your smartphone the night before will often mean that your device dies on you midway through the day, leaving you unable to play Plants Versus Zombies send important work emails. If you’re an EE customer though, the days of seeing your smartphone become utterly useless when the battery goes flat may be at an end, thanks to the UK carrier’s new customer reward scheme appropriately called “EE Power” that will roll out in the coming weeks.
What is the EE Power scheme? Basically, EE gives you the Power Bar external charger which you can use to charge your smartphone. When the Power Bar is flat, you can either choose to recharge the device yourself or just pop into an EE outlet to swap out for a fully charged Power Bar, free of charge*.
So how do you join EE Power scheme? First you text the word POWER to 365 (*Texts cost 35p) and then EE will send you a unique code that you can then take to your most convenient EE outlet to collect your Power Bar charger. You must be an EE customer with a 30 day, 12/18/24 month contract, although if you have been a pay As You Go customer for at least 3 months you can also take part. If you aren’t an EE customer though, you can join the scheme if you pay a £20 fee. EE broadband users can also join in by texting JOIN plus landline number to 60005, and then following the instructions.
Power Bar features:
- 2,600mAh capacity
- Guaranteed lifetime of 500 charges
- Charging indicator lights
- Built-in LED torch
- Includes a MicroUSB cable
- Recharges in 4 hours
It isn’t the biggest portable battery I’ve ever seen, but you can’t really argue at the price if you are an EE customer.
Full Press Release
London, 2 April 2015 – EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, has announced the launch of EE Power – a free portable smartphone charger with unlimited swaps in store – available to all active* customers on mobile and broadband plans in the coming weeks. The innovative scheme is designed to ensure that EE customers stay charged at all times with ‘never ending power’. EE Power is the latest initiative to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to reward all new and existing customers and forms part of EE’s plan to become the number one network for service.
From launch, EE customers will be able to pick up a free Power Bar in any EE store by requesting a unique code via text. Once the EE Power Bar has been used to charge a device, customers can recharge the portable battery themselves or, if out and about, they can swap it for a fully-charged replacement bar at any EE store nationwide – for free and as many times as they like.
It has been just over two years since EE introduced 4G to the UK and network usage has grown exponentially in this short period. Video streaming and social media engagement now accounts for over 50 per cent of all data use on EE’s network as customers access more content on the move. However, this increased activity comes at a cost to battery life and recent research2 shows that there is a genuine consumer need for more power –
- Nearly 60 per cent of UK smartphone users claim their battery doesn’t last a full day
- Over half of all smartphone users wish there were more ways to charge their phone in public places – this rises to over 70 per cent of 18-24 year olds
Pippa Dunn, Chief Marketing Officer EE, said: “Almost everyone’s experienced the frustration associated with running out of battery and it always seems to happen when you need your phone the most. With EE Power, we’re trying to help by giving our customers a Power Bar that can simply be swapped for a fully charged one at any of our stores, at any time, for free.”
All eligible* customers can get their free EE Power Bar when the promotion launches in the coming weeks by texting ‘POWER’ to 365 to receive a promotional code. Texts cost 35p and customers can collect their free EE Power Bar by redeeming this code at any EE store across the UK. Each Power Bar typically gives one full smartphone charge per use.
Come comment on this article: EE offers its customers a free, swappable Power Bar mobile charger
Apple Watch Featured on Cover of Canadian Fashion Magazine ‘Flare’
Apple Watch continues to be marketed around the world leading up to its highly-anticipated launch in April, this time making its Canadian debut in the upcoming May issue of fashion magazine Flare. The publication features actress Hailee Steinfeld wearing an Apple Watch Sport on two separate covers in both silver and space gray, accompanied by an article listing things you can do with your Apple Watch.
In addition to the fashion shoot, the magazine outlines more than a dozen ways the Apple Watch can be used beyond timekeeping, such as for ordering a coffee, boarding a flight, learning a new language, hailing a cab, managing finances, tracking health and fitness, identifying songs, controlling a vehicle, becoming a karaoke star, controlling an Apple TV, unlocking a hotel room and more.
Apple Watch has been featured in several fashion and fitness magazines worldwide in recent months, including Self, Vogue, Style, East Touch, YOHO, Fitness Magazine and Elle. Apple has heavily promoted its first wearable device in the fashion industry leading up to its launch, and has set up boutique shops at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo and Selfridges in London for the product.
Canada is one of nine countries where the Apple Watch is set to launch later this month, alongside the United States, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and United Kingdom. The wrist-worn device will be available for pre-order and try-on appointments beginning April 10 ahead of an April 24 release date. Wider international availability is likely to occur in the near future.
ASUS raises sales expectations to 30 million smartphones in 2015
ASUS has been ramping up its mobile strategy in the past few months, announcing cost effective products in both the smartphone and wearables markets. As the new Zenfone 2 range makes its way out around the world, ASUS has just updated its sales expectations to 30 million units for 2015.
This is a remarkable figure for a company that shipped just 10,000 units back in the first quarter of 2014. Sales expectations have been revised repeatedly this year, starting at 17 million in February, 25 million in March and now the company estimates 30 million shipments. ASUS has amassed over 10 million shipments already this year.
The recipe for ASUS’ success is likely down to the affordable nature of its hardware. Although not battling for the most premium tier, ASUS has a compelling line-up with the Zenfone 2 and Zenwatch, which both substantially undercut the price of its major competitors. The news is also a boon for Intel, which provides the CPU inside the Zenfone 2 and had been struggling to break into the smartphone market.
In an interview with the Chinese media, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih stated that the Chinese market would account for one third of the company’s smartphone shipments for 2015, around 10 million units, suggesting strong growth from other regional markets. In addition to the rollout in Taiwan and parts of Europe, the Zenfone 2 will be heading to Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, India and the United States in the coming months.
That said, ASUS will be relying on the booming Chinese market as it hopes to break into the top 10 smartphone manufacturers list in 2015 and into the top five in the coming years.
EE powers new and existing customers with a free Power Bar to charge smartphones
UK mobile operator EE today announced that new and existing customers will be able to claim a free Power Bar on qualified plans.
To be eligible for this Power Bar mobile charging kit (which will be made available in the coming weeks), you’ll need to be on a 30-day, 12, 18 or 24 month contract, be it mobile, fixed line or broadband. PAYG (Pay As You Go) customers are also eligible, but they need to have been with EE for at least three months. All you need to do is text “POWER” to 365.
Those of you who are only broadband customers, the instructions differ slightly. You’ll need to text “JOIN” and your EE landline number to 60005. This will result in a redemption code being provided, which can be used to collect a 2,600mAh Power Bar. This charger can provide some much-needed juice to your smartphone when a power outlet is not available.
As well as acting as a mobile charger, the Power Pack also features an LED torch and indicator lights to show how much power is currently available. Not only can the portable battery be charged at home, EE will swap a depleted Power Bar for a fully-charged replacement bar at any EE store nationwide – for free and as many times as you like.
As noted already, this offer will kick off in the coming weeks. See the press release below and contact EE for more details.
London, 2 April 2015 – EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, has announced the launch of EE Power – a free portable smartphone charger with unlimited swaps in store – available to all active* customers on mobile and broadband plans in the coming weeks. The innovative scheme is designed to ensure that EE customers stay charged at all times with ‘never ending power’. EE Power is the latest initiative to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to reward all new and existing customers and forms part of EE’s plan to become the number one network for service.
From launch, EE customers will be able to pick up a free Power Bar in any EE store by requesting a unique code via text. Once the EE Power Bar has been used to charge a device, customers can recharge the portable battery themselves or, if out and about, they can swap it for a fully-charged replacement bar at any EE store nationwide – for free and as many times as they like.
It has been just over two years since EE introduced 4G to the UK and network usage has grown exponentially in this short period. Video streaming and social media engagement now accounts for over 50 per cent of all data use on EE’s network as customers access more content on the move. However, this increased activity comes at a cost to battery life and recent research2 shows that there is a genuine consumer need for more power –
Nearly 60 per cent of UK smartphone users claim their battery doesn’t last a full day
Over half of all smartphone users wish there were more ways to charge their phone in public places – this rises to over 70 per cent of 18-24 year olds
Pippa Dunn, Chief Marketing Officer EE, said: “Almost everyone’s experienced the frustration associated with running out of battery and it always seems to happen when you need your phone the most. With EE Power, we’re trying to help by giving our customers a Power Bar that can simply be swapped for a fully charged one at any of our stores, at any time, for free.”
All eligible* customers can get their free EE Power Bar when the promotion launches in the coming weeks by texting ‘POWER’ to 365 to receive a promotional code. Texts cost 35p and customers can collect their free EE Power Bar by redeeming this code at any EE store across the UK. Each Power Bar typically gives one full smartphone charge per use.
For more information about EE please visit http://www.ee.co.uk
How to stop Facebook from making your iPhone run like crap
If I had to name one App Store app that can negatively affect the performance of your iPhone, it’s Facebook.
Not only can it eat tremendous amounts of storage, some of the things it does in the background also seem to chew through battery, and make your iPhone run like crap in general. It’s an issue countless friends and family members run into over and over again. From freezing issues to out of storage messages to constant battery drain, Facebook almost always seems to be the culprit.
So in this very special edition of iOS Help, we’re going to take a look at why Facebook makes your iPhone do strange things as well as what you can do to keep it in check.
This how-to is part of our iOS Help feature, where every week I try and help you fix the problems you’re having with your iPhones and iPads. If you have a question or need help with something iOS related that you just can’t figure out, I encourage you to drop a question in our iMore forums, no registration required, or send me an email at ioshelp@imore.com
Over the past several months I’ve been trying to figure out why my girlfriend’s mother keeps having issues with her iPhone. The issues started with her iPhone 5 last year. She kept complaining that it was freezing up on her randomly. We backed up all of her stuff and did a restore. For a while the problem seemed to go away.
A few months later, the same issue. This time we decided to give her my girlfriend’s old iPhone 5s since we had upgraded recently to the iPhone 6. Only a few weeks went by and again, she was having issues with her iPhone freezing. We restored again and sent her on her way only to have the issue come back a few weeks later. This is an iPhone we knew was in working order since it had been used for an entire year with zero issues. Either way, she decided she was going to upgrade to an iPhone 6, partially out of frustration.
Several weeks later, you guessed it, even more issues. This time when she brought the phone to me, I could barely unlock her iPhone without noticing how slow it was to respond. Animations, menus, everything.
When I looked under storage settings, Facebook was eating almost 6GB of storage space!
I started thinking of what she uses her iPhone for, and asked her what apps she uses most. There was zero question that her most used app by far was definitely Facebook. So I launched Settings and started poking around. When I looked under storage settings, Facebook was eating almost 6GB of storage space! Are you kidding me?! On a 16GB iPhone, that is almost half of what’s even available to you!
I immediately deleted Facebook and re-installed it. I then went into Settings and disabled anything Facebook could be doing without her knowing about it. And guess what, she’s had zero problems with her iPhone since then.
I’m not sure what Facebook does in the background that would cause iOS to freeze up like that, but I do know she isn’t the only person to complain about this after a quick search online. Yes, Facebook caches stuff to storage occasionally but why is it caching 6 GB worth?
That’s absolutely unacceptable and Facebook needs to get its act together, fast.
While I can’t make the Facebook app better, I can give you some tips on what you can do to make sure Facebook isn’t taking your iPhone hostage like it did hers.
See how much storage Facebook uses on your iPhone
The very first thing you’ll want to check is how much storage space Facebook is using on your iPhone. I checked another friend’s iPhone recently and the main photo on this article shows what I found. It seems to be a problem for a lot of people that frequently use the Facebook app.
So if you want to potentially free up a few GIGABYTES of storage space, I highly suggest following these steps:
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap on General.
- Tap on Usage.
- Tap on Manage Storage.
- Tap on Facebook.
- If it’s eating a good amount of storage, tap on Delete App.
How to easily use Facebook on iPhone without the actual app
Now I suggest never downloading the Facebook app again and using the web version via Safari instead. Using Facebook with Safari instead of the official app gives it zero control over your iPhone and therefore eliminates all the issues that come with it.
If you add a bookmark to your Home screen, you’ll barely notice the difference anyways:
- Launch Safari on your iPhone.
- Go to facebook.com and sign in.
- Tap on the Share button
- Tap on Add to Home Screen.
- Tap on Add in the upper right hand corner.
You now have easy access to Facebook on your iPhone without any of the issues the app is causing. Sure you won’t receive notifications anymore but honestly, we all could use some more time interacting with real life people and less time socializing on Facebook.
However, if you insist on using the Facebook app, there’s some things you need to do…
How to limit what the Facebook app can do on your iPhone
Background app refresh and location settings are a huge issue with the Facebook app. The first thing you should do is completely turn these things off by following the steps below. You should also be checking the two areas mentioned below regularly to make sure no apps that shouldn’t have constant access to resources are disabled. You may be surprised how much battery life you save.
How to disable location services for Facebook
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Privacy.
- Tap on Location Services.
- Find Facebook in the list and tap on it.
- Tap on Never.
How to disable background app refresh for Facebook
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap on General.
- Tap on Background App Refresh.
- Turn Off background app refresh for Facebook.
Keeping Facebook in check in the future
If you still feel you need to use the Facebook app instead of a web clip, you’ll need to check your storage space and make sure Facebook isn’t eating into it again — which it most certainly will over time. You’ll regularly have to repeat the process of deleting and re-installing the app to claim back your storage.
The only permanent solution here, at least until Facebook gets its act together, is deleting the Facebook app and not re-installing it. So take your pick and then let me know in the comments what you decided to do. And as always, if you’ve run into similar issues and have found any other solutions, be sure to let me know about them in the comments or by sending me an email.
Microsoft shows off the subsurface magic powering the new Surface 3
Microsoft held a party in Los Angeles, US this week to celebrate the launch of the new Surface 3. The new tablet from Microsoft was on display with one model showing its insides, revealing inner magical properties. An attendee of this party managed to capture some footage of this display.
AIVAnet 