Windows Phone 8 gets Pandora Radio, Cut the Rope, Urbanspoon and more (update: full list)

Windows Phone 8 gets Pandora Radio, Cut the Rope, Urbanspoon and more

Microsoft knows that Windows Phone 8 is only as successful as its apps. To that end, it’s blowing the doors open in terms of major app support. It’s not only promising a Windows Phone version of Pandora Radio for early 2013, it’s offering ad-free listening for the first year. How’s that for strong out-of-the-box content? On top of this, Microsoft is vowing a slew of new apps and games that had previously only been available in the Android or iOS camps, including Asphalt 7, Cut the Rope, Temple Run, Urbanspoon and Where’s My Water. By the time the expansion is done, Microsoft hopes to have 46 out of the 50 most popular apps onboard, making any platform switch that much gentler. Instagram is a notable omission — still, it’s a big leap in terms of equality.

Update: If you need even more detail, Microsoft has posted a wider list of new apps as part of its official Windows Phone 8 launch post. If that’s not enough, you can catch a video overview of the platform after the break.

For more, check out our Windows Phone 8 event liveblog!

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Windows Phone 8 gets Pandora Radio, Cut the Rope, Urbanspoon and more (update: full list) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple online radio service in the pipeline?

Apple logoApple is right now the most valuable company in the world, and their stock price has certainly grown by leaps and bounds over the years. The thing is, what goes up must come down, but it does seem as though it will take some time before Apple is subject to the laws of gravity and fall back onto Newton’s proverbial head. One of the upcoming innovations from Apple include the possibility of Apple kicking off their very own streaming service in order to offer consumers yet another choice in an already crowded market that has players such as Spotify, Pandora, and Zune amongst others.

Whispers on the street do seem to point towards the possibility of an Apple online radio service being introduce to the masses sometime in the first quarter of next year. I guess only time will tell whether this ad-supported online radio service is capable of taking on the likes of Pandora. What do you think of Apple’s prospects in this area?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPad mini shipments slipped to 2 weeks now, Apple apologizes without apologizing,

Bloomberg: Apple’s Pandora-Killing Internet Radio Service Is Coming Early Next Year

Bloomberg reports that Apple is currently negotiating licensing deals with record labels in hopes that it can launch an Internet radio service “within the first three months of 2013.” The service would be a formidable competitor to Pandora. More »

Hacking a Single Radio System to Work With Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth

Zap-happy channel-surfers could soon control a lot more than cable TV from their remotes. Michael Ossmann, co-founder of Great Scott Gadgets, is developing HackRF, a software-defined radio (SDR) that lets you switch between radio frequencies on the fly. More »

BBC launches iPlayer Radio: a separate radio-only mobile app and web UI

BBC revamps radio on iPlayer new desktop UI, separate radioonly mobile apps

No one can accuse the BBC of neglecting radio in its quest for streaming nirvana — not when the number of radio listeners on iPlayer has shot up 56 percent in a year (and 300 percent on tablets). Nevertheless, from tomorrow morning, iPhone users will find a brand new way to listen to their favorite content: a dedicated radio app with a spinning dial which — compared to the regular iPlayer app — will put much greater emphasis on live shows rather than catch-up. There’ll also be mobile-friendly features like an alarm clock which will wake you up to your choice of show, reminders for shows you just can’t miss, and the ability to identify current and recently-played songs at a glance. The app will reach Android too, as soon as some Flash-related difficulties have been ironed out, and its alarm function will benefit from slightly better multi-tasking on Google’s OS, so you won’t have to leave the app open before you fall asleep. If you don’t want to wait or if you’re outside the UK, check out the desktop iPlayer at the source link, or the gallery below, and you’ll see just what the Corporation’s philosophy about treating radio differently — rather than as “TV minus video” — actually looks like.

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BBC launches iPlayer Radio: a separate radio-only mobile app and web UI originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tivoli’s newly Bluetoothed radios up for order, bring your smartphone into the mix

Tivoli's newly Bluetoothed radios hit the market

Is your tabletop radio jealous of all the attention you lavish on your smartphone and tablet? Now everyone can play nice. Announced earlier this year, Tivoli’s finally offering its Model One BT up for purchase, bringing Bluetooth device streaming to the fancy table-tap AM/FM radio. That $260 unit is joined by the PAL BT ($300) radio and Blucon Music Receiver ($150), which brings Bluetooth functionality to your home audio system. The latter two, up now for pre-order, are set to ship by the end of the month.

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Tivoli’s newly Bluetoothed radios up for order, bring your smartphone into the mix originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 5 Pandora rival still possible as Sony sets snag

A lovely bit of news mixed with a bit of a downer for the first owners of the iPhone 5 has come down today from the NYPost where they’ve got an inside track on deals between Apple and Sony/ATV for streaming music rights. It appears that though Apple had been working on a competitor for the most popular streaming music radio app Pandora, but ran into a last-minute snag in negotiations with Sony/ATV. The Sony/ATV group is the world’s largest music publisher and is currently in the process of buying EMI Music Publishing, this eventually placing them in control of 2 million copyrights that span the globe.

Apple’s negotiations with Sony/ATV were reportedly down to the per-song rights fees which Sony/ATV asked to be higher than the standard tenths of a penny per stream standard. The NYPost also noted this week that “executives close to the matter” have said Sony/ATV will be pulling out of the two main copyright associations Ascap and BMI by January of 2013. If they do indeed pull out of these groups, licensing songs by businesses across the map will be more difficult as they’ll have to go through Ascap/BMI as well as Sony/ATV instead of working with a one-stop-shop, as it were.

Apple’s service would act as a main competitor for Pandora as it would be able to lower costs between free streams and final song purchases as they’ve already got a music store that can facilitate purchases. With iTunes, Apple is already a massively beastly music-toting group, but with a free radio streaming service that could give a more “human” way to the music discovery process, they could move on to a new level.

When word that a Pandora competitor was in the works for the iPhone 5 earlier this year, Pandora company stocks dropped significantly. This new news source notes that “They didn’t put whatever they needed to put in the app,” and that “It seems they were rushed into it.” This same source notes that music streaming from Apple on devices like the iPhone 5 is still a possibility for a software update months in the future – stay alert!


iPhone 5 Pandora rival still possible as Sony sets snag is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


HiddenRadio wireless speaker Review

There’s a brand new wireless Bluetooth speaker and FM radio on the block, and it’s name is HiddenRadio – and we’ve got one right here to take a look at, as it were. This device works in several different ways, the first and most important of these being via Bluetooth 2.1. You’ll be connecting to your smartphone, tablet, or whatever other device you’ve got that has the ability to work with Bluetooth and cranking out the tunes will be as easy as twisting the device’s top.

This device was funded by a Kickstarter project initially, and it’s certainly made the rounds since then – it’s up and running! The simplicity of this device is truly its most endearing feature – you’ve got an extremely light device weighed down only by its inner components to the tune of 430g – just under a pound. The top is plastic, the speakers under the 360 degree grille create an all-directions sound atmosphere. You can fit this device in your backpack or purse with no trouble at 3.4 x 3.4 x 3.8-inches, and it comes in three colors – metallic silver, graphite black, and pure white.

You can use this device’s Bluetooth connection as we do in the demo hands-on video above, or you can use the built-in FM radio (along with included plug-in antenna if you wish). You can also connect in a more traditional hard manner with the included 3.5mm speaker cord to whatever device you’ve got that’ll blast out sound. The final sound quality is essentially the same be it through the audio jack or via Bluetooth, and it’s certainly not perfect – but it can get loud enough to fill a generous sized apartment room without a problem. While its not for audiophiles, HiddenRadio is going to sound more than high quality enough for the general public.

The audio you’re blasting here is brought forth with a proprietary 360 degree sound diffuser and is summoned from your device with Bluetooth 2.1 and EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for your hardcore wireless audio lovers. Turn the device on by twisting the cap, then continue to twist and watch the top rise and the audio amp up. The turning of the cap doesn’t just reveal more speaker grille, it also actually does act as a volume knob in a very real way.

There’s also a built-in rechargeable battery (lithium-ion) that’ll last you the whole party long – the creators of this device say it’ll last 15 hours, we’ve found that that’s actually extremely accurate, having used the device straight through a work day no problem. Charging occurs via the microUSB port at the bottom of the device – there’s no data abilities through there, mind you, just power.

This device is available for pre-order now at a price that’s lower than the final market price (which comes into play on September 30th.) You can grab all three units on pre-order now, the silver and the black editions coming in at $149.95 or $189.95 after September 30th. The Pure White edition will cost you $179.95 now on pre-order or $219.95 after September 30th. Check it out!

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HiddenRadio wireless speaker Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


JVC announces the EX-N5, a new “Wood Cone” compact Hi-Fi with DLNA and AirPlay

JVC Kenwood announced today a new pair of Wood Cone compact Hi-Fi with the EX-N5 and EX-N1. Both models comes with a nice 50Wx2Ch output, FM/AM Radio, USB, CD and iPod, iPhone (No iPhone 5) and iPad. But some of the new features of these new Compact Hi-Fi are the support of DLNA 1.5, AirPlay and WiFi for the EX-N5. These new Hi-Fi will be available in Japan early October and sold at around 80,000 Yen for the EX-N5 and 60,000 Yen for the EX-N1.

Blokket Signal Jammer Pouch for Your Phone: Do Not Disturb V3.0

While I rarely switch my phone off, (i.e. never) I do like to make it shut up when I’m busy. That means that I had to adjust all my push notifications, because I don’t want an update whenever you like a cat on Facebook. That being said, with iOS 6′s Do Not Disturb, do you still need a pouch to block signals?

Blokket Signal Blocking Phone Pocket

The answer is yes, because some apps just manage to get through without being blocked, like WhatsApp. So if you don’t think Do Not Disturb is good enough, and don’t want to switch on Airplane Mode – which is my favorite way to shut my phone up, then check out this pouch that will block all signals. The Blokket Signal Blocking Phone Pocket will allow you to easily find a quiet moment, without fiddling with your settings.

Blokket Signal Blocking Phone Pocket inside

The woven silver and nylon fabric works as a pocket-size Faraday cage, blocking up to 99.7% of radio frequencies. It’s a great place to keep any sensitive RFID-enabled cards as well. This portable dead zone sells for $24.99(USD) from ThinkGeek.

[via Geek Alerts]