Spotify’s free mobile version is now available for Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 users, who can download the app from the Windows Phone Store, Spotify said Tuesday. Windows Phone users can participate in the standard 30-day free trial offered by Spotify, but only Sprint customers are eligible for the free three-month or six-month trials depending on their mobile plan, a Spotify spokeswoman told us. Previously, only the premium $9.99/month version of Spotify was available to Windows Phone users, the spokeswoman said. Premium subscribers get on-demand play, higher quality audio, uninterrupted music with no commercials and the ability to download music and listen offline, according to Spotify. With the free version, users can listen to and shuffle playlists, it said.

GoPro expanded to the pet action sports category, introducing the Fetch dog harness ($59.99) that has two mount locations for the company’s Hero cameras. Designed to fit dogs from 15 to 120 pounds, the Fetch harness has one mount location on the back for over-the-head shots and another on the chest for a field of view “closer to all the action,” the company said. An included camera tether ensures that the GoPro stays attached, “no matter what type of play the dog engages in,” the company said. The harness can be machine- or hand-washed.

CEA’s index of consumer expectations, which measures consumer sentiment about the “broader economy,” climbed 1.2 points in August from July to reach 172.5, its 2014 high point, CEA said Tuesday. However, CEA’s index of consumer technology expectations, which measures consumer sentiment toward technology spending, fell 4.8 points in August from July, to 90.5, it said. Of the broader economy, CEA thinks that “despite continued softness in the housing market, fundamentals of the economy are slowly strengthening thanks to an improving labor picture and signs of positive economic growth into the close of the year,” it said. As for the sentiment decline in technology spending, it’s still above the August average for the past three years, CEA said: “This is a positive sign, as we head into the back half of the year. With new product announcements expected in September, we should see consumer sentiment about tech spending remain above average.” To compile the indexes, CEA interviews 1,000 consumers monthly and releases updated data on the fourth Tuesday of every month, it said.

TV viewing among millennials and baby boomers shows that TV is having a second Golden Age, a study by Instant.ly and YuMe found. The definitions of quality TV aren’t differing that much across generational lines, Instant.ly said Tuesday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1qKgbLZ). The companies culled information by surveying 1,000 respondents, it said. Flexibility is a driver, with 45 percent of respondents enjoying device flexibility, and 40 percent citing the ability to stream content, it said. Respondents selected, in order, HBO, CBS and AMC as having the best entertainment quality, followed by Netflix content, it said. Millennials preferred HBO, while respondents age 35 and over chose CBS as the top network “with its more conventional comedy and drama lineup,” it said. Reasons for binge watching varied, with 44 percent wanting to immerse themselves in the show, and 40 percent claiming to have “a sense of contentment from the time spent watching TV,” it said. Networks and distribution platforms “will need to stay dialed in to the rapidly changing customer expectations, preferences and viewing habits to make the most of this trend,” it said.

A week after Canada-based ChargeSpot announced the first wireless charger that’s compatible with both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) asserted its independence with its Qi spec, providing a status report on Qi penetration in offices, restaurants, airports, hotels and public venues. A Qi spokeswoman told us there’s no correlation between WPC’s status report and the ChargeSpot release last week (CED Aug 22 p6). WPC said Tuesday that the installed base of Qi-enabled wireless chargers reaches 30 countries and more than 1 million locations. “WPC’s 200-strong member companies are fueling exciting innovation of the Qi standard, Qi products and Qi-based business services, which is driving the accelerated adoption of wireless charging by consumers and businesses around the globe,” said John Perzow, WPC vice president-market development, citing 65 models of Qi-enabled phones and “over 500 different products that use Qi.” WPC said companies including Facebook, Google, Texas Instruments and Verizon have installed Qi chargers in corporate meeting rooms; nine McDonald’s restaurants in Germany recently installed Qi chargers, as have several coffee shops in Toronto and a restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kube Systems announced a deal with Marriott Hotels for a Qi charging system, WPC said. Verizon has deployed 800 Qi-enabled charging spots in U.S. airports, while Haier installed charging stations in the Beijing airport and DoCoMo installed Qi charging systems in airports and train stations in Japan, it said. The installed base of Qi chargers charge one device at a time, the spokeswoman said. The company has yet to release its specification for resonant charging that will enable multi-device charging, she said.

EBay is offering iPhone sellers a $100 coupon if their phones don’t sell on its site Sept. 1 to Oct. 24, eBay said Tuesday. In advance of the expected iPhone 6 launch in the next few weeks, eBay released an infographic presenting historical data to predict the impact the new iPhone will have on existing iPhones and the electronics re-sell market. According to eBay, with each new iPhone model, the selling price of the iPhone models 4, 4s and 5, after the 5c and 5s launched, “averaged at around $280.” Prices have reached up to $420 on eBay for a used iPhone, it said. Four previously owned iPhones were sold every minute after the 5s/5c announcement, eBay said, and 16,700 iPhones were sold on eBay the weekend following availability of the 5s/5c last year. Some 400,000 iPhones were sold during the release cycles of iPhone 4s and later, eBay said.

Worldwide revenue from tablet games is forecast to reach $13.3 billion by 2019, up from $3.6 billion this year, said a Juniper Research report. Growth will be fueled by improved storage capacity of devices, better graphics, increasing mobile broadband penetration and consumers’ preference for convenience and ubiquity, Juniper said in a Tuesday news release (http://bit.ly/1p74HRt). The next year “could be critical” for smaller, independent games developers, it said, because in a market with more than a million apps, more investment will be needed to gain consumer awareness. Crowdfunding may emerge as a more popular option as a result, it said. In emerging markets, storefront payment options could help fuel monetization of smartphone games, and an increase in embedded micro-apps in messenger services could provide an additional delivery channel for games, said Jupiter. On the console side, declining sales will lead to a shift to digital game software distribution, it said, and a free-to-play business model is likely to emerge. Also in consoles, competition from dedicated startup hardware manufacturers, such as Steam Machine and Shield, poses new challenges for the traditional players, while offering an opportunity for the segment to rejuvenate itself, Juniper said.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., praised the Department of Transportation for its work developing a proposed rulemaking to ban in-flight phone calls. “I'm glad the Department of Transportation is serious about putting the brakes on a bad idea before it takes flight,” Alexander said in a statement Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1tG9IFT). “Banning in-flight cell phone conversations would bring us one step closer to avoiding something that the two million passengers flying each day do not want: to be trapped by a seatbelt in 17-inch-wide seats thousands of feet above the ground listening to the same thing we hear in airports -- arguments with spouses, next week’s schedule, or last night’s love life.” Alexander had introduced legislation to ban in-flight calls late last year following the FCC’s announcement it would address the issue.

Azione Unlimited added three new dealer members, to bring its lineup to 95, the buying group said Monday. The new members are: World Premiere of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Osbee of Harrison, New York; and Premier Media Technologies of Destin, Florida. Azione group member totals include 1,295 staffers and $295 million in sales, said President Richard Glikes, adding that 85 percent of members haven’t been in a buying group before Azione. The group’s fall meeting is in Austin, Texas, Oct. 8-10.

Bay Audio unveiled the LW1210 Live-Wall loudspeaker, part of its series of invisible architectural speakers. It includes a small form factor and installation brackets for soffits and other challenging locations; durable materials designed to withstand high-humidity locations; 160-degree off-axis dispersion; a 100-watt protection circuit to guard against overdriving; and a fire-rated back box and metal bracket. The LW1210 is priced at $500 each.