The Tribune

• AMAZON has launched a paid streaming music service, the latest entry in an increasingly crowded field.

Amazon Music Unlimited is being positioned to compete against existing services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

It will cost $8 per month, or $80 a year, for members of Amazon’s $99-a-year Prime loyalty program.

Non-Prime members will pay $10 a month, the same monthly fee charged by Spotify and Apple Music.

Owners of Amazon’s Echo smart speaker, meanwhile, will be able to get the unlimited music service on one device for $4 per month.

The service is available in the United States and in the UK, Germany and Austria later this year.

• GERMAN carrier Lufthansa is the latest airline to impose a total ban on passengers taking the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on any of its flights.

The airline had previously banned the phone from flights in the United States and told passengers on other flights to keep the device switched off and unplugged.

On Monday the Note 7 was banned from planes in the Bahamas.

Samsung has recalled more than 2.5 million of the phones after faulty batteries reportedly caused the device to catch

fire.

• AN IDAHO company wants to transform thousands of miles of pavement into a new energy source.

Solar Roadways recently unveiled its first public installation in a downtown plaza in the resort town of Sandpoint: 150 square feet of hexagon-shaped solar panels that people can walk and bicycle on.

Solar Roadways has a US patent for its solar pavers and is the only company receiving federal highway research funds in pursuit of such a product.

The company has received three grants from the Federal Highway Administration to help move the technology from the drawing board to the public installation.

Now it’s working on proof that the tempered glass panels are strong enough and have enough traction to handle motor vehicles, including semi-trailers.

The business also is developing plans to charge electric vehicles as they drive on solar roads.

• TWITTER is taking the smartphone shackles off its live-video service Periscope in its latest attempt to broaden its audience.

The Periscope Producer feature announced last week will let media companies and other users pipe live video feeds directly into Twitter, without using a smartphone to record the images.

During Producer’s testing phase last week, a Florida television station showing live video on its website used the new tool to redistribute the same feeds on Twitter. To start, Producer will be limited to a small group of media companies such as Disney’s ABC News and major brands such as Louis Vuitton.

Piracy has been an issue dogging Periscope since people began using the service to broadcast live video of movies and TV shows with their smartphones.