Can ‘Ready’ Crowdfund a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck Enclosure for Cyberpunk Enthusiasts?

There’s 29 hours left in a Kickstarter campaign to fund “an open source, Linux-based, highly modular, customizable portable computer kit that accommodates anything from a Raspberry Pi to a Ryzen x86 4×4 single-board computer and more,” writes READY!100: Reminiscent of 1980s executive portable computers, the READY! 100 is fully modern with 12 input output ports and 4 antenna ports. Perfect for…

Spotify Expands To 80 New Markets, Targeting 1 Billion Customers

Spotify is introducing its audio service in 80 markets across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean in coming days, expanding the company’s potential market by some 1 billion people. From a report: The steps announced Monday will nearly double Spotify’s geographic footprint and add regions where streaming music is in its infancy. The company already operates in 93 countries or territories. Spotify…

Spotify HiFi is a Lossless Streaming Tier Coming Later this Year

An anonymous reader share a report: Spotify is going hi-fi. Well, “HiFi.” It’s taken longer than competitors like Tidal and Amazon Music, but today, the leading subscription music service announced a new lossless streaming tier that will allow listeners to get the most from their digital music library. The news came at the company’s Spotify “Stream On” virtual event. Spotify HiFi…

Spotify Will Let Employees Work From Anywhere After the Pandemic

Spotify is the latest tech company to shift to a flexible work model following the Covid-19 pandemic. From a report: The streaming company announced Friday it’s adapting a “Work from Anywhere” model, which will allow employees to choose whether they want to be in the office full time, be at home full time or a combination of the two. The company…

Spotify’s Big Bet On Podcasts Is Failing, Citi Says

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Spotify’s multimillion-dollar bet on podcasting may not be working out, Citi analysts wrote in a note to clients Friday. “The cadence of Premium gross additions (through 3Q20) and app download data (through 4Q20) do not show any material benefit from recent podcast investments (that began in 2019),” the analysts wrote. The firm downgraded…

Stripe ‘Will No Longer Process Payments’ For Trump’s Campaign Site

“It might be easier at this point to ask which tech platforms President Donald Trump can still use,” jokes TechCrunch. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Stripe Inc. will no longer process payments for President Trump’s campaign website following last week’s riot at the Capitol, according to people familiar with the matter. The financial-technology company handles card payments for millions of online businesses…

Most-Played Song of 2020? For Many It’s White Noise

An anonymous reader shares a report: In an average year, Spotify Wrapped is a sharing-optimized novelty hinging on nostalgia for a time that’s barely passed. But in 2020, this data mirror instead presented many users with unexpected empirical evidence of their pandemic coping mechanisms: a strange hit parade of ambient music, background noise and calming sound effects that soothed them through…

Spotify’s Podcasting Problem: Loophole Allows Remixes and Unreleased Songs To Hide in Plain Sight

Spotify has joined the ranks of streaming services like SoundCloud and YouTube as a hub for bootlegs of popular songs. From a report: With obscured titles like “Jocelyn Flores but you’re in the bathroom at a party” by eraylandin, a new take on XXXTentacion’s popular “Jocelyn Flores,” and “Dead To Me — Kali Uchis (slowed + bass boosted)” by user Unreal…

Amazon To Buy Podcast Maker Wondery

Amazon announced Wednesday that it’s acquiring podcasting company Wondery, expanding its catalog of original audio content. From a report: As part of the deal, Wondery will join Amazon Music, the e-commerce giant’s music streaming business. Amazon Music in September added podcasts to its platform, looking to carve out a share of the increasingly competitive podcasting market, in which Spotify, Apple and…

3 Million Users Have Installed 28 Malicious Chrome or Edge Extensions, Says Avast

More than three million internet users are believed to have installed 15 Chrome, and 13 Edge extensions that contain malicious code, reports ZDNet, citing an announcement from cybersecurity company Avast: Avast researchers said they believe the primary objective of this campaign was to hijack user traffic for monetary gains. “For every redirection to a third party domain, the cybercriminals would receive…