rdio

Review: Rdio gives users access to 20 million songs

Rdio takes many of the changes we've seen in music sharing over recent years and compiles them into a single, easy-to-use interface that offers a bit of everything for different types of music lovers.

Rdio's function is straightforward. Subscribe and gain instant access to 20 million songs. Create playlists, download other playlists, or search for bands or albums you want to listen to. Where it stands out is the deep social integration and the ability to create and download playlists to your device for offline listening--something other services like Pandora don't allow. The interface is very intuitive, … Read more

Finally, Twitter Music is available to all

You don't have to be the host of "American Idol" to use Twitter Music anymore.

A little more than a month after CNET broke the news that Twitter was working on a stand-alone music discovery app and a week after that app was rolled out to an invite-only group of celebrities and others -- including Ryan Seacrest -- the general public can now get its hands on the music discovery app.

Twitter officially unveiled #music on Thursday during "Good Morning America." The company later provided more details about the service in a blog post, saying … Read more

EA treading into social networking territory?

Gaming company Electronic Arts has come out with something totally new -- a free music and photo social networking app called Vue.

No, it's not a social network focused game. It's simply a social network.

The question is -- why did a gaming company create a social networking app? It's not yet entirely clear. According to Venture Beat, it is a "low-budget exploratory project" started by EA Partners group.

The premise of Vue is to find songs on music services like Spotify and Rdio, pair them with personal photos, and then share the package with … Read more

Why Apple would make a cheaper iPhone

CNET Update clears calendar for summer:

In addition to a brand-new summer iPhone, it's said Apple is working on a plastic iPhone. Today's Update explains why that could make sense for Apple.

Also in the roundup, there's yet another video service launching. The streaming music service Rdio is diving into the video space with Vdio.

For those that won't give up on CDs and vinyl records, Amazon is offering free digital copies of songs with AutoRip.

And what's next for mobile communications as the cell phone turns 40? HD Voice is rolling out to carriers … Read more

Rdio adds video service and takes on Apple, Amazon

The music-streaming service Rdio is upping its game by getting into the video business.

The company today rolled out Vdio -- a way to buy, rent, and share movies and TV shows with friends in real time. The service, which at first will be available only for Rdio subscribers in the U.S. and U.K., boasts thousands of hit titles, including "Life of Pi," "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Hobbit," and "Homeland." TV shows are available the day after they air, and the company says it will add new titles and bonus … Read more

Rdio adds seven new countries to its free-music option

Continuing its recent push into international markets, Rdio announced today that it has expanded its free streaming music service in seven new countries, bringing its total global presence up to 24.

The free music option, which launched to its first international customers in January, is now available in Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, and Mexico. The expansion comes on the same day that Bloomberg reported that music streaming rival Spotify was close to deals with record labels to expand its ad-supported mobile radio service outside the U.S.

Much like Pandora, Spotify's music service has advertisements seeded among … Read more

Apple's iRadio service said to be delayed into summer, or longer

Apple's long-rumored streaming music service won't be arriving until this summer, or later according to a new report.

Citing sources, The New York Times says that Apple's still wrangling with Sony over licensing rights, adding delay to the service that Apple had originally aimed to launch last month. Those people now believe that negotiations will be sorted out in time for a launch this summer, or later in the year.

The report goes on to say that the service was being designed to come preinstalled on Apple's devices instead of an additional app that needed downloading … Read more

Get Skip Tunes' play controls back in the menu bar

This post is really just an excuse to tell you again about Skip Tunes, an app I covered last year and have used pretty much every day since. If you are a Mac user and a frequent user of iTunes, Spotify, or Rdio, you need this app. It places a small icon in your menu bar, providing quick and easy access track information and play controls.

I finally got around to updating Skip Tunes this week (unbeknownst to me, the update was released months ago) and discovered that the play/pause and fast forward buttons disappeared from the menu bar. … Read more

Rdio rolls out six months of free streaming in 15 countries

Rdio announced today that it is offering the majority of its international customers the same deal that people get in the U.S.: six months of free music streaming.

The online music service lets users access its library of more than 18 million songs that come without ads or interruptions and can be listened to and shared across the Web, social networks, and mobile devices.

"The countries that will have free access to Rdio are the United States (where it's been free since October 2011), United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, … Read more

Windows 8 sales off to brisk start

Wednesday's CNET Update is watching Windows:

A Microsoft executive revealed that 40 million licenses of Windows 8 have been sold since it came out last month. These numbers include both consumers and manufacturers, so Windows 8 isn't in 40 million homes. But to compare, Windows 7 hit sales of 60 million the first two months. Some say Windows 8 is off to an awkward start, and there is a learning curve with the new system.

Also in today's tech news roundup:

- Gmail works with Google Drive to let users send 10GB files.

- Vimeo makes it … Read more