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Last week, pop artist Taylor Swift made headlines when she removed all her music from popular streaming service Spotify, stating that the best way for fans to listen is to buy the CD or download the album.

Spotify has responded to Swift, revealing that the company has paid over $2 billion to artists, labels, songwriters and publishers; a hefty sum.

In the response, Spotify brings up many good points, most notably that the average paying subscriber for Spotify is under 27 years old and never paid for music in the past, growing up in a piracy prevalent environment.

Here is the response in its entirety, which is worth reading:

Taylor Swift is absolutely right: music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it. We started Spotify because we love music and piracy was killing it. So all the talk swirling around lately about how Spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time. Our whole reason for existence is to help fans find music and help artists connect with fans through a platform that protects them from piracy and pays them for their amazing work. Quincy Jones posted on Facebook that "Spotify is not the enemy; piracy is the enemy". You know why? Two numbers: Zero and Two Billion. Piracy doesn't pay artists a penny – nothing, zilch, zero. Spotify has paid more than two billion dollars to labels, publishers and collecting societies for distribution to songwriters and recording artists. A billion dollars from the time we started Spotify in 2008 to last year and another billion dollars since then. And that's two billion dollars' worth of listening that would have happened with zero or little compensation to artists and songwriters through piracy or practically equivalent services if there was no Spotify – we're working day and night to recover money for artists and the music business that piracy was stealing away.

LG has announced that its flagship G3 smartphone will be getting the Android 5.0 Lollipop update starting next week.

Poland will be the first nation to receive the update, followed by more major markets in the coming weeks.

"LG is absolutely committed to giving our customers the best mobile experiences available and bringing Android Lollipop to G3 owners as soon as possible is a top priority," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of the LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "The new features and improvements in Android 5.0 will bring a whole new user experience to the G3 and make it even better than it already is."

There was no word on the update for other LG devices.

Blizzard has announced their first new IP in 17 years, "Overwatch," a team-based FPS with a plethora of characters.

The design of the game looks similar to Team Fortress 2, with a colorful art style. The game is a six vs. six shooter, and each playable character has their own special abilities. Each character also has a map of their own based on their back story.

Blizzard says the game will not be a standard shooter, however. "We wanted to make the game less lethal," said Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan at a BlizzCon panel. "You will die. That's part of the game. We're just hoping that you die less frequently than in current modern military shooters. We wanted to give players other things to do than put crosshairs on targets. We know not everyone is great at that and that's what drives a lot of people out of other shooters."


For example, Overwatch will include a "Payload" objective (deliver the bomb successfully) and "Point Capture" (capture different control points).

Here is the first official trailer:



There's great information about the characters here. Beta gamers can sign up starting next year.

According to sources, Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk is looking to bring Internet to even the most remote areas of the world via 700 small satellites.

Supposedly, Musk is in talks with Florida and Colorado officials in efforts to construct a satellite factory. Musk is working with ex-Googler Greg Wyler, who led Google's satellite division and now runs WorldVu Satellites, a company that owns part of the radio spectrum used for satellite Internet.

There has never been a fleet so large, but the satellites are small and will weigh under 250 pounds each. Each satellite will cost under $1 million to produce, and SpaceX would use their rockets to release the satellites into orbit.

Musk and Wyler are not the first to make such plans, but they may be the closest. Google and Facebook have also announced plans to use balloons, drones or satellites to get Internet to remote areas.

Trendon Shavers of Texas has been arrested on securities and wire fraud after he allegedly ran a large Bitcoin-related Ponzi scheme.

Shavers allegedly started an online digital hedge fund and raised millions. Each count carries a max sentence of 20 years and millions in fines. The SEC already filed civil fraud charges against Shavers last year, and he owes $40 million in fines for that conviction.

Under the handle Pirateat40 on the ForumBitcointalk.org forum, Shavers solicited about 100 investors to place their Bitcoins in Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BST), an online fund in which he promised weekly returns of 7 percent. In his solicitation, he explained the returns were achieved through "Bitcoin arbitrage activities that included acting as a middleman for individuals who wished to purchase large quantities of BTC 'off the radar.'"

As the Ponzi scheme grew, the minimum investment was set at 100 Bitcoin (BTC), which at that point was worth about $1000. By August, 2012, well before Bitcoin began its massive run to $1200 per BTC, Shavers closed down the fund, declaring that there was no money left. In total, he had brought in 700,000 BTC, about 7 percent of the entire float of BTC and had returned 500,000 BTC to investors as supposed interest. Shavers is accused of stealing another 150,000 BTC and transferring to his own BTC wallet.

Microsoft's Phil Spencer has confirmed the company's acquisition of Minecraft maker Mojang has completed, ahead of schedule.

Reads Spencer's tweet: "It's official, today we welcome Mojang to the Microsoft Studios family. We're excited for the possibilities ahead w/the Minecraft community."

The companies announced the move in mid-September, with Microsoft paying a handsome $2.5 billion price to buy the developer.

While Mojang had rejected previous offers outright, it became clear over the summer that the founders were finally ready to sell. All three founders including Notch decided not to stay on after selling, leaving just 37 employees, a tiny number for a studio with a massive hit game.

Minecraft has sold over 50 million copies since launch in 2009, across platforms that include the PC, PlayStation, Xbox and phones. The game is also wildly profitable, with Mojang bringing in over $100 million in profit last year from game and merchandise sales. The company also had nearly $300 million in revenue last year. The company recently signed licensing deals with Scholastic for tutorial books, LEGO for toys and even Warner Bros. for a feature film. Besides the licensing revenue, the developers make money by charging a one-time fee for their games, unlike most others that offer freemium models. The games range from $7-$30 depending on system.

Asus' first foray into the smartwatch world is the ZenWatch, and it's ready for launch.

The company has confirmed that its Android Wear-based device will launch tomorrow at Best Buy, and later in the Google Play Store for $199, making it the cheapest of the new smartwatches to hit the market.

While most of the specs and software are the same as other current devices, Asus is offering a classier (less sporty, less nerdy) design that actually looks somewhat similar to the announced Apple Watch with nice leather bands and a metal finish rather than plastic.

The full feature set:

Exquisitely-crafted using premium materials
-Sophisticated design enhanced by rose gold color layering
-Genuine stitched-leather watchband and quick-release clasp design
-100+ combination watch face choices to fit your mood and personality
-Vivid AMOLED display and Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Smart Companion
-Seamless ASUS ZenUI integration and enhanced functionality
-Automatically unlock your phone with ASUS ZenWatch
-Tap Tap and Find My Phone helps you locate your phone instantly if misplaced
-Simply cover ASUS ZenWatch with your hand to mute an incoming call
-ASUS Remote Camera frees users to take photos from creative angles where the viewfinder would be difficult to see.
-Presentation Control enables ZenWatch to be used as a remote control and time manager when giving a business presentation or lecture
Wellness manager
-Monitor and track a range of health-related statistics with the ASUS Wellness app
-Measures steps taken, calories burned, activity duration, heart rate, exercise intensity and relaxation level
-View an easy-to-understand relaxation score based on relaxation-level measurements

Primecast, the Android app developed to bring unofficial support of Amazon Instant Video to Chromecast, has already been shut down just two days after launching.

Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video are services that allow users to buy and rent movies and TV shows, or stream from the Prime catalog (if oyu are a subscriber) and the Google Chromecast is a popular HDMI dongle that allows users to stream content by "casting" it from their phone or PC to the TV. Amazon does not offer official support for the Chromecast unlike other popular services like Hulu, Netflix and HBO.

The team behind the app did not give a reason why the app was pulled from the store, but likely Amazon was not a fan.

Reads the post:

Dear Primecast users,
a few months ago, we set out to bring together two great products that seemed like a natural fit: Amazon Instant Video and Google Chromecast.

We spent most of our free time trying to come up with the best solution we could, while also safeguarding your privacy, honoring digital rights management and copyright mechanisms, and making the app as useful as possible.

Two days ago, we felt we were ready for an announcement, so we posted a single link on Reddit...and waited.

Walmart is preparing its own streaming stick to rival the popular Google Chromecast, named the Vudu Spark.

The specs for the Vudu Spark have just made it to the FCC database, and Walmart (the parent of streaming company Vudu) has confirmed the stick's existence.

Says a Vudu rep: "At VUDU, we're always looking at new ways for our customers to experience the movies and TV shows in their VUDU library. We're developing a streaming stick and will share more information in the coming months, so stay tuned."

There does not appear to be much to the Spark, except for its ability to stream Vudu. The device will ship with a remote control for easier navigation, and it also appears that the device will use Zigbee RF rather than Wi-Fi Direct, so mirroring abilities may be out of the picture, leaving the device as a single use streaming stick.

Likely, given its limited functionality, Walmart will sell the device for cheaper than the Chromecast, the Roku Streaming Stick and Amazon's new Fire TV Stick although none of them are necessarily "expensive" at $50 and under.

Source:
Om

Microsoft has confirmed that its upcoming Patch Tuesday will be a large one, with fixes coming for 16 security bulletins of which five are "critical."

Most of the remaining are flagged as "important" but will still require immediate patching. At 16 bulletins, the fixes are the highest count of the year. The critical bulletins will take care of vulnerabilities found in IE6 all the way through IE11. There are no critical fixes required for Windows but Office and IE require fixes for all operating systems even including Windows 10 Technical Preview.

The critical bugs would have allowed attackers remote code execution and some of the "important" bulletins allowed for privilege elevation. Some are probably not required by all, such as Bulletin 6 which is exclusively for Microsoft Office 2007.

Windows Update should take care of the patching for most users.

According to a quick teaser tweet we know that Microsoft's first Lumia smartphone without the Nokia branding is on its way.

The device will be unveiled on November 11th. Reads the teaser: "Microsoft is delivering the power of everyday mobile technology to everyone. Come back on November 11, to find out more! #MoreLumia"

Microsoft recently confirmed that Nokia Lumia is now Microsoft Lumia, a long expected move given the fact that Nokia is um, still a company and Microsoft does not own all of it.

Recent rumors seem to support the launch of a mid-range device with a 5-inch 720p screen, a Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor at 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, dual cameras 1.3MP/5MP and many colorful options.

We will know more on the 11th.

In a rather shocking turn of events, the desktop PSU and CPU cooling system manufacturer Zalman has declared bankruptcy following massive bank fraud committed by the company's parent, Moneual.

The company filed for bankruptcy on November 3rd and reports are claiming that a multi-billion dollar fraud occurred leading to the shutdown. A former employee of Moneual allegedly told the Korea JoongAng Daily that executives took out nearly $3 billion in bank loans and lines of credit using fabricated export data and balance sheets.

Allegedly, the perpetrators of the crimes are Moneual CEO Harold Park, VP Scott Park, and VP Won Duck-yeok. The employee said that the executives would take long trips every summer to Hawaii to drive luxury cars and live in luxury.

If the allegations are true, it is highly unlikely that the creditor banks will be able to collect what is owed to them, especially if the export data was initially inflated.

The under-the-radar Android Wear-based LG G Watch R is now available via the Google Play Store after having been available only through AT&T.

Reads the page: "The timeless design of the LG G Watch R will complete your every look. The 100% stainless steel body, round shape and multiple face options make this watch feel like a classic timepiece."

Besides the retro look and round face, the G Watch R will also be water and dust resistant, include a gyroscope and accelerometer for motion, a barometer for temperature, and a heart rate monitor. LG is also including a few fitness related apps in addition to Google's own.

The device has a 1.3" Full Circle P-OLED, is powered by a Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, and has 4GB internal storage. The device should last around 36 hours with regular use before needing a charge.

Aereo has announced that 43 more employees have been laid off, this time from their Boston and New York offices.

"In an effort to reduce costs, we made the difficult decision to lay off some of our staff in Boston and New York. We are continuing to conserve resources while we chart our path forward. We are grateful to our employees for their loyalty, hard work and dedication. This was a difficult, but necessary step in order to preserve the company. We decline to comment further," said Aereo VP Virginia Lam.

The recent decision for more layoffs comes following a federal judge ruling that placed a full injunction on the company to operate as a TV service.

Aereo was effectively shut down a few months ago following a Supreme Court decision that ruled it violated copyright by offering OTA streams of broadcast channels without paying retransmission fees through thousands of tiny antennas. The company has been trying to resurrect operating as a cable company or as a standalone DVR company.

The clock is ticking, however, as the company cannot raise any more money and all revenue has dried up after the shut down.

Struggling casual gaming company Zynga announced a huge loss of $57.1 million for the quarter, up from a loss of just $68,000 in the same quarter a year ago.

The company has not been able to match the success of games like Farmville, which were huge for Facebook casual gamers but have since been supplanted by other much more popular mobile titles like Clash of Clans.

One major miss was Zynga's new version of its popular mobile "Poker" game. The design change was radical and many fans missed the style and design and openly complained. In addition, the game was also broken for a few much older devices. Zynga had to bite the bullet and reinstate the "classic" version. We need to "improve our execution in terms of product quality and audience growth," added CEO Don Mattrick.

Overall, daily active users fell to 26 million, under half of what the company's games were seeing in 2012. Revenue was down 13 percent year-over-year to $176.6 million but that was higher than expected.