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Spotify iOS app update brings 320kbps music to mobiles
Enjoying your Spotify tracks on the go just got a little better, at least on iOS, where an app update to v0.4.23 gifts users "very high quality" 320kbps music streaming (for Premium subscribers) and syncing, up from the previous max of 160kbps. Enabling the higher quality streams -- though heavy listeners may want to mind those bandwidth quotas -- is as simple as ticking the "Extreme" box in the settings, as shown above by The Next Web to join in a quality that was previously only available via the desktop app or in the living room. If you're just signing up or setting up the app again the one-tap Facebook log-in should also be a convenient addition (or not, if you don't use Facebook and insist on telling everyone you don't at every opportunity -- we heard you the first ten times). There's no word on updates for the other mobile platforms yet, but we'll keep an eye out.[Thanks, Pete]
The Engadget Interview: Lala and Color founder Bill Nguyen
Bill Nguyen radiates enthusiasm. It's constant and infectious, and when he attempts to sell you on his latest project, it's hard not to get excited -- this alone seems reason enough to want the guy on your team. Nguyen also has more than his share of experience heading startups -- some have even gone so far as describing the Houston native as a "serial entrepreneur," certainly not a stretch, having founded Onebox.com and Seven Networks early in his career. It was the creation of Lala, however, that really put Nguyen on the map. The service was founded in the mid-'00s, around the concept of CD swapping, users mailing physical discs to one another in little red and white Netflix-like envelopes. The site shifted gears soon after, being reborn as a streaming service. The concept was born from Nguyen's typically utopian vision of free music streaming, in hopes of spurring purchases amongst a dedicated audience -- the actual product, not surprisingly, was far more of a compromise, limiting the streams of users who didn't already have that music stored in their PC. Read our full interview after the break.
Spotify US premium service hands-on
Like The Beach Boys' Smile and Duke Nukem Forever before it, the US version of Spotify has been elevated to a sort of mythological status by collective anticipation. Music nerds and tech geeks all over this fine nation of ours have waited with bated breath for the service to work out all of its licensing kinks and finally make its way to our shores. In an interview earlier this week, a Spotify higher-up promised us that the service will be pretty much the same as the one that Europe has already come to love -- the question, then, is whether or not disappointment is inevitable after so much waiting. Spotify gave us the opportunity to take the premium desktop and mobile versions of the service for a spin. Check out the result below.%Gallery-128415% %Gallery-128418%
Spotify announces new limits for free service, hopes you'll consider its premium options
No, it's still not saying anything about the eventual US launch, but Spotify is now causing a minor ruckus across the pond, where it's just announced some changes to the free version of the music streaming service. The timeline for the changes varies depending on when you signed up, but the short of it is that users will have six months of access to the free service as it is now, after which they'll face some stricter limits on how much they can listen to. That includes a total of just ten hours of listening time each month, and the ability to listen to individual songs no more than five times. Of course, the obvious goal there is to get more folks to sign up for its Premium or Unlimited services, which the company notes remain unchanged. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Spotify now streaming over European Onkyo receivers
While Spotify still isn't available to US households, the streaming music service just made its first jump to European audio receivers with the help of Onkyo. Having already made its first move to the living room on Sonos systems back in September, Spotify Premium subscribers in Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK can now stream 320kbps audio while browsing their personal, what's new, and starred playlists from televisions connected to any 2011 networked home cinema receiver from Onkyo, starting with the new 7.2 channel TX-NR609. With any luck, Onkyo will soon be updating its Onkyo Remote iOS app to replace the need for a power-hungry TV just to browse Spotify's 10 million tracks. Sorry North America, at least you've still got dibs on Rdio.
Inq Cloud Touch preview
We can't accuse Inq of having the best timing in the world -- the company announced its new Facebook-centric Cloud Touch and Cloud Q phones at about the same time that HP was busy blowing minds with its new webOS range in San Francisco -- but at least that gave us an excuse to get out of the Engadget bunker this morning and go check out some new gear. We've gotten to grips with the 3.5-inch touchscreen-equipped Cloud Touch and have broken down our first impressions of the device for you after the break. Aside from Facebook, Inq has chosen to integrate Spotify Premium into this phone along with Fluency, the typing prediction engine that powers SwiftKey. The two serve as significant upgrades on the default media player and keyboard software, respectively, and add a nice sprinkling of value to a phone that's already expected to go easy on the wallet. The gallery below will illustrate anything else you may need or want to know, although you'll have to check out the video to see the multifunctional unlock screen and Facebook widgetry in action. %Gallery-116210%
Spotify still planning to launch in the US... sometime
Wondering about the state of Spotify in the United States? You're not the only one, and Spotify CEO and co-found Daniel Ek was once again asked that key question at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference today. His response? The company does indeed still plan to launch the music streaming service in the US, but it can't say when it will happen -- he did confirm, however, that it will cost $10 a month. Ek further explained that the reason for the delay is due to the nature of the service, which requires "complex deals" with recording companies -- there apparently wasn't any mention of any other potential complicating factors.
