Posts Tagged ‘US’
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Microsoft has announced a new expansion for Zune services. The news is a touch bittersweet for me, since it didn’t involve the arrival of Zune Pass in Canada. Maybe next time…
Those of you who live in the U.K., France, Italy, and Spain, however, can now enjoy the Zune Pass music subscription service for £8.99 or 9.99 Euros per month. That’s only a tad pricier than the $14.99 U.S. residents pay for all-you-can-eat music via Zune. The “keep 10 MP3s per month” option remains U.S. only, unfortunately.
Those four countries — along with Germany — can also now buy music via Zune, and movie rentals and purchases have been extended to even more countries. Here’s how the video expansion breaks down:
- Rentals: U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
- Purchase: U.K., France, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
This is great news for anyone who owns an Xbox 360 or plans on purchasing a Windows Phone 7 device — but it’s also good news for Windows users in general. There’s plenty of good content to be had on Zune, and it never hurts to have one more option for purchasing downloadable music and video content.
Hit up the official Microsoft press release for full details.
Zune Pass expanding to U.K. and Europe, more nations get movie rentals and purchases originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags:Australia, australia and new zealand, Austria, Belgium, Canada, canada australia, Europe, expansion, France, Germany, germany canada, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, mexico canada, microsoft canada, month, Music, music subscription service, nbsp, Netherlands, New Zealand, new zealand australia, news, Pass, Read, Spain, Switzerland, UK, US, video, windows phone, zune
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Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
I think we last covered Jajah around 2007. The very fact that it’s now 2010 and the service is still going strong is a testament to its power.
The premise is simple: phone-to-phone, via the Web. You go to the Jajah site (on your computer or through your phone’s Web connection), punch in the number you want to dial, and your phone starts ringing.
You pick up your phone (landline or cell), and then the other side starts ringing. They pick up, and you talk.
There are a number of key advantages here:
- Since it’s phone-to-phone, I don’t need a high-speed Web connection. Sometimes I’m at a coffee shop or someplace with a crappy connection that wouldn’t carry Skype or Google Voice. With Jajah, it’s a non-issue.
- Since it’s phone-to-phone, I’m completely mobile. I can use my cell phone and just go outside; I’m not tethered to my computer.
- It works with my aging Nokia device; I don’t need a newfangled iPhone to use it.
- It gives me a direct number for each of the contacts I have. I can simply dial a local number in my own country, and the contact’s phone starts ringing (even if it’s in the US or Taiwan).
- The rates are very competitive. I use it instead of SkypeOut quite often.
- They can bill you in more currencies than Skype can, which is good for international users.
What I like about it is that it doesn’t try to replace Skype. It is its own thing, in its own niche, and it just works. It’s very, very handy.
Jajah is an incredible phone-to-phone VoIP service originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags:business utilities, coffee shop, Connection, Google, international users, iPhone, Jajah, nbsp, number, phone, Read, service, Skype, speed web, Taiwan, US, web, web connection
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Monday, June 28th, 2010
Google Chrome continues its charge ahead, and has finally overtaken Safari to become the third most popular browser in the United States. With 8.97% of the total browser market, Chome now sits behind only Firefox and Internet Explorer — both of which will take a little more time to catch.
Globally, Chrome fares better still — with a 9.4% share. That’s a pretty meteoric rise for a relatively young browser — though when you’ve got a Google-sized marketing networking and partners galore, it’s a little bit easier to pull off.
I know it’s not even two years old yet, but frankly I’m amazed that it took this long for Chrome to surpass Safari. What about you?
Tags:browser, browser market, business wire, chome, Chrome, Explorer, explorer safari, Firefox, Google, internet, internet explorer, meteoric rise, mozilla firefox, nbsp, Read, Safari, United States, US
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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Google Voice, Google’s very useful call-forwarding-slash-voice-mail-slash-transcription service, has finally opened to everyone! Well, everyone in the United States, that is.
I know we Americans sometimes act like we’re the center of the universe, but plenty of users in other countries can’t wait to get their hands on Voice. Even our intrepid editor Lee Mathews can’t get it yet, and he’s just a border away in Canada. Bummer!
Voice has been mostly invite-only since launch, but it opened to college students and the military for a while, too. If this will be your first time using Google Voice, check out some of the features before you get started: SMS-to-Email, using Voice with your existing number and more are explained on this Google Voice help page.
Does Google Voice opening up to everyone signal the upcoming launch of that new Google Voice web app Lee was predicting?
Tags:Canada, center of the universe, Everybody, everyone, Google, google canada, intrepid editor, launch, Lee, Lee Mathews, nbsp, Read, share, transcription service, United States, US, Voice, voice mail, voice web, web
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Friday, June 18th, 2010
Because Download Squad is always* super-relevant and topical when it comes to sports coverage, here’s another app that lets you show your virtual support for your favorite World Cup team. Fun Booth 2 is like a souped-up version of the Photo Booth app for Mac, and it now includes all kinds of World Cup props that you can add to your photos.
Adding team-colored beanies, jerseys, and more to your pics is Fun Booth’s trendiest feature, but it’s got other tricks that make it worth a look even after the World Cup. Fun Booth has a library of other props, and it uses facial recognition to make them fit your photo perfectly. It also lets you drag and drop your own props or draw on your photos. There are even some limited photo editing capabilities, like adjusting brightness/contrast and saturation. The full version of Fun Booth 2 is US $19.99, but there’s also a free trial edition that you can download to see if it’s something you want to keep around.
*for very, very small values of “always.”
Tags:booth, Cup, download, facial recognition, fri, Fun, fun photo, Mac, nbsp, Photo, photo booth, Read, soccer competitions, sport soccer, sports coverage, Squad, US, virtual support, world
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