Spotify launches in the world’s second biggest music market: Japan
After protracted deal-making with the country’s record labels, Spotify has finally launched in Japan. To sweeten the deal to prospective listeners, it’s already putting particular focus on the service’s lyric display feature — and the karaoke possibilities that (vaguely) come with that. But what’s another country in Spotify’s empire? Japan is the second largest music market in the world; Bloomberg pegs it at around 300 billion yen (almost $3 billion). The country continues to sell physical music media like CDs well — it’s the country where Tower Records stores still lives on. Spotify Japan has launched both a free ad-supported service as well the typical 980 yen per-month ($9.70) subscription — it’s in invite-only beta for now.
Japan has a notable lack of free-to-listen music services, with rivals like Apple Music, Google Play and Line music only offering paid subscription options. Will Japanese listeners go for the free option, and graduate to paid? I guess it depends how annoying the ads turn out to be. The company certain needs to keep expanding. Spotify still remains unprofitable: something that success in Japan (and perhaps with Soundcloud?) could help fix.
Spotify Launches in Japan, the Largest Music Market Outside the U.S.
Spotify launched in Japan today, 18 months after it opened its first offices in the country (via TechCrunch).
The streaming service has been in protracted negotiations with record labels to flesh out rights for the region, allowing rivals like Apple Music to get a head start in the country’s hugely lucrative market.
Music sales in Japan are estimated to be almost $3 billion a year, making it the second largest market outside of the U.S. One potential obstacle for streaming services is that people in Japan prefer to buy and own music on CD rather than purchase digital files, although the convenience of streaming could sway consumers and allow services like Spotify to build a significant subscriber base in the country.
Spotify also becomes the only mainstream streaming service in Japan that offers a free-tier option for users, which may have been a factor in its protracted negotiations with the music industry, but could serve to persuade Japanese consumers to give streaming a try over competitors.
Back in March, Spotify launched in Indonesia, the company’s first big expansion in Asia for some time. It first entered the continent in 2013 with launches in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, but had been relatively quiet in the region since.
Spotify has 40 million paying customers compared to Apple Music’s 17 million paying customers. Yesterday it was reported that Spotify is in ‘advanced talks’ to purchase SoundCloud, which has upwards of 175 million listeners per month and could provide a huge influx of users to the service, giving it an edge over Apple.
Tag: Spotify
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Google hires industry vet Lyor Cohen as YouTube’s head of music
In a music world where exclusives and direct ties to artists are increasingly important, Google is hoping to give YouTube a boost with its latest hire: Lyor Cohen. The former Def Jam president has most recently been heading up his 300 Entertainment label that started in 2013 with financial backing from companies that included Google. In a letter to employees, Cohen said he will continue running 300, which has been home to artists including Fetty Wap, Migos and Young Thug for another 60 days.
Excited to welcome @lyorcohen as @YouTube’s Global Head of Music. Impressive track record working w/artists & music industry. Welcome Lyor!
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 28, 2016
He’s the latest in a string of music execs making the jump to the tech side as of late, following Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine at Apple, Jay Z with Tidal and, as Billboard mentions, former Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter at Spotify. At YouTube, Lyor Cohen will be the “Global Head of Music” charged with working on its relationships with music companies and artists alike. We’ll see if that results in a series of exclusives to match recent releases from artists like Drake, Beyoncé, Chance the Rapper and Frank Ocean, but the bigger question may be how to get YouTube on a good footing with music labels upset about the rates it’s currently paying them.
Interestingly, this announcement arrives just as word leaks out of Spotify’s potential interest in acquiring SoundCloud, which faces similar challenges in blending user generated content and remixes with licensed major label songs. Now there’s the YouTube Music app, as well as YouTube Red subscriptions, and as Variety reported, claims it’s paid out more than $3 billion to the music industry. While YouTube CEO Susan Wojciki welcomed the new hire, Cohen said in a letter to the YouTube team that “I’m confident that we can bridge the worlds of technology and music in ways that benefit everyone, instead of the zero-sum mentality that exists today. “
Source: Susan Wojcicki (Twitter)
VTIN VRazr wireless sport headphones: quality under $20 (review)
Wireless headphones have certainly taken hold in the mobile accessory market. What was once highly limited to big brand names has now been infiltrated by unknown brands at ultra competitive prices. It’s been a personal quest of mine to review low-budget accessories because there are so many options that make a whole lot of sense. While brands like Bose and Beats are sure to please many, the prices are out of reach for most.
I’ve been using VTIN’s VRazr wireless sport headphones that are priced under $20 and are well worth the price.
Build and Usage
When it comes to in ear Bluetooth headphones, there are a few styles to select from. True wireless earbuds now exist in the form of the Gear IconX and Bragi Dash, but those suffer from poor battery life and high first generation pricing. There aren’t many people who are willing to spend $200 on a set of wireless earbuds that only last 1-3 hours on a single charge.
There are Bluetooth earbuds with a neck piece that contains the internal electronic components with earpieces that come from them and slide into your ears.
The Bluetooth earbuds like the VTIN VRazr in the image above provide grip onto your ears while the internals are in each ear piece, and are connected by a single wire. Each style of Bluetooth earbuds has its own benefits and downfalls. The main benefit of the over ear style wireless earbuds is comfort for those with smaller ears. Many people don’t like to wear a neck band and in ear wireless earbuds like the Gear IconX can simply be too big for most. With the three included silicone tips, this style of earbud is rather comfortable and can be worn for several hours at a time without fatigue.
JayBird made the ear fin style popular as an alternative to bulky ear grips, but again those aren’t always comfortable for everyone.
In the image above, you can see where the ear hook holds the component that houses the internal electronics. Connected to that is a traditional shaped earpiece that most are familiar with from similar wired ear pieces. Inside is where the battery, wireless components and controls reside.
The power button sits in the middle flanked by the +/- buttons that control loudness and tracks. The microphone for taking phone calls also sits in the same ear piece.
Battery life is rated at six hours, but I frequently averaged about 4-5 hours mainly because I listen to these at 80% of max volume. The VRazrs also use the aptX driver to deliver CD-like quality over Bluetooth. When you buy Bluetooth headphones you should always look for the aptX driver as data over wireless is limited. aptX helps compress the music in a way that still sounds good. It’s clear from the moment you put the VRazrs on that they do have the aptX driver as the earbuds sound balanced, warm and powerful. Older generation Bluetooth earbuds generally suffer from weak and tinny sound due to the inability to transfer music at a fast enough rate.
When it comes to any style of headphones, they have to sound good first and foremost. All other features are secondary to sound quality and the VTIN VRazrs definitely are worthy of its price.
I wouldn’t say call quality is great when using these outdoors. When I tested them out they suffered from background noise, but indoors they performed adequately. Considering the cost is just $18, it’s hard to expect every area of these earbuds to be flawless.
Summary
It’s a very good thing we have companies like VTIN who offer mobile accessories at such affordable prices. While you may not recognize VTIN like you would Beats or Bose, these cost 1/10th of the price while offering very similar performance.
Right now the VTIN VRazrs are just $12.99 at Amazon with discount code FPZKO7W6, making these an extremely good deal. With free Prime Shipping it seriously makes me wonder how VTIN can make a profit priced at just $12.99. Build quality, sound reproduction and battery life in the VTIN VRazrs are all very good and the price is just icing on the cake.
If you’d like to take advantage of this AndroidGuys’ exclusive discount, head on over to Amazon and get the VTIN VRazrs for $12.99 at Amazon with discount code FPZKO7W6.
Vtin 20W Waterproof outdoor Bluetooth speaker (review)
Komatsu’s self-driving dump truck doesn’t even have a cab
Despite the dream of the self-driving car, most autonomous vehicles still have a steering wheel, giving passengers the option to take control at a moments notice. Komatsu’s latest dump truck is a bit different — it doesn’t even have a cab for a human operator to sit in. The company calls it the Komatsu Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle. It’s a 2,700 horsepower autonomous truck designed to increase productivity by taking drivers out of the equation. Specifically, the company is trying to eliminate the three-point turn by developing a vehicle that doesn’t need to see where it’s going.
That may seem like an odd practice to eliminate, but it makes a lot of sense — human drivers can only pilot a vehicle by looking out of the front window, requiring them to turn around once they get to a dump site to deposit materials. A self driving hauler doesn’t have that setback: it can simply reverse course without turning. The autonomous design is also more balanced than a normal truck, with the load equally distributed on its four-wheel drive chassis. The company is hoping the balanced load will help the new hauler better negotiate slippery terrain.
The Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle was only just unveiled in Vegas, but Komatsu says it’s planning to get the rig on the market (and into mining operations) soon.
Via: Popular Mechanics
Source: Komatsu
Google, Facebook and other tech titans form ‘Partnership on AI’
Five of the biggest tech companies have launched a collaboration to help the public understand the benefits of artificial intelligence. The New York Times reported in early September that Google, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon had been meeting to discuss an AI-related project. Now, the cat’s finally out of the bag. Their collaboration is officially called “Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society,” and it has a few goals other than to make sure people know that AI research isn’t all about creating killer robots.
Partnership on AI will support related research and recommend best practices in ethics, transparency and privacy when it comes to artificial intelligence studies. The project also aims to create an open platform where researchers and major players in the industry can communicate.
The initiative’s website explains its tenet as follows:
“We believe that artificial intelligence technologies hold great promise for raising the quality of people’s lives and can be leveraged to help humanity address important global challenges such as climate change, food, inequality, health, and education.”
All five founding companies have huge AI projects. IBM, as you know, has Watson, while Google has DeepMind, which you probably recognize as the the team behind AlphaGo. Amazon has Alexa, the voice assistance that’s loaded onto its Echo speakers, while Microsoft has Cortana and a whole bunch of chatbot projects. Finally, Facebook, depends on artificial intelligence for many of its features, including face recognition and its News Feed.
Despite the initiative’s solid lineup, people couldn’t help but wonder why it’s missing one key player: Apple. Microsoft’s Eric Horvitz, who serves as one of the project’s interim co-chairs, told The Guardian that they’ve been in discussions with Cupertino. “I know they’re enthusiastic about this effort,” he said, “and I’d personally hope to see them join.” Another missing name is Elon Musk’s OpenAI, a non-profit AI research project that promises to make its results available to all. That might eventually change, though, since the team plans to invite more companies and non-profits from around the world to be part of the effort.
Via: PopSci, The Guardian
Source: Partnership on AI
Manhattan’s Union Square Cafe Will Outfit Managers With Apple Watches to Improve Hospitality
Union Square Hospitality Group and Resy, a restaurant reservation startup, tonight announced at the TechTable Summit that every manager and sommelier at the Union Square Cafe will be outfitted with an Apple Watch to help improve customer service, reports Eater. The Union Square Cafe is set to reopen in late October and is the flagship restaurant of Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack.
Photo via Union Square Cafe
The Apple Watches will be outfitted with restaurant “control center” app ResyOS. Floor managers and sommeliers wearing the watches will receive notifications when VIPs enter the restaurant, when new tables are seated, when guests have waited too long to order, when menu items run out and more.
An iPad running ResyOS will act as the command center at Union Square Cafe’s host’s stand while the Apple Watches will pull the info inputted into the iPad in real-time. The Apple Watch’s function will be focused on cutting out steps and increasing response time. For instance, when a guest is finished dining a manager will get a notification, allowing them to ping a server for the check or the guest’s coat. Sommeliers will get wine orders sent to their Watch, rather than having to wait for a manager to relay the information to them.
Maureen Cushing, Union Square Hospitality’s VP of Technology, tells Eater that ResyOS and the Apple Watches are “another way to respond and listen to our guests.” She also notes that the Apple Watch will not replace communication between servers and management, as servers will not be receiving Apple Watches with ResyOS.
This isn’t the first time that the food and beverage industry has embraced Apple products to improve hospitality. Many smaller restaurants and food trucks have opted to use iPads or iPhones as POS systems in lieu of more traditional options.
Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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How to use the second camera on the iPhone 7 Plus – CNET
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Sarah Tew/CNET
The biggest difference between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus isn’t the size — it’s the camera. The 7 Plus includes two 12-megapixel cameras that fire off when you capture a photo, giving you one superimage.
But that’s not all the second camera is for.
The two cameras are fitted with different lenses. One is a 28mm f1.8 wide angle lens and the other is a 56mm f2.8 lens, which Apple refers to as telephoto. As CNET’s Lori Grunin explains, this isn’t technically telephoto, but it does allow you to zoom in on your subject without degrading the quality like digital zoom does.
Switching cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
So how do you even use the second camera on the iPhone 7 Plus? If you’ve tinkered in the camera app at all, you may have activated the second camera by accident without even knowing it.
To select the camera with the 56mm f2.8 “telephoto” lens, open Camera and tap the circle icon above the on-screen shutter button that says 1x. It will then say change to show 2x, which lets you know you’re shooting at 56mm.
Zooming further
This doesn’t affect your ability to use digital zoom like before either. To zoom beyond 2x, you can either:
- Pinch within the viewfinder to zoom in or out.
- Place your finger over the 1x logo and slide up and down (or left and right, depending on the orientation of the phone) to adjust the zoom level.
Zooming past 2x will degrade the quality of the photo as the optical zoom stops there. Beyond 2x, the camera is really only cropping the photo in real time (using digital zoom), rather than zooming in any further.
What to do if your Apple Watch Series 2 gets wet – CNET
The new Apple Watch Series 2 comes with built-in GPS and waterproofing
Scott Stein tries on the all-new Apple Watch Series 2 and checks out the built-in GPS.
by Scott Stein
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One of the headlining features of the Apple Watch Series 2 is the fact you can wear it in water, up to 50 meters deep, with no ill effects.
However, just because there’s a fancy water rating attached to your watch, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to do some maintenance after getting it wet.
In fact, there’s even a step you should take before going near water to ensure it doesn’t succumb to the wet stuff.
Water Lock, not waterlogged
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That tiny raindrop indicates the watch is locked, preventing water from getting in the speaker and interacting with the touchscreen.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
Before hopping in the shower or going for a swim, you need to enable Water Lock. There are two methods for doing so:
- Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face and tap on the raindrop icon.
- Start a water-based activity in the Workout app.
Doing so will close the speaker port, and lock the touchscreen on your watch. Locking the display may seem odd, but water running across the display only confuses its touch sensors resulting in a watch that appears to have lost its mind. By locking it you ensure your watch won’t accidentally send messages or call your mom while you’re in the shower.
Unlocking your watch
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After turning the Digital Crown a few times to unlock your watch, an animation plays and weird sounds come out of the speaker.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
After a dip in the pool, you can unlock the watch and clear the speaker of any water by turning the Digital Crown for a few seconds.
A water icon will show up on the display as you turn the dial and once it’s full the watch will unlock, followed by playing a strange-sounding series of beeps and noises. The vibration from those noises, in not so elegant terms, spits the water out of the speaker.
If you look close enough, you can actually see water being shot out of the speaker. It’s crazy.
Waterlogged ’cause you forgot to Water Lock
If you get your watch wet and forgot or didn’t have a chance to enable Water Lock, don’t panic. Enable Water Lock through control center as soon as possible, and then unlock your watch. Doing so will force the watch to clear out any water inside the speaker. Repeat it a few times until you’re confident you have expelled all water.
One last note: Apple recommends running your watch under warm tap water after swimming in the ocean or a pool in order to remove salt or chlorine. Of course, before doing so make sure you have enabled Water Lock.
Livestream Mevo review – CNET
The Good The Livestream Mevo camera uses a 4K-resolution sensor to digitally reproduce the look of a multicamera shoot. The iOS app is well designed, making it a breeze for anyone to pick up and use. The app lets you create camera cuts on the fly, so your end result is a fully edited video. You can live-stream video to Livestream’s site or Facebook Live and/or record to a microSD card.
The Bad Battery life taps out at about an hour. Video quality is best suited for mobile-device viewing. Can’t control multiple cameras at once to capture different angles. No Android support.
The Bottom Line The Livestream Mevo and an iPhone put the power of multicamera storytelling in your pocket.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Single, static camera shots can make for some pretty boring storytelling. But you probably don’t have access to a bunch of cameras, people to operate them, or a team of editors when it comes time to capture your kid’s school play, little league game or your garage band.
With the Livestream Mevo camera and its intuitive iOS app, though, you can create videos with a variety of shots using just one camera and your iPhone. The camera has a 4K-resolution image sensor and some very smart software, so you can digitally pan and zoom in and out — creating everything from wide shots to close-ups while still capturing at 720p HD resolution — with nothing but your fingers on your iPhone screen.
On top of that, the $400 2.5-inch tall camera (about £300 or AU$520) can record to its microSD card slot (a 16GB card is included) and live-stream to Livestream’s service or Facebook Live. That’s done by connecting your phone and the camera to the same Wi-Fi network, or you can do a direct Wi-Fi connection to your phone and use its mobile broadband to stream. Basically, with nothing more than your iPhone and a Mevo, you can set up a live shoot with the look of multiple cameras.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
Multiple shots at your fingertips
Let’s say you want to capture a live band performance. You set up the Mevo to take advantage of its wide 150-degree field of view. Then, you wirelessly connect to the Mevo with an iPhone (it’ll work with an iPad too, but is optimized for the iPhone) and using the app you can create different shots to cut between. Start with a shot of the whole band and then pinch to zoom in for a tight shot on the singer or get a two-shot of the bass and drums.
Once the performance starts you cut between the shots you’ve created just by tapping on them, giving your video the look of a multiple-camera shoot. The camera’s intelligent face detection and movement tracking capabilities allow it to stay on subjects and can even be used to let the camera automatically create shots.
Livestream Mevo camera is a camera crew in…
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You can also zoom in and out on the fly at different speeds determined by how long you hold your fingers on the screen. The same goes for panning: drag your finger from one subject to another and hold your finger down for however long you want the pan to take. This is all done live while you’re recording or live-streaming the event, so you have a finished, fully edited movie as soon as it’s over.
The app gives you a few filter options, exposure compensation and you can change white balance for your lighting. For audio, you can use the built-in stereo mic, which are good if your subjects are close to the camera or are loud, or use your iPhone’s mic jack to mix in audio if you want better results.
AIVAnet 