Hasta La Gadget!

Today it’s become apparent that Amazon’s recent purchase of the social networking website Goodreads has blocked another heavy hitter from teaming up. The report comes from a source who says none other than Apple was about to sign a deal with Goodreads for book recommendations with their iBooks program through Goodreads when Amazon showed up with a large sum of cash. This breakup is said to have knocked out a deal that was in the works for over a year.

The tip comes from an inside source speaking with the Wall Street Journal, saying Apple’s plan was to have Goodreads data utilized inside iTunes. With Goodreads collection of data on book recommendations, the iTunes search interface would have become much more pointed in the way of customers finding books they’d find interest in based on their known interests. While the amount of cash exchanging hands in the deal between Goodreads and Amazon is not known in full, cash sums of over $200 million have been tipped.

While this report suggested that Apple “tried to stop the deal”, it’s also quite possible that the data mined by Goodreads could remain open for use by Apple in a separate deal once Amazon has finalized theirs. While it would seem that Amazon’s own interests should remain squarely on their own library of media and their Kindle series of eReaders and tablets, when it comes to Apple, anything is possible.

Rumors continue to persist that Amazon is bringing their own smartphone to the market as well. With suggestions from Goodreads and their own extremely vast ocean of media continuing to expand, tablets may be too small a boat for Amazon to continue to row in through the rest of this year. The battle will continue one way or another!

[via Apple Insider]

Amazon blocks Apple in Goodreads purchase is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve known for a little while that Apple is trying to launch a music streaming service of its own, reportedly called iRadio, that will rival the likes of Pandora and Spotify. According to The Verge’s sources, Apple may be extremely close to securing a music streaming licensing agreement with Universal Music Group next week. The same sources say that Warner Music an Apple are very close to securing a deal as well.

If the reports are true, then Apple will be well on its way to launching its iRadio service by its expected summer release date. However, there’s one thorn still in Apple’s side. The sources say that talks between Apple and Sony Music Entertainment, the 3rd label that Apple needs to secure its service, are still dragging along. Until Apple is able to secure a deal with Sony as well, its iRadio service will be at a stand still.

Apple will reportedly pay rates that go “neck and neck’ with the rates that Pandora currently pays for its music service. Previously, Apple requested that the labels charge it only 6 cents per 100 songs streamed, but it was unanimously rejected by all three labels. Pandora, who just hit 200 million users this week, will have some tough competition coming from Apple, which currently has 400 million active iTunes users. A media juggernaut like Apple will have no problem getting users to convert over to its service.

Apple is also one-upping Pandora by offering several on-demand features, with some rumors saying that it may offer on-demand streaming of music like Spotify. In order for Pandora to compete effectively, it may have to remove its 40-hour restriction placed on mobile devices, and it will have to offer similar on-demand services. Music streaming services all around will be seeing a very difficult opponent in the future.

[via The Verge]

Apple to reportedly secure licensing agreements for iRadio next week is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 is still a couple of months away from being released, but one thing I’m sure we all can’t wait for is to hear what addictive tunes the company has lined up for us in their latest game. Ever since the original Grand Theft Auto, we’re sure you’ve thoroughly enjoyed the game’s multiple radio stations, which is why Rockstar has just released all of the radio stations from a number of the GTA series.

Music tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV all the way down to Grand Theft Auto III and even Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has been compiled in both a Spotify and iTunes playlist for you to listen to on either service. Rockstar notes not all of the tracks included in each GTA game will be included in these playlists as some songs aren’t yet available on their respective platforms. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Mad Catz F.R.E.Q.7 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Up For Pre-Order, Turtle Beach Launches Multiple Cross-Platform Gaming Headsets,

Apple only recently began promoting certain apps and games in the iTunes App Store, by delivering an “App of the Week” and chopping off the price tag. However, they don’t often highlight popular apps or games all that much, but this week, they’re highlighting Fruit Ninja, a classic mobile game of fruit-chopping proportions.

Every Thursday, Apple picks a new App of the Week, and the next one to step up onto the show bail is Fruit Ninja. Apple just began promoting the app as App of the Week just a few minutes ago, according to our watches, and both the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad versions are already discounted and will cost you nothing if you don’t already own the game.

This isn’t the first time that the game has seen its priced chopped down, although it is just the second time. Developer Halfbrick Studios discounted the app for the first time ever back in December for a holiday sale. The app was free, alongside other hot games like Age of Zombies, Blast Off, and Monster Dash.

Fruit Ninja has been available for roughly two-and-a-half years, and it’s arguably Halfbrick Studio’s best and most popular game, with Jetpack Joyride being a close second. Fruit Ninja has accumulated over 300 million downloads across all platforms so far, and that number will undoubtedly continue to grow over the next week.

Fruit Ninja is Apple’s App of the Week, free for a limited time is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After first releasing back in January, Twitter’s popular, yet controversial social app Vine is now at the top of the free app chart in the iTunes App Store. The app has slowly been making its way to the top of the charts, but after not being well-received by some users due to the app’s porn problem, Vine is now sitting pretty at number one.

This marks the first time that Vine has hit the number one spot in the iTunes App Store, and frankly we’re surprised that it took this long, even despite app’s controversy. Vine’s co-founder and creative director, Rus Yusupov, tweeted the announcement today with a sort of wise-guy attitude, saying “Hey guys, remember that time we made the No. 1 most popular app in the world?”

The app’s controversy stems from an issue that saw adult content being posted on the service, without a 17+ age warning. Of course, this is against Apple’s terms of service for the iTunes App Store, so Vine was required to tack on an age warning. However, that didn’t stop Apple from removing the app from its list of Editor’s Choice apps for the week.

Vine is available for free on iOS devices, but it’s mysteriously missing on Android. While it’s been reported that the company was looking for Android developers, we have yet to hear anything about an Android version of the app making its way to Google Play, but it could be anytime soon, as an Android version would surely take off.

Vine becomes top free app in iTunes App Store is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.