Spotify Now on iPod Classic, Wirelessly Syncs to iPhone

Spotify will now sync local music to your iPhone over Wi-Fi, embarrassing Apple in its own home

Music streaming service Spotify has updated both its desktop and mobile software to pretty much let you ditch iTunes entirely. The new desktop client will now detect any iPod you have plugged into your computer and let you sync your local tracks with it. This works with not just the iPhone and iPod Touch, but also the iPods Nano, Classic and Shuffle.

This doesn’t let you stream music from the internet to these devices, obviously. Instead, you are using Spotify to replace iTunes as music syncing software. And as Spotify will already import and play local files, it should work seamlessly.

You will also be able to sync tracks that you have bought in Spotify. Music sales is a little known feature of the service, and one the company is pushing with this update with the ability to purchase an entire playlist with one click. Users of the free service, who previously couldn’t use the iOS versions of Spotify (this is an option only for €10-per-month premium subscribers), can now use iPhone Spotify — but only to sync local and purchased music.

IOS and Android users, whether free or premium, also get a rather nifty new feature: Wireless syncing. With the soon-to-be-released update, you can wirelessly sync music from your computer to your phone (or iPod Touch). This is something iTunes should have done years ago. Previously, Spotify tried to let its iOS app play music from the iPod library on the iPhone, but the addition of multitasking in iOS 4 broke this and it had to be pulled.

These updates are rolling out in Spotify-friendly countries over the next few days. In other news, the iPad version of Spotify was recently sighted being used by Bigfoot and/or the Loch Ness Monster.

Spotify says hello to the iPod [Spotify blog]

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Spotify launches music download service with iPod sync, puts iTunes on notice

Look out iTunes, Spotify has just launched its new music download service in Europe. What’s more, the company that had been synonymous with music streaming will let you sync your downloaded MP3 playlist bundles to your USB-connected iPod classic, nano, or shuffle via a new “Devices” section of the Spotify app running on your computer. And listen up freeloaders, Spotify Mobile iOS and Android app users can now sync playlists wirelessly without a premium subscription. Here’s a quote from Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO, sure to create some angst in Cupertino:

“From today, Spotify really is the only music player you’ll ever need. Our users don’t want to have to switch between music players, but they do want to take their playlists with them wherever they go, on a wider range of devices, more simply and at a price they can afford. Now we’ve made that possible on one of the world’s most popular consumer devices.”

Spotify download prices for its nine million users of the free service (not premium subscribers) breaks down as follows:

  • 10 tracks for €9.99 or €1.00 per track (£7.99 or just under 80p per track)
  • 15 tracks for €12.99 or €0.87 per track (£9.99 / 67p)
  • 40 tracks for €30.00 or €0.75 per track (£25 / 63p)
  • 100 tracks for €60.00 or €0.60 per track (£50 / 50p)

All the new features will begin rolling out today as part of an automatic update. See the full press release after the break as well as a quick introduction video to get you started.

Continue reading Spotify launches music download service with iPod sync, puts iTunes on notice

Spotify launches music download service with iPod sync, puts iTunes on notice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seamless Pushes Your Current Music Track From Mac to iPhone. Seamlessly

Seamless let’s you hand off Supertramp’s finest song to your iPhone and keep listening

Seamless is an iPhone app which lets you easily transition the music you’re listening to between your iOS device and your Mac. So simple is the app that it’s easier to use than to explain. Not that I won’t explain it anyway.

To use Seamless, you need both the iOS app and a helper app running on your Mac. When you are listening to music, or an audiobook, or a podcast on your Mac, the track artwork will show up in the seamless app on your iPhone. Press the button and the music fades down on the computer and up on the iPhone. That’s it. You can now walk away and continue listening, exactly where you left off.

Once listening on your iPhone (or iPad, or iPad Touch), the button changes and you can send the audio back the other way. Here’s a video demo by Lonely Sandwich:

In practice, it really is seamless. You’ll probably smile the first time you use it. The other neat trick is that Seamless is only used for the handoff. The music is played by the iPod app, which means that once you are out and about you can seamlessly (ahem) navigate around your music as you usually do.

What happens if the music doesn’t exist on the iPod? You get a warning in place of the track artwork, so you know what’s going on.

Seamless is simple, but what it does it does well. It is also cheap at $2 (the Mac app is free — find it in the Mac App Store).

Seamless product page [Five Details]


Connect Two iOS Devices at Once with the duaLink Sync Cable

duaLink Sync Cable

If you have an iPhone and an iPad, or an iPad and an iPod Touch, you traditionally have to plug them in one at a time for them to sync. If you have a MacBook Pro, there go both of your available USB ports. Thanks to the folks at CableJive, the duaLink Sync Cable allows you to connect two iOS devices at the same time. It’s simple enough: the cable is USB on one end, and the other end branches off into two heads, each with their own 30-pin dock connector on it. 
Normally that wouldn’t work, but the cable has a tiny embedded USB hub that allows both devices to be connected and to send data at the same time to the same port. The cable will even charge your iOS devices over USB, but the fact that they’re sharing the same connection means you’ll have to wait longer for them to charge completely. Even so, that might be a worthwhile price to pay to avoid carrying around multiple charging and connector cables for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
The duaLink Sync Cable is available now for $25.95 retail price, direct from CableJive.

Editorial: Hey Apple, why does it take an hour to put an album on my iPod?

This one’s been a long time comin’, but the iTunes forced backup / syncing issue is no less real today than it was a decade ago when iTunes began to play a larger-than-life role in the operation of Apple’s iDevices. As it stands, it’s effectively impossible to use an iPhone, iPad or iPod without also using iTunes, and while Apple’s done an exemplary job ensuring that it works with most major platforms (yes, Windows included), there’s one nagging question that just won’t go away: why?

Continue reading Editorial: Hey Apple, why does it take an hour to put an album on my iPod?

Editorial: Hey Apple, why does it take an hour to put an album on my iPod? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: a Foxconn worker walks into an Apple store…

… and thinks, “I should ask for another raise.”

Visualized: a Foxconn worker walks into an Apple store… originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two-Sided Functionality with Next Gen iPod

This article was written on May 10, 2007 by CyberNet.

Thanks to a patent application that Apple filed recently, we now have details on the next Gen iPod, perhaps even an iPhone Nano too. The one thing I gathered immediately from it is that it looks like it’s going to be a lot less thumb controlled. I don’t know about you, but right now I use my thumb to control everything on my iPod.

That won’t be the case with the next gen version because now both sides will have functionality.  Right now the back of my iPod is just a catch-all for a bunch of scratches, but now it appears as though there will be a separate touch surface on the back.

Nextgenipod

Now why would they put a touch surface on the back? Well, it would mean that you could view your iPod or iPhone Nano in full screen! When you touch the activated back side of the device, transparent controls will appear on the front of the iPod.  You could have controls such as an alphanumeric keypad if you’re dialing a phone, a QWERTY keyboard, your song list, etc.

All of this will allow for smaller versions of both the iPhone and the iPod, and full screen viewing, although I’m not sure how small you’d want to make a phone. Right now I’m picturing a phone the size of the iPod Nano and that just doesn’t seem right. How small will they go?

Just in case you want details, below is an excerpt from the patent application:

“A hand-held electronic device, comprising: a first surface having a display element coupled thereto; a second surface having a touch-surface coupled thereto, the second surface not coplanar with the first surface, the touch-surface adapted to detect a location on the touch-surface contacted by an object and an activation force applied to the touch-surface by the object; and control means for–displaying on the display element first information, control elements, and mark representing the contact’s location on the touch-surface, determining when the mark is spatially coincident with one of the control elements, determining the activation force is greater than a specified threshold, and activating a function associated with the one control element.”

“The method includes displaying first information appropriate to the device’s function on a display element on a top surface of the electronic device (e.g., video, graphic or textual information), displaying one or more control elements and a cursor on the display element (e.g., numeric or alphanumeric keys, buttons, sliders and control wheels), adjusting the cursor’s displayed position in response to an object contacting a force-sensitive touch-surface on the device’s bottom surface, and activating or executing a function associated with one of the control elements when the cursor is positioned “over” the control element and a force is applied to the force-sensitive touch-surface at a position corresponding to the cursor. In a preferred embodiment, the control elements are displayed transparently so that the first information is not totally occluded by the display of the control elements. A program implementing the method may be stored in any media that is readable and executable by a computer processor.”

Source: Unwired View

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Samsung Fans Call Apple Out

 

white-iphone-4.jpgApple is suing Samsung for “copying” the iPod, and the iPad. However, Android users are saying that Apple copied the Android devices first. The fans claim that Apple stole the design from a Samsung Android-based phone called F700. The touch screen phone was a boxier looking model that some say started this whole craze.

Lets look at the facts, the Samsung F700 debuted back in 2006, then came out in February 2007. The Apple iPhone was first shown in January 2007 and then came out that following June. The product by Samsung was older than the famous iPhone, which makes Apple appear to have copied the design concept.

Thus far, neither Apple or Samsung have released a public statement about the lawsuit. Nor has Samsung filed one back at Apple.

 Via Apple Insider

Apple’s iPod Celebrating its 6th Birthday

This article was written on October 23, 2007 by CyberNet.

Six years ago today on October 23, 2001, the very first iPod was brought to life. At the time of the announcement, Steve Jobs (who looks nearly the same today as he did back then, minus a few hairs on the top of his head) talked up music and how there was a large target market around the World for it.  He said, “Music knows no boundaries,” and at the time, there was no market leader for a digital music device. Jobs said that while there were some companies that offered devices, no one had found the perfect recipe but he was confident that Apple had concocted it. It turns out they did!

1g ipod

Lets take a look back at the very first iPod (pictured above) and some of its features:

  • 5GB hard drive (compared to the recently launched iPod classic with a 160GB hard drive and can hold 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video)
  • Capable of holding 1000 songs in 160-Kbps MP3 format
  • Firewire port only – no USB
  • Original iPod compatible only with MacOS 9.2.1 and MacOS X 10.1 (or later)
  • Featured mechanical scroll wheel (touch-sensitive came in 2002)

In case you’d like to relive the moment when Steve Jobs introduced the iPod to the “i” family, view the YouTube video below:

After the original launch in late 2001, Apple launched a 10GB and 20GB version in 2002 which was finally compatible with Windows using Musicmatch.  iTunes for Windows hadn’t yet been released. It also featured the very first touch-sensitive wheel and was priced at $399 for 10GB and $499 for 20GB. What a difference those prices and models are compared to what’s available today!

Apple truly changed the world of digital music devices and has done a great job of dominating the market. It’s certainly been a great 6 years for the iPod, and here’s to many more!

Source: TechBuzz

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apple beats estimates with Q2 earnings: $24.67 billion revenue, $5.99 billion profit

Apple just announced its earnings for the second quarter of the year, and it’s once again beat estimates, with it reporting earnings of $6.40 a share, a total of $24.67 billion in revenue, and a net profit of $5.99 billion. As for the sales breakdown everyone’s waiting for, Apple says it sold a whopping 18.6 million iPhones in the quarter (up 113 percent over the previous year, and ahead of estimates of 16 million), plus 4.69 million iPads (actually less than the expected 6.29 million, apparently due to supply issues), and 3.76 million Macs, which represents a 28 percent jump over the same quarter a year ago. Not surprisingly, iPods are the one area that continues to slow, with sales of 9.02 million representing a 17 percent decline over the previous year — the iPod touch accounted for more than half of those sales. One other big bright spot for the company is the Asia Pacific region, where it saw revenue grow a staggering 151 percent year-over-year.

Interestingly, Apple isn’t providing any specific sales numbers for the iPad 2 — it’s only saying that it sold every iPad 2 it could make in the quarter, and that it’s working hard to get it into the hands of customers as fast as it can. It didn’t add much more when pressed on the issue later during its earnings call either, with it only going as far as to say that the iPad has the “mother of all backlogs.”

Update: The company’s press release is after the break.

Continue reading Apple beats estimates with Q2 earnings: $24.67 billion revenue, $5.99 billion profit

Apple beats estimates with Q2 earnings: $24.67 billion revenue, $5.99 billion profit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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