Apple showed off a new streaming-music service that will give users access to a vast inventory of songs for $9.99 a month, seeking to regain ground against upstarts that have lured listeners by offering unlimited access to music.
Apple Music will be available starting June 30 with 30 million songs, the company announced on Monday at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco. It was the highlight of the annual event, where Apple executives showed off updated software and new tools for Macs, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watch to 5,000-plus software engineers.
The new service is aimed at bolstering Apple’s efforts at a time when the music industry’s revenue from streaming is on pace to exceed sales from downloads, according to MusicWatch. Though Apple remains the largest music retailer in the world, its place as an industry leader is being challenged. Spotify has more than 60 million users - with a quarter of them buying the $9.99-a-month ad-free subscription, while music is the most popular genre on YouTube’s video service, which attracts more than 1 billion users a month.
“They’re making Apple Music available pretty much everywhere because they want to maximise the uptake,” said Ian Fogg, an analyst at IHS Technology. “Clearly, Apple sees Apple Music as a strategic play.”
Apple also unveiled a feature called Apple Music Radio, a 24-hour radio station “dedicated entirely to music and music culture”. There will also be other stations for different genres. And Apple introduced a feature called Connect, which lets artists share lyrics, pictures and comments with listeners.
The iPhone maker is offering an Apple Music sharing plan for families for $14.99 a month. People can sign up for a 3-month free membership to test the service.
Cupertino, California-based Apple, which upended the music business more than a decade ago by selling individual songs online, has helped push artists to new levels of stardom through its iTunes service and by featuring them in commercials or promotions.
Apple Music was built on Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics last year. The deal included the company’s popular headphones and speakers as well as Beats Music. Apple Music will be available on iPhones, iPads, iPod touch, Macs, Apple TV, personal computers and - in a surprising twist - Android smartphones running software from Google.
Shares of Pandora Media, the largest online radio service with 79.2 million monthly active listeners as of March, declined 3.8 per cent to $17.69 at the close in New York.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is counting on new features and innovations in Apple software to keep driving demand for the the company’s hardware products. The more than 1.4 million apps for iPhones and iPads have helped create an ecosystem for Apple devices that makes the company’s products more appealing and users more loyal.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software, led the flurry of announcements about new programs for Macs and mobile gadgets. He started with the update to Apple’s Mac operating system called OS X El Capitan, showcasing features such as a split-view option in windows. He also announced the rollout of an updated mobile operating system, iOS 9, which incorporates new search and Siri voice-recognition features.
He highlighted new functions that Apple calls proactivity, which suggest music when the user is going for a run, or apps that might be useful at specific times of day. This new proactive personal assistant follows Google’s own predictive mobile software, called Google Now. The new iOS 9 also includes a way to switch to low-power mode to preserve battery life.
Jennifer Bailey, head of Apple Pay, showed off that product’s new features, and said more than 1 million locations will accept the payment system as of next month. The company added store debit cards to its system, and renamed its Passbook feature as Wallet.
Apple executive Susan Prescott demonstrated the company's coming News application, which acts as a hub to draw in content from media outlets such as the New York Times, ESPN, Wired and the Atlantic, integrating graphics, photos and videos. It resembles Flipboard, a mobile app that pulls links and content from a users' social media accounts and presents it as one sleek digital publication.
Kevin Lynch, head of Apple Watch software, outlined updates to software for the device, which went on sale in April. New features for users include replying to emails and better review of upcoming information. Developers will get a software development kit, giving them better access to develop native apps that work better on the smartwatch.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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