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Review: Google Music Beta

Michelle Lentz — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:08:35 +0000

Google unveiled its new cloud-based music streaming service during a keynote presentation at the Google I/O conference in May. The service allows users to upload their song library to Google’s storage servers so that their music can be played through a Web browser or on a compatible Android mobile device. Key to that sentence is upload. Google (and Amazon) have both bypassed licensing songs from the recording industry, preventing the ability to “scan and match” your collection… so if you have a large music library, you might want to wire up on a fast connection.

Initial Thoughts
What I love is simple: Music Beta provides instant access to my iTunes library (and any other music I upload) from any computer, wherever I am (as long as I can connect). What I instantly liked about Music Beta was its seamless and automatic synchronization with iTunes. Not only did it upload my entire iTunes library, it also uploaded my playlists, song ratings and play counts. The free Music Manager app also automatically keeps Music Beta in sync with my iTunes library. On install, Music Manager asks me if it can scan my iTunes player (which is a key difference from Amazon). I keep my iTunes library on a removable SSD drive, and Music Beta linked to the library I had open based on iTunes. Amazon’s uploader, on the other hand, would not recognize my iTunes library on the external drive. I manually pointed it to the drive, but it didn’t upload iTunes specific metadata (play counts, ratings), and didn’t transfer my playlists.

On initial signup, Music Beta offers an array of free songs from several genre categories. I skipped this option, and found it a bit cheesy. This is where Google exposes some “holes” in their strategy… they don’t sell music. Amazon has the upper hand here, because any digital music bought on Amazon is instantly available in your Amazon Cloud Drive, and stored for free. When playing a song in Music Beta, you have an option to “shop” but you’re just sent to a Google search results page for that artist with links to Google shopping. I presume Apple’s cloud-based music locker will have deep integration with the iTunes music store. If Apple has a “scan and match” process (which seems likely since LaLa, the music streaming service it bought last year, had that exact feature), then Music Beta will quickly look old-school.

Hands-On
I’ve been using Music Beta for about a week now. Playback has been extremely smooth, with minimal hiccups. Using Wi-Fi I have been streaming my songs for hours on end with hardly any skipping or pauses. Typical to Google, there are a few user interface quirks that are somewhat frustrating, but with a little use I’m getting used to it. For example, I have a lot of playlists: about 70. I’d like to be able to collapse the “Playlists” folder in the sidebar so I don’t have to scroll the whole list. I’m a “metadata junkie” and love to rate my music so that I can get automatic mixes. I prefer the 1-5 star song rating system in iTunes. Music Beta uses a Pandora-like “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” rating system. These are all my songs, so I’m not going to have too many “thumbs down” in my library. Songs I rated 4 or 5 stars in iTunes automatically gets a “thumbs up” in Music Beta. Another user interface quirk is the actual icons for thumbs up and down. There’s not enough contrast between the up and down thumb, so it’s hard to tell what rating the song has.

I do like the metadata editing capabilities at the song level, something Amazon’s Cloud Player does not have. Music Beta also trumps Amazon with Instant Mixes (similar to iTune’s Genius Mixes), ratings, and play counts. I also haven’t figured out how to edit metadata in Amazon Cloud Player, but editing basic metadata in Google Music is simple.

Music Beta Step By Step

Music Manager
First, to get songs into Music Beta, you have to install Google’s proprietary Music Manager app. Unlike Amazon’s Flash-based app, Music Manager secretly installs itself into the Mac’s System Preferences. It would be nice if the app told us where it was installing. I spent some time looking in the Applications folder for it. Music Manager can upload the entire contents of your iTunes library, the contents of your local music folder, or the contents of specific folders you select. You can configure it to watch your iTunes library (or any selected folder) so that it can stay in sync. There is also an option for uploading at a specified interval, or you can manually initiate an upload at any time. It took about 36 hours to upload my near-3,000 song library (and I’m on a 6mbps upload speed). Music Manager hung up near the end and never showed that it “completed” the upload, however. I also needed to log out and log back in to Music Beta to see my playlists appear. Music Manager is great if you want to mirror your iTunes library. If you prefer a more fine-grained approach to your Music collection, you might find it a bit frustrating — uploading specific songs from multiple folders is not possible. Another big plus is you can access your music during the initial upload… no waiting for a large collection to upload before you start jamming!

Music Manager lets you know that you can begin listening right away… no need to wait for the upload to finish.

Music Manager scanned my iTunes player library and matched compatible songs for the upload.

The Music Manager app installs in the System Preferences on the Mac. From here, you can configure how you want it to handle your library.

Web Player
What I like (and at times dislike) about Google is their approach to user interfaces. The Music Beta web player is stripped of anything non-essential, and is focused on getting you to the business of playing music right away.

On the left side of the UI, there is a library column that lets you choose a specific view of your library on the right: “New and recent”, “Songs”, “Artists”, “Albums”, and “Genre”. The “Songs” view gives you a flat sortable table of all your songs. The “Artists” views shows albums for each artist. When you select an artist, it will show the full discography for that artist — each album cover and a list of the songs.The “Albums” view displays a grid of album covers and titles.

I would like to see a bit more customization, however. I’d like to move the sidebar to the top or the bottom. I’d like to control my filtering options. Music Beta also gives you three auto playlists: “Thumbs Up”, “Recently Added”, and “Free Songs”. Since I skipped the “Free Songs” feature, I’d like to be able to delete that playlist. Also, as I mentioned above, I’d like to organize my own playlists to reduce all the scrolling. I’m on a Macbook Air 11.6 inch screen, so space real estate is a premium… even in Chrome’s full-screen mode.

My favorite feature is the “Instant Mix” playlist that generates an assortment of songs that are similar to one you have selected. It works great. I selected “Sir Duke” and chose “Make Instant Mix” and it created a 25-song playlist with what it deemed to be similar songs (it was good with the matches by selecting Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Curtis Mayfield and Diana Ross among others).

Music Beta also proved to be very good at making sure all my cover art was attached and accurate (with just a few hiccups).

The Web interface is fast and responsive. Google uses some HTML5 trickery to switch out the content when you change views, so you don’t have to wait for the full page to reload when you do something. Simple fade animations that are displayed during interface transitions make it feel like a native application. I miss the “auto cross-fade” of iTunes, but maybe soon we can have that too.

The web player’s interface allows easy access to Albums, Artists and Songs in your library.

Android Music App
To play your Music Beta songs on an Android device (no iOS support yet), you will need to download the Android Music app. On my HTC Thunderbolt I now have two apps named “Music” — Google’s and the default “Music” app provided by HTC. This app will be the default music player in future versions of Android. The Music Beta app has a visually rich user interface and immediately synced to my songs on the cloud drive without hesitation. From the Menu > Settings” screen, you can configure the app. You can choose which Gmail account to sync to, and set caching and streaming settings. A great feature is the app’s ability to download music for offline listening. You can “star” which songs you want to cache so you can have uninterrupted listening.

You can tailor your app experience based on how you hold your phone. Go into portrait orientation and the app operates much like a standard music player. You can scroll through your artists and albums and select a song to play. Rotate the phone into landscape orientation, however, and you will get a Cover Tunes-like interface with all your album covers floating across the screen.

Conclusion

Music Beta is impressive, and interestingly enough, already seems more “mature” than Amazon’s offering. In my opinion, Google can remove the “Beta” moniker already. The Web-based player is smooth and well-engineered. The mobile client support on Android is excellent. Streaming performance and audio quality are both good, however, I do have song hiccups more often than on Amazon’s service.

When compared directly to Amazon’s service, I’m torn. I prefer the ease of use of Google’s service, but I like how easy Amazon makes purchasing and playing. I’ll wait to see what Apple’s service has to offer before swearing “allegiance” — but Google’s Music Beta is the one that Apple has to beat.

I can’t take credit for this amazing review. My good friend, and a music geek, Brandon Carson is the author. All I did was give him access to my beta account. My thanks!

Michelle Lentz is a freelance writer, trainer and instructional designer with a serious need for the latest and greatest gadgets. When she has time, she tries to be a wine blogger, although it may just be an excuse for free wine. She currently lives in Cincinnati but has definite designs on the Bay area.

Google Going Local

Julie Blaustein — Wed, 11 May 2011 20:24:27 +0000

By Julie Blaustein

The Social Loco Conference, held at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on Thursday, May 5th., was where it was at for The Future of the Social Location Revolution. The theme of this year’s conference was convergence, the merging of distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. What better keynote to represent the convergence of the social-location landscape than Google’s Marissa Mayer, VP of Consumer Products. She talked of Google’s “Evolution of Location.” and had a three pronged approach to Location that included Exploration and Discovery, Interactivity and New Perspectives.

Starting with Google Places, Meyer talked about how key it was to be able to get a real sense of a place when you seek information about it – its look and feel. According to Mayer, the best way to connect with the places you love is at Google Places. Live for just 6 months, Google Places already has over 50 million Place Pages that include over 5 million ratings and reviews which is a rate of 1 million a month. Its success is due to its social interaction of users who can gain personalized search results via Finding, Rating and Sharing Places. Mayer announced the launch of Google Business Photos in Google Places at the Social Loco conference. Google is offering FREE photo shoots for owners at their request. The photos are high- high-quality, panoramic photos. A great Q & A about their new offering is provided by Google. Not only is it being launched in the US, but also in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Another exciting Google announcement shared at the conference was Google Earth for the Android Tablet. Google’s Product Manager Peter Birch spoke of how the idea of holding the whole world in one’s hand has always appeared to be fiction, but it is now a reality with Google Earth’s special free version for the Android Tablet. It includes a Motorola Zoom and Android 3.0 (honeycomb) offering system. It is also very social as high-resolution photos are submitted of places through a community of photographers. The coolest thing about it is for the first time on any mobile device, 3D Viewing of Buildings is being offered.

Meyer also chatted with John Battelle of Federated Media in a Fireside Chat. Battelle, known to draw juicy nuggets of information from his subjects, did not fail us this time around. Meyer sees Larry Page as CEO once again as a positive change due to his tremendous focus on technology. Mayer is also thrilled to be focusing now on Location rather than Search which she has in the past. The Search Group is expanding to becoming more expansive and includes Contextual Discovery based on where you are in context to your location. Although she wouldn’t officially say anything specific about Google Offers, she did suggest that they are like a movie in pre-production and at this time they are just casting – figuring out their next moves. And that Groupon purchase that never came to be, she was also not too open to discussing but did suggest that its the reason for Google’s focus on offers now and that they are open to more acquisitions. She did confirm that Google’s strategy is to definitely grow in this fast moving space known as Location.

Go to #socialloco and follow the conversation about the Social Loco Conference.

Google Contest Allows Pre-University Students To Code (And Potentially Win)

Forrest W. Kobayashi — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:48:27 +0000

The Google Code-in is one of the newest contests presented by Google’s Open Source Program. For students who have wanted to get involved with open source, this is a tremendous opportunity to dive in and give it a shot.

Google will team up with a variety of open source organizations to come up with a list of tasks to be performed by contest contestants. Who is eligible, you ask? Any students between the ages of 13 to 18 before the start of the contest are free to participate.

Google isn’t shorting their participants in the incentive department, either. Contestants who successfully complete one task will receive a t-shirt and a certificate. But it gets bigger: For those who complete three tasks, they will receive $100. For every three tasks after the first three, contestants will receive an additional $100, up to a total of $500 for 15 successfully completed tasks.

10 lucky grand prize winners will receive a trip to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, where their accomplishments will be rewarded with an awards ceremony.

The contest is slated to start on November 22, 2010. You can find additional information on the contest at the Google Code-in website.

The Google Code-in looks like a tremendous opportunity for young students to explore, learn and potentially develop a strong interest in programming. It will provide students with a great opportunity to network and work alongside some impressive leaders in the computer programming field.

What are your thoughts on Google’s contest?

(Photo Credit: Google)

Understanding Verizon’s DROID Line

Michelle Lentz — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:10:51 +0000

I make no secret that I’m a fan of Verizon’s Android phone line – and I appreciate that they let me test out a lot of the gadgets. However, I get a lot of questions about the NAME. I spent 30 minutes once explaining to someone the difference between their HTC Hero Android phone and a Verizon Droid Eris – all due to naming. So Verizon, I may really like your stuff – but I question the naming convention you’ve gotten yourself into.

So here goes …

Droid is a product line of Android (Google) operating system phones from Verizon. If it’s not from Verizon, it may indeed be an Android OS, but it’s not a Droid. For instance, the Sprint EVO and Hero are both running Android OS. However, they are not Droids. A Droid phone has to be Verizon and run Android OS, but can be made by anyone. Right now, Verizon has good relationships with Motorola and HTC.

To make things slightly more confusing, the first phone released in the Verizon Droid line of phones was … the Motorola Droid. Yeah, I know. It’s basically the Droid Droid.

Verizon also has the HTC Droid Eris, the HTC Droid Incredible, the Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Droid 2. I think the Motorola Droid Devour is still available as well. Where does it get really confusing? Well, I’m not exactly sure where the Android-based LG Ally falls. Is it a Droid or just an LG?

So, is your T-Mobile MyTouch a Droid? Nope, it’s an Android phone. Is your original Motorola Droid a Droid? Yep, because it’s from Verizon.

I know this seems a bit simplistic, but the amount of times I’m asked this question is a bit out of control. So when you see those Droid Does commercials from Verizon, just remember that even if your Android phone isn’t a Droid, it still probably does a lot of what the ad mentions. In my opinion, apps really help make a phone, and those are available to all Androids.

Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

Verizon Droid X [Belated] Review

Michelle Lentz — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:36:08 +0000

Have you ever had the sort of summer where everything gets away from you? That has been my summer. Back in early July, the good folks at Verizon sent me a Droid X to play with. I realized this morning that almost two months later, I still have it. They’ve been very patient with me considering that it had completely slipped my mind.

So, what do I think of the Droid X? Well, it’s a great phone. It’s also a big phone, so I won’t be trading in my HTC Incredible just yet. I need something that fits in my pockets a little more comfortably. But if you’re into bigger is better, you may absolutely love the Droid X.

Thin form, with a bump at the top to support the camera

The Droid X is everything the original Droid (it hasn’t even been a year) should have been. The keyboard, while virtual, I found extremely easy to use. It supports Swype and while I didn’t intentionally use Swype, it certainly typed easier than even my Incredible. It could just be the form factor – no matter which way you turn it, the Droid X has a huge screen. It’s a 4.3″ FWVGA 854 x 480 resolution screen. It’s crisp and instantly responsive. Putting numbers aside, things just look pretty on the Droid X screen. It’s closest comparison would be the Sprint EVO, which has a slightly thinner, shorter form factor.

There are aspects of Motorola’s MotoBlur integrated into the Droid X, mostly apparent through a few apps and widgets. For the most part, the Droid X is pure Android though. If you’re familiar with HTC’s Sense UI for Android, then you know how different a UI can make this OS. Whatever parts of MotoBlur they added to the X, it’s few and far between. In fact, I’ve gotten so accustomed to the Sense UI, that it could be one reason I wasn’t bowled over by the Droid X.

Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve adjusted to the fact that physical buttons on phones may actually be a thing of the past. A while back, one of my favorite things about the Droid Eris was that the buttons were actually physical. There was a button for home, back, Phone, and so on. The Droid X picks up on this, with buttons for Settings, Home, Back, and Search. While the keyboard is virtual, the physical buttons are a nice switch.

With heavy usage, I’ve gotten one day of battery life out of the Droid X, which pummels my Incredible (for which I always carry a backup battery). The most draining things on the Droid X battery are using the GPS for actual navigation and using the built-in mi-fi-like 3G Mobile Hotspot. While I believe it requires an extra plan from Verizon, you can easily replace your mi-fi or broadband stick with this feature. Running a test while traveling in Chicago, my husband and I hooked up a netbook, iPad, and full laptop to the Droid X signal and had great service.

The Droid X is a speedy machine, and I would expect nothing less. I laugh a lot about the specs of the new “super” phones. Years ago I had one of the first iBooks (in orange, with a handle). These phones at least triple the specs of that machine, if not more. The Droid X has 8 GB onboard memory, 16 GB microSD pre-installed, and supports up to 32 GB micro SD – total memory expandable up to 40 GB. It has a 1 Ghz ARMv7 processor. Speedy. I sometimes look at my old/current MacBook Pro and think, “My phone might be faster than you.”

It has an 8 mp camera that works as fast as the camera in my Incredible. I turned my husband loose with the Droid X while we were on a Frank Lloyd Wright Walking Tour in Chicago and he got some great shots with bright colors. I find the camera button to be a bit stiff, but apparently its just a matter of personal adjustment. There is an HDMI out port on the device as well, which I didn’t get a chance to test. Note that an HDMI cable is not included in the box.

Photo taken with DroidX

As far as call quality, with and without Google Voice, I had great quality and no dropped calls. I had no trouble hearing anyone and they were able to hear me without any issue.

Overall, the Droid X is a great device. I hesitate to use the word “phone” anymore, as these devices are really uber-portable computers. I already have several friends who ordered the Droid X as quickly as I ordered the Incredible. While it’s certainly not the device for me, due to size and my apparent attachment to HTC’s Sense, it’s certainly a great addition to the Verizon Droid line.

It looks as if the latest batch of Droid X devices will be shipping by August 31. With a two-year contract, the Droid X retails for $199.

Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

Kindle on Android. About Time.

Kristen Nicole — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:21:44 +0000

Amazon has announced plans to launch Kindle for Android, expanding on its mobile presence and increasing the number of ways in which you can access your Amazon books. The app will work on Android OS 1.6 or better, and require an SD card.

The move isn’t surprising, given Amazon’s early support of the Android platform. Even before the breakthrough Motorola Droid helped to push Android to the forefront of mobile conversation, Amazon’s store came pre-loaded on many devices, with a later mp3 store helping Google better compete against Apple’s iPhone with iTunes Store access.

Perhaps the more surprising aspect of Amazon’s Kindle release for Android is the fact that it took so long. While Amazon has found several ways to avert Apple’s top-down approach to controlling its devices and their content, it was still necessary for Amazon to appeal to iPhone users. Hence, the Amazon Kindle app for iPhone, amongst other initiatives to own an access point on the iPhone.

And while we’ll see a similar tit-for-tat proceed between Amazon and Apple over the iPad, we’re also seeing Amazon branch further away from this device-specific approach to the Kindle. Amazon on Android devices could take the company in an entirely different direction than it would have been able to go, had it stuck with just an iPhone app.

Google’s Android platform is moving beyond mobile devices to television set top boxes, among other things. Creating more access points for personal electronic devices and home entertainment means more opportunity for Amazon to sell physical and digital products. This is only the begining for Amazon’s capacity to reach consumers and provide the means by which others can reach consumers as well.

Amazon already has a pretty amazing platform of its own, and building out the access points to the platform means that more sellers and authors will be able to interact with each other. This is the real way in which Amazon can better take advantage of its current position, emphasizing the importance of its focus on its mobile presence.

Google Expanding Mobile Apps Initiative with Labpixies Acquisition

Kristen Nicole — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:23:35 +0000

A platform on top of a platform? Seems to have worked out well for Labpixies, the app development firm that was recently acquired by Google. The deal suggests Google’s desired expansion for apps to run on its Android platform, which has staked its claim in the mobile realm and is moving beyond to include other consumer electronic devices. As Google continues to push Android, the need for apps running on the platform continues to grow as well.

Giving the app market a bit of a kick start, Labpixies was acquired in order to incorporate more casual games into options for users. This is a welcome change, as gaming on the Android platform has been relatively dismal, especially when compared to Apple’s mobile platform for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, or even when compared to Facebook.

Labpixies uses Google’s OpenSocial platform, meaning its apps will run on Facebook and other places where widgets and OpenSocial apps are supported. This gives Google a multi-pronged approach to maintaining a widespread presence, even if it can’t own all the aspects of that presence across the board.

This is an important perspective for Google to have, as it looks to control a major portion of its consumer data. Given Google’s ongoing move into industries that are new to the company, Google leverages its search tools for individual consumer benefits. While that has given Google a wealth of opportunities, it’s also given the company plenty of chances to toy around with various aspects of several industries.

The mobile industry looks to be very promising, and in Google’s desire to appeal to consumers, apps have become an ideal way in which to do so. Using Labpixies as a part of this initiative will also encourage other developers and publishers to get more involved with the android platform as well.

Of course, there are many other things to address before Android becomes the top platform for developers and consumers, particularly as its open source status and frequent updates means a less stable environment than Apple’s for building mobile apps. This appears to be a step in the right direction for Google.

Steve Jobs Not Making Apple’s Work Any Easier

Kristen Nicole — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:31:48 +0000

The battle between Apple and Google is more than just a contest for who leads in the mobile platform space–it’s an appeal to the masses and their morals. In the ongoing saga regarding Apple’s stance on adult iPhone and iPad apps, Jobs tells customers to go ahead and get an Android. The Jobs jabs at Google’s mobile platform not only indicates that Apple has taken the moral high ground, but that Android is for the heathens that aren’t worthy of an Apple mobile device.

Good play, or bad? Just looking at the Internet at large, it would seem to be that the adult industry is relatively easy to access. Of course, Apple doesn’t have to create an adult category for its mobile apps–that’s its right. But when those morals come into question regarding banned apps with no seeming just cause, the moral police at Apple have a few more decisions to answer for.

Apple has been relatively strict over the accessibility and distribution of content available through its platform, and this goes for content sold through iTunes even before the App Store was opened to third party developers. The pricing and availability of songs, movies and books have been regulated, per Apple’s relationships with content publishers, owners and producers. This has a nice revenue model for Apple, but it also grants a large opportunity for Google to appeal to a large base of developers and consumers.

Sometimes the control Apple retains over these monetary relationships is strong enough to deter competing moves from other businesses, as we saw with Amazon’s Kindle and the pricing model behind its e-book sales. It’s a control that Apple holds dear, and Google is hoping to exploit. Who turns out the winner? It may be more for us to consider more than just the platforms, or the devices, or the companies, or even porn.

The overlap of all these factors means that Jobs could end up making his products and platforms look bad, driving even more support to Android. Though security is still a major source of strife for the Android platform and its apps, ongoing work on the platform, frequent updates, and partnerships with more and more device manufacturers also makes this battle one of numbers and accessibility.

Of course, the battle will live on for quite some time, particularly as Apple and Android continue to represent different aspects and attitudes towards the way in which a mobile platform should be developed. What will make the battle even more relevant towards consumer electronics and mobile devices is the growing presence of additional products and platforms. The resources that mobile platforms make available to developers and the platform owners looks to monetize consumers in an entirely different manner, attracting the likes of HTC, Sony and several others, towards owning as big of a piece of the pie as possible.