YouTube readying paid music service: Source

Google's video-sharing arm YouTube is preparing to launch a subscription music service to allow consumers to watch videos and listen to music ad-free, industry sources said.

Sources familiar with the plans told AFP the service is likely to launch sometime next year.

The new plan would still allow users free access for the vast amount of music and music videos available on YouTube but would allow an option for a paid service without ads, with some extras such as the ability to store and listen to songs offline.

A source familiar with the plan said YouTube is not setting up a "pay gate" for music and would continue to allow people to stream music on any device for free if they choose.

The move, however, is the latest effort to monetize YouTube, which Google bought in 2006 for $1.65 billion and which is believed to generate a modest amount of advertising revenues. YouTube recently launched a number of paid channels for television programs.

Earlier, Billboard magazine and The New York Times reported that the premium subscription designed for mobile devices would cost around $10 a month and would compete with services such as Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody.

The reports said the deal would allow record companies to get bigger royalty payments than they currently getfree services.

Billboard said a paid service would give YouTube more flexibility in packaging and selling music with fewer restrictions. It also said a premium service could be paired with other Google products in the future, including Google Glass.

Creating a paid service would help YouTube move awaythe sharing of free music videos, which often face copyright violations. YouTube currently allows verified music publishers and other copyright holders the ability to block infringing videos or to place an ad over the video to generate revenue.

A YouTube spokesman, contacted by AFP, declined to comment on the specific reports of the new paid service but said: "We're always working on new and better ways for people to enjoy YouTube content acrossscreens, and on giving partners more opportunities to reach their fans."

Billboard said the new paid service could allow YouTube the ability to stream full albums, which are not usually available because artists generally one or two tracksany single album to feature in a music video.

The music publication said YouTube is in the process of a larger redesign of the YouTube mobile app that would offer a cleaner interface for music and playlists.

Google in May introduced a paid music service for smartphones and tablets powered by its free Android software, called Google PlayAccess, with a monthly subscription fee of $10.

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Facebook can predict when you‘re headed for break up

WASHINGTON: Scientists have developed a Facebook algorithm which they say can accurately identify who you're dating and when you're in danger of breaking up.

The algorithm developed by a Cornell University professor and a senior Facebook engineer takes advantage of a new metric system called "disperson," which looks at connections between people who have different sets of friends.

Researchers say close friends are likely to share a lot of friends in common, which social scientists call "embeddedness".

The researchers used multiple sets of anonymous data, including a large data set from 1.3 million Facebook users.

They identified with 60 per cent accuracy who was dating whom, much better than the 2 per cent accuracy they'd get from random guessing, 'The Verge' reported.

High dispersion also seems to be correlated with longer relationships, researchers said.

Couples were 50 per cent more likely to break up in the next two months if the dispersion algorithm failed to guess that they were dating, the study found.

Resaerchers also looked at metrics such as how many times a user viewed another person's profile, attendance at the same events, and messages sent.

Dispersion turned out to be the most overall accurate metric for determining romantic relationships.

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BBM gets 20 million active users on Android and iOS in first week

NEW DELHI: Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry said Tuesday that more than 20 million people had downloaded and were actively using BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) on Android and iOS devices.

The company added that the total number of BBM users worldwide had reached 80 million, a significant rise from the last reported numbers of 55 million. BBM was made available as an app for Android and iOS devices a week ago and the company claimed that more than 10 million had downloaded it within the first day.

During its first week, BBM was the top free overall app in 35 countries in Google Play and in 107 countries in the App Store, and continues to maintain a strong position in key markets such as Canada, the US, the UK, Indonesia and much of the Middle East, to name a few, the company said.

Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President of BBM at BlackBerry said, "From here on out, we will focus on active users of BBM and will no longer focus on simple download numbers."

The company added that in the coming months, BBM Video calling, BBM Voice calling and BBM Channels - a new community building service - will be offered to Android and iPhone users.

This past weekend, BlackBerry was able to remove the virtual line-up so that Android and iPhone users can now immediately download, sign in and start using BBM without having to wait. Customers who had initially downloaded BBM on non-BlackBerry devices had to wait as the company was first clearing pre-registered users.

The company said that every BBM was issued a unique PIN which helps maintain privacy, so users never have to give out their phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.

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How to keep your real name and face out of Google's ads

The journey was long and full of baby steps, but we’ve finally reached the destination: Google updated its terms of service on Friday to allow the company to slap your real name and face alongside ads, under an expansion of its “shared endorsements” program.

Getting here took a while, and it took a slow expansion of the Google+ social service.

First, Google+ users had to sign up for the service with their real names, rather than pseudonyms. Next, all new Google Accounts—even if you only wanted Gmail—required you to sign up for Google+. Then, back in May, Google began coaxing veteran YouTubersinto adopting Google+ accounts, and a few weeks ago, the company announced that allYouTube comments will be powered exclusively by Google+.

Google+ integration throughout Google’s services seemed pretty handy at first. When searching the Play Store, the power of “shared endorsements” showed you when your friendsa given app (not unlike what iOS and OS X users see when looking for game recommendations in Apple’s Game Center app). When searching the web, Google+ identified when your buddies +1’d a given site. Now, Google’s bringing your real name, face, reviews, and comments to Search ads across the web.

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Android KitKat may launch on October 28

Internet media is abuzz with speculations that the next version of Google's Android operating is all set for release on October 28. Nestle's @KitKat Twitter account has posted two tweets that suggest that OS could launch on October 28.

The first hint came on Tuesday when KitKat's Twitter handle posted an image of an Android logo with the title "Everybody dance now." The song "Everybody Dance Now" was released by C+C Music Factory, originally known as 'The 28th Street Crew'.

In what appears to be second clue, KikKat posted a tweet with a picture showing KitKat chocolate bars stacked up in the formation reading " This is it." "This is it" is the name of the popular Michale Jackson movie that released on October 28, 2009.

Several screenshots of the OS have allegedly leaked online. As per the screen grabs, white seems to be the dominant colour in the new OS version. The notification buttons appear white, not blue. White colour is also prominently featured in the Dialer app. There are also reports that the animations in Android KitKat are smoother and 'subtler' compared to those of its predecessors.

The leaked screenshots show a new Settings menu option for "Printing". There's also an option for Payments and Wireless Display within Settings. This means a new wireless NFC payment system will be added to the OS and it will no longer be a third-party application feature.

The leaked images also show some new photo editing prompts like Tilt-Shift, Center Focus, Negative and Posterize. The new camera interface adds Instagram-style filters that will allow users to preview final version of images.

Users will have option to save images as PDF files on KitKat. The functionalities too are reported to have been expanded to include editing paper size, orientation, number of copies and colours before printing images and PDF files directly on a local printer.

Some reports have stated that Google Now will have the 'always-on' functionality of Moto X in Android 4.4 and may accept commands in several languages, not just English. Android 4.4 may also introduce SMS function to Google Hangouts app. Android 4.4 is also reportedly much lighter and faster than Android 4.3 and previous versions.

Android 4.4 KitKat will come with pre-loaded apps like Google Drive and Google Keep.

Google is also expected to launch Nexus 5 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet.

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Adidas announces smartwatch

Smartwatch segment seems to be getting increasingly competitive. Latest company to join the fray is Adidas.

Adidas made the announcement at GigaOm Mobilize conference in San Francisco. Paul Gaudio, the company's head of interactive, announced at the event that the company is joining the smartwatch race with a new piece of hardware.

The smartwatch will be designed with the help of Fjord, a design company acquired by Accenture earlier this year.

Primarily aimed at runners, the smartwatch will have GPS to track a user's workout. The device can also provide personalised coaching based on a user's heart rate that can be measured with the built-in heart rate sensor.

Unlike most other smartwatches, the device does not need the primary support of a smartphone for functioning.However, this also means unlike its most competitors, Addidas smartwatch lacks the ability to receive notifications for incoming calls and text messages.

The smartwatch would also be having an onboard flash memory to store music. Users can listen to this music through Bluetooth headphones.

The Adidas smartwatch is slated for a November 1 release and will be priced at $399.

Addidas announcement comes just a day after Nike announced a new wearable wristband device called the FuelBand SE, which allows users to track individual work-out sessions and check their Fuel points earned in real-time.

Other major players in the field of smartwatches include Sony, Qualcomm, Motorola and Samsung.

There are also speculations that tech giant Apple and Google too are developing smartwatches.

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Snapdeal eyes $200 million fresh funding

eBay, Japanese internet major SoftBank and a clutch of private equity investors are looking to pump in $150-200 million of fresh funds into domestic online marketplace Snapdeal. The San Jose, CA-based eBay, which pioneered auction-styled online shopping, had picked up an under 10% stake in Snapdeal earlier this year and is now keen on increasing that stake in the company. 

SoftBank, on the other hand, has also been negotiating a deal to top up the $50 million Snapdeal raised from eBay and existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Nexus Ventures earlier this year. Other investors in the company include Intel Capital, Russian venture fund ru-Net and Saama Capital. Industry sources told TOI that eBay's last round of funding had valued Snapdeal at about $200 million but a deal for a larger stake now could see its valuation go up to $750 million. 

Founded by Wharton alumnus Kunal Bahl and IIT-Delhi graduate Rohit Bansal in 2010, Snapdeal moved from being a daily deals site modelled on the likes of GroupOn to an online marketplace a year back. Jasper Infotech owns and operates the online marketplace Snapdeal.com. 

One of the more successful e-commerce ventures in India at present with around Rs 2,500 crore in annual revenue, Snapdeal requires to raise more cash to keep growth intact even as its main rival Flipkart steps up the momentum having raised $360 million recently. The online marketplace aims to clock a billion dollars in annual gross merchandise volume by 2015. 

When contacted by TOI, Snapdeal's Bahl declined to comment on the fund-raise while an eBay India spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation. 

In recent weeks, eBay's senior global executives, led by Ian Bednowitz, director, marketplaces, corporate development, have held talks with Snapdeal, signalling their interest to acquire more shares in the Indian company. eBay has placed big bets on the marketplace model to corner a big chunk of the e-commerce action in the emerging markets, which it said would bring 12% sales within two years. 

eBay, which wants a bigger slice of the digital commerce pie in emerging markets, is discussing a potential deal to buy controlling stake in Snapdeal, said a source mentioned in the report earlier. 

eBay, sitting on more than $10 billion in cash, may be watching the moves of South African internet behemoth Naspers and Amazon which have aggressive plans to expand their India footprint. 

Naspers is the second largest shareholder in Flipkart and recently acquired online bus ticketing firm redBus, besides running a joint venture with China's Tencent - the Ibibo Group. Amazon, on its part, has rolled out its own online marketplace and is awaiting FDI in e-commerce to unfurl a bigger play through acquisitions. India's e-commerce market - which is expected to touch $8.8 billion by 2016, according to Forrester - is still an open play unlike China where a slew of local giants like Alibaba largely dominate the local market.

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