Pandora Confirms its Apple Music Competitor Launches Later This Year

Pandora has introduced Pandora Plus, a new ad-free subscription service that builds upon Pandora One with unlimited song skips and replays and a new predictive offline mode for $4.99 per month. Meanwhile, users of its existing ad-supported tier will gain the ability to skip more songs and replay songs by watching video ads.

The new predictive offline mode automatically detects when you lose your data connection and switches to one of your top stations.

The Verge explained the feature in more detail:

Pandora says it will automatically save your thumbprint radio station as well as your three most recently listened to stations in case you lose your connection or request offline listening. The app will automatically determine which of the four stations to switch to based on your recent listening, and when your signal drops, it will alert you with an audio message acknowledging that your connection has been lost and that it will switch to an offline station.

Pandora CEO Tim Westergren also confirmed it will launch an on-demand option “later this year” to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify.

“We’re methodically and passionately developing the world’s most personal music experience,” said Tim Westergren, founder and CEO at Pandora. “And that includes flexibility in how you listen and what you pay for it. Whether a listener wants to take advantage of our enhanced ad-supported experience, our groundbreaking subscription radio service, or our fully interactive on-demand option coming later this year, we have a solution tailored for you at a price point you can afford.”

Pandora Plus and the new ad-supported features launch in the U.S. today and will be rolling out to iOS and Android smartphone users over the coming months. The subscription service will expand to Australia and New Zealand in 2017.

Pandora currently provides free, ad-supported radio stations centered around particular artists or songs, rather than offering on-demand listening like Apple Music. By offering only randomized, radio-like stations that prevent users from playing specific songs, it has been able to bypass licensing agreements with major record labels.

Tags: Pandora, Apple Music
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Huawei Mate 9 could pack dual 20MP cameras, Kirin 960 chip

New big-screened Huawei phone looks to build on the P9’s camera capabilities.

For the past couple of generations, Huawei’s Mate series has been about packing the company’s latest internals and camera tech into a big-screened handset — with suitably epic battery capacity to boot. And now we’re getting our first look at how the next Mate might look. The shot below was posted on Chinese social network Weibo (via MyDrivers) and appears to reveal a few key data points about the unannounced phablet.

Firstly, the dual-camera trend kicked off by the P9 seems to have carried over to the next Mate, with dual 20-megapixel sensors mentioned. (Previous rumors have pointed to an optically-stabilized camera setup, unlike the P9’s which lacked OIS.) Look closely and you’ll also see a dual-LED flash and fingerprint scanner, though apparently no laser autofocus or external Leica branding. The latter in particular is a surprise given the prominence given to the Huawei-Leica partnership back when the P9 launched. Besides that, it looks pretty much how you’d expect a plus-sized Huawei phone to look.

Twin 20MP cameras, a beastly new chip, and a totally re-tooled Huawei UI atop Android Nougat.

For hardware nerds, the Mate 9’s new Kirin 960 processor will be a major point of interest. Huawei used the Mate 8 to showcase its Kirin 950 chip last year — the first to use ARM’s Cortex-A72 core design, and a new 16nm FinFET process. It’s previously been rumored that Kirin 960 will step things up to ARM’s latest Cortex-A73, which is even more powerful and efficient than its predecessor. (And again, it would be another first for Huawei.)

Other specs remain unclear. We’d expect an appropriately beefy battery for what’s likely to be a phone with a near-6-inch display. On the software side, there’s a good chance the Mate 9 will be the first phone to ship with the promising EMUI 5 interface atop Android 7.0 Nougat. We’ve gotten a glimpse at EMUI 5 through a leaked ROM on the Huawei P9, and the updated software seems to eliminate many of the pain points of previous EMUI versions, specifically in the notification shade, lock screen and app-switching areas.

The Huawei Mate 8 first broke cover with a Chinese launch in December 2015, so we’d expect the Mate 9 to emerge roughly a year later. Given the momentum that Huawei’s built up in Europe with the P9 series — and the difficulties Samsung’s facing with the Note 7 right now — the Mate 9 could be one to watch.

Morning brief: Fiery Note 7, Gmail gets more responsive, and Bohemian Rhapsody meets VR!

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from virtual reality.

Why hello there digital natives (blame Huawei for that one), welcome to another news brief from Android Central! Today, we’ve got the latest episode in the continuing saga of the Note 7 recall, with the phone being blamed for setting a car on fire in Florida. Google has announced that it will make emails look less crappy, and it looks like interest in Pokémon Go is waning. That said, the game is still generating six times as much revenue as its closest rival.

Meanwhile, Canadians can look forward to receiving a less flammable version of the Note 7 starting later today, as Samsung gets ready to exchange all 21,953 defective units sold in the country before the end of the month. More importantly, Bohemian Rhapsody is now in VR! Here’s what’s making the rounds on the interwebs.

Galaxy Note 7 implicated in Florida car fire

The dire press for Samsung’s latest phone continues, with the potentially explosive handset being blamed for starting a car fire in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The local police department says the cause of the fire hasn’t been confirmed yet, but that the owner made a statement saying he’d been charging his “Samsung 7” when it exploded. Local news station WPBF has video of the inferno, which it explicitly blames on a “Galaxy Note 7.” (via The Verge)

Bohemian Rhapsody comes to VR!

Queen guitarist Brian May is an awesome dude. He’s an incredibly talented musician, holds a PhD in astronomy, and is a massive fan of VR. He has teamed up with Google and VR production house Enosis VR to create the Bohemian Rhapsody Experience, a VR experience that takes us on a “journey through frontman Freddie Mercury’s subconscious mind,” featuring interactive elements and spatial sound. It’s Bohemian Rhapsody like you’ve never heard it before. Download the app here.

Your emails are about to get more responsive

Google will start implementing responsive design in Gmail, allowing content within emails — text, buttons, and images — to dynamically scale based on a device’s form factor. The optimizations will make their way to the Gmail app first, followed by the web client. The changes will commence rolling out from the end of the month.

Flame-free Galaxy Note 7s start shipping to Canadians

The first batch of Canadians can start looking forward to receiving replacement Galaxy Note 7s starting today, the company confirmed to Android Central. A process that started just over a week ago to exchange recalled Note 7s promises to have nearly 22,000 devices replaced by the end of the month.

Pokémon Go sees a sharp decline in paying customers

According to market research firm Slice Intelligence, the number of Pokémon Go U.S. players making in-app purchases has declined by a massive 79%. That said, the game pocketed 28% of all in-game revenue in August, six times that of its closest rival. That number is set to decrease slightly to about 25% this month.

LeEco teases Le Pro 3 with 8GB of RAM, 256GB storage

LeEco has started teasing its upcoming flagship Le Pro 3, which will offer 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. The teaser sees LeEco take a stab at the battery capacitiy of the latest iPhones, with the company claiming that the Pro 3’s battery will be “Bigger than bigger” (biggest?). The Pro 3 is scheduled to launch on September 21.

Huawei Mate 9 could pack dual 20MP cameras + Kirin 960 chip

A promotional image posted on Chinese social network Weibo appears to confirm the presence of a new dual camera setup in the successor to the Mate 8, and also mentions the unannounced Kirin 960 chipset by name. Kirin 960 is rumored to be among the first SoCs to use ARM’s Cortex-A73 cores, which are even faster and more efficient than the A72 cores used in Kirin 950 and 955. Conspicuous in its absence: Any Leica branding whatsoever. More

BREAKING: The Pixel XL will look like a phone

If the blurry photo of the purported Pixel XL has you wanting for more, then you’ll definitely want to take a look at this unofficial fan render of the phone based on the leaked “image.” Yep, sure does look like a phone.

OnePlus 3 vs. Honor 8: When $399 is a bargain

Which is better: the OnePlus 3, or the Honor 8?

I can’t tell the last time we’ve been asked by so many people for one specific comparison. This is the hype machine at work, with two phones that aesthetically couldn’t be more different artificially paired by the most important consideration of all, price.

The two phones I am talking about are, of course, the OnePlus 3 and the Honor 8, both priced at $399 and offering well-rounded spec sheets that jump off the page in one more than one area. But which one is better depends on what you value in a smartphone, and how amenable you are to a software that errs on the side of eccentric (in this case the Honor 8, but potentially soon the OnePlus 3, too).

(There’s another phone that should be in this comparisons, the ZTE Axon 7, a pretty great $399 phone that does most everything well. Suffice it to say, we’ll be including it in future roundups, but the high-profile nature of the OnePlus 3 and Honor 8 necessitate a head-to-head.)

Hardware

These two phones couldn’t be more different unless one was made of, say, maple syrup. Fine, I won’t go that far but for the same price you’re getting a drastically different chassis and, for the most part, internal makeup.

Let’s start with the more traditional of the two, the OnePlus 3. Eschewing the metal-and-sandpaper combination of its predecessor, the OnePlus 3 is a beautifully-crafted all-metal phone with soft angles, visible antenna lines, and a small camera bump. I would say it looks like an iPhone except that an iPhone looks like every other phone these days, so let’s split the difference and say though in losing some of its distinctiveness the OnePlus 3 appears mature and confident its averageness.

• Read more: OnePlus 3 specs
• Read more: Honor 8 specs

The OnePlus 3 is a big phone, though: at 5.5-inches, with a hefty bottom bezel to house the front fingerprint sensor, it’s not a one hand-friendly phone for many. And while its 1080p display has been criticized, I’m a fan: it’s sharp and saturated, with lovely colors, ample (albeit less than remarkable) brightness and endless viewing angles. Below the phone lives a single speaker, a headphone port, and a USB-C port. What’s remarkable about the OnePlus 3 is how unremarkable it is, and how much value you get for the price.

The Honor 8 approaches that value-conscious narrative from a very different place. All diminutive form factor and reflective glass, the phone is derived from the more-expensive, and arguably less interesting, Huawei P9. The 5.2-inch 1080p display may be slightly sharper than the OnePlus 3’s, but they are comparable in most other respects; it is vivid and responsive, with excellent viewing angles and good-not-great maximum brightness.

I find it fascinating that both phones get to a similar place from such divergent designs.

In my hands, despite the slippery and fingerprint-soaking nature of its rear glass, the Honor 8 gets my pick, mainly for its size. The bottom ports are mirror images of the OnePlus 3’s, with the same etched mono speaker grill, USB-C and headphone port. And while the larger phone boasts a mute toggle on its left side above the volume keys — another similarity to the iPhone — the Honor 8 looks like nothing I’ve ever used, especially from the back. With dual cameras (more on that later, obviously), and a rear fingerprint sensor that doubles as a button, this thing has gimmick written all over it.

And yet there is nothing gimmicky about either of those features (well, nothing much). Let’s start with the rear fingerprint sensor: it’s very fast, one of the fastest I’ve used, and combined with some of EMUI’s gestures and button combinations, it’s a joy to use. Seriously, it’s an honor to use the Honor 8’s fing… OK, I’ll show myself out.

Above it, the dual 12MP rear camera sensors are intriguing to look at, but work very simply: one takes a photo in color, and the other in monochrome. Though it’s possible to do all kinds of depth-related tricks in Huawei’s convoluted camera app, left on Auto the two sensors combine to take just great daytime photos. But so does the OnePlus 3’s 16MP shooter. Neither are wonderful at night, and don’t compare well to the kings of low-light, the Galaxy S7 and Note 7, but that’s to be expected from phones nearly half the cost.

It may be trite to say, but I find it fascinating that both phones get to a similar place from such divergent designs. The Honor 8 is slippery to a fault, but otherwise incredibly comfortable and perfect for one-handed use. The OnePlus 3 is a known quantity if you’ve used a big phone over the past couple of years. But I couldn’t tell you which is the better phone just from holding and eyeing them; each will attract a particular type of user and you’ll know who you are right away.

Internally, things are a bit different. The OnePlus 3, with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, is more powerful than the Honor 8, which boasts a Kirin 950. All things being equal, the differences between the two chips, at least from a CPU perspective, are slight. Where the two really differ is in the speed of their graphics processors, with the Adreno 530 in the OnePlus 3 coming out way ahead. In real-world comparisons the differences are small, but you should know that going in to the purchase that the long-term prospects for the Snapdragon are slightly more auspicious than the Kirin 950, which isn’t even the fastest variant in Hisilicon’s current lineup.

• Read more: Honor 8 review
• Read more: OnePlus 3 review

Both phones, however, have an ample 4GB of RAM, and provide a fluid experience. Short of comparing benchmarking (which I did, and the OnePlus 3 came out ahead by a small margin in every instance) I found little between them, even though the OnePlus 3 has what appears to be a software layer with considerably less overhead than Huawei’s divisive EMUI 4.1.

With dual cameras and a rear fingerprint sensor that doubles as a button, the Honor 8 has gimmick written all over it — but they’re not gimmicks at all.

The OnePlus 3 does have double the storage — 64GB to 32GB in the Honor 8 — though it lacks a microSD slot for expandable storage. But in lieu of expandable storage, it has an extra slot for a second SIM card, which is increasingly useful to many travelers, both in the East and West. Honor offers a dual-SIM variant in Europe, but forgoes that option in the U.S., where such a configuration is uncommon.

Software

Here’s where the two phones diverge: Honor’s EMUI 4.1 layer, though based on Android 6.0, is not great. It’s good in places, sure, but there are areas, like the notification shade and app drawer-lacking launcher, that feel, to a Canadian used to doing things a certain way, change for change’s sake.

The OnePlus 3, on the other hand, looks remarkably like a Nexus device from a software perspective. But there are small hints, from the optional Shelf that stands in for Google Now in the launcher, to support for app-launching gestures, that remind you this is made by a company influenced as much by Xiaomi as by Google.

My biggest issue with the Honor 8’s software is the unabashed disturbing of the sacred notification shade.

Let’s be clear: there are some great ideas in the Honor 8’s software. In particular, I like the way Huawei makes full use of the rear fingerprint sensor-button combo to do things like quickly launch apps, run shortcuts, or (my personal favorite) lower the notification shade. Every phone with a rear fingerprint sensor should do this (looking at you, LG). And I’m not outright dismissing the no-app-drawer launcher idea, either: to some extent the app drawer is an anachronism, a throwback to a much earlier time in the Android world. But this only works as long as you keep things organized.

My biggest issue with the Honor 8’s software is the blatant — there’s no right way to say this — fuckery of the notification area. Persistent notifications, such as a Google Maps direction banner, are egregiously squashed and basically unusable. Other apps push notifications as banners that overlay in ugly, disruptive ways over the active app. It’s all just bad, and wrong.

The good news is that it seems like Huawei is slowly learning, since good guy Alex Dobie tells me things used to be a lot worse in the Huawei space. Being the first EMUI-based device I’ve ever used, I will take him at his word and be thankful I didn’t have to suffer through that super awkward phase. Even better, EMUI 5.0, based on Nougat, is reportedly much better, and has reverted the notification shade to something more along the lines of what Google intended for Nougat. We shall see.

The flip side is that though OxygenOS 3 has grown into a pretty powerful, stock-plus-useful-features build of Android Marshmallow, there are bad tidings that suggest, due to internal unrest, the company’s software is now being overseen by the team in charge of the much less Western market-friendly HydrogenOS. OnePlus assured me that things won’t change for the worse, and any changes to OxygenOS going forward will be measured, but I’m not so sure.

Either way, I’d give the overall edge to OnePlus here, even if its gesture support isn’t quite as good.

Camera

The funny thing about the cameras on both of these devices is that, like their designs, on paper they couldn’t be more different, and yet their output is remarkably similar.

As I said earlier, the Honor 8 sports two 12-megapixel sensors, one color and one monochrome. You don’t have to toggle anything to take advantage of the second sensor’s optics, and it’s certainly true that it confers an ample amount of additional detail to daylight photos. I was really impressed with the photos I took on the Honor 8, and that’s not even getting into the myriad modes, options and toggles in Huawei’s mostly good camera app. Yes, there’s an excellent manual mode, too.

The OnePlus 3 takes great photos, too, in most situations. It has the advantage of boasting optical image stabilization, which the Honor 8 lacks, so low-light photos are slightly better (though still not great). In fact, I found that the OnePlus 3 takes better indoor photos as well, since its OIS is able to keep the sensor more stable at lower shutter speeds, preventing the blur that, in the same scene, crept into the Honor 8.

OnePlus 3 (left) / Honor 8 (right) — click image to view larger

In daylight, the Honor tends to shoot a little bit warmer and deals with areas of high contrast a little better, but there isn’t a huge difference between them. And while the number of features in the Honor 8’s camera eclipses that of the OnePlus 3, the latter’s is much easier to master. At night, the OnePlus 3 uses its OIS to great effect, eking much sharper photos than the Honor 8. It also ramps up the ISO, which offers a vividness that, for some reason — even with two sensors — the Honor 8 isn’t willing to do. The above nighttime shot sees the Honor 8 stick to ISO800 at 1/15; the OP3 ratchets up the sensitivity to ISO2000 at 1/17, and produces a much better photo as a result. Impressively, despite the increased light sensitivity, grain isn’t an issue on the larger device.

In all, despite the extra sensor, I don’t think the Honor 8 offers a superior photo-taking experience, from the software stack to the hardware itself. The OnePlus 3 consistently takes photos that, in my review, I preferred over its Huawei-built counterpart. That’s not to say the differences are huge, but they’re certainly noticeable.

Which should you buy? OnePlus 3

That’s the big question, isn’t it? Both the OnePlus 3 and the Honor 8 are surprisingly strong phones for $399, and each has its advantages over the other. While the Honor 8 is arguably more visually arresting, with its reflective glass backing that, especially in blue, draws the eye, the OnePlus 3 is more robust and is more likely to withstand a fall. It’s also got a faster processor and slightly better camera, with software that doesn’t feel as painted on as the Honor 8.

It remains to be seen whether the shakeup within the OnePlus software division negatively affects the quality of its releases in the long term. It’s also going to be interesting to see whether Huawei can significantly improve the quality of its own EMUI and — even more important — push it out to the Honor 8 at a decent speed.

Until then, you can’t go wrong with either phone, but you can go less wrong with the OnePlus 3.

OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3 review: Finally, all grown up
• OnePlus 3 specs
• OnePlus 3 vs. the flagship competition
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3 in the forums

OnePlus

Apple to continue headphone jack killing spree with MacBook Pro?

After the decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, it seems Apple now has the urge to continue its villainous spree with attention now focused on the MacBook Pro with Retina display.

MacRumours has learned that Apple has been sending out a survey to users of the sharp-screened MacBook Pro model, asking them if they use the 3.5mm headphone port. Presumably, if the majority of people say they in fact don’t use it, it’ll face the guillotine and be gone.

But Apple may not be stopping at just the headphone port, as the company has also asked users if they use the SD card slot as well as questions regarding battery life. It’s been reported that the new MacBook Pro lineup, which is expected to be revealed in October, will come with four USB Type-C ports and the much-loved headphone port. This suggests any changes from the data Apple is collecting now, won’t have an immediate impact on the refreshed range of laptops.

The new models are expected to be quite bare in the connections department though, with no HDMI, SD card, USB Type-A or even a MagSafe connection.

Is this what the Google Pixel XL will look like?

We know that Google is planning to release two new smartphones this year and we’re pretty confident they’ll be called Pixel and Pixel XL. What we don’t know is what they’ll look like. Until now.

Or at least, we now have an idea what the larger Pixel XL smartphone will look like thanks to a render from Reddit user bndki, which has been picked up by Phone Arena. Bndki has taken a blurry photo, which also leaked online a few days ago, purporting to be the Pixel XL and turned it into a render to give us a better idea of what to expect come launch day.

The render doesn’t give too much away, other than that the Pixel XL will be a black rectangle shape, like most other phones, but there does appear to be very thin bezels, which is always nice.

Both the Pixel and Pixel XL are expected to be made by HTC and should be unveiled on October 4th at Google’s I/O event on October 4th. Specs are said to include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor 5.5in 2560 x 1440 AMOLED display, 4GB of RAM and 32GB/128GB of internal storage. The rear camera should come in at 12-megapixels while the front will be 8MP and the battery should be a 3540mAh unit with USB Type-C charging.

White Amazon Echo in pictures, get it for £50 off

Along with finally announcing the Amazon Echo for the UK, the retail giant revealed a new colour scheme that is also new for the US.

Previously, the Amazon Echo voice-controlled speaker and smarthome system only came in black, and while that still looks nice, it doesn’t match the white version for sleek looks. You can take a look in our gallery above to check that out for yourself.

It also has a matt finish, so looks classy. Indeed, we couldn’t help feeling that it would be a fantastic match for the Xbox One S console, also recently released.

Like the black edition, the white version is available on Amazon.co.uk for pre-order now, priced at £149.99. However, if you’re quick, Prime members get £50 off for a limited period (so just £99.99). And if you’re not a Prime member yet, you can sign up for a month’s free trial and make use of the discount anyway.

• Amazon Echo UK pre-order discount gives Prime members £50 off, but be quick

The Amazon Echo is a tube speaker with multiple drivers and microphones. It connects to the internet and if you start voice queries with the term “Alexa” it will fetch information or play music through services like Spotify automatically. It can even control many smarthome devices, including Hue lighting and Nest thermostats.

There is also a version of the Amazon Echo without the speaker drivers. Called Amazon Echo Dot, it gives access to Alexa voice control and services, but you can hook it up to your own speaker system or AV receiver instead.

• Amazon Echo review: Ace assistant, average speaker
• Amazon Echo comes to Europe, UK customers can finally use Alexa
• Amazon Echo vs Amazon Tap vs Echo Dot: What’s the difference?
• Amazon Echo Dot (2016) preview: Alexa for those who use their own speakers

UK ISP rapped for disguising flyers as missed delivery slips

It’s fairly common for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to wag a finger at ISPs and mobile operators for misleading claims or poorly worded fine print. Every now and again, though, the watchdog deals with a slightly more unusual complaint. The latest company giving the ASA a headache is fibre broadband provider Hyperoptic, which is in trouble for a snail-mail marketing campaign that looked a little too similar to the cards you get through the door when you’ve missed a parcel delivery.

As the ASA ruling describes, the card was headed “SORRY, Your current broadband provider couldn’t deliver.” Alongside some seemingly handwritten info such as date and time (like you’d see on a courier’s card), the list of undelivered items included movies, games, music and cat videos. Cute, but perhaps a little too clever on Hyperoptic’s part, as one recipient complained to the ASA it wasn’t immediately apparent the correspondence was an advert.

Despite the flipside of the card (and the envelope it was delivered in) dropping various hints by way of logos, promotional terms and various mentions of broadband, the ASA agreed it could give a confusing first impression. That was almost certainly the whole point of the campaign, of course, but a breach of advertising code is a breach of advertising code. Typical of these rulings, Hyperoptic is escaping with only a light slap on the wrist. The ASA has simply told the ISP it can’t use the ad again without appropriate tweaks, and to not be so naughty in the future.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Advertising Standards Authority