Amazon may be the next to hop on the live audio bandwagon, although its take might not be what you'd expect. Axiossources claim Amazon is developing a live audio offering that would focus on music, including concerts and other events — more like Spotify than Clubhouse. The company is reportedly considering podcasts and talk radio as extensions, but Amazon Music would lead the project.
The internet giant also hopes to build live audio into Twitch. The sources didn't say how or when this might arrive.
We've asked Amazon for comment on the rumors. It wouldn't be surprising if Amazon leapt into the live audio space, at least. Amazon recently integrated Twitch streams into the Music app, and the firm's acquisition of podcast subscription business Wondery in 2020 signalled an intent to dive further into audio. There's also the simple matter of competition. Spotify, Twitter Spaces and Facebook's audio rooms could all pose a threat, even if Clubhouse doesn't. This would at least give Amazon a foothold before others dominate the category.
Back in June, Spotify introduced Blend, a shared playlist that pulls together songs from your listening history and that of a friend’s. Today, that feature is not only rolling out to Spotify users globally, but it also comes with some new improvements.
To start, each time you create a Blend playlist with a friend, Spotify will generate a match score, telling the two of you how close you are on your musical tastes. Like with the company’s end-of-year Wrapped feature, it will now also create a shareable story that tells you some fun facts about the songs and artists that made their way into your playlist. Spotify says it has also tweaked the cover art to make it easier to identify each Blend playlist you create.
All users can try out the feature. However, if you’re a Premium subscriber, you’ll see whose music taste contributed to each song in a playlist. To make your first one, tap the “Create Blend” option in the For You hub in the Spotify mobile app, and then invite your friend. Once they accept, Spotify will handle the rest, and you can share the resulting story the company generates about your playlist.
For anyone struggling to tear kids away from consoles and phones for dinner, homework and, well, real life, spare a thought for the Chinese youth. China has announced a further crackdown on the time children can play online games, with the new limit set to just three hours per week. Platforms like Tencent can now only offer gaming to kids between 8pm and 9pm on Friday, weekends and public holidays.
Earlier this month, Tencent was forced to cut the time minors could play its hit mobile game Honor of Kings to just an hour on weeknights and two hours on the weekend.
Further strengthening of the rules won’t come as a surprise. Earlier last month, state-owned news outlets published an editorial calling video games “spiritual opium,” outlining all the negative ways gaming could affect China’s youth.
I can already imagine parents telling their kids about the tough gaming rules in China, and how they should count their blessings. I can also imagine most kids ignoring them.
Starting next month, you'll be able to choose between Verizon and T-Mobile.
Volkswagen has unveiled a new feature for its Car-Net connected vehicle service that lets you get 4G data from two major US telecoms. It offers Verizon or T-Mobile, making it relatively easy to add your vehicle to an existing mobile plan.
Starting in September, VW owners in the US will be able to access the subscription plans on VW's dedicated website or via its mobile app. From there, they can add an account to their existing mobile wireless provider (assuming it's Verizon or T-Mobile) and pair it with their existing Volkswagen Car-Net subscription.
Jon Stewart will soon return to a screen near you to once again dissect some of the big issues of the day. His Apple TV+ series, The Problem With Jon Stewart, will premiere on September 30th. Rather than airing on a nightly basis, like The Daily Show, or even weekly, new episodes will arrive every other week. Stewart will tackle one topic per episode (similar to the much-missed Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj), with a companion podcast — of course — set to run alongside it.
The classical-only service will shut down on September 7th.
Apple is expanding its music streaming options after buying classical service Primephonic. Apple Music aims to release a dedicated classical music app next year, which will combine Primephonic’s user interface with some of Apple's own features.
Primephonic wrote in a letter to users on its website saying that “to achieve our mission, we need to partner with a leading streaming service that encompasses all music genres and also shares our love for classical music." Primephonic has closed its doors to new users, and it will shut down on September 7th.
You’ll soon get to grab the Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray set in the US, without paying through the nose. While a spendy $275 Ultimate Edition has already sold out, you'll still have a chance to buy a copy of the saga on Blu-ray as there are two other options on the way from distributor GKids.
Like the Ultimate Edition, the Collector's Edition package will be released on December 8th. Lock in a pre-order and it'll set you back $175, but it'll cost $220 as of the release date. The Standard Edition arrives a month earlier, lacking the classic dub or subtitles. It costs $60 or $46 if you pre-order.
Spectrum TV has made major streaming service additions to its digital cable service and live TV app with HBO Max and YouTube, parent Charter has announced. You'll be able to access both apps on channels 2004 for HBO Max and 2003 for YouTube, or on the platform's guide via the search or apps menu. You'll need, of course, a subscription to access HBO Max at $10 per month with ads or $15 ad-free.
Along with Netflix, HBO Max and YouTube are the first streaming channels available directly through the Spectrum Guide. "As the video landscape continues to change, we are evolving our products and making it easier for our customers to watch what they want by providing access to streaming apps from convenient launch points within the Spectrum TV experience," said Spectrum VP Elena Ritchie.
As Spectrum notes, Warner's HBO Max offers 13,000 hours of premium content from brands HBO, DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Studio Ghibli. It also includes all 2021 Warner Bros. films (Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong and more) available the same day the films debut in theaters. That's a boon to movie fans not ready to go to theaters with the pandemic still raging, but a consternation to some of the filmmakers involved.
Jon Stewart will soon return to a screen near you to once again dissect some of the big issues of the day. His Apple TV+ series, The Problem With Jon Stewart, will premiere on September 30. Rather than airing on a nightly basis, like The Daily Show, or even weekly, new episodes will arrive every other week.
In the show, Stewart will tackle one topic per episode (similar to the much-missed Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj). He'll speak with people affected by the issue and those who were involved in it impacting others. Stewart and his guests will "discuss a more productive path towards action," Apple says.
The conversation will continue on the companion podcast, which features staff members from the series and activists working on the issue at hand. It's not clear how many episodes the first season will include, but the show is slated to run for multiple seasons.
Here's some good news if you're looking to get your hands on a Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray set without paying through the nose. It emerged this month that the anime will be released on the format in North America for the first time later this year as part of a $275 Ultimate Edition. Although that set sold out quickly, you'll still have the chance to buy a copy of the saga on Blu-ray, as there are two other options on the way from distributor GKids.
NEON GENESIS #EVANGELION now available to pre-order on Standard & Collector’s Edition Blu-ray!
▸ Both feature the complete series, EVANGELION:DEATH (TRUE)² and THE END OF EVANGELION ▸ Collector’s Edition includes bonus Classic Dub & Subtitled Versionshttps://t.co/MN2UaYop32pic.twitter.com/0AKJ2lLyG6
The Collector’s Edition set includes 11 discs. You'll be able to watch the the 26-episode series and the Evangelion: Death (True)² and The End of Evangelion movies in the more recent "official" dubbed and subtitled versions, or the classic dubbed or subtitled versions. There's also seven hours of bonus material — including animatics and music videos — eight art cards and a 40-page book.
Like the Ultimate Edition, the Collector's Edition package will be released on December 8th. Lock in a pre-order and it'll set you back $175, as Polygonnotes, but it'll cost $220 as of the release date.
If you can't wait quite that long, or aren't willing to pony up at least three figures for a Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray set, the Standard Edition arrives a month earlier. It includes the series and both movies, along with five hours of bonus features. However, you won't get the classic dub or subtitles with this set. It costs $60, or $46 if you pre-order.
That's not all, though. As of November 2nd, you'll be able to buy digital versions of the series, Evangelion: Death (True)² and The End of Evangelion. So, if and when they vanish from Netflix, you'll still be able to find legal versions online. Meanwhile, the four Rebuild of Evangelion movies are available on Amazon Prime Video.
The Islamic State's propaganda arm used Amazon Web Services to host content promoting extremism, according to The Washington Post. Nida-e-Haqq, the group's media arm, posted messages on the website in the Urdu language, including ones celebrating the recent suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 170 people. Since Amazon's policy bars clients from using its services to incite violence and terror, the company pulled the website after The Post alerted it to its existence.
The website Amazon disabled provided content for the Nida-e-Haqq app, which recently showed an image of the Kabul bomber wrapped in a suicide vest. It's currently password-protected and not viewable, but it's been active since at least April, based on the online domain records The Post saw. Amazon spokesperson Casey McGee told the publication in a statement: "(F)ollowing an investigation, we have disabled a website that was linked to this app as it was in violation of the AWS Acceptable Use Policy."
Taliban and extremist-related content is the latest issue social networks, and clearly, hosting services like Amazon's, have to grapple with. The organization has been using services like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp to spread its message, and the websites now have to decide if they need to update their policy on how to deal with Taliban content and to make sure their existing rules on violence and terror are properly enforced.
Amazon didn't say how Nida-e-Haqq managed to evade detection for at least four months when it wasn't even trying to hide what kind of content it posted, but it's very much possible that the company simply didn't know the website existed. As The Post said, Amazon may not be proactively policing its clients' content, relying instead on the complaints it gets.
Back in January, it suspended Parler's AWS hosting services after it found multiple posts on the social network "that clearly encourage and incite violence." Parler sued Amazon, claiming antitrust violations, but the company said it sent the website several warnings about violent posts on its platform before the takedown. Ultimately, a judge shot down Parler's attempt to get AWS to restore its service, citing the dangers posed by "inflammatory rhetoric" found on the social network.
Twitter is finally starting to roll out Ticketed Spaces, a feature that allows creators to charge for access to its live audio chat feature. The company began taking applications for the feature in June, but had yet to flip it on until this week.
we want to help people creating cool Spaces make $$$. today, some Hosts will be able create Ticketed Spaces!
we’re experimenting on iOS only for now but we hope to get it to everyone soon. know it’s taking us a little time, but we want to get this right for you! https://t.co/xc68yWkOim
However, it sounds like it could still be awhile until many people gain access to the feature. Twitter said that the initial rollout will be iOS only and limited to just “some” hosts who have previously applied.
Those who do gain access could make a decent amount of cash from the feature, assuming they can find a big enough audience willing to pay. Twitter has said that hosts can keep up to 97 percent of their first $50,000 in earnings and up to 80 percent on anything over $50,000. Hosts are also able to set their own prices for tickets and choose how many tickets to make available.
Ticketed Spaces is just one of several monetization features Twitter is working on as it looks rto shift its platform to be more creator-friendly. The company is also experimenting with Super Follows, in-app tipping and paid newsletters.
Nintendo surprise-announced Metroid Dread, the fifth mainline game in the series, at E3 this year. Part of the surprise was that it was arriving this year, October 8th to be precise. Now, with just over a month before it arrives, Nintendo has released a new trailer for Metroid Dread, which might be our last look at the game before launch. Of course, this trailer isn't as detailed as the 20 minutes of gameplay Nintendo showed off at E3, but it still shows off a lot of what to expect when Metroid Dread arrives on the Switch.
The video mixes more cinematic shots of Samus Aran battling some pretty huge and intimidating baddies with the 2D gameplay footage that originally defined the series before the first-person Metroid Prime games. The game looks immediately familiar to people who've been waiting for a new 2D Metroid game, but Samus Aran has more abilities to navigate the terrain and battle enemies than ever before. The trailer moves fast, but there's lots of aerial dashing, underwater action, multiple different arm cannon weapons, wall jumping and more.
Given that this is the first all-new, side-scrolling Metroid game since 2002's Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance (!), Dread has a lot to live up to. But at least from what we've seen so far, Nintendo may have pulled off the feat of bringing one of its oldest franchises into the modern era of gaming. We'll find out in just over a month.
Nintendo's colorful, character-filled island life sim Animal Crossing: New Horizons lends itself to merchandise collabs. On the heels of its Uniqlo and Monopoly crossovers, the game is getting the footwear treatment. Puma is releasing an Animal Crossing collection featuring sneakers and apparel. The company teased the new drop on Twitter with an image featuring both the Puma and Animal Crossing logos. Nintendo subsequently retweeted the teaser with the caption “Something new is on the horizon.”
It didn't take long for images of the collab to start circulating online. That's the Animal Crossing x PUMA Wild Rider silhouette above via Sneaker Freaker. More sneakers are reportedly on the way. Fan site Animal Crossing Worldalso shared an image of a hoodie from the crossover. The collection is all pastel blues and greens, while the sneakers also add light and dark browns for a nature vibe.
Puma
It's no wonder Puma is teaming up with the tranquil game for its new range. AnimalCrossing: New Horizons has been a massive hit for Nintendo. It was the third biggest selling game of 2020, according to some estimates, and continues to attract players to this day.
