Jul 17

Spotify teams up with Chevy to announce invites, not integration

Posted in: advertising, audio, MP3, Music, streaming, Today's Chili, video
Spotify teams up with Chevy to announce invites, not integration

Still waiting for that Spotify invite? If you’re hip on getting some Chevy Sonic-colored spam, you can snag another ticket in the invitation raffle: the carmaker recently declared itself Spotify’s “exclusive automotive advertising partner.” What’s this mean to you? Chevrolet is doling out Spotify invites to the first 150,000 folks to request info about the upcoming Chevy Sonic. The automotive firm goes on to toot its own horn, bragging that the mere mention of its automobiles in countless country and rock songs qualify it for the partnership. Could this be the start of a beautiful, music streaming, friendship? We certainly wouldn’t scoff at a generation of Spotify-enabled Chevys. Hit the break for the official press release, and conjure up some conjecture of your own.

Continue reading Spotify teams up with Chevy to announce invites, not integration

Spotify teams up with Chevy to announce invites, not integration originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Autoblog  |  sourceChevrolet Sonic (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 14

Sony’s CMT-CX5BiP HiFi system takes a style cue from the S2

Posted in: audio, sony, Today's Chili
Leave it to Sony to deliver odd-ball futuristic designs. The company’s latest CMT-CX5 “HiFi” system sure is a looker, and could easily be mistaken as the lovechild of its S2 tablet and B&W’s Zeppelin. This made for iPhone rig packs 40 watts of RMS power in its modular design with removable speakers, and can also be wall-mounted if you’ve cluttered your bookshelves. To get the jams flowing, you’ll find an iDevice dock, CD player, USB and aux-in ports, as well as FM and DAB / DAB+ radio tuners; Sony’s also added in its Dynamic Sound Generator X-tra processing if you want to give your music a slap of vibrance. You’ll be able to pick up the CX5 in either black or white from the UK beginning in August, although pricing remains to be seen. For now, feel free to skim the PR past the break while you decide.

Continue reading Sony’s CMT-CX5BiP HiFi system takes a style cue from the S2

Sony’s CMT-CX5BiP HiFi system takes a style cue from the S2 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket Lint  |  sourceSony UK  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 14

Is Spotify Really Your Streaming Music Savior?

Posted in: audio, Music, review, streaming, Today's Chili, top

Spotify is a unicorn no more. It promises to be the end all, be all solution to our music listening needs in the 21st century. And, by the beard of Zeus, they’ve delivered on that promise. More »

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Jul 14

It’s here! Spotify lands in the US (video)

Posted in: audio, MP3, Music, streaming, Today's Chili, video


We knew it was coming, but Europe’s beloved music service just officially launched stateside, bringing with it 15 million tracks with on-demand access, MP3 import, an offline mode, and social media integration. The streaming music service is currently in an invite-only beta phase, but you can sign up for an invitation or jump the queue right into the service’s Unlimited ($5) or Premium ($10) monthly subscription tiers. Groove on over to the source link to sign up, and start piping millions of free tunes directly to your desktop — once Spotify sends the welcome nod to your inbox, of course.

Update: Logitech announced that it will be offering Spotify service on both the Squeezebox Touch and Squeezebox Radio. Hit up the source link for the full scoop.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading It’s here! Spotify lands in the US (video)

It’s here! Spotify lands in the US (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSpotify, Logitech Blog  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 13

Why Did It Take So Long for Spotify to Come to the US?

Posted in: audio, feature, Music, streaming, Today's Chili, top, tweet

Spotify is not the first internet music service. There’s Pandora, Rhapsody, MOG, Rdio, Zune, iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Music, and plenty of others. Yet despite not having a product in the US, Spotify became legend. A musical unicorn. More »

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Jul 12

Klipsch Mode noise-canceling headphones tweet highs, woof lows

Posted in: audio, headphones, iPhone, MP3, Mp3Player, Today's Chili
Klipsch Mode noise-canceling headphones

We’ve been worried about Klipsch’s future since Audiovox joined the picture, but it looks like there isn’t reason to fret just yet. Remember the company’s first on-ear headphones, the Image One? Well, Klippy’s back for round two evidently; its Mode active noise-canceling headphones have quietly popped up on its website with a whopping $350 price tag and a fall 2011 release. The collapsible earcups are padded in plushy leather and house a 40mm mid / low woofer with a 15mm tweeter for silky highs, crunchy mids, thumping lows. Also included are two detachable 3.5mm cables, one of which has an Apple-certified three-button inline remote / mic. Best of all, ANC can be enabled for up to 45 hours on a single battery to zone out any bustle around you. We’ll have an ears-on with these very soon, but you’ll find details now via the source link below.

Gallery: Klipsch Mode Active Noise-Canceling Headphones

Klipsch Mode noise-canceling headphones tweet highs, woof lows originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo, Ubergizmo, Le Journal Du Geek  |  sourceKlipsch  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 12

Transparent graphene speakers printed with inkjets, lo-fi musical windows are on their way

Posted in: audio, korea, science, South Korea, SouthKorea, speakers, Today's Chili
Transparent Graphene Speaker

Add that magical material known as graphene to the list of things you can make with inkjet printers alongside OLEDs, solar panels, and light-bending metamaterials. Scientists at the Seoul National University used printers and a technique known as vapor deposition to leave a thin film of the graphite-based conductor on sheets of PVDF (poly vinylidene fluoride). By sandwiching the the PVDF between graphene electrodes and applying a current from a sound source researchers were able to create a flat and transparent loudspeaker that could be integrated into windows or screens. Don’t expect this low-power sound source to replace your hi-fi though — since it relies on the distortion-prone piezoelectric effect, it probably won’t sound much better than the earpiece on your cellphone.

Transparent graphene speakers printed with inkjets, lo-fi musical windows are on their way originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Graphene-Info  |  sourceRSC  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 11

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Posted in: audio, earbuds, film, headphones, speakers, Television, Today's Chili, top

Vacation season is kicking into full gear now, and though you may be racking up the ground/air/sea miles, you’ll inevitably have some downtime. Why not watch a movie? More »

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Jul 08

Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video)

Posted in: audio, ipod, MP3, mp3 player, Mp3Player, Music, portable, sony, Today's Chili, video


Aside from with a handful of stateside early adopters (and a few million others in Japan) eager to embrace any new technology, Sony’s rather extensive line of MiniDisc Walkmans never had a chance to dominate the portable audio market. But for one reason or another, the company kept up production of the optical player / recorder combos for nearly 20 years, after the first Sony MZ1 launched in Japan in September of ’92. With a countless selection of more affordable solid-state alternatives available today, however, it’s certainly not shocking to see good ole MD go the way of the laserdisc and the cassette. Now, only one question remains: How long until we see the compact disc suffer a similar fate?

Continue reading Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video)

Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CrunchGear  |  sourceNikkei  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 07

Facebook Vibes outed in video calling code, related music service seems a lock

Posted in: audio, leak, leaked, Music, Today's Chili

You never really know what you’re onto until you look, but who knew “looking” involved “digging through source code?” Software guru Jeff Rose had his curiosity piqued yesterday with the proper launch of Facebook Video Calling, and rather than just being satisfied with things working, he took it upon himself to see how exactly things were coming together under the hood. Turns out, the program grabs a startlingly small download link called FacebookVideoCalling.jar, which in turn uses LiveConnect to allow the Java applet to fetch a few other things. This enables the program to source your Facebook user ID (as well as an application ID), and from there, the installer has permission to use two things: a video chat plugin called “peep,” and something else dubbed “vibes.” Curiously enough, only one of those two were launched to the world, so logical skeptics are obviously opining that Facebook has a connected music service up its sleeve. ‘Course, there’s no indication that said service will actually use the Vibes moniker, but we could definitely ponder worse titles. So, Mark — three months from now, another impromptu press event, announcing something even more awesome? We’re so there.

[Thanks, Raheem]

Facebook Vibes outed in video calling code, related music service seems a lock originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLife is a Graph  | Email this | Comments

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