Apple Music Review – It’s good. Really, really good.

Hands up who’s been tied to their iPhone/iPad/iTunes today? If you haven’t, you may be asking why so many people are jumping around with their iPhones in their hand, big smiles on their faces. Well folks, this is Apple Music.

We knew it was going to be good, but we didn’t know it was going to be this good. In the words of various iPhone Antidote staff members or family members:

“I mean, no joke, this is the way to do music.”

“This will replace music as we know it. This is it. This is how we listen to music now.”

“I’m listening to songs I forgot I loved.”

“This is an E-40 music video that I‘ve never seen! ”

“This is the coolest thing I’ve actually ever seen”

“Quietly humming with a big smile on their face”

If music wasn’t known to be good for working, we might be a little bit worried. Seriously though guys, this ish? It’s good.

We’ve signed up to the free trial, so we’ve got full access, but even without it you get to access Artists materials on Connect, and can listen to the pretty epic (so far) Beats 1 Radio station.

If you haven’t tried it yet, we suggest you do. The catalog of music, even at first glance, is epic. The layout is super intuitive. The ability to create stations, make music available offline, and having access to playlists curated specifically with genres of music that you like is pretty special. Personal recommendations based on what you already like is, although not new, working fantastically.

To get your ears on it, you’ll need to update your iPhone or iPad to iOS 8.4. It took us about 4 minutes, and you don’t need much extra space. For your Mac, you’ll need to update to iTunes 12.2 which was made available today.

Both updates are free. The first 3 months of Apple Music is Free, but remember to turn off Automatic renewal at least 24 hours before your trial is up.

“It’s like the beginning of the end of illegally downloaded music. They solved it. Look at what they did.”

Apple music launch tomorrow! Here’s what you need to know.

Tomorrow, June 30th, Apple music will launch! And everyone in the world will be talking about it because 1. It’s newfangled and shiny, 2. It’s free for 3 months, and 3. It’s launching with an exclusive Hip Hop classic that everyone thinks is cool/pretends to be cool by knowing all about it.

Yup, The Chronic, the 1992 West Coast hip-hop album by Beats co-founder and now Apple God Dr. Dre. This is the first time the album has been on a streaming service (including Beats!), and will join the likes of much hyped 1989 from Tay Tay Swift. Another draw? Happy maker Pharrell will release his new single “Freedom” exclusively on the service.

A number of other Artists are said to be in talks with Apple about releasing exclusive content onto the platform. BUT WAIT THERE”S MORE!

Aside from the streaming service, Apple Music is also offering Apple Music Connect platform, a social network that lets artists share (more) photos, videos, and other content with fans.

And then there’s Beats 1 radio, which will feature special interviews and music curated by celebrities. Slim Shady himself, AKA Eminem, will be the first Beats 1 interviewee following tomorrow’s launch of Apple Music and Beats 1, and Dr. Dre will host his own radio show on the station.

Apple Music is expected to launch around 8AM PT Tuesday morning alongside iOS 8.4, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system. It will be available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac and PC through iTunes.

The first three months is free of charge thankyouverymuchApple, but after that there will be a subscription fee of $9.99 per month for a single user or $14.99 per month for a family plan of up to six users.

If you’re not down for commitment, you can still listen to Beats 1 radio, see what artists are posting on Connect, and hear ad‑supported stations on Apple Music (with limited skips) without a membership.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch..eck it out.

Deal of the Day Sunday!

Hi Guys! Happy Sunday! You know what would make the start of your working week so much better? Umm, how about a 42″ 4K TV for just $250? Or, if you like a few more inches on your entertainment, here’s looking at you 49″ TV for just $300…

Check out the deals over at NewEgg! Use Visa Checkout and coupon code VISACHECKOUTJUN15 for an extra 10% off and get up to $50 back after a mail-in rebate. Even without the rebate – these are hella good deals for shiny new fancy-a$$ 4k tv’s.

Go get ’em! Go suck eggs, working week.

No more Home button?

It’s that time again folks – New iPhone rumor time!! This time? We’re talking the Home Button, or rather, the distinct possibility that an upcoming update of the iPhone will not have one.

Whha?

Yup. But probably not the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, and 6C. Instead we’re looking at having an iPhone equipped with a new chip that will have the touch ID directly on the touchscreen in 2016 or 2017.

The tech will apparently be built within Apple instead of being outsourced and will perhaps be integrated with the Apple Watch’s Force Touch technology — which can tell the difference between a light touch and a stronger press — to bring all the other functionality of the Home Button over to the new home buttonless screen.

Interesting.

Facebook helping customers to celebrate this momentous pride!

Unless you’ve been hiding under a giant rock and have just come out from under it to only read us – no social media or news or entertainment news or anything else on the internet – we’d not only be super honored, but also very happy to tell you that today, some really big news hit the States.

The US Supreme Court today ruled that Same-Sex Marriage will be Legal Nationwide in Landmark Decision. The court ruled, 5-4, that the Constitution requires same-sex couples be allowed to marry in all 50 states. “No longer may this liberty be denied to them,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said.

This is going to make for a MASSIVE pride celebration and lots and lots of happiness. In that vein, Facebook has provided a service to help everyone celebrate by changing your profile picture into a rainbow. Go here to change yours now!

Happy moment in history for all of us, Happy pride.

Future tech of the week – glowing condoms!

What are the youth of today up to? Skateboarding, graffity and talking back to crappy chemistry teachers? Nope! Well not these ones anyway- some hella smart kids in the UK have come up with – and been awarded for –  a conceptual condom that changes colors when they come into contact with STD’s.

Wot.

Yup – It’s called the S.T.EYE and it was created by a group of 13 and 14 year olds from London’s Isaac Newton Academy in pursuit of making detecting harmful STDs safer than ever before without invasive testing.

The condoms use a built-in indicator that changes to a different color depending on the bacteria or infection it detects. Think green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus, or blue for syphilis.

Molecules in the condom attach to the bacteria of common STDs, causing the contraception to fluoresce in low light. The product is still in conceptual production.

Future tech to the rescue! And to….  a bunch of super awkward moments.

Get Gmail’s new feature!

Answering all of our email specific prayers, Gmail has just rolled out a new feature that will prevent all kinds of brain fart mix ups. Yup, we’re talking about the ‘undo send’ feature. Yess.

If you’re a Gmailer – go to settings, click “General,” and check the box that says “Undo Send.” When you do find the need for the feature, you’ll still have to act quick, with the choice of four time frames – five, 10, 20, and 30 seconds – before the undo send is no longer feasible.

This feature is currently only available on the web version of Gmail.

Amazon’s Echo now available to the public

Remember about 7 months ago Amazon teased us with this guy?

As of right now, Amazon’s Echo is available to the public! Previously on the market by invitation only, you can now order yourself the very sleek voice activated assistant for $179.99. The device can be ordered today, however they aren’t in stock and won’t be sent until July 14th.

Here’s the DL on Echo:

Provides information, music, audiobooks, news, weather, traffic, sports, and more–instantly
Controlled by your voice for hands-free convenience
Far-field voice recognition hears you from across the room
Connected to the cloud so it’s always getting smarter
360º omni-directional audio to fill the room with immersive sound
Compatible with Belkin WeMo and Philips Hue connected devices to control lights and switches with your voice
Plays music from Amazon Music, Prime Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and more

Ch-ch-ch-check it out.

The power of Tay Tay – Apple will pay musicians during free trial

So musical sh*t hit the Apple powered fan yesterday when Taylor Swift (Tay Tay to those close to her obvs) wrote a very public and promoted letter saying that her album ‘1989’ (You’ll know it from the radio ALL THE TIME) will not be made available to be streamed on Apple Music.

The new service launches on June 30 as part of an iOS 8.4 update and will be free for the first 3 months. Tay’s problem was that whilst the consumers would be getting a free product, the musicians (mainly the struggling ones) would be missing out because Apple was taking that product and giving it away for free without paying the musicians for it.

And that made Tay Tay madical.

In her own words:

“I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”

…

 
“But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”

The world was like “Oooh…” and then realllly not very long afterwards, Eddy Cue  (Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services) hopped on Twitter and tweeted thusly:

Apple will always make sure that artist are paid #iTunes #AppleMusic

— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015

  and    

#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period

— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015  

 

and

We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple

— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015

Win! Good job Swifty.

After the service’s free three-month trial it will cost $9.99 per month for individuals and $14.99 a month for families up to 6.

iPhone balloon case

Need a phone case real quick? No, we can’t think of why you would either, but hey, life’s weird, so better to be prepared, right? Right!

Now, you have your trusty balloon handy, right? Of course!

Inflate that sucker, place your phone on top, slowly deflate the balloon, and Voila! Nifty emergency iPhone case.

Watch below.