streaming

122 'streaming' stories August 2011 - October 2014

Looking to revamp Beats Music at a lower rate, Apple asks music labels to cut streaming prices

Mike Beasley Oct 2 2014 - 5:08 pm PT

Last month Apple was rumored to be looking for a way to shut down the current version of the Beats Music streaming service that it acquired as part of the Beats Electronics deal, though the claim of a shutdown was quickly shot down in favor of an upcoming rebranding effort.

Today Re/code has revealed a bit more about Apple’s plans for the new service, which is expected to be revealed in February, according to some reports. According to Re/code, Apple wants to cut the price of the streaming service below the current $10 mark, and it’s asking music companies to cut a special deal on licensing rights to accomplish that.

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Spotify music streaming service finally launches in Canada

Jordan Kahn Sep 30 2014 - 7:21 am PT

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Spotify announced today that it’s finally expanding into Canada giving Canucks access to the music streaming service that was previously available in the UK, US and a long list of other European and South American countries.

The official announcement comes from Spotify’s blog following a beta period in the country in which the company invited select users to sign-up and try out the service.

Canadians that download the Spotify app will be able to access the service’s usual “fully licensed free tier.” That includes the ability to “shuffle play on mobile or play any song on tablet or desktop,” but users can also pay $10 CAD per month for the unlimited, on-demand experience with the highest quality audio and no ads.

A full list of countries that Spotify is currently available in is here.

WATCH Disney iOS apps updated with AirPlay and Chromecast streaming support

Jordan Kahn Sep 16 2014 - 12:54 pm PT

2 Comments

Disney’s popular apps iOS apps including WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Junior, and WATCH Disney X D have all been updated today with support for AirPlay and Chromecast streaming.

That means that owners of an Apple TV or Google’s Chromecast can now send content from the iPhone and iPad apps to an Apple TV or Chromecast-connected TV. Apple TV already has dedicated Disney channels offering most if not all of content available through the apps, but AirPlay streaming offers another way to get content to the big screen if you prefer browsing from a mobile device.

The updated WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Junior, and WATCH Disney X D apps are available now on the App Store.

What’s New in Version 4.0.2

AirPlay streaming now available via Apple TV
Casting now available via Google Chromecast

Rdio preps revamped music streaming app with a focus on free stations

Mike Beasley Sep 3 2014 - 10:16 pm PT

3 Comments

The Rdio music streaming service is preparing to release an updated version of its mobile app later today will place a new focus on its free “stations” feature as competitors like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple’s one-two punch of iTunes Radio and Beats Music crank up the pressure on the service.

Rdio claims its free music library is as much as fifteen times bigger than those of competing apps. Like other online radio services, the new Rdio will automatically create playlists and stations from that library based on a user’s music preferences. Curated stations from musicians and other celebrities will also be available, much like in iTunes Radio.

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Spotify starts sending invites for users to try service in Canada

Jordan Kahn Aug 8 2014 - 11:34 am PT

4 Comments

After revealing plans to finally bring Spotify to Canada last month, users in the country have now started receiving invites to try the streaming music service. A reader sent in the image above and others have received their invite over the last 24 hours,.

Congratulations — you’re in!

You’ve been chosen to try Spotify in Canada before everyone else!

Millions of songs are now waiting for you. The artists you love, the latest hits and new discoveries— all for free on mobile, tablet and desktop. Happy listening!

The company initially announced last month that the service would launch in the coming months, but now seems to be launching a test of the service with select users that signed-up here. Spotify is currently available in a long list of countries around the world, but it doesn’t yet list Canada on its website.

The company appears to be offering the service in trial mode for free but doesn’t mention pricing for a premium service for Canadians. Users that receive a code can access the service here.

(Thanks Josh!)

Jury: Apple and third-party developers did not infringe live streaming patent

Mike Beasley Jul 11 2014 - 8:26 pm PT

1 Comment

Apple did not infringe a live-streaming technology patent held by Emblaze Ltd., a jury decided earlier today. The conclusion to the lawsuit comes less than two weeks after it started, and affects both Apple and third-party developers that use its live-streaming technology in mobile apps.

According to Emblaze, Apple’s HTTP live-streaming service was “nothing more than Emblaze’s patented solution under a different name.” Because Apple required developers to use its own live-streaming platform, developers of apps like MLB At Bat and WatchESPN were allegedly being forced to violate the 2002 Emblaze patent. The jury disagreed, however, and ruled in Apple’s favor.

Apple TV loses ground to Roku and Chromecast, drops to 3rd most popular set-top box in U.S.

Mike Beasley Jul 9 2014 - 9:51 pm PT

31 Comments

A new report compiled by Parker Associates and discovered by Gigaom revealed that the Apple TV has lost some U.S. market share to competitors like the Roku and Chromecast last year, causing it to become only the third most popular device in the category.

According to the report, Google’s Chromecast and the Roku streaming device each sold around 3.8 million units in 2013—though the figure is more impressive in the case of the Chromecast, which was only introduced in the second half of the year. Apple, on the other hand, reportedly moved 2 million devices, putting it just below the others.

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Apple defending its streaming technology used by MLB, ESPN, and others against patent dispute

Zac Hall Jul 1 2014 - 12:33 pm PT

7 Comments

Another day, another patent dispute. This time Apple is defending the use of its HTTP live-streaming service against Emblaze, Ltd., Bloomberg reports.

Specifically, the lawyer for Emblaze has accused Apple of pushing its video streaming technology on sports-related services like WatchESPN and MLB At Bat which support live streaming over apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and more.

Apple began working on its HTTP live-streaming service, or HLS, “no earlier than 2007,” demanding that services such as “At Bat” use the format to drive sales of iPhones and iPads — and inducing infringement of Emblaze’s patent, Pavane said.

“Apple’s HLS is nothing more than Emblaze’s patented solution under a different name,” he said.

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Mozilla developing streaming stick in bid to compete with AirPlay and the Apple TV

Mike Beasley Jun 20 2014 - 10:25 pm PT

5 Comments

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS0VUOfrycw]

Video gia GigaOm

Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox web browser, is working on a stream stick set to directly compete with the Apple TV and other similar products, according to GigaOm. The device runs Mozilla’s own Firefox OS, originally designed for smartphones, and is apparently referred to as “Netcast” within the Firefox browser.

Unlike Apple’s current offering, the Netcast would allow developers to integrate the technology into applications on a wide variety of operating systems and hardware devices, including many platforms not currently supported by the Apple’s AirPlay feature. In a statement to GigaOm, Mozilla noted that anyone is welcome to work with Firefox OS and that hardware running that system does not necessarily have to come from that company.

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T-Mobile launches Rhapsody-powered ‘unRadio’ music streaming service

Stephen Hall Jun 18 2014 - 6:58 pm PT

3 Comments

As part of its Un-carrier 5.0 (or, Un-carrier 6.0?) event, T-Mobile tonight announced its first foray into the music streaming space, a partnership with Rhapsody called “unRadio.”
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iTunes Radio streaming is now free on T-Mobile, other services also included

Mike Beasley Jun 18 2014 - 6:43 pm PT

13 Comments

T-Mobile has just announced at its “Uncarrier 5.0” event (which apparently double as the Uncarrier 6.0 event) that all streaming music services will now be free to stream on T-Mobile, including iTunes Radio. This also applies to Pandora, iHeartRadio, Slacker Radio, and Spotify.

Any streaming you do will always be done over the company’s fastest available network, and won’t count towards your high-speed data limit.

Customers can visit T-Mobile’s website to request new services to be added to the “music freedom” selection. As streaming services gain votes, they will be added to the program.

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Beats Music on Android gets first feature update post-Apple acquisition announcement

Chance Miller Jun 12 2014 - 6:36 pm PT

4 Comments

When Apple announced its $3 billion acquisition of Beats last month, the company said it had no intentions of killing off the Android version of the app, with Tim Cook saying “It’s all about the music.” This evening, Beats announced a hefty update to its streaming app on Android. The update bumps the app to version 1.1 and includes a variety of features and changes that users have been calling for since the initial release. This is the first feature update the app has gotten since Apple announced it will acquired the company.

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Rdio music streaming service adds push notifications to iOS app

Jordan Kahn May 29 2014 - 2:54 pm PT

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Subscription music streaming service Rdio updated its iPhone and iPad app today with one notable new feature for version 2.5.9: Push Notifications.

The new push notifications feature will allow you to get notified for a number of different activities within the app such as music that’s being shared with you, subscribers to your playlists, new followers, and more. You’ll also be able to select which notifications you’d like to receive if you, for example, only want to know when users share new music with you and not every time someone subscribes to one of your playlists.

The app also includes “various UI improvements and minor bug fixes” in the latest release.

Version 2.5.9 of the Rdio app for iPhone and iPad is available on the App Store now.

What’s New in Version 2.5.9

– Push Notifications. Get notified on your mobile device about the activities of your choice, such as music shared with you, new followers, subscribers to your playlists and more.
– Various UI improvements and minor bug fixes.

Cue: The current TV experience “sucks,” billion-dollar Apple TV business will get bigger this year

Mike Beasley May 28 2014 - 9:08 pm PT

9 Comments

Speaking at Code Conference Wednesday night, Apple’s head of online services Eddy Cue took a swipe at the current state of television and presented his take on where the future of that industry lies. According to Cue, Apple TV sales have risen in recent years and over 20 million of the set-top box have been sold to date. Cue says that the device is billion-dollar business now and is expected to continue growing.

However, the Apple TV isn’t a true TV replacement. Cue took a few moments to point out just how much using TV “sucks” and bemoan the current range of DVR devices. He even went so far as to compare current technology with the VCRs of a bygone era—and he’s not wrong. Cue cited drawbacks such as having to remember to set a recording or trying to manage storage on the recorder as reasons on-demand streaming through the Apple TV is growing in popularity.

That’s not to say he’s especially fond of today’s on-demand systems either, though. Not only did Cue have sharp criticisms for modern recording tech, he even jabbed at the streaming experience on the iPad, noting that the process of authenticating with a cable provider to access streaming content is less-than-ideal. So what’s his solution?

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Apple brings ESPN and 42 local NPR stations to iTunes Radio

Mike Beasley May 28 2014 - 2:43 pm PT

5 Comments

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Apple had acquired the Beats Music streaming service for $3 billion to help bolster its own struggling competitor, 9to5Mac has learned that Apple is introducing a new ESPN station for iTunes Radio. The station will include original ESPN programs like SportsCenter All Night, SVP and Russillo, The Herd, and Mike & Mike.

The ESPN station will also stream the World Cup, making it the first live sporting event to be streamed live through iTunes Radio.

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Spotify confirms it now has 10 million paying subscribers

Jordan Kahn May 21 2014 - 7:05 am PT

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On the heels of the Beats acquisition that Apple is still yet to officially confirm, every music streaming service’s biggest competitor is today hoping to keep everyone interested: Spotify just announced it has increased its paid subscriber base to 10 million users from the 6 million users it reported earlier this year in March. Recode first posted the stats and also noted on top of paid customers Spotify now “has more than 40 million active users, in 56 markets around the world.”

Spotify of course has a big lead on Beats’ recently launched subscription music service, which as of latest reports has just around a couple hundred thousand paying subscribers. Also of note, there is some confusion over whether or not Beats subscriber numbers include those getting a free 90-day subscription through AT&T and subscribers getting access through a $14.99 group plan. However, it’s clear Beats early sub numbers aren’t that important to Apple’s long-term goals and its plan for the company and streaming service. Even Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek admitted to Recode “that the service has yet to break through to mainstream audiences in many markets, including the United States.”

Amazon says it has now passed Apple and Hulu in streaming video usage

Jordan Kahn Apr 8 2014 - 10:09 am PT

18 Comments

Amazon has officially passed Hulu and Apple in streaming video usage in the US, according to a press release it sent out today citing recent research from Qwilt. Amazon also announced that video streams from its Prime Instant Video service have tripled since this time last year.

Qwlit’s report shows Amazon experience a 94% traffic volume increase of users consuming video since last year and that includes streams from the service to just US broadband subscribers. The report doesn’t specify, however, what video content exactly is being tracked from Apple. Amazon also experienced growth of almost 300% in certain markets. In March of this year, only Netflix and YouTube were able to capture more online video traffic in the US:

Today, only Netflix and YouTube produce more total online video traffic in the US. Amazon”s traffic volumes, as measured by Qwilt in March of 2014, increased by 94% over the previous 12 months. In some US operator networks, between March 2013 and March 2014, Amazon”s streaming video traffic increase was nearly 300%.

Amazon’s press release today follows the announcement of its new Fire TV set top box that will be a direct competitor to Apple TV, Chromecast, and similar streaming hardware. The $99 hardware– another sign its really getting serious about video streaming services– provides access to Amazon’s Instant Video streaming services in addition to popular services like Hulu and Netflix, as well as Android games and an optional game controller.

Amazon updates Instant Video iOS app with iOS 7 inspired redesign

Jordan Kahn Apr 7 2014 - 7:24 am PT

2 Comments

Amazon has just updated its Amazon Instant Video app, which provides access to its catalogue of over 40k movies and TV shows, with a redesign of the entire UI inspired by iOS 7.

Amazon isn’t listing any new features in the iTunes release notes other than bug fixes and stability improvements, but you’ll also find a new icon and some UI tweaks that come as part of the new redesign. The overall navigation of the app remains the same but buttons and icons within have been flattened along with streamlining of other UI elements to make the app fit in with Apple’s iOS 7 redesign.

The redesign isn’t just for iPhone users, as the iPad version has been given a similar facelift:

The updated Amazon Instant Video app version 2.4 is available now on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Apple reportedly discussing the possibility of a TV streaming service with Comcast

Mike Beasley Mar 23 2014 - 6:01 pm PT

19 Comments

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is now in talks with Comcast about the possibility of a collaborative television streaming service. The plan, according to the report, is for Comcast to provide preferential streaming treatment to an Apple-built set-top box like the existing Apple TV.

The service would allow subscribers to stream live TV shows as well as on-demand content provided by Comcast. The agreement between the two companies would allow Apple’s box to continue streaming smoothly even when other connections were bogged down by high traffic and bypass bandwidth issues.

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Twitter #music goes the way of the Flappy Bird, pulled from App Store as service prepares to shut down

Mike Beasley Mar 21 2014 - 3:43 pm PT

3 Comments

Remember Twitter #music? Apparently not many people do, and as a result Twitter has decided to pull the app from the iOS App Store today and shut the service down completely next month. According to a pair of tweets posted on the official @TwitterMusic account, the app will be removed from the App Store later today and all streaming service will end on April 18th—one year after the app first launched.

If you hurry, you can probably still grab a copy of the app to use until then.

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Amazon in talks w/ labels for new music streaming service as Pandora hits 250m users

Jordan Kahn Feb 27 2014 - 2:17 pm PT

2 Comments

Two pieces of news out today related to the music streaming biz: Recode is reporting that Amazon is talking to music labels about a music streaming service that could be bundled with Prime subscriptions, while Pandora has announced it has grown to 250 million users in the US.

If Amazon is able to make deals with the music labels, Recode speculates that it could offer music streaming through its Prime subscriptions which currently only offers movies and TV shows as well as free two-day shipping for $79/ year. The report notes, however, that Amazon is running into some roadblocks with cutting deals:

Which doesn’t mean it will: One label source reports that Amazon isn’t close to getting a deal done, because its executives are asking for a substantial discount on the pricing the labels have given to other services, like Spotify, Rhapsody and Beats… Still, label talks have been going on for the past few months, sources say.

As for Pandora, that’s up from around 200 million users back in April of last year and since the launch of one of its biggest new competitors, Apple’s iTunes Radio, in September. Pandora also noted that “Listeners have now created over six billion stations.”
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ABC streaming Oscars to its apps for some, ESPN adds conference feeds to Apple TV

Zac Hall Feb 27 2014 - 1:05 pm PT

5 Comments

(via Oscar Blog)

Even before Apple introduces an expected refresh to its streaming set top box sometime this year, several content providers are making the current platform even richer with more and more content. Two big players, ESPN and ABC, will be providing content new to the Apple TV very soon, Variety reports. Starting with ABC, the network will stream the Oscars on Sunday live through its Watch ABC apps for subscribers in select cities (details below). ESPN, for its part, has announced dedicated channels within its Watch ESPN app on Apple TV and Roku for following 15 different conferences.
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Twitterrific 5 updated with streaming support, list management, more

Zac Hall Jan 22 2014 - 7:40 am PT

1 Comment

The Iconfactory released a significant update to Twitterrific 5 today bringing support for a highly requested feature: streaming.

Just like Twitter for Mac and Tweetbot for Mac and iOS, Twitterrific will now present new tweets to you as they’re loaded alleviating the need to pull-to-refresh when you’re caught up on your timeline. You will need to enable it in the settings for it to work, and it requires WiFi of course.

The update also features a number of other improvements including list management.
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Iron Man lives again as Black Sabbath’s 1970s albums come to iTunes

Michael Steeber Jan 14 2014 - 7:11 pm PT

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For the first time, eight of Black Sabbath’s early studio albums, and three compilations will be available exclusively on iTunes. According to the New York Times, the window of exclusivity will be short, however, with the band’s music arriving on streaming services very soon.

It’s worth noting that some of Black Sabbath’s later music was already available on iTunes, but many of their early tracks are first making their digital debut today. The list of holdouts from iTunes continues to shrink, with AC/DC arriving in 2012, and The Beatles in 2010.

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