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Rdio family plans now allow for five people
Popular music-streaming service Rdio has announced that its family plans now allow for five people. Previously, family plans were limited to three individual users, something that could cause a bit of tension in larger families. In a blog posting announcing the move, Rdio describes how the new family plans will work: Here's how it works: Designate someone in your family to have a main account, and he or she will add sub-accounts to their subscription. From there, each family member has their own Rdio Unlimited account, from which they build and control their own Collection, playlists, network of followers, and other great features. Users still have the option of paying for membership plans that allow fewer than five participants. A two-account plan will cost US$17.99 per month, with a three-account plan costing $22.99, a four-account plan at $27.99 per month and a five-account plan at $32.99 per month. The move is no doubt aimed at increasing Rdio's offerings as Apple is set to unveil iTunes Radio to the public with iOS 7 later this fall. The Rdio app for iOS is a free download.
Apple still king of the digital music market
Despite the rise of digital music competitors like Amazon, Google, Spotify, Pandora and many, many more, Apple is still king of the digital music market, reports AllThingsD. Specifically, Apple controls 75 percent of all digital music sales across the world. That number is extrapolated from data provided by Horace Dediu of Asymco and data provided by Billboard.com. Dediu says iTunes music spending hit US$6.9 billion last year while Billboard.com says a total of $9.3 billion was spent on digital music downloads across the globe in the same period. A little math reveals that we're talking about three-fourths of all digital download music spending being spent on iTunes. Apple surely wants to retain its market dominance, which is why it will be releasing iTunes Radio in the fall. The new service can be seen as a direct competitor to Pandora, Spotify and other streaming music platforms that appeared to be the biggest competitors to iTunes.
In preparation for iTunes Radio, Rdio update gains radio stations
It's interesting to see how the streaming radio giants are preparing to counteract the rollout of iTunes Radio in iOS 7. Spotify finally released a web player in early June. Competitor Rdio unveiled radio stations for its iOS app today, allowing it to go toe to toe against Pandora, Spotify and iTunes Radio on iOS. Like the other services, Rdio allows you to curate the radio stations via artist. Users can see four upcoming tracks in their radio stations and have unlimited skips, which makes sense given that the iOS app is only usable if you pay the US$9.99-a-month subscription fee. The service also has added an autoplay feature that allows you to hear similar music to artists you've recently listened to. Radio stations have been a part of the Rdio desktop and web apps for awhile, and it hit Spotify's iOS app in June 2012.
Editorial: What internet radio needs to disrupt actual radio
"Internet radio" is usually a misnomer, as well as an indicator of its ambition. The term "radio" is misapplied to internet services like AOL Radio, Rhapsody Radio, the upcoming iTunes Radio and their ilk. All these mediums are unrelated to radio technology. But for most people, "radio" simply means something you turn on and listen to. As a marketing term, "radio" seeks to accustom users to new technology by connecting it with familiar technology. Pandora describes itself as "free, personalized radio." The business intent in all cases is more ambitious -- to wean people from the terrestrial radio habit and migrate them to online services. Will it work?
iTunes Radio and 'ads' on the iOS 7 lock screen
Developers are starting to play with the iOS 7 beta, with iTunes Radio being a popular destination both for trying the new feature and for listening to music while coding. Neil Hughes at Apple Insider notes that for the first time, you may see an "ad" on your lock screen when listening to iTunes Radio. While you're listening to your favorite channel, it's possible to lock your iPhone display and the music keeps streaming. Upon waking the device, the album art from the tune currently playing is displayed on the lock screen. For those who aren't currently subscribers to iTunes Match, a link appears on that album art giving the user the opportunity to "Download on iTunes," basically a link to buy the song on iTunes. iTunes Match subscribers only see the album art on the lock screen, but can purchase the streaming tune by launching the Music app. A buy button displaying the price of the song appears in the upper-right corner of the screen displaying the tune currently playing (see image at right). Of course, this is an early beta of iOS 7, so the actual implementation of the "Download on iTunes" link on the lock screen may change before the OS becomes public this fall.
Pandora isn't afraid of iTunes Radio
After years of speculation, Apple on Monday finally released iTunes Radio, Cupertino's take on a streaming music recommendation service. iTunes Radio, of course, is entering a market already populated by some heavy-hitting competition, namely Pandora and Spotify. While Spotify is unique (and amazing) insofar as it allows users to stream specific songs on demand, Pandora's bread and butter is in furnishing users with new artist and song recommendations based on their musical tastes. With Apple now entering the fray, some have postulated that Pandora will take a huge hit. Pandora, however, doesn't see things that way. Speaking to Mashable following Apple's WWDC 2013 keynote, Pandora corporate communications manager Amanda Livingood explained that iTunes Radio merely brings Apple up to speed with the rest of the playing field. Apple's new feature is an evolution of their iTunes offering to bring it on par with other streaming music services that have added radio into their feature sets. What's more, Livingood touted the fact that Pandora has been working on music recommendation algorithms for more than a decade. We have spent the last 13 years singularly focused on redefining radio. ... [We] benefit from unrivaled intellectual property, deep experience in delivering personalized playlists, and ubiquitous product availability across every platform. Pandora announced this past April that it had passed the 200 million registered user milestone. Of that group, Pandora says that 140 million users have accessed its service from a mobile device. That said, with iTunes Radio on the horizon and set to ship with every iPhone, it'll be interesting to see if a) Pandora's subscriber growth slows down and b) if the number of active Pandora users takes a discernable hit. Of course, one of the more important factors in assessing the potential for iTunes Radio is how on-point its music recommendations will be.
iOS 7 phases out the iPhone 3GS and the original iPad; some features will be iPhone 5 only
Apple on Monday took the wraps off of iOS 7, its highly anticipated next-gen mobile OS for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Apple said that iOS 7 will be available as a free download this fall and will run on the following devices: iPhone 4 and above iPad 2 and above iPad mini iPod touch, fifth generation So with iOS 7, Apple is phasing out the iPhone 3GS. The original iPad was phased out with iOS 6 (thanks, Ben!) I'd be surprised, though, if there are a significant percentage of iOS users using the aforementioned device. All in all, Apple does do a decent job of keeping iOS users running years-old hardware in the mix. Aside from which devices will run iOS 7, it's equally important to consider which features from iOS 7 will run on which device. To that end, here's how some of the device-specific iOS 7 features break down. Panorama -- The photo feature Apple introduced last year will be available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and fifth-gen iPod touch. iPad users are out of luck here. Square/Video formats and swipe to capture -- These features will be available on the iPhone 4 and above, the third-generation iPad and above, the iPad mini and the fifth-generation iPod touch. Filters in Camera - This Instagram-inspired feature will only be available for the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch. Filters in Photos - This will be available on the iPhone 4 and above, the third-generation iPad and above, the iPad mini and the fifth-generation iPod touch. AirDrop - AirDrop in iOS 7 will only work on the iPhone 5, the fourth-generation iPad, the iPad mini and the iPod touch. Siri - Siri in iOS 7 has new voices, a new interface and a whole lot more functionality. Users trying to take advantage of the latest and greatest from Siri can run it on the iPhone 4S and above, the iPad with Retina display, the iPad mini and the fifth-generation iPod touch. iTunes Radio - Apple's long-rumored music streaming and recommendation service will run on any iOS 7-compatible device.
The Daily Roundup for 06.10.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
WWDC 2013 keynote roundup: OS X Mavericks, iOS 7, new Mac Pro, refreshed Airs and iTunes Radio
We know, oh boy do we know. With E3 and WWDC happening at the same time, it's easy to get lost in all the news -- we've got you covered for all the delicious Apple bites right here, though. Today the team from Cupertino delighted its keynote crowd with the official announcements of iOS 7, refreshed MacBook Airs and iTunes Radio. Even more exciting, however, was the sneak peak at the much-anticipated -- and cylindrical -- next-gen Mac Pro and the introduction of OS X Sea Lion Mavericks. Whether you're just trying to recap all the announcements or find what you missed, our full roundup is up after the break.
Streaming iTunes Radio service will be part of iOS 7
Apple has introduced a music-streaming service called iTunes Radio that'll be found natively in the upcoming iOS 7. For now, the service will be right in the Music app on iOS, and will offer up a series of featured stations (including, for the demo, a station playing the music heard at WWDC). Just tap on a station, and you'll get music from it. You also can choose to star songs to hear them again, play more songs like this or choose to never play a certain song again. The service is completely free, and supported by ads (presumably driven, as expected, by iAds). If you're an iTunes Match subscriber, however, the service will be completely ad-free, so that's a nice bonus. For the moment, there appears to be no offline play available, but we'll check and see if that's the case. iTunes Radio will be a feature in iOS 7, which is coming to the iPhone and iPad sometime later on this year.
Apple debuts music streaming service, iTunes Radio
Granted, this one felt like a bit of a wild card in the lead up to WWDC, but ultimately the rumors have proven true: Apple's just taken the wraps off of a brand new music offering, iTunes Radio. The service is built directly into iOS 7's music app, featuring easy access to radio based on your music collection. The company's also got hundreds of its own stations, grouped by artists and genre -- artists like, get this, Led Zeppelin. You can modify stations by telling the app which songs you love and hate, and you can access old stations by clicking your history button. The app is free with ads for regular users, or ad-free if you happen to be an iTunes Match subscriber. It's starting in the US and coming to other countries in the unspecified future. You can use it on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as on your desktop. Follow all of our WWDC 2013 coverage at our event hub. %Gallery-190902% %Gallery-190914%
