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Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion: How, and more importantly, why? – 1:43
The Android 13 public beta is now live – 26:02
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Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford Guests: Karissa Bell and Dan Howley Producer: Ben Ellman Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Luke Brooks Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Brian Oh Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Netflix assembled an impressive roster of writers and editors for its fan site project, Tudum, which launched in early December of 2021. Today, a significant portion of those new hires have been sent packing for reasons unknown.
A swath of the site's formerstaffannounced their departures today on Twitter, with former Vice culture writer Josh Terry claiming "laid off my team," suggesting the cuts may be drastic. Netflix claims there are no plans to mothball the site. It declined to comment on the number of workers who were impacted but confirmed that some amount of staff and contractors had been let go; The Hollywood Report placed its estimate at least 10 people.
Uh oh! Looks like I have to do this tweet again. Is anyone hiring? Netflix just laid off my team (my job included). It was an incredible few months and I'm grateful for it but I'm stoked about whatever's next. Email is in bio.
All a Netflix spokesperson would tell Engadget on the record was that "our fan website Tudum is an important priority for the company."
Tudum was billed by Netflix on launch as "a backstage pass that lets you dig deeper into the Netflix films, series, and stars you love" — essentially an attempt to prop up a media business on the strength of the streaming platform's original content. It's not clear at this time what kind of change in staffing or strategy prompted this round of layoffs, who remains at the site or if the newly-separated writers and editors were given any advance notice.
The job cuts come not long after Netflix announced during its quarterly earnings that it had lost subscribers (approximately 200,000 of them) for the first time in a decade. What followed was a swift and brutal backlash from the market that saw the streaming service's share price drop by 25 percent. So far it's plans to turn the ship around have been limited to trying to stop customers from sharing login information, and mulling the idea of a cheaper ad-supported subscription tier.
Were you recently let go from Tudum? I'd like to hear from you. Download Signal messenger for iOS or Android and text me confidentially at 646 983 9846.
Like it or not, the metaverse is becoming an increasingly popular music venue — including, apparently, for ceremonies. As Hollywood Reporterexplains, Logitech has revealed what it says is the first music awards show in the metaverse. The second annual Song Breaker Awards will take place in Roblox on April 30th at 1PM Eastern, with pop star Lizzo making her virtual performance debut. Social media star Bretman Rock will host.
The awards show will honor ten creators who either started or "amplified" internet trends, including musician Gayle (who has thrived on Billboard's Song Breaker Chart) and Grammy nominee Walker Hayes. Personalities like Jaden Smith, Roblox veteran MeganPlays and Twitch streamer Shroud will also make appearances.
Logitech
You can already access a pre-event "experience" and virtual Logitech store in Roblox. If you miss the main show, you can still watch two additional performances on the 30th (4PM and 5PM ET) and one on May 1st (12PM ET).
Yes, Logitech is capitalizing on Lizzo and overall metaverse buzz to draw attention to its gig. However, it's really an extension of past efforts to bring music performances into digital spaces. Virtual concerts have been happening for years, and some of them have been hugely popular. The Song Breaker Awards just move that entertainment from a specific game to a full-fledged platform, and it won't be surprising if there are similar awards presentations before long.
In case there was any doubt that Snap is among the many platforms trying to challenge TikTok, the company just introduced a new suite of creator-friendly editing tools called “director mode.” The company showed off the new editing tools, which are rolling out “in the coming months” at the company’s Partner Summit event.
In a blog post, Snap said that director mode is meant to help people create more “polished” content than what is currently possible with Snapchat’s in-app camera. The new tools include a TikTok-like green screen feature that relies on Snapchat’s vast library of augmented reality lenses. There are also new camera controls, including the ability to record simultaneously from the front and rear-facing camera similar to the once popular app Frontback. There’s also a new “quick edit” tool to tweak multiple snaps at once, and new ways to sleep up or slow down videos.
As the name suggests, director mode is geared toward Snapchat’s growing ranks of video creators, and the new tools could help fuel fresh content for Spotlight, the app’s hub for TikTok-like short form videos. It could also help Snap Stars — the company’s term for public, verified accounts — make more interesting content for their Stories. Which could come in handy as Snap also recently introduced new revenue sharing features for Snap Stars with mid-roll ads.
Snap also teased a new partnership with LiveNation, which will allow concertgoers and festival attendees to access exclusive augmented reality features crafted specifically for the live events. These include the ability to virtually “try on” merch with AR, a “find friends” feature and other AR effects. The upcoming Electric daisy Carnival festival will be the first to take advantage of the features, though Snap says it will be available at other events this year.
The app is also further building out its augmented reality shopping features. It’s adding a new section of its app called “Dress Up” that will be exclusively dedicated to AR “try-on” experiences from brands and creators. It’s also making its AR shopping features available to other apps via its Camera Kit developer platform. The move will allow retailers and brands to add Snapchat-powered augmented reality try-on features to their existing apps.
Although there's no E3 this year, you can still expect a ton of gaming news to emerge in the coming weeks. Microsoft has announced an Xbox and Bethesda games showcase, which will take place on June 12th (yes, that's a Sunday) at 1PM ET.
The event will include information on games from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and some of Microsoft's partners. It sounds as if it'll be pretty comprehensive, with the promise of details on "everything you need to know about the diverse lineup of games coming soon to the Xbox ecosystem." That includes projects on the way to Game Pass for both Xbox and PC.
As for what to expect, it's a safe bet that we'll get a fresh look at Starfield. I'm hoping to hear more about Redfall, a vampire shooter Bethesda showed off last summer and hasn't said a whole lot about since. There will surely be trailers and teasers for previously unannounced games too.
YouTube and Gmail ads are about to get a little less annoying for some. Google today is adding parenting and pregnancy, weight loss and dating to its list of “sensitive categories” on user ad controls. Users will be able to restrict ads from these categories on both YouTube and Google Display. The ad filters won’t apply to Google search results or Google Shopping, but a spokesperson confirmed that this could happen in the future.
“Providing transparency and control has always been a priority for us so we’re expanding our tools, enabling the choice to see fewer pregnancy and parenting, dating, and weight loss ads. We’ll continue to listen to user feedback and study which categories to expand this feature to in the future,” said Karin Hennessy, group product manager for ad privacy at Google in a statement.
Targeted ads have come under fire for being particularly intrusive and even harmful for certain users. For example, alcoholics or gambling addicts could be triggered by ads for tequila and online casinos. Those who suffer from eating disorders or body dysmorphia could experience something similar with weight loss ads, and so platforms are trying to strike a delicate balance that keeps their users happy while not alienating their advertisers.
In response to accusations of discriminatory ads, Meta this year removed the ability for advertisers to target users based on sensitive topics, such as health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion or sexual orientation. Twitter has also banned political ads and climate change denial ads from its platform. Both Facebook and Instagram block ads featuring weight loss products and cosmetic surgery targeted to minors. Instagram users can set their ad topic preferences so they’ll see fewer ads from certain categories. Google has already blocked targeted ads for users below the age of 18 years old, and in 2020 allowed users to limit how many ads they would encounter on the topics of gambling or alcohol.
Given the sizable share of the online ad market it currently holds, Google's decision to let users opt out of additional sensitive ad categories means those who might be harmed (or just annoyed) by them will hopefully be exposed to them less frequently.
CNN is pulling the plug on its streaming service today, April 28th, instead of on April 30th like previously reported. The company has sent out emails to subscribers, and as Digital Trends reports, it clearly states that CNN+ streaming "will come to an end on April 28th." The service launched just a month ago on March 29th, but it was only pulling in 10,000 daily users who were willing to pay $6 a month for live and on-demand news programming, according to CNBC. New CNN president Chris Licht was reportedly the one who recommended its closure, which might come with hundreds of job cuts.
CNN invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the project and recruited talent from other networks to host shows for the platform. While the service was short-lived, CNN itself reported that the network is committed to finding new roles for the hosts of its shows.
Discovery CEO Jean-Briac Perrette informed employees about the closure in a meeting where he said that the situation was avoidable, but that "prior leadership decided to just keep going" with its planned March debut despite the impending merger between his company and CNN owner WarnerMedia. The merged company, Warner Bros. Discovery, had a different strategy in mind — it's also billions in debt as a result of the merging process.
In addition to informing subscribers in an email about the earlier-than-expected closure, CNN has also updated the service's help page. The company stated in the page that all subscribers will receive a full refund. It didn't say why CNN+ is shutting down a couple of days earlier than announced, but Digital Trends notes that it might be because subscriptions are about to renew. Some early adopters were able to sign up on March 28th, a day before the service's official launch date. Whatever the reason is, subscribers can say goodbye to CNN+ today and expect to get their refund on May 28th.
The time has come to say farewell to Bethesda’s PC games launcher. Starting today, players can transfer their games library, as well as DLC, virtual currency, in-game items and their friends list to their Steam account. Users still have until May 11th to play their heart out on the Bethesda PC launcher. On that date, the PC launcher will no longer allow access to any games. But users can still access their Bethesda.net accounts and transfer their games over to Steam after May 11th.
Players who are ready to migrate should make sure to read the detailed instructions on Bethesda’s website first. Any games users already own or purchases they’ve made will be available free on Steam. But keep in mind that the transferring process could get a bit hairy. While most game saves will automatically transfer, some will require players to manually transfer them over to Steam. For example, DOOM Eternal players will have to manually copy their saved files to their Steam folder. Bethesda has some updated instructions for DOOM Eternal players here. Fallout 76 players should note that there's a special tool available to help make the migration easier, as well as an extensive FAQ they should read first. Wolfenstein: Youngblood at present isn’t available for transfer, so players won’t be able to carry over their progression on that game to Steam. But in-game skins and DLCs should transfer normally.
While migrating your library may seem annoying, Bethesda is sweetening the pot by making a number of new games available on Steam for the first time. These include The Elder Scrolls Arena, The Elder Scrolls Daggerfall, Creation Kit for Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition, and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Fallout 76’s Public Test Server is now available on Steam as well.
If you've had your fill of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and want to check out a new game with a similar flavor, it might be worth taking a gander at Disney Dreamlight Valleywhen it arrives. It's a blend of a life sim and an adventure game that's packed with Disney and Pixar characters.
You'll be able to customize your character with T-shirts, dresses, hats and other gear you design yourself. There's also the option of kitting them out with streetwear adorned with Mickey Mouse or a ballgown inspired by a Disney princess. Your home and village (which will have several biomes including snow-capped mountains and the Peaceful Meadow) can be decorated and upgraded as well.
As they explore, players will meet and befriend the likes of Buzz Lightyear, Moana, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Simba, Anna, Elsa and Belle. It seems like there's plenty to do. For instance, you can cook with Remy from Ratatouille, go fishing with Goofy and tend to Wall-E's vegetable patch.
Gameloft Montreal/Disney
There's a story-driven campaign at the heart of Disney Dreamlight Valley. After a mysterious event called The Forgetting, the village is full of Night Thorns. You'll clear the thorns and help the residents restore their memories by completing tasks. More areas can be unlocked as well. Developer Gameloft Montreal is promising regular updates, including activities linked to new Disney and Pixar movies and events.
Disney Dreamlight Valley will be available on PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Although it will formally launch in 2023 as a free-to-play game, you'll be able to gain early access this summer via Xbox Game Pass or by buying a founder's pack. Gameloft Montreal says the early access period will have exclusive rewards that can carry over to the officially released version.
News of Twitter's buyout has rattled its employees and users as Elon Musk indicated he plans to take a much more hands-off approach to content moderation. As is often the case when Twitter makes a controversial change, some users have threatened to leave the platform. Mastodon has been welcoming those that made the jump. Mastodon said it saw “an influx of approx. 41,287 users.”
It’s not the first time Mastodon has benefited from Twitter drama. The company was briefly popular in 2017, following outrage over Twitter’s decision to remove user handles from the character limit for replies — yes, they were more innocent times.
The app already allows you to add Stories above your photo grid.
Instagram recently began testing a feature for you to highlight specific posts above your photo grid. If you’re among the people the company has enrolled in the trial, you can access the feature by tapping the three dots at the top of a post and selecting the new “pin to your profile” option. It’s pretty much identical to the pinned options you get with other social networks, like Twitter and TikTok. But that’s not stopped Instagram taking inspiration from its rivals. Again.
The Roku Channel has signed a multi-year deal with Lionsgate Films that will allow it to stream upcoming blockbusters like John Wick 4 and Borderlandsfor free. Roku will get those films in a timely fashion, too: right after their initial streaming windows on Lionsgate's Starz platform.
Roku has made a steady push into free programming, buying all of Quibi's short-form shows last year and later adding content from the Tribeca Film Festival, IGN, CBC News and AccuWeather.
Elden Ring is famous for its rich open world, but it just got turned into an… ambitious 8-bit rolling adventure demake. It was created by Reddit user Shintendo, who showed off an early demo set in Elden Ring's Chapel of Anticipation. There, a Tarnished faces off against the infamous Grafted Scion boss (and loses, again). Shintendo is aiming to release a demo by the end of May on Itch.io.
Musk's plans for looser moderation are butting up against political reality.
The European Union’s Thierry Breton told the Financial Times that Musk's Twitter will still be subject to EU regulations, including the new Digital Services Act governing efforts to fight misinformation. The Tesla chief is "welcome" but "there are rules" he still has to follow, Breton said. The Digital Services Act requires Twitter and other internet companies to share how they're curbing false claims on their sites. It also bans ads targeting minors as well as specific ethnicities, political affiliations, religions and sexual orientations.
New efficiency standards may help reduce carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons.
The Department of Energy has finalized rules to block sales of many incandescent light bulbs. The measures bring in stricter efficiency standards, targeting light bulbs that emit less than 45 lumens per watt. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the bulbs turned into a bit of political tennis. The most recent move reverses a decision by the Trump administration in 2019 to roll back stricter standards for bulbs. This was after the Obama administration established rules that would have blocked sales of inefficient light bulbs from January 1st, 2020.
