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.
"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?
Music licensors didn't waste any time in characterizing Pandora's acquisition of an FM radio station as an underhanded attempt to cheat performers out of royalties, but the rhetoric has now hit the courtroom, as Broadcast Music Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the streaming service in the New York federal system. Key to the action -- which casts Pandora's move as "an open and brazen effort to artificially drive down its license fees" -- BMI asks for a blanket determination of licensing rates for all music broadcast by Pandora. According to BMI logic, the lower royalty rates that terrestrial providers enjoy shouldn't apply to the online segment of Pandora's business. As the flip side to that argument, however, Pandora argues that it deserves equal footing with online competitors such as Clear Channel's iHeartRadio service, which pays the terrestrial rates. It's a murky decision, for sure. Hopefully the judge has a good supply of Advil.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Verge
Pandora has complained for years that royalties for internet-only radio stations are too steep. It may have found an end run around the problem, however: it just bought an FM radio station in South Dakota. The company's Chris Harrison argues that the deal will make ASCAP and music labels offer Pandora the same songwriting licenses that they do to rivals like iHeartRadio, which allegedly gets better terms through its traditional broadcasting roots. Opponents argue that Pandora is simply trying to dodge fair compensation through the buyout, although the streaming service claims to have been forced into more than one unfair rate hike with current licensing. Whatever the truth, Pandora is racing against the clock -- competition won't get any easier when built-in services like iTunes Radio are on the way.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet
Source: The Hill (1), (2)
Slacker will start offering a weekly top 40 chart today, joining the likes of Spotify, Stitcher and Twitter Music. Unlike those services however, the list isn't necessarily filled with the most popular tracks. Instead, it's comprised of what's deemed as the 40 "most engaging tracks" in that particular week. Compiled using an algorithm the company calls the "Engagement Quotient," each song is dealt an "EQ" score of one to 100 based on a number of data points. We list what those criteria are after the break, along with quotes from a brief talk with Jack Isquith, Slacker's senior VP of content programming and strategic development.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Slacker
It's that special time for Apple devotees: WWDC 2013 is next week, and that means a customary glimpse of where iOS and the Mac are going next. However, we're getting everything but business as usual this year. The crew at 1 Infinite Loop has shaken up its software strategy, putting much of its emphasis on Jony Ive's design chops and tighter collaboration between teams. Is Apple about to deliver major OS refreshes that some say are long overdue? And what about hints of new hardware introductions at the same time? We've gathered together some of the more notable rumors to help understand what Apple may introduce on June 10th -- and what's likely to remain wishful thinking.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Apple
A fresh release of Pandora's Android app hit Google Play, and it carries a light, but welcome changelog. New lock screen controls for hardware packing Ice Cream Sandwich or later flavors of Google's confection-themed OS headline the update. In addition, the revamp brings shortened startup times for the application and a track progress indicator that sports elapsed and remaining timestamps. Naturally, assorted bug fixes and enhancements round out the tweaks. Click the bordering source link to snag the download.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile
Source: Pandora (Google Play)
The advent of internet radio let many of us tune into music we never would have heard without packing our bags for a trip. However, it often keeps us isolated from events just outside our door -- a disconnect that Clear Channel wants to end through its newly launched Add-Ins for iHeartRadio streams. Check the right boxes and hourly local news, traffic and weather will appear between tracks, whether for the nearest city or a manually chosen favorite. Add-Ins don't have much mystery involved as a result, but they could keep us grounded in the real world... minus some of the all-too-real commercials.
Filed under: Internet
Source: iHeartRadio
According to folks in the know who've spoken to Bloomberg and The New York Times, Apple's oft-rumored streaming radio service is set for a late arrival. The reason is because of snails-pace negotiations with the publisher Sony/ATV for music licensing deals. As the Times notes, Sony no longer lets outsiders like ASCAP dole out licenses, leaving itself as chief point of contact for such agreements on its content -- this apparently got Pandora locked into a twenty five-percent increase on royalty payments to Sony. Prior to today's reports, Bloomberg stated that Cupertino was aiming for a Q1 release for this year, and the NYT notes Apple hoped that launch would've happened near the Grammy Awards. If you'll recall, Apple's service is said be direct competition to others like Pandora rather than Spotify, as it would be ad-supported for revenue. As usual, take all of this with a grain of salt, and don't get too thirsty for an Apple-curated streaming music service just yet. More info at the source links.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet, Apple
Source: New York Times, Bloomberg
With around 70,000 stations from around the world in its database, TuneIn is rightly one of the more popular radio apps out there. Unfortunately, it also means customers don't always have the easiest time finding what they want, something the Palo Alto firm plans to fix with a new update it's rolling out today. The key new feature is TuneIn Live, which aims to encourage content discovery through a customized interface. By culling eight favorite genres from about 100, users can build a custom tile layout that, when activated, hunts down a station playing the appropriate tune -- be it in Los Angeles, New York or even Iceland.
On top of that, the company introduced integration with Google+ Sign-in so you can immediately place a reminder for scheduled audio events on your Google Calendar. Radio stations broadcasting live sporting events or special in-studio concerts can add "@tunein" to their tweets to prompt TuneIn's servers to add them to the roster. This move towards improved discovery also includes a recently launched Trending feature that lets listeners know the most popular audio content at any given time.
TuneIn marketing director Ryan Polivka and director of product Kristin George told us that the refocus toward discovery will get users addicted to new stations they would never have heard of before. "What's best about radio [instead of algorithms like Pandora] is that there's a human on the other end hand-picking those songs," Polivka said. "Hopefully this will bring a bigger fanbase to those stations, no matter where they are in the world." The new TuneIn features should be available on the iPad app and TuneIn.com today, while other platforms will get them later in the year. For more information about the update, check out the press release and a full gallery of TuneIn Live screenshots after the break.
Filed under: Software
Source: TuneIn, TuneIn Radio (App Store)