Billboard: YouTube building an on-demand music streaming service with free and paid tiers

The rumor mill's been churning out tales of a forthcoming YouTube music streaming service for months now, and today Billboard published a new story with a startling amount of detail about it. According to unnamed sources, YouTube's working on an on-demand music service with both free and paid tiers. Apparently, the ad-supported free version will provide unlimited, on-demand access to a whole host of tracks on any device, thanks to the licensing agreements Google struck for its Google Play All Access music service. Aside from the obvious -- removing ads from the equation -- it's unclear what folks will get for their money should they choose to opt for the paid version.

This new rumor is lended credence when considered in light of last month's revelation that YouTube will be offering offline access to content next month -- a feature that'll likely be expected from consumers who have grown accustomed to such things from the likes of Spotify, Rhapsody and other subscription music services. According to Billboard, YouTube's service has yet to receive a release date, and given how long these rumors have been floating around, it seems reasonable to expect that we won't see the new service anytime soon. For its part, when we contacted YouTube for comment on this story, we, quite naturally, got the same reply as Billboard did:

We're always working on new and better ways for people to enjoy YouTube content across all screens, and on giving partners more opportunities to reach their fans. However, we have nothing to announce at this time.

Source: Billboard

Sony preps portable and integrated stereo amps for its High Resolution Audio series

Sony began catering to well-off audiophiles last month with its High Resolution Audio series, but it left out portable music fans and those with existing audio systems. The company is covering those gaps in its lineup this weekend. Its new PHA-2 (shown above) is billed as the first portable amplifier/DAC combo to support "virtually every" studio-grade audio format, including 24-bit/192KHz PCM files; it can handle digital audio from PCs and iOS devices, as well as analog audio for other sources.

Twitter's new Comcast deal could have you watching TV from tweets

Twitter's making a broader push into your TV room -- if you're a Comcast cable subscriber, that is. The cabler's just inked a deal with Twitter that should see the addition of a "See It" button appear on tweets pertaining to NBCUniversal programming later this fall. According to AllThingsD, the initiative should work something like this: say you're browsing your feed and come across a tweet about "The Michael J. Fox Show" (if it survives long enough), there'll be an associated "See It" button that, when clicked, will take you to a card with more detailed information and, crucially, the ability to DVR or watch the program on TV. The specifics of the deal haven't been fully disclosed and it's not clear which shows will enjoy the "See It" button promotion, but other cablers and TV networks could soon be participating as well. Twitter intends for this unique strategy to spread across content providers, bridging your social networking life and all its real-time buzz with your TV consumption habits.
 
Source: AllThingsD

Gogo Vision teams up with Magnolia Pictures to offer films in-flight before theatrical release

High speed web browsing and airborne streaming make Gogo an essential element of any tech obsessed traveler's itinerary, but the company thinks it can offer a little more. Today the firm announced a deal with Magnolia Pictures that will put select films on its Gogo Vision VOD service before they hit theaters. Starting next month, passengers will be able to rent The Last Days On Mars and Best Man Down for the usual $3.99 fee, the former of which will be available a full month ahead of its theatrical release. While these inaugural films probably won't break any box office records, the influx of fresh, early access content will certainly be a boon for fliers who forgot to bring a book. So, flying anywhere next month? Skip past the break for a peek at your November viewing options.

U-Verse adds live TV streaming via web and iPad now; iPhone and Android later

Following the lead of several other TV providers, AT&T U-verse has launched internet streaming for some of the channels it carries. Subscribers can tune into up to 108 channels while at home, and about 25 while away from home either on Uverse.com or on the U-verse for iPad app. The new iPad app launched on September 30th and Uverse.com streaming went live on the 4th. A support document posted on the AT&T forums indicates it will come to the iPhone app on October 16th, with support following for Android phones and tablets on the 21st. Conveniently, the old U-verse Live TV service from AT&T's mobile unit has already been renamed to Mobile TV, clearing any possible confusion.

Comcast's new X1 cable boxes are apparently suffering a nationwide outage

Beginning around midnight ET tonight, users of Comcast's new X1 platform from areas across the country have reported blank screens from their boxes. As of about 3AM, at least a few indicate service is coming back on, while others still can't watch anything on TV. There's no official response from the various Comcast social media accounts, but a peek at DownDetector.com and forum threads reveals the issue is hitting several areas coast to coast all at once. The new cloud enabled TV platform and DVRs aren't available everywhere yet, so reports are clustered in a few areas. For people wary of a move towards "cloud computing", issues like this with the new DVRs that get their information via internet protocol is just another reason to love a standalone box. We'll check with Comcast to see if we can get any more information regarding the outage, let us know in the comments how things are working in your area.

Source: DownDetector.com, AVS Forum, DSL Reports

Kaleidescape's digital store adds $2 Blu-ray-to-digital copy upgrades

Kaleidescape arrived at this year's CEDIA event with a couple of fresh news items to accompany its mainstream-adjacent $3,995 Cinema One player. Its online Kaleidescape Store is getting a boost by adding the ability for customers to add digital copies for their existing Blu-ray discs. At launch it only supported DVDs, but now customers can get high quality, discless access to movies they already own HD editions of, just by putting a disc in the player. The price for Ultraviolet access across devices and an excuse to stop getting up from the couch to put the disc in (although, if you'd like to buy an expensive disc changer instead we're sure Kaleidescape won't argue) is $1.99, so choose wisely. Finally, the company is expanding access to the store, which has opened its virtual doors in Canada for the first time, in addition to the US and the UK, where it launched back in May.

Bang & Olufsen promises 'second-to-none' experience from new wireless speaker technology

Wireless speakers still aren't usually the first choice of those primarily concerned with sound quality, but high-end manufacturer Bang & Olufsen is setting out to change that perception with its latest offering. Announced at the CEDIA conference this week, the company's new wireless speaker platform promises to deliver 24-bit, uncompressed audio to either a pair of speakers or a full 7.1 surround setup.

$35,000 Prima Cinema Player brings movies home as soon as they hit theaters (eyes-on)

Ready to escape the usual crowd at the movie theater and host your own premieres at home? Prima Cinema has an answer, with the minor requirement of $35,000 (and a few other details) to get your home theater ready for first-run movies. Just as we'd heard when it first popped up a couple of years ago, that large setup fee buys the Cinema Player, a rack-mountable box loaded with a 2TB hard drive and enough DRM to keep the studios happy, plus a wired fingerprint reader used to ensure the owner's identity. Movies download automatically to its hard drive in the background so they're already there when the owner chooses to unlock them for viewing. That privilege costs $500 ($600 for 3D), good for one showing within 24 hours. Check after the break for more of our impressions after a quick preview at Prima's CEDIA 2013 booth, then prep your black card for the pricey purchase.

Valve announces Steam Controller, a gamepad for its game console

Valve revealed Steam Controller today, a controller for its living room PC-based game console initiative. It's the third announcement this week from Valve, following reveals of SteamOS and Steam Machines on Monday and Wednesday (respectively). The controller is shaped like a standard game console controller, but in place of thumbsticks there are two clickable trackpads. Valve's saying that the dual trackpads provide resolution that "approaches that of a desktop mouse," making previously PC-only games playable on a couch.