Bloomberg: Spotify buries artists with Apple and Tidal exclusives

Another week has passed with another high-profile exclusive debuting on Apple Music. As it does each time an artist keeps a new album off its service, Spotify reiterated this week that those exclusives are “bad for the whole industry.” According to a report from Bloomberg though, the company isn’t stopping there with its anti-exclusive stance. Bloomberg sources indicate that Spotify is retaliating against artists to release their new music on Apple’s service first by making those tracks harder to find when they do become available. Those sources say the strategy includes keeping songs off of featured playlists and burying them in search rankings. Spotify declined to comment on the report to Engadget.

Bloomberg’s sources also indicate that artists who have released new materials exclusively on Tidal are being treated similarly by Spotify, but specific names were not disclosed. The outlet does cite one unnamed artist who didn’t debut a new song on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show on Apple Music for fear of retaliation from Spotify. While Apple looks to continue to gain ground on Spotify’s 30 million subscriber tally, exclusive releases have provided it with a way to keep pace. This summer alone Apple Music debuted new albums from Drake, Chance the Rapper and Frank Ocean before they were available anywhere else.

Any added turmoil over exclusives couldn’t come at a worse time for Spotify. Today’s Bloomberg report reiterates that the company is still in negotiations with labels over new licensing deals and need those in place before filing for an IPO. A key point of contention between the two sides is having music released for paying subscribers only rather than having everything also available on the ad-supported free tier. Those record labels may be getting fed up with the exclusive debuts as well. At least one of the three major imprints in the US feels that way, based on a Billboard report.

Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge reportedly told his label heads that it would no longer allow platform exclusives just days after Frank Ocean released Blond independently with Apple. Ocean fulfilled his contractual obligations to Def Jam (a Universal label) just 24 hours prior with the Endless visual album.

Source: Bloomberg

Level is a pair of glasses that doubles as an activity tracker

Last year, VSP, the nation’s largest vision care provider, unveiled what it thinks is the eyewear of the future. It’s called Project Genesis and it comes from The Shop, a thinktank innovation lab within VSP. Project Genesis is essentially a pair of glasses with a slew of activity tracking sensors built into the temple. The idea here is that it’s a lot easier to remember to put on your glasses — which is what many people need to wear everyday anyway — versus something like a Fitbit. And sensor-laden eyewear offers other potential metrics too, like gait and posture. Now, VSP is ready to take the next step. Starting this Saturday, it’s partnering with University of Southern California’s Center of Body Computing to conduct a four-month long pilot study of the glasses with hundreds of volunteers. Oh, and the hardware has also been completely reimagined into something much more consumer-friendly. Say hello to the Level.

Level is essentially the second-generation edition of Project Genesis. It retains many of the same sensors as before — they include an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a magnetometer — but they are now housed in a much slimmer and more stylish package. “We built it from the ground up into something unique,” says Jay Sales, co-lead of The Shop on the west coast. “We shrunk the components down and made it into something much more aesthetically pleasing.” With Project Genesis, one temple was a little heavier and bulkier than the other due to the sensor housing. But with Level, both temples are equal in size.

There’s also Bluetooth for easy pairing with a companion mobile app (available on both iOS and Android) and a battery that lasts about three days in between charges. It has magnetic mount charging with a port access hidden inside the hinge and a charge time of around 30 minutes. It’s water-resistant too. But the one feature that really stands out to me is that it has a “Find My Glasses” feature, where you can locate your misplaced frames through the app.

The Level comes in three different eyewear designs. They’re designed for both men and women, come in a variety of different colors and are named after three famous innovators; Nikola Tesla, Marvin Minsky and Hedy Lamarr.

Right now, they’re set up to measure step count, calories burned as well as activity time. As part of the pilot study, the companion app is also set up to sync with VSP Global’s Eyes of Hope initiative. Every time participants accrue enough points from their daily step goals, it’ll trigger a donation of a comprehensive eye exam plus a pair of glasses to someone in need. The app also lets you connect with other users to form a social network of sorts. You can follow along with their progress and encourage each other along the way.

Dr. Leslie Saxon, the founder and executive director of the USC Center for Body Computing, hopes that it’s this community aspect that’ll help separate Level out from other wearables on the market. “A lot of people on wearables go off them,” says Saxon. “There’s no discovery after awhile because the experience isn’t durable. The community isn’t there.”

One of the reasons VSP is doing this pilot study is because it’s a health care company, not a traditional hardware company. “We’re not looking at it as a straight consumer product,” says Sales. “We need to make sure that the experience that we’re providing is actually adding value. We wanted to put more rigor around it.” So in addition to the USC study, VSP is also going to be distributing the device to MIT and select members of its provider network to get a better feel of how people react to Level.

“A lot of companies will put digital health products out there that are unregulated,” says Saxon. “At USC, we test all the products. We want to show the world that it’s better than the status quo, that it creates a positive feeling. Plus, we’re not going to sell that end data to anyone. We just want to test to see if it works.”

“It’s a mature, second-gen approach to wearables,” she adds.

As for when Level will finally be ready for consumers, well, it’ll probably be awhile yet. “We want to determine that we don’t have yet another wearable novelty,” says Sales. “It’ll be ready for the market when we know it’s adding value to our members lives.”

“Once we get the first one to market,” he says, “we’ll see where we go from there.”

Source: VSP

Snapchat is rolling out behavioral targeting later this year

Snapchat is bringing behavioral targeting, or advertisement based on data gathered from user activity, to the app in the near future.

According to Business Insider, Snapchat’s director of revenue operations Clement Xue came forward with the information in the Snapchat Advertising report, though Snapchat hasn’t offered an official comment on the situation so far.

It looks as though it’ll only utilize data collected from users while within the app, however, so if someone continually views news about Kim Kardashian or beauty products they might be targeted with celebrity updates or ads for new lipsticks or mascara, and so on.

This is an interesting move given CEO Evan Spiegel’s previous comments and general stance on avoiding “creepy” ads like the ones on Facebook that seem to track you all the way around the internet or haunt you from sites you clicked on two weeks ago.

It’s a huge step forward for Snapchat in terms of attracting new advertisers, however, as previously it lacked the same suite of targeting tools that Facebook, Google or even Twitter offer. It remains to be seen whether or not the “creepy” line will be crossed in the future, but hopefully that won’t be the case.

Via: Business Insider

Baidu’s all-electric self-driving car is a modified Chery EQ

Baidu’s plan to make self-driving cars a consumer reality by 2018 just changed gears, so to speak. According to Business Insider, the company has swapped out its modified BMW 3-series test vehicles for an all-electric car designed for the Chinese market: the Chery EQ. Unmodified, the diminutive EV can drive about 120 miles on a full charge. Baidu intends to use it to further test its driverless tech in China.

The Chery EQ isn’t quite as small as Google’s self-driving pod, but it’s quite a bit smaller than Baidu’s self-driving BMW. It costs a lot less, too: after cashing in government incentives, the Chery EQ can be had for 59.800 Yuan (about $9,000 in greenbacks). Don’t expect to see the little car stateside, though — if Baidu ever does bring its tech to the US market, it’ll probably partner with a local automotive firm.

Source: Business Insider

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Luxury Leather Briefcase From Pad & Quill

For the next four weeks, MacRumors is running a special giveaway event, which will see us highlighting and giving away high-quality luxury bags from manufacturers like Pad & Quill, Intrepid Bag Co, Whipping Post, and Saddleback Leather Company. We’ve got all of these bags on hand so we can give clear details on construction, quality, utility, and more.

For today’s giveaway, we’ve partnered with Pad & Quill, a company that makes a whole line of luxury Apple accessories from cases to Apple Watch bands to leather bags. We’ll be giving away the Luxury Briefcase in Galloper Black with Chestnut accents.

Pad & Quill’s Luxury Briefcase, priced at $495, is a large bag (15 inches by 11 inches by 4.2 inches) with enough pockets to hold whatever you might need to carry on a day to day basis.

There are two outer pockets for holding papers or other small, flat accessories, along with a main interior pocket that can hold up to a 15-inch MacBook. The main pocket has several smaller pockets inside (two dividers with five pockets total), perfect for holding all kinds of accessories.

I was able to fit my MacBook Pro, Retina MacBook, iPad Pro, iPad mini, iPhone in the bag along with various sundries like a hairbrush, a water bottle, a battery pack, pencils, two notebooks, and more. It holds a lot. There’s a full nickel zipper at the top and a flap that folds over and snaps, so the contents within the bag stay safe and protected while you’re hauling it around. When full, this is not a light bag – it weighs in at three pounds by itself.

Made of a thick, durable full-grain American cowhide leather, the Luxury Briefcase is immaculately constructed with features like careful hand stitching, rigid but comfortable leather handles and a removable shoulder strap with a leather pad. Out of the box, the Luxury Briefcase is stiff and pristine, but with use, it’ll loosen up and develop a unique, worn in look. The leather has been tanned so it’s resistant to stains and water, and the interior is made from a durable pigskin that looks like it’s going to hold up well to daily abuse.

Pad & Quill’s bags are all handmade and it shows in their construction. This looks like a $500 bag, and it’s nice enough to take to the office, but casual enough that it doesn’t look out of place in a less formal setting.

One MacRumors reader will be able to win a Luxury Briefcase from Pad & Quill. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.

You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (August 26) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on September 2. The winner will be chosen randomly on September 2 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

Tags: giveaway, Pad & Quill
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Adverse Ruling Against Apple Expected in European Tax Probe

The European Commission is poised to hand down an adverse ruling against Apple next week following a three-year inquiry into the company’s tax arrangements in Ireland, according to Financial Times.

Expectation of an adverse ruling gathered pace this week after the US Treasury issued a stinging attack on the commission’s investigation, saying the EU executive was becoming a “supranational tax authority” that threatened international agreements on tax reform.

The Brussels-based body, led by competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, has been investigating whether Apple’s alleged “sweetheart deal” with Ireland constitutes illegal state aid, which it determined based on its preliminary findings in 2014.

The commission has accused Apple of sheltering tens of billions of dollars by transferring revenue to multiple subsidiaries in Ireland, where it pays a significantly lower tax rate of around 2%, compared to the country’s headline corporate tax rate of 12.5%.

An adverse ruling could result in Apple owing up to $21.2 billion in back taxes, although a previous study placed the figure around $8 billion, and some analysts believe the amount could be as low as $1 billion.

Apple is one of several large corporations accused of tax avoidance in Europe over the past three years, joining the likes of Starbucks, Fiat Chrysler, Amazon, Google, IKEA, and McDonald’s. Starbucks in particular is currently appealing its case in Netherlands, where it was ordered to pay as much as 30 million euros in back taxes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has insisted that his company fully complies with international tax law, said last month that it would appeal any unfavorable ruling in European courts. Apple has also said it is the largest taxpayer in the world.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Treasury department warned that an adverse ruling against Apple could “set an undesirable precedent.” It also said the European Commission is becoming a “supranational tax authority,” going beyond acceptable enforcement of competition and state aid law.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: corporate tax, European Commission, Europe
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