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With less than 24 hours until Google I/O officially kicks off in San Francisco, it only makes sense that something would leak out before then. Well, something did… and it’s kind of a doozy. The long rumored Google music streaming service could be announced at tomorrow’s Google I/O, thanks to a newly inked deal with Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group.
With these big names already on board with YouTube and Google Play, a separate licensing deal will be made so that Android users (most likely only those in the US) will be able to pay for a subscription-based streaming music. Keep in mind that if this pans out, Google will be successful at beating Apple to the music streaming punch. Something, I’m sure, Tim Cook wont be too happy about. No word on pricing but all-you-can-stream music services typically cost around $10. Having grown weary of Rdio, this Android blogger can’t wait!
[via The New York Times | The Verge]
Android.. Beating Apple to the punch since 2008
I know nobody wants to hear this, but the iPhone and iPad hit the market before Android in both their respective categories.
I don’t think it’s that nobody wants to hear it, as much as we all know that. It’s fairly obvious actually android came later.
Fair enough. It’s good to see how far both platforms have come, there’s some really good competition in the market right now. As happy as I am to see Android pulling ahead, I’m really hoping that the next version of iOS picks up the slack like everyone is predicting. I don’t want to see Android in the place that Windows has been in for the last 20 years.
I just find it amusing that iOS came out first, and still has copied almost every major feature Android has :-)
Honestly, who cares? The same can be said for anything. Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, Audi, Lexus, Honda, Wendy’s, McDonalds, etc.
You’re missing the point entirely. It’s a given that platforms borrow features from each other in order to compete and stay relavent.
Right, but the way they take it and claim it’s theirs from the beginning I think is what he’s referring to. Kind of like how the panoramic photo taking feature was already cooked straight into android about a year before apple cooked it into theirs. Now Apple has a commercial about it as if they are the only ones that have ever though about it. Now we have photosphere and I guarantee apple will make a commercial about it as if they made it if/when they get it.
Yes, most platforms borrow. iOS stalks you down dark alleys, knocks you out, and goes through your binary for loose API calls.
LOL
And android made those categories better instantly.
Everyone knows iPhone came first in 2007. But he did say beating Apple to the punch since 2008. Starting about 2008, Android had caught up to and surpassed Apple. Android started getting almost every important new feature first.
In the end the Android platform has improved greatly since 2008. Apple’s platform has changed very little. Perhaps Apple’s biggest improvements had been multitasking (a year after Steve said nobody wants multasking on a phone), and then copying Android’s notification system so that multitasking was useful. Then there was the iPad mini a couple years after Steve said that 7 inch tablets were dead on arrival, in response to a number of 7 inch Android tablets. I could mention Siri, but Android had voice search and commands before Siri was announced, and Google never touted it as a major feature. Siri was an improvement over Android’s voice commands, but not as much so as people seem to perceive. Besides the cute gimmicks Siri offers, an Ars Technica comparison revealed that Google was more useful.
It shows that Apple seems to have vision, but limited vision. And a lot of immature jealously instead of focusing on innovation.
You’re the first person in this thread to actually post something insightful. You were right about the 2008 thing, I missed that.
All fair points.
Recently I’ve been very annoyed with Spotify so if this plans out, I may switch over!
Go ahead and give slacker a try for now while we wait for this.
Yeah, used Slacker for a while and loved it… then realized I didn’t listen to enough music to justify $10/mo. That’s just me though, $10/mo still seems high but for being able to listen to any song you want at any time, create your own stations, and listen to pre-made stations… it’s really a pretty good deal. They also have cheaper plans.
I love Rdio. Curious why you’re weary of it Chris.
It’s the app. It’s so frustrating to use. It freezes on me at least once everyday I use it. Also, it’s super annoying that it still takes forever to load music you already have saved for offline mode (switching to offline mode fixes this, but still).
Also, I would LOVE if it cached some music so when I go back to play it, it just starts right up. TL;DR It’s mostly a performance issue with the app.
have you tried Spotify?
(that question won’t be relevant once Google announces it’s service)
Knowing Google, the service will be dirt cheap @ around $5. As they are interested in users, not profit
Why pay for services when you have Pandora and iheart for free
the point of this would be to listen to specific tracks when you want, you can make playlists such as a workout playlist that only has certain songs you like when you work out and you can play them in a certain order or shuffle them as you please
I get that I guess, but I am to cheap to pay extra for that. Lol. Iheart works well now with the “perfect for” stations. I’ll stick to free
I love Spotify. And Hey, it’s free… :) I won’t pay anything if I can get the same for free…
To use spotify on a smartphone, you have to pay for the premium subscription, which costs 10€
Great news but I hope it doesn’t take as long to launch more globally as core google music did
Please yes make it so Google.