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It’s $9.99 according to Microsoft’s website.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 1 reply 2 recommends

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Xbox Music Pass is $9.99, NOT $4.99. Same price as Spotify and Google Music All Access.

It’s not trivial that you must (for now) use a Windows device to access the Xbox service, while Spotify has app for every major platform, plus desktop and web access. Google Music has Android covered, a really slick and simple web app for all other mobile users, and a browser based player.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 1 reply 1 recommend

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“How are they missing a mobile component? It plays on WPs and Tablets.”

Surely you see the hole in your logic there. Windows-based tablets and phones are so small a share of the market to be almost not worth mentioning.

Until they have iOS or Android apps, they will be considered non-existent in the mobile space.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 2 replies

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Spotify is just ok in terms of interface and UX. There are many, many UX problems that are called out on the Spotify forums and, rather than address them, they seem to actually make it worse over time. Things like removing album thumbnails is just stupid. The mobile apps have traditionally been even worse in this regard.

It’s like they thought they would forever be the only company doing on-demand streaming radio and therefore had zero need to push the envelope.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service

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I have added quite a few albums from their All Access collection to my own playlists, and those songs are NOT showing in the web interface.

It’s not totally done yet, obviously.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service

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So yeah pretty much everything you just said is bullshit so you’re either a liar or just really bad at doing things.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 8 recommends

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The problem is that you seem to be conflating “access” with “usage.” I know many dozens of PC users, myself included, and I don’t know a single human that has a Zune OR Windows Phone OR that uses Xbox Music OR that used Zune Pass.

They can bake shit like Xbox music into everything they make, but that doesn’t mean anyone actually uses it.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 1 recommend

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As I’m sure you can imagine, results may vary – I haven’t been having any reliability issues with Google Music at work or home. It’s probably not a widespread issue.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 1 recommend

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And even though, from the description, it is no different that what Google just announced – radio and on-demand hybrid.

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service 1 reply

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“Apple, on the other hand, is pioneering a hybrid web and radio service — one that resembles Pandora but melds it with some on-demand features, the sources said. "

What am I missing here? Isn’t this EXACTLY what Google just released? It has both radio and on demand features.

?

6 days ago on How Google beat Apple to a streaming music service

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How do you figure? I’ve been using both Spotify and Google Music for months, and have been playing with the new features of G Music all day. If anything it seems much better in terms of organization, controls, layout etc.

8 days ago on Google Play Music All Access hands-on: should you switch from Spotify or Rdio? 1 reply 6 recommends

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Spotify’s software is completely unforgivably bad. Their applications are all lacking very obvious features that keep it from being great, and every update they make things worse rather than better.

I’m moving on to Google Music, had all of my personal music there already so it’s gonna be easy.

8 days ago on Google Play Music All Access hands-on: should you switch from Spotify or Rdio? 5 recommends

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I just rebuilt all of my spotify playlists in Google Music and they had every album Spotify did and then some. My tastes span everything from classical to metal to electronic to indie, quite a bit of which is a bit obscure. I think it would be hard to find holes not covered by Spotify, considering they are drawing from the same basic record labels/catalogs.

8 days ago on Google Play Music All Access hands-on: should you switch from Spotify or Rdio? 2 replies 1 recommend

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I don’t think this is at all about taking on iTunes. It’s an ecosystem play. It MAY show up on iOS but streaming music isn’t profitable – the only reason either they or Apple are getting involved is to attract users to their ecosystem.

8 days ago on Google Play Music All Access hands-on: should you switch from Spotify or Rdio? 2 replies 1 recommend

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Google’s software has kicked so much ass all over Apple’s software offerings that it’s finally time to retire the iPhone 5 and go back to Android.

8 days ago on Google Play Music All Access hands-on: should you switch from Spotify or Rdio? 1 reply 9 recommends

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Google didn’t just create this service to pull down $7.99 per user. It’s a broader ecosystem play. It would be silly for them to offer it too widely since it’s almost certainly not profitable.

8 days ago on Google Play Music All Access hands-on: should you switch from Spotify or Rdio? 2 recommends

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Not any more you don’t.

19 days ago on Samsung says microSD slot makes up for Galaxy S4's storage shortcomings 4 recommends

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Of course they wouldn’t sacrifice $4. And for the same reason that this phone looks cheap and tacky like a $10 chinatown trinket. I really was interested in this phone until I held one and played with it.

19 days ago on Samsung says microSD slot makes up for Galaxy S4's storage shortcomings 2 replies 5 recommends

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Yeah, I’ll remember that low iFixit score when I try to pry open my $800 smartphone and do open heart surgery on it.

LOL, does anyone ACTUALLY do this? Correction – does anyone do this who ISN’T a cheap bastard and understands what the word “warranty” means?

19 days ago on Samsung says microSD slot makes up for Galaxy S4's storage shortcomings 3 replies 13 recommends

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Exactly – the real problem is that Touchwiz is such a bloated, overwrought beast that it consumes this much space.

Isn’t stock 4.2.2 only like 250MB? If I’m right, then Touchwiz is like 6.5GB!

19 days ago on Samsung says microSD slot makes up for Galaxy S4's storage shortcomings 3 replies 3 recommends

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“I hack my Dinc”

Dude, keep it to yourself…

19 days ago on Samsung says microSD slot makes up for Galaxy S4's storage shortcomings 2 recommends

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Why does Verizon need to be providing an “answer” for any application or web service? If anything we need to reduce their influence, not have them get more entangled in content and services.

23 days ago on Verizon Cloud app is the wireless carrier's answer to Dropbox 1 reply 1 recommend

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You can use plastic without it looking and feeling so cheap.

As for the lower production cost, great – but don’t charge the same premium price as the iPhone5, HTC One, Lumia etc.

24 days ago on Samsung says the Galaxy S4 design is 'like nothing you've ever seen before'

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I doubt anyone will believe this until they hold/use it for themselves, and even then some people will refuse to accept it. They look at stats on paper and sheer quantity of “features” and that’s good enough for them.

The software is definitely laggy, I rebooted the one I was trying and it still skipped and stuttered.

24 days ago on Samsung says the Galaxy S4 design is 'like nothing you've ever seen before'

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People used to do that because the devices were so ugly with cheap plastic etc. that it didn’t even matter aesthetically. A crappy case made of cheap plastic wasn’t any worse than the phone itself.

That’s no longer the case, and with properly built phones made of durable materials, you don’t really need a case unless you’re a hopeless fucking klutz, in which case you have no business carrying around a $600 device anyway.

I never once put a case on my old iPhone 4S and that thing was in mint condition 1.5 years later when I sold it.

24 days ago on Samsung says the Galaxy S4 design is 'like nothing you've ever seen before' 1 reply