Spotify grows to 10 million paid subscribers

Spotify grows to 10 million paid subscribers
Spotify has revealed that it added 4 million more paid subscribers to its music-streaming service in the space of a year.The last time Spotify revealed global user numbers was in March 2013. Back then, 6 million users opted for a paid subscription. That number has now grown to 10 million paying subscribers around the world, spanning the 56 countries where Spotify is currently available.In total, there are over 40 million active users on Spotify -- this number covers both paid and free subscriptions. A Premium Spotify subscription includes ad-free mobile and offline listening for US$9.99, £9.99 or AU$11.99 per month.More on streaming musicSpotify beautifies its appsBeats Music turns 7 out of 10 free-trial users to paying ones?Napster expansion drives Rhapsody's pursuit of SpotifySpotify halves Prime price for US studentsThe growth was due in part to the company's overhaul of its mobile apps at the end of 2013, allowing listeners to stream music on Android and iOS for free. At the time, Spotify said mobile app downloads had increased by four times in the week since launch.Spotify also acquired music data company Echo Nest earlier in 2014, and has partnered with Sprint in the US and Vodafone in the UK to bundle streaming access with some plans."We've had an amazing year, growing from 20 markets to 56 as people from around the world embrace streaming music," Daniel Ek, CEO and founder of Spotify said in a statement. "10 million subscribers is an important milestone for both Spotify and the entire music industry."By comparison, Internet radio service Pandora had 76 million active users as of April 2014. In October 2013, Apple said that 20 million listeners were using iTunes Radio.

iPads could replace paper charts in airline cockpits

iPads could replace paper charts in airline cockpits
Apple's iPad may soon find its way onto your next commercial flight, and not just in the cabin as an entertainment device. Major airlines and a charter jet company are considering using the tablet as a way to replace both paper navigation charts and laptops on the ground and during flight.So far, no U.S. airline has adopted iPads exclusively, but Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines are testing the device for navigational purposes. Alaska spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey told the Seattle Times that the carrier is running a trial program with a select group of pilots. Calls made by CNET to the Alaska Airlines press office were not returned at the time of this writing.Switching to iPads or other tablet devices would cut down on paper, and on the equipment pilots have to carry. While some specially designed laptops, or "electronic flight bags," can weigh up to 18 pounds, the current iPad weighs just just 1.5 pounds (the recently announced iPad 2 is a tad lighter). What's more, instead of receiving new paper charts every few weeks, pilots could receive updates electronically. Yes, there's an app for thatTo power the iPads, Jeppesen, based in Englewood, Colo., has developed an iPad application called Mobile TC that delivers electronic charts (an Android app for Honeycomb tablets like the Motorola Xoom is due later this year). At the the time of this writing, Mobile TC covers only airport terminal charts, but Jeppesen spokesman Brian Rantala told CNET that the app will be expanded to cover in-flight use. Mobile TC is a free download from the iTunes App Store, but the charts require a subscription.iPads in the cockpitWhat do you think? Should airlines use tablets?Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized private jet charter Executive Jet Management to begin using the app as an alternative to paper aeronautical charts. A wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, Jeppesen also developed an iPhone and iPad app called CrewAlert to manage airline crew fatigue. And back in the cabin, Qantas subsidiary Jetstar is close to using iPads as in-flight entertainment units on selected Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft. Though Jetstar initially announced its iPad plans last summer, Flightglobal reported today that the airline has compiled a presentation for major movie studios.Update, March 8 at 4:25 p.m. PT: More information added.

Watch TV on your iPhone with TubeStick

Watch TV on your iPhone with TubeStick
If you're like my colleague Eric Franklin, who'd rather watch Speed Racer on his iPhone than on a big screen, you're in for some good news.Equinux, the company that provides the TV-watching solution The Tube for Mac, announced Wednesday its all new hardware TV tuner called TubeStick. The device, when coupled with free iPhone apps Live TV and TubeTogo, allows you to watch TV right on the screens of your iPhones and iPod Touches.With Live TV, you can stream live television programs directly via Wi-Fi to your iPhone from your Mac that runs The Tube. TubeToGo, on the other hand, allows you to access and program TV recordings on the iPhone via the Internet while on the go. The TubeStick hybrid brings the joys of your TV to your tiniest of screens.EquinuxTubeToGo also offers the possibility to share published recordings with friends. TubeToGo uses MobileMe or any other FTP server for online storage.Both Live TV and TubeToGo applications are now available for free download at the iTunes App Store and are compatible with Equinux's TV receiver TubeStick. TubeStick also works with Windows-based Media Center, with limited functionality. The new TubeStick TV hardware receiver comes in two versions: the TubeStick hybrid that supports both digital and analog television is available right now in the U.S for $99.95. The TubeStick for DTT/DV-T is only available in Europe and costs 49.95 euros (about $65).TubeStick comes with everything you need, including the TV receiver, the matching white miniantenna, an adapter for external antenna and a USB extension cable, and The Tube software for your Mac, which costs $39.95 if you buy it separately.

Watch out Pandora- New app brings Spotify to iOS

Watch out Pandora: New app brings Spotify to iOS
Now there's one that could spell trouble for Pandora--SpotON Radio.This app by Swedish Application Development was released January 8 and is free (for now); SpotON Radio allows iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad users stream music directly on their devices--much like Pandora Radio. Features include access to more than 15 million tracks from Spotify and the ability to create personal radio stations, like and dislike songs, and share music with friends.However, users must have a Spotify premium membership account--which costs $9.99 per month--and iCloud integration if users want to sync stations between devices."This product is not affiliated with or endorsed by Spotify" and available only through iTunes and on their site, the SpotON Radio developers wrote on their Web site. "We're lone gunmen, fighting the fight for a better interface to music packaged as the most beautiful user experience possible."In November, Spotify launched a new app platform open to all developers allowing engineers to create free apps for the music service. Many of these apps can be found on Spotify's Web site, including Rolling Stone, Last.fm, and Pitchfork. However, these apps are available only for desktops--which is what makes SpotON Radio different.Despite the future looking bright for Spotify (and SpotON Radio), it's unclear if music labels will continue to work with the streaming music service. In November, 200 labels pulled out, and artists such as Coldplay and Tom Waits said they weren't being compensated enough and therefore wouldn't distribute their newest albums through Spotify.

Cook reportedly discussed music streaming service with Beats

Cook reportedly discussed music streaming service with Beats
Tim Cook has held talks with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine about a potential partnership involving Beats' planned music service, Reuters reports.The Apple chief met with music mogul Iovine in late February to discuss Beats' "Project Daisy," a music subscription service announced in mid-February, unidentified sources told the news agency. Iovine, who co-founded Beats with hip-hop producer Dr Dre, said at last month's AllThingsD Dive Into Media conference that he expects to launch a "curated" music subscription service this summer.During their meeting, which sources described as "informational" and as including iTunes chief Eddy Cue, Cook expressed interest in the service's business plan and launch schedule. CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.A partnership with Beats would provide an instant entry for Apple, which has long been rumored to be working on a music streaming service. The company was reportedly in talks last September with record companies to license music for a custom music service that would create "virtual" music stations based on a song or artist of choice.Such a venture would put Apple in competition with the likes of Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Pandora, which uses an algorithm to create custom radio stations based on a single song or artist and offers paid subscriptions as well as a free, ad-supported version and a suite of popular mobile apps.Market-research firm BTIG Research predicted in November that Apple would launch a streaming-music service at some point in 2013 based on interviews with industry executives and the addition of a "Radio" option in the horizontal bar in iTunes 11.Apple has dabbled in the sector before, buying music streaming site Lala.com in 2009. However, Apple shut down the operation less than six months later, leading many to wonder if Apple would ever get into the streaming business. Speculation resumed after Apple filed for a patent on streaming music in 2011.

Cook on Ping- 'Will we kill it- I don't know'

Cook on Ping: 'Will we kill it? I don't know'
Apple CEO Tim Cook talked for about an hour and a half tonight about myriad topics from patent spats, to product names and the company's efforts in China.But don't ask the guy about Ping.Apple's music-centric social network that launched inside of iTunes 10, and is largely considered one of Apple's missteps in the past few years, was a topic Cook was hoping to avoid during the night. The executive confessed that detail during the Q&A session following the interview with D10 show hosts Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher.ABC News' Joanna Stern asked Cook whether Ping was the last time we'd see Apple in the social space. "I was carefully avoiding that," Cook replied. "We tried Ping and I think the customer voted and said this isn't something that I want to put a lot of energy into."That doesn't necessarily mean the product is headed to the annals of defunct Apple products."Will we kill it? I don't know, I'll look at it," Cook offered. Cook noted that the company's stand is not to own a social network, as seen in the Twitter integration built into iOS and coming to the next major version of OS X later this summer. Cook also mentioned iMessage, the company's proprietary messaging system that's making a similar trip from iOS device to the Mac with OS X Mountain Lion. Earlier in the interview, Cook had been asked about Apple and Facebook, the social-networking giant it's got some storied history with. "Facebook is a great company. I have great appreciation for them," Cook said. "We have great respect for them. I think we can do more with them. Just stay tuned on this one."Update at 10:39 p.m. PT: Here's a clip from that section of the talk:CNET's Rafe Needleman contributed to this report.

Apple still world's most valuable global brand, says report

Apple still world's most valuable global brand, says report
Apple has again been crowned the most valuable global brand in the annual BrandZ report.Released Tuesday, Millward Brown Optimor's 2013 BrandZ report pegs Apple with a brand value of $185 billion, up from $183 billion last year. Based on financial data and the opinions of potential and current buyers, Apple retained its top rank in spite of the thrashing suffered by its stock over the past several months."Despite a more competitive marketplace and other challengers nipping at its heels, Apple's ability to maintain its No.1 position demonstrates the value that having a strong brand brings to business," Nick Cooper, managing director of Millward Brown Optimor, said in a statement. "People still love the brand regardless of its stock price."But Apple's value rose just 1 percent from last year, compared with a 19 percent jump in 2012 and an 84 percent leap in 2011. As such, a few other tech players outscored Apple in their value growth this year.No. 2 Google received a brand value of $113 billion, a 5 percent gain from last year. No. 6 AT&T saw its value rise 10 percent to $75 billion. And No. 10 China Mobile earned a value of $55 billion, a gain of 18 percent from 2012.Apple's major rival, Samsung, was No. 30 on the list. But it jumped by 51 percent from last year, achieving a brand value of $21 billion."Vying for leadership in the smartphone market, Samsung fueled its huge increase in brand value by balancing a remarkable period of innovation with growing market share -- it spent $1.6 billion more on advertising in the last year," Cooper said.Still, other tech players saw their values drop in the BrandZ report. No. 3 IBM lost 3 percent of its value, No. 7 Microsoft shed 9 percent, and No. 31 Facebook gave up 36 percent.

Apple still smartphone champ, Android the No. 1 OS, ComScore says

Apple still smartphone champ, Android the No. 1 OS, ComScore says
Research firm ComScore has released its latest U.S. smartphone industry report, estimating that Apple remains top of the pile in the smartphone industry with a market share of 39.2 percent. Based on data gathered through the company's MobiLens service -- which harvests user information based on subscribers 13 years and older -- ComScore says that in the three month period ended April 2013, Apple and South Korean rival Samsung were the only manufacturers that enjoyed a positive increase in market share values. Tech giant Apple managed to snag 39.2 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers, a positive point change of 1.4 percent. Samsung ranked second with a 22 percent market share, up 0.6 percentage point.Taiwanese electronics maker HTC followed with 8.9 percent, Motorola with 8.3 percent and LG with 6.7 percent. HTC, Motorola and LG all experienced a market share decline ranging from 0.8 to 0.3 percent over the three-month period. When it comes down to the operating system market share, Android still reigns supreme. On the smartphone global platform, Google's Android secured 52 percent of the market. However, the operating system is estimated to have experienced a slight drop -- 0.3 percent -- in subscribers, whereas Apple has enjoyed a 1.4 percentage point increase, taking 39.2 percent of the smartphone platform share. BlackBerry ranked third with a share of 5.1 percent, followed by Microsoft -- 3 percent -- and Symbian with 0.5 percent.ComScore analysts estimate that the total number of smartphone subscribers in the United States has reached 138.5 million. This story originally appeared at ZDNet's Between the Lines under the headline "ComScore: Apple remains smartphone king; Android reigns over OS market."

Apple still reigns in film downloads, study says

Apple still reigns in film downloads, study says
Netflix may be the Web's top movie rental service, but nobody sells more download-to-own movies than Apple, according to market research by iSuppli. Apple's iTunes accounted for 64.5 percent of all the money spent in 2010 on electronic sell through (EIS) and Internet video on demand (IVOD) despite facing increased competitive pressure from Microsoft's Zune (Xbox), Amazon, Sony's Playstation, and Wal-Mart."Microsoft in 2010 accounted for 17.9 percent of U.S. movie EST/IVOD consumer spending, up from 11.6 percent in 2009," iSuppli found. "Sony in 2010 maintained the No. 3 position in the U.S. with a 7.2 percent share, up from 5.7 percent in 2009." Apple, however, did give up some ground last year. In 2009, iTunes held 74.4 market share, and its share fell 9 percent last year, according to iSuppli. The good news is that the overall market grew by more than 60 percent. Could this increase in download sales have hurt DVD sales? Last week, several of the top Hollywood studios reported dismal disc sales in the holiday quarter.According to iSuppli, Apple managed to hang on to such a big market lead with the help of the iPad and the upgraded Apple TV, the research firm said. "We expect that in the United States, Apple's strong performance in IVOD will allow it to continue to bypass the video-on-demand services offered by many major cable operators."Here's more from iSuppli about how competition is heating up in the sector. Competition from Microsoft intensified...because of the highly successful launch of its Kinect 3D motion controller system for its Xbox 360. This resulted in a bumper fourth quarter for movie revenue on the Zune Video platform, cementing the No. 2 market rank for Microsoft.Wal-Mart's aggressive drive for market share for its U.S. online movies service Vudu has generated a spike in consumption for the service starting in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company announced $0.99 promotional pricing on IVOD movies and support for a wider range of living room devices, including Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console.

Apple starts to eat Otterbox's lunch with iPhone cases

Apple starts to eat Otterbox's lunch with iPhone cases
Otterbox is by far the dominant force in iPhone cases, according to a new study, but Apple is starting to make inroads.Otterbox, which makes a wide array of cases for mobile products, owns more than 50 percent of the iPhone 4S case market, according to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). And while the company is still holding the biggest share for individual firms in the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S market, Apple's cases are likely an increasingly worrisome presence for the case-maker.According to CIRP, Apple's iPhone 5C cases account for nearly 10 percent of the case market for that device, compared to around 20 percent for Otterbox. Apple's iPhone 5S cases own about 15 percent of the market, compared to Otterbox's nearly 25 percent share.Apple made waves in the accessories market earlier this year when it unveiled its own cases alongside its new iPhones. The company's cases come in several different color options and cost between $29 and $39. When folks head to Apple's online store, they'll find the company's own cases listed first, followed by those made by others. Several of Apple's ads promote its cases.Having a case to go along with an iPhone has become a bit of a necessity for quite a few owners. According to CIRP, 76 percent of iPhone owners have a case for their handset, making it the most popular iPhone accessory. Just half have a screen protector or car charger and one out of five uses a Bluetooth headset with the handset.

Apple software update hints at new wireless gear

Apple software update hints at new wireless gear
Code from a software update for Apple's AirPort Utility software that went out last night has been found to contain references to unreleased Apple wireless networking hardware.9to5Mac and MacRumors both independently dug up mentions of a fourth-generation Time Capsule as well as a fifth-generation AirPort Extreme base station in the code that went out as part of the update. Those product iterations have not yet been announced by Apple.Ahead of last week's Worldwide Developers Conference, rumor had it that Apple was planning to update both these products alongside AirPort Express, Apple's entry-level wireless networking product. Those updates were said to include a feature that would allow the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models to fetch software updates from Apple and store them on the device to allow for faster delivery.Mentions of such a feature still exist as part of this new update after having shown up previously, suggesting that the feature could be around the corner. There are, however no signs of iCloud integration, asa report ahead of WWDC had suggested.Apple's last major updates to the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme hardware came in 2009 with the release of a model that combined 2.5GHz and 5GHz dual-bands, as well as new antenna designs that Apple promised would bring 50 percent better performance, and 25 percent better range than the previous-generation product.The AirPort Express has gone slightly longer without a major hardware update, receiving a bump to 802.11n and adding a new bridging mode in early 2008. Hints of upcoming hardware updates frequently crop up in Apple code. Of course they're more exciting when they're about next-generation versions of the iPhone and iPad versus a wireless router.