How to listen to Prince’s music online – CNET

The shocking news of Prince’s death has fans, new and old, turning to their Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music apps, only to find them barren of his hits. If you don’t feel like driving to your local record store or spending money on iTunes, unfortunately, your options for listening to His Royal Badness are limited.

Last year The Purple One removed his music from popular streaming music sites, save for one: Tidal. You can stream his latest and greatest on Tidal and, if you don’t have an account, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial.

Additionally, if you have a library card, you can sign up for Hoopla to access some of his classic albums. Just like the library, it’s free.

Temporary solutions include Minnesota radio station, 89.3 The Current, and SiriusXM satellite radio station, ’80s on 8, which will be playing Prince all day.

LG V10 Marshmallow update now available from AT&T

If you’re rocking the AT&T variant of the LG V10, you’ll be happy to hear that the Marshmallow update is now rolling out. The update weighs in at just over 1GB in size, so you will want to make sure you have enough battery power, and a strong Wi-Fi connection before attempting to download it. The update brings a number of new features to the phone, like enhanced permission controls, Doze and much more.

The update has only just started pushing out, so it may take a bit before you receive the notification on your phone. If you don’t want to wait, you can head into your Settings, then About device and check for the update manually. Once you’ve got the update installed, be sure to hop in the forums and let us know how it is working out for you.

Discuss the AT&T LG V10 update in the forums

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VR, two-hour keynote lead the just-released Google I/O schedule

Google has posted the full schedule for the upcoming Google I/O 2016 developer conference. The schedule gives a full list of sessions that will be held on May 18-19.

It appears as though Google will be kicking off this year’s Google I/O with a keynote that is scheduled for around two hours, followed by various breakout sessions. A quick glance of the sessions doesn’t appear to highlight any major spoilers, with sessions on VR, Project Tango and, of course, Android “N” all listed for developers to check out.

Google will also be live-streaming a number of the sessions, so if you are unable to attend you will be able to follow along with those from home. We will be live at Google I/O, so keep it locked right here for all of the event coverage.

Check out the full Google I/O schedule here

Google is seeking beta testers for an upcoming travel app

Google is emailing selected people to sign up and take a survey so they could possibly be picked to beta test an upcoming travel assistance app.

The email itself is being sent to members of Google’s “Local Guides” program. To potentially participate in the beta program, they have to take a short survey about their use of Gmail or Inbox and their future travel plans. Details surrounding the app are currently unknown, though the Local Guides program is centered around people with knowledge of specific areas rating locations and providing feedback.

If they get picked for the beta, they will be able to download the travel assistance app sometime next week. The app is being developed for Android and iPhone devices.

Thanks to everyone for the tips!

Inaugural Google Play Awards will highlight killer apps at Google I/O 2016

Google has announced that this year’s Google I/O will feature the first-ever Google Play Awards. In an effort to recognize the work of developers, Google has handpicked what it feels are some of the best apps on Google Play across a number of categories.

In all, the program features 10 categories with five nominees each. Categories include:

• Standout Startup
• Standout Indie
• Best Families App
• Best Use of Material Design
• Best Use of Google Play Game Services
• Early Adopter
• Go Global
• Most Innovative
• Best App
• Best Game

Nominated apps include everything from Dubsmash and Alto’s Adventure, to Robinhood and Minecraft: Story Mode. For the full list of nominees, be sure to check out Google’s announcement. Winners will be announced at Google I/O on May 19.

24 hours in the HTC Vive

11 rounds left in the magazine. 10 percent battery left on my flashlight. Yeah, I’ve got this.

Three zombies are staggering towards me. I can hear two more coming up from behind me, but they sound far enough away that I don’t need to worry about it yet. The burning building in the background is giving me just enough light to make out silhouettes, so no need to burn precious flashlight energy on these three. Headshot, headshot, shoulder shot, headshot. That wasted round is going to cost me. I slow my breathing as I rotate 180 degrees, only to see those two I ignored earlier are way close than I thought. I sidestep the first and pistol whip him, giving me just enough time to put a round right between the eyes of the second one. One step back, one more trigger squeeze, and the wave is over.

They get bigger and faster in the next round, so I’d better upgrade to explosive ammunition instead of recharging my flashlight. I’m a lot less confident about my chances of survival in this next round, but the one thing I know for sure is the HTC Vive is the only way I could have this experience right now.

Several editors here have spent a couple of minutes here and there in early versions of the HTC Vive. We’ve been under water with whales, frantically trying to survive in the Portal universe, and even in the kitchen trying to make a fried egg sandwich. We’re familiar with the basics, and have been able to watch as this hardware evolved over the last year, but now that the retail version is here in the office it’s time to see what it takes to create this experience. After 24 hours in the headset, it couldn’t be more clear this is a kit for early adopters with cash to burn.

Unpacking the giant box Vive comes in is the start of a roughly 30 minute set up process, assuming you already know where everything is going to go in your VR space. There are two boxes that need to be mounted and positioned just so, a pile of cables to be managed. Once you’ve connected all five power cables to their respective devices and installed the software on your PC and wired up your Vive, it’s time to start the setup process. This includes syncing the two lighthouses together, pairing your controllers, and adjusting the lenses in the headset to fit your needs.

As has been the case from the beginning, the Vive controllers complete this experience.

After all of that, you still need to define the space you’re playing in. This process involved walking around the perimeter of your play area with the controllers and creating boundaries, followed by setting the controllers on the ground to identify the floor. It’s a fast enough process, as long as it works the first time. For our setup, it took three calibration attempts before the Vive figured out where the floor actually was. Few things are more confusing than an immersive VR environment happening two feet above your head for seemingly no reason.

All of the weight and structure for the HTC Vive headset is in the front plastic. The straps that hug your head are plenty comfortable, but offer no structure. That means you have to be careful setting it down so it doesn’t fall forward onto the camera. It also means there’s nothing to stop the top strap and cables from getting bunched up, and since the adjustable strap for the top of the Vive is under those three thick cables this process can be a little frustrating. It’s not a big deal if you aren’t frequently adjusting the headset for other people, but if you plan to share your Vive be ready for some adjustment struggles on occasion. Prescription glasses slide into this headset without a problem, as has always been the case with the early Vive kits.

HTC’s audio jack on the top of the headset works exactly as you’d expect. You can use the included earbuds if you don’t have anything else handy, but using your own headphones can make a big difference. A set of over the ear headphones goes a long way in this experience, so if you don’t already own a pair you should consider the investment to enhance your Vive experience.

As has been the case from the beginning, the controllers you get with the Vive complete this experience. The final design is comfortable and the button locations all feel natural. Game developers are doing a fantastic job taking advantage of being able to rely on incredibly accurate tracking thanks to all of the sensors on the controllers, and everything feels more real when you can look down and see what your hands are doing. Moving around in the game space is incredible, but these controllers are what make the Vive truly special.

Getting from the sealed box to actually standing in a virtual environment may be a little on the complicated side, but you are rewarded with an impressive list of games and video apps in the Steam Store. The grey store app you already know and use on the desktop is floating in front of you with big friendly buttons to choose a game, and when you extend an arm with one of Valve’s controllers you’ll find a bright laser pointing to whatever you want to click on.

This view also has a Desktop view mode, giving you a glimpse at your PC Desktop in case you need to accept a .Net installation or you want to glance at your messages. There’s also a cellular connection app that passes things like calendar appointments and text messages to you in VR. You are never particularly far from familiar environments in this experience, which is great.

Valve’s games list doesn’t include any massive blockbuster titles you’ll immediately recognize — how many more of these do you think HTC would have sold if a Half Life 3 minigame teaser was a launch title? — but there are some winners here. You’ve undoubtedly seen Google’s Tilt Brush and the impossibly addictive Job Simulator by now, but there’s a lot more to this experience.

A good number of these titles are reminiscent of arcade VR, where you stand and do something fast and collect a high score. That’s not to say Space Pirate Trainer or Audioshield aren’t immersive or enjoyable, but there’s no depth to these titles. No story for users to drift into for tens of hours.

A good number of these titles are reminiscent of arcade VR

This being Steam powered, there’s also a healthy selection of unfinished Early Access titles and demos. The Brookhaven Experiment, for example, is an impressive zombie shooter demo that promises some actual story in the finished version of the game to keep you interested for more than a couple of minutes. There are also cross-platform titles like Elite: Dangerous, which take the already compelling space combat experience and adds head tracking in ways that make ship-to-ship combat feel incredible. We’re scratching the surface of what is available, and so far nothing we’ve seen could be described as boring or not worth playing.

HTC and Valve have come together to create an incredible experience, but getting there is a long, complicated, and expensive process. There’s no adhesive mounting option in the box for the lighthouses, but tripods seem to work very well in our tests. There’s a lot to be done still when it come to testing possible configurations to see how many different environments the Vive can function in, and that’s really going to be the biggest challenge for a lot of people. At the end of the day, most folks don’t have room for a dedicated VR space in their home so there’s going to be a lot of guess work to see what can be done and where. That’s less than ideal for most people, but there’s no clear way to avoid it and still get the same incredible experience HTC and Valve are delivering right now.

Listen to Russell talk virtual reality on Baltimore’s 98 Rock

Android Central’s own Russell Holly made an appearance on Baltimore’s 98 Rock earlier today, and discussion was all about virtual reality. Russell even got the hosts to try on the HTC Vive.

Russell showed off a zombie survival game, and we get to listen in as the hosts experience VR for the first time. Be sure to check out the 15-minute, not-safe-for-work segment at the link below, and be sure to check out Russell’s thoughts on his first 24 hours with the HTC Vive.

Check out Russell on 98 Rock

Alphabet releases Q1 2016 earnings: $4.2 billion income on $20.2 billion revenue

Alphabet has released its Q1 2016 earnings report, showing strong year-over-year growth once again with $20.25 billion in revenue leading to $4.2 billion in net income for the quarter.

After the formation of Alphabet, earnings for Google as we know it — search, ads, YouTube, Chrome, Nexus, Google Play, etc. — have been separated from some “Other Bets,” such as Google Fiber and Nest. We’ll break down how each segment performed, where applicable.

That being said, here are the big points in this quarter’s earnings for Alphabet:

• Revenue of $20.25 billion, up 17% year-over-year
• Operating income of $5.34 billion
• Operating margin of 26%
• Net income of $4.2 billion
• Operating expenses of $7.2 billion, 36% of revenues

Aggregate paid clicks were up 29% year-over-year, with paid clicks on Google’s own websites going up 38% in the same period. Cost-per-click was down 9%, following the trend of the past few years, with cost-per-click on Google’s websites being down 12% as well.

Alphabet’s “Other Bets,” comprising non-critical (and often under-performing) businesses break down like this:

• Revenues of $166 million, up from $80 million last year
• Operating loss of $802 million, down from $633 million last year

Rounding out the release, Alphabet reported that it has $75 billion in cash (and cash equivalents) holdings, which is an increase of $10 billion from Q1 2015. There were capital expenditures of $2.4 billion for the quarter, and the company’s effective tax rate was 18%. Finally, Alphabet’s employee count was a rather large 64,115, an increase of nearly 10,000 from the same time last year.

As it does each quarter, Google is also streaming its earnings call on YouTube starting at 4:30 p.m. ET, which you can watch below if you’re interested in the gritty details of the business.

Hands on with the shampoo-sounding Acer Liquid Zest Plus

Acer only announced one Android smartphone at its New York event, but it’s memorable… for the wrong reasons.

It’s safe to say the Acer Liquid Zest Plus won’t be coming to North America anytime soon, but the mid-range smartphone has a couple of interesting specs that may pique your interest.

The 5.5-inch device runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow (with the April 1st security update, natch) on a skin that is as close to stock Android as we’ve seen from the Taiwanese company. Inside, a MediaTek MT6735 SoC and 2GB keep things running smoothly, while the 13MP rear camera boasts laser focus and phase-detection autofocus, for reasons not divulged by the company’s executives — though more is better in this case, we hope.

The plastic phone feels its sub-$249 price: creaky and uninspired, in either white or black hues. A window cover, which replaces the traditional snap-on back cover and wraps around the phone’s front, offers quick access to notifications and other shortcuts, but the implementation feels half-hearted at best.

Indeed, the only notable thing about this phone is the three-day battery life, facilitated by the included 5,000mAh cell. Like Lenovo’s ZUK lineup, phablets targeting the Asian market are beefing up their uptime as users grow even more dependent on their pocket supercomputers.

Specific pricing and availability won’t be known for some time, but rest assured we’ll keep you informed if the Liquid Zest Plus should grace our carriers — or grocery stores.

MTV Cribs has been resurrected in the form of a Snapchat series

Remember MTV Cribs? It’s been given a second chance to live.

The show launched on the US cable network in 2000, allowing various celebrities to give viewers tours of their mansions. Pharrell Williams, Pam Anderson, 50 Cent, and so many others participated. In fact, the most watched and replayed episode was a special one-hour edition of Mariah Carey’s New York penthouse, where she stripped down and took a bath in a towel.

Now, a new generation can experience the same show, as MTV announced it will revive MTV Cribs. It’ll be a short-form series specifically for Snapchat. MTV’s parent network, Viacom, has a multi-year agreement with Snapchat, and MTV launched a dedicated Snapchat channel in February, so it’s not surprising to learn MTV will use Snapchat to resurrect a popular series.

Many celebrities already use Snapchat – such as Kim Kardashian and Jared Leto – and their followers often get glimpses of the stars’ homes and properties as they broadcast Stories. But in the retooled MTV Cribs, celebrities will really focus on taking their Snapchat followers through their home by speaking to the camera and providing intimate details, according to Variety.

Mac Miller, Austin Mahone, and Travis Mills will be among the first to showcase their mansions on MTV Cribs for Snapchat. It’s unclear how long each episode will last, but the series will live under MTV’s Snapchat Discover channel.

We also don’t know yet when the show will premiere.