In 2019, Amazon introduced a more affordable way to stream its free, ad-supported music service through its Echo speaker. Today, Apple (AAPL) introduced a low-cost Apple Music subscription service called Voice Plan. Unlike Amazon's service, the Voice plan is not free. Instead, it's a more affordable, $4.99-a-month ad-free subscription that limits consumers to accessing Apple Music only through Siri voice commands.
The new voice plan will allow users in 17 countries to use Siri to play songs, playlists, and all radio stations in Apple Music when the service launches later this fall, Apple explained today at its October event. This will also include access to a range of new playlists based on mood and activity, as well as personalized mix and genre stations. That means you can now ask Siri to play you music, like something to help you relax at a dinner party or the end of the day. Apple says there will be hundreds of new playlists to choose from.
Apple Music's competitors, including Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora, already offer such a feature and have for years. So it's a matter of Apple playing catch-up with its edits of expanded mood and activity playlists. For now, its editing options are more limited to the "Made for You" lineup, which includes personalized playlists like Your Favorites Mix, Chill Mix, New Music Mix and Get Up Mix.
While Apple said the new voice plan can be used for "all Apple devices" to access Apple Music, it's designed for HomePod -- similar to the free music streaming Amazon offers for the Echo. If you're using a phone, tablet, or computer, talking to Siri to play music doesn't necessarily make sense when you own a device with a screen. However, for those who listen to Apple Music primarily through AirPods, the service could be interesting -- they don't mind saying all the commands.
Inquery us
Now China has become a powerful country in science and technology, but do you know how powerful China's technology is? The manned space station alone is not enough, and now it has successfully broken through the key technology of nuclear fusion, even…
The spread of the novel coronavirus is taking a direct hit on the operations of airlines in Asia. About 500,000 flights taking off and landing in mainland China have been canceled since January, according to aviation information company Cerium. Touri…
From April the French government will reduce fuel taxes slightly to ease the burden on consumers. Warned of possible energy shortages in France by the end of the year and called on the French to conserve electricity and gas from now on, saying that i…