Here’s why Google bought Songza

BY GAIL SULLIVAN
We’re way past the days of messy, anything-you-get-for-free downloading on Napster. People want their music the way museums want their collections and sommeliers want their wine cellars: curated.

Any not by just anyone — by experts. That’s why major tech companies are snapping up digital music services that offer the ability to create playlists suited to users’ changing moods, activities, even the weather.

On Tuesday, Google confirmed rumors it is buying Songza, a music app that makes customized playlists – including ones inspired by current weather conditions thanks to a partnership with the Weather Channel. The free, ad-supported app also offers sounds for a range of moods – cocky, lush, visceral and rowdy, to name a few, and for activities such as “dirt road driving” or “shopping at a vintage store.”

Songza song choice for announcing the deal with Google? “Walking on Sunshine.”

Google paid more than $39 million for Songza, a person familiar with the deal who was not authorized to speak about its terms told the New York Times. Representatives of Google and Songza declined to confirm that number. If accurate, that’s far less than the $3 billion Apple paid for Beats, a company that makes popular headphones and offers a curated music subscription service.

Google said in an announcement that it’s not “planning any immediate changes to Songza” but will “explore ways to bring what you love about Songza to Google Play Music” and “look for opportunities to bring their great work to the music experience on YouTube and other Google products.”

A Google spokesman told Mashable that Google’s Play Music is getting more interest from users, particularly the radio features that allow users to control what is coming next as well as take stations offline. “We view the Songza acquisition as a way to further enhance our radio feature by adding their expertise on context,” the spokesperson said.

So why did Google buy Songza, which has a fraction of the users that market leaders Pandora and Spotify have? It’s not about boosting the number of subscribers, according to Forbes contributor Bobby Owsinksi: “The company’s Music Play All Access service doesn’t have the kind of subscriber numbers it wants, but that could be just a matter of time, considering that YouTube (which it owns) is the number one online source for music discovery and access already. And the company already has a large catalog of licensed songs, so a purchase with that in mind is redundant.”

So what’s the attraction? Curation, of course. “While Google may be the king of the algorithm, it’s been proven time and again that computer generated playlists can’t come close to the musical taste of human,” Owsinski said.

As Business Insider pointed out back in June, when rumors of the deal were circulating, Pandora’s Music Genome Project “represents over 10 years of music analysis. Collecting the data for a single song can take 20 minutes. A decade. That’s how far behind Google is, in theory, in terms of music streaming — and why it will pounce on Songza if it gets the right price.”

Google Lunar Xprize: The next great race to the moon

The Google Lunar Xprize is racing ahead as 18 teams across the world compete to become the first among them to land on the moon. The payoff: a $30 million prize and international glory. Here's a preview of our upcoming coverage.

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Rumor: Apple's 'iPhone 6' to launch on Sept. 25, larger 5.5" version dubbed 'iPhone Air'

By AppleInsider Staff

Another questionable rumor out of China on Thursday claims Apple will announce its next-gen iPhone on Sept. 15 ahead of a Sept. 25 launch date, while mention is made of a 16GB 5.5-inch version that will supposedly be called "iPhone Air."

"iPhone 6" and "iPhone 6c" concepts by Martin Hajek.

According to Chinese language website China.com, industry sources are telling various media outlets in the region that Apple is planning to start sales of its next iPhone on Sept. 25, with China expected to be in the first group of countries to get the device. 

The report, spotted by GforGames is highly suspect, as Apple historically starts sales of new iPhone models on Fridays, and Sept. 25 is a Thursday. Last year, Apple performed a simultaneous launch with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on Friday, Sept. 20. 

Perhaps more believable, though by no means verifiable, is a rumor from May saying that Apple plans to launch the device or devices on Sept. 19, a date echoed in a follow-up report last week.

Insiders also said a 5.5-inch "phablet" version of the next-gen "iPhone 6" will be called "iPhone Air," though such a move would likely confuse the "Air" naming convention. As it stands, the MacBook Air represents the Apple's smallest and lightest laptops, while the "Air" moniker is assigned to the company's largest iPad. 

As for pricing, Thursday's report is exactly in line with prior claims that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will cost 5,288 yuan (about $850) when it hits store shelves. While last week's rumor failed to mention a 16GB variant of an anticipated 5.5-inch iPhone, today's report cites insiders as saying the device does exist and expects it to run 5,998 yuan (about $965). 

Finally, sources claim Apple's partner carriers in the region, China Mobile and China Unicom, are already testing prototype iPhone 6 units on their respective 4G networks.

When the next-gen iPhone lineup does launch sometime this fall, many expect the handset to feature a complete redesign relocated sleep/wake button, slimmed-down profile and advanced innards like an "A8" processor. Some analysts believe Apple plans to differentiate the purported 5.5-inch version from its smaller siblings by adding on features like optical image stabilization and higher storage capacities.

Tags:

• iPhone 6
• iPhone plus

9-Year-Old Returns Thousands Of Dollars Found In Parking Lot

WALPOLE, MA- A heartwarming story out of Massachusetts.

As a nine-year-old girl turns in an envelope she found on the street stuffed with nearly $3,000.

The money then making its way back to the owner, 91-year-old woman who had accidentally lost it.

The girl found the envelope in the parking lot next to a Walpole Park where she was attending summer camp on Monday.

FOX 29 News Philadelphia | WTXF-TV

Something drew her attention to the bin where she came across the loot.

"She knew it wasn't hers so she went and told the director and she in turn told me," said Officer John Thayer of Walpole Police.

Officer Thayer in turn did some dumpster-diving himself to help find the money's owner.

"It was in between a couple of magazines and newspapers that had this person's name on it," Thayer explained.

Officer Thayer was able to track the cash to a 91-one-year-old woman in Belmont.

That's a good 40 miles from where the money turned up in Walpole.

Brought there accidentally by a friend of the woman who lives there.

"She did not even know it was gone it happened to be tossed out with the recycling they were cleaning out some items in her house and it must have got mixed up in the box," said Thayer.

And after meeting the girl's parents, it clear her compassion is spawned by their humility.

Fortunately for everyone involved, they got to see the fruits of their parenting.

Here's What Google's Game Controller For Android TV Looks Like

Google+ / Artem Russakovskii

Google will launch the Android TV later this year.

DAVE SMITH

Gaming will be a big focus in the new Android TV ecosystem launching this fall, as the software will allow users to play their mobile games right on their televisions.

Google says players can use their Android phones or tablets as controllers, but the company is also launching a unique game controller exclusive to Android TV — and now we know what it looks like.

According to Google I/O 2014 attendee Artem Russakovskii, who posted images of the Android TV game controller to his Google+ account, every Android TV box will ship with the game controller, which comes with two thumbsticks, a directional pad, four face buttons, shoulder buttons, four LEDs, a home button and two navigation buttons.

Basically, it’s an Xbox controller with a little bit of Android button flair (scroll down to see the controller in greater detail).

The images on Google+ seem to confirm a set of Android TV game controller renderings previously posted to Reddit a few days ago. The renders were apparently found buried within the official developer preview for Google's new Android L software.

We’ve reached out to Google to learn more about the controller — whether it will also be sold separately from the Android TV and work with other peripherals — and we’ll update this story when we learn more. However, Google did have the controllers available for testing at its I/O developers conference last week.

Games aside, the Android TV is Google’s second attempt at creating TV software, after Google TV flopped back in 2010. Android TV offers similar features to most TV set-top boxes, including the ability to search and stream movies and TV shows from video apps like YouTube, Netflix and HBO GO. And thanks to advanced voice search and its deep Knowledge Graph, Android TV can also answer complex queries like, “Who plays Johnny Blaze in ‘Ghost Rider’?” or “Oscar-nominated movies from 2005.”

Android TV will also offer full support for Chromecast, Google’s $35 TV streaming stick, and the Google Cast platform, which lets smartphone users beam their content to the Chromecast over the Wi-Fi network.

Here's another look at the Android TV game controller (via Reddit):

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/android-tv-game-controller-2014-6#ixzz36CA4dRYe

How Google and Apple Plan to Invade Your Next Car

Jared Newman for TIME

Jared Newman @OneJaredNewman

Between Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the road to smarter cars is looking less rocky.

Just plug in your phone.

That simple step is how Apple and Google will shave years off the process of getting their software into automobiles. Instead of trying to bake iOS and Android into car makers’ infotainment systems, the two tech giants have come up with a workaround: You just plug in whatever phone you have, and send the software to the car by wire.

We’ve known for a while now that Apple was going this route withCarPlay. As announced in March, users will connect their phones to supported vehicles through a Lightning cable, and a specialized version of iOS takes over the center screen. You can then ask Siri for directions, put on some music, make a phone call through the car’s speaker system or dictate a text message. It’s supposed to be just as safe as any in-car dashboard–and much safer than looking down at your phone while driving.

Last week, Google announced a similar system called Android Auto. Instead of using a Lightning cable, it uses MicroUSB. Instead of speaking to Siri, you use Google voice search. Instead of Apple Maps for directions, you get Google Maps. Both Apple and Google are also soliciting app developers so that certain apps on your phone–such as your favorite streaming music service–will show up in the car.

Naoki Sugimoto, Senior Program Director for Honda’s Silicon Valley Lab, told me during Google’s I/O conference that it can take five years to develop a new car. But since Android Auto doesn’t involve specialized hardware, Honda has figured out how to quickly integrate Google’s software.

“These are mostly software features, so the way we work is to try to decouple software architecture from hardware architecture,” he said. “So this way, in the five-year process, we can wait until the last moment to put a new feature into the production schedule.”

And here’s the kicker: Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are similar enough in their underlying architecture that some auto makers–including Honda and Volvo–are planning to support iOS and Android at the same time. So at least in some vehicles, you won’t have to pledge allegiance to a single platform when you buy your car.

The plug-in system doesn’t just provide more choice for users. It also allows auto makers to retain some control over the dashboard, and frees Google and Apple from having to support things like FM radio, climate control and Bluetooth connectivity. For all those things, you’d still use the car’s built-in system. But when you want your car to be a little smarter, you’ll just bring along your cable of choice–MicroUSB or Lighting–and plug in the phone you’ve got. (Both Google and Apple are letting auto makers decide how the car’s native systems should integrate with Android Auto and CarPlay. Google is also letting auto makers add some of their own features to Android Auto, such as vehicle diagnostics and roadside service requests.)

The trade-off is that performance can be a little laggy–at least that was the case in my Android Auto demo at Google I/O last week–and you’ll always have to take the phone out of your pocket to use Android Auto or CarPlay. Maybe someday we’ll see a system that connects wirelessly to your phone while still providing the entire Android or iOS interface, but doing so today would cause a huge hit on the phone’s battery life. I imagine people will still rely on Bluetooth connectivity some of the time, even if it means having no apps and no on-board navigation.

I haven’t tried CarPlay yet, but I spent some time in a Honda demo car with Android Auto at Google’s I/O conference this week. In short, it looks like a much safer way to listen to music, make phone calls and get directions while driving. Both Apple and Google claim that their software will start showing up in cars later this year; I’m looking forward to when plugging in your phone is as common as popping in a CD once was.