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First Spotify, now Pandora wants to reward listeners with ad-free music for engaging with brands

Oct20
by on October 20, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Internet radio streaming service Pandora has announced a new Sponsored Listening offering, letting brands give listeners a full hour of ad-free beats in exchange for a little engagement. Available in the US, Australia and New Zealand, Pandora serves up music from across a multitude of genres for free, though you can cough up $4.99/month to remove the ads. With Sponsored Listening, you’ll be asked to watch a short video, visit a brand’s website or engage in another similar ‘interaction’. You’ll immediately be granted 60-minutes of uninterrupted listening, though the advertiser’s brand will still be visible on-screen throughout the session. Time…

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Facebook shows off its first ad for Messenger

Oct20
by on October 20, 2014 at 4:04 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

As the palette of messaging apps continues to crowd up, its important for companies to convince users to stick with their own particular service. In that line of thought, Facebook just released its first video ad for Messenger. It’s a bit saccharine and doesn’t show too much of what differentiates Messenger from other apps, but the company might just be trying to win back some fans after the backlash it received for forcing people to download a second, separate messaging app on mobile. There are a whole lot of stickers, though. In any case, it’s notable that Facebook is even releasing an ad…

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Holvi adds support for IBANs to help transform banking for European SMEs

Oct20
by on October 20, 2014 at 3:58 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Holvi launched its online banking platform for small businesses in Europe back in August, and now the Finnish startup has announced it supports International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs), which sees it edge neatly into the traditional banking setup to broaden its appeal. To recap, Holvi bank accounts are free to open and have no set monthly charges, though there is a €0.90 fee for incoming/outgoing transactions and a 3 percent fee for credit card payments. However, Holvi offers a range of add-on services aimed squarely at SMEs and the self-employed. For example, you can get a real-time view of your company…

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OnePlus One pre-orders will open October 27 – but only for one hour

Oct20
by on October 20, 2014 at 3:30 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Product Updates

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OnePlus’ pre-orders for its One smartphone are due to open at 11am EST on October 27, according to an announcement from the company today – but that pre-order window will only be open for one hour. While it’s another week before you can actually lodge your request, OnePlus is allowing interested buyers to prepare a pre-order in their cart now. The move represents a slight shift away from the company’s previous invite-only system, which many will be thankful for. Still, it’s not as straightforward as you might expect. Now, instead of needing an invite, you can place a pre-order and you’ll…

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The perfect workspace: How to design an office that boosts productivity

Oct20
by on October 20, 2014 at 3:05 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Design & Dev, Entrepreneur, How-To's, LifeHacks

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This post is brought to you by Staples – we make it easy to make more happen.

We’re all looking for quick ways to intuitively boost productivity. Today, there are many apps and services to help keep you organized and stay on task. There are books, articles and entire websites that focus on helping you change how you work. But did you know that you can work on the environment around you to help boost productivity? You spend a lot of time in your office (or your employees spend a lot of time in theirs). Your office space help your productivity instead of work against it. The good news is that there are a few things you…

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