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Spotify has launched Stations, a new ad-supported app that lets you listen to playlists curated by the company at no charge. It’s presently only available for Android to users in Australia, and has been labeled an ‘experiment,’ so it isn’t yet clear whether it’ll arrive on other platforms and in other countries. For now, Stations seems like it’s designed to help you get music on your speakers with minimal effort: instead of searching for artists and albums, you simply pick from a range of playlists, labeled by genre. Mashable notes that you’ll also find Spotify’s Release Radar and Discover Weekly… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Spotify from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2norMsv

Learning a second language has traditionally always been popular with the hobbyist and travel community. But what about the business community? According to Euro London, a recruitment agency, learning a language has shown to add between 10-15% to your income. This only goes to show that learning a foreign language is a wise investment for business professionals and CEO’s. Let’s take the average salary of someone in New York City, ~$85,000, a 2% “language bonus” average over 40 years, and also a 1% raise annually, you’d have an extra ~$110,000 by the time you retire. As long as you choose the right method to learn a new language quickly, that’s a pretty good return on your… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2noru4T

Amazon just added a handy feature to its Alexa assistant, which lets you send texts via SMS just by issuing a voice command to your Echo or other supported speaker. This works for users in the US, and only if you’ve got an Alexa-powered speaker connected to an Android device on which you’re signed into your Amazon account. Here’s how to set it up and send your first message via Alexa: Launch the Alexa app, and sign up for Alexa Calling & Messaging. Tap the Conversations button, and select ‘Contacts., then ‘My Profile.’ Enable “Send an SMS” and accept the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2E075wr

Amazon is teaming up with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase to form a new healthcare company (PDF) that will aim to service the US and be “free from profit-making incentives and constraints.” Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett described the company-in-the-making’s mission as follows: The ballooning costs of healthcare act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy. Our group does not come to this problem with answers. But we also do not accept it as inevitable. Rather, we share the belief that putting our collective resources behind the country’s best talent can, in time, check the rise in… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Amazon from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2DQ9vyq

After promising to fix its news feed by implementing sweeping changes, Facebook is taking another big step towards cleaning up its act: it’s banning ads promoting cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) because they’re they’re usually BS. To be clear, Facebook says that these financial products and services are “frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices,” and has a few choice examples to explain what sort of ads will disappear from its feed, which you can see below: The move follows Facebook’s announcements about its decisions to cut back on posts from publishers and Pages you’ve subscribed to, in… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Facebook from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2FtEpJC

As President Donald Trump gears up to deliver his first State of the Union Address, it’s his campaign manager, not the President, that should be sweating. Trump has little to lose. He is who he is, and we’ve come to expect nothing less than a circus each time he’s behind a podium (or a mobile keyboard). It’s been a tumultuous year, but tonight offers an opportunity to right past wrongs, to take the stage, calm and collected, and deliver a speech that inspires confidence in a divided country. It’s a chance to prove his stable genius. Instead, the Trump campaign… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2DPxSMQ

A patent from Ford revealed ideas for autonomous police cars which are capable of finding law-breakers, doling out tickets, and even waiting in hiding spots. The patent, filed in 2016 and spotted by Motor1 last week, details all the ways in which an autonomous police car could help catch law-breaking drivers. The language specifically proposes a future in which autonomous vehicles are more common, and what role police vehicles would play: While autonomous vehicles can and will be programmed to obey traffic laws, a human driver can override that programming to control and operate the vehicle at any time. When… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2BE59Vs

When legendary performer will.i.am attended the World Economic Forum in Davos last week it wasn’t to entertain anyone. He and his company, i.am.plus, are focused on two things: AI, and the future. In case you missed it, will.i.am is a dedicated technologist. And as my colleague Matt Hughes pointed out last year, we’re not even joking a little bit. He’s quickly becoming one of the biggest names in AI. Again, not kidding. And it’s not for nothing either. He seems to know what he’s talking about, his intentions seem good, and his products work. He’s like Elon Musk, but only… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2np6cEb

Facebook’s feet are being held to the fire again — this time, its being criticized by those hoping to protect children. Child advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) today wrote an open letter to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg today in which they outlined their objections to Facebook’s child-centered app, Messenger Kids. The letter has been signed by more than 100 organizations and individuals. The CCFC wraps up the letter by asking Facebook to delete Messenger Kids, but let’s be realistic — Facebook’s not going to do that. The company is desperate to pull in the previously-untapped audience of under-13s… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Facebook from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2DP2Cxv

US regulators today subpoenaed one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges as questions mount over a digital token called Tether. A popular substitute for US dollars on various crypto exchanges, Tether provided an easy way for investors to ride out storms in volatile markets without removing money from the marketplace and converting it back to fiat currency. Its value, however, was due to its reported ties to the US dollar with each Tether token (USDT) being worth exactly one dollar. As of last week that all changed. Bitfinex, Tether’s creator, severed ties with its auditing firm Friedman LLP, a company… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Bitcoin from The Next Web http://ift.tt/2DQkXdG