Hip-hop phenom Cardi B shatters Apple Music streaming records

Hip Hop artist Cardi B has set a streaming record on Apple Music with 100 million streams  for the first week of her album Invasion of Privacy. The album is the fifth-most streamed on Apple Music and it blew past The Weeknd's Starboy and Taylor Swift's Reputation. Cardi B recently guested on Saturday Night Live  and announced her pregnancy during her live performance. Apple music recently hit 40 million paid subscribers.

Surface Pro 4 now gains Surface Dial on-screen support

Microsoft is giving some love to the venerable Surface Pro 4. This 2-in-1 PC can now use the Surface Dial as an on screen accessory. Surfae Dial was already supported by all Surface devices, including Surface Pro 4, but the latest update allows creatives to prop the dial on their Surface Pro display for more immersive control.

“We’ve released new updates for Surface Pro 4 devices,” Microsoft’s Brandon Records announced last night. “These updates include new drivers for Surface Dial Detection, Surface Digitizer Integration, Surface Touch, and Surface Touch Servicing ML which enable on-screen support for Surface Dial and resolve certain ghost/phantom touch issues.” Update should be rolling out shortly via Windows 10's Software Update.

Source: Thurrott.com

Demand for Apple's HomePod stalls after hot start

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

It seems that demand for Apple's smart speaker has slowed down. The HomePod began shipping to customers in the US in February, and seemed to be grabbing a lot of attention during its news cycle. The device was praised for its stunning sound which was at a level of larger, more expensive hi-fi speakers. The HomePod, it seems, was just the smart speaker the Apple ecosystem was waiting for.

Two months later, however, it looks like the HomePod demand is going flat. Bloomberg reports that Apple has lowered manufacturing volume for the smart speaker. The same report says that there's a possibility a cheaper and smaller model will be coming soon.

I had reservations about the HomePod's value proposition a year ago, just after it was announced.

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Going Local: A third of Google searches are now location-related

Photo by Edho Pratama on UnsplashFollowing from a 2016 report from Hitwise, revealing that 60% of Google searches came from a mobile device, new data obtained from Search Engine Journal reveals that in 2018 almost a third of Google searches are location related. If you are looking for successful SEO, then you need to work on your local rankings first. This applies even to global companies. Google has gone very local recently, automatically placing local results first and giving more priority to Maps. The gradual rise of voice command searches has also helped to drive the growth of locally minded Googlers.

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