Spotify recommends concerts based on your listening habits
Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature curates a new playlist based on your listening habits every seven days. Now, the streaming service is using those tracks you play to serve up nearby concert recommendations, too. Spotify says the concert picks are based on the artists it knows you’ll want to see live with some other acts it thinks you’ll enjoy thrown in for good measure. Just like Discover Weekly, the recommendations will change with your musical tastes. What’s more, when you’re heading out of town, you can change your location to see which concerts are happening at your destination. The whole thing is powered by Songkick, and the Concerts feature hits Spotify’s Android and iOS apps today.
Source: Spotify
Windows 10 focuses on Cortana and Edge in first big update
Microsoft is rollingout the first major update to Windows 10 for tablets and PCs. The release focuses on improvements to Cortana, Edge and performance. The personal assistant will now track your event and movie tickets, and even monitor travel time and give you a heads up when you should leave. The update also allows you to book an Uber, in case you need a ride to the theater. And for our international friends, Cortana is finally landing in Japan, Australia, Canada and India.
Via: ZD Net
Source: Windows Blog
Facebook brings 360-degree videos to iOS as content creation ramps up
360-degree videos made their way into Facebook’s News Feed back in September, but it was only available for web and Android users. Now, however, iOS users can join in on the fun as well thanks to a new Facebook update that is being rolled out today. There’s also good news for Gear VR owners: you’ll now be able to play back those videos from News Feed without ever taking your headset off, making it that much easier to delve into new immersive experiences. At the same time, plenty of publishers have jumped on the 360 video bandwagon — ABC News, BuzzFeed, FrontLine, Nickelodeon and many more will be publishing new 360-degree clips onto Facebook starting today.
Source: Facebook
Comcast’s $15 Stream TV service launches in the Boston area
On the heels of Time Warner Cable’s streaming test for its internet customers, Comcast’s Stream TV is live in the Boston area. That’s if you’re paying for Xfinity internet service, of course. Announced back in July, the service gives cord cutters who still use Comcast for web access the ability to stream all of the live television from major networks, HBO and a library of on-demand options for $15 a month. Sorry sports fans, it doesn’t include ESPN, and you can only watch live broadcasts from the comforts of home. However, the on-demand movies and TV shows can be streamed while you’re on the go.
Source: Boston Business Journal
Name your price for the Android Expert’s Coding Bundle!
Tupac once said “even the genius asks his questions” (yes, I just went there!), and that is definitely also the case for expert coders. Developers are always evolving along with technology, so there is a lot to be learned here. Especially if you are trying to learn Google’s new Android 6.0 Marshmallow software version. This is why many of you will be glad to hear about the Android Expert’s Coding Bundle the AA Deals Store is currently offering.
The best part of this deal is that you get to pick your own price (a la Humble Bundle)! All you have to do is go to the AA Deals Store page and select your damage. There is an incentive to pay a bit more, though. Those who go over the average price will get the full package of courses, while other users will have to conform with less classes. This number will continue to rise the more you wait, so we suggest jumping on this bundle as soon as possible!
Those who sign up are definitely in for a treat, though. This bundle is valued at $503 and includes 5 courses (if you pay above the average) that will fine tune your coding skills to their true potential.
Courses offered:
- Master Marshmallow App Development Using Java
- Java Programming for Beginners
- Java Essentials for Android
- Build Android Apps with the Marshmallow Studio Course
- Learn to Reskin Android Apps for Fun & Profit
To make matters even more enticing, 10% of all profits will go to Project HOPE, an organization that delivers medicine, supplies, health expertise and medical training around the globe. Interested? Head straight over to the AA Deals Store and sign up!
Bluetooth roadmap points to a double speed boost in 2016
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has today given out a few details about its 2016 roadmap, which has a big focus on Internet of Things applications, including smart home, infrastructure and location based services.
The big take away is that the future Bluetooth standard will be much faster and work over longer distances than it does today. For example, Bluetooth Smart will increase the range of the standard four fold, which is very useful for connecting small devices up over longer distances. The standard will also double the transfer speed without requiring any additional power. Energy efficiency is particularly important for IoT devices.
“Current projections put the market potential for IoT between $2 and $11.1 trillion by 2025. The technical updates planned for Bluetooth technology in 2016 will help make these expectations a reality and accelerate growth in IoT.” – Bluetooth SIG Board of Directors Chairman, Toby Nixon
Bluetooth SIG is also working on mesh networking technology, enabling devices to work together to cover much larger areas. This could include an entire office building or outdoor network. The Bluetooth Smart Mesh Working Group is overseeing these requirements.
Given that Bluetooth is a big part of modern day consumer electronics, these improvements are certainly welcome and should open up some doors to interesting new smart connected products too.
This War of Mine comes to phones, alongside 50% discount
When we think of “war games”, we usually imagine a gun-toting soldier marching into battle, blasting through enemy forces, all for the glory of the nation. There are certainly a number of games that let you experience that scenario, including Battlefield, Call of Duty, and games like Modern Combat in the mobile arena. For those that are looking for something different however, This War of Mine delivers.
Set in a dark and gritty warzone that is modeled at least in part after the invasion of Sarajevo in the 90s, the game gives you a number of different civilians to control. You find yourself in a rundown shell of a building and must make improvements, board up the walls, and begin stockpiling for the long days ahead. During the day, you spend your time crafting or sleeping while the city is alive with the sounds of war. At night, the fighting slows down enough that you can send one of your party members out to scavenge, trade, or even steal from neighboring locations.
The game actually hit Android back in July, but at the time was only available for tablets or Android TV devices. Now the experience is making its way over to phones as well, alongside a discounted sale price of $6.99, down from the original $14.99. While $7 is still a lot for a mobile game, there’s absolutely no in-app purchases, and let me assure you it is worth every penny. I know this because I just happened to buy the game ahead of the sale, about 5 days ago, for $15. While I would have loved to have paid half price, I’m not even mad.
This game is exceptional and I’ve personally sunk over 10 hours into it. What’s great about this title is that once you’ve finished the war, you can always start a second attempt and will likely have different starting characters and different locations to explore, which gives this a lot of replay value for a mobile game. If you haven’t checked it out for yourself, we highly recommend it. That said, be prepared, this game is pretty hard and it is very possible to kill off your entire party long before the war ends, if you’re not careful. And unlike many games, your actions aren’t reversible, you simply have to start over from the beginning.
Lenovo loss less than expected with smartphone business improvements
Lenovo has released their second quarter financial results for the period that ended September 30th and although they experienced a loss, it was not as deep as had been estimated and expected. Lenovo says they were able to narrow the losses thanks to stronger than expected sales growth and improvements in their smartphone business. The net loss ended up being $714 million, beating the average loss of $803 million projected by analysts.
Looking at the Lenovo lines of business, the PC business continues to be profitable, but is slowing. That segment’s positive results are being offset by costs and results from the acquisition of server and smartphone units, including Motorola, last year. CEO Yank Yuanqing says Lenovo is shifting their focus away from China to other emerging markets due to the intense competition in China. With regard to Motorola specifically, Yang says the company is working to boost market share in mature markets like the U.S. and Europe.
According to Lenovo, the shift away from China when combined with additional cost cutting efforts, including job cuts, will help the company return Motorola to profitability within one to two more quarters of operations. Yang says he is confident Lenovo can also turn around the enterprise business purchased from IBM last year, reaching their target of $5 billion in annual sales within one year of the acquisition.
In terms of revenue, Lenovo saw sales in China fall by 12 percent when compared to the prior year. Despite that hit, revenues for the quarter still came in at $12.2 billion, which exceeded the $11.8 billion estimate. The improvements in sales and revenues have been offset by restructuring costs and impairments.
source: Bloomberg
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Amazon devices, Chromecast to get access to PlayStation Vue
Sony has announced that they are expanding support for their PlayStation Vue service to include Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick devices and to Chromecast. Support for the Amazon devices is starting today and Sony says the Chromecast support is coming soon. These new devices will join the PS4, PS3, iPhone and iPad as supported devices for subscribers to access PlayStation Vue.
PlayStation Vue offers subscribers a variety of content through the service, like SHOWTIME or Fox Soccer Plus. In addition, some multi-channel options are available in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Miami. Sony is also changing pricing for some of the packages they offer, dropping a Core package from $59.99 to $54.99 per month while the Elite package will be $64.99, down from $69.99.
PlayStation Vue offers a free trial that users can sign up for at http://www.psvue.com. To help entice potential subscribers to not abandon the service after the free trial is up, starting on November 15th new subscribers will receive a free Amazon Fire TV Stick once they make their first monthly subscription payment. Subscribers do have to be in one of the cities where PlayStation Vue multi-channel packages are available to take advantage of this promotion.
source: PlayStation Blog
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New York Times’ virtual reality experiment with readers was massively successful
Google and the New York Times partnered together to get Google Cardboard in the hands of as many NYT subscribers as possible this past weekend, and it turned out to be a pretty successful experiment.
According to the Times, the #nytvr hashtag has been trending on Twitter all weekend, and more than 700 people uploading pictures and videos of themselves using the cardboard VR headset to watch the exclusive film that was promoted for this event, The Displaced. The movie covers the global refugee crisis and is only available to watch on the New York Times VR app.
The VR app had more downloads in its first few days than any other New York Times, and although you can still watch the film without cardboard, 92% of videos viewed within the app have been done in cardboard mode. That’s an impressive stat and it makes the future of Google’s ultra-affordable virtual reality headset look great.
source: New York Times
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