Spotify confirms web app in the works, currently in closed beta

Spotify confirms web app in the works, currently in closed beta

There have been rumblings that Spotify would unveil a browser-based client. Well, the company has just confirmed to us that such a service is not only in the works, but is currently in beta testing. The trial version is being rolled out slowly to users over the coming weeks and months, though it may be sometime before the general public is granted access. The statement we received didn't specify an official launch date, the company simply said it "will have more information in Q1 of next year." We weren't able to squeeze too many details out of the spokesperson but, according to a report from The Verge, there is a basic set of features that mirrors what you see in the desktop app. That means a what's new section, simple search and Spotify Radio, though no support for apps at the moment. Now you'll just have to cross your fingers that you'll be one of the lucky few granted testing privileges sooner, rather than later.

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Spotify confirms web app in the works, currently in closed beta originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/3eayYxG3owg/

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Korg Pitchclip is an inexpensive colorful way to tune your stringed instruments

The Pitchclip from Korg is a chromatic clip-on tuner that will help you quickly and accurately tune your guitar, bass or ukulele. It features a display that can be reversed for easy viewing when mounted on either side of the instrument’s headstock. The Pitchclip is available in 8 different colors and is priced at an affordable $19.95, making it a great stocking stuffer idea.

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Korg Pitchclip is an inexpensive colorful way to tune your stringed instruments originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 12, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Microsoft Lowers Barriers to Entry, Waits for Developers to Arrive

Developers say that resources are the main barrier to entry for building Windows apps. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired

There are more than 120,000 apps in the Windows Phone store and more than 16,000 in the new Windows 8 Store. Those are big numbers, but they look paltry compared to Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Microsoft knows it needs more apps.

With the launch of Windows 8 at the end of October and now Windows Phone 8 this month, the company is striving to make it easier for developers to build apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The two platforms now share the same core code, making it easier to port apps from one to the other. And Microsoft is working with middleware partners that offer tools that make it cheaper and simpler to port apps across various platforms, from, say, iOS or Android to Windows Phone 8.

“When I started last year, partners were almost always happy to talk to us and were interested to learn more about the platform,” JC Cimetiere, senior director of Windows Phone partner and developer programs, told Wired. “In the past few months, I’ve really seen the acceleration in terms of partners. They feel the momentum and feel the demand from developers.”

Is that demand really there, though? Microsoft would be expected to make a hard pitch for its Windows platforms. But with Windows Phone 8, the company has a minuscule marketshare. And, for now, Windows 8 is all potential. So developers, especially smaller ones who have seen some success on iOS and Android, have little reason to make coding for Windows platforms a priority.

Take Lyft, an upstart ridesharing app that has gained popularity since its launch in August. The app is available on iOS and Android, and though the service is currently available only in San Francisco, the company already has hundreds of drivers and many more users. Windows Phone is nowhere in the company’s near-term plans.

“We definitely have a goal of being on every platform,” CEO Logan Green told Wired. “We don’t have anything special that we’re going to be able to time with the [Windows Phone 8] release now. The number of users with Windows Phone is a pretty small portion of the market, and I think for a lot of companies like us it’s just further down on the priority list.”

It comes down to resources. A small development can’t build multiple apps, especially when the reward is uncertain. It’s not just about porting the code to a new platform and taking the time to design a new experience; Green says it’s also about longterm upkeep.

“Any platform takes a good amount of effort to develop for, but it takes a lot of maintenance to keep your app up and working well as the platform evolves,” he says. “Each platform is a moving target. Any platform we choose to develop for we have to know that we’re ready to not only build it once but to continue to invest in it.”

This is why part of Microsoft’s focus is on middleware. Cross-platform tools offered by companies like Marmalade and Unity make it cheaper to bring an iOS app to the Windows Phone platform. Companies don’t necessarily have to hire a separate team dedicated solely to Windows platforms if they are interested in building a new app.

The Windows Phone team is working hard to get a lot of quality apps on the phone, many of which are games. Image: Microsoft

“There’s some that clearly want to see that there is a [Windows] market, enough for us we believe that there will be,” Marmalade EVP of America Sales Scott Hedrick told Wired. “A lot of game developers want that, too. Some of them initially say, ‘I want to wait and see how the phone sells.’ But then when I explain to them how they could use Marmalade and have one tool that covers all of the major platforms, I’ve had a number of them saying that that changes the business case. It’s not a question of let me hire another team — we can add it at a much smaller increment and suddenly that makes a lot more sense.”

Still, most middleware partners are focused on games. Marmalade’s clients include EA, Konami, PopCap and ZeptoLab. And while games can certainly be big hits on iOS and Android, they aren’t the apps that make a platform useful. Users tend to rely on a few specific apps for day-to-day living — oftentimes niche apps tailored specifically for their careers or interests — and those can determine what device they choose. So Microsoft has to find ways to convince not only the big app developers but also those behind the more specialized apps.

“I would argue, if I was a developer, that I would want to go onto Windows Phone 8 as a marketing tool,” said Larry Lieberman, senior product manager for Windows Phone. “Even if I was uncertain about whether I was going to have near-term revenue, it’s a great way to get noticed. You’ll get noticed on one platform and people will use it on other platforms.”

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/microsoft-lowers-barriers-to-entry-waits-for-developers-to-arrive/

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Xcom Global starts renting Nexus 7 and 10 tablets, lets us keep the laptop at home

XCom Global

International data services give us the freedom to leave our carriers' roaming plans at home, but that's only so much consolation to travelers who have to lug a giant laptop or cater to a digitally savvy family. Xcom Global is gambling that some of us want more portable (or just additional) gear for our travels: it's offering daily rentals of the WiFi Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 as a complement to its usual hotspot deals. Paying $2 or $3 per day for the respective slates will give a big-screen fix to those who can't get by on smartphones alone. Although the Nexus 10 isn't available yet -- something to do with the tablet only just shipping -- Xcom Global is currently discounting the tablet rental rates to $1 and $2 to lure us in. Any reasonable extra fees might be worthwhile if they let us pack light.

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Xcom Global starts renting Nexus 7 and 10 tablets, lets us keep the laptop at home originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/14/xcom-global-starts-renting-nexus-7-and-10-tablets/

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Skype's Giving Away Free Unlimited Worldwide Phone Calls For an Entire Month

Time to call that long-lost aunt in the middle of absolute nowhere: Skype's just announced that you can now claim a whole month's worth of unlimited free world-wide landline and mobile calling—but only if you claim it by end of today. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HIo3GKOmf60/skypes-giving-away-free-unlimited-worldwide-phone-calling-for-an-entire-month

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Deal of the Day: 49% off the Qmadix Cube Cover for iPhone 5

Today Only: Buy the Qmadix Cube Cover for iPhone 5 and save $16.99!

The Cube Cover by Qmadix brings fashion-forward thinking to the next level. The innovative dual-layer design is a blend of energy absorption material with a durable impact-resistant hard exterior polycarbonate shell. This chic design is a must-have for your collection and the safety of your iPhone 5. Comes in black, red, purple and white.

List Price: $34.99     Today's Price: $18.00

Learn More and Buy Now

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/bYy0NMmVTq0/story01.htm

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Jawbone UP health monitoring bracelet and iOS app available again

Jawbone just launched a (sort of) new bracelet accessory called UP that plugs into your iPhone's 3.5mm jack to document exercise and sleep habits. The iOS companion app also allows users to track what they're eating, and combine all of the data to provide tailored health tips, and even correlate everything with your current mood.

What makes the Jawbone Up only sort of new is that it was actually released last year, then quickly clawed it back due to battery issues. To show they've gone back to the drawing board and improved everything, Jawbone put together a video of their testing and design process. We talked with the Jawbone guys back at CES about UP, if you're looking for a bit more context.

Jawbone Up is going for $129.99, and is available in a few different sizes and colors. Any takers? Who bought one when they were originally available?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/3TLfvg_IeZg/story01.htm

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Square is now processing $10 billion in transactions annually

Square Wallet

Square is probably the most formidable opponent to Google's push for the use of Google Wallet in retail stores. Not unlike Google Wallet, Square requires both the user and the retailer to have a special equipment -- an app for the former, and hardware for the latter -- to make everything work. And while Google has been struggling to get its infrastructure in place, even with MasterCard's help, Square seems to be taking off as the niche payment system right now. Square has just announced that it is processing over $10 billion in payments annually, and has increased its rate of transactions by $2 billion just this month.

TechCrunch notes that the $10 billion number doesn't even include payments processed via Starbucks, which just penned a deal with Square to set up its processing system in 7,000 stores. Maybe some of this pressure can get Google thinking about its Wallet strategy going into the future.

Source: @Square; Via: TechCrunch

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/UZPRCjzGyZk/story01.htm

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This Dubbed Delta Safety Video Is F*cking Hilarious

This deliciously absurd parody of Delta Airline's safety video starts a bit slow, but it skyrockets into laughing my underpants off altitude in a few seconds. Please, you watch. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/0RmoSI4DDRY/this-dubbed-delta-safety-video-is-fcking-hilarious

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New iPad Quad Core Graphics

new ipad quad core graphicsPrior to the unveiling of the new iPad 3, there was a lot of speculation and rumors about what processor would be on board and what features the new tablet. The older iPad 2 came with an A5 processor which included a dual core graphics processor and 512mb of RAM. The graphics processor takes care of all the display functions whilst the main processor handles all of the other functions. A lot of the rumors prior to the new iPad coming out centered around what processor it would have and an “A6″ processor was mooted a lot, with suggestions that it would feature both a quad core CPU and a quad core graphics processor as well, in addition to more memory.

Now that the new iPad has been unveiled, it became apparent that Apple had not quite lived up to the dreams of the A6. The new iPad features a processor called the A5X – an update on the A5, but still a dual core processor. However, the onboard graphics processor is now a quad core. This is a great performance boost if not quite as dramatic as the rumors originally suggested!

The new graphics processor is probably driven by the new retina display which has pushed the iPad’s screen resolution from 1024×769 to a massive 2048×1536. This resolution improvement gives 4 times the number of pixels the previous iPad had, which is a taxing task for any unit. The new quad core graphics processor makes this a lot more manageable.

The new A5 chip carries an increased cache and a slightly increased clock speed to boost the iPad 3′s performance and enable the new hardware to run smoothly. One interesting fact is that although the RAM has been increased from 512mb to 1gb, it’s no longer on board the processor chip but is over the other side of the unit. It’s been speculated that this could be in order to avoid issued with overheating.

So is the new Retina display and improved quad core graphics worth upgrading from the iPad 1 or 2 to the new model? Yes, definitely! The new iPad’s high resolution will allow HD movies and videos to be played. Photos will be crisp and clear. Ebooks are also likely to be much clearer to read and a great many apps are being upgraded to take advantage of the new processor and new display.

The new graphics processor brings benefits beyond just the screen display. The new iPad’s rear camera can now shoot video in 1080P High definition, and allows on board editing in iMovie rather than having to transfer it back and forth to your Pc or Mac. Also if you buy the newest version of Apple TV you can get AirPlay streaming at 1080P.

The new iPad 3 has some very big improvements over the previous models, and the quad core processor is a big part of those enhancements.

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/new-ipad-quad-core-graphics/

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