| YouTube may be getting background audio streaming in newest update Oct 22nd 2013, 23:00, by Nate Swanner YouTube is great for watching the occasional video, but sometimes the need to stay glued to the screen is tough. There are times when you just want to tear away and do something else with your day, and it would be nice to listen in on the audio. 
Android Police have discovered, via one of their APK Teardowns, that the update for YouTube may support background audio streaming. The functionality is there in the settings, which means it's probably being dogfooded for testing. If it ends up hitting the next release, it has some really interesting implications.
With background audio, YouTube could see a huge impact in regard to traffic. With users listening to audio and/or watching video, their bandwidth will see some strain. It also could make monetizing YouTube videos more interesting, as we could see those audio ads come to life in YouTube videos/streaming audio as they do with popular podcasts on other mediums. It also means, quite simply, we could be getting Podcasts from YouTube. Either by separating the audio from the video, or simply uploading pure audio segments. With background audio streaming likely coming to YouTube, it will be interesting to see how the homemade video site will morph into something more.
|  | Nexus 5 is on eBay at a huge markup Oct 22nd 2013, 22:19, by Nate Swanner The fervor surrounding the Nexus 5 is fierce. As we anticipate the release of the next Google smartphone, we're also prepared for the Play Store to be absolutely crushed by the traffic it sees. One eBay-er is confident they can get through the checkout process, and with a multitude of devices. 
An eBay listing for the Nexus 5 has popped up, and will allow you to "Buy It Now" — for $650. For well above the starting price of $349 (the listing is for the 32GB variety, which we assume will be $399), you can make sure you get your order in for the Nexus 5. Of course, this is all very suspect.
While the markup isn't anywhere near the $1,000 we'd seen the Nexus 4 at last year after launch, it's still a hefty price for the Nexus 5. Then again, that price is fair market value for an unlocked, off-contract device — we're just spoiled with the Nexus pricing strategy. The other issue is availability. Though the eBay listing is a "Buy It Now", that's not to say this person can even get their hands on the device, much less that many. Currently, the item has five available, but if last year is any indication, many users had their Play Store carts emptied for no apparent reason. The servers couldn't handle the load, and it all went haywire. There are also a lot of very strange "reviews" which don't seem to correlate to anything other than speculation the device will be great. So, we have a listing for devices via a source many had issues getting last year, a huge markup, and reviews for something nobody has. Whatever is going on here, one thing is certain: it's Nexus season.
| | T-Mobile planning a Twitter Q&A event tomorrow, and it's all about tablets Oct 22nd 2013, 22:00, by Nate Swanner T-Mobile is getting ready to further disrupt the carrier industry tomorrow, as they prepare to take to Twitter and delve further into Un-carrier territory. Calling this "Un-carrier 3.0, part 2", T-Mobile CEO John Legere and CMO Mike Sievert will engage in a town hall type discussion about their next phase. 
Promising tablet news, T-Mobile will be taking questions from listeners. By twittering a question to @Twitter with the hashtag #unleashthetablet, or texting to 313131 (type TMUSQA, then ask your question), you can ask whatever question you like to Legere and Sievert.
The press release wasn't forthcoming about what we could expect, but it's reasonable to think that we could learn about a new device from T-Mobile. It may be a continuation of their strategy on data consumption, too. As tablets are an increasing part of our mobile device repertoire, it'll be interesting to see what T-Mobile has in store. Getting more tablets onto a data plan is something T-Mobile may be trying to do. After tomorrow's event, we'll let you know if we think their strategy will work. If you’re interested in checking it out, the event starts at 9am PST, and will be live-streaming (audio only) from the T-Mobile newsroom site. VIA: Android Central
| | The iPad Air and mini, and what they don't mean for Android. Oct 22nd 2013, 21:20, by Nate Swanner Curious what all this iPad news means for Android fans? We do, too. With the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display upping the ante on mobile technology in their own way, let's take a look at what this means for Android tablets. 
When we take the iPad Air into consideration, there's a lot to like: thin, light, powerful. At only 7.5mm thin, it's the slimmest full-sized tablet available. Apple is also touting their debated A7, 64-bit processor on-board, and saying it has dual WiFi antennae for "twice the WiFi performance", as well as an LTE option.
The iPad mini stepped up to a Retina display, which was a safe assumption made by many. It keeps the 7.9-inch screen, but also packs the A7 processor and dual WiFi antennae inside. The mini will also have an LTE version, and both Apple tablets will be available in November: the Air on the first, and the mini later in the month sometime. The iPad Air will start at $499 for the 16GB WiFi version, and run all the way up to a massive $929 for the 128GB LTE version. The iPad mini will run $100 less across the lineup, so starting at $399 and topping out at $829. That's a jaw dropper. Impressive, sure, but they're probably not enough to get us away from our Nexus 7 2013 — or even Nexus 10. The hardware is gorgeous, but the guts are suspect as Apple doesn’t reveal much about what’s going on inside their devices. The ecosystem is still iOS, and Android fans clearly aren't into that. Starting at nearly half the price of the iPad mini, the Nexus 7 2013 is still our champion. | |
