MacRumors

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Neil Young's full back catalog has returned to Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, and elsewhere, less than two years after he pulled his collection from all streaming services due to his belief that streaming delivers the "worst quality in history," according to Music Ally.

Young stopped streaming his songs in July 2015, and at the time said "it's not because of the money" but rather "about sound quality" in a Facebook post.

Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans.

It's not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent.

It's about sound quality. I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music.

For me, it's about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that.

When the quality is back, I'll give it another look. Never say never.

Young's catalog first returned to streaming service Tidal's high-fidelity CD quality tier in April, although his songs were also made available through its standard tier with a max quality of 320 kbps. Apple Music has a max quality of 256kbps. Both services use the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) encoding format.

Young himself launched Pono, a music download service with high-resolution audio, in early 2015. The digital music service delivers high-resolution 24-bit 192 kHz audio. However, the store has been temporarily offline since July after its primary cloud-based infrastructure partner Omnifone was acquired.

Young has yet to provide a reason behind his decision to bring his catalog back to additional streaming services.

Honda has announced its 2017 Pilot will be available with CarPlay and Android Auto in models EX and above in the United States. The software platforms will be built into an improved 8-inch touchscreen with a new anti-fingerprint coating.

The three-row SUV is the latest Honda vehicle to support CarPlay after the 2016 and later Accord, 2016 and later Civic, 2016 Clarity Fuel Cell Sedan, 2017 Ridgeline, and 2017 Honda CR-V. Honda did not mention if wireless CarPlay will be supported.

The 2017 Honda Pilot goes on sale beginning November 7, with a suggested starting price of $33,030 for the CarPlay-supported EX model.

CarPlay is available in over 100 vehicle models worldwide from over two dozen automakers, providing hands-free or eyes-free access to common iPhone apps such as Maps, Messages, Music, Phone, and Podcasts, and select third-party apps. Apple keeps a periodically updated list of available models on its website.

Chase has announced its payments service Chase Pay will launch at Walmart stores in the United States in 2017. The digital wallet will be integrated into the Walmart app for in-store purchases, allowing Chase Visa credit and debit cardholders to pay at the checkout by showing a QR code to the cashier.

Chase Pay will also be added to Walmart's website next year, allowing customers to make online purchases while earning rewards and receiving offers. The service secures transactions with token technology, which utilizes one-time complex codes to process transactions and keep card information secure.

Chase Pay differs from Apple Pay, which uses contactless NFC technology and is secured with Touch ID in addition to tokenization. Walmart has so far refused to adopt Apple Pay, opting for QR code payments services like Walmart Pay and Chase Pay instead. The retailer has said it is open to supporting other digital wallets in the future.

Chase Pay was created in partnership with MCX, the consortium behind the indefinitely postponed payments service CurrentC. Walmart was a leading member of MCX between 2012 and 2015, when the consortium's three-year exclusivity window expired. In 2014, Walmart explicitly said it would not accept Apple Pay.

Walmart's app is a free download on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone.

Canadian carrier Bell has announced that its Fibe TV app is now available on the fourth-generation Apple TV in Ontario and Québec. The app allows Fibe TV subscribers to watch up to 450 channels live or on demand, with the ability to record, pause, and rewind live TV coming later this year.

The app features trending and on demand TV shows, a programming guide for live TV, and search functionality. A dedicated menu for recorded TV shows will be added later this year. Bell's website says the Fibe TV app requires an unlimited internet plan, available as a $15 per month upgrade.

Bell also now sells the 32GB fourth-generation Apple TV for $199 at its stores in Ontario and Québec and through its website.

Fibe TV is Canada's largest internet-based TV service with over 1.3 million subscribers as of September 2016.

During a quarterly earnings meeting yesterday, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg briefly commented on the status of the company's mobile app experience, mentioning a belief that "a text box is still the default way we share." As reported by Bloomberg, the CEO said that the next step for Facebook on smartphones is a camera-first experience that changes status updates from simple written posts to dynamic photos and videos.

As it stands, when the Facebook app is opened today users must click on "Photo" at the top of the app to begin a status update, then navigate to the Camera icon among their photos in order to take a picture or record a video. Zuckerberg's vision is one more akin to Snapchat's camera-first user interface, but on Facebook it's described as "a swipe away," hinting that it could be introduced as a new left-to-right swipe, replace the friends list currently in the menu that appears after a right-to-left swipe, or come in from the top of the screen.

"In most social apps today, a text box is still the default way we share,” Zuckerberg said. “Soon, we believe a camera will be the main way that we share.”

The Facebook camera itself will be updated with new features as well, including new augmented reality filters -- like the ones that appeared on Halloween -- and "have many of the same features Snapchat has," according to AdAge. Facebook's move to put itself more in line with Snapchat has stretched into its other apps, including Instagram, and the new camera-first mindset from the social media company is said to be something it's looking to implement in Facebook Messenger (which it's already begun to do) as well as WhatsApp.

For the third quarter, Facebook reported that sales grew 56 percent to $7.01 billion, 84 percent of which was generated on mobile devices. In total, advertising sales account for more than 97 percent of the company's revenue, but CFO David Wehner mentioned that the company will begin "limiting its ad load" so as not to turn away daily users, which rose to 1.18 billion in Q3 2016.

In regards to the new camera-focused update, Zuckerberg said that "it will start to roll out broadly across the world, hopefully sooner rather than later." In a small test in Brazil and Canada, Facebook tried out a Snapchat-like experience in its iOS app over the summer, updating it in those countries with a front-facing camera that appears when users open the app and letting them add various themes and filters onto their selfies inspired by the Olympics.

The creators of discontinued short-form video service Vine have announced a new live streaming app for iOS called Hype.

Hype will have to compete with existing live video streaming platforms including Periscope and Facebook Live, but its creators Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov are betting on its success because it offers some additional features that the others don't have.

Going in its favor, Hype lets users add media to their live video streams, such as photos, music, and animated GIFs. Users can also play music from their iTunes library and choose themed backgrounds for their streams where text and emojis can be added.

Viewers meanwhile can comment on streams and participate in polls, while broadcasters can favorite comments, offering more interaction than Hype's rival live streaming platforms.

Twitter announced plans to shut down Vine last week. The social media company plans to discontinue the mobile app in the coming months, but did not give a specific timeline.

Hype is a free download for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Elgato today announced the latest product in its line of HomeKit accessories, debuting the Eve Motion wireless motion sensor. The Eve Motion is a small square-shaped accessory that can be put anywhere in your house, indoors or outdoors.

It works in tandem with other HomeKit accessories, allowing you to create scenes that can be set off using automatic triggers. When placed in an entry way, for example, the Eve Motion can automatically turn on the lights and raise the thermostat when it detects that you've entered the house. It works with the Eve HomeKit app, Apple's own Home app, and with other HomeKit apps that support third-party accessories.

"Motion sensors are an indispensable part of a home automation setup," said Markus Fest, General Manager of Elgato. " With no wires attached, Eve Motion is a versatile trigger for a host of unique and creative scenarios."

Eve Motion connects to a HomeKit setup using Bluetooth and like the rest of Elgato's products, it does not require a bridge. It runs off of two replaceable AA batteries, so it doesn't need to be charged, and it has a 120 degree field of view and a range of nine meters with a response time of two seconds. An IPX3 water resistance means it's resistant to small splashes of water and moisture, but it shouldn't be outside in a torrential downpour.

Eve Motion joins Elgato's other HomeKit-enabled products, including the Eve Energy smart outlet, the Eve Room indoor sensor, the Eve Weather outdoor sensor, the Eve Door & Window door sensor, and the Eve connected Light Switch.

The Eve Motion is available from the Elgato website or from Amazon.com for $49.95.

The latest data from market research firm Strategy Analytics claims Android captured a record 87.5% share of the worldwide smartphone market in the third quarter, reflecting the period between late June and late September.

Strategy Analytics director Woody Oh on Android's continued dominance:

Android's leadership of the global smartphone market looks unassailable at the moment. Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. However, several challenges remain for Google. The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of manufacturers, few Android device vendors make profits, and Google's new Pixel range is attacking its own hardware partners that made Android popular in the first place.

While most of Android's gains can be attributed to the continued demise of BlackBerry and Windows smartphones, which are now practically non-existent on the market, iOS adoption remains at its lowest levels since mid 2014.

iOS recorded 12.1% market share in the quarter, down slightly from 13.6% in the year-ago quarter, allegedly due to a lackluster performance in China and Africa. That nearly mirrors the platform's 12.2% market share in Q3 2014.

iOS and Android together account for 99.6% market share in what has become a two-horse race over the past several years. Windows Phone is virtually dead, and BlackBerry recently said it is done designing its own smartphones.