Songbird for Android Beta Available for Download

Android fans who use their devices for listening to music will be happy to find that Songbird’s developer has decided to release its highly-acclaimed music management application on the Android platform. 


Coming from Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac OS, the developer decided to go with Android, as the first mobile platform forSongbird.
Even though the currently available download is just a preview of the application, beta testers will be able to enjoy some of the features offered by the desktop version of the software.
Songbird will probably have a hard time to make itself popular on the Android platform, as the market is already crowded with more than decent music apps such as MIUI and Winamp.
For those out of the loop, Songbird allows users to keep their library in sync, build playlists, browse, search, as well as sort their music files. The application features add-ons which make downloading music files from specialized websites much faster and more reliable.
Songbird comes with music and video player components and supports MP3, AAC, OGG, FLAC, WMA, WAV audio formats, as well as H.264, Windows Media Video, MPEG4 video formats.
Android users will be able to download Songbird beta for free from Softpedia. The application is compatible with all phones that run Android 2.1-update1 or newer.
Given the fact that Songbird is not available from the Android Market yet, users will have to enable the installing applications from unknown sources option, which can be found under Settings / Applications / Unknown Sources.

The beta version will need to be manually uninstalled when the developer releases a final version through the Android Market. Caution is advised because this step will wipe all previously stored, related data.
However, before installing Songbird for Android, users should take note of the following known issues, which will be fixed when the final release is available:
- When launching [the] app via Widget, if [the] drawer was open previously, it gets closed;- If you have an HTC Incredible, the wrong song may play when you have music on both the phone storage and the SD card;
- On the HTC Incredible, stuff may be sorted oddly in the Artist, Albums and Songs views when you have music on both the phone storage and SD card.

360-Degree Music Video Kicks Off Will.i.am’s Mobile App Company

We’ve seen a lot of inventive music videos this past year — interactive videos, crowdsourced videos, HTML5-based videos — but we hadn’t seen a 360-degree video, until now. Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am just launched his digital media company, will.i.apps, and to kick off the app-travaganza he’s out with a Peas-branded app featuring a pretty immersive vid.

The app — titled BEP360 — is the first release from will.i.apps, a company Will.i.am founded with Edo Segal of Futurity Ventures. Like pre-existing services like Mobile Roadie, will.i.apps will help artists create mobile apps to best showcase their music and brand.

That’s the aim of BEP360 — to bring the fan into the Black Eyed Peas’s world. The app features a video for the band’s song “The Time (Dirty Bit)” the first single from new album, The Beginning, which allows the user to explore the world of the video (basically a party) by moving his or her phone around. IE, If you point your phone at the ceiling, you’ll see the ceiling of the party. It’s like Google Earth, with more scantily clad chicks.

The app also includes an augmented reality view, which brings the latest album cover to life; a photo session that lets you take pictures of the band members in a virtual, 360-degree “photo shoot”; a virtual map that displays comments and pictures posted by other fans (you can take snaps with the virtual band members in the AR view and share them out); the Peas’s Twitter feed; and a puzzle game.

Overall, the video is far and away the coolest aspect of the app, but, frankly, I wouldn’t shell out the $2.99 to download it if you’re not a pretty big Black Eyed Peas fan.

We’re far more interested to see what other apps will.i.apps creates for artists, seeing as how it’s a company founded by a working musician.

Apple to Add NFC Functionality to iPhone and iPad

Apple will add NFC (near-field communication) capabilities to its next generation iPhone and iPad, claims Richard Doherty, director of the consulting firm Envisioneering Group.

NFC is a form of wireless data transfer over short (up to 4-inch) distances, which could be used to make purchases with a mobile device. If Apple ties the technology with customers’ iTunes account, making purchases might become as easy as swiping your phone over a specifically designed sticker or payment terminal.

According to Doherty, Apple is thinking of starting a mobile payment service as early as mid-2011, integrating it into iTunes and adding the familiar concept of loyalty credits and points into the service. Apple has already designed a prototype payment terminal, Doherty claims, which may be heavily subsidized or even given away to small businesses, jump starting the service.

At first glance, NFC may not seem like a big deal, but making payments simpler and easier makes a world of difference, which Apple already demonstrated with the success of its App Store. Turning the iPhone and the iPad into digital wallets opens up a myriad of possibilities that can potentially mean billions in revenue for Apple.

Google Nexus S Appears in White

Potential owners of Google/Samsung Nexus S smartphone now have another (albeit purely aesthetic) reason to choose that device over Apple’s iPhone 4: It will probably be available in white color.

We say probably because all we have now are a couple of images of the white version of the device, showing that Samsung has once again opted for a black front and a white back combination instead of making the Nexus S uniformly white.

Still, if you’re adamant about having a powerful, white, touchscreen smartphone, the Nexus S might be your best bet, as the white iPhone 4 has been as elusive as the Yeti and, last we heard, it won’t hit the stores before spring 2011. There’s no word on when the white Nexus S might appear in stores, but we’re hoping it’ll be sooner than that.