Spotify's HiFi lossless streaming might really, finally, actually be coming soon
We've been waiting for Spotify's lossless streaming for more than four years, but there are some new and promising hints that the feature might finally arrive sometime soon.
The X account for Spicetify, a command-line tool that lets you customize the Spotify client, says that a new version of Spotify includes some hidden mentions of lossless. In a screenshot the account shared, for example, lossless appears in the sidebar to connect a device. Another screenshot shows lossless as an option for streaming quality in the app's settings. The Spicetify account also says it has seen code that lossless will be available on Spotify Connect and in the web player.
To be clear: Spotify's lossless streaming still isn't available yet. But these small lossless mentions and recent reporting indicate that the company may be ready to add lossless at long last.
Spotify initially announced a 'Spotify HiFi' tier in 2021 that it intended to launch that year, but that didn't happen. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in 2024 that the company was working on a 'deluxe' version of Spotify. And in February, Bloomberg reported that Spotify was aiming to roll out a new 'Music Pro' tier with features like higher-quality streaming by the end of this year. The tier could cost as much as $5.99 per month more than its current subscriptions, Bloomberg says.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Europeans seek 'digital sovereignty' as US tech firms embrace Trump
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Wirths said the type of people coming to the stall had changed: "Before, it was people who knew a lot about data privacy. Now it's people who are politically aware and feel exposed." Tesla chief Elon Musk, who also owns social media company X, was a leading adviser to the U.S. president before the two fell out, while the bosses of Amazon, Meta and Google-owner Alphabet took prominent spots at Trump's inauguration in January. Days before Trump took office, outgoing president Joe Biden had warned of an oligarchic "tech industrial complex" threatening democracy. Berlin-based search engine Ecosia says it has benefited from some customers' desire to avoid U.S. counterparts like Microsoft's Bing or Google, which dominates web searches and is also the world's biggest email provider. "The worse it gets, the better it is for us," founder Christian Kroll said of Ecosia, whose sales pitch is that it spends its profits on environmental projects. Similarweb data shows the number of queries directed to Ecosia from the European Union has risen 27% year-on-year and the company says it has 1% of the German search engine market. But its 122 million visits from the 27 EU countries in February were dwarfed by 10.3 billion visits to Google, whose parent Alphabet made revenues of about $100 billion from Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2024 - nearly a third of its $350 billion global turnover. Non-profit Ecosia earned 3.2 million euros ($3.65 million) in April, of which 770,000 euros was spent on planting 1.1 million trees. Google declined to comment for this story. Reuters could not determine whether major U.S. tech companies have lost any market share to local rivals in Europe. DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY The search for alternative providers accompanies a debate in Europe about "digital sovereignty" - the idea that reliance on companies from an increasingly isolationist United States is a threat to Europe's economy and security. "Ordinary people, the kind of people who would never have thought it was important they were using an American service are saying, 'hang on!'," said UK-based internet regulation expert Maria Farrell. "My hairdresser was asking me what she should switch to." Use in Europe of Swiss-based ProtonMail rose 11.7% year-on-year to March compared to a year ago, according to Similarweb, while use of Alphabet's Gmail, which has some 70% of the global email market, slipped 1.9%. ProtonMail, which offers both free and paid-for services, said it had seen an increase in users from Europe since Trump's re-election, though it declined to give a number. "My household is definitely disengaging," said British software engineer Ken Tindell, citing weak U.S. data privacy protections as one factor. 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Greg Nojeim, director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said Europeans' concerns about the U.S. government accessing their data, whether stored on devices or in the cloud, were justified. Not only does U.S. law permit the government to search devices of anyone entering the country, it can compel disclosure of data that Europeans outside the U.S. store or transmit through U.S. communications service providers, Nojeim said. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Germany's new government is itself making efforts to reduce exposure to U.S. tech, committing in its coalition agreement to make more use of open-source data formats and locally-based cloud infrastructure. Regional governments have gone further - in conservative-run Schleswig-Holstein, on the Danish border, all IT used by the public administration must run on open-source software. 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Mastodon, a decentralised social media service developed by German programmer Eugen Rochko, enjoyed a rush of new users two years ago when Musk bought Twitter, later renamed X. But it remains a niche service. Signal, a messaging app run by a U.S. nonprofit foundation, has also seen a surge in installations from Europe. Similarweb's data showed a 7% month-on-month increase in Signal usage in March, while use of Meta's WhatsApp was static. Meta declined to comment for this story. Signal did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment. But this kind of conscious self-organising is unlikely on its own to make a dent in Silicon Valley's European dominance, digital rights activist Robin Berjon told Reuters. "The market is too captured," he said. "Regulation is needed as well." (Additional reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Berlin, Charlie Devereux in Madrid, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
YASA: UK Company Leading The Electrified Performance Car Revolution
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The latter is particularly relevant because of YASA's ownership change. This will also be the brand of the first all-electric car to use YASA motors. 'AMG has spoken about its new architecture, and the first car launched will be high performance electric vehicle,' says Woolmer. 'It's going to be a lot of fun, but it will be a different clientele than a mid-engine supercar.' YASA's focus will remain high-performance cars, but the company always had wider goals. 'Our core mission is to accelerate electrification. Our customers today have a good fit with the USPs of the product. They appreciate the size, light weight, repeatable performance, and efficiency.' The Lamborghini Revuelto is another electrified supercar using YASA's motors. Originally, the YASA motor was extremely low volume, used in halo hypercars such as the Jaguar C-X75, Koenigsegg Regera and a land speed record car produced by Lola-Drayson. Now YASA is increasing its production capacity considerably. In 2024, the company produced 14,000 motors, and with a new facility in Bicester Motion, this will increase to 25,000 motors annually for 2025-27. As part of the Mercedes relationship, its motors will also be produced in Berlin by Mercedes-AMG itself. 'We're going down this journey of commoditizing the product, going to high volumes, and reducing costs,' says Woomer. 'I'm absolutely convinced that the technology has got a perfect USP in the sports car industry. But as we move to new architectures, it could be commoditized to wider volume appeal. Lightweight is great for everything.' YASA Motors Mean The Yoke's On You The clue to YASA innovation is in its name, which stands for Yokeless And Segmented Armature. The motors use a different design to conventional radial flux systems, which almost all other electric motors employ. They don't have an iron core (or yoke), while the rotating part of the motor is segmented. 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However, the Mercedes-Benz acquisition has enabled YASA to take its technology to a different level commercially. 'YASA was never looking to be acquired,' says Woolmer. 'But Mercedes put forward a compelling case for the purchase. They wanted us to be the speed boat; they didn't want to destroy our culture. They wanted us to keep our innovation and our brand. In return, they've got the industrial might to invest in the technology, which they've done both here and in and in the factory in Berlin. Four years later, they were true to all those statements. They've invested a lot in the assets, giving us a big new facility at Bicester Motion. That was a £70 million investment, plus a big investment in the technology to scale it up. They have been the perfect scaling partner.' YASA's UK Tech Triumph Despite the factory in Berlin, YASA will still be a UK-based company. 'We will remain fully British with our headquarters in Bicester Motion,' says Woolmer. 'All the R&D on the technology is happening here in the UK. Mercedes has manufacturing satellites all around the world, but manufacturing is not where the core Intellectual Property resides. The aspiration is to increase manufacturing the UK, not just do R&D here.' YASA will continue to develop its technology and build motors in the UK. The UK will also continue to manufacture for customers other than Mercedes, where Berlin will solely serve AMG. But now YASA has much more scale available. 'Ten years ago, we struggled to make 150 motors,' says Woolmer. 'Now, if we got a contract for 50,000 motors, we would know what to do.' YASA isn't sitting on its laurels and is already looking towards the next development. 'The game changer will be in-wheel motor technology,' says Woolmer. 'Renault launched the 5 Turbo 3E that will be the first production vehicle with in-wheel motors, although it's a limited series.' Donut Lab is another company chasing this possibility. 'We're not focused on it yet, but in the future, we will talk about it a lot more. We've got technology that can radically transform the way we design vehicles, and that really is empowered by the size and the weight of the motors. People have been trying to crack in-wheel motors for 25 years, and it's hard, but based off all the learning we've had so far, we think we've got the tech to do it.'
Android Authority
an hour ago
- Android Authority
Nothing Phone 3 specs leak: Big upgrades incoming despite sub-flagship chip
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