PCWorld – Sony Brings Streaming Music Service to the IPhone

Sony Brings Streaming Music Service to the IPhone

Sony on Friday released an iPhone app to access its streaming Music Unlimited service, part of its efforts to expand its online platforms to devices from rival manufacturers.

The app allows users to listen to and manage playlists and channels. The service is already available on Android phones and PCs, as well as the company’s tablets, Walkman music players, home stereos and PlayStation game consoles.

The Tokyo-based company is emphasizing its online platforms as part of its turnaround plan, as it is the only major electronics company with its own major music and movie divisions. Music Unlimited is part of the Sony Entertainment Network, the Tokyo-based company’s brand for its online music, movie, gaming and photo-sharing platforms.

Sony has begun to expand support for devices from other makers as part of the new effort. Its PlayStation Suite is a push to put its game platform on Android devices, for example. In other areas, the company still locks users into its ecosystem – the “nasne” digital media hub, to launch in July in Japan, streams to its computers, smartphones and game consoles but has little support for other devices.

Music Unlimited is a paid streaming music service that offers various music channels and the ability to create playlists. Its Android app also allows songs to be saved locally for offline listening.

Music Unlimited is available in 16 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Spain and France. Registered users can access the service from anywhere in the world, unlike online music offerings such as Spotify and Pandora.

In the U.S., the basic plan costs US$3.99 and a premium plan is available for US$9.99. The pricier plan includes items such as easier access to individual songs and exclusive music channels.

VirtualStrategy – MilliTalk 2.5 Releases New Features for iPhones, the iPod Touch and Brings Calling to the iPad

MilliTalk 2.5 Releases New Features for iPhones, the iPod Touch and Brings Calling to the iPad

Millicorp announced the release of MilliTalk 2.5 which is available immediately in the Apple App Store. The release of MilliTalk 2.5 introduces newly enhanced features; including a native interface which was specifically designed for iPad users to offer a superior experience and optimal use of the larger screen area.

MilliTalk has changed the way the world talks and has now changed how the world sees the iPad. One of the sexiest features of 2.5 is the detail built into the design to enhance the use with the iPad bringing about a full rich experience whether the purpose is for business or personal service. For example, the user will immediately notice how MilliTalk was designed with the larger device in mind which naturally supports the full size of the iPad screen rather than apps that were designed for the iPhone.

For the iPad and iPod Touch the most important feature of MilliTalk is the extending the functionality of Apples non phone devices that enables calling by essentially turning them into phones. Regardless if it’s an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, MilliTalk’s calling features enable calling even in the most remote or poor cellular reception areas using Wi-Fi, this supports calling in areas where otherwise there would be no service. The app broadens the ability to talk on any of the Apple devices and works well with Wi-Fi, 3G and LTE networks. These features can benefit anyone from the world traveler and independent business to those who are interested in basic domestic calling.

Professional groups have realized to stay relevant in today’s market a global presence is necessary, but often the cost is overwhelming. MilliTalk has made it possible for companies today to have a global presence by offering a cost effective solution. For instance, the app has allowed businesses the option to create a separate number in a different location whether it’s another city or country thereby increasing worldwide awareness. To extend the professional presence even further many companies are also utilizing the visual voicemail and customized greeting features.

InformationWeek – Apple iOS Still Charming More Developers Than Android

Apple iOS Still Charming More Developers Than Android

Developers and consumers prefer iOS to Android, according to several new reports. Flurry Analytics says that more apps developed during the first quarter of the year were for iOS than Android. At the same time, data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners shows that a huge percentage of new iPhone buyers defected from Android smartphones.

Apple’s WorldWide Developers Conference is mere days away, and Flurry dropped some interesting stats that show developers favor Apple’s iOS platform. According to Flurry’s data, 69% of new applications created in the first three months of 2012 were for iOS and 31% for Android.

PCMAG – T-Mobile Turns on iPhone-Compatible Network at WWDC

T-Mobile Turns on iPhone-Compatible Network at WWDC

T-Mobile may have a million iPhones running on its network, but they’re all crawling along at slow EDGE speeds. That’s going to change over the next several months as the carrier “refarms” 3G spectrum to become more compatible with AT&T-specced phones.

Where better to test that than the iPhone scrum known as the Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference? T-Mobile confirmed to 9to5Mac yesterday that it’ll turn on 1900Mhz HSPA+ “inside the west side of the Moscone Center” where the event will be held this coming Monday, although the company added that “the time and location of this test is just coincidental.”

Yeah, right.

T-Mobile’s refarming won’t just help iPhone owners. T-Mobile’s 1700Mhz AWS spectrum is supported by fewer devices than the more mainstream 1900Mhz band, so unlocked Android phones that couldn’t hit 3G on T-Mobile before will finally be able to do so.

Few of those phones will be able to achieve T-Mobile’s full “4G” speeds, though, because the phones’ own modems aren’t fast enough. T-Mobile’s network runs at HSPA+ 42, but the iPhone plugs along at a relatively sedate HSPA 14.4. I’d expect 2-4Mbps download speeds on an iPhone, as compared to around 8Mbps on an HSPA+ 42 phone like the HTC One S.

T-Mobile still isn’t selling subsidized iPhones, but the entry of Cricket and Virgin Mobile into the iPhone world may start to convince Americans that it’s worth paying more up front for much lower plan prices.

SlashGear – iPhone App celebrates Goodwood Festival of Speed

iPhone App celebrates Goodwood Festival of Speed

If you are a fan of cars in the UK, you might be familiar with the Goodwood Festival of Speed that is sponsored by Auto Trader. A new app has launched to go along with the Goodwood Festival of Speed and features the festivals iconic Goodwood hill climb and other functionality for visitors to Festival.

StatesManJournal – Galaxy strong contender to iPhone

Galaxy strong contender to iPhone

Until I started watching videos on Samsung’s new Galaxy S III phone, I never thought of the iPhone’s display as small.

The Galaxy’s screen measures 4.8 inches diagonally, compared with 3.5 inches for the iPhone. That translates to a display area that’s nearly twice the size. Yet the Galaxy is thinner and lighter.

Apart from that, the Galaxy shares the iPhone’s curvy and shiny design, along with a center button that wakes up the device from power-saving mode or takes you from whatever you’re doing to a home screen.

Unlike the iPhone, the Galaxy runs on faster 4G cellular networks (AT&T markets its iPhones as 4G, but the network is based on older technology). The Galaxy also comes with a new wireless technology called near-field communications, which can be used to share files and make purchases.

InfoWorld – Beyond iPhone and Android: 5 hot new platforms for developers

Beyond iPhone and Android: 5 hot new platforms for developers

A long time ago in a mind-set far away, I spent a lunch with friends trying to figure out what we’d do if we could reprogram our cellphones. Our ideas were, in retrospect, lame. Maybe we would change the font on the dialer or come up with a screensaver animation. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get flying toasters running on the screen of our cellphone?

The iPhone was still several years away when we came up with those ideas. The millions of ways people would be reprogramming smartphones just a few short years later was beyond our comprehension. The App Store and the effort of tens of thousands of programmers changed that.

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The smartphone has proven that a marketplace for delivering code can appear seemingly out of nowhere, and developers would have another choice for showcasing their wares. It’s not that the App Store was new — you could develop for Nokia, Windows Mobile, and Java phones long before it came along. But Apple eased the process and provided enough features that made it worthwhile for developers to start creating.

So when we say that some day in the possible near future you may be targeting your apps at users’ shirt pockets, not what they put in them, you may think it’s time for the straitjackets. But all it takes is a market. The technology is already there — sort of.

To help you get a jump on these promising platforms, we did a little digging in what might seem to be unlikely places. In many cases, raw APIs are already well-established, ready for apps to exploit them. Scratch the surface, and you’ll get an idea of the potential of porting your wares beyond the smartphone/PC paradigm. You can bet the manufacturers of these products are interested in establishing their own app ecology. And as we’ve seen with both the PC and smartphone, the first to arrive is often the one whose app gets the most sales.

NetWorkWorld – First-day buyer of original 2007 iPhone found love and connectivity

First-day buyer of original 2007 iPhone found love and connectivity

June 29, 2007, the day the original iPhone went on sale, was a big day for Web developer Honey Berk. She got the Apple smartphone and a fiancé.

Today, she still has both, though the latter gets more use than the former. She’s still an iPhone user, with an iPhone 4S, along with a new iPad to replace her original iPad (which she just sold on Craigslist for an astonishing $350). And five years later, the phone has become a constant and indispensable part of her personal life and professional work.

Five years ago, her long-time boyfriend, Roy Harp, set out at 2 a.m. on Thursday June 28 to join the lengthening line outside Apple’s SoHo neighborhood retail store at 103 Prince St. in lower Manhattan. People there and across the U.S. were lining up in hopes of buying the first iPhone, which had been unveiled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs barely six months earlier. He told her he wanted to buy the iPhone as a present for her upcoming birthday in July. She spent a few hours with him in line that night, and rejoined him the next day to enter the store when it opened.

It was a hot day in downtown New York, and the street and store were jammed, and the excitement of enthusiastic tech lovers was infectious, she recalls. Jubilant first buyers danced out waving the boxed iPhone to applause and cheers from those still in line and from Apple employees.

MarketWatch – Kiwibox.com Releases iPhone And iPad Application; KWICK! Ranks Among Top Five German Dating Applications

Kiwibox.com Releases iPhone And iPad Application; KWICK! Ranks Among Top Five German Dating Applications

The Kiwibox network proudly announces the release of its latest iPhone and iPad application, complete with new updates and the integration of target group based advertisements banners within the app. The network is also proud to announce German social network KWICK! has been named one of Germany’s top five mobile dating applications.

Specifically, the latest version of the iPhone and iPad application features support multilingual users (expanding from the current support for both English and German language offered), push notification messaging via the application and ipad support including the new application’s new blog feature. Multilingual support will allow users from across the globe to interact with one another in their language of choice, and when combining this with other new added features to the mobile app, users will be able to continue the fullness of the browser based Kiwibox on their mobile phone.

SMH – Will a new iPhone connector burn the Apple faithful?

Will a new iPhone connector burn the Apple faithful?

Are you ready to throw away your accessories and start again?

Apple rumours are a dime a dozen, but talk of a new connector on the iPhone 5 is getting louder. The current 30-pin connector has remained consistent with every iteration of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This consistency has certainly worked to Apple’s advantage when it came to building a thriving ecosystem of speaker docks, sound system connectors, car mounts, chargers and other iGadget accessories. I’d say this ecosystem has long been part of the iPhone’s attraction and one of its key strengths over the ever-improving Android.

The consistency of the iGadget connector has also meant that hand-me-down iPhones could remain useful. My old iPhone 3G is now in the hands of my young son (although it’s been locked down to become little more than an iPod). While this might deprive Apple of a sale in the short-term, in the long-term it brings another iGadget user into the fold who will certainly favour Apple when the time comes for him to buy his own gadgets.

Meanwhile my original iPhone 2G, shipped over from the US, lives on an iPod dock in the bathroom. The ability for my family to mix and match our iGadgets between chargers and sound docks is one of the key benefits which has seen me resist the lure of Android and stick with the iPhone. My colleague Charles Wright recently jumped ship to the Samsung Galaxy S III and I agree with much of his reasoning. I’ve also become “disillusioned with Apple”, as Charles puts it. To be honest my home has become a little too iCentric to easily make the shift. But all this could change with the iPhone 5.

Apple iPhone 5: What rumours suggest about the new design & display

Apple has invited reporters to a news conference next week in San Francisco with a message that suggests that it will reveal the iPhone 5, as expected. Email invitations bore the cryptic message, "It's almost here," and a large number "12" casting a shadow that appeared to be the number five, suggesting that the event would spotlight the long-anticipated iPhone 5.

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Here is a look at some rumours about the 'iPhone 5' that are doing rounds in the tech world:

1. Build Quality - Rumours and leaked pictures suggest that Apple is looking at a complete design refresh with the iPhone 5. Instead of having a glass back like the iPhone 4/4S, this time it might have a metal or aluminium back case for added durability. Even the front touchscreen is expected to be sturdier and with better scratch resistance.

2. Larger Display - Perhaps the biggest change since the first iPhone, almost every leaked photo shows that the upcoming iPhone will have a larger screen. 4-inches is the rumored size of the screen and to provide the same Retina display quality as on the iPhone 4/4S, the resolution is likely to be bumped up to 1136 x 640 pixels. The screen will also be longer, with an aspect ratio of 16:9 which is better for videos.

3. New Design - To incorporate the larger display, iPhone 5 is expected to be longer than the 4S - but not wider - so that it still sits easily in the hand. There are also claims that the iPhone 5 will be slimmer and lighter than the iPhone 4S - despite offering better performance and better battery life. The 3.5mm headphone port is shown to be located at the bottom of the phone in the leaked pictures

4. Out goes the 30-pin connector - A big change as seen on leaked images is a new connectivity port on the iPhone 5. The 30-pin connector has been on iPods since launch, so Apple ditching the 30 pin port in favor of a 9 pin port is a really bid deal. Some rumours also claim that the new port will be magnetic like the MagSafe ports on Apple MacBooks. Hopefully, Apple will also sell 9 pin to 30 pin adapters along with the iPhone 5 so that some accessories can be used with the new iPhone as well. One leak also points to evidence that Apple will announce a new iPod lineup along with new iPads - all of which will use the new 9-pin port.

5. Nano SIM card - Apple was the first use a micro-SIM with the iPhone 4 and the industry followed suit. Rumours indicate that with the iPhone 5, Apple will introduce an even smaller nano SIM. Leaked images of US carriers stocking up on nano SIMs have also recently surfaced.

6. New earphones - Apple earphones have always received flak - understandable, since they don't perform very well and have not seen any major change since the first iPhone came out. There are indications that Apple has taken note and that the iPhone 5 will come with better earphones with a vented design that will cut back on echoes in voice calls. Apple has applied for a patent in April 2012 for the redesigned ear buds.