Spotify brings streaming radio to iPhone, iPad app

Spotify on Tuesday announced the addition of free mobile radio to the company's popular Spotify app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Spotify's radio features were previously only available to desktop users, however free and premium Spotify users can now stream limitless artist, song, playlist or album-based radio stations to Apple's iOS devices. "Our focus has always been on creating an amazing user experience," said Spotify VP of product, Charlie Hellman. "The radio feature we've added to our iPhone and iPad apps gives users the ability to discover, listen and save what they like on the go – all within one app – for free." Spotify's full press release follows below, and Spotify's app is available for free in the iOS App Store.

Spotify Launches Free Mobile Radio in the US

Latest update for iOS app includes radio you can save

Starting today, Spotify users in the US can play for free on iPhone and iPad.  The latest update to Spotify's iOS app includes the new radio feature, giving free users in the US access to an unlimited amount of music on the move. The update is now available for download in the App Store.

The new radio feature for iOS is seamlessly integrated into the Spotify service, creating an unmatched user experience of listening, discovering, saving and sharing music, from a catalog of more than 16 million songs.

Spotify users on iPhone and iPad can now:

• Create limitless streaming radio stations from single songs, playlists, albums or artists
• Create an unlimited number of stations and listen as long as they like
• Save tracks to Spotify playlists – any song that users "like" will be saved, so they can find the songs later
• Personalize stations in real time by "liking" tracks to hear similar music
• Browse friends' playlists and create radio stations based on their tastes
• Hear great new songs from Spotify's state-of-the-art recommendation engine, based on what millions of real people are listening to
• Access a catalog of over 16 million tracks

"Our focus has always been on creating an amazing user experience," said Charlie Hellman, VP, Product at Spotify.  "The radio feature we've added to our iPhone and iPad apps gives users the ability to discover, listen and save what they like on the go – all within one app – for free."

Premium users of the Spotify iOS app will continue to have an ad-free experience.  Free users in the US will hear advertisements from the following launch partners: Chevrolet, Durex, Heineken, Red Stag by Jim Beam, Lipton Iced Tea, Macy's, McDonalds, Progressive, Red Bull, Taco Bell, Verizon Wireless, and Warner Bros - all of which are current Spotify advertisers.

The new Spotify radio feature will also be available to Premium users outside of the United States.

Mozilla designs Firefox ‘Junior' for iPad

iPad fans disappointed with their browsing experience could soon have a Safari alternative from Mozilla. Mozilla has taken the wraps off a new version of its Firefox browser that it has been designing specifically for the Apple iPad, dubbed “Junior,” that the foundation says “makes browsing more fun, more ergonomic and re-thinks browser user experience from the ground up.” While this sounds ambitious, the development team at Mozilla seems to have really created a browser that's unique to tablets rather than just simply porting its browser over from desktop or mobile platforms.

Junior is immensely simplified compared with most browsers because it only has two buttons that are strategically placed right where the average iPad user's thumbs go. The “back” button performs the standard back function that's crucial to any browser while the “plus” button opens up a new screen that gives users the opportunity to enter in a URL manually, go to a recently-viewed site or go to a bookmarked site.

The reason for the simplified browsing experience is that Mozilla wants its tablet browser to take advantage of the entire tablet screen without clogging it up with tabs and search bars. And yes that means that Junior doesn't have the on-screen tabs that have been a longtime Firefox staple, but Mozilla thinks that tabs on a tablet screen are just taking up space needlessly.

Mozilla hasn't yet made any announcements in terms of when Junior will be available for iPad users.

Mozilla's ‘Junior' iPad browser prototype keeps it simple

Love your iPad, but hate Safari? Mozilla's Alex Limi can relate, it's “a pretty miserable experience,” he says. So what's he doing about it? Building a replacement, of course. In a recent presentation showing the fruits of the Mozilla Product Design Strategy team's labors, Limi offered a glimpse at Junior, an iPad browser that hopes to redefine how we view the internet on tablets. The prototype browser eschews the traditional address bar / tab layout in favor of a minimalistic, full screen experience, flanked by only two obvious toggles — a back button, and a plus symbol that opens a menu containing favorites, recent pages and a URL / search bar. Other common options such as reload, forward and print are hidden away, but accessible. The idea is a simple browsing experience that's more fun, engaging and ergonomic. “It's very simple,” Limi summarizes, “it's a browser.” He stresses that Junior is still just a prototype, albeit a compelling one.

Firefox for iPad being developed by Mozilla

 
Mozilla does not seem to content with their current market share in terms of browser dominance, and they are not going to take this particular situation lying down. In fact, Mozilla does seem to want to spread their wings further in the world of tablets, and has set their sights on the promised land – the Apple iPad. It seems that there are whispers going around that hail from industry insiders which touch on the very same team who worked on the desktop version of Firefox will soon challenge themselves further, by designing a Firefox version just for the Apple iPad. In the process, it is hoped that this popular open source web browser will be able to provide some sort of decent competition to Apple's Safari browser on the iPad.

The new browser has been nicknamed “Junior”, which is rather fitting at this point in time. Hopefully Junior will be able to receive all the digital milk it can get (and crave for) in order to grow up to be a dominant web browser.

NYT: Office for iPad is still on

Microsoft vehemently objected to Office for iPad rumors almost as soon as they first showed up, quashing hopes in the process — or so we thought. The New York Times now contends that Redmond's PR might just have been exercising plausible deniability: sources for the newspaper assert that Office for iPad is still a reality and that the details, not the app itself, are in dispute. Most of the questions instead surround the launch day and price. A follow-up answer from Microsoft hasn't settled much other than to get the boilerplate no-comment remark, but we wouldn't be surprised if Google's acquisition of Quickoffice spurs a few discussions at Microsoft about tablet-native Office suites for more than just Windows 8.

Pong iPad case is touted to be the most advanced of its kind in the world

 
Hmmm, a Pong iPad case? This has absolutely nothing to do with the iconic video game that is older than all the teens these days, but rather, it functions as an iPad case that carries the boast of improving reception, boosts signal strength and increases range all the while ensuring that your exposure to radiation is reduced. Sounds as though this is the only iPad case that you will ever need if you are looking for one, no?

It would be interesting to see just how much of a boost the 3G/4G and Wi-Fi reception on your iPad will become when it encases your device. Not only that, is there a quantitative manner for the average Joe to ensure that one's exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) is reduced while using the Pong iPad case? So far, EMR has been classified by the World Health Organization as a Class 2B carcinogen.

The patented Pong design apparently will not set off the iPad's proximity sensor, and yet it can optimize both cellular and Wi-Fi signals, whilst offering protection against radiation exposure, now how about that? The asking price for some peace of mind? $119.99 onwards, where it is available for both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G/4G iPad models. [Press Release]

Pure Contour 200i Air Speaker Dock

Pure is back with its latest product in the form of the Contour 200i Air speaker dock. Designed for Apple’s iPad, iPod and iPhone, the digital music system features Apple’s AirPlay wireless streaming technology that lets you stream music wirelessly to Contour 200i Air from a compatible iPod, iPhone or iPad or from iTunes on your computer using a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. You can also download the free Pure Lounge app, allowing you to enjoy over 16,000 internet radio stations or on-demand programs from your iPod touch, iPhone and iPad. The Pure Contour 200i Air speaker dock retails for around $310 (after conversion). [Pure]