Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to keyboard cases for the seemingly ubiquitous tablet, these are dime a dozen. Are there any other models out there which could change the way we look at this particular hardware genre? M-Edge might have the answer in the form of the Stealth Pro Universal Keyboard Folio, which happens to be an extremely slim as well as versatile universal keyboard case. The case itself will play nice with a slew of 7” as well as 10” tablets, where these will include (but are not limited to) the iPad, iPad mini, Google Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Kindle Fire HD 7 & 8.9.

If you are interested in picking one up, you will have to wait until September 6th, where it should be made available over at T-Mobile, US Cellular, and medgestore.com, with other retailers (Walmart included) also part of the posse. What makes the Stealth Pro Universal Keyboard Folio so slim is the integration of a slim profile alongside the modularity of a detachable magnetic Bluetooth keyboard which allows you to slide it to any position that you desire. This enables it to achieve unlimited stand modes thanks to M-Edge’s patent-pending GripTrack technology, which is a friction-based solution that delivers infinite viewing and typing positions. [Press Release]

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | M-Edge Stealth Pro Universal Keyboard Folio original content from Ubergizmo.

On Monday, Apple TV beta software was made available, and within it are signs that the company will be restoring iTunes music purchases to its set-top media box. While present users can only buy TV shows and movies via Apple TV, with the feature found in the latest beta release, those same users will be able to browse, preview, and buy songs and albums as well.

You can see the feature for yourself from the screenshots below from the folks over at Apple Insider, who took the feature in the beta software for a run. When opening Music, users are presented with scrolling panes and a variety of albums and artists to browse through, with a song (for example) being shown with relevant information (artist, album, title, etc.), as well as the purchase price and a preview option.

Music can be browsed by category, as well, and purchased based on either song or entire album. According to the source, the feature functions and is presented much in the same way as OS X users experience iTunes, with some obviously necessary changes to accommodate the medium upon which it is being displayed. When content is attempted to be purchased, a verification request will be required, helping prevent accidental buys.

Furthermore, pulling up an album causes the featured track or hit from the album to be highlighted from the start, perhaps to make it easier for users looking for popular content to find what they want. Selecting the song then brings up the preview and purchase options. Likewise, the free weekly singles are also available through the feature.

Finally, there’s the purchasing aspect of the feature, which works as you’d expect, and ends with an option to keep the media on Apple TV, or to download it to a different device, such as an iPhone. Purchases made in recent times are then auto-updated with syncing the device to iTunes. It is expected this feature will be available with the next software release slated for later in 2013.

SOURCE: Apple Insider

Apple TV beta brings iTunes music buying functionality is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sprint has just announced its second quarter 2013 financial results, and while it’s pay as you go plans are paying off in terms of income, shutdowns and charges caused a huge loss. The company posted $7.2 billion in earnings, its “highest ever” total and an eight percent increase over last year, but also took a net loss of $1.6 billion for the quarter. It’s chalking that up to a huge depreciation charge of $430 million and another non-cash hit of $623 million due to the Nextel platform shutdown, which is finally complete. However, the company added that over 4 million Nextel subscribers were “recaptured” to the Sprint platform since the transition commenced in early 2011. The shutdown and loss were anticipated, though and apart from that, Sprint said it’s in good place, having achieved “record levels of… postpaid subscribers, service revenue and postpaid ARPU.” It also completed its acquisition of Clearwire (at last) and US Cellular’s spectrum and customers, while itself being captured into Japanese carrier Softbank’s orbit. (For its part, Softbank managed a whopping 238 billion yen ($2.4 billion) in net income during the quarter.)

The operator now has 4G-LTE coverage in 151 markets, including 41 that are new as of today, including Philadelphia, the Bronx , Brooklyn, Jacksonville, Nashville and Oakland. As for subscribers, post post-paid customers are up from last year, but pre-paid clients are down due to “planned deactivations related to regulatory changes.” All of that resulted in an increase in churn (turnover) year-over-year to 1.83 percent. Eighty-six percent of its postpaid handset sales were smartphones, including about 1.4 million iPhones sold during the quarter. Going forward, the company just launched a raft of new data plans, including an Unlimited offering that guarantees customers who sign up will get to keep it for life. We’ll have to wait and see whether that and all the other machinations this quarter will finally push the company into the black.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Sprint, (2)

Last month, we reported that – as part of an ongoing battle between Pandora and the music industry – the Internet radio company would acquire terrestrial radio station KXMZ in order to get an RMLC license. The ultimate goal in the business move would be scoring the lower royalty rates that its competitors enjoy. The ASCAP has long bucked against Pandora’s efforts, and this acquisition is no different: a request has been made for the FCC to block the purchase.

Says ASCAP in the filing: “Pandora is buying KXMZ for one reason – to argue that it is entitled to pay lower music performance royalties to composers, songwriters and lyricists for its billions of online-only internet music streams … Moreover, Pandora’s acquisition of KXMZ would not serve the public interest … The application should be denied.”

According to various statements made by Pandora, the purpose of purchasing a terrestrial radio station is to get the same lower rates that ASCAP provides for competitors, such as iHeartRadio, due to their ownership of terrestrial stations, which have different rates than Internet stations. As we stated last month, Pandora considers this a violation of the Department of Justice decree it is supposed to follow.

Later in June, Pandora’s founder Tim Westergren posted a lengthy statement on the company’s blog regarding the issue, including what he considers to be lies created by the music industry’s “hired guns.” Statements such as Pandora’s desire to decrease royalties by 85-percent, said Westergren, were complete lies created for the purpose of causing the company problems.

Following this, Westergren went on to discuss the issue between spins and plays, whereas a play on a radio station is listened to by many, while a spin is a song listened to by one user. As such, says Westergren, it could take many spins to equal a single play, and such is the nature of contention between what Internet radio stations should have to pay in royalties.

The Petition to Deny was filed by ASCAP on July 25.

SOURCE: TechDirt

Pandora acquisition of radio station KXMZ challenged with FCC block request is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Time Warner Cable and CBS have been negotiating over a retrans deal for quite some time, and after several extensions talks broke down tonight. TWC’s static replacement page for the networks even suggests Aereo as a replacement, an interesting endorsement considering the online service’s legal entanglements. According to a statement from Time Warner Cable, this means it’s dropping CBS in regions including New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles. Nationally, Time Warner Cable subscribers will do without Showtime, The Movie Channel, Flix and Smithsonian Channel. As CBS’ website helpfully points out, if it goes one this means subscribers will also miss college and pro football, MLB, PGA Tour and US Open events, shows like Under the Dome, CSI and more. Of course, Time Warner Cable’s site points to options like the CBS.com website. We’ll see who holds out, and for how long — check after the break for a list of affected channels and areas.

Update: According to Time Warner Cable, at the request of CBS it has stopped removing the channels, so if you’ve been seeing a replacement screen your programs may be back very soon. Both sides indicate negotiations are ongoing, we’ll let you know if there are any updates.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: KeepCBS.com, TWCConversations, CNBC (Twitter)