Spotify open for all, introduces six month free trial

Spotify has removed the invite-only requirement for US members looking to try the popular streaming music service and introduced a free six month trial for all new users. The news comes a day after Spotify CEO Daniel Ek took the stage at Facebook’s f8 developer conference to announce that his company would be one of more than a dozen joining the social network’s new Open Graph platform.

The free trial lasts for six months, which is more than enough time to decide if you want to pay for the service moving forward. Free users are required to sign into the service using their Facebook account, which will then post updates from Spotify on friends' ticker. A quick check in the preferences reveals that you can disable publishing playlists and sending music you play to Facebook’s Open Graph.

There are a few perks to look forward as a Spotify Premium user. Members of the $9.99 per month service enjoy unlimited music without advertising to their computer and mobile phone. Furthermore you can sync your favorite playlists, making them available offline whenever you want to listen. Premium streams are offered at a bit rate of up to 320kbps when using your computer. An add-free version of Spotify without all of the aforementioned perks can be yours for $4.99 if you don’t want to shell out $5 more for mobile phone support and offline content.

The free six month trial opens up nearly every feature of Spotify. In the limited time I have used the service today, I haven’t experienced any ads and the app works perfectly on my mobile phone as well as my PC. I did receive an email welcoming me to a "48 hour free premium trial", although it's very possible that the company simply hasn't updated their canned email response yet. I guess I'll find out for sure in two days.

Lifehacker backs my findings and further reports that once the free trial is over, users can either upgrade to a premium membership or continue listening free, although ads will be introduced and music listening will be capped at 10 hours per month, including what you listen to on Facebook.

Google+ introduces nine new features, no longer invite-only

Google has announced nine new Google+ features which bring the total number of key features to 100. Perhaps the most important of them all is number 100: anyone can sign up for Google+ - no invitation required.

The search giant’s social network launched in late June on an invite-only basis in what was considered a field trial. Google says that they are far from finished with the Facebook rival but are confident that they have learned enough over the past 12 weeks to move the project from field trial to beta status and open the doors for anyone to join.

Hangouts were introduced when the service launched as a way to better connect with your friends. Basically it allows live video conversations with up to 10 friends at once. Google has now introduced Hangouts on your phone, compatible on Android 2.3+ devices with front-facing cameras (iOS support coming soon).

Other additions to Hangouts include Hangouts On Air, which will allow you to broadcast and record your session to a wider audience. Google is rolling this feature out to a limited number of broadcasters initially, with the first live test taking place tomorrow evening featuring will.i.am as the host.

Hangout users will now have the ability to share their screen with other viewers, an interactive sketchpad, shared Google Docs and named Hangouts, for when you want to join or create a public forum about a specific topic.

Google is also releasing a basic set of Hangout APIs for developers to build new apps and games. More information on the API can be found on the Google+ platform blog.

In addition to all of the Hangout updates, Google is bringing search to their social network. Type in what you are looking for in the search box and Google will return relevant people and posts on the topic.

Via introduces QuadCore processor for notebooks

Via managed to get some buzz going on when the Isaiah architecture and Nano processor were first introduced back in 2008. But even though early benchmarks seemed promising performance-wise, Intel had the upper hand when it came to power consumption and quickly took the market by storm. It was only this year that AMD came out with a competitive alternative for netbooks and budget laptops and now it seems VIA is ready to give it another go.

Following the introduction of its Nano X2 processor back in January, which is a dual-core implementation of its Isaiah architecture built on TSMC's 40-nm chip fabrication process, VIA is now introducing the QuadCore processor combining a pair of Nano X2 chips on a single package to deliver a low-cost, low-power alternative to Atom and Brazos.

The pair of Nano X2 chips are connected by a shared 1333MHz FSB and each has two 1MB independent L2 caches, for a total of 4MB of L2 on-package. Initially VIA will be introducing a single model of the QuadCore, known as the L4700, which is rated for 1.2GHz operation and a maximum TDP of just 27.5W. The QuadCore can dynamically clock up to frequencies as high as 1.46GHz, however, provided there's enough thermal and power headroom available, thanks to a new feature called Adaptive Overclocking that appears to work very much like Intel's Turbo Boost.

The chip is designed to run multimedia, productivity and Internet applications, according to VIA, and will be pin-to-pin compatible with Via Eden, Via C7 and Via Nano E-Series and Via Eden X2 processors. The company offered some results from its own internal benchmarks compared to an AMD E-350 APU, and the QuadCore seemed to have a clear advantage in CPU intensive tests, encryption, and some multimedia as well.

In terms of power consumption Brazos and Atom still have an advantage, though, not to mention that with less than 1% of the x86 market VIA lacks the market pull of Intel or AMD. But it's still interesting to see some more competition in the market and we're eager to see if they manage to score some design wins from major notebook vendors. You can read a bit more about the QuadCore and take an inside look of VIA's simulation labs over at AnandTech and HardOCP.

Via introduces QuadCore processor for notebooks

Via managed to get some buzz going on when the Isaiah architecture and Nano processor were first introduced back in 2008. But even though early benchmarks seemed promising performance-wise, Intel had the upper hand when it came to power consumption and quickly took the market by storm. It was only this year that AMD came out with a competitive alternative for netbooks and budget laptops and now it seems VIA is ready to give it another go.

Following the introduction of its Nano X2 processor back in January, which is a dual-core implementation of its Isaiah architecture built on TSMC's 40-nm chip fabrication process, VIA is now introducing the QuadCore processor combining a pair of Nano X2 chips on a single package to deliver a low-cost, low-power alternative to Atom and Brazos.

The pair of Nano X2 chips are connected by a shared 1333MHz FSB and each has two 1MB independent L2 caches, for a total of 4MB of L2 on-package. Initially VIA will be introducing a single model of the QuadCore, known as the L4700, which is rated for 1.2GHz operation and a maximum TDP of just 27.5W. The QuadCore can dynamically clock up to frequencies as high as 1.46GHz, however, provided there's enough thermal and power headroom available, thanks to a new feature called Adaptive Overclocking that appears to work very much like Intel's Turbo Boost.

The chip is designed to run multimedia, productivity and Internet applications, according to VIA, and will be pin-to-pin compatible with Via Eden, Via C7 and Via Nano E-Series and Via Eden X2 processors. The company offered some results from its own internal benchmarks compared to an AMD E-350 APU, and the QuadCore seemed to have a clear advantage in CPU intensive tests, encryption, and some multimedia as well.

In terms of power consumption Brazos and Atom still have an advantage, though, not to mention that with less than 1% of the x86 market VIA lacks the market pull of Intel or AMD. But it's still interesting to see some more competition in the market and we're eager to see if they manage to score some design wins from major notebook vendors. You can read a bit more about the QuadCore and take an inside look of VIA's simulation labs over at AnandTech and HardOCP.

Amazon introduces cheaper, ad-supported Kindle

Amazon is making its popular Kindle e-reader more affordable for anyone to enjoy as long as they can put up with the occasional advertisement. The hardware is identical to the standard $139 model, but the new Kindle with "Special Offers"shaves $25 (18%) off that price down to $114 in exchange for showing you some publicity. It's worth noting that these ads aren't popping up in the middle of reading a book -- they're just replacing the Kindle's screen saver while the device is idle and a small strip at the bottom of the home screen. For many, that will be a fair trade off.

Some of the sample deals in the press release included: $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Cards, $6 for 6 Audible Books (valued at $68), $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store, and 50% off Roku Streaming Player. Clicking on a deal via the five-way controller will generally trigger an email with the offer, but some deals can be redeemed right from the Kindle. A full list of active offers will be available from the menu of Kindle with Special Offers at any time.


Amazon also introduced a Kindle app called AdMash that will allow users to vote on the most attractive and engaging display advertisements. The most popular ads will be more likely to appear as sponsored screensavers.

Although $99 would have been a much better psychological price point for the Kindle that doesn't mean it won't get there eventually if the initiative is successful. Amazon still has to see how well buyers respond to the ad-supported device, advertisers have to measure the reach and effectiveness of their campaigns, and it remains to be seen if people won't just hack the device to get rid of ads while paying the discounted price.

Kindle customers who don’t embrace the idea can still purchase an ad-free Wi-Fi only Kindle for $139 or a model with 3G wireless for $189. What do you think? Is the $25 discount and promise of sweet Amazon deals good enough to get you on board? And as a gadget buyer, would you like to see more ad-subsidized devices from other manufacturers?