Amazon Cloud Player enables iOS update, allows music streaming in Ford vehicles

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Good news for Ford and iPhone owners wanting to blast their tunes with Amazon’s Cloud Player: Amazon’s streaming music service updated its iOS app today to allow iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad devices to play music in Ford Sync AppLink-enabled vehicles. Last February, Amazon is brought its Cloud Player music service to vehicles equipped with Ford Sync AppLink, including new Mustangs,… Read More…

New devices? Apple seeks patents on curved and irregular battery shapes

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Newly surfaced patent applications from Apple hint at plans for new types of devices — or at least new shapes of devices — by outlining the company’s vision for curved and non-rectangular lithium battery cells. “In some embodiments, the curve is formed to facilitate efficient use of space inside a portable electronic device,” says one… Read More…

Amazon MP3 courts iPhone and iPod users, sidesteps Apple

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Amazon released a new mobile version of its Amazon MP3 store for iPhone and iPod touch this morning — targeting users of those popular Apple devices while sidestepping Apple itself. The revamp is a mobile website, developed in HTML5, that works in Apple’s Safari browser. By avoiding the Apple App Store and sticking to the… Read More…

Amazon videos come to iPhone with Instant Video update

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Amazon.com this morning released an update for its Instant Video app for iOS that expands its footprint beyond the iPad to the iPhone and iPod touch. The free app works via a standard Amazon account. Amazon Prime subscribers can use the app to watch the library of Prime Instant Video content (movies and television shows… Read More…

iPad mini, Surface, Kindle Fire: Which one really belongs on your holiday list?

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Yes, the holidays are almost here, and anyone looking to buy a tablet will be faced with a dizzying array of options. File this one under first-world problems, but we’re here to help. Our guest on the GeekWire radio show this week is Andru Edwards of GearLive.com and the Ask Andru tech advice column here on… Read More…

Nokia reviving Zune device? Nope, it’s just a name badge

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Given all the twists and turns in the story of Microsoft’s Zune music devices, a series of posts about a mysterious device from a recent Nokia/T-Mobile news conference piqued our interest this morning. It was a three-inch device, without buttons, described by My Nokia Blog as a “pocket tablet” without a cellular connection, just Wi-Fi. Over the… Read More…

Microsoft’s iPod rival, Zune, confirmed dead by support page

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A support page for Microsoft Zune confirms what we’ve known for a while: Microsoft will no longer be producing new Zune music devices — officially giving up its attempt to challenge Apple’s iPod in the music device business, but maintaining the Zune music service for Windows Phone and other devices. The strange thing is that,… Read More…

Nordstrom testing iPods, other devices for checkout

One of the mobile point-of-sale devices being tested by Nordstrom -- an iPod touch with sled attachment. (Photo courtesy Nordstrom)

Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom mentioned during its annual shareholders meeting yesterday that it has been testing mobile point-of-sale devices at its Bellevue and Seattle stores, to reduce wait times for customers checking out with credit cards. It’s not a new concept in retailing, of course, but when the customer-service icon adopts a new technology, it’s worth… Read More…

Another Microsoft app for Apple iOS: Photosynth panorama stitching

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Microsoft has made plenty of apps for Apple’s iOS in the past, but lately it’s becoming almost prolific. Fresh off the release of its well-received Bing app for iPad, the Redmond company today is back with something new in the Apple App Store: Photosynth. Microsoft’s Photosynth has been around for a while on the web,… Read More…

Goodbye from Seattle: Microsoft ending Zune device

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Microsoft is finally pulling the plug on its dedicated Zune hardware but planing to keep the Zune music software running on Windows Phone and other devices, according to a source quoted this afternoon by Bloomberg News. Microsoft is expected to continue selling the existing Zune devices but won’t create or sell new ones, according to… Read More…