It’s not often that Nokia gets to take a moment to snark on Apple, so it’s certainly not surprising that immediately after Apple releases information on their iTunes Radio service, the VP of Nokia Entertainment has responded with a reminder about Nokia Music. As iTunes Radio was made official, this streaming music service with iAd
As rumors have suggested, Apple is outing their own music discovery platform, and they’re calling it iTunes Radio. The new feature will be built right into the company’s existing Music app on iOS, so users who take advantage of the app won’t have to switch to another app to use the new iTunes Radio. iTunes
Granted, this one felt like a bit of a wild card in the lead up to WWDC, but ultimately the rumors have proven true: Apple’s just taken the wraps off of a brand new music offering, iTunes Radio. The service is built directly into iOS 7’s music app, featuring easy access to radio based on your music collection. The company’s also got hundreds of its own stations, grouped by artists and genre — artists like, get this, Led Zeppelin. You can modify stations by telling the app which songs you love and hate, and you can access old stations by clicking your history button. The app is free with ads for regular users, or ad-free if you happen to be an iTunes Match subscriber. It’s starting in the US and coming to other countries in the unspecified future. You can use it on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as on your desktop.
Follow all of our WWDC 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Gallery: WWDC 2013: iTunes Radio
Gallery: iTunes Radio Press Photos
Source: Apple
At WWDC 2013 Apple has let it be known that they’ve reached the 50 billion apps downloaded mark, this mark reached with a $10 billion dollar mark paid to developers in the process. Noting that they’d added $5 billion in the past year alone, Apple noted that the past 5 years of the App Store
While Apple recently boasted surpassing 50 billion app downloads, the Google Play store isn’t that far behind it seems, and at the rate that Google Play downloads are at, it’s said that Android app downloads will overtake iOS app downloads this year, possibly as soon as October, according to a report.
The Telegraph says that Google Play is currently seeing over 500 million more app downloads per month than the iTunes App Store, which means that total app downloads for Android could surpass iOS by October if the numbers continue at that rate, but it seems no matter when exactly the overtake will happen, 2013 will most likely be the year that Android apps surpass iOS apps.
Of course, this could have something to do with the larger number of Android devices that have been activated. Android is now at 900 million total devices that have been activated, while iOS is at 600 million. Even with a lower apps-per-device figure, Android still has the steam to overtake iOS app downloads at some point this year.
Based on recent numbers of both the iTunes App Store and Google Play store, Android is approximately two billion app downloads behind iTunes at 48 billion total app downloads since the Google Play store’s conception. It’s said that around two billion iOS apps are downloaded every months, while Android gets 2.5 billion app downloads per month.
Asymco analyst Horace Dediu says that “the total downloads/install base are currently 83 apps per iOS device sold and 53 apps per Android device activation,” meaning that “the sheer weight of Android units will generate more downloads, but on a per-device basis, the iOS devices do seem to consume more apps, and the gap is not narrowing.”
SOURCE: The Telegraph
Google Play app downloads to surpass iOS by October is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apple’s long-rumored internet radio service didn’t materialize as quickly as some thought, but we’re getting a sudden rush of hints that it may be close at hand. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal both claim that Apple has just signed a music licensing deal with Warner, giving it two out of the big three labels it needs to start streaming — Universal being the first, Sony being the holdout. Despite lacking one of the necessary deals, Apple is reportedly optimistic that it could unveil the radio feature as soon as WWDC. We’re not counting on any music news from Apple execs when they take the stage next week, but it’s good to be prepared… you know, just in case.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Apple
Source: New York Times, Wall Street Journal
Starting tomorrow, Apple will be part of a trial in which federal and state authorities have suggested the latter company was part of ebook price-fixing. This trial will work with allegations that Apple has conspired with publishers to artificially raise the price of ebooks for sale in the iTunes Store for devices like the iPad and the iPhone. This trial was originally set to include five of the six largest book publishers in the US and was originally filed in April of 2012.
Since this case was filed, the five publishers in question exited the situation by agreeing to eliminate prohibitions on wholesale discounts – and to pay $164 million USD as a penalty, this cash going to benefit consumers. Instead of seeking damages against Apple, this case would have Apple blocked from “engaging in similar conduct”, according to Rueters, though future damages could be charged against Apple if they’re found liable. These charges would be filed by either state attorneys general or class action suits pushed by consumer groups.
“I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that.” – U.S. District Judge Denise Cote
It would appear that Apple is not going in to this battle with as much confidence from the judge hearing the trial as they’d like – Judge Denise Cote will be hearing the case without a Jury starting June 3rd. This comment was made by the judge on May 23rd at a pretrial hearing.
Each of the five publishers that’ve settled, Hachette Book Group Inc, Pearson Plc’s Penguin Group, CBS Corp’s Simon & Schuster Inc, News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers Inc, and MacMillan, have appeared to be relatively silent on the matter since they exited the proceedings before they began.
Again according to Rueters, Apple has said that they acted independently when they entered the e-book marketplace with iBooks, and that they were unaware of any efforts by publishers to conspire beforehand. The Justice Department, on the other hand, says that Apple “provided assurances” to each publisher that their rivals would join iBooks with the deal they offered.
Apple ebook trial set to begin Monday is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
I once saw a photographer scramble around to finish the shoot as the Sun began to set. Needless to say, everyone had to come back the next day because the natural lighting just wasn’t enough and the photos turned out pretty bad.
Note that this is a mistake many photographers make when they schedule a shoot: they forget to consider the time the Sun rises or sets, in effect leaving the lighting for the shoot up to chance. If you’re an aspiring photographer, then PhotoPill is an app that you should consider getting.
PhotoPills is basically a photo shoot planner that lets users create to-do lists of compositions so they won’t forget anything in the midst of a shoot. The most important features are perhaps the 3D augmented reality tools that can predict celestial paths and the calculators for time-lapse, long exposure, and depth-of-field calculations.
Rafael Pons, who helped come up with the app, explains: “You just have to decide where you want the sun or moon to be and tap the search button to get all possible dates it happens.”
While the app does help you with planning shoots, it doesn’t help you with your technique or teach you about how to make the most out of available lighting, especially when you’re shooting on location. For the lucky few, it’s natural talent – but oftentimes, it’s acquired through hard work and by taking courses and attending workshops at photography schools. It might seem like a lot of work, but your efforts will pay off with the results that you’ll get.
PhotoPills might sound like a complicated app to use, but the developer has released a series of tutorial videos to help everyone out. The app is available for $9.99(USD) on the iTunes App Store.
[via Peta Pixel]
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