Music takes a trip on Social Networks

This night, Facebook added to its interface a new Application entry, labeled "Music".
If you're logged in, you can reach the page using this link.

This move from Facebook Hq seems to be related to Google Music release, expected for tomorrow.
Google Music will be presented in Los Angeles during a special event, called These go to eleven. The event seems related/sponsored by T-Mobile, as Engadget told us few days ago.
The deal with T-Mobile consists on the possibility to directly bill purchased tracks. Exclusive content will also be available for T-Mobile customers for free.

A Cold War, which will put the spotlight on the "music" capabilities of social networks, (aka Google+ and Facebook).

Facebook role on Music Provider is to act as broker of music streaming services. At the moment, on the country I live now (France), we have:

• Spotify
• iHeartRadio

I expect, on next weeks/months, to see:

• Last.fm (job opportunities on the website can be an hint for upcoming "fully featured" service)
• Pandora
• Deezer
• iTunes? (less likely)

Google role seems to be a little different: it will provide directly the music, signing agreements with music producers/distributors.
Google Music is avaliable as closed beta, accessible via invites. The number of available songs is still limited. Google partners with Universal, EMI, Sony Music, 23 independent labels on Google Music, scores exclusive content

Universal closed the Google Music deal just before tomorrow's event.

Google Music has been presented and delivered to all US users.
It is also possible to gain access from everywhere using proxies or using Tor technology.

A small detail... I had Google Music invites an I joined and I had no problems accessing to web interface. Maybe the choice of english language for the UI enabled someway the access for non US users.
I am not able to access Android Market, so I have no direct experience of it.

Stay tuned!

Kinect as Webcam on your PC [SOLVED]

So you want to use your Kinect as a webcam, uh?

Yes, it is possible to do that... And it is quite straightforward.

Follow those steps:

• Download and install latest Kinect for Windows SDK beta
• Download and install latest MS Visual Studio 2010 Runtimes (you can choose x86 or x64)
• [Update] It is working with latest Beta 2 release, updated link below
• Reboot your PC
• Download KinectCam.ax file and store it in a path you're not going to touch anything for next 10 years (e.g. %WINDIR%)
• Execute command line as Administrator (Right click on Cmd.exe and Run as administrator)
• Enter the following command: regsvr32.exe "path of KinectCam.ax file"
• Feel free to use your expensive webcam on Skype, Google Talk or whatever you want

For some troubleshooting or use openKinect package instead of official Kinect SDK, feel free to follow this link. More info about the creator of the DirectX VideoCapture Filter are there.

Obviously, on Linux, it is supported out of the box thanks to Linux Kernel.