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What 'cloud-based music' looked like in 1892
If you've ever spent time on hold with tech support, you've likely listened to a lot of tinny, cheesy music coming from your phone as you grit your teeth and count the seconds. Instead of making things better, hold music seems to make the minutes stretch into hours. Believe it or not, in the late 19th century people used to pay to listen to music over the phone. A French service called Théâtrophone was basically a steampunk version of Pandora Radio that allowed subscribers to have live music pumped into their homes at a price of 50 centimes for five minutes -- roughly one or two euros in today's money. Microphones set up on stage would pump live music to a central switchboard, and from there it would go out to hotels, restaurants and homes across Paris. Scientific American wrote a piece on the théâtrophone system way back in 1892, and at that time there were about 100 of the devices running throughout Paris. The system sounds downright hokey today, but it was ingenious for the time; keep in mind that this pre-dates wireless transmission via radio, much less modern improvements, such as iPhones and internet-based "cloud" storage for music. The théâtrophone system actually ran for quite a while, and it wasn't shuttered until 1932. Today, we're able to cart around weeks worth of music in a device about the size of a deck of playing cards, and if Apple's "iCloud" service really takes off, it may reach a point that we'll be able to store and stream more music than we'll actually be able to listen to in one lifetime. Meanwhile, the next time you're on hold with tech support and forced to listen to Huey Lewis and the News against your will, just be thankful that's not the only way you can get tunes into your ears.
Apple patent application suggests partial storage of music to speed up streaming
Could Apple's forthcoming cloud-based music service have a leg up in speed compared to its competitors? It might if a recently published patent application from the company actually pans out. It suggests that just a snippet of the beginning of a song (or movie, for that matter) could be stored locally on a device, and then be synced to the complete version in the cloud, which would let you begin playback "immediately" rather than having to wait for the usual buffering to take place. The patent application also explains that the streaming playback could be adjusted based on the type of communications network, and that there would naturally be various means to authenticate your device and ensure that you actually own the music you're streaming. Of course, there's no guarantee that such a system will indeed be a part of Apple's seemingly imminent streaming service, but the patent application was filed way back in November of 2009, which certainly means it's had plenty of time to implement it if it chose to.
Reuters: Apple set to launch cloud-based music service ahead of Google (update)
It's the rumor that wouldn't die, and Reuters is now reporting that Apple is finally set to launch a cloud-based music service -- presumably putting its massive North Carolina data center to some real work at long last. Details are still fairly light beyond that, but Reuters says that Apple's service will actually launch ahead of Google's similar cloud-based option, which it reports is now "stalled," citing "several people familiar with both companies plans." According to Reuters, the service will let folks store their music (and only music, apparently) on Apple's servers and then access it on any device with an internet connection -- and a copy of iTunes, we presume. Update: Peter Kafka, over at All Things Digital, backs up Reuters' claim with some additional detail. Unlike Amazon's approach with Cloud Player, Apple is actively seeking to license the music for its streaming service before launching. According to Kafka's sources, Apple has already secured deals with two of the big four labels and plans to launch "pretty soon." The deal would allow Apple to store a single master copy of a track on its servers and then share that track with multiple users. As Kafka describes the service, "The idea is that Apple will let users store songs they've purchased from its iTunes store, as well as others songs stored on their hard drives, and listen to them on multiple devices."
Google's new cloud-based Android Music app leaks out
Wondering what Google's answer to Amazon's cloud music player for Android will look like? Then it would seem you now have your answer --the Tech From 10 website somehow managed to receive a developer version of the Android Market, which allowed it to download Android Music 3.0 and try it out for themselves. That site's unfortunately down at the moment (along with the download of the app itself that it was providing), but it doesn't look like there's too many surprises to be found. Things are almost identical to the existing Android Music player in terms of appearance, while the settings menu has expectedly been augmented with various streaming-related options. Android Market itself has also apparently been tweaked slightly, and the developer version included a few other surprises as well, including new camera and desk clock apps. Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to try it out ourselves, but you can keep an eye on the source link below for the downloads to return. Update: Looks like Droid Life is also hosting some downloads of its own. You can find them here. [Thanks, Joe]
GameStop details plans for Impulse and Spawn Labs, says it's 'becoming a technology company'
Well, it looks like GameStop's plans following its acquisition of Impulse and Spawn Labs may be even grander than we had suspected. At an investor conference today, GameStop said flat out that it is "becoming a technology company," and that it does indeed plan to introduce a cloud-based gaming service similar to OnLive as a result of the Spawn Labs acquisition, while Impulse will be used to "compete fiercely" with Steam. But that's just the start of things. According to the Dallas Morning News, GameStop also plans to expand the gaming service to a variety of mobile devices, and it's apparently even entertaining the idea of a GameStop-branded tablet, saying that "if we feel like we could do a better job of making a tablet, we'll do that." Of course, some of that is still quite a ways off, but GameStop will be taking its first steps fairly soon -- it's already showed off a demo of how the service will be integrated into its website (see above, complete with a "try it now" option), and it plans to begin a public beta sometime this year before rolling out the full service early next year.
Apple removes MobileMe from online store, discontinues retail boxes
Need a bit more evidence that there's some big changes coming to MobileMe? Then you don't need to look much further than Apple's own stores, both online and off. The company has apparently now discontinued the boxed version of the software it sells at retail, and it seems that all traces of MobileMe have also been removed from Apple's online store, though you are still able to sign up for a free trial through the MobileMe website. AppleInsider further reports that both single user and family packs of MobileMe have been declared "end of life" by Apple, and that the service will undergo some scheduled maintenance tonight that may leave its web-based applications inaccessible for half an hour. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple tells shareholders North Carolina data center is for iTunes and MobileMe, set to open this spring
Well, it looks like Apple's just put an end to some of the speculation surrounding its massive data center in North Carolina. According to AppleInsider and Electronista, Apple told shareholders at its annual meeting today that the center is for iTunes and MobileMe (along with Apple's "corporate systems"), and that it is set to open sometime this spring. As you might expect, it doesn't seem like things got much more detailed than that, but the news does certainly lend some credence to earlier rumors of a cloud-based, Lala-infused iTunes service and a significantly expanded (and possibly free) MobileMe offering. Here's hoping we'll hear a bit more from Apple itself next week.
Dropcam app comes to Android, lets you monitor your security cameras from afar
iPhone users have been able to keep watch on their Dropcam security cameras from the convenience of a dedicated app since the Dropcam Echo launched last summer, but Android users have unfortunately been left with no other option than to simply use the standard, less-than-mobile-friendly web interface. The company's now finally corrected that oversight, however, and released a full-fledged app for Android smartphones running Android 2.2 or higher. The key advantage with a Dropcam setup -- as we noted in our review of the camera itself -- is that it's entirely cloud-based, and doesn't need to be connected to your home computer to record or share video (unfortunately, that convenience comes at quite a cost). As for the Android app, it will let you receive things like motion and audio alerts, and of course let you check in on a live stream or access recordings -- those just looking try the service can also simply access some public webcams to test it out.
Jolicloud 1.1 now available to download
You've already seen it on the Jolibook, but now anyone with a netbook or suitable computer can get their hands on the Jolicloud 1.1 operating system, which promises a number of improvements over version 1.0. Chief among those is the brand new HTML5 desktop, along with a simplified login process using Facebook Connect, a generally spiffed up UI, and a slew of other tweaks that promise better performance and battery life compared to the previous version. Hit up the link below to try it out for yourself, or revisit our Jolibook review for an in-depth look at the upstart OS.
Sharp announces Galapagos e-reading tablets: 5.5 and 10.8 inches, getting e-bookstore in December
Sharp has just taken the veils off its bold new e-reader devices, dubbing them both Galapagos in honor of the evolution the company believes they represent. The 5.5-inch Mobile version (pictured above) has a delightfully dense 1024 x 600 LCD screen, while its 10.8-inch Home sibling offers a very decent 1366 x 800. There's 802.11b/g WiFi on both, while the littler slate is also enriched with a navigational trackball. Sharp's emphasis here really seems to be on the cloud-based ecosystem it's creating for these "terminal" devices -- 30,000 newspapers, magazines and books have been lined up for its planned December launch and an "automatic scheduled delivery" facility will help you get at them as soon as the latest issue's ready for consumption. Sadly, we should note that this is specifically tailored to suit the Japanese market, which makes an international release seem somewhat unlikely. For a size comparison between the two tablets and the full press release, jump past the break.%Gallery-103366%
