BlackBook

So you know about Google Play Music, right? It’s one of those Google things you never use because why would you; music is everywhere and all around you, but also it’s mostly on iTunes and Spotify. That is why Google wanted to add a streaming aspect, and this week unveiled Google Play Music All Access, a $9.99-per-month music subscription service that’s both annoying and unwieldy at the moment.

It’s hard to define summer. Sure, we can throw a road trip, a couple of beach days, and a fling or three in there, but overall, the year’s hottest season is also its most carefree. And no matter where you go and what you do this summer, your trusty little iPhone is your greatest companion to it all. With these six apps, skip traffic and speeding tickets, watch live concerts, discover obscure music, look and sing like a pop star, and save a North Atlantic whale. Why not? It’s summer. Anything can happen.

Five dollar fruit-infused cocktails are hard to find in New York. So are $3 crostinis, prosciutto, and stuffed eggs. So when a homey Italian restaurant in the West Village launches a daily aperitivo menu offering all of these things from 4-6pm, we take note. We listen. And we RUN there. To Spasso. Where limoncello and foccacia await.

Usher in the beginning of spring with seven of the best new android apps on the market. Find a spot under the shade of a tree, grasp that 'droid in your hand, and just press "install." Soon, you'll be playing the trombone, managing your TiVo, and creating your own app. Ah, the good life. 

Get appy with this month's seven best iPhone apps! Create a song, make some potions, date a human, admire your anatomy. Then, set your alarm for when the world ends. With that iPhone in your palm and these apps fully downloaded, anything is truly possible. 

Ever hear of a water-cannon salute? Fire
trucks lined the runway to spray our plane with water, after landing in the Dominican Republic on JetBlue's inaugural flight from JFK to La Romana. We headed to Casa de Campo, sugar baron Pepe Fanjul's beautiful resort. The movie Rambo 2 included scenes on the stunning Chavon River there. Sting, Carlos Santana, and Frank Sinatra are among the many celebrities who have performed at the nearby amphitheater.
 Cygalle Dias, an entrepreneur based in New York, launched a healing spa at the resort. The spa, replete with an outdoor labyrinth and Zen gardens, is one property of a spa company that spans both the fashion and entertainment world.  

Yes, it's the sweetest deal to speak of. 16 Handles, New York's first self-serve frozen yogurt franchise, has introduced a new machine at their East Village and new Greenwich Village shops that blends your perfect cup of yogurt. Still in trials, this machine mixes your favorite flavors and toppings into a 16 oz. cup and serves it to you all swirled and blended - just like a McFlurry - except it's a blend of all the things you chose and love. And the machine is called: