Lean-Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility

http://www.netobjectives.com/resources/books/lean-agile-software-development

Shazam Launches $4.99 iPhone App, Cripples Free Version

Shazam Entertainment has just launched a new music identifying app for the iPhone titled Shazam Encore, which is now available in the App Store for $4.99, and as a result of this, the free Shazam iPhone app has been crippled to only allow you to identify up to five songs per month.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the move to a paid version simply had to be done thanks to a slumping economy. Shazam Entertainment’s chief executive Andrew Fisher stated that the company just wasn’t making enough off of in-app advertisements and iTunes downloads to sustain its current business model.

Mr. Fisher says mobile advertising was one of the first victims of the recession, and he doesn’t expect ad rates to bounce to levels to sustain free apps for at least two years.

Fisher further backed up that statement by saying the company makes most of its money by selling the app to paying customers on other platforms or through deals with wireless carriers.

But Shazam Entertainment isn’t just limiting its free app to get customers to pay for Encore, they are also trying to sweeten the deal by adding features to the paid version. Shazam Encore contains all of the free version’s features, such as the ability to share tags through a variety of services and purchase music directly through iTunes, but it also features a new interface, many speed improvements, music recommendations, hot and popular music charts, the ability to search for music by artist, album, or track, a drive and tag mode that makes it easier to discover music while the device is docked, and, of course, unlimited song tagging.

What do you folks think? Are the new features, improved speed, and improved interface enough to get you to drop $4.99 on what could be considered a novelty app? Or are you just going to stick with the free version since you get five tags per month anyway?

YouTube XL Supersizes YouTube for Your TV [YouTube]

Many people are sporting HTPCs these days—media computers hooked up to their televisions—but some sites are designed like you're sitting at your computer desk not on your living room couch. YouTube XL makes YouTube couch-friendly.
YouTube XL presents common YouTube options in a large display format for easy navigation without having to read a tiny font 20 feet across your living room. You can quickly navigate to spotlighted, top rated, and most viewed categories. Clicking on 'More...' also gives you quick access to rising videos, most favorites, most discussed, and more.
You can also set the next video in your search results or viewing category to start playing when the current one ends and filter out content not suitable for minors. If you've been annoyed by the tiny fonts and buttons when trying to use YouTube in a living room setup, YouTube XL is a great way to access YouTube in a couch-friendly format.
Have another great site or tool for accessing streaming video on from the comfort of your living room? Let's hear about it in the comments.

YouTube XL [via AskTheAdmin]