There has been a push for an Apple based radio station for many months. It should’ve been on the air?by now. But now, Apple is re-starting talks with record companies for proper licensing. If successful, they can reveal their radio plans next week.
The beef has been with music publishers and record companies who push for higher royalties and other payments. Despite these disagreements, Apple seems very optimistic to unveil iRadio at a San Francisco conference mid-June. They have a reason to be optimistic. Apple has signed deals with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and is in talks with Sony Music Group. There’s still work to be done, but a lot of progress has been made.
Apple radio is expected to be free for the consumer and paid for solely by advertisers. But that’s not the only issue. Look at what iRadio’s competition would be: Pandora is one of them. They have 70 million users, hardly any of them are paying customers. Spotify and Clear Channel Communications, now well established, are also tough competitors. But some publishers see at least financial gain from iRadio. While Pandora pays four percent of revenue to song publishers, they want Apple to pay?10 percent of their revenue.
I’m starting to smell a rat here. They expect iRadio to pay more than twice as much in publishing rights as their competitors do? No wonder why talks have been so slow. No wonder why Apple is negotiating with some musicians over the proper rights. Yes, I know Apple?is a multi-billion dollar company that can afford?to shell out that dough, but by this point, so can Pandora. If this iRadio?deal is going to?go far, they need to make it somewhat equal. If one company is being charged four percent revenue, don’t ask Apple?to pay?anymore than say, five or six percent. Let’s keep the game fair. If iRadio came out today, would you switch?
Smartphones have become the new normal in today’s society. They’re everywhere. However there’s one stat that stood out to me: According to a studies from Experian Marketing Services, the average American adult spends 58 minutes a day on their smartphone.
That’s just the beginning. Those using a Droid device use it 49 minutes a day. Those using an Apple based devices are in their iPhone 75 minutes a day. What are we doing?during those minutes? Nearly half of it is talking and texting.?The third thing, around 16%, is done social networking (My Space, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).?Visiting websites make up for 14%.? Other things like emailing, gaming, downloading apps, and taking pictures make up for the other third of smartphone activities.
Personally, I’m surprised we’re not spending several hours a day on smartphones. Every time I go to a public facility, everybody’s doing something on their smartphone, weather it’s talking, texting, or social media. With the expansion of Netfix and Hulu, I’m surprised more people aren’t watching TV or videos with these devices. The texting and talking part I buy, I spend a lot of time texting on my device. I’d think more time would be done by social media, especially through Twitter. How easier is it to Tweet something on your phone than wait to get to your tablet laptop or desktop? So these numbers are fairly surprising. But what do you make of Apple users spending more time on iPhones than Droid users spending more time on their devices?
In San Francisco, there is a tech company called Lambada Labs. They’ve just come up with a facial recognition API for Google Glass. Meanwhile, Google is being grilled by U.S. Congress over privacy issues.
This technology will let you remember people’s faces and find friends in a crowd. This API is already used by over 1,000 developers, including major international corporations. One developer tweeted he was going to use the API to see who was in a room with him. Earlier this month, a U.S. Congressional group called Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus questioned Google CEO Larry Page about this development. Among the caucus’ concerns were data and pictures being collected against the consent of others and privacy approval for third party apps. According to Google Glass director Steve Lee, ?We?ve?consistently said that we won?t add new face recognition features to our services unless we have strong privacy protections in place.?
At least Congress is trying to do something. While facial recognition isn’t approved in Google’s API policies, it’s not prohibited either. Some may think facial recognition is cute and even needed in today’s society. Like I said before, technologies like facial recognition can be used for good. But it will probably be used for evil. How easy would it be to spy on someone you don’t like, get dirt on that person, and ruin their life? What if this technology gets in the hands of?criminals or even terrorists? Ever consider that? I’m not paranoid, just concerned. Do you think Goolge Glass will see the light?
I used to like flying. I used to like the in-flight meals and the in-flight entertainment, neither of which are common today.? But what is common is the use of devices like smartphones and tablets. Is this the new order of things?
According to a research center at DePaul University, the increase of electronic devices used in flight is up 24 percent in the past year.?At various points throughout the U.S., over a third of passengers?were?on their device during flight?so far in 2013, compared to?less than 18 percent in 2010. This can easily conflict the Federal Aviation Administration’s prohibition of these devices during taxi, takeoff and landing. According to the FAA,?disobedience to this rule, and the disturbances?cause by it, has doubled since 2010. You’re not supposed to use them until the plane is over 10,000 feet, and the pilot is supposed to tell you when that happens. But the disregard for this rule is happening so often that the FAA is?addressing?it at a conference in July.
This is the new order of things. But first off, let’s obey the?10,000 ft.?air rule.?It’s there for a reason. I’d rather put off a?phone call for?15 or 20 minutes than to use my phone, cause a disturbance and?be the cause of a disaster. It’s not worth it. Secondly, flying isn’t what it was in the 1980s and ’90s. It is a much more miserable experience?today, thanks to security?checks, crazy fees, crowded flights, lost baggage, and poor customer service. I can see why people are turning to devices to take their minds off this madness.?I think if the?airlines can improve the flight experience (and some are, that’s why I?only fly certain airlines), that would help the solution.?But will this happen anytime in the future? Can you stay off that smartphone for 20 minutes?
I’ve you’ve followed my blog as of late, you know I’ve covered Google glass several times. But there’s one incident about this phenomenon that really disturbed me. What if you’re using the bathroom?wearing Google Glasses?
That’s what happened at a Google conference. To take a picture with this wearable Internet device, all one has to do is wink their eye. This particular person pondered this as he went to the urinal,?and several other men were there?still wearing their glasses! As he got out, he noticed thousands wearing these things from the bar to the lobby, claiming Google Glass was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
This opens up a new can of worms, especially for privacy advocates. When the?smartphone got popular in the late?2000s, when you could take pictures anywhere, that was shocking enough. Now with Google glass, all someone has to do to is wink to take a picture. Yes, this could be used for good, but it could used for such evil. I can see some wicked genius now trying to catch someone in the act by using this device. It’s getting so bad now you can’t do anything without some camera or device watching you, and having your business spread all over the world, literally! But this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, right? What side of the debate are you on?
Facebook is now very much in the mobile race. In recent months they’ve released Facebook Home, an Android based service that makes sure you’re never Facebook-free. If you’ve read my earlier blogs, you know how I feel about that one. But FB isn’t stopping there.
Facebook is now partnering with Waze, an Israel based traffic and navigation app, for the sake of integration. It’s rumored Waze has been offered around a billion dollars for their services. There’s even talk of bringing all Waze offices to the USA. If this deal comes to past, it would be Facebook’s biggest purchase since Instagram, which cost around $750 million. Was the deal worth it? That depends on who you ask. As of April 2013, Facebook has 750+ million mobile users. I access it on my?Apple device.?In 2012, Facebook surpassed one billion users. ?They say the next billion users will come from countries like India and China, with their booming economies and population growths.
Let’s look at Waze. They have 47 million users, more than twice the users they had last year. The majority of those users are outside the US. Both companies are keeping hush about this possible merger. But this makes perfect sense to me. But Facebook, let’s do this right. Learn a lesson from Apple maps, and what a fiasco that was. And if FB and Waze can come together and reach out to rising economies like China and India, that would be an economic dream for both companies. Plus, let’s say someone using FB gets lost in a foreign land. They can just go on Waze and find their way. What other ways can both companies benefit? Or is this merger a bad idea?
