[CantScareMe]

Yea, it looks like pure speculation and a rumor from somewhere. 

 

[StanD]

  Yea, it looks like pure speculation and a rumor from somewhere. 

Siri started the rumor.

 

[CJs06]

  Siri started the rumor.

lol you're probably right... damn Siri.

 

[Byronb]

  Siri started the rumor.

LOL...So true.

 

[CantScareMe]

Who's Siri?

 

[StanD]

  Who's Siri?

Don't get too excited, she's not that kind of girl..

 

[Hapster]

I use the male siri :/

 

[thievesarmy]

  I'm not too sure what to think about this news. Other than a retardedly strong brand that Beats has... I don't think their Beats music service would be any sort of a competitive advantage. Licensing? Infrastructure? IP?
 

 
They do have a competitive advantage over Spotify in that their headphones are so popular, and they can market through them or even bundle headphones w/ Beats subscriptions. They also have big music industry names in the company. Jimmy is arguably the most well known music industry figure (that hasn't also been a performing artist) and he has a high position at the largest label conglomerate (Universal). That, paired with Apple's iOS / iTunes infrastructure & install base, and I'm pretty confident they could deliver something that is significantly better than Spotify. Apple is really phenomenal with device ecosystem 'synergy', where if you have a mac computer, iphone, ipad, airport, apple tv, etc. they all work really well together.
 
Here's some more insight in the wake of a leaked Beats royalty statement, which I believe adds credence to my earlier theory that part of Apple's interest could be in their existing licensing / royalty agreements: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/13/beats-music-subscribers/

 

[CJs06]

   
They do have a competitive advantage over Spotify in that their headphones are so popular, and they can market through them or even bundle headphones w/ Beats subscriptions. They also have big music industry names in the company. Jimmy is arguably the most well known music industry figure (that hasn't also been a performing artist) and he has a high position at the largest label conglomerate (Universal). That, paired with Apple's iOS / iTunes infrastructure & install base, and I'm pretty confident they could deliver something that is significantly better than Spotify. Apple is really phenomenal with device ecosystem 'synergy', where if you have a mac computer, iphone, ipad, airport, apple tv, etc. they all work really well together.
 
Here's some more insight in the wake of a leaked Beats royalty statement, which I believe adds credence to my earlier theory that part of Apple's interest could be in their existing licensing / royalty agreements: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/13/beats-music-subscribers/

This makes sense, I think Apple's aim at Beat's licensing and royalty agreements is spot on. That would constitute a competitive advantage along with the strong Beats brand recognition. I guess it is to be seen if Apple can sustain this competitive advantage over Spotify by introducing the threat of a new entrance into the music streaming industry.

 

[LFC_SL]

It's combination of both. Bass bias in your face sound and marketing. Not as if Beats were the first ever to tap into popular culture preference for a bassy signature. They have just been the most successful at execution to date. You always find over-analysis in these kind of threads, if you cut away the superiority there is a lot of respect due. And hey, Beats has helped the headphone market to grow and brought many competitors to market, some of which are respected on enthusiast sites such as this one. Still a plus

 

[thievesarmy]

This really isn't about that. This thread should really only be about the Apple + Beats acquisition, and things directly related to that. There are plenty of other threads for anyone that wants to harp on Beats' general success or shortcomings, etc.

 

[CantScareMe]

  Don't get too excited, she's not that kind of girl..

 
Lol, my safe search was off. Don't think she started the rumor. 

 

[HiFiAudio]

Per AudioStream

Thanks to reader CG for pointing us to this article on MacRumors (see article) which claims Apple will introduce 24-bit capability with the launch of their updated mobile app iOS 8 coming June 2 at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
 
At present, iOS 7's music app is limited to 24/48, which in and of itself ain't bad, and while you can have your iOS device play back greater resolutions using Onkyo's HF Player (see article) and an external DAC, internal playback is currently limited to 16-bit.
 
The article also includes this tidbit:

Apple will also likely debut OS X 10.10 at the event, and may introduce Beats Electronics co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre as new senior advisers following a likely forthcoming announcement regarding its acquisition of the audio company.

 

There's certainly a gaining momentum behind this notion of Apple going 24-bit and the recent Beats buyout talks spread like wildfire around the net. AudioStream was even quoted on CNN's website (see article) in part saying, "It's about damn time". Nice.

 

[StanD]

I use the male siri :/

You can't trick me, I saw the woman that was the voice of Siri on the news. Apparently she made the recorded voice samples long before Siri came to be and didn't even know it was her voice when Siri surfaced.

 

[StanD]

I really don't see why Apple needs Beats for that much cash. Apple already has a strong brand name with a dedicated following. They have the technical prowess and fincancial force to pull off a streaming service and the business accumin to strike deals for content as they already have the relationships since they already sell the content on iTunes. For that much money they could do all of this and partner with a headphone company that knows how to make great sounding cans/IEMs. Tim Cook is not the creative genuis that Steve Jobs was, but he is brilliant at contracts, supply chains and manufacturing in China. If I was him, I'd tell Dre to beat it.