Spotify tries out new video strategy after head of Original Video leaves company

In case you didn’t know, Spotify has experimented with video in the past. It even tried creating an original video series called Traffic Jams. But this approach hasn’t worked from the music streaming service. And with Tom Calderone, head of Original Video, leaving the company, people assumed the service was dropping video altogether. But it looks like they are taking a different approach. As Complete Music Update reports, a spokesperson from the company says they plan to build video content into its most successful playlists and will be linked to new music releases.

And we get to see that with the new single from Sam Smith. The new song “Too Good at Goodbyes” gets a video of Smith singing to the camera. Aside from that, the other songs in the playlist show cover photos of Smith’s other albums while the music plays. While the video can be played on both desktop and mobile, the cover art effect is obviously limited to mobile. Will we see music videos premiere on the service? Maybe or maybe not. Spotify hasn’t been aggressive with video or it just hasn’t caught on, especially with the service working more like a radio than a video platform. Will it work this time? We can’t say just yet.

Google Feed comes to Android phones around the globe

Your Google search app is bringing you the news you want to see with Google Feed now making its way around the world. First launched in the US in July, the feature brings you news related to your search history and other online activity. It is available first on Android devices and will later come to iOS, desktop, and Google’s mobile search site. To use the feature you just need to head to your search app. You’ll see the news cards containing the stories there as well as sports- and music-related updates, travel information, recipes, and the like. You can tweak this to suit your changing preferences by tapping on the three dots in the upper right corner to hide a particular story or customize the feed itself. Google promises it filters out misleading and fake news, making sure you get fact-checked stories and those that come from different perspectives, even if you’re seeing stories related to your interests.

Source: Mashable

Fujifilm launches new X-E3 camera and new 80mm Macro Lens

Fujifilm announced the new FUJIFILM X-E3 rangefinder style mirrorless digital camera with outstanding image quality and enhanced handling. The X-E3 features the latest 24.3MP X-Trans CMOS III image sensor and the X-Processor Pro high-speed image processing engine, along with a new image recognition algorithm in an ultra-compact body.

Also announced today is the new XF80mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro Lens, the first 1.0x magnification mid-telephoto macro lens in the X Series lineup of interchangeable lenses. The lens features a focal length equivalent to 122mm (in the 35mm format) and a maximum aperture of F2.8 for beautiful bokeh.

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Apple patent wants to turn iPhone’s backlight into a light beacon of sorts for runners

Apple has a couple of ideas we may or may not see in future iterations of the iPhone: turning the backlight into a safety light for runners or as a party trick of sorts to synchronize with music. The company filed a patent in May and was just published today with the title “Handheld devices as visual indicators.” As a party accessory, the filing describes that the light being transmitted can be configured with the playlists on the device and it’ll vary the “light level transmitted by the display in accordance with the song being played.” It could be a fun thing to play around with but, of course, expect it to be a battery drain.

The other feature is a bit more functional and useful for those who like going on night runs or walks. The backlight can be used to serve as a light beacon to alert cars and other pedestrians of your presence. The light can either blink, fade in and out, strobe, or pulsate. While useful, we can’t say yet if this will even make its way to Apple devices. A lot of the patents the company applies for don’t make it to the actual products. And we don’t know yet if the patent itself will be approved. What do you think? Is this a feature you’d want? There are third-party apps for this purpose already, if you are.

Source: The Verge