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Wednesday, 7 October 2020

Apple Targeted By Record Labels for Allowing Copyright Infringing Apps in Russian App Store

Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music, and a division of Warner have filed applications for a preliminary injunction against Apple for hosting three music apps in the Russian App Store that infringe copyright, reports TorrentFreak.

Roman Lukyanov, CEO of Semenov & Pevzner, a local law firm specializing in copyright protection and representing the labels, told Kommersant that the applications for interim measures against three apps were filed on October 1, 2020, listing Apple as the defendant.

The applications were filed at the Moscow City Court and request that local telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor takes action "to stop creating conditions" that allow for the illegal distribution of copyrighted works by a handful of local artists.

One of the apps in question, PewPee: Music Player, offers users a Spotify-like experience where they sign up for a free account to access a catalog of music, listen to playlists and download tracks for offline listening. It's unclear where PewPee sources its music. According to TorrentFreak's source code checks, however, the app actually distributes MP3 files of the selected tracks.

The PewPee website offers the same free service using basic browser tools, but in a way that reveals the precise URLs of the songs, which can also be downloaded.

Another app mentioned in the complaints, iMus Music Player, lets users stream music tracks pulled from YouTube interspersed with ads. iMus is the 104th most popular app in Apple's "Music" ‌App Store‌ category. The third app, called Music Downloader & Player, offers users a similar ads-based streaming service, with music videos pulled from YouTube, track downloads for offline listening, and an optional paid ad-free subscription.

The complaints follow a new law that came into force in Russia last week and which is designed to quickly remove piracy-enabling apps from mobile app stores. The legislation requires digital distribution platforms to quickly respond to allegations of copyright infringement. Failing to do so could result in app stores being blocked by local internet service providers.

The record labels' complaints were filed in Moscow on the day the new law came into force, and the cases are reportedly being considered a "test run" by the music industry, with other copyright holders said to be watching how they are processed by the courts.

Tags: App Store, Russia

This article, "Apple Targeted By Record Labels for Allowing Copyright Infringing Apps in Russian App Store" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The Best Home Printer for Most People

What is the best printer for most people? Let’s face it: most people don’t need a printer. At this point, putting ink to paper pretty pointless and barring a few specific cases you’re going to dust off your printer once a month at best. That said, if you want maximum resolution and to ensure your ink tanks won’t try…

The X-Men: The Animated Series Art Book Is Here to Give You Mutant Nostalgia

No matter what becomes of Marvel’s mutants in the comic books or any live-action movies Marvel Studios is undoubtedly dreaming up, the ‘90s animated series that dominated the Saturday morning TV bloc will always be one of the most definitive takes on Charles Xavier and his students. Today, io9 has an exclusive look at…

Leaker: HomePod 'Mini' Close to Launch, But No Second-Generation HomePod This Year

Apple is expected to unveil a smaller, lower-priced HomePod at its digital-only event next week, which has led to speculation about the possibility of a second-generation ‌HomePod‌ also arriving. This morning, however, serial Apple leaker l0vetodream poured cold water on that idea, claiming there will be no "HomePod2" launching beside the rumored "mini" model this year.

Earlier this year, Apple began allowing employees to purchase up to 10 HomePods at a 50 percent discount, up from the previous limit of two. Some observers had suggested that the larger purchase limit could be part of Apple's efforts to clear out inventory of the current ‌HomePod‌ ahead of a new model.

Apple may continue to sell the current ‌HomePod‌ alongside the smaller, more affordable version, but it may cut future supply orders for the premium model, which reportedly hasn't sold very well. Apple has never disclosed ‌HomePod‌ sales, instead grouping the speaker under its "Wearables, Home, and Accessories" category, but the price of the speaker is thought to have been its biggest obstacle.

Apple launched the ‌HomePod‌ in February 2018 with a $349 price tag, but then reduced its price to $299 in April 2019. The ‌HomePod‌ also has several low-priced competitors on the smart assistant front, including Amazon's fourth-generation Echo ($90) and the recently announced Google Nest ($90).

there is no HomePod2 this year
only have mini one
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) October 7, 2020

Apple has been steadily making the ‌HomePod‌ more useful by adding features such as Handoff support, multi-user voice detection, ambient sounds, and multi-room audio. Apple is also expected to add third-party music support to the ‌HomePod‌ in a future software update. The latter feature will presumably allow Spotify and other music services to be set as the default music service, letting users ask Siri to stream music by specifying "with Spotify" at the end of a request.

As for Apple's rumored smaller ‌HomePod‌, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested the new speaker could include two tweeters, rather than the current model's seven, in order to drive down costs.

Related Roundup: HomePod

Tag: L0vetodream

Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Caution)

This article, "Leaker: HomePod 'Mini' Close to Launch, But No Second-Generation HomePod This Year" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Tuesday, 6 October 2020

Anker Bluetooth Speakers On Sale for 30% Off [Deal of the Day]

A selection of Anker's SoundCore Bluetooth speakers are on sale for 30-31% off today as Amazon's Deal of the Day.

Check out the discounted speakers below...

Deal of the Day:
● Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker - $27.88 (30% off)
● Anker Soundcore Motion+ Bluetooth Speaker - $69.99 (30% off)
● Soundcore Wakey Bluetooth Speaker with Alarm Clock - $61.99 (31% off)

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