Hasta La Gadget!

The other day we reported that according to a rumor, Spotify was interested in launching a video streaming service of their own, possibly to help give themselves an edge over the competition, as well as provide an additional channel of revenue. While we have yet to see Spotify launch such a feature, it seems that their rival, Rdio, has managed to beat them to the punch with the launch of Vdio.

Launching for Rdio Unlimited subscribers in the US, Vdio is expected to be similar to Rdio in the sense that instead of discovering new music, Vdio will allow users to discover new movies. According to the company: (more…)

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Popular music-streaming service Rdio has launched a companion movie and TV show streaming service appropriately called Vdio. It’s been in private beta for some time now, but the company has officially launched it today. However, it’s only available for Rdio Unlimited members, but if you’re really interested in checking out Vdio, you can sign up for an Rdio Unlimited subscription and get going with Vdio right away.

Vdio is also only launching in the US and UK, so those living outside these two regions will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer. However, those who have a Rdio Unlimited subscription will get $25 of credit to use on the new service, and those who sign up within the next 60 days will also get $25 worth of credit to use on Vdio.

The streaming model of Vdio is slightly different than what Rdio’s subscription model is. Essentially, Vdio is more of a competitor to iTunes, where you purchase content individually. However, any movies you purchase, you’ll only be able to watch them on Vdio either through the web browser or through the iPad app, which are limitations not seen on other services.

The service also comes with plenty of social features, including making watch lists and sharing them with friends, as well as being able to collaborate on custom lists by having friends add movies and TV shows into one collective list for certain occasions like parties. The catalog of content currently available is fairly good for being such a new service, and prices seem competitive, with TV shows costing around $3, while movies sell for about $15. Currently, Rdio didn’t mention whether or not Vdio will be coming to more countries, but we’re guessing they’ll focus their efforts on the US and the UK for the foreseeable future.

Rdio launches Vdio movie streaming service is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Listen enough to Rdio on the desktop and you’ll know your friends’ taste in music when they’re fellow subscribers. As of a fresh update to the iOS app, you’ll also appreciate any musical kinship while on the road. iPhone users receive an overhauled playback view that shows just which friends have listened to that favorite album or playlist. They’ll also have a more pleasing view in mid-play that blows up the album art and downplays the interface. There’s no word on similar treatments for the Android app, but the odds have increased that you’ll at least have the web fallback for social listening: Rdio has quietly added web streaming for Austria, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Mexico, bringing desktop access to a total of 24 countries.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

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Via: Rdio Blog, The Next Web

Source: App Store, Rdio

Earlier this morning, we talked about how Slacker revamped their service to offer a more competitive service, and here we are with word that a possible Slacker rival, Rdio, has just introduced an update to the iOS version of the app. Well, before we proceed any further, here is a little bit of history about Rdio – it started off as a streaming music service from the co-creator of Skype, and we are glad to hear that Rdio has rolled out what they deem to be the *first* in a series of updates to its iOS app.

iOS users of Rdio should be pleased with the refreshed look and design which create an easier navigation experience overall, and there will obviously be new features thrown into the mix that include Long Press, making it a whole lot simpler to interact with the music, where all you need to do is just hold your finger down on any piece of music and you can share, sync, add to playlist or Collection, or play later.

Badges are now located on the lower right of any album art, and there will be new badges to indicate which music you have added to your Collection (these are green in color) or synced to your mobile device (orange in color). There will be other updates and features introduced in the year ahead by the Rdio developer team, so stay tuned!

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