Tech

March 14, 2019 9:37AM PT Facebook is sorry for what appeared to be the longest-ever rolling outage of its service: The social media giant apologized for a technical error that left many users globally unable to access apps for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp starting Wednesday and stretching into Thursday, and said it has fixed

Virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber may just be the first VR title to sell more than 1 million copies: Beat Saber surpassed the one million unit milestone in February, according to Beat Games co-founder and CEO Jaroslav Beck, who credited word-of-mouth for most of the game’s success in a recent interview with Variety. “We

Shares of Snapchat parent Snap rose over 10% Thursday — to a six-month high — on an upgrade by a Wall Street analyst who’s turned bullish on the stock, in part because the app has shifted away from “clickbait/seedy influencer content” to more premium-produced content. In a note Thursday, BTIG Research analyst Rich Greenfield upgraded

March 14, 2019 6:00AM PT HTC released further details about its new all-you-can-eat VR subscription service Viveport Infinity Thursday: The service will launch on April 2, and cost $12.99 per month, or $99 per year for users who pre-pay all 12 months. “We have built a new model for VR that shines a light on

Spotify CEO and cofounder Daniel Ek doubled down on his company’s criticism of Apple for what it says are “anticompetitive” practices on its app store during a speech Thursday at the International Conference on Competition in Berlin. Spotify filed an official complaint with the European Commission against Apple in Europe on Wednesday, contending that the

Production on the second season of Abhishek Bachchan-starring “Breathe,” for Amazon Prime Video, is underway and is 70% complete at Indian content outfit Abundantia Entertainment. The company is headed by Vikram Malhotra, the former CEO of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, where he oversaw “Gangs Of Wasseypur,” “Kahaani,” and “Tanu Weds Manu.” Several other projects that

Google is shutting down its Spotlight Stories immersive entertainment unit, according to an email sent out by Spotlight Stories executive producer Karen Dufilho Wednesday evening. “Google Spotlight Stories is shutting its doors after over six years of making stories and putting them on phones, on screens, in VR, and anywhere else we could get away

Netflix is adding age ratings to more content on its U.K. service after partnering with the British Board of Film Classification. The goal of the new collaboration “is to work towards 100% coverage of BBFC age ratings across the platform,” the ratings board said. Online services in the U.K. are not required to submit content

March 13, 2019 4:15PM PT The American Federation of Musicians has launched talks on a successor contract with studios with the union seeking streaming residuals. The AFM held a press conference Wednesday prior to the start of negotiations at the headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Musicians

Facebook continues pumping more money into its strategy of trying to engage users with new video and music content. The social giant has renewed Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talk” talk show — which has become Facebook Watch’s most popular original series overall — for more than 20 new episodes. It’s also rolling out a

Univision is set to announce at SXSW today that it has partnered with Napster to bring more music streaming choices to its revamped Uforia app. In addition to live streams of Univision’s 58 local radio stations, the app is now also offering users hundreds of playlist based on Napster’s catalog of 40 million songs. “Univision

March 13, 2019 1:09PM PT Apps for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp were down for some users around the world for several hours Wednesday, with unidentified technical problems causing widespread disruptions. Facebook took to Twitter to update users on the situation. The company acknowledged the problems in a tweet at 1:49 p.m. ET, saying, “We’re aware

Olivia Jade Giannulli, daughter of actress Lori Loughlin, is a YouTube beauty vlogger and social-media star with millions of followers. She’s also (for now) a freshman at the University of Southern California. But in the wake of her mother being implicated as part of a broad college-admissions bribery scam — alleging that Loughlin illegally schemed

The Writers Guild of America East, claiming a first for the podcasting industry, has unionized the employees of Gimlet Media. The WGA East announced on Wednesday that a clear majority of the 83-member creative staff has signed union cards and called on management to voluntarily recognize the guild as its collective bargaining representative. Brooklyn-based Gimlet’s

March 13, 2019 9:46AM PT Twitter is taking some cues from competitors like Instagram and Snapchat: The company is adding a dedicated camera feature to its mobile apps, making it easier for its users to share photos, videos and live streams. The company announced the new feature with a tweet, showing off its functionality with

AT&T is overhauling its DirecTV Now pricing and packaging strategy — including hiking prices for existing customers by $10 across the board — a move that could lead to more subscriber losses for the company’s flagging pay-TV business. At the same time, AT&T is launching two new DirecTV Now packages: Plus, at $50 per month

Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, star of films including “Black Swan” and “Jackie,” is launching her first-ever online class. In the class, priced at $90 for unlimited access, the self-taught thesp will share insights and experiences over a 25-plus year career including case studies on her most notable roles. Portman’s class is available exclusively through online-education

March 13, 2019 12:18AM PT Indian media investor, Times Bridge has made a strategic investment into Canadian online entertainment group Wattpad. The two companies conceive of the move as expanding Wattpad’s position in India. Times Bridge is the investment arm of India’s The Times Group and has previously taken investment positions in Uber, Airbnb, Coursera,

March 12, 2019 4:10PM PT Games industry veteran Jade Raymond has been named a vice president of Google. Raymond announced the news over Twitter today. “I’m excited to finally be able to share that I have joined Google as VP!” wrote Raymond. She didn’t clarify what her role would be as one of the company’s

March 12, 2019 2:40PM PT Vice Media is looking to raise a new $200 million in funding, according to a report from the Information. The news comes just weeks after Vice laid off around 250 staffers. Vice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company is looking to raise the new funding as

Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon have received fierce criticism from the songwriting and music-publishing communities after the announcement last week that the companies are teaming up to appeal a controversial ruling by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that, if it goes through, would increase payouts to songwriters by 44%. While Spotify is just one of the four

When it comes to flashy augmented reality (AR) glasses for consumers, all eyes are on two companies these days: Magic Leap, which released its Magic Leap One developer headset last summer, and Apple, which is reportedly getting ready to unveil an AR device next year. One company that isn’t getting quite as much attention, despite

March 12, 2019 10:20AM PT [embedded content] With just days until the kick-off of the Game Developers Conference, Google is turning the hype for the keynote unveiling up to 11. In a video released Tuesday, Google asks viewers to join them for the 10 a.m. PT keynote next Tuesday as the company “unveil Google’s vision

When newly appointed WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt took a swipe at his biggest competitor in the streaming space last week, telling NBC News that Netflix lacked a brand and was akin to Encyclopedia Brittanica, he might have done well to recall what happened to one of his corporate predecessors back in 2010. That was when

Hulu wants to get more Spotify users hooked on its streaming TV package: All Spotify Premium users in the U.S. will get access to Hulu’s streaming VOD plan with ads for no extra cost — if they take advantage of the promo in the next three months. The catch is that Spotify customers must move

March 12, 2019 2:16AM PT Netflix is doubling down on interactive series after the global success of “Black Mirror” spinoff “Bandersnatch,” the streaming giant’s VP, product, Todd Yellin, revealed in Mumbai on Tuesday. Yellin was delivering a keynote presentation at the 20th edition of media and entertainment conference, FICCI-Frames. “It’s a huge hit here in

Netflix has added a trio of deals that expand its roster of anime series. It unveiled partnerships with Anima, Sublimation, and David Production, which are in addition to its earlier pacts with Production I.G. and Bones in 2018. These production houses and Netflix will jointly create original anime series including “Altered Carbon: Resleeved” from Anima,

Lori Conkling is joining YouTube as global head of partnerships for YouTube TV and Google Fiber. She comes to YouTube from after six years at NBCUniversal, where she was EVP of strategy and business development focused on digital. In her new role at YouTube, Conkling will lead programming and packaging strategies, including negotiating all content

March 11, 2019 12:31PM PT Apple has made its 3/25 event official: The company sent out invites to media for its long-rumored event Monday, asking media to join the company at its Cupertino headquarters in 2 weeks. The company is widely expected to unveil its subscription video service that day, and is likely also going

UPDATED: Spotify has issued a response to criticism it has received in the wake of the announcement Thursday that it, Google, Pandora and Amazon are teaming up to appeal  a controversial ruling by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that, if it goes through, would increase payouts to songwriters by 44%. In a blog post, the streaming giant