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Google Home gains Bluetooth to play audio from any device
Google's smart speaker was already handy for a lot of things, but today the company is announcing a ton of new features for the device. During the keynote for its I/O developer conference, the company said it's adding Bluetooth connectivity to Google Home. This means you'll be able to play music and other audio from any device, including those running Android and iOS.
EU will push Apple, Google to treat app developers fairly
Spotify and other services aren't happy with being at the mercy of internet giants like Apple and Google. If those behemoths want to stifle competition, they only have to impose strict app rules or promote their own products over others. Well, the smaller outfits may get some government help with loosening that grip. In the wake of a complaint letter from companies like Spotify and Deezer, the European Commission has announced that it's readying "legislative instruments" to tackle the possibility of unfair contracts and trade practices. Just what those entail isn't certain, but the Commission has already offered some clues through the initial results of an investigation.
Kello trains your sleeping habits without using sensors
While there are already a handful of devices that claim to improve our sleep quality, one little startup from Hong Kong's Brinc IoT accelerator thinks that it can do a better job. Kello is a sleep trainer that comes in the form of an internet radio alarm slash Bluetooth speaker slash home automation hub, and unlike some of the competition, it doesn't use any bed sensor, clip-on device nor wearable to track the user's sleep activity. Instead, it's all about leveraging "simple, effective and scientifically proven techniques" from specialists to help us sleep faster, wake up better and ultimately change our lifestyle.
Deezer's family streaming plan is now available across Europe
Like most streaming services, music or otherwise, Deezer has a family plan that offers enough individual accounts to cover your whole household for a significantly discounted price. This particular subscription option, however, was previously exclusive to users in France and T-Mobile customers in the Netherlands, but as of today, it's now available throughout Europe -- apart from in Sweden, for whatever reason. For €15 or £15 per month, the family plan gets you six separate Premium+ accounts (€10/£10 on their own), each of which can be used across two devices, or three for the primary login.
Deezer tracks now play in your Twitter timeline
As Deezer pushes hard for a subscriber base in America, it's teaming up with Twitter to ensure its music can be easily shared online. Similar to Spotify and SoundCloud, you can now tweet a track with an embedded player from inside the Deezer mobile app. Anyone that sees your tweet has the option to listen to a short snippet -- about 30 seconds -- or press the shortcut underneath to listen to the rest on Deezer's platform. The audio card integration is available in all countries where Deezer operates, including Canada and various parts of Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Now that Deezer is widely available in the US, should you switch?
People outside of the U.S. are already familiar with Deezer. The streaming service has been available in other parts of the world for a long time now, but until recently the company only made its subscription available to a select few in the States. Until a few weeks ago, you needed to own either Bose or Sonos speakers (or have a Cricket phone plan) to have the option of using Deezer. After dipping its toe in the U.S. market, the streaming catalog is now available to everyone. Does it offer enough to woo subscribers away from other big-name services? Probably not.
Deezer's $10 music streaming service is open to all in the US (updated)
Before now, if you wanted to subscribe to Deezer in the US, you needed to own Bose or Sonos audio gear or be a Cricket customer in order to do so. Just over a month after the streaming service shed podcast app Stitcher, it's opening up the $10 monthly streaming plan to all users in the States. While Deezer offers both free and paid tiers in other countries, the monthly subscription will be the only way for US users to listen when the 30-day trial runs out. Paying up will also get you access to podcasts (still driven by Stitcher) and features like Flow, a personalized station of tunes based on what you've been listening to recently.
Deezer revamps discovery features to compete with Spotify and Apple
After getting on the Apple Watch in March and selling off its podcast app Stitcher last month, music streaming service Deezer is cleaning up its user experience. To compete with Spotify and Apple Music, they've freshened up their homepage in hopes that winning hearts and minds today requires discovery to be front-and-center.
Deezer sells Stitcher less than two years after purchasing it
Podcast app/directory Stitcher is changing hands again, as this time Deezer is selling it to the E.W. Scripps company. That comes just 591 days after Deezer bought Stitcher in the first place, seeking to pair podcasts with its music library and a few months after the podcast app suffered a prolonged outage. According to Scripps, Stitcher has 8.5 million registered users and is installed on 50 models of cars, however it did not reveal how many of those users are active. Apparently it's enough to justify a $4.5 million purchase price a Wall Street Journal source described as a small acquihire, and the Stitcher team will join Midroll Media, a podcast producer and advertising network.
Deezer's music streaming service arrives on the Apple Watch
There are many ways to listen to music on the Apple Watch, but if Deezer's your streaming service of choice, then it's time to add another app on your wearable. Deezer has released an app for the smartwatch, perhaps as part of its efforts to compete with Spotify and Apple Music. It comes with a bunch of key features, including Flow, which can guess the kind of music you want to hear. You can "love" or skip tracks and play a set of songs from your library based on your mood within the app. If you press firmly on the display (in other words, take advantage of its Force Touch feature), you can see your queue or play in shuffle mode, as well. Plus, the app can access all the tracks saved on your iPhone in Offline Mode. It's now available everywhere Deezer is active, and you can get it so long as your iPhone's running iOS 8.2 or higher.
Three UK gifts customers free Deezer music subscriptions
Deezer's music streaming service has been around for years, but its subscriber base is small compared to Spotify and newcomer Apple Music. Now, the company hopes to grow those numbers by partnering with a UK mobile network -- but this time, it's Three rather than Orange. New and existing customers on monthly and pay-as-you-go contracts, as well as SIM-only deals can get a free six-month subscription to Deezer Premium+. Usually this would cost £9.99 per month -- the industry standard for an ad-free music streaming service -- and is redeemable online starting today. The registration process is a little clunky, but presumably new Three customers will be walked through the process in stores.
Deezer expands podcasts and talk radio to bolster its streaming library
After nabbing podcast company Stitcher in late 2014, Deezer added the listening material to its own service earlier this year. Now, the streaming option is filling out its library and adding some to features to make the experience a bit more enjoyable. First, Deezer's lineup of podcasts and talk radio now totals 40,000, doubling the previous tally. The library of shows includes programming from the likes of NPR and CBS News with sports coverage from TalkSport (in the UK and Germany) and more. Next, the company's apps have some new tools for podcast listening. There are playlist and sharing options now, as well as offline listening for Premium Plus subscribers that'll allow access during a flight or other times a connection isn't available.
George Harrison's solo catalog is available at most streaming services
If you enjoy listening to solo work from members of The Beatles, the library of options just got larger. The solo catalog of guitarist George Harrison hit most music streaming services today. This means that you'll be able to access the musician's tracks on the likes of Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Rdio, Spotify, Tidal and others, including albums like Living in the Material World. If you aren't familiar with Harrison's solo music, now's a good time to get acquainted. The newly-posted albums join those of former bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on streaming services, but the music of the group as a whole remains off limits there. To make things easy for you, we've embedded All Things Must Pass on the other side of the break. [Image credit: AP Photo/Brich]
Deezer taps BandPage for more interaction between artists and fans
Music streaming services like Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify and Tidal already offer ways for artists to connect with their fans. By partnering with BandPage, Deezer is looking to do the same. After making the trek across the Atlantic to stream tunes in the States earlier this year, Deezer will allow musicians to promote tour dates, photos, merchandise and VIP meet-ups with the help of BandPage. The company has already been working with Rhapsody and Spotify, sending 1.5 million eager fans to artist stores on a monthly basis. Based you your streaming habits, BandPage will serve up push notifications with artist info you might find interesting. When you factor in Deezer's six million subscribers, there's some potential for artist/listener interaction as the company looks to keep its piece of the streaming pie in a crowded marketplace. As mentioned, these types of musician-facing tools have been a part of the other services for some time, so Deezer has some catching up to do if it's looking to woo more talent. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Deezer gets into live football commentary with TalkSport's help
In recent months, Spotify and Deezer have mixed things up by extending beyond music and into podcasts and video. But what about live content? That's exactly what Deezer hopes will set it apart from rivals after it launched a new partnership with TalkSport, one of the world's biggest sports radio stations. From today, customers in the UK and Germany can access live coverage of Premier League and Bundesliga games respectively. It'll also host match fixtures and results, football-centric music playlists and extra content from Deezer's football editors. Football podcasts will also be available, but only for UK subscribers. If you're a Deezer user and want to see what it's all about, Football on Deezer is prominently displayed on the homepage, as well as in the apps section. It's also available on free and Premium tiers, but non-paying customers will need to sit through ads.
Deezer needs more cash to fight Apple and Spotify
According to various sources, music streaming service Deezer is preparing to float itself on the Paris stock market in the hope of raising some much-needed cash. The company has found itself struggling in comparison with richer rivals like Apple or Spotify, while Tidal can count on Jay-Z's cash and industry connections. As such, the firm is going to try and sell off chunks of its business, currently valued at $1 billion, in order to build a bigger war chest to take on its three nearest rivals.
Prince removes his music catalog from streaming services
Unless you're a Google Music or Tidal customer, you may have noticed that Prince's catalog is absent from your go-to service. Music from the artist is gone from the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Deezer, leaving Jay Z's streaming venture and Google Music All Access as the only two places you can still listen on demand. According to Prince's artist page on Spotify, the musician's "publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalog." TechCrunch reports that Google didn't receive the same request as the other companies, so the tunes may remain available there. However, that could change, soon enough as Prince has already pulled official tracks from YouTube. In case you're wondering, they weren't available on Apple Music, so there's no change there. Prince has ties to Tidal, though, as the service streamed his Rally 4 Peace concert from Baltimore back in May.
Deezer adds podcasts to its music streaming service
It's become increasingly difficult for music streaming services to differentiate from one another. They all offer huge music libraries, mobile apps and the ability to store specific tracks, albums and playlists offline. Aside from dropping their subscription prices, how can a company like Deezer persuade people to switch? With podcasts, it hopes. That's right, the company is now pitching its service as a home for all of your favortie audio. So whether you're catching up on Serial or looking for some tunes to keep you company on the bus, there's only one app you should have to keep on your home screen now.
Grooveshark's illegal music streaming service is extinct
Death's icy grip hit more than just Secret this week; Grooveshark is shutting down too. Last year, judges found the music streaming service guilty of mass copyright infringement for hosting illegal uploads of songs from Jay-Z, Madonna and others. As Recode notes, however, something a little more recent was the reason behind the actual closure. Escape Media (Grooveshark's owner) had a few options in court with Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group last week: either pay a possible maximum of $736 million in fines or accept a settlement with record labels to hand over its website, apps and patents.
Sonos adds another five music services, including Jay Z's Tidal
You've got your Sonos setup, and you've gushed about how easy it is to use, but (but!) you're itching to stream some Swift -- alas she's not on Spotify anymore. Not to worry, as the speaker company has recently added full (it was in testing before) support for music service challenger Tidal, as well as 22tracks, Saavn and Deezer Elite (again?). The new sources keep coming, too -- Mixcloud (a popular site for DJ sets) was added in "beta" (again, in testing) just today. As you'd hope, Tidal and Deezer Elite will stream high-quality audio to your earholes, while Saavn will satisfy your Bollywood hit needs. Sonos now has a total of 60 different music services compatible with its hardware and software mix -- so many, you'll likely not have heard of half of them. Its universal search still weeds out the artist you're looking for across music platforms, handy, given certain well-heeled musicians continue to pick and choose which services they back.
