Hasta La Gadget!

As part of its Napster (and Napster International) acquisition from a while back, Rhapsody promised it would spread the music service across more places worldwide, with one of the many focuses being to have a stronger presence in Europe. Well, staying true to its word, Rhapsody’s announcing today that it’s bringing the ripened Napster to more countries in The Old Continent, such as France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and more. For those Euro folks interested, the Napster membership is set to cost €9.95 per month, which includes, among other things, offline features and unlimited streaming of over 20 million tunes on both desktop and mobile apps. But, hey, if you’d rather see how it stacks up against similar services first, then maybe you oughta take up Rhapsody on its 30-day free trial offer at the source link below.

Psst… you’ll find the full list of new countries where Napster’s now available in the PR past the jump.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet

Comments

Source: Napster

If you’re peddling wireless speaker systems that offer internet streaming support, it’s only natural to want to get cozy with Spotify. Sonos’ latest update for its iOS and Android Controller apps does just that, and you can now log-in to the streaming service using your Facebook account. What’s more, version 4.1 makes handling mixtapes easier, as you can access, edit or build new Spotify playlists from within the app. Revising your Sonos playlists, or creating new ones altogether, has also been tweaked so you no longer need to involve the ‘now playing’ queue. Lastly, the alarm function can now be set to wake you with the sounds of your preferred subscription service, taking you straight from dreaming to streaming.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Software, HD

Comments

Source: iTunes store (iPhone / iPod), (iPad), Google Play, Sonos

You may know Nokia Music as the resident DJ on many WP8 handsets, and now the app’s looking to play sets at some larger venues. It’s popped up on the Windows Store for Windows 8 or RT hardware, and looks pretty similar to the WP8 version, albeit formatted for bigger screens. It doesn’t just serve as a front-end for accessing your personal music library — you’ll also find artist info, genre-specific mixes for online streaming and offline listening, as well as the option to create mixes of your own. The software will push tunes to compatible smart TVs or DLNA-equipped kit, and you can plug in your Nokia Music+ subscription details or check out the free seven-day trial for some extra features: better quality songs, unlimited skips and offline mixes, as well as synced lyrics where available. Currently, the app is only available in Australia, the US, the UK and Ireland, but will be coming to everywhere Music+ has launched over the “coming weeks.” Windows 8 or RT users can head to the source link for the download. If you need us, we’ll be off memorizing Bieber lyrics.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Internet, Software, Nokia

Comments

Via: My Nokia Blog

Source: Windows Store, Nokia

We’ve been hearing rumblings about Google’s plans for a Spotify-killer for what seems like forever now. More recently, there’s been word that the company’s YouTube brand is also getting set set to enter the space, albeit with some overlap from a Google-branded effort. Fortune spoke to some anonymous-type folks in the record industry who confirmed the latter, adding that the service is set to launch this year. The offering will apparently give users some free streaming, with additional features being made available for a subscription fee. The site reached out to YouTube, who offered the following bit of hopeful non-commitment:

While we don’t comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we’re looking at that.

So, you know, stay tuned.

Filed under: Software, Google

Comments

Source: Fortune

If you were a fan of Slacker‘s old-school black and gold aesthetic, you can mourn its passing today. The internet radio service has just undergone a rebirth, with a brand new white and burnt orange logo and a completely revamped design — on web, mobile and Xbox — in an effort to reintroduce itself to the mainstream and stave off competition from the likes of Pandora, Spotify and Rdio. The new look is decidedly simpler and more approachable, with a prominent search box and a distinct blue and white theme that carries its way throughout all interfaces. Indeed, the smartphone apps are explicitly designed to mirror the site, not just style-wise but functionally as well. For example, you can continue a song on the phone right where you left off in the browser.

The pricing structure remains the same — there’s a free ad-supported version, a Radio Plus $3.99 a month option and a $9.99 per month Premium plan. The new iOS and Android apps should be available today, with Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10 versions to come. For more on the relaunch and a few thoughts from Slacker’s execs, join us after the break.

Filed under: Internet

Comments

Source: Slacker