Hasta La Gadget!

With 5 million paid subscribers in 180 countries, Deezer is such a ubiquitous presence that it’s easy to forget it’s not yet available in the US. That’s about to change, though, as the France-based online music service has told Le Figaro that it’d launch for Americans at an unspecified date in 2014. That’ll at last give it a crack at the $4.4 billion dollar US music market, which it had been avoiding due to formidable competitors like Rdio, Pandora and particularly Spotify, which has a worldwide paid user base of 6 million. That competitor only started two years ago in the US and has already seen boffo growth, though it had content deals in place with US mobile operators before launching. Deezer, on the other hand, is still seeking a stateside launch partner like the one it has with Orange, France’s largest wireless telecom. It’s also looking to do business outside the mobile sector as well, though it had one word for Le Figaro about a rumored Microsoft Xbox partnership: “Non.”

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Via: Techcrunch

Source: Le Figaro (translated)

It’s Monday morning at your local coffee shop, and you pause over your vanilla latte to ponder another customer. That face, you think to yourself, I know it. Whipping out your smartphone you check a social networking app, and it’s as you suspected: he’s an opponent. He needs to be dusted.

That’s not a dime-novel thriller setup, it’s Dustcloud — a Zibgbee-powered Urban Warfare game. Using discreet smartphone connected “duster” guns, an online player database and monetized virtual ammunition, Dustcloud proposes turning your everyday world into a Internet of Things battleground.

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Mobile

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Source: Dustcloud (1), (2)

Dropbox may be late to the iOS 7 app update party, but it’s making up for lost time with an abundance of new features in the just-launched version 3.0 release for Apple’s platform. The refresh brings the expected iOS 7-friendly look and includes AirDrop, making it easy to share links or whole files with nearby friends. It’s also easier to send files to other apps or save videos to the device library, and iPad owners can quickly open files in a full-screen view. If your cloud storage revolves around Dropbox, we’d strongly recommend swinging by the App Store for an upgrade.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Storage, Internet, Mobile

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Source: App Store, Dropbox Blog

Pinterest doesn’t want to just be the place you hoard random internet goodies, or aspirational items for hobby boards — it wants to become a real social tool. And it’s doing that today with Place Pins: private or collaborative travel maps highlighting local places of interest and recommendations. If it sounds like Foursquare without the obnoxious check-ins and “Mayor of…” notifications, that’s because it is — the company’s API is powering these pins. Maps loaded up with recommendations for good eats and sights to see can be created in tandem with new boards or added to existing ones and feature all the necessary contact info, like address and phone number, you want when looking up where to go. Pinterest’s even set up a feed dedicated to Place Pins(piration) and curated by notable travel outfits like Condé Nast Traveler, Airbnb, Fodor’s and others, so you can get a sense of how it works. It’s pretty simple, but useful stuff. Now, all you need is a good cluster of jet set friends to get the recommendations rolling and maybe some cash to actually get you out of Podunk and into those real-world, pinned places.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Pinterest, Foursquare

Kim Dotcom built his reputation on free services — much to the chagrin of some people — and he’s revisiting that turf with his upcoming music offering, Baboom. As he explains in an interview with Wired UK, the service will be an “iTunes-Spotify hybrid” that both sells music and offers it for free through ad deals. However, its approach to ad-supported tunes is bound to raise eyebrows — users will install a browser plugin that replaces web ads with those from Baboom, paying surfers with cash that they can spend on songs. Typical users could earn 10 free albums a year through their browsing habits, Dotcom claims. The tech luminary will demonstrate the concept by soft-launching Baboom with his own music in January, following up with full service a few months later. The business model is intriguing, although it may face stiff resistance; we can’t imagine that rival advertisers and website owners will enjoy losing revenue.

[Image credit: Thierry Ehrmann, Flickr]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Via: MusicWeek

Source: Wired UK