Apple Music is changing: Here’s how it’ll better match songs, no longer add DRM to uploaded tunes

Apple Music is about to get better at matching and syncing songs you’ve already purchased in iTunes.

Apple’s music-streaming service, which launched last year, has a built-in feature that allows it to match songs in your existing iTunes library, but it doesn’t work as well as iTunes Match, a similar tool that Apple has long offered to customers who were willing to pay $25 a year for the service. Well, according to The Loop, Apple is finally addressing the problem via an update to Apple Music that will bring iTunes Match’s audio fingerprint technology, and it will finally allow all properly-matched, uploaded songs to download DRM-free.

OK, so we understand this is complicated. But put on your thinking cap, because we’ve explained everything in detail below, with the purpose of helping you comprehend what’s going on with Apple Music, as well as whether you should continue paying for iTunes Match.

First, what’s the point of iTunes Match?

In the early days of iTunes, you could rip purchased CDs with your Mac and then listen to them in iTunes.

When the iTunes Store came along some time later, it let you purchase songs for a set fee. It also let your ripped music and purchased music lived side-by-side inside the app. However, due to Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), a technology that controls what you can do with the digital media and devices you own, you couldn’t do much with your purchased music in iTunes. Bummer.

In 2009, Apple stopped selling music encumbered by DRM restrictions (no DRM means you could finally play your music files on as many Macs or PCs as you want, resulting in your music actually being yours). However, if you want DRM-free versions of music, you have to pay $.30 more per track or album. DRM-free tracks are also encoded at 256-kpbs, twice the bit rate of standard iTunes tracks.

So, not only can you play your files on as many Macs or PCs as you want, but they’re now higher-quality and thus make your ripped music sound way worse than their DRM-free counterparts in the iTunes Store. To solve all our woes, Apple began offering iTunes Match. For $25 a year, you can automatically upgrade any track in your personal music library that’s in the iTunes Store.

That means all your low-quality ripped music will be replaced in your iTunes library with higher-quality, DRM-free AAC tracks. Also, with your iTunes Match subscription, you can upload up to 100,000 songs from your library to iCloud Music Library, where you’re able ton stream and download them to up to 10 other devices. Voila! And that’s the point of iTunes Match, in a nutshell.

Wait – what is iCloud Music Library?

When you turn on iCloud Music Library, it looks at all your music on your Mac to see if any of those songs and albums are also available in the iTunes Store (if you’re an iTunes Match subscriber) or Apple Music’s catalogue (if you’re an Apple Music subscriber). If they are, it’ll match those songs, letting you download or stream higher-quality, 256-kbps AAC tracks on another device that doesn’t have your music locally stored.

If Apple can’t find a track from your library in its catalogues, it’ll still upload the original, possibly low-quality version of your track to iCloud Music Library, where you can re-download or stream it on a different device (it’s just been transcoded to work). That doesn’t mean you could use iCloud Music Library as a back-up service. For instance, until recently, if you deleted your ripped music on your Mac because it was matched to Apple Music’s catalogue and uploaded to iCloud, you couldn’t just unsubscribe from Apple Music.

That’s because Apple Music has a DRM layer, which we expand upon in a bit.

If you deleted the local copies of your ripped music on your Mac, you basically got rid of your original, DRM-free copies. And if you were only using Apple Music, your matched tracks suddenly had DRM on them. So, if you unsubscribed from Apple Music and tried to download your ripped music from iCloud, the newly-applied DRM prevented you from doing that. But Apple Music is changing how some of that works now.

It’s confusing, we know.

OK. So how is Apple Music changing?

Apple Music’s matching algorithm is more more reliable now, and it no longer DRM-locks uploaded copies of your own music.

We’ve already discussed iTunes Match, iCloud Music Library, and DRM-free music, so before we discuss how Apple Music is changing, let’s first dive into how the service handles its streaming music collection. Just like every other streaming service, it has a DRM layer in order to prevent you from getting a subscription, then downloading all the music you want to any device you own, and canceling your subscription.

Apple Music also has an iTunes Match-like feature that matches songs in your existing iTunes library. But it didn’t work as well as the iTunes Match. The Loop has reported that Apple is rolling out an update that’ll use iTunes Match’s audio fingerprint technology to better match the songs you’ve bought. Until now, Apple Music used a less accurate version of iTunes Match that leveraged metadata to pair tracks.

This often resulted in Apple Music pulling the wrong version of a song. For instance, Apple Music would sometimes replace a live version of a song with a studio version. That’s not going to be a problem any longer thanks to audio fingerprint. And if you had songs that were matched incorrectly, Apple Music will now rematch to the correct song, but it won’t delete any downloaded copies of songs you have in your library.

Apple Music is giving you the new version of iTunes Match for free. If you are a current iTunes Match subscriber and subscribe to Apple Music, you can ditch your iTunes Match subscription and get the same benefits. But that’s not all: this update also means that all matched songs will now download DRM-free, and the only tracks that’ll be DRM-restricted are those you didn’t upload to iCloud and directly downloaded from Apple Music.

What does this mean for you?

Not only is Apple Music’s matching algorithm going to be better, because it’s matching from audio fingerprints instead of metadata, but the tracks you upload to iCloud Music Library from Apple Music will no longer have DRM.

Any music you purchased or ripped from CDs will display in Apple Music as Matched or Uploaded without DRM applied to it.  So, if you accidentally delete your personal music on your Mac, you’ll still be able to re-download copies of those songs that are DRM-free. When you download your matched tracks on another device you own, it won’t disappear if you cancel Apple Music.

But any iCloud Music Library tracks you don’t have stored on a device will disappear. Also, tracks or playlists downloaded from the Apple Music subscription library will be DRM-restricted. You didn’t upload them to iCloud, nor do you even own them, obviously, and so they will disappear if you cancel your Apple Music subscription.

And finally, because Apple Music is integrating with iTunes Match to the max, you will no longer have to pay for both services. Apple Music subscribers are getting these iTunes Match features as part of their subscription.

When will the new Apple Music be available?

Apple is rolling the new Apple Music out to 1 to 2 percent of its users every day. The update will happen automatically. You’ll know it has arrived when you see “Matched” tracks instead of “Apple Music” in your iCloud Music Library.

What’s on your HDTV: Comic-con, ‘BvS,’ ‘Bojack Horseman’

This week the RNC in Cleveland will get a lot of primetime attention, but it’s not the only thing on TV. First, if you haven’t started watching Netflix’s series Stranger Things (it dropped last week), then you should — it’s that good. You can also try the extended cut on Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is available as the first triple layer Ultra HD Blu-ray with footage you couldn’t se in theaters. Also, later this week, Syfy will be broadcasting from San Diego Comic-Con for the first time, while Netflix has season three of Bojack Horseman. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (3D, 4K)
• Orphan Black (S4)
• Person of Interest (S5)
• 30 for 30: OJ – Made in America
• Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (4K)
• Miles Ahead
• The Magicians (S1)
• Man of Steel (4K)
• The 100 (S3)
• Elvis & Nixon
• Neverwinter (PS4)
• Obliteracers (PS4
• Dreambreak (PC)
• Ninja Pizza Girl (PS4, Xbox One)
• Kill Strain (PS4)
• Moon Hunters (PS4)

Monday

• Open Your Eyes, HBO, 7:30PM
• American Ninja Warrior, NBC, 8PM
• So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• 12 Monkeys (season finale), Syfy, 9PM
• Guilt, Freeform, 9PM
• Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 9PM
• Angie Tribeca, TBS, 9PM
• 2016 Republican Convention, CBS/ABC/NBC, 10PM
• The Making of the Mob, AMC, 10PM
• Major Crimes, TNT, 10PM
• Are You the One?, MTV, 10PM
• Triptank, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Unreal, Lifetime, 10PM

Tuesday

• Difficult People, Hulu, 3AM
• Powers (season finale), PSN, 3AM
• Casual, Hulu, 3AM
• America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8PM
• Pretty Little Liars, Freeform, 8PM
• Zoo, CBS, 9PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• Animal Kingdom, TNT, 9PM
• Containment (series finale), CW, 9PM
• Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9PM
• Coupled, Fox, 9PM
• Scream, MTV, 10PM
• F in Fabulous, BET, 10PM
• Feed the Beast, AMC, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Wrecked, TBS, 10PM
• Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central, 10:30PM

Wednesday

• Chelsea, Netflix 3AM
• Penn & Teller: Fool Us, CW, 8PM
• America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8PM
• Unsung Hollywood, TV One, 8PM
• Young & Hungry, Freeform, 8PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
• Lucha Underground, El Rey, 8PM
• Baby Daddy, Freeform, 8:30PM
• Suits, USA, 9PM
• American Gothic, CBS, 9PM
• Dating Naked, VH1, 9PM
• Dual Survival, Discovery, 9PM
• Kingdom, DirecTV, 9PM
• Wayward Pines, Fox, 9PM
• 2016 Republican Convention, CBS/ABC/NBC, 10PM
• Mr. Robot, USA, 10PM
• Tyrant, FX, 10PM
• Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons, HBO, 10PM
• Another Period, Comedy Central, 10PM
• The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, MTV, 10PM

Thursday

• Live from Comic-Con, Syfy, 8PM
• Battlebots, ABC, 8PM
• Bones (season finale), Fox, 8PM
• Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (season finale), NBC, 8PM
• Greatest Hits, ABC, 9PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 9PM
• Beauty and the Beast, CW, 9PM
• Home Free, Fox, 9PM
• The First 48, A&E, 9PM
• Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge, NBC, 9PM
• 2016 Republican Convention, CBS/ABC/NBC, 10PM
• Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, FX, 10PM
• Queen of the South, USA, 10PM
• Ridiculousness, MTV, 10PM
• Thirteen (season finale), BBC America, 10PM

Friday

• Bojack Horseman (S3), Netflix, 3AM
• Degrassi: Next Class (S15), Netflix, 3AM
• Live from Comic-Con, Syfy, 8PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
• Masters of Illusion, CW, 8PM
• Killjoys, Syfy, 9PM
• Bellator MMA, Spike TV, 9PM
• Dark Matter, Syfy, 10PM
• Outcast, Cinemax, 10PM

Saturday

• UFC Fight Night 20, Fox, 8PM
• Live from Comic-Con, Syfy, 8PM
• Indiscretion, Lifetime, 8PM
• Angel from Hell (series finale), CBS, 8 & 8:30PM
• Hell on Wheels (series finale), AMC, 9PM
• In An Instant (season finale), ABC, 9PM
• Rush Hour, CBS, 9PM
• Looking: The Movie, HBO, 10PM
• American West, AMC, 10PM

Sunday

• Popples (S3), Netflix, 3AM
• Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime, 8PM
• Celebrity Family Feud, ABC, 8PM
• MTV Fandom Awards, MTV, 8PM
• The Night of, HBO, 9PM
• The $100,000 Pyramid, ABC, 9PM
• Ray Donovan, Showtime, 9PM
• Preacher, AMC, 9PM
• The Last Ship, TNT, 9PM
• The Hunt, BBC America, 9PM
• Survivor’s Remorse (season premiere), Starz, 10P<
• Braindead, CBS, 10PM
• Motive, USA, 10PM
• Match Game, ABC, 10PM
• Roadies, Showtime, 10PM
• Geeking Out, AMC, 10PM
• Declassified, CNN, 10PM
• The Jim Gaffigan Show, TV Land, 10PM
• Murder in the First, TNT, 10PM
• Vice Principals, HBO, 10:30PM
• Tunnel, PBS, 10:30PM

(All times listed are ET)

B&H Photo offers free wireless headphones, $75 gift card with ZTE Axon 7 pre-order

If you’re looking to get your hands on a ZTE Axon 7, B&H Photo is currently offering a solid bundle deal when you pre-order the phone. For $399, you can pre-order the ZTE Axon 7 and snag a free a pair of Samsung Level U Wireless Headphones and a $75 gift card.

In all, the extras included add up to a total value of $109.95, B&H Photo says. So, if you were eyeing the RAM-heavy 5.5-inch premium phone offering from ZTE anyhow, this is definitely worth considering. Pre-orders are open now, and shipments are expected to start going out on July 27. And if you’re on the fence, be sure to check out our hands-on with the phone for more.

Thanks, James, for the tip!

See at B&H Photo

Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview 5 actually comes with an awesome easter egg

So, about that article from earlier…

Earlier, we said there was no new easter egg in the Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview 5. We were totally wrong; sorry about that.

In our defense, though, this thing is pretty hard to spot. In fact, the entire game — if one can call it that — is basically a giant test of patience.

What is the new Easter Egg?

Like previous incarnations of the Android Easter Egg, to activate the new one you must open Settings, head to About phone, find the Android version number and tap several times until a cartoon “N” appears.

Unlike the last few versions, though, tapping several times on that cartoon depiction doesn’t enter a game (which is a Flappy Bird knock-off in Android 6.0 Marshmallow), but if you press and hold the N it shows a small cat emoji underneath. Tapping that again reveals a “No entry” emoji, which is, earlier, where we thought it ended.

Turns out that’s just the beginning. Once that “No entry” emoji is present, swipe down your notification quick settings, tap Edit and find the ???? Android Easter Egg quick setting then drag it to your quick settings.

After it’s moved, tapping on the new “Empty dish” quick setting toggle begins a game where you have to entice a cat to feed from an empty plate using either “Bits,” “Fish,” “Chicken,” or “Treats.” Should a feline take the bait, which isn’t guaranteed, you’ll receive a notification with a cat and a number. Tapping on it reveals a new window with a smiling cartoon cat that, when long-pressed, can be shared as an image.

That’s it?

Yep, that appears to be it. The game draws inspiration from the popular Japanese cat “collector” game, Neko Atsume. The word “neko” also happens to be Japanese for “cat,” which keeps with the N theme of the latest Android version.

It’s a cute, creative, and well-hidden Easter Egg. Kudos, Google.

Thanks to Blake Bryant for providing us with initial screenshots and cats.

Android Nougat

Android N (currently in Developer Preview status) is now Android Nougat! It’s the 12th nicknamed version of Android and will be released to the public in the fall of 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!

• What’s new in Android Nougat
• All Android Nougat news
• Should you use the Android N Dev Preview?
• About the Android Beta Program
• Join the Discussion

What is BBC+ and why should you download it for iPhone or Android?

The BBC generates an enormous amount of content each day: TV shows, news, radio programming and the thousands of pages of new material added to bbc.co.uk on a constant basis. However, with so much on offer, how on Earth do you find stuff that’s interesting to you?

We don’t mean the headline stuff. Whether it’s sports or current affairs, it is readily and easily available, but what about the rest? What about specific radio interviews or stories about the arts and crafts.

That’s where BBC+ comes in. It is the Beeb’s latest mobile application for iOS and Android that offers the vast array of content it produces daily in a simple, curated form. You can find the stories, clips and even entire TV shows that appeal most to you, all within a few swipes.

So this is our brief explanation of the app and a few reasons why you should download it…

What is BBC+?

BBC+ is a new app that is now available for iOS and Android. It presented curated content from the entire range of BBC output depending on your own personalised selections.

You will also see recommended content that you might not have through to watch, read or listen to before, all from a simple to use interface.

• You’ll need to pay for BBC iPlayer from 2017
• BBC iPlayer Kids is here to make viewing safer and simpler

How much does BBC+ cost?

It is a completely free download, with no adverts or hidden charges.

It is simply a way of providing the same information, TV shows and radio clips available elsewhere, but in an easier to access form.

Pocket-lint

How does BBC+ work?

When you download the application and start it for the first time, you will be required to sign in to or sign up for a BBC ID account. You will then be asked to select the type of content you’d most like delivered to the app on a regular basis.

It gives you different genres and tabs to choose from, which will then determine what type of content you will be fed. For example, select gaming and you will see all of the relevant gaming stories, no matter which department they are posted under.

In addition, thanks to your postcode and location details, you will find local news content more easily than you have before. Which will also be trimmed and presented based on your interests.

The app itself has an “At a Glance”home page but as you swipe left or right, your interests will be presented in sections, such as arts and culture, gaming and even BBC iPlayer TV picks it thinks you’ll most like.

Scrolling up and down on those subsequent pages will then present headlines and snippets of the stories. Tap on any of them and you’ll go into the full version. Hit back and you can go again.

It is remarkably quick to navigate and over time will be refined further, as the Beeb discovers user habits.

For now it’s well worth a download and although we’ve seen plenty of news curation apps in the past, many with more than the BBC to choose from for content, but few have the wealth of information and the inherent link with iPlayer and radio that make it so appealing.

Airbus uses drones to speed up aircraft inspections

Aircraft inspections are one of the best things operators can do to ensure safety in flight, but ironically, the chore can be a little unsafe for inspectors themselves. To properly review an aircraft’s condition, workers often need to utilize cranes and lifts to closely examine an plane’s structure and components. It’s mildly risky, slow and laborious process — but soon, it may not be. Airbus has started testing drone inspections that may speed up the process by over an hour.

Airbus demonstrated its new inspection process at the Farnborough Airshow, where a drone equipped with an Intel RealSense camera autonomously circled an A330 while rapidly snapping photos. The images were then applied to a 3D model of the aircraft that allowed inspectors to get a close, detailed look at the subject. It still takes awhile to inspect the digital model, but in all, it’s much faster. Gathering the inspection data by hand takes about two hours. Using a drone takes only 10 to 15 minutes.

The company expects to finish initial testing the program by the end of the year, and hopes to include a wider range of aircraft in the program soon afterwards.

Via: Digital Trends

Source: Airbus

Mercedes’ autonomous bus makes a landmark trip on public roads

Mercedes-Benz’s CityPilot autonomous bus technology just got a real-world, long-range test drive on the streets and highways of the Netherlands. One of the company’s Future Bus vehicles successfully followed a 20km Bus Rapid Transit route between Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and the nearby town of Haarlem, navigating through tight turns, intersections and pedestrian areas all without the need for human input.

The CityPilot platform is based on a version of Daimler’s Highway Pilot autonomous trucking technology adapted to handle the specific needs of a city bus. With GPS, radar and a dozen cameras built into the vehicle itself, the bus can recognize traffic signals, pedestrians and other obstacles. The bus has a top speed of 70km/h (or about 43 mph) and all that data taken together allows the bus to position itself within inches of bus stops or raised accessibility platforms.

Although regulations still require a human operator sit behind the wheel in case of an emergency, the vehicle’s intelligent systems make for a much smoother ride for everyone. Unlike other autonomous vehicles, the bus is actually connected to the city network so it can communicate directly with traffic lights and other city infrastructure. The camera systems can even scan the road for potholes, so buses can avoid rough patches on their next run or share that data back to the city.

Technology aside, the vehicle itself is based on Mercedes’ popular Citaro bus with a completely redesigned interior that takes its design cues from city parks. (Albeit a city park with a whole lot of information screens.) With “designer” benches, expansive windows, and grab rails inspired by trees, the interior might even give that driverless Rolls-Royce a run for its money. While the Future Bus isn’t the first autonomous bus to start shuttling people around, it is the first to do so on a public transit system — a major milestone towards implementing driverless vehicles in cities around the world.

Cardinals scout sentenced to 46 months for hacking another team

Last June, the FBI began investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking computers of the Houston Astros to access confidential scouting reports on the teams players. Christopher Correa, the Cardinals’ former director of baseball development, plead guilty to five charges of unauthorized access of a protected computer back in January. Today, the FBI in Houston announced that Correa was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for tapping into the Astros’ player files without permission. He’s also required to pay $279,038 in restitution for the incident.

The Associated Press reports that Major League Baseball could discipline the Cardinals for the ordeal, but has said it will wait for more info from federal authorities before making a decision. Penalties could include a loss of draft picks or a fine. Correa was able to gain access to the Astros’ files by using a password similar to one a former employee used on a computer while working for the Cardinals. That employee went to work for the Astros afterwards, and while the FBI didn’t offer a name, Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow left St. Louis to join the team in 2011. Luhnow revealed that the team had been hacked in 2014.

Correa was said to have viewed a scouting list of every player in the 2013 draft, trade discussions, player bonus details, stats and information on performance and injuries by the team’s minor-league prospects. In other words, details on nearly every facet of the team’s scouting operations. In total, the hacking was estimated to have cost the Houston Astros $1.7 million based on the fact that the stolen information was used to draft players for the Cardinals.

Chris Correa is sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for illicitly accessing Houston Astros computer #hounews #hacking

— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) July 18, 2016

Source: FBI Houston (Twitter)