Software & Apps News - Page 79

Apple has partnered with digital distributor Dubset Media Holdings to bring many thousands of previously unlicensed DJ remixes and mixes -- or in old people terms: that DJ music the kids are listening to -- to its Apple Music service. For now, these aren't available anywhere else, but Dubstep claims every distributor will be supported in time.

The deal is made possible by Dubset's agreements with over 14,000 record labels and publishers, as well as its MixBank technology (used in combination with other proprietary and related software), which can analyze songs to determine original artists and make sure their labels and publishers as well as DJs are paid accordingly, all at flat rates. It's an impressive feat given one of these mixes can have more than 600 different rights holders, and one that's already making both DJs and labels happy.

"Remixes are a huge part of our culture - they allow DJs and fans to put our own creative spin on music," says DJ Steve Aoki. "Apple working with Dubset now is a really simple solution to something traditionally complex, and allows everyone to make money on this content for the first time."

A handy new extension is now available for Chrome users known to browse Steam from time to time. It's called Fair Steam and it saves you the trouble of looking up gameplay videos from YouTubers by integrating their videos directly into the Steam website. The videos available on a given game page are determined by an algorithm that prizes gameplay-heavy, personality-light videos, so you just get the meat. As of now, there are 13491 videos in the database, with more added daily.

A few notes: more features are planned for Fair Steam, though they are not known yet. For now, the focus is on gameplay videos; if you're in the minority and don't use Chrome, Firefox and Opera versions are coming soon; for those that use Enhanced Steam extension, Fair Steam is compatible with it.

To download it, head this way.

Traffic app Waze has arguably been the best of its kind for some time now, except for two major flaws: a wretched interface and high battery consumption. Both are fixed today with the new 4.0 update, which brings numerous quality of life improvements:

• Fresh new design for easier navigation, reporting, and sharing.

• Significantly reduced battery consumption.

Out of nowhere, Google has released Android N in preview form, limited to Nexus smartphones and tablets. Android N is a very early beta of Google's next mobile OS, something it should release in fuller, more finished form as we get closer to Google I/O in mid-May.

For now, the beta is available on g.co/androidbeta and judging by the screenshots - Android N has three big new features. The first is split screen, for an improved multitasking experience - something that the likes of Samsung have been doing with TouchWiz on their Galaxy smartphones for a while now.

The second one is a new notifications panel, and a new and improved Doze power saving feature. There's heaps more in Android N, with a full list of what the Preview has to offer.

While the Windows 10 Facebook app is pretty great for serving your Facebook needs, you may prefer to use the Messenger portion only, as many do on mobile. That's where the upcoming Facebook Messenger Windows 10 app comes in, which we get a first look at today courtesy of screenshots leaked by Windowsblogitalia.

There aren't any big surprises aesthetically: it's pretty much what you get now. However, it includes more features such as GIF support, voice, a like button, and so on.

Not pictured: notifications, live tile support, contact groups, and message forwarding.

If you rely on the Netflix Mobile App to get your fix of drama, action or comedy on a regular basis, it's likely that your phone plan data is suffering as a result.

As seen on Gizmodo Netflix has been, and will be, working on a better experience for users, implementing what Gizmodo's Campbell Simpson explained as "a number of small but significant changes." Recent changes to this service include the evolution of the home screen, with plenty more improvements currently in testing and on the horizon for this media giant.

A large planned change is a 'data saving' feature set for availability to mobile users on iOS and Android platforms. Explained as an algorithm based service, rather than a clear-cut bitrate or resolution limiter, it means that the quality control and limitations will be fluid and change user to user.

The new Google Material design for Facebook Messenger on Android has been revealed. As you can see, it's much cleaner than what's in use currently, and features a 'new conversation' button.

"If you're using Messenger on Android, you've been wanting a brand new material design for a bit," says Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook David Marcus. "Any major redesign of an essential app used by hundreds of millions of people around the world is painstakingly hard, and that's why we took every precaution to ensure you'd truly enjoy this evolution."

According to an article published by Silicon Valley analyst Andrew Chen, most people are the same as me - they install an app, and most of the time they don't use it after a few days.

Chen reports that an average app loses 77% of its users within 72 hours, and after a month, 90% of them stop using the app altogether. After the 3-month mark, just 5% continue to use the app. These figures would strike directly into the hearts of app creators as their biggest hurdle is getting users to continue using their apps - not just past the 3-month/90-day mark, but.. well... forever.

The data used was from over 125 million smartphones, with the apps in his report available from the Google Play Store, with each app having over 10,000 downloads. Chen didn't use any Google apps for the study, either.

Windows 10 Build 14279 has been released today to Windows Insiders on the Fast ring.

If you're a big Cortana user, this one should make you very happy: Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil) or French (Canada) languages are now supported, as are quick reminders. To set a quick reminder, say something like "remind me to read [insert book name]", or "remind me to wash the car". After doing so, you can set details like location, time, and people if you like. It's not built-in yet, but soon you'll be able to retrieve these reminders as a real PA would.

The other significant update is a unified Lock and login screen. Going forward, the Lock screen background will be used for both, as on mobile, making for a smoother experience.

According to Microsoft, Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney has it all wrong: Redmond's push into Windows 10 PC gaming isn't the beginning of an oppressive regime, but a "fully open ecosystem" that taps the freedom of the platform.

In a recent op-ed piece for The Guardian, Epic's Tim Sweeney called Redmond out for its new invasive push to utterly dominate PC gaming. The developer, who has had a long-running relationship with Microsoft with its Gears of War franchise, says that Microsoft is "curtailing users' freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers." Sweeney is calling for gamers, developers, and publishers to fight this move.

Microsoft has delivered an official response to Sweeney's statements, saying that the Universal Windows Platform--which powers Windows 10 PC gaming--is quite open. "The Universal Windows Platform is a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer, that can be supported by any store," said Kevin Gallo, corporate vice president of Windows. "We continue to make improvements for developers; for example, in the Windows 10 November Update, we enabled people to easily side-load apps by default, with no UX required."