Mobile Computing News

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Streaming music service Spotify has had plenty of frustrations in recent months, but they’re popping champagne bottles right now. The company has announced, via a blog post by co-founder Daniel Ek, that they have just reached one million paying subscribers for their streaming music service.

Good times

In the post Ek briefly reflects on where Spotify was conceived and how it feels to cross this critical landmark. He says: ‘It seems like only yesterday we were hatching ideas for a new music service in a tiny office-cum-apartment with a broken coffee machine, and the party we threw having reached one million users almost two years ago today was one to remember.’

However one million users in total is nothing compared to what he can brag about now. He continues, saying: ‘So it’s with a sense of real pride and excitement that we can announce a new milestone today, having welcomed our millionth paying subscriber to the service. It’s a testament to our fantastic users who continue to support us and spread the Spotify word, either by telling friends or sharing some of the 200 million playlists that you’ve put together so far.’

Smartphones ahoy!

The streaming music service has seen meteoric growth in paying subscriber numbers due, in no small part, to exploding smartphones sales. While Spotify is freely available – on an ad supported model – on desktops and laptops, you have to be a paying subscriber to use it on mobiles. With the promise of nearly every song ever recorded and published and accessible from your smartphone, it’s no wonder one million users are prepared to pay the equivalent price of a digital album each month to have access to the service.

What’s next?

For the streaming music service, the coming months will be trying months. They continue to look for a way to break into the US market on their own terms, and seem to be quite close to achieving that goal. Ek says: ‘We’ll continue to focus on providing you with the best music service possible, and look forward to adding even more cool new features over the coming months. What’s really exciting is that this is only the beginning. Thanks for listening!’

Oh, not only are we listening, sir, we’re watching, too.

Photo: Rain Rabbit / Flickr

While TV dinners are nothing new, according to a recent study, Brits everywhere are fueling the rise of the PC dinner. If nothing but highlight a bad habit, the study shows the growing influence desktop and laptop PCs have on our lives.

Shocking habits

In fact, half is being generous. The study found three-fifths of the population had at some point eaten their dinner in front of either a desktop or laptop computer. In addition over 20 per cent of all respondents frequently had meals haunched over computers, says online viewing service SeeSaw.com [via The Telegraph].

More shocking stats

The SeeSaw survey involved 2,000 people, with the shocking stats not stopping there. Fifteen per cent of all respondents admitted they watched TV shows on their PCs while eating dinner, creating a strange TV/PC dinner hybrid. It looks like the trend is heading upwards, with a third of the respondents saying the likelihood of them eating a PC dinner was greater than it was a year prior.

PC replacing TV

In addition to pointing out the growing number of PC dinners out there, the survey also found that eating in front of the computer was replacing TV dinners. Twenty-three per cent of the respondents said that the PC had surpassed the television as their main source of entertainment in the evening. It’s like an addiction, with SeeSaw’s John Keeling saying: ‘Millions of British people cannot tear themselves away from the internet, even for dinner. The growth of the PC dinner is a remarkable new trend and for many across the nation, has now replaced the traditional TV dinner’.

Kill the bad habits now

We Brits have many bad habits, but TV dinners are easily one of the worst. The value of eating at the table cannot be stressed enough. The rise of PC dinners will only further entrench this shocking habit into society with no visible way of stopping it.

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After rumours it may happen began swirling around this week, it is now official: Random House is bringing its deep catalogue of books to the Apple iBooks platform. This represents a major coup for iBooks in its stand off with the Amazon Kindle store, as RH is the biggest English-language publisher in the world, with best-selling titles like The Da Vinci Code in its catalogue.

Why is this important?

The first thing to note about Apple getting RH onto its store is the number of ‘new’ titles will be available on the platform as the result. Random House brings with it 17,000 titles to the Apple iBooks platform, absolutely exploding the number of titles available on the platform.

It also means the content gap between what is offered on the Amazon Kindle store and iBooks has been shrunken significantly. This, in turn, could be a compelling reason for iPad owners to use their tablet PC as a reading device, though they’ve long been able to if you factor in Kindle is available for iPad.

Major win for ebooks

Publishers have been anxious about the ebooks revolution. While they were always going to overtake paperbacks, just like downloaded music was always going to supplant CDs, book publishers didn’t want to find themselves in the same situation record labels find themselves in due to iTunes.

By this, we mean that the content owners did not want to be beholden to the platform owner, due to the strength of said platform. While the Amazon Kindle store is undoubtedly the kingpin in all things ebooks related, publishers find themselves in a comfortable position where there are two big players in the space, and not just an all-conquering monopoly, like what iTunes virtually is.

Major win for readers and e-readers

The knock-on effect of that is that future releases may all be paperback and digital simultaneously, creating an even bigger market for ebooks and ebook readers. While it may seem like Random House coming to the Apple iBooks platform is beneficial only to Apple – that would be the myopic view. Everybody stands to win off of this development, where the old guard is conceding it needs to change and adapt to the times.

Photo: Alexander Smolianitski / Flickr

Random House, the world’s biggest publisher – and one of the most beautifully named companies in the world – has said that it will begin adopting the agency-model for eBook sales in the US. While this may seem a small change that only has bearings on how books are priced and earnings are split, it’s significant in that it means Random House ebooks may make their way onto Apple’s iBooks platform.

The last stand

Being the largest publisher of English-language publications in the world, as well as the only major publisher not currently on Apple’s iBook platform, this is hugely significant. The agency-model for eBooks allows the publisher to set whatever price tag it wishes for its eBooks, while the retail platform keeps 30 per cent of all revenue. That should sound very familiar to you, because that is the current retail model on Apple’s App Store and in iTunes. As such, it stands to reason Random House ebooks will make it to Apple’s store.

Apple relationship not inevitable

Incidentally, a Random House representative told Macworld that this pricing change does not necessitate that Random House ebooks will arrive on Apple iBooks. It’s safe to say the company is being coy, with RH’s statement alluding to: ‘the opportunity to forge new retail relationships’. Given that RH is in the business of making money, it’s safe to assume they’ll make their way onto Apple’s platform in due time.

eBooks and e-readers in the news

The last few days have seen news about ebooks and e-readers pop up absolutely everywhere. The world’s highest selling e-reader, the Amazon Kindle, will now be available in AT&T retail stores, while a breakout story of a young independent writer grossing millions of dollars annually self-publishing her books has spread like wildfire. The point is, Random House ebooks aside, the format has crossed over into the mainstream, and is here to stay. For technology lovers and book readers alike, this is a very good thing.

Photo: Motorola

What do you do when you should be all hands on deck to develop killer smartphones and tablet PCs to compete in a cut-throat business? Sue people, it seems is the answer, if Motorola Mobility’s approach is any indication. The company has just sued, get this, TiVo of all companies, regarding core DVR technology. Patent infringement suits are nothing new, but to say this comes out of left field would be an understatement.

So why is TiVo being sued?

Motorola Mobility alleges that it owns several DVR-related patents that TiVo has willfully infringed upon, reports WSJ. Some of them date back to the mid-1990s, first developed by engineers whose firm was later acquired by a subsidiary of Motorola. Some of these patents date back to two years before TiVo was even founded.

Go at our own?

Considering Motorola Mobility has long known about TiVo’s DVR tech, why bring the patent infringement lawsuit up now? It turns out TiVo is attempting to enforce DVR patents the company owns against one of Motorola’s own clients.

TiVo DVR tech is known for flexing its patent infringement muscle, with the company once filing a similar suit against Verizon Communication – the major North American service provider. It’s currently embroiled in a suit against Dish Network, and has accused AT&T of patent infringement in the same manner Verizon did.

This is a pride thing

Speaking on the suit, Motorola said ‘We pride ourselves on our strong R&D and intellectual property and will move aggressively to protect that value on behalf of our customers, partners and shareholders.’

We’ve always been averse to patent infringement lawsuits by technology companies. They distract from what the companies should be doing, which is developing groundbreaking tech that will fundamentally change the way the world works. Suing one another isn’t conducive to R&D – and perhaps it’s a reason many PVRs have overtaken the likes of TiVo in terms of their user experience.

Photo: RafeB / Flickr

When Nokia signed its industry shaking deal with Microsoft, many believed it was the end of Nokia’s Symbian mobile OS platform. The company itself implied that they would make Windows Phone 7 their primary platform marking the start of the Nokia Microsoft era, while letting all its other OS strategies fall to the wayside. Well, the company has since changed its tone, indicating that Symbian will remain on life support for the foreseeable future.

So, what is it really?

The confusion comes from Nokia’s commitment to constantly selling and updating the current crop of Symbian handsets throughout 2011, but committing to not releasing any more handsets on the mobile OS platform.

Now the words of Vlasta Berka, who is the General Manager of Nokia Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, have added a little more confusion to Nokia’s already opaque strategy. Speaking at the launch of the Nokia E7, he said: ‘just because we’re changing our direction in terms of smartphone platform, it doesn’t mean that the existing platform is completely broken.’ Oh, it doesn’t? Then why change the direction?

We owe it to customers and devs

His justification for keeping the Symbian mobile OS platform alive was Nokia’s duty to customers and developers. He said that: ‘We still have obligations to our users, developers, business partners, and customers. Symbian is here to stay. Symbian will still be around, but it’s just going to go somewhere around the corner’. Around the corner? What does that even mean?

Sorry, Nokia, it’s just…

We’ve been accused in the past of giving Nokia a hard time unduly, and perhaps its true. It seems to us that the company has trouble transforming, and we thought Nokia Microsoft deal was evidence that this was no longer the case. If Berka’s words are the thoughts company-wide, then we may have to rethink our position.

Nobody understands Nokia’s strategy. Where does the Symbian mobile OS platform fit into the grand scheme of things? And is the Finnish company all in or not with Windows Phone 7?

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Streaming music service Spotify has been in the news relentlessly over the past week or so with news that it raised a massive round of venture capital, and that it had inked a deal with a certain major label. Now new reports say Spotify is on the verge of signing a deal with Universal Music Group and that the company may launch in the US without Warner Music’s catalogue.

US launch imminent

If Spotify manages to sign this deal with Universal Music Groups for US rights to the music on its catalogue, the only major hole in the service’s record label deals is Warner Music Group who has yet to agree to license their material. Now, many folks are speculating that Spotify, which is thought to be valued at $1 billion after a $100 million financing round, will launch without Warner.

The problem is Warner Music Group is the third largest music label group in the world by revenue, which would leave a gaping hole in Spotify’s strategy. And considering most music lovers couldn’t care which label their favourite artists are on, having a fifth of all tracks you search be unavailable may be very off putting for the potential US users of the streaming music service.

Smartphones the future

We’re keenly interested in streaming music services because they form a small part of a bigger trend in mobile computing we’re watching closely – smartphones. Music execs, smartphone manufacturers, software devs and users alike realise that both smartphones and streaming music are central to the immediate future of music consumption. Spotify is a forerunner in this very space.

For US-based readers, would you try Spotify if the company pushes on without getting Warner Music Group on board, or would you overlook it?

Photo: Carl Johan / Flickr

Given that our eyes and ears have been spoilt with television and film for decades, people world over joked about technology advancing so much that smell-o-vision will make its way into homes. Joke no more, friends, with the technology being real and on course for release in 2011, still.

Strangely, though, I don’t think we’ll think it’s such a good idea once smell-o-vision really gets implemented.

The science of the smell

Scent Sciences Corporation is developing the ScentScape, a device that works with your PC in recreating smells from games that build support for the technology. The company describes the ScentScape as ‘an innovative digital scent delivery system’ because the organic biological scent delivery system your friends put you through all through school wasn’t sufficient.

How it works

Usage is pretty straightforward, too. You just plug it into your USB port, and paired with a game that supports the Scent Sciences Corporation’s technology, an appropriate scent will be released at the appropriate time. The device is built around replaceable cartridges, and ships with 20 ‘basic scents’. Among these scents, you get gaming mainstays like smoke, flowers, pine forests and ocean.

You’ll get 200 hours of heavy-duty use out of a single cartridge before it needs replacing. It costs $69.99 (£43.32) with a cartridge, and replacement cartridges will cost you $24 (£14.85).

How would Solid Snake smell?

I don’t know about you, but of the many video games I’ve played, I rarely see the lead character taking a shower. In the interest of replicating the experience for real, can you imagine how Solid Snake, crawling through ducts, jungles and hiding in random boxes smells? Do you really want the scent of a construction worker, who’s worked in 100 degrees heat all day, invading your home?

This could put a whole new meaning to the saying ‘silent but violent’. I can’t fault Scent Sciences Corporation’s Scentscape and it’s goal of bringing smell-o-vision to the home, but do you really need to stench up your home in the name of PC gaming?

Photo: Xuoan’s Dailies / Flickr

Some computer users, like firms working on classified projects, militaries and even individual need to be able to securely erase all of the data on their harddrives. If you happen to be one of those users who requires secure erasing of data, buying solid state drives brings with it some security hazards and complications.

Doesn’t delete just delete?

Unbeknownst to many PC users, merely deleting data and emptying your recycle bin is not sufficient for that data on your hard drive being completely gone. Using certain techniques and software, that data can still be recovered. There are many other solutions, like storing new data over the deleted segments several times, and degaussing a moving parts drive that can securely erase all data.

SSD secure erasure complex

At the recent Usenix FAST 11 conference on File and Storage Technologies in San Jose, reseachers from California published a paper that examined how effective certain secure erasure methodologies were.

Naked security reported on the researchers’ conclusions, with some of the findings being rather frightening. For example, SCSI and ATA ‘ERASE UNIT’ command set prompts were available on only eight of the twelve units being tested. Of those eight, it only worked on four.

Other findings included the overwrite technique, where one repeatedly overwrote data with new data over multiple repetitions was successful, but was both more complex and time-consuming than what one would do on a moving parts drive. This made it an unattractive option.

Even though various other secure erasure methods were attempted, it was eventually found that encrypted drives were by far the best solution for firms looking to store their data on solid state drives.

This is the future

Even with this startling finding, solid state drives are still the future of technological storage mediums. They’re far more efficient than moving part drives, experience less wear and tear through use, and are much thinner in size, too, allowing for smaller form factor computers – like the Macbook Air – to be built around them. Secure erasure methods will improve in step with the improvement of SSDs.

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Frequent sightings of Apple’s ill CEO Steve Jobs on the company’s campus have given hope regarding Jobs’ recovery, while also sparking rumours of an impending major product release for the world’s biggest tech company. It appears that new Macbook Pros may be on their way and soon.

I wonder if matters are familiar with people

The rumour comes from a report published by AppleInsider. The publication, citing those oh-so-handy ‘people familiar with the matter’, says that Apple executives are considering launching the updated Macbook Pros before the end of this month, February 2011. Given that we’re two-thirds of the way through the month, they’re sure cutting fine in terms of inviting journalists to the event.

A drive down Sandy Bridge

Admittedly rumours of new Macbook Pros have been around for a while, with many thinking Apple would launch the computers in March. The biggest technical update is expected to be the inclusion of the Intel Sandy Bridge chipset – the second-generation core processors. It’s expected that the ones that ship with Apple’s computers won’t be the ones that have the chip design flaw that sparked a recall.

Speaking of Intel

In a post last week, Fast Company hypothesized that Intel may have prematurely leaked the design of the new Macbook Pros in promotional material for their Sandy Bridge chipset. While it’s difficult to tell if that is Apple’s new computer – though it sure has Apple’s design sensibilities – it looks like the incoming Pros will be thinner and could possibly be ditching its optical drive much like the new Macbook Airs have.

In typical Apple fashion, very little else is known about these new laptops, but if recent years are any indication, they will be available in 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch varieties.

Bread, if not butter

While Apple’s core laptop and desktop business has faded into the shadows in the media, with its younger brothers the iPhone and the iPad commanding consumer and press attention, the Macbook Pro continues to be a core part of Apple’s business, and whenever the company releases new ones, it’s always guaranteed to be worth sitting up and listening. We’ll see if Team Jobs surprises us with new laptops this week.