See Ya Songza

I don’t even think I had ever heard of Songza. Maybe that is the problem. Google announced that their music application acquired in July of 2014, Songza, will be rolled into Google Play Music on January 31st. Songza was actually released as early as 2007, and basically presents the same template as services like 8track and Spotify. It creates playlists, and delivers music to the subscriber based on their tastes and style preferences. As I mentioned previously, this probably effects you none. What with options like Pandora and Spotify, I have yet to meet even the most Android-loving of souls to utilize Songza.

The disappearance of the  questionably important music service is not what is important here. What is important, is that this means that Google Play Music is gathering all of it’s men. With so many other popular music streaming sources, it made no sense to hold two nearly identical musical platforms. Hoping to set themselves apart from the competition, Google Play Music is set to release feature like a family music plan. This would allow up to six family members to share unlimited music access for $14.99 a month. They are basically launching Netflix for music lovers. Note to self, befriend someone whose parents pay for Google family music plan.

This consolidation does not mean that Songza’s technology or team members will be lost. Rather, they will be shifted over to Google Play Music in order to have a completely united front. In a statement to the public Google assured current Songza users (whoever they are) that they would not lose their music, playlists, or other stored information. All of this intelligence will be available on Google Play Music as of January 31st 2016.

Sources: TechCrunch, Wired, and Forbes

Instagram(s)

I have worked in social media marketing for years. I have managed several different accounts, and utilized multiple platforms in able to help brands develop their presence and make sales. Applications like Twitter and Facebook allow you to toggle between identities. This may not sound like a big deal, but when you are creating and physically posting for different clients on a daily basis, multiple times a day having to log in and log out and then log into a different account and do the entire dance all over again- it is exhausting and moreover, annoying as hell.

The only application that still makes you undergo this sign in struggle is perhaps one of the most popular and effective apps of all. Instagram does not allow users to have multiple identities or accounts logged in at one time. After many complaints (probably from people more important than myself) Instagram’s Android beta testers are toying with a new feature on the application that will allow users to log into another account without having to log out of another.

TechCrunch reports that screenshots have been provided by the “Android Police” showing how the toggle would look. Instagram declined to comment on the testing.

Sources: TechCrunch and Gazette Standard

Black FriYAY

Not going to lie, I have for years spent the evening after giving thanks for all that I have sitting in my best-friend’s car and waiting for Target to open their doors. Being that I have never had the kind of income or allowance that would afford me to participate in this annual ritual in a full extent, I never really bought anything. I think that once I bought a $10 computer fan which now sits in my desk drawer. It was a really good idea in theory, and it felt much like the first time I went to a bar with my ID after turning 21, like hey I am allowed to be here. Still, I have never made a real bottom-lip biting purchase. Aside from my lack of income, I have yet to see a mark-down that was truly worth it.

I scrolled through the news today just in case a new deal caught my eye, something that perhaps I didn’t even know I needed. Low and behold, the best deal of all was not one that I needed to leave my couch or put on pants to cash in on. Amazon is offering unlimited cloud storage for a year for only $5… after you spend $50 on Amazon.  So while this is more money than I thought I read, the unlimited storage itself is still less than my computer fan.  This means that users have access to unlimited photo storage which once accessed will allow photos to be restored to their full resolution. Not a bad deal to tack on to your online Black Friday purchase.

This is a steep discount considering the normal price of $59.99, which admittedly, users who cash in on this discount will have to return to paying after their one year trial. Still, even at the un-discounted price, Amazon offers unlimited storage much cheaper than Microsoft or Apple and much more conveniently than anyone like me who has tried to store items using the  iPhoto sharing feature. Now to find out if you can opt out before they tack on the next year fee….

Sources: Mashable , Pulse Headlines, and ZDNet

Uber Conveinient

Like all applications, Uber is constantly updating. The idea is to provide a service that is cheap, safe, and efficient for both drivers and riders. Often times the concept of creating and providing a service that is mutually and EQUALLY beneficial for all parties sounds impossible. How would something cheaper for the rider be cheaper for the driver? The answer is in the multitude of updates that have been in the works and now are available to the public.

Most recently, they have introduced “back-to-back” rides. This means that if you request an Uber and the closest Uber to you is in the process of dropping someone else up or picking someone else up, it will then slate that Uber to service you. Formerly, Uber would sourced your need to the closest empty Uber. However, this new update saves the driver money and the user time.

This development comes on the heels of other innovations such as the recent address suggestions which allows you to quickly input your location. Additionally, Uber keeps their customers and clients safe by using the suggested pick-up location feature which sets a pick-up location based on whatever the closest and safest location is for both parties. The driver destination feature keeps the driver’s ultimate destination in mind as well. They help to position the driver closer to their home in their last pick ups and drop offs so that they are not thrown off course. Isn’t that just uber considerate?

Sources: TechCrunch and International Business Times

Apple Animation

Perhaps it is the American in me, but when Snapchat acquired Looksery back in the fall of 2015 I basically just assumed that Snapchat and Apple were synonymous. So I was kind of surprised when the story broke that Apple was getting their own kind of digital face modifier called Faceshift. The company is based in Zurich and allows people to create avatars of themselves instantly.

Unlike Snapchat, Apple’s plans for their new acquisition are not clear. Sample video provided by Mashable shows just how advanced the technology is. The application does more than just edit the users face, it completely transforms it. Unlike Looksery, the technology used by Snapchat does not appear to have the same amount of glitches. Rather, these animations look more on par with Pixar. Speaking of movie grade effects, it has been reported that the newest Star Wars movie will be using the Faceshift technology in their animation. This lead me to believe that the expectations set by the video are legitimate.

Sources: Mashable  and TechCrunch

Out of Site. Out of mind?

Facebook knows you. They keep all of your memories. They know your friends, and who you’ve been stalking. They know who you are starting to see more of and who has fallen out of favor.

Even if you do not believe in updating your current romantic status on Facebook, you know they know. All of the pictures and the flirtatious posts suddenly disappear. But it gets worst. Contrary to how the breakup ends, whether you are “friends” or mortal enemies, you both have to go on living. While it would all be well and good if only you got to move on and the other just stayed permanently attached and mourning your absence without bothering you, this is not likely. Thanks to Facebook, along with a slew of other social media platforms, you get to not only witness your former partner move on, but also get updates of them doing so sent straight to your newsfeed.

Your first response may be to block or unfriend the person. However, this is an admission of weakness. Despite the fact that you are making every effort to upload only your most carefree photos of you and your friends and new romantic interests, you have no interest in seeing your ex do the same. Still, you don’t want to let this concern show.

Facebook has developed a new way to limit this content. Now you can click on a specific friend or one of their posts and tell Facebook that you don’t really want to see that anymore. Editing the amount in which you see certain people on Facebook is not necessarily a new tool. However, being able to specifically alter where you see them and how often is. Likewise, this new feature allows you to edit how much of your life that certain person is allowed to see.

These features are housed within your profile. This way, when you end the relationship, or just take a break you can simultaneously editing how you want this shift in relationship status to effect your Facebook page.

Sources: Mashable and Facebook Blog

Love Me Tinder

Tinder is best known as the quick way to either hook up for simply boost your self confidence. However, recently reinstated CEO, Sean Rad begs to differ. As of last week the App began promoting a big mysterious “announcement” that we are suppose to stay tuned for.

While the development has yet to drop, Rad explains that the new feature will increase user ability to explore deeper connections. He stands by the firm belief that Tinder exists to help people find love rather than just sex. While we do not know a whole lot about the big reveal, we do know that the change will have to do with reworking the applications algorithm. Rad explains that the company intends to “break the barriers between people”. Rad added that the new version of the app will include both “technical and informational data points”. The new Tinder application will involve a more in depth analysis of the users so that they might find a more significant match.

Clearly they are looking to the new algorithm to change the application’s perception. More news to come.

Sources: Mashable and TechCrunch

Instagram Just Launched Another App…Again

Since Instagram was purchased by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, the application has seen incredible success. Still, the many sub-applications that Instagram has put out have not seen quite the same success. While I am sure that other people have downloaded their second newest project “Layout” which launched in August of this past year, I have not met any of them.

“Boomerang” is the newest addition. This application allows you to record video and then watch it on loop, forward and backward. I am not quite certain what the phenomenon with time altered video is in the social sphere. Snapchat released a function on their application which allows video to speed up. This function works within the application, and like all Snapchat video, it has to be filmed within the application. That makes sense.

Instagram allows you to post pictures and video that have been taken by outside sources, as well as within the application. Unlike Instagram, Boomerang requires that film be taken while inside of the application. it is an entirely separate entity from Instagram, and the application does not even require users to have an Instagram account to begin with.  So it is a video application that wants to create social interactions based on short videos…I don’t know about you, but I remember a little video app that was replaced by a picture editing and posting app that then acquired video posting.  That’s right- Vine video. Vine video was ultimately up-staged by none other than Instagram, and now Boomerang? The title could not be any more appropriate.

Sources: Forbes, Instagram, and TechCrunch

Hearts Over Stars: Twitter’s New Lucky Charm

Hearts, stars, and rainbows…well let’s not get carried away. Today Twitter updated their site to look more like the android version of the application. This past summer, Twitter replaced the iconic “favorite” button (which was formerly denoted by a star figure) with a heart. This is basically the social media equivalent of moving from saying that you “like” someone to proclaiming that you “like like” someone. No matter how long you have been off the playground, you know this is a serious elevation in speech.

This change in characters comes on the heels of Twitter’s goal to make Twitter “easier and more rewarding to use” according to their product manager, Akarshan Kumar. The fear is that the star was not as clear as a heart. So rather than “favoriting” something, you are now “liking” something on the popular social media site. Still, liking something with a heart isn’t exactly the same as giving someone the old “thumbs up” that we are used to when showing approval or appreciation on sites such as Facebook or Linked in. While I am inclined to give that rando from my high school a “like” on his new position at an accounting firm, I find it less appealing to “heart” it.

Twitter does not share my perhaps overly-analytical feelings. They believe that the heart simply provides a wider array of emotion. They feel that a heart is acknowledged as a sign of approval across the world. That is probably true. Still, when was the last time you gave someone a star with the word “favorite” next to it and meant “I really hated this”?Yeah, I didn’t think so.

The new feature is available today on iOS and Tweetdeck.

Sources: The Verge, Mashable, and Twitter

Who is Lenny?

One of my least favorite people who doesn’t know I exist (and yes, there is a long list) created a site a few years back called “Goop”. That celebrity is Gwenyth Paltrow, and that site, most famous for it’s announcement of she and Chris Martin’s conscious uncoupling as well as several detox smoothie recipes that can be made for a small fortune, is still around today. However, despite my own qualms with this celebrity news source trend, Goop is unique due to its survival. While slightly less trendy and slightly more relevant, Lena Dunham is the newest celebrity to jump on the newsletter bandwagon.

Together with Jenni Konner, Dunham hopes to provide an informed current events text that also contains pop-culture and references and trends, Impressively, the duo have already landed an interview with Senator Hillary Clinton. Perhaps due to status combined with her dedication to the feminist community as well as her writing prowess, Lenny Letter is also attracting a very high-profile line-up of writers to create these various articles. Additionally, and arguably the most impressively, Dunham has just signed a deal with Hearst Media which will enable the writer to monetize the newsletter. The deal promises Dunham and Konner advertising by Hearst on the site’s of their many notable publications such as Cosmopolitan. The duo decided that ads were the best way to pay for their news source without having to charge their readers. The online newsletter is already attracting a good deal of attention. The recent featured essay by Jennifer Lawrence, which discussed her irritation related to the wage gap in Hollywood pretty much broke the internet. The combination of hard hitting news and less serious topics creates a millennial friendly news nook for readers. With such big names headlining the endeavor, is anyone out of reach?

Sources: Mashable, Fortune, and The Washington Post