Author: Jonathan Riggall

Our App of the Week this week is a strange one. It’s not an app at all – it’s a service. Apple Music was released this week, as part of the latest iOS Music app and iTunes update.

You can sign up for a free three month trial – which puts the entire iTunes library of over 30 million songs at your fingertips, and much more. From then on it’s $9.99 per month, and there’s no free ad-supported option like Spotify has.

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As you can see, Apple Music means a redesigned Music app and iTunes. There are new For You, Connect, and Radio tabs. These offer personalized recommendations, contact with artists, and the all-new Beats 1 Radio station, respectively.

It’s not coming to Android devices until the Fall, but Windows, Mac, and iOS users can all check it out right away.

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First impressions: Apple Music

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Apple Music was launched today, but don’t look for a new app. It’s part of the Music app in iOS, and iTunes on desktops.

To get Apple Music on iOS, you have to update to iOS 8.4. Eventually your device will prompt you to do it, but otherwise you can go to Settings > General > Software Update, where you can download and install the update.

Once installed, you’ll notice the Music icon has changed from blood red to white. Tap this, and you’ll be introduced to Apple Music. You can choose to start the 3 month free trial, or not, and just go to your music library.

Starting the trial means you’ll automatically start paying for Apple Music from your Apple ID account after the trial is over, unless you turn automatic subscriptions off. I had hoped instead of this, Apple would prompt us to start paying once the trial is over. This method could result in plenty of people forgetting and paying for something they don’t want.

Either way, you’ll find the Music app has been redesigned, and it makes a good first impression. It’s clear and bright, with lots of images. There are new buttons at the base of the interface: For You, New, Radio, Connect, Playlists, and My Music. The last two are where you find the music you synced from iTunes or bought in the store, your ‘old’ music library. The others are all Apple Music features.

For You gives you recommendations and stations based on genres and artists you like. As with Beats Music, Apple Music asks you to pick a few genres and artists you like so it’s recommendations can begin. Beyond that, it should learn what you like based on what you listen to via Apple Music, your own library, and of course the new Beats Radio. I was disappointed to see playlists like “intro to…”, as these were based on artists I told Apple Music I like, so I hardly need an introduction to them, right?

New shows you the latest releases in Apple Music, and for now they don’t seem to be curated for your own tastes, so expect to see big names, as well as some local flavor based on where you are.

Radio is split into stations based on genre, as well as its flagship Beats 1, hosted by world famous DJs like Zane Lowe. Beats 1 sounds very much like a radio station – it’s live, DJs speak and you’re at their mercy in terms of selection. How much you enjoy Beats 1 depends whether you like the DJs’ tastes.

So far, and this may change, the genre stations are simply mixes of music from Apple’s huge music library. Here, you can skip tracks forward, but not backwards, though you can listen again to any song you hear via your listening history. If you really like a song, you can start a station based on that song. I did that with The Smith’s There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, and it was followed by songs by Blur and then Electronic. There’s a star button under all tracks, which allows you to advise the app to play more or less of this kind of song, or add it to your iTunes Wish List.

Connect is where artists share content with you. Pictures, songs, video, and more, in a feed. The artists are mixed from genres and artists you like. This is probably the biggest experiment in Apple Music. Social media has proved very successful for many artists, whether its Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter. Connect looks like Apple’s attempt at giving them the same opportunities from within Apple Music. How successful it is depends on artist engagement. You can comment on posts, like them, or share them on your social networks as well. Watch this space, as they say.

An impressive start

The addition of Apple Music to the iOS Music app makes it possibly the most complete music app around. I still feel the lack of Spotify style community features is a mistake, but it’s still an impressive package. It’s almost intimidatingly large, and will take some getting used to, regardless of whether you’re already a Music or iTunes user.

Apple Music is available right now on iOS, and should come to iTunes on Windows and OS X in the next few hours. An Android app will be released in the Fall.

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We now know where connected cars are today, and what’s on the horizon. How will connected cars change our lives in the next five to ten years? In the name of safety and efficiency, it seems we are headed for more and more automation. Being a driver may become a thing of the past.

The self-driving car – should you worry?

Self-driving cars are almost inevitable. Google has shown over six years of testing that they are viable, and moreover, that they make better and quicker decisions than human drivers. The main obstacles to driverless cars coming to our streets are road regulations and public perception.

With regulation, laws have been made with human drivers in mind. Computers in charge will mean regulation designed especially for that. Regulation being a government area, don’t expect a super fast response.

Fear of robot controlled cars seems widespread. Even if, as Google claim, robots are safer and do the job better, we worry that a computer might decide to kill us instead of killing other people in the case of an accident. This is fairly illogical, and misunderstands how self driving cars work and why accidents occur.

Most accidents are the result of human error, not technical failure. Human error usually results from lack of concentration, disregard for rules, slow reactions, or being under the influence. All of these disappear with self-driving cars that act in a predictable manner, cannot be distracted, and are programmed to respect the rules of the road. And they don’t get drunk.

The logical problem with stories that ‘cars might have to be programmed to kill you’, is that they obviously wouldn’t. They will be, and are, programmed to avoid accidents, and won’t make a decision based on killing or not killing anyone. Stories like this make a good headline, but have, at least currently, no basis in reality.

How manufacturers go about convincing people to let go of the wheel, is another matter – it’s not easy being told a machine is better than you!

How self-driving cars will improve your life

Bosch have showcased a system where your smartphone and car interact. When you arrive at a destination, your car will park itself, and when you want to leave, you can use your phone to tell the car to pick you up. That might sound like the Batmobile or Knight Rider, but it really seems to be just around the corner.

We may like to be in control, but let’s face it, highway driving is dull. Assisted or automated cars mean you’ll be able to relax instead of trying to stay awake staring at a repetitive, boring road. The more assisted cars we see on the road, the safer you’ll be too. Studies show that up to 90% of accidents can be directly attributed to driver error, and computer controlled cars will be able to react faster than human drivers when avoiding accidents. So, highway pile-ups should stop being a problem.

Away from automated driving, connected cars will increasingly be aware of their surroundings and nearby events. So, if any accident has been reported on your route, you and your car will know about it ahead of time and be able to avoid it, or at least be prepared. The same goes for approaching congestion.

Connected cars will send data back to central servers that will help other connected cars react to their environment as early as possible.

Environmental pollution and greenhouse gases have made cars unpopular in certain circles in recent years. But it looks like it’s not the car that’s going to go the way of the dinosaurs. It’s the driver. So enjoy driving – safely – while you can, as it may not be something you have to do in ten or fifteen years!

While we may take industry reports about driverless cars with a pinch of salt, it’s becoming difficult to ignore that travel would be easier, safer, and more relaxing if we didn’t have to drive. Not being able to call your car when your mobile battery dies could be irritating, though.

Read more about Google’s self-driving car project here.

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