Whether or not Google (GOOG) is actually happy that Facebook (FB) has just launched software intended to take over Android home screens is certainly up for debate. But the company is doing its best to put on a happy face following the announcement, and it tells VentureBeat that Facebook Home “demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular.” That said, Google couldn’t resist nudging its own services into the conversation by saying that Home is “a win for users who want a customized Facebook experience from Google Play — the heart of the Android ecosystem — along with their favorite Google services like Gmail, Search, and Google Maps.” In other words, Google is sending a gentle reminder to potential Facebook Home fans that their phones will still have plenty of Google services for them to use even if they choose to clog up their home screens with status updates.
Apple (AAPL) has Ping, Microsoft (MSFT) has Zune, and now BlackBerry’s (BBRY) BBM Music can be added to the list of failed music ventures embarked upon by consumer electronics companies. As the reinvigorated smartphone vendor fights to stage a comeback in 2013, it is also apparently still trimming the fat. The latest addition to the chopping block will be BBM Music, the curious service that gave users access to 50 songs of their choosing as well as songs chosen by each of their BBM contacts. ”BBM Music service will be discontinued as of June 2, 2013,” BlackBerry said in a letter to customers picked up by CrackBerry. “For paying customers, April is the last month that you will be billed. In May, as your BBM contacts stop using the service, songs in your playlists will begin to turn grey and will no longer be available.”
Skype just announced proudly that its users spend 2 billion minutes a day on Skype calls. It’s a big achievement, for sure… but considering how long Skype has been around, it’s also somewhat underwhelming. According to company comments from 2011, the average video call length was 27 minutes. If we estimate that the average Skype call including both voice and video calling is closer to 20 minutes, the 2 billion minutes a day figure would translate roughly to 100 million calls per day. This sounds decent enough — except that a cluster of mobile messaging app companies that debuted just a couple of years ago have already moved far beyond that level. More →
Apple’s (AAPL) long-rumored music-streaming service doesn’t have quite the mythic status as its “iTV,” but it’s certainly a product that we’ve been hearing rumors about for a long time without getting any confirmation of its existence. An unnamed music industry insider tells The Verge that we may not have to wait much longer, however, because Apple is “pushing hard” for an “iRadio” launch sometime this summer. When last we heard about Apple’s would-be Pandora killer, Apple was supposedly bargaining hard with record labels and insisting that it pay half the royalties that Spotify currently pays for the rights to stream music to its listeners.
Last November, Nokia’s (NOK) HERE map app had a big debut by becoming a top 5 iPhone application in America on its launch day. The last three months have been cruel, however. Following mixed reviews from major tech sites, the HERE app plunged in the app charts across the world. Google (GOOG) Maps became a smash hit on iOS devices across the world. Today, Nokia’s biggest map app success is found in Mozambique, where it reigns at No. 526 in the iPhone download chart. Finns may still carry a torch for Nokia, but they aren’t dumb — HERE is just at No. 663 on the Finnish iPhone app market. The app is moving up the charts in Laos and Cape Verde, though it can’t quite break into top 600 in either market. It is in danger of dropping out of the top 1000 chart in Yemen and Albania. More →
As we’ve seen multiple times from MobileMe to iOS Maps, online services are Apple’s (AAPL) most glaring weakness. And now it seems that we can add iCloud to the list of Apple’s online service follies, because many third-party developers are hopping mad at what they describe as Apple’s failure to make iCloud seamlessly integrate and sync up with third-party application data. In a lengthy and detailed piece over at The Verge, Ellis Hamburger talks with several disgruntled developers who say, among other things, that “iCloud hasn’t worked out for us,” that “it just doesn’t work,” that it creates “issues that take hours to resolve and… can permanently corrupt your account,” and that it’s “a developer’s worst nightmare… it’s frustrating, maddening, and costs hundreds of support hours.” More →
Users of Google’s (GOOG) various free services were again reminded to watch their backs recently as the company announced it would shutter the world’s most popular RSS reader, Google Reader. While any Google service could theoretically be shuttered at any time, fans of homemade videos can likely rest easy for the time being, because it has become increasingly obvious that YouTube is one of the better investments Google made in recent years: the company announced late Wednesday that YouTube has now surpassed 1 billion monthly users. The News comes just 10 months after YouTube topped 800 million monthly viewers last May.
Google’s (GOOG) most exciting and innovative mobile service is currently only available on 15.5% of Android devices, but it will soon be accessible to nearly every iPhone and iPad user on the planet. A leaked promotional video picked up by Engadget reveals that Google Now, the Android feature that presents users with useful information driving directions, weather reports and traffic information before they even know they need it, will soon be available on the iPhone and iPad as a downloadable app. The video was pulled shortly after it was discovered on YouTube, but a copy can be viewed below. More →
Apple’s (AAPL) mythical subscription-based streaming music service as been rumored for years now, but difficulties negotiating with major labels have seemingly kept it from launching. While Apple reportedly fights for more favorable fee structures, Google (GOOG) may very well bring a similar Spotify-like service to market before Apple has the chance. “Google Inc.’s Android unit has been negotiating with music companies to start a paid subscription music-streaming service akin to Spotify AB,” The Wall Street Journal recently reported. The paper also notes that Google’s YouTube division is “trying to obtain licenses from music labels to start a paid subscription service for music videos and potentially also for audio-only songs.”
The Federal Communications Commission constantly monitors broadband service providers in the United States and the commission recently updated its report for the month of February. One part of the FCC’s study that always draws particular interest is the section that shows how closely ISPs come to providing customers with data speeds that match advertised speeds, and its latest report analyzes data collected in September 2012. Unfortunately for U.S. broadband subscribers, ISPs’ performance in September strayed a bit further from advertised speeds compared to a similar study from the FCC that analyzed July data. More →
In line with reports from late last year, a new job posting on Apple’s (AAPL) website suggests the company plans to bring Siri functionality to its desktop operating system. First introduced with the iPhone 4S, Siri combines voice recognition with enhanced search features to create a virtual personal assistant of sorts. Siri is currently available only on iOS devices, but Apple’s “Siri UI Engineer” job listing specifically seeks programmers possessing ”familiarity with Unix, especially Mac OS X,” who have a ”passion for the Macintosh platform and writing simple, elegant software that is easy and fun to use.” Rumors suggest Siri could become available on Macs in the next major OS X release, OS X 10.9, which is expected to launch later this year.
Great news for Xbox users: You’ll soon have yet another video streaming service competing for your dollars. Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox Live programming director Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb announced on his website Tuesday that “Redbox Instant by Verizon (VZ) will be coming to Xbox 360 in the very near future” and that Redbox Instant beta participants will soon receive an access code that will let them use the Redbox app on their Xbox consoles. Hryb also said that the Xbox will be “the exclusive gaming and entertainment console launch partner for Redbox Instant,” so don’t expect to get Redbox on your PlayStation 3 or Wii U in the near future. Verizon plans to launch Redbox Instant in March, when it will initially offer users 7,500 “streaming and transactional movie titles” for $8 a month.
