Hands-on with Spotify

Hands-on with Spotify
You know something is good when it feels illegal. Such is the case with Spotify, the on-demand music-streaming service that seems too good to be true--or, certainly, too good to be free. Yet, here it is, the "celestial jukebox" we've been dreaming of since the days of illegal gorging on the original Napster. It's called Spotify, it's finally available in the U.S., and music fans have reason to cheer. What it doesWhat Spotify does is so simple and seemingly harmless, it's actually a sad comment on humanity that it counts as a groundbreaking product. As a first-time user, you install the free Spotify Mac/PC application, open it up, and watch as it automatically imports your music collection and playlists from iTunes and other music software and presents you with a landing page filled with new releases, top lists, and music shared by your friends. The big trick, though, is a little search box at the top of the screen that lets you search for any reasonably popular artist, song, or album in existence and stream it immediately. You can't get The Beatles, but we had no problem finding greats like The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, as well as obscure indies such as The Ghastly Ones or Four Tet.Spotify walkthrough (photos)See full gallery1 - 4 / 10NextPrevPut simply, you tell your computer what you want to hear, and it plays it for you...for free, and without limitations for up to six months. It doesn't play something similar to the song you want (like Pandora), or a 30- to 60-second clip of the song you want (like iTunes)--it plays you the whole song or album, just as if it were in your personal music collection. Of course, there are a few other bells and whistles that make Spotify its own special thing. Facebook andTwitter integration allows you to easily share music discoveries with friends. Artist pages encourage discovery with bio pages and links out to similar artists and top hits of the decade to add context. Without any friction preventing you from jumping from one great song to the next, Spotify also provides a play queue off to the side, allowing you to stash your discoveries without interrupting the currently playing song.And let's not forget the small but not insignificant matter of style. Spotify's polished, iTunes-like interface is as inviting to music fans as a well-stocked record bin. Each portion of the bento-boxlike layout can be resized, and playback, volume, and track scrubber controls are placed neatly across the bottom. Browserlike back and forward buttons located to the left of the search box allow you to dig your way back out out of the rabbit hole of music discovery.Spotify Mobile (photos)See full gallery1 - 4 / 6NextPrevThe catchSpotify's music service is uniquely generous, but it's not without limitations. Using the free version of the service, full songs can be streamed on demand in unlimited number for up to six months (with the occasional audio ad popping into rotation, similar to Pandora). After that time, free users can only play a given track a maximum of five times per month and are also subject to a cap of 10 hours of streaming per month. If you can cough up $5 per month, those restrictions (and ads) disappear, but you're still limited to listening from your computer. At $10 per month, you can use Spotify on mobile devices (including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7), and even cache your favorite music and playlists for offline listening.A comparison of Spotify's various plans and what they offer. (Click to enlarge.)SpotifySo, yes, if you get addicted to Spotify and want it with you everywhere, you could be out $10 per month. That still beats many of subscription music options out there (such as Rhapsody), which run closer to $15 per month for mobile access. Another hitch worth mentioning is Spotify's reliance on standalone software, as opposed to a browser-based player. With so many browser-based options out there (Grooveshark, Last.fm, Pandora, Rdio), the concept of downloading and updating a desktop application seems outdated. The competitionIn the years it has taken Spotify to arrive on U.S. shores, many new competitors have sprouted up while old and familiar brands have braced for impact. In terms of pricing and features, fans of Rdio, MOG, and Rhapsody are probably shrugging their shoulders over the Spotify news. These services have been offering all-you-can-eat browser-based and mobile streaming for some time now. What they haven't been able to offer, though, is a free version of their services. Taking a page from Pandora's playbook, Spotify is counting on rapid adoption of its free service to eventually lead to a solid base of happy, paid subscribers.Grooveshark offers many of the features of Spotify, but it lacks the funding, the deep music catalog, and the killer app.Donald Bell/CNETGrooveshark is Spotify's closest competitor in terms of pricing and features, and the company also offers a similar free version of the service. But while Grooveshark has its fans, its music catalog is limited and its user-uploaded music approach could prevent the kind of direct label relationships Spotify benefits from. The company has also had its mobile app yanked from the iOS catalog, which, for many users, is a deal-breaker.Is it too late?Spotify's strategic position among its competition doesn't mean it has a lock on success. In the three years since Spotify originally launched in Sweden, we've gone from a nation of iPod fanatics looking for the ultimate workout mix to an app-crazed nation of smartphone users. Finding new and ever-more-ingenious ways to cram music in our pockets just doesn't seem as vital as it once did. It's also important to note that if Spotify's ultimate goal is to make the subscription music model work or go broke trying, it could be just a flash in the pan. There's a trail of dead or stalled music services out there. No one has been able to ride the subscription music service to great success. Urge, Imeem, Muxtape, Napster, Rhapsody, Slacker, Zune, and dozens of others are surely looking at Spotify's U.S. debut with a skeptical eye.Should you try it?Absolutely. Any and all music fans are encouraged to give it a whirl. The smart people at Spotify have made the free service incredibly attractive to new users, and there's really nothing to lose. Whether you find the service important enough to upgrade for Spotify's premium options is entirely up to you, but they seem like a great value for any music fan with an insatiable appetite.To hear five other CNET editors weigh in on Spotify's appeal, check out our editorial roundtable.

The 404 585- Where we're having a 4G with the HTC Evo (podcast)

The 404 585: Where we're having a 4G with the HTC Evo (podcast)
Three's a crowd and four's a party, but what do you call five tech geeks and an HTC Evo in a frozen meat locker? We'll just call it a 4G (pronounced fourgie) until we come up with something better. It's officially time for another Natali Del Conte Thursday, but we also have CNET smartphone expert Bonnie Cha in the studio to tell us all about her full review of the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint.Bonnie just got back from a short trip to Philadelphia to test out Sprint's 4G network, since the limited coverage hasn't extended to major cities like New York just yet. When the phone is released to the public on June 4, other users outside of the coverage area will likely have similar complaints, especially since Sprint is charging a mandatory $10 premium data add-on just to use the phone. That's definitely unfair, but service gripes aside, Bonnie confidently tells us that the Evo is Sprint's best smartphone and one of today's top Android devices; the keyword here is "today," since another Android device is likely to appear before the 2010 holiday season.In terms of hardware, the handset is slightly larger than the Apple iPhone, thanks to its 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen and is made even more beautiful by the active home screen wallpapers. Like the iPhone, it also has a convenient light sensor that adjusts the backlight according to the amount of ambient light. The Evo is also one of the first smartphones to get an integrated HDMI port that lets you hook up and stream HD YouTube Videos to your HDTV.And we would be remiss to skip over the most important innovation on the device: the kickstand. A sturdy metal arm folds flush into the Evo while not in use, and popping it out makes it easy to watch movies and read e-mails hands-free. Take that, Apple.Ultimately Bonnie gave the HTC Evo an overall score of 8.3, or four "excellent" stars, which makes Jeff a very happy camper. The phone is available for preorder now with a two-year contract (as well as a data plan) for $200 at Best Buy and Radio Shack.This is what New Yorkers have to deal with to get their hands on Trader Joe's mixed nutsCooltown StudiosBefore you get too excited and rush off to "The Shack," be sure to stick around for the second half of today's episode for a riotous Calls From the Public. One seriously disturbed listener tell us about his bizarre dream involving The 404 in a supermarket, which leads into a group discussion about grocery shopping in New York City.With the massive hordes of self-promoting "foodies" busting out of every Trader Joe's in Manhattan, you'd think a magical carnival ride and a beehive of cotton candywould await you at the end, but no--those are just Terra Blue potato chips...bummer!Tell all your friends, virtual and physical, that CNET's own Molly Wood will join us on the show and int the studio tomorrow! Unfortunately she's battling through a flu right now, but we'll bring her a lot of Sudafed to get her to dish on all the celebrities she met at last night's CBS Upfronts presentation. Tune in to find out which famous celebrity is currently in possession of Molly's EPISODE 585PodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) |Subscribe in RSS Audio |Subscribe in RSS Video This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.PlayFollow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuWilson TangAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff BakalarWilson Tang