Pandora users wishing to upgrade from a free to paid account via the Android app can now manage their subscription directly in Google Play. Following a link in the settings of the app now takes you to a Play Store in-app purchase page to start the subscription. A Pandora One account will still set you back the same $3.99 (plus tax, at least in my state,) but this way it will be tied to...
Sony's Music Unlimited streaming service is being updated today to offer high-quality 320 kbps AAC music on all platforms, including Android. The service, which offers unlimited (go figure) music streaming for the monthly price of $9.99, is hoping to persuade users to try it over competing services like Spotify and Rdio. 320 kbps AAC is generally regarded as a high enough quality...
Google Play Music has just received a notable update to add a few features that have been bugging users for some time now. Right off the top you'll spot a proper reverse button on the music widget, letting you go backwards in albums or playlists without entering the app. Instant mixes can now continue on past 25 tracks as well, and you can shuffle albums, artists or playlists. The...
It seems that users taking advantage of Google Music's new scan and match feature aren't always getting exactly what they expected added to their music libraries. The new feature, which launched in the U.S. just a week ago, lets users bypass uploading of new music by instead "matching" the music on the user's computer with the same file in Google Music automatically. That's all fine and...
Amazon is doing its best to help you get some last-minute gifts if you're completely out of ideas. It's far too late to order anything that needs to be shipped, and stores are all but closed, but you can still buy digital goods. Amazon has let everyone know via its official Twitter account that it has over 2,000 albums on sale right now for just $5 a piece, a darn good price. Buy some...
Today is a big day for music streaming service Spotify and its users. They're introducing a whole bunch of new music discovery features, some of which will eventually go 'cross-platform.' But, they're also introducing the entire back catalog of one of the most well-known rock bands in history. Spotify users, say hello to Metallica. We'll start there, because this is huge news. There...
Soundcloud has always managed to have a pretty respectable app across platforms, and the latest update to their mobile app keeps that tradition going. The app has been revamped with a new UI that uses the sliding panes we've seen in many apps as of late. It not only looks great but more importantly, it works great. Smooth and fluid describes it nicely. Aside from the UI change,...
Remember when Samsung awkwardly (and unexpectedly) came out with the "S-Pebble" music player at a press conference earlier this year with the Galaxy SIII (S3)? It has chosen to finally release the device, and probably for the better, they've also decided to rename it "Muse". The basic idea is that the Muse pairs with your Galaxy S3 (or any other major recent Samsung device), and syncs...
There's been a whole lot of talk about Google Music in the recent weeks, as Google has been furiously rolling out features to new countries and signing big content deals to back them up. Play Music went live in several European countries, it's music "matching" service just came to Europe, gapless playback support hit the app and this latest deal is going to bring another 5.5 million...
We got a look at the press images of a new update to Pandora -- version 4.0 -- a couple weeks ago, and now it has finally gone live for everyone to get their hands on. The app got a pretty substantial UI facelift in the previous update, and now this one brings extra features to fill out the entire experience. After linking the app to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, you can share the...
Pandora has actually undergone quite a bit of change lately. After making notable changes to the app's UI just over two months ago, Pandora has gone back to the drawing board yet again. The new version 4.0 UI is coming to both Android and iOS with a whole host of changes, although curiously the Android update will be here "in the coming weeks". We've just got the official press shots of...
The Jawbone Jambox is a popular stand-alone Bluetooth speaker with sharp style, heavy bass, and relatively rich app environment. Audio from the jawbone Jambox is pretty solid, and especially heavy on the bass. I didn't have any issues with distortion, even at higher volumes, The lack of hardware playback controls, like pause and play, is a pretty serious downer. The Big Jambox has the...
With the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 launch just around the corner, Microsoft is once again making a big push into the world of digital music with its new Xbox Music service. Launching across Windows 8 PCs and tablets, Windows Phone 8 handsets and Xbox 360, Xbox Music won't be limited to Microsoft's own platforms, though, as the company has today confirmed that it'll "eventually" be...
Google TV owners will now be able to access all of their movie, TV, and music purchases from Google Play on the big screen. Purchases can be made directly on the system, and include options for auto-updating subscription billing. This is a long time coming, though some models, like one of Sony's, have already been dabbling in Play movies. In any case, it's good that this trove of...
How does Android work with Apple's new EarPods? We take the $29 pair for a spin Apple now has EarPods. For your ear holes. And you know what? They're not half bad, especially considering they're only $29. Actually, they're pretty darn good. But what about using them on Android devices? Will they curl up their cute little white cables and slink away, their cries of "Noooooooooooooooo...
The Naztech Mini Boom speaker is a compact, affordable external speaker that plugs into your device with a built-in 3.5 mm jack. The interesting thing about this little guy is that it doubles as a reasonably good stand-alone music player too, thanks to a microSD memory card slot, playback control keys, and a dedicated headphone jack. Of course, if you want to share the music, the...
Earlier this summer Nobex Radio made its way onto Android after establishing itself as pretty much the only radio streaming application for BlackBerry. For the low, low price of free, users had access to thousands of traditional radio stations through a categorized, searchable database. No matter what the station, Nobex provided a listing of the songs that have been played recently,...
Songza for Android was recently updated for tablet layouts, following up on the release of Concierge. The music streaming service’s big selling points are its mood-based playlists and time-based suggestions. For example, launching the app on a Friday night in December will probably offer a playlist for Christmas-themed party songs, while Monday evenings are more likely to offer...
SongPop is quickly becoming one of the more popular social games available on Android by seriously testing musical knowledge. Players take turns trying to identify five tracks within a specific genre from a multiple-choice list. Points are awarded based on how quickly correct answers are supplied, and once both players have had a go, their results are compared and a winner declared....
RealPlayer’s Android app exits its lengthy beta today, and we got the chance to play around with the final product. Just like the beta, it handles all sorts of media types, including, audio, video, and images, though the user interface has been changed up a bit. Beyond handling the usual stuff like playlists and track sorting by artist, genre, or album, RealPlayer brings a few extras to...