Spotify recently launched their new Android 4.0 ICS beta app that makes listening to all the music your heart desires even easier, available soon while their current app is available now in the Google Play Store. Spotify has a similar pricing structure for those in Australia and have three options available. Free is computer only and includes the occasional ad or two while still delivering quality music streaming 24/7. Spotify unlimited will be $6.99 and offers unlimited, ad-free streaming to any computer or laptop, then Spotify Premium (my favorite) for $11.99 a month offers complete audio bliss. Listen to any music you want, whenever. With unlimited streaming to computers, laptops, phones, tablets, as well as multiple other devices — Premium even has a listen offline caching system.

Here’s what Spotify’s Co-founder had to say about today’s new:

“We’re unbelievably excited to be here,” says co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek. “Australians are massive music fans and we’ve created a service that we know they’ll love. Spotify offers everything you could possibly want from a music service: it’s free, it’s fast, it’s easy to share and with more than 16 million songs we have one of the biggest on-demand music libraries in the world.”

To celebrate the launch each country has their own unique playlist including Australia’s hot 100 list called the G’Day Australia Playlist and a New Zealand playlist Kia Ora. The same pricing listed above applies to New Zealand as well, only each option is $1.00 more for some reason. Head to Spotify.com to get started today, enjoy those playlists, and give the Android app a try via the Play Store link above. For more Spotify news hit the links below. Enjoy the music folks!

SoundWire works sort of like a remote desktop viewer in reverse. Install the server application on your Windows PC (sorry Mac folks) then connect it to the app on your phone over your home’s WiFi network. After a brief authentication, all your PC’s audio from any application will be broadcast through your phone’s speaker, headphone jack or Bluetooth connection. It’ll even mute the volume when you get a call. That’s just downright convenient.

The free version of the app includes an audio nag every half-hour, but the $4 paid version is distraction-free. Both apps work with all recent versions of Android, and can connect to multiple PCs for different streams of music. Technically you could use it over a wireless broadband connection as well, but you’ll have to know your way around a little port forwarding and keep an eye on your data usage if it’s limited.

[via Reddit]

While the new UI and design is the first thing you’ll notice, Spotify wants it to be known that under the hood they’ve added a brand new music discovery engine that will help Premium users discover awesome new music and artists — since we are here for the music and all right? I like their screenshots that is for sure. Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition (and Down River) are great songs. Premium users can enjoy this new app for Android with tons of improvements over the old and outdated design. First off you’ll notice the Android 4.0 ICS design elements, then you’ll quickly notice the album artwork is displayed in high-resolution. A welcomed change with all the HD phones and tablet screens on Android.

Spotify has introduced a quick and easy slide-out menu for navigation and a quick menu option nicely themed to go right along with the latest version of Android. The image below shows how convenient both will be. A quick swipe toggles the slide-out navigation option and the quick menu floats over the top of searches, playlists, now playing lists and more.

Obviously looking at the images provided you can clearly see this isn’t a minor update, and just like mentioned above we have a completely overhauled top-to-bottom design change, for the better. The related and similar artists view has been improved, and Spotify has opted to add social aspects too with users being able to look up fellow users profiles and see their favorite music.

For now this impressive new Spotify for Android app is in beta, and will be available officially on the Google Play Store sometime soon. For those looking to enjoy it today you’ll have to be a Spotify Premium subscriber (sign up here), and it will be available later today on Spotify.com so stay tuned for download links and full details. If you’re interested in trying out Spotify you can sign up with the link above, or check back shortly for our full review of the all new Spotify for Android app.

Spotify for Android is awesome. The streaming options and having 320 kbps version available are great too, but their application UI is quite terrible. It works great on Gingerbread but looks like it was designed for FroYo 16 months ago. It hasn’t been updated since back in November last year and seems to struggle on Android 4.0 devices. All of that should be changing soon if the rumors are correct.

Not a lot of details were made available regarding the update. It is said to have a huge UI overhaul that will work great, and look great on Android 4.0 ICS, and hopefully we get some new features or sharing options. We love Spotify here at Android Community, but Google Play Music is pretty good too. What do you use for your music steaming on Android?

While most MIDI controllers plug into a computer or other audio equipment, the Neiro is potentially a completely self-contained music machine, using Android to manage its audio functions and presumably complete files for presentation. Included in the package is the Yamaha AudioEngine Series Sound Chip NSX-1, which we assume is a good thing for audiophiles. Other than that, specifications are pretty scarce. The touchscreen interface includes a series of pre-loaded apps specifically tailored for audio creation – and no, we wouldn’t hold out for Google Play. There’s always root, though!

Miselu isn’t saying when or where the Neiro will be available, or for how much. Given the fact that pros and serious hobbyists already have thousands of dollars invested in their setups, it probably needs to present a use case scenario with serious benefits or, failing that, a great price. The company is showing off the hardware at SXSW in Austin, so a release can’t be that far away.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

Along with professional grade sound engineering the Beatbox will allow users to play quality, distortion free and rich audio all on the go. The Dre BeatBox has a built-in dock for smartphones and music players on top, along with user and volume controls. You can connect with 3.5mm input, micro-USB, or bluetooth and it features a 5.25″ woofer for that excellent Beats sound quality.

For $399 it isn’t cheap, that is for sure. Hey, at least it comes with easy carry handles on both sides and even a little remote for easy controls on the go. The Beatbox is battery powered and also comes with an AC adapter for those not wanting to use this as a portable music option.

While I’m still not completely sold on the Beats Audio part of mobile the upcoming HTC One X for AT&T has Beats Audio under the hood and would go along great with the new Beatbox if you’re willing to shell out $400 for it. Hopefully AT&T will offer some bundle deals to lower the cost of this expensive little speaker. Starting March 11th the BeatBox and 3 other headsets will all be available from Dr. Dre in AT&T stores nationwide.

[via AT&T]

Reports also suggest possible HTC/Beats Audio branded bluetooth speakers and docks that we might be seeing this month at Mobile World Congress. HTC already offers speakers with the HTC Rhyme but according to these tipsters they are also looking to release a more powerful and substantial “wireless boombox” to offer with their devices. We are hearing that HTC has been in talks with Spotify and many other music streaming services in the recent past trying to work out some sort of deal — but have failed miserably and weren’t able to get anything done.

The failed attempts to partner with some other services actually isn’t that bad though. Beats Audio co-founder Jimmy Lovine also happens to be pretty big guy around the music industry and is the head of Geffen A&M, a Universal Music subsidiary. Using his added weight and powers to help seal the deal with record labels and get some official licences out of the way could really help HTC in this situation.

HTC currently offers HTC Watch to users that want to stream movies and TV shows so this could be one more additional feature to add to their list. We don’t have any further details, nor do we know if this will be a free service like Google Music, or a paid subscription like Spotify and others. Hopefully we’ll learn more at Mobile World Congress in a few weeks. With three new impressive phones coming soon, Playstation Suite certification for gaming, HTC Speak Siri alternative, and now music streaming on the horizon HTC is looking better and better for 2012.

[via SlashGear]

Just like Spotify and Grooveshark, songs can be cached for offline playback. It’s hard to decide which one to subscribe to – as all offer access to so many songs. But more likely than not, you’ve already taken a liking to one prior to reading this. And there, you’ve made your playlists and populated your music library through your personal account.

So why would you jump services if all offer the same features? You wouldn’t. And that’s why survival and growth completely depends on future device compatibility. As long as Rdio, Spotify, Grooveshark, and many others continue to support the latest firmware and devices – they’ll be able to retain there subscribers.

[via MobileBurn]

Rhapsody allows customers to find and discover millions of new music tracks, not to mention unlimited music streaming to your Android phone or tablet. They are touting the new tablet layout as more touchable, more engaging, and now with loads of content and new paths to music discovery. With large tiles for easy discovery users can find and enjoy music with ease. This new UI apparently works on Android 3.0 Honeycomb and above tablets, and only for 9″ or larger screens. We’ve yet to try it on a 7″ slate but have a feeling it just might work anyways.

That isn’t all either. The latest update is available right now in the Android Market and they’ve even updated a few fixes for the Kindle Fire — so apparently they support smaller screens in some fashion at least. Other updates include fixes to adding tracks to playlists in bulk, enhanced audio focus at song startup, fixed some sign in screen issues and now supports all Samsung device on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread.

If Google Music isn’t your cup of tea or you’d like access to millions of artists and music give Rhapsody a try today. Get the new updated app from the link below and enjoy.

Market Link

This was by far my biggest complaint when Google Music first officially launched and they added Music to the Android Market. Being able to now upload and download one by one, or all of my music from their cloud services is what was needed to make this complete. Between this, Adele, and all the George Carlin one could ask for all from Google Music I’m now completely safe to toss this old iPod of mine in the trash.

So now when you purchase a new song on your Android phone or tablet, you can easily get on your computer or laptop and download the entire file right to your PC. That music will still be accessible and remain in the cloud. Available from the wide array of supported devices for access from anywhere. Make sure to upload your entire library to Google Music’s cloud services. Then if you happen to have a computer crash you can easily download the entire library to your new system. Thanks Google!

For all the details, new information, or help guides head over to the official Google Music support page. That will answer any remaining questions you may have. Now enjoy that music and go buy some Indie Rock!

[via +Android]

You’ll find a few tunes by Drake including “Take Care (ft. Rihanna)”, “Make Me Proud (ft. Nicki Minaj)”, and “Fancy”. And for those Maroon 5 fans out there, “Moves Like Jagger” and “How” are now available. Mary J. Blige has a freebie too, so definitely head on over to download it just incase prices go back up.

The Free Song of the Day seems to be a way Google plans on promoting bands not as well known as they should be, so don’t just brush over it without giving them a quick listen. You’d be surprised by how much talent goes unnoticed. And finally, don’t forget about the giant pack of free songs that were previously released.

[via NetbookNews]

The details aren’t quite in English but you can get all the information from the Samsung press release. Just like the larger models this 3.65″ display rocking media player has almost all the functions of a smartphone, only it can’t make calls. They do offer Bluetooth and WiFi calling though so that is a plus. We have Android 2.3 Gingerbread as the OS and a single-core 1.0 GHz Hummingbird processor.

Basically this is the original Samsung Galaxy S smartphone without the phone internals and a different screen size — all geared for music and content consumption. This media player also offers a 3 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 VGA front, and 8 or 16GB models available to purchase. Samsung eventually brought their larger versions to the US and they are available now (see our review below) so most likely this smaller sibling should make its way here too. The Galaxy Player 3.6 is currently on sale in South Korea for around $175 USD.

[via Sammy Hub]

The “theme engine” is the root of that customization support, meaning “every drawable (images, backgrounds, etc), all text views, and each seek bars can be themed.” The native theme resembles Google’s own app.

However, unlike Google’s version, this new app supports play/pause control by flipping the phone face down on the table, as well as shaking it to perform custom actions (such as randomizing playback). Both flipping and shaking are supported while the Music app is running in the background, too. There are new homescreen widgets, fully integrated search, social sharing and more.

The app – which will be renamed before release – is expected to drop in a the next few weeks. It will be included as part of a future CM9 build, but will also be released via the Android Market.

With the Disco 2 we don’t have weird and large volume nobs and difficult navigation. Instead everything is neatly and easily accessed right from the top of the device. This makes the speaker dead simple to operate and extremely user intuitive. No more bright lights and LEDs and instead we have bright colors for any living room decor. Check out our quick hands-on video and even our previous full review over at SlashGear.

The SuperTooth Disco 2 will connect to any Android device over a Bluetooth connection and will make streaming audio with Google Music, Spotify, or anything else easy while keeping things sounding great. The Disco 2 offers AC power as well as a built-in rechargeable battery for those portable moments of audio bliss. We should be seeing the SuperTooth Disco 2 hit the shelves within the next month or so and will be offered for only $99 for those interested. We’ll be sure to snatch one up for review so stay tuned if music is your thing.

This is actually a pretty great added bonus for Xperia owners and I can imagine a few people are happy to hear the news. Sadly there is a small catch and this isn’t available for everyone. This deal or freebie actually only applies to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Australia. We could see more added later but for now that is all we get. Hopefully Sony will open this up for all their users.

The image above shows the dates and more information but basically if you purchase or own an Xperia device from November 1st to January 31st 2012 you are eligible for this deal. We aren’t sure if this has been available since the first of November or if Sony is just offering this to a wider audience of buyers. Sony’s Music Unlimited is a great service and getting 90 days free will give many a first hand look at what their missing — although things like Spotify are a great alternative too. Head down to Sony Ericsson to get started if this applies to you and your Xperia.

[via Phandroid]

If you want to learn more you can view our Sonos Controller hands-on video with a few pictures and details on how everything works. The app received an update back in July with SD support and additional languages but today’s update gives us a bunch of new awesome features.

We now have extended support for Spotify with more features like checking your inbox and more. They’ve added full Slacker Radio integration, support for Android 2.2 and above tablets (including the Kindle Fire). We’ve been hoping for a tablet specific application with neat controls and options that will take advantage of the larger screen space but that hasn’t happened yet. We also have alarm and AAC+ codec support with the latest version of Sonos Controller.

All the details are available along with the latest version in the Android Market. Give it a try or update today by clicking here.

In the image above you can clearly see on the far left that “Music” is now an option on the market homepage. We have full and complete access to the entire Google Music library as Google’s intended. I have more devices than I’d like to count here and only one has the new Music tab, the rest still don’t. It appears that no Market update is needed. I have the same and latest official v3.3.11 from Google on multiple devices. The new Google Music appears to be completely server side and no update to a newer Android Market version will be needed.

Usually we’ve have some sort of APK that you could download with the new Market and enjoy the changes but it appears that this is completely on Google’s servers and will be rolled out to devices over the next few days as they mentioned during the event. So sorry, you’ll just have to wait until your device(s) have access. I only get it on one of mine so we’ll see when the rest finally get access.

Apparently Google will be pushing this over the next few days, they didn’t want to give everyone access at the same time because it would be a flurry of purchases and downloads and most likely cause some serious slowdown or lag. For now you can access that part of the market by being directed through the Google + app to buy and enjoy music offered by Google. Otherwise you’ll sadly have to wait until your device receives the option in the market. Don’t worry as it should arrive any day now. — Thanks Simms

First of all, Artists receive a 70/30 split with Google for all of their music revenue, and there are no extra setup or upload fees. Bands can set their own prices for tracks or albums, and connect songs to YouTube videos to quickly and easily bring viewers into their musical fold. The Artist pages allow each artist or band to set up their own profile in Google Music, with features songs, videos and the like. The Google+ sharing tools that regular users get can also be used by bands themselves. There’s no bottom limit for pricing, so artists can give away as much music as they want. Revenue is sent back to artists via Google Wallet.

To get a quick overview of the Music Hub from some of the first indie bands to use it, check out the video below:

Unfortunately, the Google Music service is only available in the US right now, and that extends to artist as well. Since Google is constantly updating the system with new features and artists (not to mention record labels), expect that to change soon, at least as fast as Google can negotiate with the various labels and recording companies in other countries. Google Music is available now via the official website, and updated versions of the Android Market and Google Music should be rolling out to most Android phones soon.

The Google “These Go to Eleven” event has just announced the new Google Music and that it will be completely free offering Android users 25,000 songs worth of free cloud storage for all their music. For all of the details as they become available feel free to check out that link above.

Not only that but all of this music will be full high quality 320 kbps music, beating Apple’s 256 offering. We are still digging through all the details but thought the above numbers regarding well over 200 million android devices was worth a quick post. The Android Army is going strong and is showing NO signs of slowing down. Enjoy the ride guys!

The Spar Zephyr looks very similar in both the size and shape to the popular Jawbone JAMBOX we reviewed at SlashGear. Also coming in a bit smaller than the recently reviewed Philips Fidelio Android dock but don’t let that fool you because Spar is claiming both “stunning acoustics” and “class-leading battery life”.

Basically rock out to all the music your heart desires and if you need to charge your Android phone, Galaxy Player, or even that iPod then all you need is a simple USB cord and the Spar Zephyr does the rest. The idea is actually quite excellent and I look forward to testing the sound quality, battery life, and the charging capabilities. The Zephyr 550 linked to above comes with the largest internal battery at 3,000 mAh, enough to play music for up to 30 hours of playback. Sadly that will only charge a portable device twice if your lucky. So while this sounds great, you wont be getting multiple charges here but the option to do so is quite convenient.

You can pre-order today starting at $99 at the source link below. The Zephyr should ship mid-December and hit retail locations come early next year. We’ll be sure and snag one for review if possible and bring you all the details. Enjoy the neat video provided below.

[via Spar]