Month: July 2024
Spotify lyrics are back for free users
Spotify users who don’t pay for a subscription can once again see lyrics for any song they listen to on the service. Back in May, the company began a wider rollout of a test that it initiated last fall, requiring a paid subscription to see lyrics to any track. Free users could still follow along with the words, but only for three songs a month. Now, Spotify is removing the restriction so free users can see all the lyrics they need to with no cap on viewing them.
“At Spotify, we’re always testing and iterating. This means availability of our features can vary across tiers and between markets and devices,” a Spotify spokesperson told Engadget. “Over the coming weeks, we’ll be expanding Lyrics availability for Spotify Free users so more people can enjoy viewing more lyrics, globally.”
As you might expect, the initial move to cap access to lyrics for free users drew backlash earlier this year. Perhaps Spotify thought doing so was a way to push people to its revised subscription tiers that start at $11 a month for music streaming. CEO Daniel Ek explained during the company’s most recent earnings call this month that plans were in motion to improve what’s offered to free users. It seems that list of updates included bringing back full access to lyrics.
“We are prioritizing enhancements in our free product pipeline that based on existing performance in certain markets,” Ek said on the call. “Further additional improvements will be integrated into our free experience in the coming months.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-lyrics-are-back-for-free-users-175200293.html?src=rss
Spotify users who don’t pay for a subscription can once again see lyrics for any song they listen to on the service. Back in May, the company began a wider rollout of a test that it initiated last fall, requiring a paid subscription to see lyrics to any track. Free users could still follow along with the words, but only for three songs a month. Now, Spotify is removing the restriction so free users can see all the lyrics they need to with no cap on viewing them.
“At Spotify, we’re always testing and iterating. This means availability of our features can vary across tiers and between markets and devices,” a Spotify spokesperson told Engadget. “Over the coming weeks, we’ll be expanding Lyrics availability for Spotify Free users so more people can enjoy viewing more lyrics, globally.”
As you might expect, the initial move to cap access to lyrics for free users drew backlash earlier this year. Perhaps Spotify thought doing so was a way to push people to its revised subscription tiers that start at $11 a month for music streaming. CEO Daniel Ek explained during the company’s most recent earnings call this month that plans were in motion to improve what’s offered to free users. It seems that list of updates included bringing back full access to lyrics.
“We are prioritizing enhancements in our free product pipeline that based on existing performance in certain markets,” Ek said on the call. “Further additional improvements will be integrated into our free experience in the coming months.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-lyrics-are-back-for-free-users-175200293.html?src=rss
Batman: Caped Crusader is a pulpy throwback to the golden age of DC animation
Amazon’s new Batman show is a jazzy blend of style, substance, and nostalgia. In an era that was flush with cartoons fighting for kids’ attention, Batman: The Animated Series stood out by using its timeless take on Gotham City to tell stories that were as stylish and zany as they were serious. The show gave birth to some of DC’s most iconic characters, and set a high bar for animated comic book adaptations that many of Warner Bros. newer series have struggled to reach.
Amazon’s Batman: Caped Crusader from co-creators J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm feels like a project created with a deep love for The Animated Series, and an understanding of what made it fascinating to watch back in the 90s. And as often as playing to fans’ nostalgia tends to derail modern superhero stories, Caped Crusader’s approach to paying homage to The Animated Series is a big part of what makes it work so well.
Set in a vision of the 1940s where everyone still speaks like Golden Age comics characters, Batman: Caped Crusader tells a familiar tale of how Bruce Wayne (Hamish Linklater) secretly leads the charge to deal with Gotham’s ever-growing population of costumed super criminals. Whereas The Animated Series — which Timm co-created with Paul Dini — introduced Batman as a well-seasoned vigilante with some experience under his high-tech utility belt, Caped Crusader’s Bruce is new to the hero game, and still learning how to wield his status as a shadowy urban legend.
Rather than fancy gadgets and a gaggle of wards, Bruce’s old-fashioned sleuthing skills and his ability to take punches as well as he throws them are what make him so effective at keeping Gotham’s ne’er-do-wells scared. But with most of the city’s cops being as crooked as the criminals they’re supposed to book, there’s seldom a night when Batman isn’t busy dealing with the problems that police commissioner Jim Gordon (Eric Morgan Stuart) and his prosecutor daughter Barbara (Krystal Joy Brown) simply can’t keep up with on their own.
Aesthetically and sonically, Caped Crusader feels almost like it could be The Animated Series’ prequel as it opens on Gotham in the midst of a simmering gang war that has the city’s residents on edge. But as hard as the new show works to establish itself as a story unfolding in the distant past, there’s a pronounced streak of modernity running through it that’s reflected in the way it reworks a number of its supporting characters.
Here, the Gordons are Black, and psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel (Jamie Chung) is an Asian woman who has far more interesting secrets to keep than the fact that she’s queer. Batman: Caped Crusader presents these facets of its reality with a matter-of-factness that helps illustrate the beauty of DC’s Elseworlds — comics stories set in alternate universes that play with the established canon. The show’s changes to classic characters work to highlight aspects of their identities that Caped Crusader leaves untouched like the way detective Renee Montoya’s (Michelle C. Bonilla) commitment to justice makes her simultaneously untrusting of and grateful for Batman’s presence.
Rather than aiming for comics or previous series-accuracy, Caped Crusader feels like it’s trying to tap into the essence of its heroes and villains as they become entangled in one another’s lives. This, coupled with the show’s art direction and its score from composer Frederik Wiedmann, helps make Caped Crusader’s first season feel like classic animated Batman storytelling that emphasizes how well the Dark Knight works as a simple detective chasing down other costumed weirdos.
Though Caped Crusader’s being yet another Batman vehicle might exhaust some viewers, the show’s simplicity and more measured plays to nostalgia immediately set it apart from Warner Bros.’ other recent iterations on the character. And while its pacing might leave some viewers wishing things moved a bit more briskly, with a second season already on the way, Amazon seems to know that it’s got a good thing with Batman: Caped Crusader that’s primed to get better with time.
Batman: Caped Crusader also stars Christina Ricci, Diedrich Bader, Bumper Robinson, Jason Watkins, John DiMaggio, Mckenna Grace, Tom Kenny, Haley Joel Osment, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, and Toby Stephens. The show’s first season hits Amazon Prime on August 1st.
Amazon’s new Batman show is a jazzy blend of style, substance, and nostalgia.
In an era that was flush with cartoons fighting for kids’ attention, Batman: The Animated Series stood out by using its timeless take on Gotham City to tell stories that were as stylish and zany as they were serious. The show gave birth to some of DC’s most iconic characters, and set a high bar for animated comic book adaptations that many of Warner Bros. newer series have struggled to reach.
Amazon’s Batman: Caped Crusader from co-creators J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm feels like a project created with a deep love for The Animated Series, and an understanding of what made it fascinating to watch back in the 90s. And as often as playing to fans’ nostalgia tends to derail modern superhero stories, Caped Crusader’s approach to paying homage to The Animated Series is a big part of what makes it work so well.
Set in a vision of the 1940s where everyone still speaks like Golden Age comics characters, Batman: Caped Crusader tells a familiar tale of how Bruce Wayne (Hamish Linklater) secretly leads the charge to deal with Gotham’s ever-growing population of costumed super criminals. Whereas The Animated Series — which Timm co-created with Paul Dini — introduced Batman as a well-seasoned vigilante with some experience under his high-tech utility belt, Caped Crusader’s Bruce is new to the hero game, and still learning how to wield his status as a shadowy urban legend.
Rather than fancy gadgets and a gaggle of wards, Bruce’s old-fashioned sleuthing skills and his ability to take punches as well as he throws them are what make him so effective at keeping Gotham’s ne’er-do-wells scared. But with most of the city’s cops being as crooked as the criminals they’re supposed to book, there’s seldom a night when Batman isn’t busy dealing with the problems that police commissioner Jim Gordon (Eric Morgan Stuart) and his prosecutor daughter Barbara (Krystal Joy Brown) simply can’t keep up with on their own.
Aesthetically and sonically, Caped Crusader feels almost like it could be The Animated Series’ prequel as it opens on Gotham in the midst of a simmering gang war that has the city’s residents on edge. But as hard as the new show works to establish itself as a story unfolding in the distant past, there’s a pronounced streak of modernity running through it that’s reflected in the way it reworks a number of its supporting characters.
Here, the Gordons are Black, and psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel (Jamie Chung) is an Asian woman who has far more interesting secrets to keep than the fact that she’s queer. Batman: Caped Crusader presents these facets of its reality with a matter-of-factness that helps illustrate the beauty of DC’s Elseworlds — comics stories set in alternate universes that play with the established canon. The show’s changes to classic characters work to highlight aspects of their identities that Caped Crusader leaves untouched like the way detective Renee Montoya’s (Michelle C. Bonilla) commitment to justice makes her simultaneously untrusting of and grateful for Batman’s presence.
Rather than aiming for comics or previous series-accuracy, Caped Crusader feels like it’s trying to tap into the essence of its heroes and villains as they become entangled in one another’s lives. This, coupled with the show’s art direction and its score from composer Frederik Wiedmann, helps make Caped Crusader’s first season feel like classic animated Batman storytelling that emphasizes how well the Dark Knight works as a simple detective chasing down other costumed weirdos.
Though Caped Crusader’s being yet another Batman vehicle might exhaust some viewers, the show’s simplicity and more measured plays to nostalgia immediately set it apart from Warner Bros.’ other recent iterations on the character. And while its pacing might leave some viewers wishing things moved a bit more briskly, with a second season already on the way, Amazon seems to know that it’s got a good thing with Batman: Caped Crusader that’s primed to get better with time.
Batman: Caped Crusader also stars Christina Ricci, Diedrich Bader, Bumper Robinson, Jason Watkins, John DiMaggio, Mckenna Grace, Tom Kenny, Haley Joel Osment, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, and Toby Stephens. The show’s first season hits Amazon Prime on August 1st.
Logitech has an idea for a “forever mouse” that requires a subscription
Exec says mouse that requires a regular fee for software updates is possible.
Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber recently discussed the possibility of one day selling a mouse that customers can use “forever.” The executive said such a mouse isn’t “necessarily super far away” and will rely on software updates, likely delivered through a subscription model.
Speaking on a July 29 episode of The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Faber, who Logitech appointed as CEO in October, said that members of a “Logitech innovation center” showed her “a forever mouse” and compared it to a nice but not “super expensive” watch. She said:
… I’m not planning to throw that watch away ever. So why would I be throwing my mouse or my keyboard away if it’s a fantastic-quality, well-designed, software-enabled mouse? The forever mouse is one of the things that we’d like to get to.
The concept mouse that Faber examined was “a little heavier” than the typical mouse. But what drives its longevity potential for Logitech is the idea of constantly updated software and services.
See Apple Intelligence in Action
Apple released iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 betas for developers yesterday, introducing an early version of Apple Intelligence. Not all of the Apple Intelligence features are implemented yet, but we thought we’d go through what’s available and see just what kind of changes AI will bring to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
With Apple Intelligence, you can use Writing Tools to proofread text for spelling and grammar errors, or rewrite what you’ve written to change the tone. There are also options for summarizing any text, and Writing Tools are available across the operating system. You can use them anywhere you can write text.
Siri has a new design with a glow around the edges of the display when active, and there is a Type to Siri option so you don’t need to talk to Siri. Siri is able to maintain context between requests and follow along if you stumble over words, plus Siri can answer all kinds of questions about your devices thanks to the integration of Apple’s product knowledge and support database.
Phone calls can be recorded, transcribed, and summarized, there are Smart Replies for Mail and Messages, Photos has a Memory Maker feature, and there’s a Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode that intelligently filters out notifications you don’t need to see right away.
If you want a more in-depth rundown of all of the features that are available, we have a dedicated guide that highlights what’s in the beta now. There are several Apple Intelligence features coming later, including Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration, and the smarter version of Siri that has onscreen awareness and can do more in and across apps. You won’t find these features in the current iOS 18.1 beta, but Apple plans to roll them out across 2024 and 2025.
Apple Intelligence is limited to developers at the current time, with Apple working to refine the Apple Intelligence features and eliminate bugs. A beta version of Apple Intelligence will be available for all users later this fall, after iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia launch. You will need an iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max or later or an Apple silicon Mac or iPad to use Apple Intelligence due to the processor requirements. Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS SequoiaRelated Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS SequoiaThis article, “See Apple Intelligence in Action” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple released iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 betas for developers yesterday, introducing an early version of Apple Intelligence. Not all of the Apple Intelligence features are implemented yet, but we thought we’d go through what’s available and see just what kind of changes AI will bring to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
With Apple Intelligence, you can use Writing Tools to proofread text for spelling and grammar errors, or rewrite what you’ve written to change the tone. There are also options for summarizing any text, and Writing Tools are available across the operating system. You can use them anywhere you can write text.
Siri has a new design with a glow around the edges of the display when active, and there is a Type to Siri option so you don’t need to talk to Siri. Siri is able to maintain context between requests and follow along if you stumble over words, plus Siri can answer all kinds of questions about your devices thanks to the integration of Apple’s product knowledge and support database.
Phone calls can be recorded, transcribed, and summarized, there are Smart Replies for Mail and Messages, Photos has a Memory Maker feature, and there’s a Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode that intelligently filters out notifications you don’t need to see right away.
If you want a more in-depth rundown of all of the features that are available, we have a dedicated guide that highlights what’s in the beta now. There are several Apple Intelligence features coming later, including Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration, and the smarter version of Siri that has onscreen awareness and can do more in and across apps. You won’t find these features in the current iOS 18.1 beta, but Apple plans to roll them out across 2024 and 2025.
Apple Intelligence is limited to developers at the current time, with Apple working to refine the Apple Intelligence features and eliminate bugs. A beta version of Apple Intelligence will be available for all users later this fall, after iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia launch. You will need an iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max or later or an Apple silicon Mac or iPad to use Apple Intelligence due to the processor requirements.
This article, “See Apple Intelligence in Action” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
This 16TB SSD NAS is so small it fits in your backpocket — and yet it packs a full-fledged Arm PC, has a battery, delivers personal cloud storage and can even transform into a wireless drive
UnifyDrive UT2 16TB SSD NAS is so small it fits in your back pocket, but packs a full-fledged Arm PC.
The UnifyDrive UT2 is a pocket-sized, 16TB SSD NAS solution aimed at creatives and professionals who need to manage large amounts of data on the go. It offers instant one-tap secure file transfers from SD/CFe/TF cards without an internet connection, and supports Wi-Fi 6, data synchronization and high-speed remote access.
The UT2 boasts a 16TB expandable storage capacity via dual M.2 slots that support NVMe SSDs and transfer speeds up to 8Gbps. It’s powered by a Rockchip RK3588 CPU with a 4-core ARM Cortex-A55 architecture, an ARM Mali-G610 GPU, and 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM.
The UT2 can be used as a USB flash drive by plugging it into your computer via a type-C data port. It supports fast data transfer through Type C, USB A, TF, and CFE interfaces, with speeds up to 600mbps.
AI powered data management
The built-in battery provides access to and management of large files during power outages or while on the go, and it’s compatible with any power bank for extended use. CPU and hard drive temperature monitoring are built in, and the UT2 features a customized quiet fan that adjusts its speed based on temperature for efficient cooling.
The UT2 protects your data with with two-factor authentication, hard drive encryption, and a zero-backdoor policy. AI powered data management offers natural language search, auto photo/document identification, and smart chronological organization.
The drive also supports immersive cinematic experiences by connecting directly to projectors, TVs, or VR goggles via HDMI, Type-C, or DP for 8K content.
The UnifyDrive UT2 is set to launch on Kickstarter around September 15 with super early bird pricing from $399.
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Spain Watchdog Fines Booking.com Nearly $450 Million For Abusing Its Dominant Position
Spain’s competition watchdog said Tuesday it had slapped online travel agency Booking.com with a record $446.7 million fine for “abusing its dominant position” during the past five years. From a report: “These practices have affected hotels located in Spain and other online travel agencies that compete with the platform. Its terms and conditions create an inequitable imbalance in the commercial relationship with hotels located in Spain,” the CNMC said in a statement. “By better positioning hotels with more bookings on Booking.com, other online agencies have been prevented from entering the market or expanding,” it added.
This is the largest fine ever imposed by the CNMC, a spokeswoman for the authority told AFP. The CNMC said Booking.com’s market share in Spain, the world’s second most visited country after France, during the period under investigation was between 70 percent and 90 percent. Booking.com, whose parent company Booking Holdings is headquartered in the United States, is a dominant player with a market share in Europe of more than 60 percent. In May, the European Union added the travel agency to its list of digital companies big enough to fall under tougher competition rules, giving the firm six months to prepare for compliance with the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Spain’s competition watchdog said Tuesday it had slapped online travel agency Booking.com with a record $446.7 million fine for “abusing its dominant position” during the past five years. From a report: “These practices have affected hotels located in Spain and other online travel agencies that compete with the platform. Its terms and conditions create an inequitable imbalance in the commercial relationship with hotels located in Spain,” the CNMC said in a statement. “By better positioning hotels with more bookings on Booking.com, other online agencies have been prevented from entering the market or expanding,” it added.
This is the largest fine ever imposed by the CNMC, a spokeswoman for the authority told AFP. The CNMC said Booking.com’s market share in Spain, the world’s second most visited country after France, during the period under investigation was between 70 percent and 90 percent. Booking.com, whose parent company Booking Holdings is headquartered in the United States, is a dominant player with a market share in Europe of more than 60 percent. In May, the European Union added the travel agency to its list of digital companies big enough to fall under tougher competition rules, giving the firm six months to prepare for compliance with the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ask WWDC
Interesting new site, offering AI-powered answered to WWDC-related developer questions. Ask a question, it tries to answer (some answers seem great, some not), and offers links to relevant WWDC sessions.
The small print at the bottom of the page disclaims “Ask WWDC is not affiliated with Apple Inc.” Instead it’s the work of developer Matt Spear, using a tool he’s building called Tally, which aims to allow anyone to build a similar “ask site”.
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Interesting new site, offering AI-powered answered to WWDC-related developer questions. Ask a question, it tries to answer (some answers seem great, some not), and offers links to relevant WWDC sessions.
The small print at the bottom of the page disclaims “Ask WWDC is not affiliated with Apple Inc.” Instead it’s the work of developer Matt Spear, using a tool he’s building called Tally, which aims to allow anyone to build a similar “ask site”.