Netflix has hired N'Jeri Eaton, the former head of content for Apple Podcasts, to head up its own podcast operations. According to Variety, she's the first person to lead Netflix's podcast programming, indicating the streaming service's growing commitment to audio content. Netflix has long been releasing companion talk shows for its original movies and TV series, including ones for The Crown, The Witcher and Stranger Things. Eaton will now oversee those companion audio shows, as well as any original ones the company produces.

The new executive will be part of the company's editorial and publishing team, which will be under the leadership of Michelle Lee, the former editor-in-chief of Allure. Both Lee and Eaton will join the streaming service later this month. As Bloomberg notes, Netflix is expanding its editorial and publishing division as a whole and has been growing its stable of journalists. Eaton and Lee will report to Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John, who also used to be an Apple executive. 

Prior to joining Apple in August 2020, Eaton worked at NPR for four years, where she acquired new talent, content and partnerships. She announced her departure from Apple in a tweet on July 2nd and more recently confirmed that she's joining Netflix as Head of Podcasts.

When Amazon launched Watch Party for Prime Video last year, it only made the option accessible on desktop browsers. Now, the e-commerce giant has expanded support for the feature, allowing you to host or join a Watch Party on Fire TV devices. While Amazon didn't make a big announcement for the feature's arrival on the platform, it updated the list of compatible devices on Watch Party's FAQ, as noticed by XDA Developers. The section now says that you can co-watch with friends and fellow Prime members on a Fire TV device within the Prime Video app.

You still can't co-watch movies and shows with friends on mobile, but you can access the chat section of a Watch Party when you update to the latest version of the Prime Video app for phones and tablets. That'll give you an easy way to talk to other participants without access to a computer, as well as an easy way to create and share Watch Party invites.

Amazon originally launched the feature on Twitch back in 2019, allowing streamers to watch videos with their viewers. The version available from within Prime Video itself is more suitable if you're not a streamer and just want to watch with people you're close to. All participants in a party must also have Prime subscriptions, though, and they must rent or purchase the movie or show the host is watching.

The mastermind behind what the government says is one of the largest cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes prosecuted in the US has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. While crypto scams have been getting increasingly common, Swedish citizen Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson defrauded thousands of victims and stole tens of millions of dollars over a period that lasted almost a decade. He pleaded guilty to securities and wire fraud, as well as money laundering charges on March 4th. 

According to the Department of Justice, Karlsson ran his fraudulent investment scheme from 2011 until he was arrested in Thailand in 2019. He targeted financially insecure individuals, such as seniors, persuading them to use cryptocurrency to purchase shares in a business he called "Eastern Metal Securities." Based on information from court documents, he promised victims huge payouts tied to the price of gold, but the money they handed over wasn't invested at all. It was moved to Karlsson's personal bank accounts instead and used to purchase expensive homes and even resorts in Thailand.

To keep his scheme running for almost a decade, he'd rebrand and would show victims account statements in an effort to convince them that their funds are secure. Karlsson would then give them various excuses for payout delays and even falsely claimed to be working with the Securities and Exchange Commission. During the sentencing, US District Judge Charles R. Breyer ordered his Thai resorts and accounts to be forfeited. He was also ordered to pay his victims in the amount of $16,263,820.

Acting US Attorney Stephanie Hinds of the Northern District of California said:

"The investigation into Roger Karlsson’s fraud uncovered a frighteningly callous scheme that lasted more than a decade during which Karlsson targeted thousands of victims, including financially vulnerable seniors, to callously rob them of their assets and all to fuel an extravagant lifestyle surrounded by luxury condominiums and lavish international vacations. The court's decision to order a 180-month prison term reflects the fact that Karlsson’s cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme is one of the largest to be sentenced to date and ensures that Karlsson now will have plenty of time to think about the harm he has caused to his victims."

Square has decided to go ahead with building a bitcoin hardware wallet and service, a month after company CEO Jack Dorsey announced that it's considering the move. Jesse Dorogusker, Square's Hardware Lead, has revealed on Twitter that the company came upon the decision "to make bitcoin custody more mainstream." He didn't exactly have any concrete details or a timeline to share, but he did talk about the company's general plan for the project.

He said a lot of questions popped up from Jack's original thread on Twitter and that they'll need to reconcile those questions and other issues to be able to figure out product direction. At this point, the company at least knows that it wants to make the product available globally and to prioritize mobile use. Square will form a team led by Max Guise, Square's Hardware Security Lead, to handle the project and is currently hiring key roles for it. 

While details are scarce at the moment, Jack said Square will build the product out in the open "from software to hardware design, and in collaboration with the community" when he first talked about the possibility of building a wallet back in June. Based on his tweets back then, we can expect Cash app integration with the product in the future. 

Now that COVID-19 vaccines are available, businesses and offices have started asking their employees to go into the office a handful of times a week. It can be challenging to plan meetings for hybrid workplace environments, though, when people are physically present in office premises on different days and at different times. That's why Google has updated the RSVP feature for Calendar that'll make it more suitable for flexible workplace models.

The tech giant has rolled out new RSVP options for Calendar invitations. Now, when you click "Yes" to a meeting invite on the Calendar interface, you'll see a drop-down menu that gives you a way to indicate whether you're attending it virtually or in person. Both the meeting organizer and the guests will see how attendees intend to show up when they look at the event detail. People who clicked "Yes" will have icons next to their names that correspond to their choice. 

Google

That said, Google says the new RSVP choices are not shared with users on other platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook. Also, they'll only show up on Google Calendar itself at the moment, though the company says the options will be available in Gmail invites "soon."

Google has rolled out an update for the Meet video calling app that could make personal calls more enjoyable. The Meet app for Android and iOS now has filters and masks you can play with — simply tap the sparkle button at the bottom right corner of your video call to bring up the Effects options. You'll find Blur effects and backgrounds in there like you would on enterprise and education accounts, but you'll now also find "Styles" and "Filters" among the options in the carousel. 

Under Styles, you'll see lens flare effects and color overlays you can apply to your video. If you want to see the truly fun options, though, look under Filters for cute animal masks and virtual accessories you can virtually put on your face and head. These new effects are already live, and based on our tests, they're available for use even if you start a meeting through Gmail instead of through the Meet app itself. 

As 9to5Google notes, Google has been releasing a number of features that would make the service a more veritable Zoom rival. This time, the tech giant is hoping to win over personal users with a feature that could convince them to use Meet for calls with friends and family. The publication previously reported that Google will eventually replace its Duo app with Meet entirely. This move could be a step towards that, as well, seeing as some of Meet's new masks and filters came straight out of Duo's library.

Hygear, a smart fitness tool maker that launched in 2020, has introduced a smart jump rope that can provide users with real time feedback. The Hyrope can pair with the company's official app to track the user's jump count, speed, pace and calorie burn as they go along. Hygear's app picks the interactive workouts they can follow based on their fitness goals and uses AI tech to adjust them based on actual performance.

While gyms have started reopening in recent months after coronavirus restrictions loosened up, some may still choose to continue exercising in their homes. A lot of people purchased expensive machines in the middle of the pandemic last year, after all, and may have gotten used to following video workouts from the growing number of digital fitness subscriptions out there. Hyrope may have a been a bit late to the game, but it could still find its audience in those who now prefer working out at home, or those who just want a handy exercise tool they can bring anywhere they go. 

The company says it chose to introduce Hyrope, because "because mixing cardio with strength training is one of the best, most effective ways to burn calories for weight loss," and rope jumping is "excellent cardio activity that can be performed in limited space." Hyrope is now available for pre-sale for $39. It comes with the device itself and a year-long Hygear app membership. The jump rope is launching with a 90-day weight loss program that's accessible through the app, and the company is also rolling out 45- and 60-day cardio programs in the coming weeks.

Microsoft has released an emergency patch to address a critical flaw in the Windows Print Spooler service that bad actors are actively exploiting, as noticed by The Verge. A few days ago, the tech giant has published a security advisory to notify users about the flaw called PrintNightmare, though it didn't name the bad actors currently using it to infiltrate victims' computers. 

Attackers taking advantage of the vulnerability can remotely run code with system-level privileges, giving them the ability to install programs in the victims' computers, delete or change data and create new accounts with full user rights. The vulnerability impacts all versions of Windows, and the company advised users to disable Print Spooler to deactivate local and remote printing to prevent hackers from getting in. They can also disable just the inbound remote printing capability through Group Policy. 

Now, after investigating the vulnerability, Microsoft has issued patches for several versions of the Windows Server, Windows 10, Windows 8 and even Windows 7 — security updates for this OS ended in January 2020 — platforms. The vulnerability has been classified as "Critical," which means its "exploitation could allow code execution without user interaction." Microsoft is asking users to install the updates immediately or to take steps towards protecting their systems if they can't. 

In the middle of pandemic lockdowns last year, Microsoft launched Together Mode for its Teams workplace messaging app in an effort to help attendees feel more connected. To use the mode, a meeting should have five participants at the very least, but it looks like the tech giant is looking to make it available even for calls with fewer attendees. As first reported by The Verge, people are now able to use the feature for video calls with as few as two participants, as long as they're using the Developer Preview version of the Teams app.

Together Mode uses AI-powered segmentation to put all participants in a meeting in one virtual space. Its purpose is to make people feel like they're all sitting in the same room and to help them see the other participants' nonverbal cues. The NBA gave fans a look at what the feature can do by using it to recreate the atmosphere of a packed arena without anyone being physically there. 

In December, a few months after the mode rolled out, it made its way to Skype so that friends and family can use it for their video calls, as well. Even then, though, it had a five-participant minimum, which likely limited its use. Making it accessible to fewer participants could encourage people to use it more frequently. Users can switch to Developer Preview by clicking the ellipsis next to their profile picture in Teams and going to the About section. However, some organizations could switch the option off, making it unavailable to their personnel. 

Starting in 2022, Universal's movies will be available on Peacock first instead of on HBO. That means the next Jurassic World and the new Halloween movie will make their TV debut on the streaming service also owned by its parent company Comcast. According to Variety and The Wall Street Journal, Universal's films will appear exclusively on Peacock for streaming within four months after their theatrical release, as well as within the final four months of an 18-month window. 

Those 10 months in between, the films will be licensed to around two to three additional partners, though none of them will have exclusive rights to the movies. Universal has yet to release the list of additional partners, and it's unclear if HBO is one of them. Variety says that by adopting the segmented TV release schedule, Universal is hoping to avoid over-saturation or making its films seem stale. In addition, streaming platforms are apparently willing to pay top dollar for popular movies these days in an effort to stand out from their ever-increasing number of rivals out there. 

Whether the move leads to a boost in subscriber numbers for Peacock remains to be seen. Comcast made the streaming service available to more potential viewers just a month ago by releasing apps for the Amazon Fire TV and tablets and Samsung's smart TVs. Peacock also grew its live sports portfolio recently and announced that it's streaming 44 Premier Lacrosse League games for the season that started on June 4th.