Spotify adds on-demand listening to its free tier

Free users of Spotify were previously only able to play songs on shuffle while on mobile. That’s about to change, kind of. Spotify is offering on-demand listening to 15 of its top playlists, including the personalized Discover Weekly. This selection reaches up to 750 songs or around 40 hours of listening. On top of this, custom playlists get new personalization tools. As you add tracks, it’ll begin to learn what you like and suggest more songs you can add. And when you’re streaming on a limited data plan or in a area with poor coverage, there is a new data saver toggle that optimizes music to save bandwidth. These new features will be arriving in the coming weeks.

Source: Android Police

‘Sense8’ finale gets June 8 release date

After sci-fi series Sense8 got cancelled last year despite high cost of production, it left fans wanting with how the show ended. Netflix decided to heed fan requests and the show from J. Michael Straczynski and the achowskis will be coming back for a two-hour finale on June 8. The streaming service describes it as, “Personal lives are pushed aside as the cluster, their sidekicks, and some unexpected allies band together for a rescue mission and BPO take-down in order to protect the future of all Sensates."

Source: CNET

Google lets Android users listen to podcasts right from search results

Google is making it easier for Android users to listen to podcasts right from their mobile devices. All you need to do is search for the podcast you want to listen to and your search result will float at the top or near the top information about the podcast you were looking for. It’ll also show the latest episodes with a play button to their right. This provides a simple playback options but also the ability to download podcast episodes for offline listening. You can even subscribe to these podcasts and these will be added into a list you can curate. The easiest way to access the podcasts you subscribe to (or what looks like the only way to access at the moment) is adding the podcast shortcut to your homescreen.

The feature also lets you find and return to episodes you haven’t finished listening to. The podcast page also shows you suggestions based on genre, publisher, and popular ones based on the podcasts you’re subscribed to. As expected, the feature also works with Google Assistant, so you can use voice commands to find, play, and resume episodes. It isn’t clear yet if this is getting a full app experience or whether it’s coming to iOS. For now, it’s an easy way to get into podcasts or check out shows you don’t want to commit to yet.

Source: The Next Web

Samsung patent suggests AR Emojis might be used for video chats

While Samsung’s AR Emojis have been said to be the company’s response to Apple’s Animoji, a patent Samsung filed back in 2013 and was granted last week suggests there might be another reason why these exist. Samsung foresaw that bandwidth might be an issue when it comes to video chats or live videos and so the company applied for a patent to use 3D models of people’s faces for video chats. As the patent states, “A need exists for a visual communication system capable of displaying the user’s actual likeness, facial expressions, and motion in real time, while reducing bandwidth.” And since AR Emojis are more or less based on a photo of yourself, who knows if Samsung might be interested in letting people use these avatars for video chats.

Source: The Verge