Gadgetory

welcome to the 359 I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm dr. J I'm Alfred Eng if you use the free version of Spotify then your music listening experience just got better the music streaming company said Tuesday it's letting all its users listen on demand 215 of Spotify's most popular playlists previously non paying users could only listen to playlists on shuffle the app also got a nice refresh what do you guys think I'm really glad that they're doing this I'm my only regret is that they didn't introduce us before I started paying for Spotify because a lot of the playlists that they're letting people listen to for free like including like discover weekly you know that's mostly what I listen to anyway on spots are like the top most popular songs yeah yeah no no discover weeklies like they update it every week based on an algorithm that like oh we think that you would like this song based on other stuff oh god is from John Salzmann story today discover weekly represents about 750 tracks or 40 hours of music wow so you can spend a lot of time just listening to that and be able to pick and choose and actually put music on demand right that's that's the big difference here yeah yeah so you can also download it if you have premium I don't know if that'll be available on the free I don't I don't think to upload or download yep but songs or what yeah the old way that the app was done were like you could only listen to music on shuffle it was it was terrible was like a big reason why I decided that I was just gonna pay for it I mean it was it was okay for me it was tolerable I mean I have a list of maybe 20 30 songs I put a rotation and I just keep refresh but you're not finding new songs that way I'm not but I'm also not spending enough that's like to do that it's like a big reason why I use Spotify that I use it's mostly for like new music right real quick though why do you think they would want to do this wouldn't it potentially harm its paying user base well you have to remember this the the free service is like I think it's the it's the one differentiating factor from all the other streaming music services it's like the gateway drug to get you into spot to pay for Spotify and so if they can make this service more tractors they get more users and they're doing this at a time when Apple music is starting to ramp up its competition it's starting to grow fast too I think it's really smart to do discover weekly because in that scenario I could see you know they find this new song and then it's like oh I want to listen more of this artist oh I can't unless I have a premium yeah good point next up Amazon introduced a new delivery service in which it ships packages right into your car it's called Amazon key in car hey it's Ben would you guys use this I can't wait to get a car for this yeah I mean I I have a car but it's parked in the garage now so it'll be kind of worthless to have them yeah the garage it also requires like very specific types of cars yeah and yeah which I don't have all right it's on so you basically need that OnStar service for this on a star or Volvo's version of OnStar and it looks like a lot of people have OnStar it's nice to see that OnStar is actually useful for something because OnStar existed for a long time and I didn't really know what people had used it for I do appreciate that I think Amazon understands that there's still a lot of discomfort with Amazon key in the home and the car at least being you know parked outside or whatever like this is one step removed from that you know you're a little bit more willing to let someone into your trunk you're not gonna worry about this you're not gonna be worried about your dog running out of your car exactly and if you are you're a bad pet owner yeah that being said it seemed that a lot of people were still complaining about this on Twitter saying Amazon's asking too much of customers because this came after the in-home service yeah folks are just wondering okay what's next and what else are you gonna ask I can get in your mailbox yeah which would be horrible much last as part of our ongoing follow the money package our own Abrar al Hebe wrote about many of the apps and services available to manage your money those include daily budget which helps you calculate how much you can spend each day based on your income and recurring expenses I should definitely try to use some of those yeah I feel like I'm definitely in need of more fun I do cement for a while I have to but I was really into mid for a while then I just stopped using it yeah like I need something that actually will keep motivating me to to continually use these apps and services to be more financially responsible cuz I'm not yeah well check out our story there are a bunch of different options available if you want to read more about these stories check us out on CNET I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm Rob J I'm Alfred Inge thanks for listening I missed that chime and that concludes the recording of the audio podcast thanks everybody for joining us go ahead and submit questions and comments in the chat below if you're on youtube if you're on periscope or live stream I'm too lazy to check all of those and can you check the YouTube ones that's what yeah just saying if you're on periscope yeah periscope so until then let's go ahead and farm out the question the elephant in the room you already brought it up briefly but with this Amazon in-car delivery service you know it's it's a little more restrictive it's a little more exclusive being that there are much more tight regulations on like you said OnStar and the other services need to be in play if anyone's out there we're curious to see are you more in tune to get onboard with Amazon having access to your car then you'd be for them having access to your home and what are the mitigating factors that would stipulate that for you I'm just more worried about the packaging because like when I did drive around like if I if I park somewhere I would put like expensive things like in the club Department sure yeah you can tell I don't drive that much but the point is like you know I tried to keep valuable things out of sight but like if I'm ordering something and if it says like you know Apple on the box or something like that no one wants that in the trunk you can't see it not only that but it's in an Amazon box too so it wouldn't say Apple on it yeah I mean no but there's been some times I've ordered things from Amazon and they'll have the branding like right there on the side of the box like a fancy watch yeah and it's like Amazon and it's like on like my stairs or something like that yeah I feel like that's that's a lot less secure than being in the trunk it depends on what car I mean yeah if you have an SUV I guess there's a windowed bag yeah yeah I'm like it's your point is exactly right that the likelihood that somebody would just grab it from your porch that seems to be much more likely for yeah it's a crime of opportunity where they see like an Apple package just sitting there whereas they would have to actively break open the car so that's probably a big reason why Amazon wants to do this that's the same reason with the individual big question this the service is it cost more money no it's completely free and it doesn't include any hardware the thing is is that you need a specific type of car yeah I mean that's the thing like if I had this car if I had this type car or I lived in the 37 city I lived in these cities which there's a lot of this here I would be interested I would totally be into and and I also use my car to commute and like parked in the you know parked in my company's parking lot or whatever I would definitely be more interested in using this obviously now I don't I don't try to work every day so it's kind of irrelevant to me but I can imagine a lot of people would be more keen on this than Amazon keys traditional answers I mean I'm also interested in like what security aspects like he in-car has come so like with Amazon he like for the home like they you you get like a specific smart lock for that right you got a specific smart lock for it and also a security camera yeah actually watch the delivery person yeah delivering the package because they're opening your door so you not get the camera is OnStar security yeah I'm curious about like how like robust that is now that you know people know that they can use like OnStar stuff like leave packages and cars and things like that you to make that easier for people you get notifications throughout the process like it's step by step notifications which apparently is supposed to make people a little bit more comfortable especially if it's not including a live video camera and if you if someone breaks into your car or opens a trunk OnStar would know right I don't OnStar customers so I know you know it's our expert it's I mean that makes sense but I don't know off the top of my head okay I'm glad you brought that up about the cameras because user give a good to figured if it forgot to well nice yeah yeah he's asking does it have security cameras so if nobody I mean can you apply that in your own means if you got really MacGyver II if you had a bus I mean like I remember back in middle school they had a bus security camera but I'm pretty sure if you wanted that in their regular video I don't think you'd like a reverse dashcam well yeah there there are dash cams but yeah that doesn't really I guess you turn it around like you said okay see that's the thing is that I feel like Amazon is still trying to convince people that this is a service they would want to use to get people to pay for additional hardware and say hey we're gonna we're gonna be able to access this camera that you're gonna put in your car I then I wonder if people would balk and not really be that into it no coming into the chat to take some questions from Matthew dacha right out the gate I worry about how Amazon will interface with OnStar to make that work how can we be sure that the permission won't be used nefariously good vocab word yeah it's a going back to what I said before you get notifications throughout the process you can cancel the order to your car up to the point that they open up the trunk so they are trying to make people more comfortable with this service again the service is run by the same delivery men that are employed for it for Amazon key right these are like the trusted Amazon delivery third-party delivery services so presumably they're trustworthy again that's I think that's the the big hurdle of consumers know that get over is the idea that they have to trust them these people that they don't really know we're right with right yeah III go back to the point that this this to me feels a lot less invasive than the in-home delivery definitely is so the problem is is that it does have all these limitations and do you expect more makes and models to come in the future so look out for that although there's only a home store that's that's really niche like our they don't starve Volvo and there are other connected cars out there so so it's gonna it's gonna tap into cars to have like a built-in LTE connection right I think they'd have to I'm doing right now making one right possibilities right now it's just OnStar and so OnStar hat is a managed service connected cars with an LTE connection they're not managed they just happen to have a connection so there's a lot less security there there's not like a person behind it running the the process running the delivery process so that's why I'm a little raises a lot of questions if it's just a connected car and just what happens they're worth who's dealing with liability there I don't know those are good questions for sure and if you're uncomfortable with it obviously first we'd love to hear from you but also you don't have to use this service this is it's okay Amazon's making me buy a Buick what if your Amazon delivery service person gets like a crush on you and search leaving you love notes another weird admirer like like a high school or like jr. oh that's sweet I don't know like you'd be all shucks about it now a delivery in like the trunk of your car being that viable though because there's not that much space in the trunk of your car like you'd have to move the body you have to use all right says the guy who doesn't own a car come on right course you could fit a body and a package entirely too suspect all right more questions from the chat from APEC I have OnStar and would they be open to giving a discount on OnStar pricing through Amazon that's they did not mention anything like that I wouldn't think so you pay more right you need an active yeah one cigar account like give us a discount for using this additional service right and by the way old I like it as you can tell we're not on star experts so I'd love to hear from this person as far as what you use aren't star for the best thing that I know it doesn't matter does it Batman uses one star oh my god your star and that terrible Batman and Robin movie I remember that I block that out banks it's just a bunch of batarangs being delivered to but in an episode box so you don't know the batarangs that's right otherwise they get stolen that's right from Christopher Osborn is car delivery really better at least in your home you can set up cameras to make sure they don't steal dash cams don't really have the storage to constantly record to catch theft and I'm talking about theft by the person delivering the package yeah they already have the package though and after they deliver the package it would be safer than on a porch but in a trunk what's stopping anyone from taking something out of my trunk what stop wait wait taking your car anyway what's I mean if they want to steal something what's in your trunk that's so valuable like I don't know stuff that a lot my god if the delivery person wants to steal your package why would they go to your truck no they wouldn't steal the package they would steal whatever like it's other valuables like you know my diamond collection story to my truck and this was a problem that a lot of people had with the in home delivery service like if I give a delivery person access to my front door they're just gonna waltz in and steal my laptop so I mean I think it's look I don't mean to make light of your comment but I think the idea is if you're expecting a delivery into your trunk you clear out the trunk of any valuables or like just leave the I have crap in mind like there's a stroller in my trunk like you can take it you can take the stole that really heavy makes my windshield washer fluid yeah yeah I got rolls of like paper towels I mean I guess you can take go but I don't know how many people store their valuables in the trunk it's definitely a matter of trust I mean that's definitely what we're talking about and if you don't trust Amazon you don't trust the delivery drivers this is very clearly not a service for you Chris apparently has a crossbow in his trouble you're right I will not cross that but look if you're and if you're expecting a package to your trunk you take the crossbow out for the day put it back later it's fine that could happen all the time I would love to hold on I would love to hear that phone call it was on customer service excuse me somebody stole a crossbow how much depends on what state you're living and maybe that's illegal in the first okay though because I ordered another one that was what was delivered all right here's a good question from Josh what if you need to go to the grocery store or something in Amazon delivery shows up what if your car isn't there I mean they just kind of backtrack doesn't OnStar have like GPS or is that like - will they chase you know they know a city you have to be within a two-block radius of your regular delivery area so if that's your o your office okay yeah if it's your home or your office the car has to be located in that two block radius and they do show you a map specifically to let you know where you're supposed to park okay just like par get some random like shopping no they're not gonna find you this is not in anywhere type of situation that would be kind of amazing if it were yeah they don't they don't want to do that and primarily the reason is is that if they are having a hard time opening up the trunk for whatever reason or there's some sort of snag then the delivery person doesn't have to drive all the way across all right right every they can just deliver to your regular ad drop it off in the porch and move on to the next delivery yeah and good luck curse went on to clarify a little bit and I actually think this is a good thing to kind of mall over a different vehicle types have different trunk access a pickup truck is wide open and an SUV gains access to the rest of the cab that's true as opposed to a standard sedan trunk which usually has a locked backseat which is not impossible to break through but I mean then you're really trying and if you see those legs coming out the back of a trunk right somebody's gonna see something it's a really bad way so how do how do they is there any regulation or any kind of restrictions on what kind of vehicle type can participate in this outside of the after mentioned OnStar technology no they in the videos they even specifically showed that you deliver to a hatchback SUV a regular sedan so and sometimes the deliveries would go in the trunk sometimes they would go in the backseat so okay alright once they unlock the car they have access to the car ah so it is full access Oh car now they're just not um I thought like the OnStar would just pop the trunk and that would be it no yes unlock the cars unlocked oh you know the backseat if they want to I want changes things a little bit now well well that's a little less comfortable that now yeah it's good to have that clarification because I was confused by the original concept - I thought it was just trunk so if I knew that they had access to my car I'm not comfortable with that but the trunk idea is not bad in my opinion I don't think Chris oh good point about the car type definitely if there's a separate trunk I mean I have I have an SUV so if you opened up the back door or the trunk door its you've access the entire car but yeah I don't really keep valuables I'll take my CDs yeah yeah CDs I got like Disney CDs if they want on I've had CD stolen out of my car twice and I watched it happen what from my balcony and my Akali shout out like hey yeah and I chased the guy and you just slide of the woods yeah I took a very interesting my CD a limited edition Kidz Bop 21 I have one more quick question what about sizes of packages you can order lots of crazy stuff on Amazon what if you get a giant big-screen TV that's not gonna fit your car well that automatically stop you will restrict you from using that car delivery services imagine there's a size limit right there sighs limit and also a value limit a high-value items that need a signature they won't let you deliver those to your car yeah and also there's a you know big packages there's a size limit to those as well yeah they're not gonna don't even let the guilt of liability at that yeah an Amazon executive that I talked to also mentioned that like yes you can deliver chocolates to your trunk in the dead of the summer in Arizona if you wanted to but really short before I do yeah what it's up to you to decide whether it's good break I guess yes you do it you deliver stuff like your friends like on stuff that would be awesome just boxes of chocolate filled up in the truck that's a great idea but I don't think it's just a ton of minutes away here's here's a segue into that we got to move on to Spotify shortly there's lots of requests for Spotify but APEC pointed out another thing about card delivery is the heat can damage a lot of items so is there a like a judgment call left to the delivery person and how can you embrace that as a prank as mega and leaving chocolate in the car and lo the interior so you can order frozen like live crickets on Amazon to flight feed your lizard or an insurance carrier lizard so you can order that and then they'll melt like to come alive in the car and then you open up the box and boom yeah God cricket oh that's that's that's very good yeah I've never that's not something that I've done before to anybody sure it's a latest like prank trend instead of like planking its cricketing there's also like glitter bombing yeah that's true little bomb it's when you stuff an envelope with glitters so evil amazon said that it's kind of up to the purchaser to decide if they want to get it delivered to their car or not and going back to the chocolate situation if if you do something like that they're not going to try to protect you or say hey you're delivering chocolate to Arizona have you made and you have a credit card you can make bad decisions so let's move on to Spotify because we've all got to three minutes yeah yeah we got to move along rehash real quick what is going on in Spotify it's an increased listen ability for the free customers on the mobile basically you're able to listen to their designated playlists but instead that that shuffle mode where you didn't have control over the the songs you can pick and choose one you want to play whatever songs all that playlists it's basically like as if you had premium but only for the playlist that they chose which is still pretty awesome deal yeah I mean it's better yeah honestly like I said like if I if I didn't have a really sweet deal with Spotify now like I probably would have just kept with a Fremont would it make you would have convinced you to to drop your premium plan to go back to them no cuz there's like several aspects of it that like I do like but now that now that I do have premium was like oh yeah these features are great in my life I don't know I had premium the first you know there in the trial P like I had like a three months of it or a month of it it was great but then once I went back to the free tier I was like this is do ya yeah this I think for me it's because like Spotify was like pretty much next to free for me like that's not like the fifteen dollars that like most people pay and that's saying a lot considering you don't pay anything for anything I know you're super cheap all right well just to specify Josh Moyer was asking will Spotify allow people to search for songs or play or is it only restricted to the place you can search for them to play if they're on those playlists fair enough yes like the new Frank Ocean song happens to be undiscovered weekly for you like you can search and play like as many times as you want oh so there is no limit on playback there's no quota I don't think no it's just but it's just if it's not all this designated place or the the designated playlists multiple yeah you you have the same restrictions as before yeah I think that clarify is it pretty well we are just about out of time we will be back what is it Tuesday it's Tuesday right only to pletely Lawson right got tomorrow I'm will be back tomorrow theoretically thanks everybody for joining us welcome back it's great to be back great to have you and who's gonna take us out today I'll do it the 359 podcast is available on iTunes tune in stitcher feedburner google play music and the amazon echo of course in addition to that well cnet.com anyway thanks everybody for your questions really appreciate it we'll see you again tomorrow take care everyone but