New ‘Beats 1: Replay’ Feature Lets Users Listen to Full Replays of Missed Shows

Apple’s Beats 1 radio station was recently updated to give users access to full replays of radio segments, with a new Beats 1: Replay feature. As highlighted by MacStories, Replay covers several Beats 1 shows, including those by Zane Lowe, Julie Adenuga, and Ebro Darden, letting users re-listen to a missed segment.

Since Apple Music’s debut, there’s been an option on Beats 1 radio to listen to playlists of songs by each DJ after a show ends, but there was often no way to listen to a full show with guests and commentary unless you caught it on the second playthrough, 12 hours after it first aired.

With the change implemented in the last few days, Beats 1 users can access both a full replay that’s the same as listening to a show live and a playlist of songs from each program.

Though a feature that’s likely going to be welcome by many Beats 1 listeners, Replay is somewhat hidden. Re-recordings of shows can be accessed by tapping on the Beats 1 logo in Apple Music to open the list of featured shows, tapping on a DJ, and going to the “Connect” page. Alternatively, it’s also possible to search for an individual DJ to access their Connect section, or to search directly with a term like “Julie Adenuga Replay.”

Tapping on the “Beats 1: Replay” option will play the entire show in one long block, with no option to see the songs that are playing as is possible when Beats 1 radio is playing live. As MacStories points out, it’s akin to listening to one long podcast. Replaying a show eliminates the ability to heart songs and add them to playlists to enhance the Apple Music listening experience, but it does give users a way to listen to one-of-a-kind content and commentary that would have previously been missed.

Since Apple Music launched, Beats 1 radio has featured a near-endless stream of exclusive content, worldwide song debuts, and artist interviews, all designed to draw in listeners. The service’s most recent exclusive was MTV’s announcement of the 2015 Video Music Award nominees.

Cellular Service Outage Affecting Users in Southeastern United States

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile customers in the southeastern United States may be seeing a widespread cellular outage that’s preventing them from using voice and data services. Downdetector.com is showing outages in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana, and Mississippi for all four carriers.

According to a Sprint representative that spoke to Re/code, the issue is related to a local exchange provider that works with AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

“We are aware of the impacts to service in which customers across multiple carriers may be unable to access voice and some data services,” the Sprint representative said. “This appears to be an issue caused by a local exchange provider and our network team is working with the provider to restore service to impacted customers as quickly as possible.”

Sprint said the company is working on a fix, as did representatives from Verizon and AT&T. AT&T said it’s working to restore service, while Verizon said its engineers were working with “vendor partners” to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

It is not clear when service will be restored for affected customers.

Tips for Getting Siri to Play Tracks in Apple Music

If you are signed up for the free, three-month trial of Apple Music, you probably know by now many of the cool features the streaming music service has to offer. But, did you know that Siri can make the experience even better? We’ve got a few tips for getting Siri to act as your digital deejay.

To get the full use of Siri’s compatibility with Apple Music, make sure you are subscribed and your iCloud Music Library is on.

Play a Radio Station or Beats 1

Not only can Siri play a radio station like Electronic or Oldies, but now the personal assistant can also start playing live Beats 1 programming. Just ask her to “Play Beats 1.”

Play an Apple Music Playlist

One of the things I love about Apple Music is the playlist feature in the For You section. If I’ve recently “liked” a particular song, A new playlist based on that will show up. If you know the name of an Apple Music created playlist, ask for it specifically. For example, “Play Souxie & The Banshees: Deep Cuts.”

What Song is Playing

If Apple Music is playing a song you don’t recognize, you can ask for more information. Just say, “What song is this?” to discover the artist and song title.

Add an Album to Your Playlist

If you like the song that is playing and want to hear the whole album, ask Siri to add the album to your playlist and it will begin playing after the current track is finished.
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Apple Music Licensing Deals Include Permissions for Additional Beats Radio Stations

Apple’s licensing terms with record labels give the company permission to create up to five additional radio stations like Beats 1, reports The Verge, citing sources with knowledge of Apple’s deals. Without needing to negotiate new terms, Apple could potentially launch additional Beats stations around the world, adding DJs in other countries or launching stations with a specific focus.

As part of the deal it struck with the major labels for Apple Music Radio, Apple has licenses for up to five additional stations like Beats 1, without having to renegotiate with the labels. That means Apple could launch a Beats 2 station headquartered in Australia or Asia, allowing it to provide live radio around the clock (Beats 1 is only live 12 hours a day).

It seems Apple is indeed considering and preparing for a potential expansion Beats 1 with new Beats radio stations, as the company has registered domains like beats2.com.cn, beats2.hk, and beats4.com.ru in various countries around the world. Beats 1 is broadcast worldwide, but in the future, Apple may wish to offer stations that cater to different languages and music tastes around the world.

Labels may have given Apple permission to create additional radio stations due to the fact that Apple is allegedly paying more per-play than Pandora for music that is streamed on Beats 1.

The Verge‘s sources also commented on the status of Apple Music, stating that labels are “pretty pleased” with Apple Music’s performance thus far and that the service has gained a “substantial” number of users since it launched on June 30. Of course, all Apple Music subscribers right now have free access to the service until October, so it’s still impossible to gauge how Apple Music measures up to competing services like Spotify.

As of this month, Apple has initiated a major advertising campaign for Apple Music, with billboards and signage popping up in cities around the world like San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Mexico City, which should bump up subscriber numbers.

Apple has also maintained momentum with its Beats 1 radio station through a series of exclusive song releases and interviews with artists. Most recently, Beats 1 scored an exclusive with MTV, with the network using the platform to announce the 2015 Video Music Award nominees.

Video Review: The SVALT D’s Built-In Fan Sets it Apart From Other MacBook Docks

The Svalt D is a MacBook dock with a unique feature – a built in cooling fan that’s designed to keep a MacBook’s temperature down when used in clamshell mode with an external monitor. Keeping the MacBook cool helps prevent processor throttling due to the high temperatures a MacBook is subjected to when in clamshell mode.

We went hands-on with the Svalt D to test the claims that it reduces temperature and speeds up performance, and we were impressed with how it worked.

Made up of a two-pound block of aluminum, the Svalt D is an attractive, sturdy stand that matches well with Apple’s line of MacBooks. The Svalt D houses a small stand that moves air through a MacBook, and thanks to an adjustable rubber foot, it’s compatible with all of Apple’s notebooks.

To test the Svalt D, we exported two different videos from a MacBook, with and without the dock. Without using the dock, exporting a video took 15 minutes and caused the temperature of the MacBook to rise to 121 degrees Fahrenheit. With the stand, our video exported in 14 minutes and the stand kept the MacBook at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, a 16 degree difference.

Our one complaint about the Svalt D concerned the two modes of the fan. There’s a normal mode and a silent mode, but switching between them requires using a special standalone cable, which is a bit of a hassle and an extra expense. Luckily, both modes are relatively quiet and don’t make as much noise as a MacBook fan, but the silent mode is definitely a better choice for users who want the quietest possible performance.

In our opinion, the Svalt D is a solid dock that lives up to its claims, keeping your MacBook cool when it’s used with an external monitor. The Svalt D is available in Silver and Black and can be purchased from the Svalt D website for $149.95. The Silence Adapter is available for $8.95.

Note: MacRumors received no compensation for this review.

iPad mini 4 Roundup Updated

We’ve updated our iPad mini roundup with all the details on Apple’s next-generation 7.9-inch tablet. The iPad mini 4 is expected to be thinner and lighter with an iPad Air-style redesign, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a gapless laminated display with anti-reflective coating. It will likely include an A9 processor and could also offer 2GB of RAM like the iPad Air 2.

Apple Seeds Fourth OS X El Capitan Beta to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of OS X El Capitan to public beta testers, nearly one week after seeding the third beta and just under a month after providing the first OS X El Capitan beta to the public for testing purposes.

The fourth public beta follows the launch of the sixth OS X El Capitan developer beta, which was seeded to developers yesterday. Aside from new wallpaper, no outward-facing changes were introduced with beta six, suggesting it’s largely an under-the-hood update with bug fixes and performance improvements.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program and already have the public beta installed can update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

OS X 10.11 El Capitan is expected to be released to the public in the fall after the beta testing process is complete.

Apple Music Ads Going Up Around the World as Apple Music is Added to Billboard Top Charts

Apple has kicked off a worldwide advertising campaign for its new streaming music service, with advertisements showing up in various cities like San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.

Billboards in San Francisco have been updated with new Apple Music ads, and the Omotesando and Harajuku Metro Stations in Tokyo have been updated with Apple Music banners. Some bus stops in Mexico City are also displaying Apple Music ads, and ads have also been seen on billboards in Los Angeles and Toronto.

Apple Music banners in Omotesando via Instagram
The banners mimic images that have been used to advertise Apple Music on Apple’s website, featuring desaturated pictures of artists overlaid with the Apple Music logo in a variety of different fonts.

Apple Music banner featuring FKA Twigs via Instagram
It is not clear when Apple began its Apple Music advertising push, but the banners and signage appear to have gone up over the last few days. This is the first major advertising campaign for Apple Music since its June 30 launch and the first public ads, aside from videos that debuted at WWDC when the service was introduced.

As Apple begins heavily advertising Apple Music around the world, Billboard has announced that songs streamed from Apple Music will now count towards the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Hot 100. Apple was recently added as a streaming provider and Apple Music songs will influence the August charts.

The Billboard 200 lists the 200 most popular albums each week, based on direct sales, digital downloads, and on-demand streaming. The Billboard Hot 100 tracks individual songs or “singles” using the same methodology, ranking popularity on a weekly basis. New charts for both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Hot 100 come out each Tuesday.

Other streaming providers that contribute to the charts include Amazon Prime, Google Play, Medianet, Rdio, Rhapsody, Slacker, Tidal, Spotify, and Groove Music Pass.