Spotify Radio gets a big makeover, goes truly unlimited

Spotify has already had a busy year, what with international roll-outs, its Facebook tie-up and its recent ‘Spotify as a platform for apps’ announcement.
Now, Spotify has given one of its earliest features a complete makeover. Spotify Radio has been given a top-to-bottom overhaul “making it bigger, smarter and an altogether cooler music discovery experience”.
The radio features will include:

• Unlimited stations: Choose a track, artist or genre and Spotify will instantly create a station of similar music. Your station will keep playing music based on your initial choice. Plus there’s no limit to the number of stations you can create.
• Unlimited skips: Don’t like a track? Skip it. As many times as you like.
• All-new intelligent recommendation engine: Spotify has put some clever new kit under the hood of Spotify Radio to let users access a better music discovery service.
• Unlimited access: With over 15m tracks to choose from, you’ve never had a bigger song library to enjoy.
• Available to all: Spotify Radio will be available to everyone – both free users and subscribers.

“Spotify Radio is an amazing new radio experience, offering unlimited stations and unlimited skips”, said Ken Parks, Spotify’s Chief Content Officer. “With our new intelligent recommendation engine and multi-million track library, the new Spotify Radio is a music discovery experience without equal.”
Spotify Radio will start rolling out alongside Spotify Apps over the next few days. You can get a special preview now, however, by visiting here: http://www.spotify.com/download/previews.

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Google Wallet to go on trial during London 2012 Olympics

For those planning to travel to London to watch the 2012 Olympics, it is without doubt going to be one heck of a packed event especially during the opening and closing ceremonies. Such events are usually a great place for pickpockets to be active so carrying a ton of cash on you is probably not the best idea, and this is where Google Wallet plans to shine.
According to reports in a French newspaper, Google is reportedly planning to test its NFC based mobile payment services in London during the 2012 Olympics. A pilot trial could take place during the event although this has yet to be confirmed by either Google or the Olympic committee. It seems that Google is also in talks with several banks and distributors to make this work.
We have to wonder how this will work out and whether it will be available for all phones. Given how Google Wallet still remains a feature only Sprint’s Nexus S have access to, it will be interesting to see how Google will address this for the London 2012 Olympics, assuming that this rumor pans out.

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Panasonic outs new Android smartphone with 4.3-inch OLED headed to Europe

Panasonic has shown off a very cool looking new smartphone that will be headed to Europe next year. We heard that Panasonic was going to move outside Japan with its smartphones last month. The new smartphone will hit in March of 2012 specifically and it looks very nice with rounded edges. One of the key features of the new smartphone is that it has a 4.3-inch qHD OLED display. That screen has a resolution of 960 x 540.

The rounded edges give the phone a D-shape profile. Panasonic hasn’t offered a smartphone outside the Japanese home market in a long time so this device will be the first time many Europeans are able to get their hands on a smartphone from Panasonic. Other interesting features of this smartphone include that it is somewhat rugged with some water resistance and the phone is dustproof.
After the phone hits Europe next March, it will head to other countries as well. The device will make it to Asia and North America. We don’t have all the specs right now on this phone, but we expect to see them in the coming weeks, as the launch date gets closer. Panasonic will need to have a well rounded device because the brand name along won’t cut it in the competitive Android market.
[via SlashGear]

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Motorola DROID XYBOARD to go on sale tomorrow

While we won’t be getting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus tomorrow, it looks like we’ll be treated with some larger devices instead. According to reports online, the Motorola DROID XYBOARD will make its debut at Verizon outlets starting December 9th, with live units going up for demonstration purposes and units available for purchase.
The DROID XYBOARD is the sequel to the XOOM and will feature dual-core 1.2GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front facing camera, Gorilla Glass-protected displays, Android 3.2 Honeycomb, and 4G LTE connectivity. The tablet will be available in two sizes – 8.2″ and 10.1″, with memory capacity starting at 16GB going all the way to 64GB for the 10.1″ version.
Prices start at $429.99 for the 8.2″ 16GB version. Anybody plan to pick up this tablet tomorrow?

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Check Out The New Trailer For Shadowgun Enhanced For Nvidia Tegra 3 [Video]

We’ve heard a lot of talk from the developers Madfinger Games that their near console quality shooter, Shadowgun, will have an enhanced version optimized to take advantage of Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor. Well, Nvidia decided to give us a little sneak peak of how things are coming along and if you look closely, you may notice a few improvements.

The most notable improvements come in the enhanced physics, particle effects, and more complex textures. When hit with a shotgun blast, enemies fly across the screen thanks to the addition of ragdoll physics. Water, which seems oddly placed in random areas of the game, ripples and glistens when the player or enemies make their way through it. It’s all these little details that separate the men from the boys. Now let’s hope Madfinger can use some of that extra processing power to enhance the AI a bit.
You can check out the preview video for enhanced Tegra 3 version of Shadowgun below.

[Twitter | Nvidia]

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HTC Sensation Software Update Rolling Out Now – Brings Bug Fixes And Improved Battery Life

A much welcomed (and long overdue) OTA update is rolling out for HTC Sensation 4G users on T-Mobile. The update will address a few issues the device has been experiencing since it’s release a few months ago. T-Mobile and HTC are promising both stability and improved battery life with a few “minor” improvements like an improved Trace dictionary, more responsive screen, smoother icons, and an improved WiFi connection.
The update will bring users up to software version 1.50.531.1 and Android version 2.3.4. If you haven’t yet been prompted on your device, you can “pull” the update by jumping into your phone’s Settings > About Phone > HTC Software Updates > Check Now. Let us know in the comments if you’ve received your updates and if you notice any other improvements (or bugs). Good luck!
Thanks, Marcus!
[T-Mobile Support]

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus boxes arriving at Verizon and RadioShack. Still not for sale.

It’s almost cruel running this story, but news is news. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has already begun shipment to a few Verizon and RadioShack stores – and there’s a picture to prove it. The bad news is – we’re not getting one. Another leaked email states retailers must not under any circumstances sell these units unless they receive word from corporate.

It’s really starting to look like December 14th as the final launch date, but lets not kid ourselves – we still haven’t a clue. Yet, we have come away with some very important information from all this. One, we know the device exists – and two, we know precisely where it is! The fact may be that Verizon didn’t want to launch three superior phones in such a short timespan. The Motorola DROID RAZR and HTC Rezound are amazing devices, and they may just want our Galaxy Nexus to shine on the pedestal it rightfully deserves. However, there’s no excuse for the lack of advertising and absence of information.

We shouldn’t have to piece together info for months that could easily be conveyed to the public in a matter of seconds.

[via Phandroid]

Related articles

• Verizon Galaxy Nexus to retail for $299 on contract (tech-gadget.co.in)
• Newest Verizon launch dates rumor: Galaxy Nexus December 9, Droid 4 December 22, and more (tech-gadget.co.in)

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Apple loses final Australia appeal, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is ready for a retail return

Early news out of Australia indicates that Apple has lost its appeal of a decision made in an Australian federal court, dismissing their patent case against Samsung and its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. AusDroid reports that the decision came early Friday morning. The two companies have been locked in a legal battle for months, culminating in a rejection by an Australian Federal court after a long period of injunction against Samsung. The High Court denied the appeal, meaning that there is basically no way for them to continue with the case on its current merits.

The High Court chastised the original ruling granting a sales ban against the Samsung tablet, calling the judicial decision “replete with error” and saying that Apple won the original suit “by the skin of its teeth”. Android fans would agree, and this certainly puts a cramp on Apple’s worldwide crusade against Android and Samsung. Apple is still continuing its legal battle against the South Korean manufacturer in Germany.
Samsung issued the following statement after the news broke:

As the High Court has today rejected Apple’s leave to appeal, Samsung Electronics Australia is pleased to announce the highly anticipated Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 will be available in stores in time for the Christmas shopping period from a RRP of $579 (16GB WiFi variant) and a RRP of $729 (16GB 3G variant).
Samsung Electronics Australia is pleased with today’s judgment by the High Court of Australia to deny Apple’s request to appeal the decision of the Full Court.
The Full Court of Australia decision on November 30 clearly affirmed our view that Apple’s claims lack merit and that an injunction should not have been imposed on the GALAXY Tab 10.1.

The good news from Down Under follows a US Federal Court decision to reject Apple’s case against Samsung last week. In the United States, Apple failed to achieve a sales injunction, as the district court judge rules that the continued sales of Samsung’s tablets and phones did not damage Apple’s core iPad business. The decision is being appealed by Apple, and Samsung may still be liable for infringement of design patents, but it’s unlikely that a ban will be put into place. A leaked court document laid out some colorful requirements that Apple suggested to Samsung to avoid infringement, including non-symmetrical designs, thicker devices, and tablets that used shapes other than rectangles.
Apple’s fight continues in many territories, and with billions of dollars in reserves, they’re unlikely to be too discouraged. But with two major countries essentially rejecting Cupertino’s patent trolling, sanity seems to be returning to civil courtrooms worldwide.

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ZTE pushes for the high end, starts with 7-inch V66 Verizon LTE tablet

At the moment, ZTE is one in a field of Chinese hardware makers that do well enough on low and mid-range devices here in the US. Like Huawei, the company hopes to change that in the upcoming year, and it looks like their first attempt will be with Verizon. The G-men at the FCC have got their hands on said device, and it looks promising.

The V66 was previously announced with a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, plus a 1280 x 800 resolution screen – an absolute must for a tablet that wants to be considered high-end. Android 3.2 will provide the software end, and while an Ice Cream Sandwich update before launch is technically possible, it would be much more likely to come afterwards. You can see from the filing and the logo that it uses Verizon’s LTE network. All these specifications add up to a device that just slightly beats the T-Mobile Springboard, AKA the Huawei Mediapad. That tablet didn’t fare well at all in our review, but not because of the hardware.
Verizon doesn’t currently offer and of ZTE’s Android devices, so a branded tablet could help bump up the company’s mindshare in the US… if it is ZTE branded. There’s nothing in the FCC filing to show the ZTE logo, and carriers have a nasty habit of simply ignoring smaller manufacturers, as in the Springboard, or even larger ones, as in LG’s “T-Mobile” G2x. And of course, it’s got to sell, but then there’s room in Verizon’s lineup for a smaller tablet device. We’ll see when the V66 launches, likely in Q1 2012.
[via Engadget]

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