The jam-packed music-streaming market just became more so with the entrance of a subscription streamer from Rdio. The new service offers what ReadWriteWeb is calling a "socially-infused" online music streaming platform for $4.99 a month for online access, or $10 a month for the addition of mobile access. "Music subscription services have been around for years, but Rhapsody, Napster and Zune Pass have yet to make a dent with music lovers," writes USAToday. However, "A new breed to of subscription services think they've got the problems licked, with unlimited access to music, via mobile phones." …

In its latest bid to beat Google at its own game, Bing just added a new layer to its Maps data. "The new layer is from Open Street Maps, a free editable map of the whole world," Search Engine Land explains. "This layer is a lot like the Wikipedia concept, where anyone can 'view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.'" As Bing Maps Technical Evangelist Chris Pendleton explains: "People, like you and me, gather location data across the globe from a variety of sources such as recordings from GPS devices, …

Out in Silicon Valley, AOL just subleased a three-story building from Google, reports TechCrunch. AOL's leaving its existing Mountain View offices in favor of the new Palo Alto digs. "AOL only needs a third of the space they've leased and are moving into the third floor," writes TechCrunch. "But instead of leasing a smaller building, they decided to take far more than they need and sublet to startups." That's according to Brad Garlinghouse, the most senior AOL exec on the west coast. SSE Labs a Stanford University-affiliated startup incubator has reportedly already signed up to move in. …

This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal published a thorough report on the science behind online advertising. Scott Rosenberg, co-founder and managing editor of Salon, id surprised by the wide range of reactions the report elicited. "I found it fascinating that two of the smarter Web veterans I know -- Jeff Jarvis and Doc Searls -- arrived at opposite perspectives on the Journal coverage." Jarvis, for his part, portrayed the coverage as alarmist and overblown, explaining: "I don't understand how the Journal could be so breathlessly naive, unsophisticated, and anachronistic about the basics of the modern media …

Could the broad adoption of e-books and e-readers be trickier than Amazon and Apple would like consumers to believe? Suggesting as much, The New York Times' Nick Bilton was recently prohibited from e-reading in a city coffee shop with a 'No Computer' policy. "This isn't a computer, it's an e-book reader," Bilton told the shop employee. Seeing as how the e-reader had a screen and required batteries, however, the employee determined that Bilton's "device" was obviously "some variation of a computer." According to Bilton, establishments will be soon be forced to reconsider the limits of their 'No …

Sure to take location-based social networking to whole new level, an app just hit the market that lets Foursquare users check-in to their favorite venues automatically. "You don't have to do a thing besides simply have your phone on you and this app will check you in while running in the background with iOS 4," reports TechCrunch. The app's developer Tim Sears tells TechCrunch that he was inspired to create Future Checkin, so-called, by reports of "check-in fatigue." As the blog explains, "A number of heavy users of Foursquare that I know (myself included) have been complaining …

As it turns out, the mobile revolution might not be streamed on an iPhone. Despite Apple's cult following and hypnotic marketing efforts, Android phones are now outselling iPhones for the first time on record, Nielsen reported Monday. Stateside, new smartphone subscribers choosing the Google phones accounted for 27% of U.S. smartphone sales, according to Nielsen, surpassing the 23% share held by Apple. Meanwhile, reseach firm Canalys is now estimating that Android handset sales grew 886% worldwide year-over-over. "It's easier to show stellar growth in the beginning of a product cycle, but Android is nearly …

If begrudgingly, many of the Web's more powerful sites are increasingly playing by Facebooks rules, reports The Wall Street Journal. "Facebook Inc. is finding new kinds of websites to 'Like' ... But some of the sites are trying to figure out if the admiration is mutual." Since April, the top social network has been trying to convince sites to add a free "Like" button, which lets Web users show their interest in a page with one click and notify their Facebook friends about it. As of July, 350,000 websites, most of them news, sports and publishing sites, …

The New York Times lays out the respective search strategies of Google and Microsoft, both of which revolve chiefly around fancy new features and services. And, increasingly, Microsoft's Bing seems to be winning. "More often, [Americans] find themselves navigating to Microsoft's year-old Bing for certain tasks, and sometimes they stay a while," writes The Times. For the record, Bing still handles a small share of domestic Web searches -- 12.7% in June, compared with Google's dominant 62.6% share, according to comScore. Still, at least according to The Times, "Google is watching Microsoft closely," and even "mimicking some …

What are Americans doing online? Spending nearly a third of their time playing games and using social networks, according to a new survey by Nielsen. Social networking sites and services take up the largest chunk of time, at about 23% of all time spent online, and, as GigaOm notes, "that figure is up sharply from just 16 percent in June 2009." Online games, meanwhile, account for the next largest block at 10%, up from 9% in the previous survey. "That's great if you are Facebook or social-gaming giant Zynga, but if your business involves email or you …