Shazam has updated its iPad app [App Store] to automatically recognize and tag songs, TV shows and music in adverts, without the user needing to prompt the app to do so. The background process, though not turned on by default, will add anything it can hear and identify to its home screen carousel, ready to be viewed at a later time by the user.
Music ID service Shazam has announced forthcoming iPad and Android tablet app updates. In both cases users will get redesigned homescreens, new layouts for tag results, and a new method for browsing what friends have been tagging. Similarly, new activity streams show what people in general are tagging, including TV in the US. An added mapping feature shows what people are listening to in a particular city.
A new app called Shazam For TV will allow users of smartphones to quickly find the website of a company advertising a product on their TV in the UK. A result of a team-up with UK-based ITV Commercial, the app will listen to the ad rather than a song, as the app's beginnings were rooted, and then open a website associated with the tune. The app is experimental in nature, with its functionality thus far relegated to partnerships with individual shows and hand-picked advertisers.
Shazam in a large 5.0 update for its iOS title (App Store) revamped the engine for its audio detection. It now claims that the app can recognize a song or audio-cued TV shows in "as little as" one second. It can start listening as soon as it's open, making sure that the sampling gets in before the opportunity passes.
Best Buy as part of a promo has started the run of tech-focused Super Bowl ads with a segment pitching its mobile stores. The ad unites both the inventors of phone technology, such as Philippe Kahn (the camera phone) and Ray Kurzweil (text to voice synthesis) with those making newer hardware and software. Key inventors behind Instagram, Shazam, Square, Words With Friends, and others find their way into the 30-second clip.
Shazam has launched a new iOS app, the Shazam Player. Instead of concentrating on music discovery, the Player is meant to enhance listening to an existing library. This includes streaming lyrics, for instance, or sharing listening habits via Facebook or Twitter. Users can also view YouTube videos and concert clips, and keep track of concert dates for favorite artists.
Shazam, the mobile song ID service, is now offering its lyric playing capability to a broader customer base. The feature, LyricPlay, is now available to iOS device owners using the company's free app (App Store) as well as all Android users (Android Market). Previously, it was only available to iOS device owners that had bought Shazam's premium Encore and RED apps.
Music ID service Shazam says it is switching back to a completely free model for iOS. In November 2009 the company introduced an app called Encore, which required a $5 annual subscription but let people create an unlimited number of tags, unlike the suddenly restricted free software. The free app is once again allowing unlimited tagging as a result of an ad deal with Capital One.
Shazam, maker of the popular music identifying app, has just announced its first acquisition with the purchase of Tunezee. The Silicon Valley-based company specializes in synchronizing lyrics. As a direct result of the purchase, Shazam LyricPlay app was launched for the Encore premium Shazam users.
Shazam, the app that identifies songs by simply listening to them, and streaming and download music service Spotify, have announced a partnership that will let users quickly access any song they have heard and tagged in Shazam. Called Play in Spotify, the feature will launch Spotify from Shazam and not only return the tagged song but also other tracks from the artist. The feature does require a premium Shazam app on the iPhone, iPod touch and Android devices.
