Lala Plans to Open Music-Streaming Dime Store on iPhone

Online music retailer Lala is preparing to launch an iPhone application that its cofounder says paves the way for the end of downloading songs in the MP3 format.

The app allows users to buy the right to stream songs from a digital locker forever for just 10 US cents each. The song quality is lower than what Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes offers, but "intelligent caching" lets the tracks load and play in seconds, with playback possible even outside of cellphone coverage.

An existing iTunes library can be synchronized with one's Lala account, meaning a person doesn't have to repurchase songs to listen to them within the app.

Death to the MP3?

In a demonstration for The Associated Press, songs began playing in about two seconds, compared to the more than two minutes it took to download an iTunes song over the AT&T (NYSE: T) 3G cellphone network. Consumers are allowed one full-length free preview of each song.

"There's no downloading, no links to click on, it's just there," said Lala cofounder Bill Nguyen, who described the concept as the start of "the end of the MP3."

The advantage of having songs in MP3 files is that they can be downloaded and played on a variety of devices and computers. Meanwhile, streaming services pump music directly to a computer or mobile device, but not in a form that the user can store and play any time, even while offline.

Pay Scale

Lala's iPhone app aims to get around that downside of streaming while taking advantage of the device's power as a music player (it has an iPod inside it, after all) and undercutting the prices charged on iTunes, where songs generally cost 69 cents to $1.29.

Once users pay 10 cents to have a song streamed from Lala, they can hear the track essentially any time. The songs that a user listens to most often in the app or designates as favorites are automatically loaded in the phone's memory, which is the step that allows them to be heard any time, even out of cellphone range.

The songs are streamed at as few as 32 kilobits per second, depending on cellphone reception -- which is about the same as some smaller radio stations stream online but far lower quality than the 256 kilobits per second common to iTunes. It can lead to a flatter, fuzzier sound. Nguyen said sound quality could improve as cellphone networks become stronger.

Approval Pending

Lala will also sell higher-quality versions of the same songs as MP3s for 89 cents each. However, that requires hooking the user's phone to an Internet-connected computer.

The app, which itself is free, is set to debut on Apple's iTunes app store next month pending approval. Apple had no immediate comment Tuesday.

Lala, a private company based in Palo Alto, Calif., was launched in 2006 with $35 million in venture capital from Bain Capital, Ignition Partners and Warner Music Group.

New Google Music Service Launch Imminent

Google will soon launch a music service, we’ve heard from multiple sources, and the company has spent the last several weeks securing content for the launch of the service from the major music labels. One source has referred to the new service as Google Audio.

We’re still gathering details, but our understanding is the service will be very different to the Google China music download service that they launched in 2008. That service, which is only available in China, allows users to search for music and download it for free.

This new service will be available for at least U.S. users, our sources confirm, although it isn’t clear if it’s a download or streaming service, or both. Google already has a decent (if little used) music search engine that can be accessed by simply typing “music:” before a query. But songs are not available for streaming or download from those searches.

Nokia's 'It' Factor

"Both Apple and Nokia are fine companies," wireless and telecom analyst Jeff Kagan told MacNewsWorld.

"The cellphone industry continues on its rocket flight through the last couple decades -- it becomes a new business every five to 10 years," he added.

When Motorola (NYSE: MOT) "stumbled" in the 1990s, Nokia took the lead, Kagan noted.

"It still has it," he added.

Droid Steps Out of the Shadows

Featuring high-speed Web browsing, voice-activated search, a customizable large screen, plus access to thousands of applications and hundreds of widgets through the Android Market, the new Droid device will arrive on Nov. 6.

The Droid is the first device Motorola is bringing to market under its strategic partnership with Google (Nasdaq:GOOGle), noted John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Verizon Wireless.

Customers will have access to more than 12,000 applications, he said.

400,000 Pixels

Droid is one of the thinnest full-QWERTY slider phones available, claims Motorola. Features include location awareness, voice recognition and over-the-air updating.

Its 3.7-inch, high-resolution screen boasts a width of 854 pixels to reduce the need for side-to-side panning and more than 400,000 pixels total, significantly outstripping what's available on competitors -- including Apple's (Nasdaq: APPLE) iPhone.

A 5-megapixel camera comes loaded with dual-LED flash, AutoFocus and image stabilization; DVD-quality video capture and playback is also available. A 16-GB memory card is included.

Turn-by-Turn Voice Guidance

Voice-activated search, meanwhile, allows users to simply tell the device what they're looking for -- "gas station," for example -- and it will serve up Google search results based on their location. For more results, they can type in search terms, and Droid will search not only content on the Web, but also data residing on their phone -- apps and contacts, for example.

Then there's Droid's Google Maps Navigation feature -- now in beta -- which provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps. Powered by Google, the Web app lets users give voice shortcuts such as simply saying, "Navigate to [some destination]," generating turn-by-turn directions along with Street View and satellite imagery.

Droid is the first device to offer Google Maps Navigation, Motorola and Verizon said.

'A Big Benefit'

Such capabilities are "a big benefit when in a vehicle," Chris Hazelton, research director for mobile and wireless with the 451 Group, told LinuxInsider.

"Instead of typing in a search, you speak one command and there's already a function for it, so it runs through several processes to give you your results," he explained.

Most other devices, by contrast, require that the user open up a specific application first -- and "by that time you may have missed your exit," Hazelton added.

Such functionality is also particularly important as more states go hands-free, he noted. "There's a need to limit the time people spend looking at the screens of their smartphones, and one very good way of doing that is voice control," he said.

Support for Exchange

The Droid announcement came just one day after the release of support for Android 2.0 -- also known as "Eclair" -- in the platform's software development kit. Droid taps several features new to that version.

Another notable example is its support for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Exchange, which is included along with integrated Gmail.

"This device will be somewhat like the iPhone in that employees or prosumers can bring it to work easily, because as long as their company has Exchange, they can link directly to their work email," Hazelton noted.

Equal Shares by 2014

Whether the device can truly compete with the iPhone, of course, is the multimillion-dollar question.

"We expect a whole bunch of new Android phones to come out next year," Allen Nogee, principal analyst with In-Stat, told LinuxInsider. "Over time, by about 2014, I see the Android and Apple having about equal market share."

Yet the two platforms will account for those shares in very different ways, Nogee noted.

'Coming at a Good Time'

"Apple still focuses all its energy on one phone -- maybe by then it will be two or three, but it won't be hundreds," he predicted.

Android, meanwhile, will be available in many, many different flavors and models, representing a variety of manufacturers.

Several competing mobile operating systems, however -- such as RIM OS and Windows Mobile -- are "kind of floundering and trying to find their way," Nogee noted.

As a result, "Android is coming at a good time," he concluded.

'Great Potential'

"When the iPhone was introduced, it supercharged the smartphone segment," telecom analyst Jeff Kagan told LinuxInsider. "Then we saw several other good competitors, and the race was on."

Now, with Google in the picture, "we are expecting another giant leap forward," Kagan noted. "Will it happen? That is the question we are all asking."

The first version was "good, but not great," he said. "Will the second version be great?"

In the last few years, "we have seen as many flops as successes," Kagan pointed out. "So we should wait to draw opinions until we can see and use this device."

Android 2.0 Phones Get New Google Nav App

The application is part of Google Maps for mobile. Android version 2.0 will appear on the upcoming Droid handset from Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Verizon, and other manufacturers also plan to release handsets carrying the updated, Google-backed mobile OS.

Although Google makes other mobile applications that work on a variety of mobile platforms, it's unclear when or if its new nav app will make its way to Android rivals like the iPhone or Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) BlackBerry devices.

About Google Map Navigation

Built to leverage a smartphone's Internet connection, Google Maps Navigation provides users with up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps. The updates are free; GPS system vendors such as TomTom and Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) often charge for their updates.

To search, users have the option of entering the name of a business or landmark into the search box instead of the exact address of a location.

Travelers may like the following features, which leverage their smartphones' Internet access: Live traffic data; satellite view; street view; and search along route.

A blinking light in the corner of the smartphone's screen will glow green, yellow or red depending on traffic conditions along the user's route. Users can get more details by zooming out to an aerial view. Like other GPS systems, Google Map Navigation lets users choose alternate routes.

While driving, users can search for a business by name or type, or they can locate gas stations, restaurants or parking by activating pre-installed layers on the map. Double-tapping the map takes users into Street View. Google Maps Navigation can also show travelers a picture of their destination so they know what to look for when they arrive.

Friendfeed’s Paul Buchheit talking in riddles over future plans

As long time readers will know, I have been a champion of Friendfeed for quite a while. I have almost two and a half thousand subscribers there and have connected with some amazing people.

Friendfeed after Facebook’s acquisition

However, following Facebook’s acquisition, Friendfeed has been left to gather dust. Certainly, many of the users I used to connect with, have either left Friendfeed or hardly use it now. Take Robert Scoble for instance.

Scoble is the most followed or ’subscribed to’ user on Friendfeed. Here’s what he said recently;

“I can’t keep focusing on a site that isn’t getting developed. Sorry. That’s not what I do.”

Friendfeed co-founder Paul Buchheit talking in riddles

Scoble is not alone! Last weekend, a number of other high profile users started openly debating its future. This was Friendfeed’s opportunity to kill the rumours. Instead, a PR-Speak message was left by Friendfeed co-founder Paul Buchheit. Sadly, Buchheit has raised more questions than he answered.

Here’s what he said:

There was a lot of chatter about the future of FriendFeed this weekend. The short answer is that the team is working on a couple of longer-term projects that will help bring FriendFeedy goodness to the larger world. Transformation is not the end. Consider this the chrysalis stage — if all goes well, a beautiful butterfly will emerge :)

Friendfeed users ignored

After that comment, Buchheit was obviously asked to clarify what on earth he was saying – ya know, in English!

Sadly, he declined. In fact, at the time of writing this, he’s not replied to a single question. It’s worth remembering here that most tech commentators saw Facebook’s acquisition of Friendfeed as a ‘talent grab‘ – a way to buy great quality people. Few people believed Facebook had any interest whatsoever in the Friendfeed platform.

For example, is his reference to “bring FriendFeedy goodness to the larger world” saying, as some suggest, that they are exclusively developing Friendfeed as an ‘add-on’ for Facebook (the larger world) now?

Equally, these riddles and the silence that followed, are of no help to the developer community, who have asked if they should still be investing their time, developing apps for Friendfeed. Again, no reply.

Friendfeed – Not so ‘friendly’ any more

It’s sad that many of the users that Paul Buchheit (and his colleagues) are now ignoring, are the same Friendfeed users, who helped him build the platform’s user base – A platform they have reportedly sold for tens of millions of dollars. Way to treat your users guys!

Whilst I now spend hardly any time on Friendfeed, I’m NOT deleting my Friendfeed account. I am going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Who knows? Like most people, I have no idea what Buchheit was talking about and the future of Friendfeed remains to be seen. It is still an amazing platform.

Do you speak Buchheit’s language?

I’ve spoken to half a dozen people about what Buchheit has said and none of them could agree as to what his actual message was.

Top 9 Web 2.0 Drivers for E-Commerce Success

Social tools are becoming increasingly important as the Web becomes more social -- yet retailers are struggling to find social tactics that drive real sales and ROI. Not every social activity is appropriate -- it depends on the product a retailer sells, the competition, consumer behavior and the retailer's commitment to invest in the resources needed to develop and maintain social initiatives.

Is social media/Web 2.0 for retail just hype or an essential part of doing business in the 21st century? Web 2.0 includes leveraging social commerce on Web sites, blogging/podcasting and participating in social networks like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere a retailer or its customers can create and share content

No. 1: Customer Reviews

Many retailers find themselves wondering what Web 2.0/social media activities they should be involved in. This article ranks social commerce activities by business impact, with No. 1 having the highest impact and No. 9 the lowest.

Ninety-six percent of retailers rate customer ratings and reviews very or somewhat effective, according to Shop.org, the online division of the National Retail Federation. Reading reviews helps sellers better understand their customers and their own products, which will also help them improve product descriptions and marketing strategies.

Customer reviews can be condensed into short summaries and posted on blogs. They may include user-generated photos or videos.

No. 2: Shopping Widgets

Shopping widgets are pieces of portable content that can be displayed almost anywhere on the Internet. Widgets have a graphic user interface (GUI) that displays product or other information, which retailers can use to push out an interactive experience to affiliate sites, customer sites, social networks and more.

Zazzle's MySpace widget provides over 15,000 bands with the ability to sell band merchandise (printed on Zazzle products) right through bands' MySpace pages where fans hang out.

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) offers affiliates an "Omakase" widget which matches Amazon products to the keywords on the affiliate's Web site, store or blog.

No. 3: Questions and Answers

Some sites offer question and answer tools in addition to customer reviews. Customers may ask the shopping community or the merchant to address specific concerns about a product, such as "Does this brand fit true to size?"

Like reviews, questions and answers improve product information and can improve conversion. They also help retailers improve their product copy by allowing them to understand what's important to their customers.

The downside is the time lag between a question asked and answered, and in some cases, the quality of consumer-generated answers which may need to be moderated for accuracy.

No. 4: Twitter

Another way to ask and answer questions is through Twitter. Users can get nearly instant answers to questions directed at a retailer or the general Twitter universe.

Twitter allows retailers to monitor what is being said about them and can be used as an alternative form of RSS/email marketing, a way to share deals and coupons, promote contests or other simply put a human face to a company. Due to its growing popularity, some customers will prefer using Twitter to communicate rather than telephone or email, so it's important to offer it.

Despite Dell's (Nasdaq: DELL) claims of driving millions of sales through Twitter, for most retailers Twitter will serve as a customer service and marketing channel rather than a sales channel.

No. 5: User-Generated Cross Sells

User generated cross sells/photos provide suggestions to consumers on available related products or services and are ideal for fashion, cosmetics and home decor. They are typically less effective for electronics, software, and industrial supplies.

User-created lists like Amazon's Listmania and the iTunes Store's iMixes can help customers discover new items through similar consumers and provide one more way for Amazon and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to move more products.

Wetseal customers can use the Wetseal Runway to create outfit sets and browse outfits that other visitors have created.

Like customer reviews, customers prefer to see what other people like them would bundle, rather than what the store's merchandiser would bundle. There is reason to believe that user-generated cross-sells will have similar popularity to ratings and reviews as more e-stores adopt them.

No. 6: Facebook Pages

Though it is free and easy to set up a Facebook account, the business impact of using Facebook is often determined by the popularity a firm has at the outset.

Facebook pages allows sharing and inviting friends to participate, rather than simply forwarding emails or product pages to drive customers to a Web site. Despite the low cost, maintenance and promotion of Facebook pages, this presence still requires human resources.

Big brands that have successfully built their Facebook fan base include Sephora and Victoria's Secret. Sephora leverages Discussions and Polls among other features of its page and even asks fans what Sephora's ideal posting frequency should be.

Victoria's Secret has special features like Angel Profiles (bios of the famous models), information on how to find the best fit, and links to the store to mix and match products, which can all be shared to fans' Facebook profiles.

No. 7: Co-Browsing

Co-browsing describes the navigation of a Web site by several people at the same time and is ideal for consultative situations where people want to shop together. It holds great potential for customer service, especially when it comes to improving live chat capabilities.

Products like ShopTogether and PurchLive add a social component to a retail site by offering the ability to invite a friend to co-browse an online store in real-time. For example, Charlotte Russe gives shoppers the option to invite friends through Twitter and Facebook. It updates their status with a shortlink for anyone who wants to join them on their visit.

No. 8: Retail Blogging

Blogs can be a great way to connect with customers, talk about new products, share interviews, videos, podcasts, news, photos and jokes, although they are less likely to drive sales than other Web 2.0 initiatives.

They can be a branding/loyalty vehicle attracting links and search engine traffic. Retail blogs require a lot of love and nurturing to stay fresh and popular. Posting a random article every three months doesn't cut it.

Bluefly, Powell's Books and Sephora have stuck to strategies that work for their audience and support long-term engagement and loyalty that hopefully translates into sales -- or at least better search rankings.

No. 9: Video Sharing

Video sharing can greatly improve conversion rates and reduce returns. It's very simple to set up an account with YouTube -- or any other video-sharing site -- and upload videos.

However, there's a disconnect between watching a video and buying a product through a video-sharing site. This could change if YouTube builds out its click-to-buy capabilities beyond iTunes. (The click-to-buy feature embeds links to purchase products right in the video.)

Adding video to Youtube and other video-sharing sites can help retailers obtain additional search engine exposure, since Google likes to mix in video results with regular Web pages, news stories and image results (blended search).

YouTube itself has search functionality, so for the effort required to upload video already in use on its site, a retailer gets an extra benefit. As with widgets, people can post video to their blogs and Web sites if they find it interesting.

Friendfeed’s Paul Buchheit confirms no more features coming to Friendfeed!

Friendfeed’s Paul Buchheit has just confirmed to me that the next ‘big’ new feature coming to Friendfeed, will be the last. This comes a day after Buchheit issued a confusing statement about the future of the platform he co-founded.

Here’s what Buchheit just told me, in full:

Jim, there may be a few new things, but as I said, the team is mainly working on fb platform and openness, so it’s unlikely that there will be any big new features of ff (except maybe one that I’ve been thinking about for a while…).

So, whilst reports of Friendfeed’s imminent death seem to be premature, Buchheit’s message suggests that the platform is no longer being actively developed.

This news is of little surprise, coming just weeks after Friendfeed was acquired by Facebook in a multimillion dollar buy-out.

Unlock iPhone 3GS with Firmware 3.1 on Windows

The iPhone Dev team has no plans to release and PwnageTool for Windows users and since there also isn't any ETA on the release of Redsnow, so we have created a Custom/Hacktivated IPSW for iPhone 3GS users who want to update to Firmware 3.1 while preserving the baseband.

Only users with a previously Jailbroken iPhone 3GS (on an old firmware) should attempt to follow this tutorial as it does not work for those who have an iPhone 3GS with Firmware 3.1 out-of-the-box. The tutorial will help to Jailbreak and Unlock your iPhone 3GS on Firmware 3.1.

For the iPhone 3GS

Please use the links to download the custom IPSW of Firmware 3.1 for iPhone 3GS iPhone2,1_3.1_7C144_Custom_Restore.
http://bit.ly/iphone3gs-custom31-sizlopedia
http://bit.ly/iphone3gs-custom31-sizlopedia-p2
http://bit.ly/iphone3gs-custom31-sizlopedia-p3
http://bit.ly/iphone3gs-custom31-sizlopedia-p4
Once downloaded, join the file parts using HJSplit and extract the ZIP archive to have one file. Now follow the steps.

1. Please down and install iTunes 9, and then run it.
2. Connect your iPhone to the PC.
3. Click 'Restore' while holding SHIFT key and select the Custom IPSW.
4. Once everything is processed and OS boots up, install Ultrasnow.
5. Follow this guide (starting from Step-3) to install Ultrasnow on iPhone.

Thats it!
Mac users can make use of the custom IPSW in case they don't plan to get their hands dirty with PwnageTool which, to be honest, is not easy to go by due to lack of documentation. The Unarchiver can be used on the Mac to join the files and uncompress them.
Note: Please test and give us your feedback in the comments. Make sure not to 'Update' the Firmware at any step, only use the 'Restore' feature.

Will the iPhone 3GS Kill the Cheap Pocket Camera?

One of the biggest surprises in the week or so since the the iPhone 3GS shipped is the camera. It is far better than anyone was expecting, far better than a 50% increase in pixel-count would suggest. A look around the internet turns up some rather nice photos, and some rather enthusiastic testimonies.

“With focus control like this, it’s hard to believe it’s just a cameraphone. Tap-to-focus is how all cameras ought to work from now on,” says Dave Shea, aka Mezzoblue, who took the photo above.

That focus control is one of the reasons the camera has improved so much. Autofocus lenses don’t have to be sharp front to back. This means that there is less of a compromise between flexibility and quality, and the lens can be designed to be sharper. And any focusing, auto or manual, means that you can achieve a shallower depth of field for differential focus and blurred backgrounds. That the iPhone also has touch-to-focus control is just gravy.

But this isn’t the real reason that the iPhone poses a threat to the standalone point’n’shoot camera. The 3GS is “just good enough” for most people to take good everyday pictures. And remember the much repeated saying that the best camera is the one you have with you. Combine these, and even the experienced shooter might think twice about buying a compact to supplement their DSLR. Again, for most shots, the new 3GS will be good enough.

Now it has a decent camera, the iPhone solves another problem for many users. Sharing. You or I might be photo junkies, happy to spend hours tweaking our pictures to upload and share, but most people take the snaps and that’s it. My mother stopped using her new digicam because the memory card is full. With the iPhone, though, sharing is easy — you can do it direct from the phone, right now, wherever you are. This alone could be the killer app for many people. Nobody prints photos anymore, and few upload anything. With the Polaroid dead, the iPhone is the instant camera to replace it. In fact, maybe Apple should add a shake-to-upload feature?

And one more thing. Video. This was the other thing the first two iPhones lacked, and a good reason for buying a compact camera. But with a compact camera, video is even harder to share than photos. Not so with the iPhone. “Capturing, trimming, and sharing video with the new iPhone 3G S is literally a snap,” says Derrick Story” on his photography blog, “After a bit of testing, the easiest way to share is directly from the device itself.”

Story is an experienced photographer and video podcaster, and even he says that it’s easier to upload video from the iPhone than from a computer.

There are of course many things the iPhone camera doesn’t do. It doesn’t have a flash (although low-light pictures and video look surprisingly good), it has no optical zoom and it doesn’t have a dozen auto modes. But that is missing the point, and the point is that the 3GS camera is deliberately limited, but what it does do, it does well enough to make you leave your camera at home.