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Chromecast Audio allows you to stream music to your speakers, new or old

Chromecast Audio

The future of music is streaming - whether that means streaming from a service like Spotify, Apple Music, or Google Play Music, or streaming your local library throughout your home to various devices in your house. Did you know that you can take any of your old speakers and breath new life into them, allowing them to join in on streaming content from either your local library or the cloud?

All you need is the Google Chromecast Audio and a Wi-Fi network. Simply plug the device into an available speaker through the AUX port, then into USB for power, and your old speakers are now ready for your streaming music. You can send audio from your smartphone, tablet, or computer right over your Wi-Fi network, which provides a much stronger and robust connection than using Bluetooth.

Click to continue reading Chromecast Audio allows you to stream music to your speakers, new or old


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Bleeding Edge TV 543: Monster SoundStage streaming music services (Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora!)

You can stream to the Monster SoundStage wireless speakers from any subscription music. The versatility of the speakers is what makes them great - you can stream from services like Spotify and Rhapsody over Wi-Fi or send your favorite Apple Music playlists to the speaker over Bluetooth! I show you how to do it in this episode! Be sure to check out our tutorials on getting SoundStage connected to your Wi-Fi network!

You can get the Monster SoundStage wireless speakers now!

Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube channel--also, we are giving away awesome perks for our Patreon backers - thanks for your support!

 

Click to continue reading Bleeding Edge TV 543: Monster SoundStage streaming music services (Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora!)


Unboxing Live 165: Phorus PR5 Play-Fi Receiver Unboxing & Overview

Turn your existing home theater or speaker system into a multi-room audio streaming powerhouse with the Phorus PR5 Receiver!

With the Phorus PR5, you can instantly connect any smartphone, tablet, PC, or Mac to your existing stereo system, using DTS Play-Fi or premium Bluetooth with AptX and AAC. AirPlay streams are supported, too. We give you the full rundown of this product in this episode of Unboxing Live.

You can pick up the Phorus PR5 Receiver now.

Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube channel, and also--we are giving away awesome perks for our Patreon backers - thanks for your support!

 

Click to continue reading Unboxing Live 165: Phorus PR5 Play-Fi Receiver Unboxing & Overview


Uncarrier 6.0: T-Mobile now gives all customers free, unlimited streaming music

t-mobile free music streaming

At yesterday's T-Mobile Uncarrier 5.0 event, the company surprised everyone by also announced Uncarrier 6.0: absolutely free unlimited streaming music. Dubbed "Music Freedom," T-Mobile CEO John Legere revealed that any T-Mobile customer can stream music from Pandora, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Spotify, Slacker, Rhapsody, Milk, and Beatport without having to worry about data caps. To make it clear, Legere stated "Every single note of music will come free, not against your bucket. Even when you exhaust your data bucket, you can still stream unlimited music at high speed." The services mentioned account for 85% of music streamed on T-Mobile, but the company isn't stopping there. For example, services like Rdio and Google Play All Access Music will be part of an online voting area that T-Mobile is providing to allow customers to choose which other music services they'd like to see added. The goal is to add a few new services each month.

If you already have an unlimited T-Mobile account, you aren't left in the cold. The company also announced a partnership with Rhapsody unRadio, an app that is available to anyone on any carrier, and T-Mobile unlimited customers get free access, while limited T-Mobile customers get a 20% off discount and pay $4 per month. If you aren't on T-Mobile, you pay $5 for unRadio.

Uncarrier 5.0 was the T-Mobile Test Drive, which sees the company giving anyone in the US an iPhone 5s for free for a week to try out the T-Mobile network.


Gramofon looks to be your cloud music jukebox for $50

Posted by Ariel Levin-Waldman Categories: Music, Wireless / WiFi,

Gramofon kickstarter cloud music player spotify

Gramofon might be named after the 19th century sound system, but it's as modern as it gets. It's a wireless jukebox that streams music from cloud services like Spotify.

It's the latest brainchild of Fon, the crowdsourced W-iFi network. You connect the Gramofon to your speakers and your Wi-Fi network, and it acts as a Wi-Fi booster and gives off a signal that mobile devices can connect to. Those devices can be used to manipulate playlists.

Now, if you are thinking “so how is this any different than plugging speakers into my iPhone?”, well, with the Gramofon you can make music more social, as anyone on your network is able to use it. You and your friends can share music, create and modify playlists and otherwise get your groove on.

At first, Gramofon will stream from Spotify and Rhapsody. However, the company plans to add other services like Rdio, Grooveshark, SoundCloud, Pandora, Google Play, Songza, and more. If you're interested, check it out on Kickstarter. Fon has stated that the first batch of Gramofons are ready to ship in July. You can get yourself one by backing it for $50. Check out video of the project after the jump.

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Read More | Gramofon on Kickstarter

Unboxing Live 132: Sonos Play:1

We open up the new Sonos Play:1 in this episode, the entry-level wireless speaker from Sonos that costs $199. You're now able to get into the Sonos ecosystem at a lower cost, streaming your music from iTunes, Rdio, Spotify, Pandora, radio, and more! Check out the new hotness in this episode of Unboxing Live.

You can pick up the Sonos Play:1 now from Amazon.

Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live's YouTube channel!

 

Click to continue reading Unboxing Live 132: Sonos Play:1


Google Chromecast media streaming dongle goes on sale for $35, Netflix promo yanked

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Accessories, Google, HDTV, Videos,

Chromecast

Well, the rumors were correct on the mysterious device that momentarily showed up on Google's support page. The Chromecast is a media dongle that allows you to sling web content the web and cloud-stored content, using a smartphone or Chrome browser as a remote control. It's a bummer that it still doesn't have the ability to stream or mirror content stored on the device like Apple's AirPlay, but hey, for $35, we can't complain.

Click to continue reading Google Chromecast media streaming dongle goes on sale for $35, Netflix promo yanked

Read More | Google

Pandora now available for Windows Phone 8 with free, ad-free listening through 2013

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft, Music,

Pandora for Windows Phone

As we reported months ago, Pandora has finally come to Windows Phone 8. Even better, Windows Phone 8 users get free ad-free listening for the rest of the year, a feature that typically costs $3.99 per month, or $36 per year, known as Pandora One. A few weeks back, Pandora also announced a monthly 40-hour listening cap for free users, so this makes Pandora on Windows Phone 8 the best bang for your buck--provided you want to use a Windows Phone. One other cool feature is that Pandora integrates in with the Windows Phone Kid's Corner feature. When in Kid's Corner, Pandora doesn't show or play any explicit content. You can download it now.

Read More | Windows Phone

Pandora now limiting free mobile users to 40 hours of music per month

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Music,

Pandora 40 hour cap

If you love listening to Pandora when you're on the go, you may have to start paying up. Pandora has announced that it will now be capping mobile users to 40 hours of listening per month. If you reach that cap, the music will stop, and you'll need to pay a fee of $.99 if you'd like to continue listening for the remainder of the month. The reason behind this is the rising costs of the per-track royalty rates that Pandora has to pay.

"Pandora’s per-track royalty rates have increased more than 25% over the last 3 years, including 9% in 2013 alone and are scheduled to increase an additional 16% over the next two years. After a close look at our overall listening, a 40-hour-per-month mobile listening limit allows us to manage these escalating costs with minimal listener disruption."

Pandora says this should only affect about 4% of its users, so it shouldn't be a huge deal. Subscribers to the Pandora One service, which eliminated the ads altogether for $36 per year, are not affected.

Read More | Pandora

Ford is first to introduce Spotify in-car integration

Ford SYNC AppLink Spotify

Ford and Spotify have announced a partnership that sees the popular streaming music service make an appearance in Ford vehicles. Spotify is now compatible with Ford SYNC AppLink, streaming its catalog of over 20 million tracks over the car radio. You'll need to download the new iOS or Android Spotify apps to take advantage of the new hotness. You be able to access your songs, playlists, and custom stations, and can even control things with voice commands. Aside from Spotify, Ford SYNC AppLink allows you to access other service, like Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, MOG, Slacker, and Rhapsody.

Read More | Ford

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