There is a new mobile app called Chosen that offers users a platform through which they can upload videos of themselves performing talented acts or simply judge and critique other performances, all while earning rewards for actively doing so. Chosen aims to recreate the talent show experience and competitive landscape of TV shows like “American Idol.” Users can quickly scan through various performances, vote for those they like and skip those they don’t with the swipe of a finger. Continue reading Chosen: iOS Talent App Aims to Attract Performers and Judges

Fan TV has launched a revamped mobile app that works as a discovery engine to help users keep track of the TV shows and movies they want to watch via streaming services or as paid downloads. To find a show or movie, users simply search the title and the app runs a query across the 44 different services that it tracks. If not readily available, the search is stored and users receive an update at a later date when a title has become available. The company also has a $149 device with a touch remote that combines live TV, VOD and streaming services. Continue reading Fan TV App Offers TV and Movie Discovery for Cord Cutters

Amazon has introduced “Prime Stations” for users of its Prime Music iOS app. The mobile update is intended to help the music service better compete with the likes of Pandora and iTunes Radio. Prime Stations are ad-free stations that offer unlimited song skips. The updated app features personalized recommendations that are based on a user’s play history and will therefore become more accurate over time. Prime Stations can also learn from user feedback (thumbs up or thumbs down) to create better playlists. Continue reading Amazon Launches Streaming Music Update with Prime Stations

Much like Prime for Android, “Amazon Unlocked for Apps & Games” is a new program that offers Amazon Appstore users an all-inclusive package of paid apps and in-app purchasing for free. The bundle includes popular gaming and professional apps such as Sonic Dash and OfficeSuite 8 + PDF Converter among others, valued anywhere between $0.99 and $9.95. To access these and other updated “unlocked” apps, users will have to download the Amazon app, where they can download their choice of unlocked apps for free.  Continue reading Amazon Unlocks Paid Apps and In-App Purchasing for Free

Google will release an open API for the Google Now dashboard/personal assistant, which will allow developers to integrate their apps into the service. Android users might one day be able to get all of the relevant information from Google Now without ever having to open the apps. Currently, Google Now only pulls notifications from Google-based apps like Maps and Search, but another 40 third-party apps are in a pilot program to integrate their apps with Google Now. Continue reading New Google Now API Could Impact the Future of Android Apps

Amazon’s Prime Now one-hour delivery service, which launched last year in Manhattan as a benefit to Prime members and recently expanded to more New York neighborhoods, is now available in select areas of Baltimore and Miami. From 8:00 am to 10:00 pm, seven days a week, the service offers free two-hour delivery, and one-hour delivery in select zip codes for a $7.99 charge. Prime members interested in the ultrafast delivery service can download the Prime Now app, available for iOS and Android. Continue reading Prime Now Delivery Service Expands to Baltimore and Miami

TAG Heuer announced at Baselworld in Switzerland that it is developing a smartwatch in collaboration with Intel and Google. The announcement was light on specifics regarding features or pricing, but explained that the watch is expected to ship later this year. The watch is also expected to be expensive, based on the companies involved and the language of the announcement. David Singleton, director of engineering for Android Wear, discussed “fusing beauty with technology” for a “unique blend of emotion and innovation.” Continue reading Luxury Smartwatch to Launch from TAG Heuer, Google and Intel

YouTube has made some compelling new changes in the last week. The video site just announced the launch of its “Cards” system, which is designed to eventually supplant annotations. The company also announced its new site, “YouTube for Artists,” essentially a resource guide for music artists promoting their work on YouTube. In addition, YouTube now supports 360-degree video formats in most of its mobile and Internet platforms, a move the company promised earlier in the year to address the growing interest in virtual reality content. Continue reading YouTube Upgrades Support Music Artists and Virtual Reality

Google has opened its first branded physical store, with plans to sell the company’s Android phones and tablets, Chromebook laptops and Chromecast TV services. The Google shop is located on Tottenham Court Road in London. While not its first foray into physical locations — Google opened “Chromezones” in U.K. stores in 2011 and “Androidland” in Australian stores — it marks the first time the company is opening a shop under its own name and illustrates how some major online players are exploring new ways to reach consumers. Continue reading Google Selects London Location for its First Ever Branded Shop

Nvidia, a company best known for its graphics chips, has plans to launch a new set-top box with significant processing power and Ultra HD resolution. The $199 console, known as the Nvidia Shield, runs on the powerful new Tegra X1 processor and Android software. The Shield was designed to deliver streaming video games through Grid, described as a “Netflix of videogames.” Consumers will also be able to stream 4K video from Netflix, YouTube, and the Android TV version of Google Play. Continue reading Nvidia Unveils Set-Top for 4K Movie and Video Game Streaming

BitTorrent has developed a data sharing service called Sync that lets users share and sync files between devices without having to store any information on remote servers. Powered by BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer file-sharing technology, Sync reportedly transmits data between devices 16 times faster than today’s cloud services. Because there is no cloud, there are no user accounts or passwords either. Free and paid versions of Sync are now available on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and Windows Phone.  Continue reading BitTorrent Launches Sync as New Alternative to Cloud Services

In 2011, Google launched Google+, an ambitious social media endeavor to rival Facebook and other emerging social media sites and apps. Under Google+, the company premiered Google Photos and Google Hangouts, two products that despite the social network’s shortcomings, have been well received by the public. In an attempt to further develop these and other Google+ products, the company plans to launch these products into separate services with new management in place to oversee their development. Continue reading Google+ Compartmentalized to Push Growth of Popular Products

The VideoLAN Organization has released an upgraded VLC 2.2.0 open source video player with some notable new features. VLC for Linux, Mac and Windows now includes an in-app extensions store, in-app subtitle downloads, resume playback functionality, and support for interactive Blu-ray menus. Resume playback has been available on mobile versions, but is now offered on the desktop. VideoLAN has also added support for Android TV, Windows Phone and Windows RT. VLC 3.0.0 is scheduled for release later this year. Continue reading VLC Upgrade Adds In-App Extensions Store, Android TV Support

Google recently announced that it plans to consider two new variables as ranking signals to help improve search results for mobile users of Google search. Google’s latest ranking signals will include a site’s mobile-friendliness and information from indexed mobile applications. The company is committed to helping website owners reconfigure their pages to be more mobile-friendly through various online guides and resources. The mobile-friendly ranking will take effect the third week of April. Continue reading Google Implements New Ranking Signals for Mobile Web Results

Virtual reality content creator Jaunt has partnered with longtime movie sound experts at Dolby to improve the audio in immersive experiences. Audio is a crucial part of making VR feel more like reality, and the Dolby Atmos system will allow Jaunt to specifically target sounds so that they seem as if they are coming from a very specific location. The new technology is expected to improve VR storytelling since content creators would be able to use sound to redirect a user’s attention. Continue reading Dolby and Jaunt Bring Atmos Surround Sound to Virtual Reality