Month: August 2016

Amazon Echo

Amazon investigating possible Echo-Only Music Service and undercutting industry pricing

Dan Uff August 23, 2016 0

AmazonEcho2 In a move that undercuts the entire streaming music industry, online retail giant Amazon is reportedly developing $4 or $5 per month subscription service that could see release next month. The catch: the service only works with Amazon Echo hardware.

Citing industry sources, Recode reports Amazon is currently in talks with music labels to introduce the cheap, unlimited streaming service exclusively on its Echo line of internet-connected speakers. Affordable monthly fees is the main draw, though Amazon has yet to decide whether to set pricing at $4 or $5 a month.

The supposed Echo-only service would be marketed alongside a traditional $10-per-month product also said to be in development. Unlike the cut-rate version, Amazon's full-featured standalone streaming product is expected to work on a variety of devices, including smartphones.

In the early days of music streaming, companies experimented with offerings priced at around $5, but those services usually came with stringent limitations on song skipping or number of registered devices. Consumer response was tepid, as users seemed willing to spend the extra money for full control over their listening experience. Industry competitors, led by Spotify and Pandora, ultimately settled on a $9.99 per month sweet spot, a price point more recently adopted by Apple Music.

As noted by today's report, portability is one of the main draws of any streaming service. For many subscribers, the ability to keep an essentially unlimited music library in your pocket is worth the price of entry. Amazon's plan, at least for the cheaper $4 or $5 a month version, is to add value to a family of devices used mainly at home (although the Amazon Tap is a portable bluetooth speaker). Echo already supports a number of streaming apps including Pandora, Spotify and Amazon Music, the latter of which provides Amazon Prime members free access to a comparatively small music library.

Amazon is reportedly targeting a September launch window for both standalone streaming services.

OOPS! Did Movie Actress Barbara Streisand leak release date of iOS 10?

Dan Uff August 22, 2016 0

BarbaraStreisand In a radio interview over the weekend, movie actress Barbara Streisand said that Apple is fixing how Siri pronounces her name and that the update will be on September 30th.

Siri's use of a "Z" sound in the middle of "Streisand" has annoyed the singer since Apple's feature first launched in 2011, according to a talk on NPR. Only recently, however, did she call Apple CEO Tim Cook, who promised to fix the problem in a future update.

In the interview, Streisand suggested that the change would happen with "the next update on Sept. 30," giving an unusually specific time that's likely inaccurate.

The next version of iOS — iOS 10 — is in fact expected to launch next month, but will should arrive well before Sept. 30. The "iPhone 7" is rumored to be shipping on either the 16th or the 23rd, and will have to have iOS 10 preloaded. Previous iOS devices should get access even earlier, possibly as soon as Sept. 14.

One explanation may be that Streisand was told iOS 10 would be out by the end of September. Another is that Apple is already planning a follow-up patch, 10.0.1, that could be ready by Sept. 30.

Google is Discontinuing Chrome apps for Windows and Mac

Dan Uff August 21, 2016 0

GoogleLogo “Are you an avid user of Google’s Chrome apps for Mac or Windows? No? Apparently not that many people are, which is why Google will be killing them off for both Mac and Windows in the next few years,” Christian de Looper reports for Digital Trends.

“Chrome apps are basically apps that run within Google’s Chrome web browser, and some look and act like stand-alone apps. There are a number of apps available, including the likes of Hangouts, Google Keep, an so on,” de Looper reports. “Chrome needs to be running and open in order for these apps to work, even if they seem like standard apps.”

“Google’s decision comes as part of an effort to make Chrome a little simpler. For example, Google removed the app launcher, which allowed users to access Chrome apps, from Chrome in the past few months,” de Looper reports. “The apps won’t disappear immediately. Google has a plan to get rid of the apps over the next two years.”

You can help with the Louisiana Floods by donating to the American Red Cross

Dan Uff August 20, 2016 0

Over the past 2 weeks, persons in Louisiana and in other areas have been dealing with a catastrophic event - almost all of there neighborhoods and homes have been destroyed by major flooding caused by a rare weather event.

We here at CompuScoop would like to ask our readers to make a donation to the American Red Cross by clicking on their logo on the right. Your donation(s) will help in the relief efforts and give an individual or a family a chance for recovery from this terrible event.

Thanks for taking the time to assist other persons in need.