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Spotify finally arrives in the US: too late or right on time?
Sony NEX-7 image leaked: is this the perfect micro four thirds?
Apple ups price of UK apps, drops it in Japan, Norway and Switzerland
Microsoft expects to sell 100M Windows Phones per year, but can Nokia’s £80M ad campaign make it a reality?
Developer claims 90 percent of its iOS sales are pirated: Does the App Store have a dirty little secret?
The 10 best BlackBerry PlayBook accessories
Amazon’s Android tablet, Motorola’s HD Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and Sony’s trio of new launches: Lunchtime Lowdown
SeeSaw online TV service saved by Bebo buyers
Sony Walkman NWZ-W260: fitter, lighter, happier
Motorola HD Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet incoming?

Spotify finally arrives in the US: too late or right on time?

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 10:32 AM PDT

It's been more than two years since Spotify axed the invite process and went live for all in the UK. Meanwhile the US has waited patiently for its chance to enjoy "any track, any time, anywhere". As compelling as it sounds, Spotify is not the only streaming game in town. Grooveshark and Pandora have filled the music streaming void during the wait and today's announcement may have fallen on deaf ears. Did Spotify miss the streaming boat and take too long to launch in the US?

Before we can jump the gun and call Spotify's US launch a success or failure let's paint the picture of the music streaming market. By the end of 2011 there will be roughly 5.9 million subscribers to paid music services who access content from a mobile phone. Roughly 33 percent, or 1.94 million will reside in the United States. By 2016 that number is expected to skyrocket to 161 million users, more than 28 million from the US. Clearly, the market for paid streaming music services is going to explode.

Spotify's competition in the US consists of Pandora and Grooveshark. For a desktop user, Grooveshark is the clear threat. In the mobile space Spotify must battle Pandora. In both markets, Spotify has the upper hand not only in content and functionality, but in terms of availability and polish. While Pandora offers apps for both Android and iOS, creating radio stations and discovering new music loses its novelty over time.

Sometimes you just want to hear a certain song. Grooveshark addresses this issue by offering a massive library of music and the ability to turn that music into playlists. Unfortunately the official app was pulled from the Android Market and has never made it to the Apple App Store.

Although Spotify might not win over the Grooveshark desktop/laptop audience. The growth in paid streaming music services over the next five years will be found in mobile. Offering both Android and iOS apps with the ability to listen to exactly the song you want, when you want it, will be more than enough to give Spotify the edge it needs to succeed.

Yes, promise of any track, any time, anywhere is a compelling sales pitch, especially when you consider the price. With the choice of a free account or premium and unlimited accounts starting at $4.99, requesting an invite for Spotify is most definitely worth the wait. In the short term, the move to offer Spotify in the US might not carry the praise seen in Europe, but over time Spotify is poised to dominate. If you haven't signed up yet, I highly recommend requesting an invite or taking a premium or unlimited account for a spin for instant access.

Sony NEX-7 image leaked: is this the perfect micro four thirds?

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 08:28 AM PDT

DSLR purists might snub at the thought of a micro four third camera being perfect, but for those keen on HD video and capturing quality shots without carrying around endless amounts of gear, the M4/3 is a godsend. The Panasonic Lumix GH1, once hacked, set the video bar with 50 Mbps+ AVCHD capture, rightfully earning the title 'creative hybrid'. The Sony NEX-7 looks to up the ante on the imaging front.

An image leaked by a "close source" of the Sony Alpha Rumours website shows what is believed to be the first image of the Sony NEX-7 micro four thirds. As the successor to the highly praised NEX-5 and NEX-3, the new model is coming full throttle like Charlie's Angels. The new design and textured grip along the sides of the camera immediately captured our interest as did the 3-million dot OLED electronic viewfinder.

To improve on imaging, Sony has used the 24-megapixel sensor inside the upcoming A77 to power the NEX-7. The jump in megapixels will be accompanied by 1080p/30fps, 720p/60fps and 720/30fps capture modes and in improved auto-focusing system. There's no mention of a 24pfs mode which has us a little bumped and we can't confirm the video bitrate of the 1080p capture.

In order to earn the title of 'perfect micro four thirds', we have a few requirements for the NEX-7. First, the hot shoe must support third party accessories. Second, the manual controls during video capture must support aperture and shutter speed. And finally, a 24 fps mode must be added to the list of capture modes if Sony wants to capture even a small percentage of the GH2 market.

Pricing for the Sony NEX-7 is set at £806 ($1,300 USD) with the kit lens. In the leaked image the Sony NEX-7 is believed to use a 24mm f/1.8 lens. Having owned the 20mm f/1.7 Lumix lens, I find this hard to believe. The sheer depth of the lens in the photo leads me to believe we're really looking at a zoom lens with an aperture range of 1.8-2.4, likely a 20 to 42mm. Even if the kit lens is a 20-40mm zoom f/1.8-2.4, that level of optics will deliver an incredibly shallow depth of field and offer great low-light performance. Neither of which are usually offered in the glass of a kit lens.

Other than our requirements for the Sony NEX-7, what would you like to see added to this micro four thirds that will have rise to the top of your shortlist of camera considerations for 2011?

Apple ups price of UK apps, drops it in Japan, Norway and Switzerland

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 08:19 AM PDT

The App Store's pricing has changed, and the bad news is we're getting screwed. UK pricing has gone up to more closely reflect the current exchange rate with the US dollar, while in other countries it's come down.

Unfair? We think so. Read on to see just how much more you'll be paying.

Apps previously costing 59p have gone up to 69p – ok, not a world changing amount, but you'll feel it if you splash out on a lot of apps. In Australia, meanwhile, it's dropped from $1.19 to $0.99. It's the same for more expensive apps, with £4.99 ones up to £5.49.

Apple says in a statement it's "made some minor pricing adjustments due to changes in foreign exchange rates and local tax laws."

But does that ring true? According to a currency converter, $1 amounts to about 62p – closer to the 59p it was charging before. Is this a case of Apple squeezing more money out of us? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Microsoft expects to sell 100M Windows Phones per year, but can Nokia’s £80M ad campaign make it a reality?

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 07:47 AM PDT

As the saying goes, "you've got to pay to play." Nokia has reportedly embraces this philosophy with grand plans of an £80M ad campaign to kick of sales of its Windows Phone devices. Microsoft fully supports the initiative with "dreams and aspirations" of selling 100 million units per year "with that single deal". For a company whose U.S. market share fell 35 percent since the launch of Windows Phone in November, 100 million units per year sounds a tad high or is it?

The truth is always in the numbers. Nokia consistently ships over 100 million phones each quarter. In Q1 2011 that number was 108.5M according to highly respected research firm IDC. Using the first quarter as a baseline, conservative estimates give the Finnish giant a strong chance at reaching 400M units by year's end. Unfortunately, units shipped is a far cry from units sold.

In order for Microsoft to realize its "dreams and aspirations" it must sell 25M units per quarter, or 25 percent of Nokia's total worldwide quarterly shipments. Industry estimates show the average smartphone manufacturer maintains six to seven weeks of finish product inventory and four weeks inventory of components. With 1.1M Nokia phones shipped each day, Nokia may hold 40 million phones in its channel at any given time. If Nokia cut that inventory channel in half, Microsoft would be well on its way to reaching its goal of 25M units per quarter.

To put Microsoft's 25M quarterly sales into perspective, Apple only ships 17 million iPhones per quarter. Unlike Apple, the strategy with Nokia Windows Phones is focused on emerging markets with low-cost smartphones. Using Nokia's global footprint and logistics network, Microsoft will face off against low-cost Android smartphones. Android has proven that affordable/free smartphones are the key to leading worldwide device activations. Lucky for Microsoft, the cost of producing Nokia Windows Phone devices is reportedly under £62 should they need to fully subsidize handsets.

Nokia's £80M ad campaign will undoubtedly help establish Windows Phone in emerging markets. The biggest problem for Microsoft will be convincing Nokia that not only should Windows Phone sales dip into sales of its high-end smartphones, but also its Symbian products. When given the choice of a Symbian phone or a Windows Phone, both using the same hardware and offered at the same price, Windows Phone will be hard to resist. As with anything in life there's no guarantees, but if Nokia Windows Phones are priced right, Microsoft's "dreams and aspirations" of selling 100M units per year could become a reality in 2012.

Developer claims 90 percent of its iOS sales are pirated: Does the App Store have a dirty little secret?

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 07:01 AM PDT

With over 17,000 active gamers playing its game 'Fingerkicks', software developer Gamized was surprised to see its iTunesConnect purchase report show only 1,163 copies sold. Gamized believes Apple has a major piracy problem on its hands and addressed the Cupertino team by calling the problem "humiliating".

Gamized enter the app rush producing games for other companies. It was not until earlier this year that it decided to stake its claim with the launch of 'Fingerkicks'. The soccer game quickly landing more than 17,000 active players after just a few days on the App Store. Under normal circumstances this would signal success.

Price at £.99, Gamized expected to see £16,830 in sales before Apple's 30 percent commission, leave £11,781 in pure profit for its hard work. “Unfortunately, the reality is that we've collected less than £800 in sales for FingerKicks, and Apple's policies (or lack thereof) are the primary reason for the huge losses,” says Fonseca in a blog post.

So how do you explain the discrepancy between active players and sales? According to thinq,co.uk, the answer lies in jailbreaking. The availability and ease at which current solution jailbreak iOS devices has proven to be a serious threat to game developer profits. 91 percent of users playing 'Fingerkicks' have taken advantage of this perk.

Unfortunately, while we sympathize with Gamized, the truth is there's no way to be 100 percent effective in the fight against piracy. With enough will power and resources anything is possible and the fact remains there's no shortage of hatred against Apple. For Gamized, they've realized that "until Apple fully embraces the issue and supports their vendors and suppliers, we will be forced to re-evaluate our plans for other iOS games until Apple fixes this humiliating piracy problem.”

Until we see a wide-scale survey that confirms other developers are suffering from a similar percentage of piracy, it would be premature to consider Gamized's situation to be universal. One thing to keep in mind is that iOS 5 will inadvertently curb a large percentage of piracy due to over the air (OTA) updates. Rather than massive 400MB downloads, updates will only include small, incremental modifications to the core. This presents a a serious challenge to jailbreakers.

Other than OTA updates, how can Apple help developers like Gamized from piracy? Is it Apple's responsibility to battle the jailbreaking community when Apple itself is losing a potential 30 percent in commission from each pirated copy? Sound off.

The 10 best BlackBerry PlayBook accessories

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 06:53 AM PDT

You've got your PlayBook, now your finances have recovered, what accessories should you be spending on? We've rounded up the 10 best, from chargers to give your 'Book a super boost, to cases that'll keep it safe when camping or in a war zone. (We've got some nice leather ones to make you look good too.)

1 Want L'Essentiels de la Vie

Best for… business trips

Essential for the travelling businessman, this is a mini briefcase for your PlayBook, with plenty of inner pockets for storing business cards/Top Trumps.

£164, Want Essentials

2 Ettinger

Best for… metrosexuals

They don't come much smarter than this case, in hand finished leather that's cherry red like a femme fatale's lipstick. It's firm, sturdy, and has enough pockets for extras.

£220, Ettinger

3 Convertible Case

Best for… train journeys

Just like the official case for the iPad 2, this doubles as a stand, folding back on itself to let you prop it up. It also has three angles, so is perfect if you're watching, typing or reading.

£34.99, Carphone Warehouse

4 Rapid charger

Best for… a quick boost

Plug in this little black box of tricks and it'll charge your PlayBook twice as fast as the regular charger, thanks to its 24 watts of power. It's small enough to fit in almost any bag too, so perfect for your travels.

£49.99, Carphone Warehouse

5 Valextra

Best for… the coffee shop

This envelope-style case is Italian, and made of calfskin, so you can be sure it's a cut above most sleeves you'll see. There's a hole for the headphone cable to run through, which is a nice touch, too.

£220, Valextra

6 Journal Case

Best for… pretending to work

Made of leather, this looks like an extra large notepad, so you can pretend you're taking notes when actually you're farting about with apps. The Chrome logo may be a bit of a giveaway though. That and the sound effects.

£44.99, Carphone Warehouse

7 Zip Sleeve

Best for… rainy environments

Perfect for the outdoors, this case is lightweight, durable, and keeps your PlayBook safe thanks to memory foam. Just zip it open when you're safe from the elements. This one's sky blue, but it comes in a range of colours.

29.99 euros, BlackBerry

8 Otterbox BlackBerry PlayBook Defender Case

Best for… ruggedness

If you're going to a war zone to surf the web and check your emails, this is the case for you. It's the closest your PlayBook will come to being a tank, with a polycarbonate shell, and a clear protective membrane keeping the screen safe. There's even a silicone skin with three layers of protection, a built-in stand, and you can use all the functions when your PlayBook is in there. We can't confirm rumours it also doubles as a bulletproof vest.

£37.97, Amazon

9 Ganzo

Best for… impressing the client

Another luxury offering, this one Japanese, and made from Minerva natural leather. Your PlayBook sits in a zipped pocket, and it comes in three colours: natural, mulberry, or olive.

£TBC, Ganzo

10 Porter

Best for… camping

Again, Japanese, but this case looks a lot more outdoorsy than the Ganzo. An elastic strap keeps your PlayBook in place, and there's plenty of room for accessories, such as a swiss army knife, if you like.

£233, Oki-ni

Amazon’s Android tablet, Motorola’s HD Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and Sony’s trio of new launches: Lunchtime Lowdown

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 04:30 AM PDT

It's Thursday afternoon, we're on the home straight. But before you start counting down the hours until Friday, have a peek at what's been happening in the world of tech. Today we bring you news of Amazon's long awaited tablet, and Sony has an audio device or three to tempt you.

Amazon's tablet has been rumoured for as long as we can remember, with Jeff Bezos repeatedly teasing us with hints. Well now word reaches us it's primed for an October launch, with a 9-inch screen and no cameras. Have your Christmas wish list ready.

Sony's been busy this morning, outing a wall-mounted hi-fi, one with AirPlay, and a sporty new Walkman to boot. But which one is right for you?

Is there a Motorola HD Android Ice Cream Sandwich incoming? The Xoom 2 has already popped up to say hello to the internet, now new rumours suggest an updated Android tablet is coming soon. Fingers crossed. Hey, maybe it'll arrive on a Sundae.

Finally, Asus has fixed the charging problem with the Eee Pad Transformer, and is updating to Honeycomb while it's at it. Nice one.

SeeSaw online TV service saved by Bebo buyers

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 03:04 AM PDT

Remember SeeSaw, the online TV service with oodles of excellent archive content that was resurrected from the corpse of Project Kangaroo? You don’t? We don’t blame you. Despite TV ads promoting the service and stocking its virtual vaults with more than 3,000 hours of shows, the service was on the cusp of closure.

SeeSaw’s owner Arquiva had announced that it would close last month but curiously it stayed open. Now Criterion, the private equity firm that also gobbled up broken social network Bebo, has stepped in to buy 75% of the company.

Reading our SeeSaw first impressions shows how impressed we were with the service’s potential when it arrived back in February 2010. But with BBC, Channel and ITV hard at work on a universal catch up service with YouView, it’s hard to see how the Bebo bunch can save SeeSaw.

Out now | £free | SeeSaw

Sony Walkman NWZ-W260: fitter, lighter, happier

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 02:57 AM PDT

Busy morning for Sony, with two new hi-fis outed, and now it's dropped a brand new Walkman on us. The NWZ-W260 is the latest in the W Series, and so is ideal for getting outdoors with or taking to the gym. It's wireless, rain- and sweat-proof, and is 25% lighter than its predecessor.

Read on for more, as well as a rather big caveat in Sony's advice on how to use it.

The W260 is water-resistant rather than water-proof, so be warned. The press release says you can use it during your "post-workout shower", but then an asterisk reveals it's "not meant to be immersed or come into continuous contact with water…" and that you should "avoid contact with shampoo, conditioner, face wash and soap." Oh, also, "do not use with high pressure showers."

So, as long as your shower is a non-continuous dribble, and you're not using any products in there, it's perfect.

It's a drag and drop affair, thanks to the supplied Content Transfer software, and ZAPPIN tech lets you browse your tunes to preview them. It comes in black or white, and a three minute charge gives it eight hours play time.

What do you reckon? A win for Sony? Let us know in the comments below.

Out July | £TBC | Sony

Motorola HD Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet incoming?

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 02:45 AM PDT

A glimpse of what appeared to be the Motorola Xoom 2 popped up on the Motorola site last month. Now more rumours around the Motorola Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet have emerged. Notebook Italia suggests the new Motorola Android tablet will have a 10in 4:3 screen with a 2048×1536 resolution.

The report claims the Motorola Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet is already in the hands of testers and is set for launch late this year or early 2012. It’s not clear whether the device will come with the Xoom name slapped on it this time but since Motorola and NVIDIA are very cosy, it’s likely to come with a quad-core Kal El Tegra 3 processor inside.

Out TBC | £TBC | Motorola (via Android Community)

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