Apple is working on a new music recognition feature that will integrate Shazam into iOS.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is said to be planning to unveil an iOS update that features the ability to recognise a song playing in the background.
It claims that Apple is partnering with Shazam Entertainment, whose app is one of the most popular means for the identification of songs.
Apple will reportedly incorporate Shazam into its own digital voice assistant feature, Siri, allowing you to ask what song is playing. As such, there will be no separate Shazam app.
This news seems to shed a little more light on recent reports that Apple is looking to dramatically overhaul its iTunes offering due to declining MP3 download sales.
It’s just a week since a report emerged concerning the perceived failure of iTunes Radio to drive additional iTunes sales with its free playlist offering. Consequently, it’s claimed that Apple is looking in to new solutions to combat the slide.
Some suggestions for this have been to spin off iTunes Radio (which is rumoured to be coming to the UK soon) into a stronger stand-alone app.
It’s also being rumoured that Apple is considering an iTunes service for its biggest rival, Android.
Shazam, for its part, is said to be considering an initial public offering, so a major deal with Apple would certainly help boost its value.
In other Apple-related news, it seems that the competition to be part of iOS in the run-up to the launch of the iPhone 6 is also hotting up.
One of the companies eager to be associated with the Cupertino-based electronics giant is Yahoo, which is reportedly readying plans to convince Apple to let it become iOS’ default search engine instead of Google.
Currently, the Big G’s search tool is the default option when browsing the web on an iPhone or iPad. Although users can switch to Microsoft’s Bing or Yahoo, it’s believed that few take up that option.
Yahoo CEO, Marissa Meyer, is said to have lined up a presentation to wow Apple. However, with Google stumping up $1 billion for the privilege of being iOS’ top dog, she will certainly need the financial clout alongside her oratory skills to sway Apple staffers.
At the moment, Yahoo supplies iOS’s native weather and stocks information. But the jump to being number one search engine could prove to be a harder sell.
What do you think about Apple’s new plans for iOS? Do you want to see these new features integrated in to the operating system?
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