An Apple iCar? No. An Apple-Enabled Car? Yes.

Ever since Steve Jobs died, stories have surfaced about his alleged desire for Apple to make a car.  Nice idea, but impractical.  But not entirely implausible.

Everyone is looking for clues as to Apple's Next Big Thing.  A watch?  A TV?  I think they should get into dashboards.

It takes anywhere from seven to ten years to take a new car from design to market.  That's way too long in terms of today's gadget technology.  

Auto manufacturers know that, which is why they're turning their cars into platforms for third-party tech developers.  Farm out infotainment development to people who know how to iterate and update tech quickly.

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Valentine's Day is Coming. There's an App for That.

I hate Valentine's Day, yet like billions of other sheeple, I'll go along with it because it's Something You're Supposed to Do.  Yeesh.

I wonder what my wife would think about Re:Beat?  It's an app that lets you record and send your heartbeat digitally to someone you love.

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Android

Weirdest. Turntable. Ever.

It's called the Dyskograf and it's actually an art installation rather than a piece of home electronics gear. This video shows how you can make beats and msuic with just a felt pen.  (Via Gajitz)

Spotify Now in 22 Countries. Still Not in Canada.

Spotify, the Swedish streaming music service, launched in Italy, Span and Poland yesterday, bringing the total number of countries it serves to 22.

Still no Canada, though.  

It's not like there haven't been negotiations.  There have been--and they've been going on for months. But for whatever reason, they can't seem to get a deal with the organizations that control the copyrights and streaming rights in this country.

While Rdio, The Vault, Deezer and Slacker have all come to terms, the two highest-profile services (at least as far as the US and Britain are concerned), are still illegal in this country. No Spotify, no Pandora.

This is most annoying for those of us who live online when it comes to music.  I get rather frustrated not being able to easily play Spotify playlists that have been shared through various websites.  

I know, I know: I can spoof IPs, but I wish I didn't have to.  That's just a layer of complexity that we shouldn't have to deal with.

Can we all just get together and get it done?

They Might Be Giants Release Their "Dial-a-Song" App

Years go, the Johns in They Might Be Giants launched their Dial-a-Song service.  If you called their number in Brooklyn anytime btween 1983 and 2006, you'd hear a TMBG song recorded on their answering machine.

There was a migration to the web in 2000 at www.dialsong.com to compensate for the sometimes crappy answering machine, but that didn't last very long.  The site evolved into a home for podcasts.

But now that everyone is going mobile, so is TMBG.  Their free Dial-a-Song app for iOS is much more reliable--and it offers a direct link to iTunes so you can easily make a purchase.  

Although many artists have embraced apps this way, it's kinda cool to see that TMBG have been on this road for 30 years.  Who even "dials" a number anymore?

(Via Hypebot)