Even more than Disney or The Weather Channel, Vevo is probably the most meaningful app released to the set top box on Tuesday. Music videos might not sell as well reality TV, but people clearly still want them with Vevo reaching pass 52 million monthly uniques. If you haven’t browsed Vevo recently, there’s even a whole section of videos which all have more than 100 million views. Somebody, somewhere is still watching music videos. And now with a good, lean back, version of Vevo on my TV, I’m more likely than ever to use it.

More meaningful than Vevo, or any specific app, is having more data points to look at the bigger picture and see that Apple is continuing to release them sparingly, but more frequently. The momentum has been building with apps from select partners seeping out slowing. First it was only Netflix and people questioned why you’d buy this small box just for Netflix. But...

What are the two things that most advanced users are looking for in a smart phone? If you’re like me then you want the latest technological improvements and advancements while not having to sacrifice support and stability. At this point the market for mobile phones is pretty well split at the divide, if you want stability and reliability you chose iPhone, if you’d like a quicker pace of change with more customizable options, you’ve probably chosen an Android phone. Canonical recognizes the issue and with the Ubuntu Edge phone, there appears to be a happy middle.

The unconventional and probably unlikely choice for a phone that handles both requirements is Ubuntu’s new crowdfunded phone the Edge. Asked why Peter Rojas, VP of Strategy at AOL, backed the Ubuntu Edge he said, “It was for a variety of reasons, one is just that I’ve been an Ubuntu user since 2005 and so am partial to it (and...

‘The Ladder’ went on to become one of my favorite albums of 2010. A record full of comfort, containing melodies that bubbled over with soothing acoustic tones. On first listen, I compared ‘The Ladder’ to another artist based on Belle’s fairly distinct vocals, a connection I no longer hear. Now in 2013, Andrew Belle has changed his musical facade. As a listener how do you make peace with an artist’s decision to change everything you thought you knew about them? How are you honest with yourself about the new music, without letting it affect the previous music?

After 3 days and probably 5 casual listens when I first got to the album, I could only remember the tune to “Wants What It Wants.” I was stunned. I remember hearing the other songs, but I couldn’t hum another song from ‘Black Bear’ to save my life. This actually brought a smile to my face as I thought about the main things I...

It wasn’t a surprise when Google unveiled their follow up to the Nexus 7 tablet with a better display. It was, however, a shock when they announced Chromecast. A $35 TV dongle meant to receive content thrown at it from phones, tablets, and computers, Chromecast potentially has “disruption” written all over it.

The obvious comparison that comes to mind is Apple’s Airplay. A streaming technology built into Apple TV which allows you instantly stream something from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to your television. Chromecast and Airplay provide a similar experience, but comparing the $35 Chromecast device to a $99 Apple TV is misleading and where the comparison ends.

Currently both devices provide different experiences aimed at different people with needs that only slightly overlap. Chromecast is a solution for Google’s movie store. It’s a fix for Chromebooks (or windows laptops) needing to...

Heading into 2013, traditional radio wasn’t in the best shape, plagued by poor performance in revenue and listener loss, yet, ironically the must have feature for any app entering the market: radio. So, while terrestrial radio is hurting, the radio format never died, it was only transitioning to a digital, app based, form. The appeal of minimal work, flipping the dial and listening to a station provide its never ending supply of content will likely keep radio around forever. People just don’t want to flip the dial anymore, they want to open an app.

The market is saturated, but one of the apps looking to reinvent radio is Songza. The music app aims big, trying to play the right music based on mood rather than just off a similar artist you have to know prior. Another app is 8Tracks which features all user built playlists and gives everyone the opportunity to play DJ, growing a following...

Why doesn’t Google’s Chromebooks have more than 25% of the sub-$300 computer market? With Bloomberg reporting NPD Group Inc’s numbers on cheap laptop growth, the reaction is one of surprise that anything could buck the PC decline. Of course Chromebooks (the only viable option) are growing in a depleting market segment. Netbooks are all but dead and the tablets people are actually buying still cost more than $300. Chromebooks, the arguably better alternative to cheap Windows laptops, shouldn’t be seen as the darling of NPD’s numbers, keyboards and frugal consumers are the standout data points.

If Netbooks were the disposable promise they initially claimed and tried to be, numbers would have rose or stayed steady instead of tanking when the first adopters turned over. What appeared to happen was a surge of excitement followed by extreme letdown as those consumers better realized what they...

The Militia Group was originally a booking agency started by Chad Pearson, located in Los Angles in 1998. Two years later, partnering with Rory Felton, The Militia Group became an independent record label. By 2007, the label had sold more than a million and a half albums, released music from Copeland, Acceptance, Cartel, The Rocket Summer and Lovedrug among many others, and Pearson had left to start a new label. The skeleton of facts read like a vague mystery novel, one whose plot twists aren’t quite exciting enough for an investigation. And while it’s not an obsession, the lingering question of what happened to this label that provided such important albums is enough to warrant this final ode to The Militia Group.

Original founder, Chad Pearson grew up in Papa New Guinea, but came state side to attend college at the Arts Institute in Seattle. It was here that Chad was asked by one of...

Individually, the members of DALLAS have worked with musical acts currently creating the future of pop music, but together they are creating their own infectious sound. These few questions with lead singer Josh Hendrick should serve as a brief introduction as the band gets ready to release their new self-titled EP on July 9th.

Why create Dallas? What I mean is, people in the band are doing interesting things on their own, what makes Dallas worth the investment to you guys?

Those accomplishments are building the portfolio of other artists. DALLAS is ours. It’s what we can come home to and be proud to show off without having to say “I contributed to this.” We love each other too much to let someone contribute something that sucks. At the end of the day, each of us can say “This is me” and be proud.

Thinking of the creative spark, what influences have impacted each of you recently?

With the popularity of streaming services in recent years, it seemed the radio model was on its way out, now that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every music service gunning for the top spot sees it necessary to have a radio feature in their arsenal. Spotify and Rdio both have the ability to start “radio stations” for any artist, mimicking Pandora’s functionality. MySpace recently added radio functionality to their iOS app in hopes of relevancy, while Apple’s 900 pound music store, iTunes, will incorporate iTunes Radio into its desktop software, iPhones and iPods, as well as Apple TV. The radio model is familiar, of course, but is it really the best ready-made solution? And which service provides the best results? 


Pandora is the first thought for internet radio, and for good reason. The company was able to break into the mainstream, having an app on every platform available...

Here is an album that you probably weren’t eagerly awaiting, or even knew was coming out today (6/18/13), but hopefully you discover as much enjoyment in it as I have. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the band with a paid download from iTunes.