Hasta La Gadget!

Spotify is expanding to more locations throughout the world today. The music streaming service announced today that users in Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland, bringing Spotify’s reach to 28 markets around the world. The expansion should increase the service’s total number of users.

Currently, Spotify has over 25 million users, where free users can stream up to 40 hours of music per week, while unlimited subscribers obviously don’t have a limit, nor do they have to deal with ads. Currently, Spotify has over 6 million paid subscribers, and we’re sure that number will grow now that more markets have access to the streaming music service.

Spotify says that they aim to be available anywhere, but expanding to that point will take time. The company ultimately wants to be available in Asia completely, with today’s expansion in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore a good start. The continent is a hotbed for internet users, where many online services report having the most users.

Of course, today’s expansions are merely just stepping stones for Spotify in their quest to become available all around the world, but it seems they’re confident in getting to that point in the foreseeable future. The same features are available to international users, including both free and premium subscription options.

[via The Next Web]

Spotify launches in 8 new markets is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Ferrari by Logic3 has just launched its new speaker dock, the Scuderia FS1 Air. The Scuderia FS1 Air comes equipped with Airplay, so you can stream music wirelessly from your iOS devices, or from iTunes. The 2.1 speaker system is Bluetooth capable as well, so if you don’t have an iOS device, you can still wirelessly stream music straight from your Android device, Windows Phone 8 device, or Blackberry 10 device.

THe FS1 Air has a very compact design, meaning its designed to fit into any area in your home or in your office. It has Class HD Technology, an amplifier that delivers high power density and high efficiency, combined with a Digital Signal Processor, which controls the equalization and crossover of your music, to create the best performance possible and best tone quality for your music.

Of course, if you don’t want to wirelessly stream your music to the Scuderia FS1, you can always plug your music device in via the 3.5mm jack available on the device, or dock your iOS devices on the 30-pin connector. The Scuderia FS1 Air Speaker Dock was inspired by the Scuderia Ferrari racing team, as well as the Ferrari itself. You can tell by the speaker’s beautiful curves, black and red color scheme, and the quality of music the device can produce.

Ashvin Patel, CEO of Logic3, says, “We designed the FS1 Air to offer a sophisticated solution that provides a crisp and powerful audio experience.” We first heard about the Scuderia FS1 Air Speaker Dock way back at CES this year. Previously, we expected the device to cost about $549.00, however, the price has been confirmed to be $649.00. It’s quite expensive for an audio dock, but it’s something audiophiles will want to have in their collection.

Ferrari by Logic3 launches its Scuderia FS1 Air Speaker Dock equipped with Airplay is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Pandora announced in May 2012 it had surpassed 150 million registered users, and nearly a year later, the company is announcing it has added 50 million more registered listeners to reach the 200 million user milestone.

Pandora’s streaming-radio service launched back in 2005, which makes this milestone quite the accomplishment considering they’ve been at it for 8 years now. It was at their six-year mark where they reached 100 million mark, which also shows just how fast their growth has been lately as it only took two years for the company to hit an additional 100 million users. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Play Store Receives Redesign To Help Discover Content Easier, Apple Patent Connects iPhone To Mac Automatically Through Proximity System,

Spotify is looking to change things up by adding exclusive video on-demand (VOD) content to its list of services. It wants to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and HBO, all of which who have their own exclusive video series that help generate revenue and attract subscribers. Spotify hopes that by developing its own original video content or TV series, it can increase its profit margins.

Sources have told Business Insider that Spotify is currently looking for partners to fund its video on-demand content. Right now, Spotify, even with its large list of subscribers, is suffering from extremely thin profit margins. It has been negotiating with music labels to lower their royalty fees so that it can both increase its profits and perhaps add a free music streaming service to mobile devices in the future.

While exclusive video on-demand content would help Spotify generate income (and one it doesn’t have to pay royalty fees for), it does seem out of Spotify’s niche. The VOD content would most likely be live concert footage and video interviews with various artists. Nothing is set it stone however. It would make more sense if Spotify finally brought music videos to its music streaming service.

On another note, Spotify is also looking to expand its subscriber base by finally entering into the world of television marketing. Its set to launch its first commercial today during the season 4 premiere of The Voice. This may be the first time that Spotify has ever aired a television ad in the United States. The company had previously shunned the idea of marketing, but now that it’s so successful, it’s decided to change its tune.

[via Business Insider]

Spotify reportedly plans to add video on-demand service is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

doubleTwist has been around for a while now delivering its music player to Android users, providing an iTunes-like interface for syncing music between Android devices and computers. However, the company announced a new service today, called Magic Radio, and it looks to take a piece of the streaming music market share.

Magic Radio utilizes a user’s existing music library, as well as the user’s various musical tastes to deliver a personalized music experience. The new service takes the user’s existing library and mixes it with with new songs of similar style from doubleTwist’s music catalog that consists of over 13 million songs.

doubleTwist says that, unlike Pandora, Magic Radio doesn’t base a station on a single song or artist, but rather a user’s existing playlists, favorite genres, and can even cater to a user’s mood. Plus, Magic Radio is launching with a 7-day free trial, and only costs $3.99 per month afterward, which is cheaper than most other music-streaming services out there.

The subscription will also get you ad-free listening and access to more than 13 million songs that doubleTwist says will be all about discovery rather than repetition. The service will even cater music towards specific keywords you mention (like “Woodstock” or “Coachella”) and you can even base a station off a specific tempo that you want. Magic Radio is a part of the doubleTwist Player for Android, which is available for free in the Google Play store.

doubleTwist launches Magic Radio streaming music service is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.