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Oct

Google Partners With Warner Music Group For Play Music, Promises To Bring The Service (With Song Matching) To Europe November 13

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, News

Within the deluge of exciting announcements made today in lieu of its New York event, Google announced that it has partnered with Warner Music Group to explode the Play Store's music selection, bringing the media giant's full music catalog to listeners all over the world. This means that Google is now partnered "with all of the major record labels globally," along with many independent labels and all the major US magazine publishers, which is nothing if not good news for consumers.

Google also announced that Play Music will be coming to Europe. Starting November 13, listeners in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain will not only be able to begin listening and buying from the Play Store, but will enjoy the free 20,000 song upload other listeners use to get their personal library connected with their Google account.

Oct

Rdio Launches Beta For Its Upcoming App Redesign, And It Is Glorious

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

When it comes to streaming subscription services, Spotify has stolen the spotlight in the US, where companies like Rdio have struggled to get the attention and acclaim they used to enjoy back before the Swedish invasion. With Xbox Music looming on the horizon, promising to install 30 million free, ad-supported tracks into every computer running Windows 8, the market has never been more competitive. Which makes Rdio's newly announced overhaul to its Android app all the more timely. It's even better that it looks fantastic.

Old Versus New

^{The old version of Rdio that current users have.}

^{The slick new look.}

Sep

Rhapsody App Turns 3.0, Celebrates By Adding Offline Support For Individual Tracks And Albums

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

While services like Spotify and Rdio may steal the spotlight most of the time, there are other streaming subscription services out there. Related: we need a better name than "streaming subscription services." Rhapsody, originally founded by Real Networks and since become an independent entity, has a pretty impressive library that users can now download for offline playback. An essential feature for a modern cloud music player. Update: To clarify, it's the ability to download songs on an individual or per-album basis that is new. Users were always able songs by adding them to a playlist first. This simply makes the process simpler.

Jul

NOW TV Launches On Android In The UK, Offers Mobile Movies And Television Shows To Sky Movies Pass Subscribers

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

We've got a treat for you today, UK readers. If you've ever gotten tired of seeing products come out for the US with nary a release date for you in sight, today's the day you get one back: NOW TV, the UK-only streaming movie and TV service, is now available on Android. As long as you have a Sky Movies Pass, of course.

The service offers quite a few big name movies and plenty of television shows to watch. As with any online streaming service, it's not going to have everything, but for watching stuff on the go? Yeah, it will do the job.

Jun

Facebook Messenger Updated To Version 1.8 – Add Friends Of Friends To Messages, Switch Conversations With In-App Notifications, And More

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Facebook Messenger, an app the social giant says provides "a faster way to message," got a significant update today, bringing it up to version 1.8. The update, besides promising to speed up app loading, navigating (by way of some small UI tweaks), and message sending, contains several new features that are worth mentioning.

Among these new features is the ability to switch between conversations using handy (dismissible) in-app notification bars which appear any time a friend sends you a message in another conversation. Facebook has also added the option to bring friends of friends into your existing conversation, using the same interface you'd use to add any of your friends to the message.

Jun

[Weekend Poll] Is A Carrier Move To Data-Only Service A Win Or Loss For Consumers?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Carriers, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Google + Motorola: A Match Made In Heaven, Or A Disaster Waiting To Happen?

A few days ago, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson revealed that the cellular industry would be moving towards data-only plans in the next few years, rather than the separated voice, message, and data system that is used today. Under the new system, voice and messages would be billed as data. The question, obviously, is at what rate they'd billed.

Initially, this may seem like a great idea for both parties. Obviously it allows carriers to get a handle on all the services their customers are using (such as Skype for calls rather than normal voice), as well as sneak in some "toll-free" data services.

May

HBO GO And MAX GO Update To Support ICS, A Very Small Number Of Users Rejoice

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

If you're among the minority of users who own an Ice Cream Sandwich device and have a cable subscription that includes access to the HBO/MAX GO services, you can now access your mobile video service on your device. HBO already has an impressive library of shows available on GO, including Game of Thrones and the Sopranos, and MAX GO is the companion Cinemax service that offers 400+ movies for instant streaming.

As always, you'll need to already have a cable package that includes access to HBO and Cinemax channels and that includes the bundled internet channels. Of course, we can hope that HBO and Cinemax will start offering their services without a cable package but sometimes the entertainment industry just has bad ideas.

Apr

[Weekend Poll] Have You Switched Your Primary Cloud Storage Service To Google Drive?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Do You Use Cloud Storage With Your Android?

Google's much-anticipated cloud storage service, dubbed "Drive," finally dropped on Tuesday. Based on our tests, we think the service could still use some work - and we think it has the potential to gain some serious popularity as the kinks are worked out and the gaps are filled. But we're curious: have you switched already, despite the shortcomings? Or are you sticking with your tried-and-true service for the time being?

Apr

[Breaking] Google Drive Cloud Service Accidentally Exposed On Google's French Blog

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Google, News

The headlines keep rolling in today - first, Google began selling the Galaxy Nexus online, and now, Mountain View has accidentally published details about its ~~exciting~~ interesting... new cloud service.

Update: In a nutshell, you'll be able to make and share documents and presentations, in addition to having access to your videos, photos, Google Docs, and PDFs; Android interaction will include an app for both phones and tablets.

The news was posted earlier today on Google's French blog before being taken down shortly thereafter; however, Google+ user Gerwin Sturm managed to catch it just in time. Here's the translation, as per Google Translate:

Posted by Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President, Google Chrome & Apps

Today we launch Google Drive, a centralized space where you can create, share, collaborate and store all your documents.

Mar

[New App] Seamlessly Share And Sync Designs, 3D Models, And Other Assets With Autodesk's Buzzsaw For Android

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

Autodesk, a clear leader in 3D design software (particularly in the fields of architecture and construction), recently released Buzzsaw Mobile for Android to Google's Play Store, bringing the awesome cloud-based project sharing functionality of the corporation's original Buzzsaw service to the palm of your hand.

For those unfamiliar, Autodesk's Buzzsaw service essentially provides cloud-based sharing for design projects and files, allowing project stakeholders to sync and view designs, 3D models, and other relevant assets with ease. Until recently, however, Buzzsaw sync was only supported for desktop and iOS devices.

Remedying that situation, Autodesk has brought the same breezy yet practical functionality users expect of Buzzsaw to the Android platform.