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LG is still looking for a real break out hit in the Android device market, and with manufacturers and carriers launching new Android devices almost every week, just like others the Korean handset maker is turning to software to differentiate their products. LG has reached a deal with Shazam to pack their music discovery software into their Android devices and allow users to identify, purchase, and share music on the go. A free 7-day trial of Shazam’s premium service is also included.
I’m a huge fan of Shazam and its magical and mysterious ways. When a cellular phone can identify a song based on just 30 seconds or so of loud and muddy music at a bar it sort of blows your mind. One attendee of Phandroid LIVE was pretty adamant about a similar service called SoundHound. I have yet to check that one out but was promised that unlike Shazam, it can identify songs simply by the user humming or singing them into their phone. What will they think of next?
[via MobileBurn]
Lol, gotta love the MOTOROLA Droid pictures.
I have used Shazaam for years and love it. I bought the encore version for my Droid X. I firmly believe that it should be the user’s choice what apps to use though. I wish manufacturers would just put stock android on everything and let you install what you want, or let you remove crap they pre install without rooting!
I have tried SoundHound and it works. I don’t know which I like better so currently I have both.
I used to love Shazam, but they can’t recognize instrumental music to save their life. Try to recognise Jazz or Classical and you have about a 10% chance it will recognise it. I switched to soundhound when I discovered it can recognise anything I throw at it, and usually faster.
I like soundhound Much better than Shazam
Shazam was great until they limited tags to 5 a month for the free version even though it’s ad supported. Seriously, 5 a month and I still have to look at crappy ads! Had they been upfront about it I would have bought the paid. So much for customer loyalty.
while I love the app I am against pre-installed TRIAL apps. Either give the consumer the premium version or don’t pre-install it… that goes for the crappy CityID too!
Yeah soundhound identifies much better much more quickly and just looks cleaner and more polished. Loved shazam in the days of my G1 but now soundhound is much better
Soundhound is materially faster than shazam and the quality of the results blows it away. I don’t use the humming feature much but my kids love it and see if they can sing stuff it will find as a game. i used shazam all the time but one i made the switch to soundhound. if all you want is to just know the name of a song and you don’t care about how long it takes then shazam is fine. after you get used to soundhound’s speed it is hard to go back.
Pre-installing apps that are readily available in the Market differentiates your device in a bad way. Why would I buy an LG device knowing that I don’t have a choice about having the app installed when I can buy another manufacturer’s device and have a choice.
It’s like Dodge including a sun roof on every car sold – no exceptions. But if I want the sun roof to open after the first 7 days I need to subscribe to the sun roof service. On the other hand, Ford offering the sun roof as an option. If I don’t want a sun roof, Ford is my only choice. If I do want one, I can choose either Ford or Dodge. And what if I think I want a sun roof, but later decide I don’t like it. If I bought a Ford I have easlity remove the sun roof. But if I bought Dodge, I’m stuck with the sun roof, like it or not. How does this benefit Dodge?
Exclusive apps are another story – buy our device or you won’t have (or be able to get) this app. OR, buy our car – we include a sun roof, and the other guy doesn’t even offer one. THAT can attract customers.
Does LG really think this a selling point? Hey LG…here is a tip…why not make a phone with some internal memory and a processor worth a sh1t? That would be a good place to start. Not some app I could download and delete at will from the app store…