Hasta La Gadget!

At this year’s New York International Auto Show BMW is expanding its portfolio of connected apps — by four. The company announced iOS integration for Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody and TuneIn Radio and we couldn’t help but swing by to check them all out. This integration (which also will work on Connected Minis) entails an update to those existing iOS apps. In other words, you won’t need a dedicated BMW app nor second versions of these individual apps. You can use the ones you already know and love.

Join us below for a little more information on how that works, and a look at the company’s in-car LTE router that’s also on display.

Filed under: Transportation, Software

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Rhapsody has just lauched an updated version of its mobile app, version 3.0, that’s optimized for Windows Phone 8. It is most likely competing with the likes of Spotify, who released a Windows Phone 8 app of its own a little over week ago. The updated app looks very sleek, but aesthetics isn’t the only thing it has improved on. It comes with a variety of new features that also improves your music listening experience as a whole.

Rhapsody offers its users access to over 16 million songs. With its new update, it also allows users to listen to music offline via downloaded tracks, albums, or playlists. With the new ‘My Music’ section, you can add or remove music, artists, or albums from your library, and you can also listen to other Rhapsody user’s libraries whenever you want. You can add/remove sections from your ‘My Stations’ or ‘My Playlists’ library. Also, when creating a playlist on Rhapsody’s website, the playlist will automatically sync with your Windows Phone 8 device.

One of the main selling features for the new Rhapsody app is the increased quality of audio playback. Rhapsody knows that low quality music can be deterring, so with its new Windows Phone 8 app comes fixes that should make your listening experience much more pleasant. Audiophiles should be thrilled. The search functionality for the app should also be better, and the album art retrieved for your music files has been improved as well.

Rhapsody offers a free trial for its new users so that they can test out the app before committing to it. After the free trial period ends, you will have the option of subscribing to either the Rhapsody Premier plan for $9.99, or the Rhapsody Premium Plus plan for $14.99. The only difference between the two is that the Premium Plus plan allows you to use the Rhapsody app on up to 3 devices.

[via Windows]

Rhapsody optimizes its app for Windows Phone 8 is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
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In a move that could be considered slightly similar to what Muvu’s been doing with Cricket, Rhapsody announced today it’s teamed up with MetroPCS to bring a more desirable music plan to the carrier’s subscribers. What this means, essentially, is that MetroPCS customers can now pay an extra $5 per month on their plan to stream as many on-demand tunes as possible from Rhapsody’s extensive repertoire, so long as it’s one of those recently introduced “simpler” deals. Naturally, how much music folks can stream will also depend on which month-to-month plan they are on, but the $5 monthly Rhapsody subscription is set to be the same across MetroPCS’ $40, $50 and $60 plans. According to Rhapsody’s president, Jon Irwin, the MetroPCS partnership was a no-brainer, as he believes it will be “instrumental in the growth of the on-demand streaming music business,” adding that the service is “eager to continue to bring new offers to customers that benefit all parts of the digital music value chain.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile

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Source: Rhapsody

Recently I picked up a shiny new iPhone 5 and handed down my old Android smartphone to my daughter. She’s too young to really need a smartphone, but it’s nice to be able to know where she is in the neighborhood anytime. She uses it to listen to music all the time. She’s a big music fan and seems to be constantly asking me the name of a song and expects me to know it simply by her humming a few notes or telling me a few keywords from the lyrics.

I’m totally going to load her phone up with the new Rhapsody SongMatch app. The app is able to listen to music playing anywhere and identify the name of the artist, album, and song for you. You can save identified songs as playlists and share the song data with other people.

This isn’t the only app available that can identify music for you – SoundHound and Shazam have been around for quite a while – but Rhapsody’s free app is totally free of annoying ads (other than promoting the Rhapsody brand, of course.) While you don’t need a subscription to Rhapsody to use the app, if you do have a subscription you get extra benefits. You can listen to the track on Rhapsody if it’s available, view the rest of the artist’s catalog, and discover similar artists.

Rhapsody SongMatch is available on the Google Play store right now for download.

Microsoft is making a big push to bring more content to Xbox, and some of the more recognizable names in entertainment have responded by building apps for the console, bringing their services into your living room. Two weeks ago, ESPN arrived on Xbox with WatchESPN, allowing anyone who has a cable subscription with Time Warner, Bright House, Verizon FiOS, XFINITY (Comcast) or Midcontinent to access ESPN and all of its properties on their Xboxes.

Microsoft is further adding to its catalog today, with a handful of new apps from Rhapsody, Blip.TV, IGN, LOVEFiLM, RTL XL and TOU.TV set to rollout.

Rhapsody first announced its availability to Xbox 360 users yesterday afternoon, bringing its on-demand music service to Xbox LIVE. The company tells us that the new app comes with a UI designed specifically for the platform, which takes advantage of HD displays and integrates voice commands and gestures for Kinect. The app is available now on Xbox LIVE and is free for current Rhapsody members and Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers.

Similar to the company’s apps for LG, Panasonic and Samsung smart TVs, the new Xbox app allows users to quickly find and play their favorite music from Rhapsody’s catalog of 1-million-plus songs. Radio play, popular albums, new releases and playlists are also featured prominently, along with featured editorial stations picked by Rhapsody’s staffers. The app is initially launching for U.S. subscribers and will roll out worldwide in the coming months.

Blip.TV also launches on Xbox today for U.S. subscribers, allowing users to discover, watch and share original web series from up-and-coming and professional content producers. Blip works with production companies (and is probably best known for its work with those in the gaming world) to bring comedies, sports, arts and dramatic series to users through its content and distribution network. The new app has a familiar layout to users of Blip’s web interface, offering an experience and dashboard that’s similar to its Windows 8 UI. It’s simple and straightforward, focusing on smooth playback, and enables users to login directly or via Facebook authentication.

IGN’s new app is now available to subscribers in Canada, and brings the company’s original video content, reviews, live streams and shows like Pro League, Daily Fix and Strategize to Xbox LIVE. Users can watch reviews, previews, news and demos of popular games and easily navigate directly to those games for download. IGN’s app also integrates with Kinect so that you can play, rewind and pause that content with voice and gestural commands.

LOVEFiLM, the international Netflix competitor, is today updating its Xbox app for users in the U.K. and launching it in Germany, meaning subscribers can now watch thousands of films streamed directly to their Xboxes. Subscribers who pay LOVEFiLM’s $7 fee can check out movies instantly and get access to what the company claims is the U.K.’s “largest selection of DVDs and Xbox games.” For those already using the service, the new Xbox packages comes as part of the subscription, meaning it’s free.

As part of its (internationally aware) content rollout, RTL XL will also be launching its programs on the Xbox, beginning in the Netherlands, and TOU.TV (the French-language entertainment service) will be launching in Canada to give users access to 2,000 hours of free video content (serial dramas, documentaries, soap operas and web series, etc.) from the French-speaking world.

Now that both Netflix and LOVEFiLM are on Xbox 360, it will be interesting to see if Rhapsody’s arrival will encourage Spotify to push onto the Xbox platform. Rhapsody is an old hand in the on-demand, streaming music world (after all, it acquired Napster) and has been quietly moving out across platforms. While Spotify has become one of the most popular music-streaming services out there over the last year, it’s been lagging behind a bit in this regard. And no doubt there are more than a few Xbox users who are eager to get access to Spotify in their living room.

More on the announcement here.