If you’ve been jonesing for some streaming music on your Amazon Fire TV , your long tunes-free wait is over. Spotify has announced that it has released a streaming-music app for the set-top box.
The Fire TV now has the Spotify Connect app that can be controlled with the music service’s iOS and Android mobile apps. But, the app only works with a Spotify premium account. So if you’re jamming for free, you’re going to have to continue enjoying that ad-sponsored music on your computer.
➤ Enjoy millions of songs on your Amazon Fire TV with Spotify Connect
Amazon partners with Samsung to launch custom Kindle e-Book service for Galaxy devices
Amazon and Samsung have today announced that the two companies will launch an e-Book download service designed specifically for the South Korean handset maker’s range of Galaxy smartphones and tablets.
As part of the partnership, the companies will also launch ‘Samsung Book Deals’, which will be open to anyone using the Kindle for Samsung app. This will provide users with up to 12 free e-Books per year from a selection of four different free books per month.
It’ll first be available for the Galaxy S5, starting sometime this month, before being expanded out to include other devices. The companies said Kindle for Samsung is available to download now in more than 90 countries from the Samsung app store.
Featured Image Credit – Sweetlabs/Flickr
Skype for Xbox One gets synced chats, push notifications, contact filtering for who is online, and more
Skype today released the first update for its Xbox One app, adding new features and squashing a bunch of bugs. The new version is rolling out gradually, but if you don’t see it on your console you should be able to grab it soon.
First and foremost, Skype says it has improved the chat component. If you’re using Skype on your computer, phone, or tablet as well as your Xbox One, the app should now keep your conversations in sync. The Microsoft-owned company says it has reduced the number of missed messages “to make your chat experience even better.”
Chat is not only synchronized but it also includes push notifications, alerting you when a new message arrives. Furthermore, the Xbox One app also provides a longer chat history: up to 1,000 messages, rather than just the past seven days.
Next up, contact filtering now lets you see who is online. This means you finally don’t have to scroll through your entire contacts list to find someone to chat with.
Remaining new features include a first time tutorial for how to use video calling and chatting in the living room, as well as new emoticons based on characters from Marvel’s Captain America. Last but not least, Skype says it has addressed the most pressing problems since releasing the console’s launch in November:
Despite that claim, this update still doesn’t let you use Skype like a gamer would expect: while playing games. We’re still waiting for Microsoft to work out all the kinks before it starts adding the really big features.
See also – Xbox One review: A multimedia extravaganza that also plays games and Overview: Here’s how Skype will work on the Xbox One