Gadgetory

times they are a-changin for streaming music I'm Bridget Carey and this is your cnet update bad news for Pandora addicts the free service is now capped at 40 hours a month so if you hit 40 hours you'll either have to pay 99 cents to keep listening for the rest of the month or pay for a premium account without ads and that costs four dollars a month but there is one way around it there's no limit if you listen from your computer web browser so it might not be a problem for people who like to listen at work pandora is blaming this change on the increased royalty costs Spotify is also evolving the service wants to be more like a social network reports say Spotify will have buttons to follow other users and artists it also updated its iOS app and it announced it will be available in ford vehicles with sync applink but you'll need a spotify premium account with an iphone to use it and tune in has a new recommendation feature to an inn is an app and a website that lets you listen live to radio stations around the world and it also placed some podcasts on demand on the tunein homepage there are live tiles that update with songs and shows going on right now based on your favorite genres the Mobile World Congress the mother of all mobile trade shows wrapped up in Barcelona and there are a few highlights worth keeping an eye on general motors announced that late next year GM cars will be mobile hotspots connected on AT&T 4G LTE network so if you have a data plan that works with your smartphone and your tablet eventually your car will also be using your data plan your next smartphone might have a screen made out of sapphire but it would be sapphire crystal grown in the lab rather than the gemstones used in jewelry because that would be crazy expensive but why you sapphire because it's the second hardest material next to diamonds and it won't scratch a company showed off an iphone with a thin sheet of sapphire adhered on top of the screen and our editor Jessica dull court couldn't get it to scratch after smashing it with concrete this isn't a far-out concept sapphire is already used in the iphone camera lens cover but the biggest buzz at Mobile World Congress came from the new operating systems trying to take Android Cena editors awarded the Ubuntu touch tablet as the Best in Show and the new firefox operating system was the runner-up Ubuntu was unveiled this week an editor said it had a slick elegant interface that makes use of every side of the screen it puts content and contacts front and center so you don't have to keep hopping back to a home screen of apps but it's so new that no phone manufacturer or carrier is behind it yet guess we'll have to wait until next year that's your tech news update for more details on these stories head to the blog sina com / update from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey