MacRumors

Google is set to announce a new music subscription service tomorrow at its annual Google I/O conference, reports The Verge, having finalized deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment., and Warner Music Group.

The service is said to be a direct Spotify competitor, offering up songs on demand that can be streamed to a computer or mobile device for a set monthly fee.

Though Google has had an existing music service since 2011, it operates in a manner that is similar to iTunes, allowing users to purchase individual songs and albums. It also has a "locker" that lets users store digital entertainment collections.

Pricing information on the new service has yet to be released, but The New York Times claims that Google will not offer a freemium ad-supported tier.

Google's streaming service will not include a free tier, according to the people briefed on the plans who did not want to be identified discussing confidential matters. The subscription rate was not known, but is expected to be similar to that of Spotify and other competing services, like Rhapsody and Rdio, which tend to charge about $10 a month.

While Google's streaming music service will be released ahead of Apple's rumored iRadio service, the two are fundamentally different. With a Spotify model Google will be able to offer songs piecemeal, while Apple's iRadio is said to closely resemble Pandora, which plays a selection of random songs based on user preference. As of last week, Apple was still in negotiations with music labels.

Google's subscription music service will be connected to Play, Google's digital content distribution platform. The Wall Street Journal notes that the upcoming streaming music service is separate from a second paid music subscription service in the works from YouTube, which would give users access to music videos and audio-only songs.

Google I/O is set to kick off tomorrow with an opening keynote at 9am PT at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The CharityBuzz auction for coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook has just ended, with a final bid driving the price up to $610,000. Previously, the auction had stagnated at $605,000, where it remained until 30 minutes before the bidding closed.

The $610,000 bid was placed by a newcomer to the auction who had not previously bid before, known only as "a********s." While CharityBuzz will not release the name of the high bidder, it is possible that the winner will come forward to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the auction.

Currently, the money that the Tim Cook auction has brought in is more than twice as much as the total of the current high bids on the other 118 auctions that are supporting the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights.

Because the bidding totals ran so high with bidders clamoring for a moment in the spotlight, CharityBuzz was forced to implement bank qualification terms before additional bids could be placed, which slowed bidding considerably.

Under the terms of the auction, the high bidder is entitled to a 30–60 minute meeting with Cook at Apple headquarters on a mutually agreed upon date.

Networking company Sandvine has released a new report that breaks down North American iTunes traffic on fixed networks, examining how iTunes customers are using the service. Surprisingly, the largest portion of iTunes traffic is not generated from streaming, but from the App Store.

Direct App Store downloads account for 38.1% of total iTunes traffic, while 36.15% of traffic comes from iTunes streaming, which includes movie and song previews, along with iTunes Match.

With iTunes Match, customers can stream music and video purchases to both mobile devices and Apple TVs. Apple's streaming traffic may increase in the coming months with the introduction of iRadio, the company's rumored streaming radio service.

Media downloads, which are non application purchases such as music, movies, and books make up the third largest portion of iTunes traffic at 20.47% and the final 5.33% of traffic is generated from iTunes Browsing as users visit various App Store and iTunes pages.

As Tim Cook noted in Apple's Q2 financial results call, iTunes has been experiencing phenomenal growth with record quarterly billings of $4 billion. Apple's App Store is nearing 50 billion downloads and has paid out more than $9 billion to developers.

Sandvine's report also points out that Apple manufactured devices generate 35% of all streaming audio and video on fixed access networks, with the iPad generating the most traffic at 10%.

To generate its report, Sandvine examined a cross-section of customer data, gathered over a one-month period and compiled a 24-hour profile of each network normalized by the number of active subscribers at each hour of the day.

Apple has quietly given Siri the ability to answer user responses with quotes, citing famous passages from notable people like William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson. First noticed by iLounge, the quotes are used when Siri is asked a question that is excessively long, tactfully reminding the user of the value of brevity.

When Siri is given a request that is too lengthy, she will now respond with one of several different quotes that suggest that the user shorten the question. For example, one quote from Thomas Jefferson reads, "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."

Siri has a range of different quotes in her repertoire, including one from the 1970's television show MASH.

It is unknown when the change to Siri was implemented, but a Reddit thread from last week appears to contain the first known instance of the phrasing, suggesting that Siri's new quoting ability was added within the last week or two.

BlackBerry has announced that it will bring its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform to iOS this summer. BBM was one of the first proprietary mobile messaging services -- not unlike Apple's iMessage service -- and remains hugely popular.

The company reports that BBM has 60 million monthly active users and that BBM users send 10 billion messages per day. In January, Apple claimed iMessage users were sending 2 billion messages per day.

Moreover, there are a number of popular so-called 'over-the-top' messaging services including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger -- both of which move billions of messages a day.

BBM set the standard for mobile instant messaging with fast and reliable service and an added layer of engagement with delivered and read statuses. You’ve shared with us your stories about how BBM has kept you connected when it mattered most to you. Upon release of the multi-platform BBM service, you can broaden that real-time connection to friends and colleagues on other supported mobile platforms.

In the first version of multi-platform BBM, iOS and Android users are expected to be able to experience the following BBM features:

- The immediacy of BBM chats
- Multi-person chats
- Voice note sharing
- BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more

The team here at BlackBerry has definitely been working hard to bring the much-adored BBM experience to a wider group of mobile users.

It was rumored back in 2011 that BlackBerry was planning to port BBM to iOS.

BlackBerry Messenger for iOS and Android is expected to be released this summer.

Late last year, Philips launched its "Hue" lighting system, offering sets of wireless-enabled LED lightbulbs that allow users to remotely control their lighting, including adjusting to a rainbow of colors, from an iOS app. Hue has been exclusively sold through Apple's online and retail stores, and Philips has been working hard to both bring more features to the system and to open it up to developers to build even more functionality.

Philips today announced the "next phase" of Hue with a major update bringing a number of new features. Perhaps most interesting is integration with If This Then That (IFTTT) protocols to allow Hue to provide visual alerts for a wide variety of situations.

The next generation of the Hue app (version 1.1) can now hook up to your essential internet services via your smartphone or tablet, meaning your bulbs can act as indicators for weather, stock quotes, sports scores, email, social media and more. They can be set to behave in any way you choose. For example, to change color if it’s going to rain; to blink if you receive an urgent email, Facebook message from someone special; illuminate gradually as the sun sets; or even flash in your sports team’s colors when they score.

The new Version 1.1 of Hue also adds geofencing, automatically turning lights on as the user approaches their home and turning them off as they leave, as well as other customizable options. The update also brings recurring schedules, allowing users to simply set a schedule once and have it repeat each day.

The Hue starter pack ($199.95) with core hardware and three bulbs and single bulbs ($59.95) are available through Apple. The Philips Hue universal app for iOS devices is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Cult of Mac points to a report [Google translation] from Taiwanese site TechNews claiming that Apple will be including a sapphire-covered capacitive home button on the iPhone 5S in order to accommodate the fingerprint sensor rumored to be coming as a differentiating feature for the device.

Apple is expected to do away with the traditional physical home button, which has long been one of the most unreliable components on iOS devices. It’s thought that using sapphire crystal, which has a hardness second only to diamond, will prevent the button from getting scratched and ruining the fingerprint sensor. [...]

They insist Apple will employ a capacitive touch home button for the first time with the iPhone 5S, eliminating one of the most unreliable components in an iOS device (the physical home button has a tendency to fail after long periods of use).

TechNews has not, however, been a regular source of Apple rumors, and thus it is difficult to place much faith in this rumor. Rumors of a capacitive home button to replace the physical button that has been a staple of iOS devices since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007 have circulated for several years, but have never gained serious traction.

Reports of a fingerprint sensor for the iPhone 5S have been gaining steam following Apple's acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec last year, with high-profile Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo repeatedly predicting that the device will include such a feature "under" the home button, although details on exactly how it will be incorporated into the device remain unknown.

Sapphire crystal as a scratch-resistant covering has also been a popular topic of conversation since Apple began using the material for the rear camera on the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch last year. Earlier this year, we noted that the material may someday replace glass as the protective layer for mobile device displays, although it will take some time before costs become reasonable for such an expansive use of sapphire.

Just weeks after the launch of Samsung's latest Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, FOSS Patents reports that Apple is seeking to add the device to a patent lawsuit already underway against Samsung in the United States.

Judge Lucy Koh has already ordered Apple and Samsung to narrow their case, which is expected to go to trial in March 2014. Each side will ultimately be required to limit their cases to ten targeted devices, although the current stage is seeing the companies pare their lists to 22 devices each.

The filings reveal a major new disagreement: Apple has analyzed the Galaxy S4, Samsung's new top-selling product, and "has concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product". Apple's current list of 22 accused products does not include the S4, but a footnote contains the statement from which I just quoted. Apple says it will drop another product from its list of 22 accused products once it has permission to add the S4 to this litigation.

The two sides are also continuing to disagree over what constitutes a single product, with Samsung arguing that each carrier version of its devices should count as a separate product, seeking to shift the balance by taking advantage of its significantly larger number of devices compared to Apple's lineup.

Apple's list of 22 products currently covers a number of Samsung's smartphone and tablet devices, while Samsung's own list includes virtually every device and service offered by Apple, including all iPad and Mac models, all iPhone models dating back to the iPhone 3G, the last three iPod touch generations, 1st and 3rd generation Apple TV models, and even iTunes and iCloud. While the battle between Apple and Samsung has focused mainly on mobile devices until now, Samsung's counterclaims have sought to bring Apple's Mac lineup and services into the dispute by asserting infringement of a patent related to multimedia synchronization across devices.

Apple has been beefing up its iWork team since early February, and has posted several new job listings in recent weeks.

The latest job posting, which was added this morning, seeks a software QA engineer. As noted by Apple Bitch (via AppleInsider) the position specifies that the engineer will work on "the next generation of Desktop, Mobile, and Web application/services."

Apple is currently hiring a number of employees for its iWork team, including three QA software engineers, a Production Specialist, a Technical Production Ninja, a Verification Engineer, a Visual Motion Designer, and a HiDPI Image Specialist to focus on Retina displays.

Apple's iWork suite includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, for both iOS and Mac. The software is overdue for an update as it was originally released in 2009 and has seen only minor improvements since that time.

While early iWork job hirings focused on senior software engineers, the newer listings for quality assurance software engineers suggest that the company might be inching closer to releasing a new version of iWork.

With one day to go before bidding closes, the CharityBuzz auction for coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook is at $605,000. Bidding has slowed considerably since the first couple of days, with only one bid -- the current winning mark of $605,000 -- since April 26th.

The current high bid for coffee with Tim Cook is worth twice as much as the total of the current high bids on all 118 other auctions supporting the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights in the current campaign on CharityBuzz. The site running the auction was also forced to implement financial verification checks for bids on the Tim Cook listing after a bid was placed using a stolen credit card.

The auction's bidding quickly rose to $500,000 in the first two days with a number of bidders affiliated with third-party accessory makers looking for publicity or simply a business meeting with the Apple CEO.

Bidding closes tomorrow, May 14, at 1:08 PM Pacific Time.