Rdio adds new options to its list of curated stations
Rdio has been keen on serving up curated stations for your listening pleasure for some time now, but today the streaming service added even more options. Like the existing selections, the new stations are curated by record labels and a smattering of “cultural influencers.” The latter variety includes stations from Hype Machine, the folks at Yelp NYC and more. In terms of label stations, you can expect to see curated audio from Arts & Crafts, Blue Note Records, DFA Records, Glassnote Records and more available through the app (depending on your location). These join the long list of current options from the likes of A.V. Club, Def Jam and Sub Pop. If you’d rather have a bit more choice than an “always on” broadcast affords, you might want to give Rdio’s station list a look.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Rdio
Microsoft has $500K in prize money for HoloLens science projects
Microsoft wowed me a few weeks ago with its internal HoloLens programs, but like we’ve seen with Kinect, the coolest uses aren’t always the ones Redmond devised. To help make more applications a reality, the tech giant has opened up what it’s calling the Academic Research Request for Proposals. Five awards — each including $100,000 and two HoloLens development kits — will go to accredited universities and be announced this October 6th. The official reasoning here is that Microsoft wants to “better understand the role and possible applications for holographic computing in society.” So, to see what people outside of the Redmond campus think augmented reality is capable of. Got it. Other objectives include spurring research for mixed reality and generally getting more people to make holograms. A few examples the company lays out are data visualizations (similar to Epic Games) and creating 3D models for medical training.
Microsoft stresses that these proposals need to be absolutely complete and that those submitting them be fully capable of carrying out the research or experiments. From the sounds of it, projects that answer high-value research questions and could be easily published in places like academic journals will curry favor among judges. All that to say, Microsoft isn’t giving any of these awards out lightly. Think your US-based institution has what it takes? Deadline for sign-ups is September 5th.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Wearables, Science, Software, Alt, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft Research
Windows 10 preview turns Xbox Music into ‘Groove’
Welcome to the new music experience in Windows 10. As hinted at earlier this morning by Paul Thurrott, the company just announced it’s rebranding the Xbox Music experience to “Groove“, while also renaming the Xbox Video app to just “Movies & TV.” According to a blog post about the changes, the new naming is meant to be “more identifiable to our broad customer base” and will roll out to other devices in the coming months. The timing of the change is odd as Windows and Xbox begin to work more closely together than ever before, but it doesn’t appear that the actual features will be much different. Of course, with the launch of Apple Music, rebranding could be just the way to get some attention for an existing service that already offers a lot of the same features.
The subscription Xbox Music Pass is turning into Groove Music Pass with $10/month or $100/year streaming of songs from the Windows store, along with custom radio stations. Meanwhile, if you want to store your own tracks in the cloud, that OneDrive link to the Music service that just launched on Xbox, Windows and Windows Phone is coming to Android and iOS “soon.”
The new Movies & TV app in Windows 10 is also mostly the same, however now it’s added MKV container support while it lists your personal video files along with any stuff you buy from the Windows store. Windows Insiders on the Fast ring should see these changes with the next update, while everyone else will have to wait until Windows 10 launches July 29th.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Blogging Windows, Groove Music
Prepare to be inundated with Happy Birthday tweets
Do you enjoy getting a truckload of birthday wishes on Facebook each year? Well, prepare for the same thing to happen via Twitter. The 140-character social network now allows you to add your birthday to your profile, letting the masses know the proper 24-hour period to ping you with a celebratory GIF. Adding that bit of info is optional, of course, and you’ll be able to configure the settings so that it only appears for the folks who you really want to be informed. And yes, you can leave out the year so the internet won’t know exactly how old you are. The new addition is said to be available “starting today,” so if you’re not seeing it now, you should be shortly.
[Image credit: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Twitter
Bing Maps adds trip-planning tools and easy access to reviews
If you prefer Bing Maps as your go-to navigation tool, the software’s preview version received a big redesign. Focused primarily on helping you plan trips, a load of new features aim to make it easier to search, view and share multiple destinations easily. Bing Maps Preview will pull in reviews and photos from Yelp in its search results, so you’ll have quick access to suggestions when traveling in an unfamiliar locale. When it comes to planning an evening out, for example, there’s a new card-based format to keep each stop a few taps away. For those entries, hours, useful details and similar options nearby are all included. Bing also employs predictive routing to help you determine the best time to head, showing you what traffic would be like for a specific time of day.
There’s also an Along the Route feature that displays restaurants, hotels and more on the path you’re looking to travel, serving up suggestions when you need to pull over and refuel. What’s more, you can get a closer look with updated Streetside views, save destinations to My Places for later viewing and easily share travel plans with others. The load of new tools is available through the Bing Maps Preview on the desktop now, and updates are said to be on the way to Bing Maps mobile apps.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Bing Blogs
Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 not receiving update to Lollipop
So it Looks like owners of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2, in the UK, will not be receiving their update to Android 5.1 Lollipop. Instead, those devices will forever remain on Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
Samsung’s UK Twitter account made the announcement on Saturday, in response to a question from a concerned user. While this isn’t the most surprising of news, it could be seen as a grace, given all the issues surrounding the Lollipop update.
@WesoLabeshnai We don’t like to give out bad news Rohan but the Note 2 and the Galaxy S3 won’t be receiving the Lollipop update.
— Samsung Mobile UK (@SamsungMobileUK) July 4, 2015
Not that we would assume this would happen, however it would be better to stay back on KitKat than to deal with a slew of issues if the Lollipop update were to come.
The Galaxy S3 was released back in May of 2012, and the Galaxy Note 2 was released in October of 2012. So it is probably for the best, that these devices don’t receive the update to Lollipop, since newer devices like the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6 are still being plagued with issues.
What are your thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 not being updated to Android 5.1 Lollipop? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: TalkAndroid
The post Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 not receiving update to Lollipop appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Amazon’s Cloud Drive storage service gets dedicated mobile apps
While Amazon already offered mobile apps for sorting your photos and music parked in its Cloud Drive repository, there wasn’t an option for getting at all of your stored files. Late last week, a dedicated Cloud Drive app for iOS arrived in the iTunes App Store, joining both Android and Amazon versions that debuted in late June — all three of which rolled out rather quietly. Similar to the Dropbox app, the mobile software allows you to organize and access photos, videos, documents, spereadsheets and other files you’ve stored in Cloud Drive. As you might expect, you can also preview images (no editing abilities), PDFs and other documents from within before sharing in another app, with a link or as an email attachment. And yes, you can use the app to play videos and music stored in Amazon’s cloud, too. Until now, desktop apps for PC and Mac offered the only direct access to Cloud Drive as a whole, and mobile devices could only leverage those media-specific apps.
If you’re in need of a refresher, there’s not free tier for the service, only a 3-month trial at no cost. From there, unlimited photo storage will set you back $12 a year while $60 per year secures the Unlimited Everything plan. Of course, Prime and Fire device owners get the unlimited photo storage option for free.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Amazon
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Amazon, Google Play, iOS
Samsung UK says its Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 will not be getting Android Lollipop
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If you’re somehow still using a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2 in the UK, the branch of Samsung there has just given you some bad news: the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 will not be getting Android Lollipop. That means your devices are going to be staying on the old Android KitKat build which you undoubtedly are running right now. This seems perplexing to us as other branches of Samsung, such as Poland, Finland, and Denmark, have announced that Android Lollipop will be coming to their devices, whereas Samsung UK joins Samsung Gulf as regions that won’t be getting it – you’d think one variant would translate easily to another, but what do we know.
While this news is probably disappointing to Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 owners, we can’t exactly say that we’re surprised – Samsung was aiming for 18 months of support for its flagship devices and has clearly exceeded this for at least some of its portfolio, so it was only a matter of time before its 2012 flagships started to make their way out.
What do you think about the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 not getting Android Lollipop? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via TalkAndroid
The post Samsung UK says its Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 will not be getting Android Lollipop appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Android 5.1.1 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 apparently rolling out in Russia
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Just a few weeks ago, we heard that Android 5.1.1 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has started being testing. After a brief period of silence, we’ve heard today that the update has allegedly been spotted being pushed in Russia – typically we see updates get pushed in Poland first, but we’ll take what we can get. We’re obviously cautious as to whether this is a legitimate OTA update or just a test build floating around, but given the proximity to the testing that happened recently, we’re giving this news the benefit of the doubt.
We’re unsure as to what Samsung is actually going to include in this update – whether they’ll actually include any Galaxy S6 features – but only time will tell whether any of this eventuates. Sit tight though – as always with update roll-outs, how soon you get your update will depend on your location and carrier, so don’t get too excited just yet.
What do you think about Android 5.1.1 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 starting its roll-out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: SamMobile
The post Android 5.1.1 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 apparently rolling out in Russia appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Military AI interface helps you make sense of thousands of photos
It’s easy to find computer vision technology that detect objects in photos, but it’s still tough to sift through photos… and that’s a big challenge for the military, where finding the right picture could mean taking out a target or spotting a terrorist threat. Thankfully, the US’ armed forces may soon have a way to not only spot items in large image libraries, but help human observers find them. DARPA’s upcoming, artificial intelligence-backed Visual Media Reasoning system both detects what’s in a shot and presents it in a simple interface that bunches photos and videos together based on patterns. If you want to know where a distinctive-looking car has been, for example, you might only need to look in a single group.
As you might suspect, the goal is to turn enemy media campaigns on their head — all those online propaganda pics and training videos would make it much easier to pinpoint the whereabouts of bases and leaders. There’s a chance that it would get creepy given that it could easily power other government surveillance programs, but there’s no doubt that soldiers would appreciate this AI-assisted intel.
Filed under: Science, Software
Source: US Army
AIVAnet 
