Posts Tagged ‘Pandora’
Near-final Pandora handheld gets user reviewed, shown playing Super Mario 64
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 22nd, 2009
Continue reading Near-final Pandora handheld gets user reviewed, shown playing Super Mario 64
Near-final Pandora handheld gets user reviewed, shown playing Super Mario 64 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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GP32X | Email this | Comments Rooted Nook gets Pandora, shot at true happiness
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 17th, 2009
Rooted Nook gets Pandora, shot at true happiness originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkWired | NookDevs | Email this | Comments First production Pandora case has been assembled (update: video!)
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on December 9th, 2009
Update: Video showing first boot of this ARM Cortex-A8 gaming handheld with PowerVR SGX programmable GPU after the break!
[Thanks, xmrgamerx]
Continue reading First production Pandora case has been assembled (update: video!)
First production Pandora case has been assembled (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkOpenPandora | Photobucket | Email this | Comments Pandora sets its sights on in-car music streaming
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on December 9th, 2009
Pandora has already come a considerable way from its rather modest beginnings, but it looks like the company unsurprisingly has some even grander ambitions for the near future, including a variety of options for in-car music streaming. That word comes straight from Pandora's Chief Technology Officier, Tom Conrad, who told attendees at the SF Music Tech Summit that the company is now working with various car manufacturers (including Ford) to better integrate Pandora music streaming into vehicles. That will apparently first come in the form of in-dash or hands-free controls to let folks use a docked device running Pandora and then, "within a few years," evolve to include full-fledged Pandora services built right into various in-car entertainment systems. Details are otherwise a bit light, but Conrad reportedly hinted that he'd have more to say at CES.Pandora sets its sights on in-car music streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkSlashGear | GigaOM | Email this | Comments Pandora cases start arriving, production enters ’so close you can smell it’ stage
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on November 26th, 2009
[Thanks, Andrew]
Pandora cases start arriving, production enters 'so close you can smell it' stage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Pandora | Email this | Comments Roku Channel Store delivers ten new content portals for zero dollars
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on November 23rd, 2009
Continue reading Roku Channel Store delivers ten new content portals for zero dollars
Roku Channel Store delivers ten new content portals for zero dollars originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsRoku Channel Store Opens, Hulu Is a No-Show [Roku]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on November 23rd, 2009
When Roku released their new HD-XR box, they mentioned that big new features would be launched in the coming weeks via software update. Now the Roku Channel Store is finally here, but it's awfully short on excitement.
The Roku Channel Store is an open platform for delivering content to Roku boxes beyond the already-integrated Netflix, MLB.tv and Amazon channels. We all had high hopes for full-length streaming video, and rumors pointed to Hulu, but alas, it is not to be. The first ten "channels" were released today, and Hulu is not among them. The list:
Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe.
The Channel Store itself seems pretty open-ended, with a freely available SDK so developers can add to the Store's selection—and we hope they do, because these offerings are pretty meager at the moment. The Roku Channel Store is a free and automatic upgrade starting today, and works on all Roku devices, but there aren't any killer apps here (and neither Pandora nor Flickr is really a barn-burner at this point—at this point, every gadget I own, including my alarm clock, does that stuff). Here's hoping for some serious development efforts. Press release is below. [Roku]
Roku Launches Open Platform for Delivery of Content to the TV; Announces First 10 New Channels
Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe all now available on the Roku player
Silicon Valley, Calif. – November 23, 2009 – Roku, Inc., maker of the popular and award-winning family of Roku players, announced today the Roku Channel Store and the first 10 free channels for Roku customers to enjoy on their TVs. From internet radio to video podcasts, professional web content to photo sharing and personal videos, the Roku Channel Store provides an open platform for delivering quality content to the TV. New channels now available for customers to add today to their Roku experience via the Roku Channel Store include: Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe. For the complete list of channels and specific channel descriptions and features, please go to http://www.roku.com/roku-channel-store.
These first 10 channels are just the beginning for Roku. Many other developers are working on Roku Channels now, and Roku expects additional developers to adopt the Roku platform over time. New channels will appear in the Roku Channel Store automatically as they become available.
The Roku Channel Store represents an opportunity for content owners and publishers to reach an already large and growing audience of Roku customers. By creating an open platform for delivery to the television over the Internet, Roku has leveled the playing field for content owners.
"The Roku Channel Store turns the Roku player into the world's first open platform designed specifically for the TV," Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc said. "Now content producers and distributors – from single person shops to billion dollar corporations – can deliver their content directly to consumers without having to go exclusively through cable operators, satellite networks or TV affiliates."
To create a channel for the Roku Channel Store, a developer creates an application using Roku's free software developer kit. This SDK is available free upon request by emailing partners@roku.com.
All Roku players, including the Roku SD, Roku HD and Roku HD-XR models, are compatible with the Roku Channel Store. The new channels are in addition to the existing Roku channels already available: Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Video On Demand and MLB.TV.
Pricing and availability
The Roku Channel Store will be delivered as an automatic and free upgrade to all existing Roku customers over the course of the next two weeks. New customers will automatically be upgraded when they first install their Roku player. To browse and use the Roku Channel Store, customers will be prompted to create a Roku account. Existing customers who do not want to wait for their Roku player to update automatically can manually update their Roku player immediately. Detailed instructions can be found under the Roku Channel Store tab at http://www.roku.com/support/faqs.
First introduced in May 2008, and updated regularly with free software updates, the Roku player family provides the easiest, most affordable and reliable way for hundreds of thousands of Roku customers to watch their favorite movies, TV shows and sporting events instantly on their TV. All three Roku players are available immediately at http://www.roku.com starting at $79.99 and include free shipping for a limited time.
About Roku, Inc.
Roku is a market leader in innovative applications for digital media, opening up a new world of entertainment to the TV. Through its work in both software and hardware, the company develops and sells consumer products that give customers the ability to take charge over their entertainment choices, combining high-value content and immediate access to that content at a low price. Its products include: The family of Roku players and the SoundBridge Internet radio line. Roku is privately held and based in Saratoga, Calif. For more information on the company and its products, visit: http://www.roku.com.
VUDU brings Pandora, Picasa and Flickr to connected HDTVs, promises more apps soon
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on November 5th, 2009
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Software
VUDU brings Pandora, Picasa and Flickr to connected HDTVs, promises more apps soon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsGoogle Music Search Turns Your Results Pages Into Personal Radios [Google]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 28th, 2009
As rumored, Google Music Search (aka Onebox) is a music search feature that appears inside Google search that will give you not a little 30-second clip, but a full song play.
Basically, as you can see in the picture, you will see play buttons alongside different songs when you get search results. If you press play, a popup from MySpace (iLike) or Lala appears, letting you play the full song and giving you buttons to buy it or get more info. You will also have the chance to check out the band on other services/sites, including Pandora, iMeem and Rhapsody. (As you might imagine, there's no mention of iTunes in all of this.)
In essence, Google isn't playing the music at all. It's up to MySpace and Lala to manage the rights of the full-song playback business, and to serve up the content. For more info, check out the YouTube video or Google blog. They say they'll be rolling it out to US Google users over the next day, so be on the lookout. [Google]
Sonos ZonePlayer S5 Hands-On: Sonos for the Masses [Sonos]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 20th, 2009
Sonos, best known for their premium-priced (but adored) wireless audio systems, announced an all-in-one receiver and speaker recently, and after seeing and hearing it, I'm impressed—but not blown away.
Whether you're taken with the S5 largely depends on how you feel about Sonos in the first place. If you've been itching for an elegant way to play music and internet radio over your home network, and you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you'll probably love the S5. It's not very different from Sonos's other products, really: Instead of plugging in your own stereo, the S5 simply supplies its own. Navigation, playback and music discovery are unchanged from previous Sonos products, so I'm going to focus on the hardware, mostly sound quality.
The receiver/speaker all-in-one is smaller than you'd expect, no bigger than a mid-sized iPod dock, and conservatively styled in white metal with a grey grille. I tested it alongside the winner of our iPod dock Battlemodo, the JBL OnStage 400p, for purely sound-specific purposes, since the actual products have a different feature set. Hardware-wise, the Sonos S5 lacks the JBL's iPod dock (as it doesn't really have a need for one) but does have Wi-Fi, ethernet and audio-in and -out.
It's super easy to set up; the iPhone app discovers any Sonos hardware, which you name and then have access to from the main menu. You choose music, either from a location on the network (like a computer, or in my case an Apple Time Capsule) or from streaming services like Pandora, Napster and Last.FM. Streaming was very quick, with only a split-second lag before the song started, and streaming music (both from a saved location and from the internet) played back so smoothly you can't tell that it's streaming. The Sonos iPhone app is excellent, as always—check out our review for more on that. Suffice to say that it's extremely fast and easy to use, whether you're searching through Last.FM for an artist or just streaming your own tunes from a computer.
Sound quality was actually very slightly disappointing, in that it didn't totally blow me away. It sounds quite good, don't get me wrong, and played far louder (without audible distortion even at its highest setting) than the JBL OnStage 400p, but on the whole I preferred the JBL. Though the Sonos is packing two tweeters, two mids and a subwoofer, bass wasn't nearly as full and rich as on the JBL. EQ can be tweaked via the remote (iPhone/iPod Touch or Sonos controller), but its stock setting was a little jarring on the highs and slightly thin-sounding compared to the JBL. At low volumes, the difference wouldn't be noticeable, but blasting Discovery's "Orange Crush" showed a distinct difference between the two.
I don't want to imply that the S5's sound quality is lousy in any way: It's definitely above-average for an all-in-one system, and I was impressed with the lack of distortion and clarity. But I kind of expected to be wowed, and I wasn't. That doesn't mean it's not an interesting and worthwhile product, but it could be better.
The S5 worked flawlessly with other S5s, able to play different songs simultaneously—but if you want one to stop playing its song and join in with another S5 to play in tandem, it can do that too, and sync perfectly. It's pretty cool and worked well, but I'm not sure why you'd need two all-in-one units to play the same song at the same time in different rooms.
I really like the Sonos S5 as a speaker for a room where you don't want a full stereo—like the kitchen, say, or the back porch. It's great to be free from wires yet still have access to all of your music, and services like Pandora. If you already own an iPhone or iPod Touch, it's actually a solid deal, provided you're sold on Sonos: The ZonePlayer 80 costs $300, but for $100 more you can get a portable (and pretty decent) speaker with the S5.
But the question I was left with: Is it worth the $160 premium over the JBL OnStage 400p? I'm not sure, really. The S5 is a more elegant solution, certainly, but a lot of users just want a quick-and-dirty playback device, and the S5 is too refined for that. If you're already a Sonos devotee, the S5 is an interesting and affordable addition to the lineup, but if you aren't sold on the whole concept, I don't think the S5 will change your mind. [Sonos]
