RCA’s Internet Music System blends detachable Android tablet, boombox

RCA's Internet Music System blends detachable Android tablet, boombox, simplicity

Though RCA has slipped from electronics giant to maker of niche products, it’s just announced an intriguing music streaming system that is rumored to cost $178 at Walmart, according to Android Police. The Internet Music System (has RCA fired its branding department?) features a removable Android tablet of as-yet unknown size that plays music via Bluetooth to the docking amp and speakers. Music sources can be Google Play Music and apps like Spotify, as well as CDs via a player and yes, FM radio. As a topper , it’ll also stream video from the likes of Netflix and YouTube to your TV via an HDMI cable. At the above price, it might be just the device for those tired of explaining for the eighth time how to play a YouTube song through the home theater system. To see how it works, check the video after the break.

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Via: Android Community

Source: Android Police

Google Play Music All Access makes its way to seven more European countries

If you felt left out by the European debut of Google Play Music All Access in August, hopefully Mountain View’s latest announcement brings you into the musical fold. According to Google’s support page — as spotted by Android Police — the search giant’s music locker and streaming service is now available in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland. And given how fast European internet is, it shouldn’t take you nearly as long to upload a massive music collection as it did for us stateside, either.

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Via: Android Police

Source: Google Support

Google Play Music for Android updated to address data usage complaints

Google Play Music for Android updated to address data usage complaints

Mobile data caps have been the enemy of Google Play Music for quite some time, but a new update, available in the Play Store today, might provide a quick fix. By default, the service streams music at the highest quality possible on a given connection, so it wasn’t always friendly to users dealing with data limits. With this update, Google is aiming to decrease the amount of overall data the app uses while providing more bandwidth usage settings. Additionally, the update boasts improved search quality and faster music downloads. Hopefully, Google will continue to work out the kinks before its forthcoming iOS All Access rollout. In the meantime, Google Play Music users can mosey on over to the source link below to download the latest version.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Google Play Store

Google confirms Nexus Q not supported in latest version of Play Music

Google confirms Nexus Q not supported in latest version of Play Music

Google Play Music is about to reveal its saddest song… for owners of the Nexus Q that is. In fact, some might guess it’s the funeral march. Phandroid and Android Police both report having received confirmation that the latest update of Google’s Play Music service — that we saw outed yesterday — doesn’t support the firm’s own music streamer. A statement given to the websites confirms the fact, with little to suggest it’ll get any better for the little black ball going forward. Does this signify the final nail in the coffin? Potentially. But, given that it was erased from view on the Play store some time ago, and orders never charged, you might have already guessed that outlook not so good had been the prediction for some time.

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Source: Phandroid, Android Police

Google Play Music spreads to Australia, New Zealand and five European nations

Google Play Music comes to Australia

Google has been on something of a tear spreading its Google Play media services around the world; don’t look now, but it’s picking up the pace. The search giant is expanding Google Play Music today to cover Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Portugal. That small deluge of new countries can now shop for their favorite tunes as well as store up to 20,000 of them online for streaming, either on the web or on Android devices. Large swaths of the world remain uncovered by the service — ahem, Canada — but we’ll still welcome a big step toward cloud music for everyone.

[Thanks, Chris]

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Source: Google Play (Google+)

Google tweaks Google+ and Play Music apps for Android

Google tweaks Google and Play Music for Android

Nobody can accuse Google of being lax with its recently-booming social network or Play Music Android player, as updates seem to be arriving at healthy intervals. Another one just dropped for each that fixes a Galaxy SIII freezing issue in Music, while adding instant mixes beyond 25 songs, the ability to shuffle by album, artist or playlist, new default album art and others for that app. Meanwhile, Google+ has added linking to new posts, a revised notification tray and more community moderation features. Those will make an automatic appearance on your device if your settings are in order — if not, check the source for more info.

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Via: Fone Arena, Phone Arena

Source: Google Play (1), (2)

Google Play, developers slash prices on apps and media for Thanksgiving weekend

Google Play, developers slash prices on apps and media for Thanksgiving weekend

If you’ve taken advantage of the myriad Black Friday deals on mobile devices and PCs, you’re probably looking for content to feed the technology beast. Google and app creators are pulling out all the stops to make sure that beast stays full: Google Play has discounts throughout the Thanksgiving weekend for just about every format on offer. Android apps are the highlight, with SwiftKey 3, Shadowgun and Documents To Go on the list of those with grander price cuts, although there’s some definite bargains to be had in media. Among the picks are price drops on books like The Hobbit, movies like The Big Lebowski and Serenity, and music from the likes of Diana Krall and Kendrick Lamar. We can’t possibly mention every offer here, so check our links for some of the larger deals.

Terrence O’Brien contributed to this report.

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Source: Google Play (1), (2)

Google breaks ground with pan-European music deal, shows that streaming knows no borders

Antoine album cover

We now know how Google could offer its European music services to multiple countries so quickly. The search firm took advantage of a new hub approach to licensing at Armonia, an alliance between publishers in France, Italy and Spain, to get rights to about 5.5 million works from 35 countries inside and outside of Europe. The pact should have financial terms similar to those for Amazon and Apple, but it’s more notable as a rare (if not pioneering) European digital music agreement that reaches much of the continent in one shot — those competitors’ earlier deals required slower, country-by-country negotiations that ultimately sparked regulatory problems. While we’re not bracing ourselves for full catalog access in the Czech Republic in the near future, the Armonia license could be a watershed moment for not just Google Music, but any digital music shop that wants to get a fresh start in the Old World.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: FT (sign-in required)

Google Play Music adds gapless playback, automatic Instant Mixes

Google Play Music app

Google is expanding its media umbrella to cover more countries, and it’s marking the occasion with a new version of the Google Play Music app for Android and Google TV. While there’s no explicit mention of the newly opened regional access, the update does add long-requested support for gapless audio playback: Jelly Bean users will hear smooth transitions between tracks, although it works best when all the music is offline. The tweak also turns listening into more of a hands-off process, as it now automatically generates Instant Mixes (instead of requiring input) and lets us cache free, purchased, recently added and thumbs-up songs. If you’ve refused to sully that DJ set or Pink Floyd album by playing it through Android’s stock music player, it’s time to give the app another chance.

[Thanks, K]

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Google Play Music adds gapless playback, automatic Instant Mixes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Play Movies, Music reach Australia, Canada and parts of Europe on November 13th (update: Google scales it back)

Google Play on Google TV

Google’s long-awaited offering of Google Play Movies and Music on Google TV may have answered a longstanding demand for streaming access from some viewers, but it still left many of those outside of the US turning to alternatives. The company is closing that open loop with plans to take the media strategy global. Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK will all get similar streaming video options on their Google TV hubs as of November 13th; while content will undoubtedly vary, the gesture once more puts the international stores on roughly the same level as their American counterpart. The only debate left likely centers on what movie to rent for celebrating the occasion.

Update: Google has made a new post suggesting that its earlier outline was a mistake: Australia and Canada aren’t part of the November 13th mix.

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Google Play Movies, Music reach Australia, Canada and parts of Europe on November 13th (update: Google scales it back) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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