Hasta La Gadget!

Yearning to break free from earbud-induced isolation and spring towards a music listening experience with a social slant? Seedio for iOS can help. Built by a team of six developers, the app networks local iDevices over WiFi and allows one user to stream music to others. Audio from iTunes or YouTube is queued up by the designated disc jockey, or “seeder,” and plays through each device’s speakers in unison to create a distributed, makeshift loudspeaker. If the situation calls for a quieter jam session, however, you can forgo the speakers and listen in with headphones instead. Up to 150 devices can connect through a single router, but four is the current limit when relying on an ad hoc network created by an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Seedio isn’t the first of its kind to roam the wilds of the App Store, but its creators claim to have nailed syncing audio across gadgets. The app is free for a limited time, but will soon pick up a $2.99 price tag. For those content with merely tuning in and leaving the playlist duty to others, the app will remain free.

Filed under: Software

Seedio app networks iDevices into loudspeaker, blasts music far and wide originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 01:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Music,” the wise Madonna once sang, “makes the people come together,” and although it may look like the tail-end of a Pagani Zonda, the Philips FWP3200D DJ-Dock attempts to do just that. A combination speaker system and dual-deck docking station, the DJ-Dock takes two iPhones or iPods in its rotatable bays – which can be swiveled for either a user standing behind, or positioned for communal control at a party – and includes integrated lighting effects.

The flashing speaker rings can be user-selected to glow either red, blue or purple, or indeed an alternating combination, and they pulse in time to the beat of the music. A matching FWP1000 speaker kit can be daisy-chained too, adding a further 240W of amplification and matching lighting.

Connectivity includes USB and and aux-in port, for use with non-Apple media players, and there’s an included remote control which can be used to switch between the lighting modes. A microphone input is also supplied, and there’s support for the Algoriddim djay app for iPhone and iPod touch. T

he usual DJ controller buttons and sliders are present and correct, including a channel fader for switching between the sources, treble/bass controls, and a “power boosting” MAX Sound mode for getting the thumpiest audio from the 300W amplification. Speakers consist of 2-inch tweeters and 5.25-inch woofers, and there’s an FM tuner if you’ve got nothing worth listening to on your phone.

The Philips FWP3200D DJ-Dock is available in the UK now, priced at £299.99 ($470). The FWP1000 speaker kit is also available, priced at £199.99 ($314).

Philips FWP3200D DJ-Dock makes you the communal deadmau5 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon’s Cloud Player service just scored some major upgrades, including quality and import enhancements. Perhaps most notable is a new 256 Kbps option for matched files, including songs you imported before today. That bitrate, in MP3 format, is available for new tracks and albums added to the cloud — a process that’s been streamlined as well, with Cloud Player scanning your library and automatically offering up matched tracks, rather than requiring manual imports. In addition, music you buy in the Amazon MP3 Store will show up in your Player automatically, including past purchases (in cases where the site has the necessary rights). There’s also an option to edit metadata directly, such as artist and album info, along with album art, or you can use the label information already in Amazon’s catalog. Cloud Drive will also be less integrated with Player — previous uploads will be moved to an “Archived Music” folder and won’t count against storage caps, but will still be accessible and downloadable, while new imports will be stored in Player directly. You can upload up to 250 songs to Cloud Player for free, or pay a $25 annual fee to bump that cap to 250,000. Full details are at the source link below.

Update: Amazon also mentioned that it has secured new licensing agreements with Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, adding that Cloud Player will be available on Roku and Sonos devices soon as well.

Continue reading Amazon updates Cloud Player with 256 Kbps matched files, faster import, direct delivery (update: Roku, Sonos coming soon)

Filed under: Storage, Internet

Amazon updates Cloud Player with 256 Kbps matched files, faster import, direct delivery (update: Roku, Sonos coming soon) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gil Weinberg is a Ph.D with a background in jazz. More importantly, however, he’s an expert in the field of artificial intelligence, especially in how it intersects with concepts of creativity and musicianship. His projects, Shimi and Shimon, two music-playing robots that regularly amaze audiences around the world, explore what it means to “play” music. He asks whether music is an innate human talent or a lucky confluence of math and harmonics.

I think he’s proven it’s the latter.

We talked with Weinberg in Georgia at his lab on Georgia Tech’s verdant campus. His work in artificial intelligence has allowed him to build “musical simulators,” which allow him to recreate the styles of various jazz and pop greats using his odd little robot, Shimon. To see these robots play – to see them work together at first and then roll off into wild solos and pleasing musical interludes – is strangely alien. You know that music is for humans, but these guys make machine music look easy.

You can learn more about Weinberg’s company, TovBot here and look for a commercial version of his Shimi phone dock/musical robot soon. Maybe one day his wild creations can take to the street corners around the world, playing for tips and reminding us that we don’t have a monopoly on music.

Spotify announced last month that it would be adding a radio feature to iOS devices that would let users set up custom stations based on genres, artists, and playlists, and now the company has announced that it’s bringing the same feature over to Android too. Free Android users and those with a premium subscription to Spotify, which adds mobile access on top of unlimited music streaming, will be able to enjoy the same functionality as iOS users starting from today.

Just like the iOS version, users will be able to create personalized stations based on artist, album or playlists, and can enjoy unlimited listening as part of their premium subscription. Any songs that users stumble across while they’re listening can also be saved for later use, and songs can also receive the thumbs up and thumbs down treatment.

Any changes made on mobile devices sync across the platform as well, so you can pick up where you left off on the desktop later. Best of all, you don’t need a paid subscription to use the radio side of Spotify’s service, marking the first time that free users can get access to Spotify’s music catalogue on mobile devices. It might not be as flexible as total access, but it’s a step in the right direction.

While Spotify operates a free music streaming service which is supported by ads, it has two subscriptions tiers for unaltered listening. Unlimited costs $5, but only the Premium $10 option allows for Spotify usage on mobile devices. If you want an alternative to Pandora and similar services, head on over to the Play Store and grab the latest Spotify update.

Spotify adds mobile radio to Android is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.