SoundTracking for iPhone [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5790972/soundtracking-for-iphone

Songs can sound different depending on when and where you hear them—I can only appreciate the subtle craftsmanship of Katy Perry, for example, when I'm at home with my headphones on. SoundTracking takes the "now playing"-style share to the next level by letting you announce what you're listening to as well as where you are and what you're doing while listening to it.

What is it?

SoundTracking, Free, iPhone. Firing up SoundTracking for the first time, the app makes you login to Facebook, Twitter, or FourSquare (or all three) to find fellow SoundTrackers and to determine where your soundtrack posts will go. From there, it's an Instagram-style single serving social network—you have a "feed" that shows you friends posts (which you can listen to iTunes snippets of, "like" for later perusal, etc) , a section for notifications, one for trending music, and more. The heart of the activity is the "SoundTrack" section, which lets you share what you've got on. You can use a music search to enter your song manually; use a Shazam-like music identifier to figure out what's got you tapping your toes, or just tap "On my iPod app" to cull the info from your ID3 tags. Then, if you so choose, you can attach a photo, pick the name of the place where you're listening, or just type in a short description of what you're doing.

Who's it good for?

People who routinely find themselves wanting to share what they're listening to with friends.

Why's it better than alternatives?

Adding photo and note attachments probably makes your "this is what I'm listening to right now" updates a little bit more compelling to your social media friends, and allowing users to report what they're listening to automatically via iPod, manually, or with song ID is pretty slick. The app itself is well designed and free, too.

How could it be even better?

It does what it sets out to do quite well, but who is really that keen on broadcasting their playlists anyway? And when there comes that occasional summer evening where I'm listening to some Panda Bear song just as the sun is setting and it seems like the sights and the sounds are ~*perfectly*~ in sync I can just attach a Twitpic, no? So it'd be nice to see the music discovery tools fleshed out a bit—maybe a location-based "trending" page instead of just a block of cover art.

SoundTracking for iPhone | iTunes

We're always looking for cool apps—for iOS, Android, Windows Phone or whatever else—to feature as App of the Day. If you come across one you think we should take a look at, please let us know.

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Video music: Kevin MacLeod

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This Sponsored Gadget is the Beginning of theâ¦Look, Free Stuff! [Opinion]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5791056/this-advertising-sponsored-gadget-is-the-beginning-of-thelook-free-stuff

Amazon's new Kindle is really their old one made cheaper by the inclusion of ads. It at first caused me utter outrage. I felt as angry as if if someone took my favorite book (The Silent World by Jacques Cousteau, in case you're wondering) took some paste, and covered up the dolphins and the last few paragraphs of every chapter with advertisements for Chuck E. Cheese. I felt like shouting, "THESE. ARE. MY. WORDS...MAN."

Then someone explained to me that the ads only come on when the Kindle is a screensaver, and at the bottom of the menu screens. Never in books. (The illustration above is our own, not an actual screenshot.) And that the ads are deals for discounts on things.

It's not that bad of a proposition. But even while I thought that, another part of my brain, the part closer to my balls, called me a sellout.; I am deeply weirded out by this, but in a meta way. See, this entire ad-sponsored gadget was ingeniously designed to be just passable; to be just slightly less than offensive on the offense-o-meter. Like a pervert on the subway that stares or even gropes only just long or lightly enough to avoid being slapped or chastised. It is set up just so that the people who are mad are the ones who look like the unreasonable ones. Even now I have to ask you, am I acting crazy here? Because, I feel like this is a dangerous thing. But only because I have a personal history of really wanting to buy things at discount. I need help, and not in the "Here, let me fill up your shopping cart" kind of way.

I rarely get to read books as often as I'd like. And when I do, it is because I am trying to unwind and learn and perhaps gain a glimpse into the innermost life and creative place of the author's mind. I am openhearted and open minded when I read. And so I am afraid of what might happen to my subconscious when a Buick is flashed before my eyes right before I sleep when I flip off my Kindle. Will I sleep walk into the nearest 24-hour car dealership and buy some Detroit steel? Maybe not. But I don't need to be exposed to persuasive commerce-inducing tools of trade at these vulnerable moments. Spare the books from the ads and save my brain.

This also feels like the kind of brilliant move that will be mirrored across the land. What's next, discounted video cameras that slip in split-second subliminal ads for Gatorade in your son's football game? MP3 players that play ads for Soda Pop backwards when you play your music forward? TVs that don't turn off, but play a few seconds worth of ads when you click the power button? Cameras that watermark your friends' heads with Tom Cruise's face to shill for Mission Impossible part six?!

No, probably not. Ad subsidy doesn't make sense for most gadgets. Our home content seems particularly off limits. But any gadget that has a conduit to professional media is a potential billboard. But let me say this to Amazon, and any other maker of gadget maker: I am not this cheap and this is still my gadget.

First off, 17-percent is not enough of a discount. You're going to make money on these gadgets after you sell them. More if you move more of the gadget providing the platform. I know you can't give these away for free—people might just leave them in the closet and then you'd be at a loss. But how about you give us 50% off to make this deal really compelling. And so your ad platform has more inventory.

Two! I'm game for this deals thing, but please give me deals I care about. I am never buying a Buick!

Three, how about you give me a free book or some other media in exchange for your ads. Conversely, if I pay for my content, how about you build in a little fee that keeps the ads from running at all. That's right—the discount is nice on the hardware, but if you tuck in a discount on services or content, and let us toggle the ads on and off, I think you'd be pitching me something I can't complain much about at all. Because if an ad flashes in front of my face, let it be because it I am too cheap to support a particular author or artist. Not because I was too cheap to give Amazon even more of my money.

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Ad-supported Kindle to ship May 3rd: saves $25, includes lot of enticement

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/11/ad-supported-kindle-to-ship-may-3rd-saves-25-adds-lot-of-enti/

Here's a scenario: what if we told you that your next Kindle could be had for $25 less than retail? What if we told you it came from the rear of a nondescript white van? Or what if we told you that you'd first need to sign up for 842 email marketing scams? Thankfully, none of those scenarios are ones we're looking to tell you about. Instead, we're here to introduce you to the world's first ad-supported Kindle, going on sale within Target and Best Buy locations for $114. That represents a gentle $25 savings compared to the price of today's cheapest Kindle, but those 2500 pennies don't come free -- you'll be asked to endure "advertisements on the bottom of the device's home page and on its screen savers." Furthermore, it sets a new precedent in the gadget arena that could very well carry over to ad-discounted tablets, netbooks, PMPs, and who knows what else. At this point, Buick, Olay and Visa will be advertising, and we get the impression that said list will bloom in due time. It's hard to say just how intrusive they'll be, but Kindle director Jay Marine seems to think that "customers are going to love it."

We aren't so sure. While it's crystal clear that the general populace adores coupon cutting, it seems problematic to us to ship a pair of identical products that cost within $25 of one another and expect Joe Sixpack to grok the difference. In fact, we're guessing that this will inevitably lead to consumer complaints from those who can't figure out why their "on sale Kindle" isn't nearly as enjoyable to read as "Bob's Kindle... that he found during a sale." At any rate, a demo of the new device displayed a screen saver deal "where customers would pay $10 for a $20 gift card to Amazon," and while no ads will appear in e-books, there's still "a clear advertisement" along the bottom of the home screen. All that said, here's the key feature that Amazon's seemingly overlooking: an option in the software to pay back the $25 a customer skimped on to do away with the ads on their ad-supported e-reader. Solves the buyer's remorse problem, at least.

Update: And it's official -- PR's after the break!

Continue reading Ad-supported Kindle to ship May 3rd: saves $25, includes lot of enticement

Ad-supported Kindle to ship May 3rd: saves $25, includes lot of enticement originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bluetrek releases lightweight Carbon: world's first carbon fiber Bluetooth headset

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/11/bluetrek-releases-lightweight-carbon-worlds-first-carbon-fiber/

When this rather smashing little piece of gadgetry made its way through the FCC last week, we didn't have a whole lot of details to share about the "world's first carbon fiber Bluetooth headset." Well, Bluetrek's making the Carbon official today with a $70 price tag and a full set of specs. The thing weighs in at a mere .25 ounces, touts Bluetooth v3.0 support, and allows for four and a half hours of talk time or five days on standby. It also comes with a set of four earbuds in different sizes, so anyone can rock the lightweight headset no matter how big, or small, the ear hole. The Carbon is now on sale at the source link below. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Bluetrek releases lightweight Carbon: world's first carbon fiber Bluetooth headset

Bluetrek releases lightweight Carbon: world's first carbon fiber Bluetooth headset originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Matrox strikes at NAB, first to market with Thunderbolt products

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/11/matrox-strikes-at-nab-first-to-market-with-thunderbolt-products/

Word out of NAB is that Matrox, known best for enabling day-traders to run an excessive number of monitors off a single graphics card, will be the first company to market with peripherals designed to use Thunderbolt. All the latest models of its MXO2 family of video I/O boxes will be shipping with Thunderbolt on board, while budding film makers using the current gen MXO2 devices will be able to push 10Gb worth of pixels per second by picking up an adapter. Matrox didn't announce a firm release date or price, though we expect it will fall in line with the current products, which range from $449 up to almost $2,400 for the MXO2 Rack with Matrox Max. They're not exactly must have accessories for the average user, but if you simply can't wait any longer to put those Thunderbolt ports to use, it's the only game in town.

Matrox strikes at NAB, first to market with Thunderbolt products originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9 to 5 Mac  |  Matrox  | Email this | Comments

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