iTunes 11

Today Apple have released the latest version of their music software and it's called iTunes 11. iTunes 10 has been around for a while, since 2010, and although it's undergone some progressive changes it was still very similar in terms of general layout to iTunes 7. New features like iTunes in the cloud often felt like they were added on.

In iTunes 11 the user interface has been completely redesigned. The interface makes better use of your screen real estate. The main view is all your albums represented by their album art and the album name and album artist just below. This is a great view for browsing through your library. If you fancy creating a playlist the interface is far better. You get much more room to see and organise all your playlists as the sidebar which they used to sit in has been hidden. If you miss the sidebar in iTunes 11 just click View > Sidebar, but it's really not needed anymore. If you drag any song/album/artist you can drop it into a playlist. The list of your playlist pops up whenever you drag anything. It's easy to drop onto your iPod, iPhone or iPad in this way too.

The new store lets you listen to 90 second previews whilst browsing around at your next potential purchase. A handy "recently previewed" list is great to keep on top of what you might like to purchase. Having used iTunes 11 for an hour or so I have to say that I'm impressed. The slick new interface makes listening music fun again, especially the "Up Next" feature which allows you to cue tracks to a now playing playlist on the fly, a bit like iTunes DJ in the previous version, but a lot better.

Once you update to iTunes 11 your library gets updated but this was painless enough. Some of the new features require you to share the album details of your library with Apple, but this was an easy decision to make as an iTunes Match subscriber. The new features include showing you galleries of artist's and links to related music.

For the full list of the new features click read more below.

App of the Day - Xbox SmartGlass

Microsoft are keen to promote the Xbox 360 as a one stop shop device for all your media needs, as well as it's core use as a games console. Over the last year we have seen on demand TV services added, Netflix support and a refreshed Zune store for downloading films to your device. The Xbox 360 interface has recently had a slight refresh, bringing it inline with the Windows 8 Metro menu system. The previous incarnation of the Xbox UI was so similar, they where probably using it as a way of introducing the live tiles interface we see in Windows 8 and Windows Phone. For Microsoft's next trick: Xbox SmartGlass.

Microsoft's new phone/tablet app: Xbox SmartGlass is compatible with almost all devices (Windows 8, Windows Phone, iOS & Android 4+) so what you have you can probably get connected. And theres no real set up to do, as everything is linked to your Microsoft (typically hotmail) account. This app replaces "My Xbox Live" on iOS.

The new apps as the remote control function of the My Xbox Live app, but much improved. No need to tap arrow keys anymore, just swipe left to go left, and tap anyway to press A. This makes using the remote much more intuitive. X, Y & B have all move to the extremities of the screen so you can actually use it whilst looking at the TV, and not your phone/tablet. This is an experience much more like using an Xbox controller, as you don't need to keeping looking down.

Once you have a game or film running on the Xbox the SmartGlass app displays additional information. A synopsis of the movie, or the map when you are playing Forza Horizon. Even an onscreen keyboard for browsing the internet with IE9 for Xbox 360, and especially handing when using your Xbox to update Facebook, send a tweet or chat using Windows Live Messenger.

For more information check out: xbox.com/smartglass

Nokia's Deadmau5 Live Event

Nokia's Lumia 800 launch party on the 28/11/11 featured Deadmau5 playing at Millbank tower in central London. They lit up the whole of the 118 metre tower in a spectacular light show that could be the future of extravagant live show productions. From Nokia's YouTube page:

"Each of the 120 metre high building's 800 windows were covered with vinyl as 16 powerful projectors, stationed 300 metres away on the other side of the river, beamed 3D images onto the structure. Huge butterflies flew across the London skyline and the tower was twisted, pulsated and even fell down. Billed as the "future of live events" the spectacular show was accompanied by music from super producer deadmau5, who created exclusive remixes for the performance -- adding the 4th dimension."

Many people on Facebook and Twitter (including this @webwarpblog tweet) complained of laggy HD video during the event live, an experience which I shared too. If you missed any if the action you can replay it till your hearts content embedded from YouTube below.

 

The Nokia Lumia 800 is Nokia's new flagship handset and features the Windows Phone operating system in an attempt to rival Apple and Android's market dominance.

Nokia Lumia Deadmau5 Event Tonight

Tonight Nokia and Deadmau5 will light up London's Millbank Tower on the banks of the river Thames in a spectacular 4D Audio Visual Display! This free event will also be streamed live on the internet at Nokia's website.

From Nokia's website:

To celebrate the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800 we’re hosting a multimedia extravaganza on 28 November. Join us as deadmau5 rocks the London skyline in 4D.

Joel Zimmerman (AKA deadmau5) will be performing two new tracks created especially to accompany a stunning 4D projection display against the backdrop of the 120-metre Millbank Tower on the banks of the River Thames. This amazing, one-off gig is not to be missed, so if you're anywhere near London, be sure to come along to see it live, or visit our Facebook page to watch the live stream. It’s happening in London, but everyone is invited to take in the sights and sounds of this spectacular event live from the north side of the River Thames.

Britify

Enjoy listening to BBC Radio? Hate not knowing what song's it is they play? Then here is a solution for you! Britify works with Spotify (hence the 'ify' in the name) to bring you playlists of recent shows on BBC Radio stations. You can even download the latest 100 tracks played on a particular radio show. The website includes Radio 1, 1Xtra, 2, 3, 4 and 6 Music.

Here's a link: www.britify.com

Formally known as bbcify and featured on BBC Click's Webscape.

Apple News Roundup

Ok, today is very exciting as their are 3 (yes 3!) big Apple announcements! This blogpost gives you a brief overview and points you in the right direction for more info. In the next few days a more detailed analysis and opinion will be posted.

1. iOS 5
iOS is Apple's mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. iOS 4 is the current version for the latest devices. iOS 5 will bring over 200 new features including an upgraded camera control, better management of notifications and even sync over Wi-Fi. With Wi-Fi Sync you never have to plug your iPhone in to sync with iTunes again.

Courtesy of Apple

2. iCloud
iCloud replaces MobileMe for mail, contacts and calendars (you keep the same email address) but it brings with it so much more. With iCloud you can store all your documents, photos and music online and then access them from any of your iDevices or computer.


3. Mac OS X Lion
Lion will be the next version of Mac OS X and you will need the App Store (included in Snow Leopard) to download it. In the US it will cost $29.99 - which is a bargain. The new OS will include support for full screen apps (it's about time) and an Auto save function which is similar to Time Machine.

More details and analysis coming soon! For more information on any of these announcements, check out www.apple.com.

Reading Festival Weather Outlook

What will the weather be like to this weekend's Reading Festival?

BBC Weather 3 Day Forecast:

mflow Adding More Tracks

The music "reflowultion" mflow which was featured previously on this blog here has been hit by criticism from early adopters. We must remember, and stress, that the service is still in 'Beta' and is always being improved. Since the initial Web Warp Blog post mflow has added support for Twitter and Facebook, as well as a profile page for each mflow user. The program itself has been updated several times and a lot of tweaks and features have been added. You can now send your downloaded (or library) tracks to iTunes with one click.

Their music library may be relatively small, and can often frustrate users, but good news! The world from one of the founders, Oleg Fomenko is: mflow are working hard to add tracks:

@webwarp @punctualwaffle working overtime on the catalogue ... growing it every day ... still have more than 2M tracks awaiting ingestless than a minute ago via TweetDeckOleg Fomenko
oleg_mflow

So if you haven't joined mflow yet I recommend it. You will receive all sorts of tracks in your inbox and earn 20% back off purchases made through your recommendations! And with the library growing all the time one day you may receive flows of Muse in your inbox!

mflow: A music reflowlution?

A new music service is coming in April, but where are we coming from? The internet has changed the way we consume media, particularly music, beyond expectations. The main evidence for this is your local high street, I bet it's not bursting with Record shops any more as iTunes is the world's largest record shop. The tie in with the iPod and now the iPhone has lead to massive change in the way we get new music.

But what about artists trying to break into the industry? That's were social networking comes in. Myspace has proven massively popular with new and existing artists. The rise of social networking (as recently reported on webwarp.co.uk) has lead to a new generation of web users who see the internet not as a library (like iTunes) but as a way of connecting with like minded people: mflow.

mflow is a new way of discovering music. It works like a cross between the library format of iTunes and the social networking format of Twitter. So you have a large number of songs available to purchase in high quality with no DRM (digital rights management) and a social network where any user can follow the 'flow' of any other user. The advantage is that if you discover a great song you can add it to your flow, sharing your opinion with your followers. They can then listen to a full length preview (something you cannot do just by searching for a track) and if they decide to buy the track you receive 20% of the money in mflow credit, to help you buy your next musical discovery.

mflow is not available until 15/04/2010 unless you have a preview invitation which you can request from www.mflow.com.