News you need to know
YouTube announces music subscription service
That's right, YouTube is now letting you pay them money in exchange for a streaming music service like Spotify or Rdio. For $9.99/month, you can get high-quality album streams, offline playback and more from YouTube, as well as a subscription to Google Music.
I don't really understand why this needs to exist, but since I'm a Google Music subscriber and will get it for free... it's not a bad deal.
Facebook to brands: If you really want to reach your customers, you’ll need to buy an ad
Remember five years ago when everyone's business got a Facebook page because they could directly reach their fans? Those days are gone. Facebook originally started making businesses pay to reach their entire audience a few years back, but now the company is planning to reduce the amount that pages can reach for free.
BlackBerry releases a 'classic' BlackBerry with modern software
Miss that BlackBerry keyboard from five years ago too much? Good news! BlackBerry has the perfect device for you. It seems creating a throwback to it's old devices is another strategy as the company attempts to stay relevant.
Ads and eyeballs: Twitter's new strategy goes after increased revenue and engagement
Twitter held an analyst/investor event this week where the company detailed its plans for the service and how it expects to grow over the next few years and seek out even more revenue. This piece is by me looks at what's changing at Twitter and what that means for you.
Apple releases tool to deregister phone numbers from iMessage
Ever tried to switch from an iPhone to anything else? Removing yourself from iMessage can be a painful process that takes weeks. People have even sued Apple for holding their messages hostage. Apple addressed this by releasing a tool that lets you remove your number instantly this week.
A milestone moment for Microsoft: .NET is now an open-source project
I almost didn't believe this headline when I read it. Microsoft prized .NET development framework is going open source, for the first time ever which will make it available to Mac and Linux developers as well as Windows.
The framework was incredibly popular up to around 2007, but developers began to drop away as open source projects gained popularity; Microsoft has made this move in an attempt to stay relevant and boost adoption no matter what platform developers are building for.
It's huge and certainly wouldn't have happened under Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft bundles Office 365, Xbox and Skype subscriptions for $199
Are you using a ton of Microsoft services and paying through the nose for it? A new package that rolls the price of Office 365, Xbox and Skype into one yearly fee might be right up your alley.
You'll soon be able to make Skype calls in your browser
Remember Skype? Apparently a lot of people still use it, despite products like Google Hangouts existing. The good news for those among us still using Skype is that you will no longer be shackled to the desktop client; Skype calls are coming to the web!
Lollipop rolls out for Nexus devices
Are you the proud owner of a Nexus phone? Android Lollipop is rolling out for you right now! I'm on the market for a new phone and am incredibly tempted to switch to Android; Lollipop is delightful.
Must reads
The end of apps as we know them
Phones are getting smarter, but their layout has remained largely the same. Where is the next big shift in mobile? Perhaps it's away from grids of icons toward dealing with notifications directly and never entering apps.
Holy shit we landed a spacecraft on a comet
This is my favorite headline of the week. If you missed it, scientists landed a probe on a comet after 12 years of planning. The mission launched in 2004 and this GIF shows just how much planning was required to get it right.
The sad news is that the probe on the comet landed in a shadow and is stuck at the moment. Hopefully they can free it!
The unfinished suburbs of America
What happens to suburbs that were partially developed then never used? They just waste away.
The twilight of the indoor mall
Indoor malls are slowly dying, in favor of larger outdoor malls which are more attractive to shoppers. Here's a fascinating look at what's happening to those malls left behind.
The mind trick social networks use to get you addicted
If you take all the numbers away from Facebook, it's far less addictive. Why are we so in love with with getting a tally of our social worth?
Trending Products
Vscocam
My favorite camera app got a big update this week to work better on the new iPhones as well as to support iPads. Vscocam is a great combination of photo tools, filters and camera app for iOS and Android.
Signal Tower
This incredible email newsletter/site publishes interviews with people in the technology community. Signal Tower is beautifully laid out and features incredibly detailed/well written interviews.
Wildcard
This new app lets you browse the web in a new way, using cards instead of websites and allows you to purchase goods from right inside searches. It's an interesting look at what could be the future of search on mobile.
