Tech

ESPN at long last will be coming to FuboTV, which launched more than five years ago as a sports-centric streaming service in the U.S. FuboTV first launched in 2015 as a soccer-streaming service, before expanding to add more general entertainment and news channels to the virtual pay-TV service. But until now it has lacked ESPN,

Movie theaters closed? No problem: “Fortnite,” the massively popular battle royale game, is hosting virtual screenings of three Christopher Nolan films this Friday, June 26. The trio of Nolan pics — not all of which will be available in all countries — are “Inception” with Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page; “Batman Begins,” the

Vice Media Group is calling on the advertising industry to review “brand safe” keywords, after the company recently found that ad blocklists have included such terms as “Black Lives Matter,” “George Floyd,” “protest” and — in one case — “Black people.” Marsha Cooke, Vice Media Group’s SVP of impact, outlined the problem, which she called

One of the more interesting media-consumption behaviors to emerge from the pandemic era is “watch parties,” which allow consumers sheltering at home from disparate locations to chat with each other while watching the same program synchronized across all of their screens. This kind of virtual co-viewing puts an entertainment-centric spin on the video-conferencing boom perpetuated

With most sports still on coronavirus hiatus, Stephen Curry is hosting a competition turning everyday stay-at-home activities into a competitive event to benefit WHO’s COVID-19 rsponse. The NBA star teamed with YouTube Originals to organize the spoofy “UHC: Ultimate Home Championship” fundraising event featuring pro athletes and influencers competing for the title of the “world’s

The primary account of Carpe Donktum, a prominent pro-Donald Trump meme maker, has been permanently suspended by Twitter, which cited “repeated” violations of copyright infringement. Twitter’s move to kick Carpe Donktum off the platform Tuesday came just days after a video from the account — tweeted by Trump — was pulled after a copyright complaint

Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming service set to be available across the U.S. starting July 15, will be available on Google platforms and devices including Android, Android TVs, Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices at launch, the media company announced. Under the pact, Android and Android TV users will receive complimentary access to Peacock Premium (with ads)

The upcoming remaster of “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2” managed to nab the entire original roster for what’s being touted a very “faithful” new look at the classic skateboarding games — but it’s also getting some new additions. Activision Blizzard announced on Tuesday the full roster of new skaters joining the lineup: Nyjah

Snap will try to turn Snapchat viewers into buyers with its first-ever “shoppable” original show: “The Drop,” focused on “exclusive streetwear collabs” from celebrities and designers. The company — in its debut Digital Content NewFronts presentation for Madison Avenue types — also announced the renewal of “Driven,” an original series about custom cars, for Season

The highly anticipated “The Last of Us Part II,” released last Friday, obviously brings back the two characters at the center of the franchise: Joel and Ellie. But it also introduces a bevy of new characters to the infection-ravaged world, among them Dina, an outgoing, flirtatious, quick-witted young woman who becomes the love interest of

Wondery, the indie podcast producer and network, has launched a dedicated app that features its lineup of original programming. The hope: that the new Wondery App will grab more listeners by the ear — and have them part with cold, hard cash to listen to its shows ad-free. Hernan Lopez, founder and CEO of four-year-old

First Look Media’s Topic Studios announced Christy Gressman, formerly with podcast network Night Vale Presents, as VP, executive producer of podcasts, and revealed several new shows in development. Gressman was formerly a partner and executive producer at Night Vale Presents, whose podcasts include “Welcome to Night Vale,” “Sleep With Me,” “Conversations With People Who Hate

Mouse House streamer Disney Plus is set to launch in eight more European countries on Sept. 15. The new territories include Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The service is currently available in the U.K., Ireland, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. In Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Iceland and Luxembourg, the service

Americans now subscribe to more streaming-video services than ever: The average U.S. consumer currently pays for four different services, up from three pre-COVID-19, per a new study from Deloitte. But the quarantine-driven binge on subscription VOD may be short-lived — many people could cut back once coronavirus restrictions are lifted or because of economic hardship,

Obviously, the summer of 2020 is not an ordinary season, and Spotify’s predictions for the Song of the Summer reflect that. There are songs like DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR” (feat. Roddy Ricch), Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” (feat. Beyoncé), “TKN” by Rosalia (feat. Travis Scott) and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, which was released in 2019 but continues

Apple, which has been the target of sharp criticism over its App Store policies and the power the company holds over developers, says it’s establishing a new process to hear the complaints of developers who disagree with its app-approval policies. The tech giant, as part of its 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference, on Monday announced to

Spotify is now available for Comcast’s TV and broadband subscribers to stream from their television sets. The cable operator announced that under a deal with Spotify, the music and audio streaming service’s 50 million music tracks and more than 1 million podcasts are available to stream on Xfinity starting this week. Spotify is available Monday

In a major change for Apple’s iPhone, the next iteration of the operating system — iOS 14, coming this fall — will let users set third-party email and browser apps as the defaults, in place of Apple’s own mail and Safari browser apps. In Apple’s nearly two-hour keynote Monday kicking off the virtual 2020 Worldwide

Microsoft has given up trying to compete with Amazon’s Twitch. On Monday, Microsoft announced that it is shutting down Mixer, its livestreaming gaming service, effective next month. The company struck a deal with Facebook to migrate current livestreamers from Mixer to Facebook Gaming. “Ultimately, the success of Partners and streamers on Mixer is dependent on

Apple, as expected, provided a preview of iOS 14 at at WWDC20, this year’s online-streaming version of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference — which includes new tools for navigating the iPhone home screen and enhanced privacy. The iOS 14 operating system will be released this fall as a free software update for iPhone 6s and

Apple’s first-ever virtual Worldwide Developers Conference — which the tech giant its hyping as the biggest WWDC to date — kicks off Monday. Here’s how to watch the key events, along with a rundown of rumors and reports that have surfaced ahead of WWDC20. WWDC, now in its 31st year, runs from June 22 to

Disney has ended the free seven-day promotional trial for Disney Plus — with the company saying it doesn’t need to dangle freebies to lure new customers to the streaming service. “We continue to test and evaluate different marketing, offers and promotions to grow Disney Plus,” a rep for the company said in a statement. “The

Disney has ended the free seven-day promotional trial for Disney Plus — with the company saying it doesn’t need to dangle freebies to lure new customers to the streaming service. “We continue to test and evaluate different marketing, offers and promotions to grow Disney Plus,” a rep for the company said in a statement. “The

A new collective of Black workers in the arts and entertainment field, called Black Artists for Freedom, has released a statement on their website commemorating Juneteenth and calling on cultural institutions to make changes in order to eliminate racial injustice. The collective consists of over 1,000 Black actors, musicians, filmmakers, authors, painters and poets, including

Snapchat removed the app’s selfie filter meant to celebrate Juneteenth that asked users to “smile and break the chains” to unlock the augmented-reality animation. In a statement, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, offered an apology for the Juneteenth filter. “We deeply apologize to the members of the Snapchat community who found this Lens offensive,”

“Graduate Together,” a virtual commencement ceremony featuring over 30 speeches from celebrities and world leaders, will qualify for the Primetime Emmy Awards in 11 categories, it was revealed this week. Should a nomination or eventual win come for the special, shot virtually from coronavirus quarantine, it will surely mark the strange and unprecedented time Hollywood

Peter Jackson is getting into the business of animation. The filmmaker’s special effects company Weta Digital is launching an an animation division. Industry veteran Prem Akkaraju will serve as its chief executive officer. The New Zealand-based company said Thursday that creating animation has been a long-held dream of majority owners Jackson and Fran Walsh, who

Facebook announced that it is committing $200 million to support Black-owned businesses, Black creators, and nonprofits serving the Black community. The funding — in the form of cash grants and ad credits — is part of the social giant’s pledge to invest $1.1 billion to support Black and diverse suppliers and communities in the U.S

[SPOILER NOTE: There are no spoilers for “The Last of Us Part II” below, beyond what was already revealed in trailers and pre-release gameplay footage. However, the ending of the first “The Last of Us” is discussed in detail.] To say there was a lot of pressure on “The Last of Us Part II,” which

Facebook removed posts and ads from Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign over Nazi imagery that the social network said violated its policy banning “organized hate.” The Trump ads in question blasted “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups,” which it claimed are “running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem.” The ads featured an upside-down triangle, which