Sabtu, 21 Juni 2014

Week in Tech: Amazon, YouTube, Facebook's new app


LOS ANGELES - New devices, apps and yet another online music subscription service highlight the top tech headlines this week.


Let's start with YouTube. The service said this week it was set to soon start an online music service, offering ad-free songs that can be listened to on mobile devices.


Sound similar to Spotify or Pandora? Well, YouTube enters with a huge advantage - more people listen to music there than anywhere else, so it could have a ready audience.


The service is expected later this year.


And speaking of a ready audience, you'd think that Amazon would have fans waiting around the block for its new smartphone, the Fire, with its cool 3D screen and four front facing cameras. But analysts we spoke to don't think so. The price: $199 with a two-year contract, is on par with what Apple and Samsung charge for their smartphones, and that's likely not enough to wean people away. Plus, that new Amazon feature - a tab that recognizes products even without having to look at the bar code, sounds like a money pit to me - just another way Amazon gets us to spend.


Continuing with pricing, Apple announced a new iMac desktop this week, which at $1099 is its lowest priced ever full desktop computer. Good news for Apple fans, but it's still double what you'll spend for a Windows laptop.


Facebook has seen a lot of its users using the Snapchat app, having fun taking photos that disappear within 10 seconds. So what to do? Clone it, with Facebook's Slingshot app. Photos don't disappear immediately. Instead, you 'sling' the photo or video, and it can't be seen until your friends 'sling' back another one at you. Then they disappear.


Finally, let's check out the app charts. For the second week in a row, no surprise here, the official FIFA app is the top free app on iTunes App Chart - use it to check the latest World Cup scores and coverage. The top new app on Android is Angry Birds Epic, featuring Red, Chuck, Bomb and the rest of the gang in pre-historic times. On Windows Phone, its Files, an app for managing your files.


Follow Jefferson Graham on Twitter.

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