Spotify Lite App Arrives in India

Spotify Lite arrived in India Monday, adding further competition in the competitive and crowded market. The music streaming service told Techcrunch that the stripped-down Indian version is currently in beta. It first launched in Brazil in June 2018.

 Today, the app is publicly available in 22 countries including, now India. It has around 2.1 million installs, according to data from Sensor Tower. India has only produced a few thousand downloads for Spotify Lite so far, as it’s just gone live. That said, India will be a key market for Spotify Lite going forward, given the heated competition for streaming music services in a region where millions of internet users are coming online for the first time. Already, Apple, Amazon, and Google are running their own music services in India, where they face competition from local players Gaana, JioSaavn, and others.

The Office Set For NBC Streaming Service

The staff of The Office look to be headed to NBCUniversal’s forthcoming streaming service, Bloomberg News reported. The show is currently one of the most popular on Netflix. However, it is not clear at the time of this writing if it will remain on the platform as well NBC’s own.

At a presentation Monday, NBC suggested that the comedy about office workers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, will probably be part of an ad-supported online channel that’s slated to debut next year. But it’s unclear if the show will appear on the new service on Day One — and whether it will remain on Netflix too. “The Office” highlights the thorny relationship between Netflix and traditional media companies, which are rolling out their own streaming services. Netflix pays lucrative licensing fees to air shows like “The Office” and “Friends,” but it’s also a competitor for viewers’ time and money.

Mcdodo Lightning Bolt 3.0 Lightning Cable: $19

We have a deal on the Mcdodo Lightning Bolt 3.0 Lightning Cable. This cable will halt the flow of power once the battery is fully charged to increase the longevity of your battery. It’s also 6-feet long. You can get this cable through our deal for $19.

Amazon Working to Replace Humans with Robots to Pack Orders

Amazon is increasingly replacing the people that pack orders with robots. Reuters exclusively learned of the plan to boost automation. The technology will have to be vetted further before it is widely deployed but could mean thousands of people lose their jobs. Amazon said it will reinvest savings from technology and create new jobs.

The company started adding technology to a handful of warehouses in recent years, which scans goods coming down a conveyor belt and envelopes them seconds later in boxes custom-built for each item, two people who worked on the project told Reuters. Amazon has considered installing two machines at dozens more warehouses, removing at least 24 roles at each one, these people said. These facilities typically employ more than 2,000 people. That would amount to more than 1,300 cuts across 55 U.S. fulfillment centers for standard-sized inventory.

Russian Network RT America Wants You to Distrust 5G Networks

Russian network RT America recently aired a segment called “A Dangerous Experiment on Humanity” to get people to distrust 5G. The segment links 5G to brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer’s disease, none of which are backed by scientific evidence.

Yet even as RT America, the cat’s paw of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has been doing its best to stoke the fears of American viewers, Mr. Putin, on Feb. 20, ordered the launch of Russian 5G networks in a tone evoking optimism rather than doom.

Russia is definitely not the first to attempt to link certain cellular frequencies to health problems, but a it’s an interesting new twist in the matter.

Oomo 3D 5.1 Virtual Surround Sound Bluetooth Earphones: $102.95

We have a deal on a pair of Oomo 3D 5.1 Virtual Surround Sound Bluetooth Earphones. According to the manufacturer, they feature a patented acoustic structure that separates the sound frequencies to provide clarity and 3D Virtual 5.1 Surround Sound. the deal listing has all the details. They’re $102.95 through our deal, which is 20% off retail.

News+: 9 Long Press Shortcuts for iOS

In the latest issue of Mac|Life, Carrie Marshall writes about nine long press shortcuts for iOS. These are especially useful on the iPad. Warning: This magazine is a PDF, and the article can be found on page 96.

We think long presses and 3D Touch are great, but we also think Apple has dropped the ball with them a little bit: there’s no way of knowing whether
a particular icon or keyboard key does anything until you actually hold a finger on it. Some apps use it, some don’t.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

Rare Apple-1 Set to go For High Price at Auction

On May 16, a rare Apple-1 will be put up for an online-only auction run by prestigious British auctioneers, Christies. AppleInsider reported that it could fetch as much as $630,000.

An interesting example, Apple-1 motherboard serial number 01-0053 is housed in the bottom section of a briefcase, hidden by a makeshift aluminum control panel featuring a Datanetics keyboard. Built by hand in 1976, the board is thought to be among an original batch of Apple-1 units sold through Mountain View, Calif., computer store Byte Shop. It sports a white ceramic MOS Technologies 6502 microprocessor, selected by Steve Wozniak to power Apple’s first computer, as well as 8K bytes RAM split between two 4K chips and two original Triad power supply modules.

Nike Fit Could Mean No More Shoes That Don't Fit

Nike has always been keen to use tech to innovate sportswear. Wired reported that with its new scanning technology, the company believes it has solved the problem is ill-fitting shoes.

The scanning tech uses the now familiar combination of computer vision, machine learning and recommendation algorithms to find your right fit in every Nike shoe style. But going beyond the traditional measurements of length and width, Nike Fit uses 13 points of measurement (though Nike says they system can take up to 32) including measuring the «toe box», where it takes into account whether the splay of your toes will have enough room in your choice of trainers. The app is then supposedly able to recommend your best fit.