Tech

Amazon is officially in the TV set business. After years of selling Fire TV devices that plug into third-party HDTVs and teaming with TV makers for Fire TV-based products, the ecommerce giant is rolling out the first-ever Amazon-built TVs: the Amazon Fire TV Omni Series ($410 and up), which provides hands-free Alexa voice navigation, and

Verizon and the NFL extended their longstanding relationship with a 10-year marketing and tech deal — but the telco is no longer going to be livestreaming football games on mobile. The deal establishes Verizon an “Official Technology Partner” and the “Official 5G Network” of the League. Verizon has already installed Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband service

Snap has hired Claudia Teran, a 21-year legal veteran of Fox Corp., as VP, deputy general counsel and global head of commercial. At Snap, Teran will report directly to general counsel Mike O’Sullivan and lead the company’s commercial legal team, which supports nearly all deals with outside partners. She starts in the new role in

Joe Rogan, who recently revealed his COVID diagnosis as well as a controversial treatment regimen that included ivermectin, took to the most recent episode of his podcast to talk about his illness as well as question media coverage of his recovery. On the Sept. 7 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the host was teased

Hulu customers expecting to stream “Impeachment: American Crime Story” today — or anytime soon — will be disappointed: The FX limited series isn’t on the Disney-controlled streaming platform’s on-demand streaming tiers. Instead, “Impeachment,” a retelling of the notorious Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton saga from more than two decades ago, will be headed to Netflix sometime in

To Taiwan director Chung Mong-hong, the purpose of filmmaking is telling the particular story that he wants to tell, rather than thinking about how to surpass himself with the next project. “If all you can think about is whether you can beat yourself, life would be too harsh,” the director quips. Hence Chung wants the

Korean entertainment-tech giant Kakao took to the stage of media conference APOS on Wednesday to tout the firm’s growing story-telling skills and particular strength in webtoons. The same day, the company’s shares plunged by 8%, as politicians from the ruling party called for regulations that would halt the dominance of platform economy leaders Kakao Inc.

Disney is raising prices on Hulu’s baseline video-on-demand streaming packages next month, as the Mouse House seeks to push customers toward the three-way Disney Bundle and Hulu’s live TV packages. On Tuesday, Hulu began notifying subscribers that as of Oct. 8, the price of Hulu’s two on-demand plans — with ads and without commercials —

Vox Media is acquiring Hot Pod, the independent news outlet focused on the podcasting industry, as part of a bid to expand offerings from its technology site, The Verge. Under part of a deal being announced Tuesday, Hot Pod will become the first paid-subscription product offered by The Verge, where executives are interested in seeing

With “Certified Lover Boy,” Drake’s has broken the 2021 record for most-streamed artist in a day on Apple Music. “Certified Lover Boy” is also Apple Music’s most-streamed album within a 24-hour period in 2021, achieving the honor just days after Kanye West’s “Donda” broke the record on the streaming platform.. The album debuted on Thursday

It’s hard to think of any group of performers that got back together after 40 years apart, and ABBA has not half-stepped the announcement of their return. While it was first announced rather vaguely three and a half years ago, they waited until the time was ripe to do it officially: Via a global livestream

Joe Rogan, the mega-popular podcaster who has questioned the necessity of the COVID vaccine on his show, revealed to his fans that he was sick from coronavirus and has to postpone a live show. Rogan took to Instagram on Sept. 1 to share a message titled “I GOT COVID. My apologies, but we have to

Twitter’s latest feature, Super Follows, are beginning to roll out Wednesday, the social media company has announced. Revealed earlier this year, Super Follows grant VIP access to certain users’ exclusive, subscriber-only tweets, separate from standard, public tweets. Super Follows come at a monthly subscription cost of either $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99, set by the designated

HBO Max has finally come to Vizio’s SmartCast platform in the U.S., bringing the WarnerMedia streamer to one of the country’s best-selling TV brands. Consumers who have Vizio SmartCast-enabled televisions and who subscribe to HBO Max will be able to sign into the app to get access to the service’s 13,000-plus hours of premium content.

What could be more of the moment than a film about a sick girl searching for her mother in hospital during a pandemic, and a virtual reality presentation that can be accessed by viewers unable to travel to the film’s festival premiere? “The Sick Rose,” a stop-motion animation work combining traditional Taiwanese dough figurine handicraft

The concert sector has been one of the parts of the entertainment industry hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Large crowds and free-flowing international travel are simply not possible under coronavirus restrictions. Many bands have turned to online performances instead, but even a live feed can’t replicate the feeling of being there. Taiwan-based tech firm

Building an ecosystem that can sustain a production chain and generate investment return will be key to the future of virtual reality content development in Taiwan, says HTC, a tech giant headquartered on the self-governed island. Reaching out to a global network of co-producers, investors and distributors of VR content will be the next important

Disney is taking a new step to streamline its streaming portfolio: The media company plans to phase out the Hotstar U.S. service — which provides live cricket and South Asian programming to American audiences — over the next year. Instead, Disney will take the sports and entertainment programming in Hotstar and repackage it into ESPN

Kanye West and his long-awaited new album “Donda” are already breaking records on Apple Music. The album, which dropped by surprise on Sunday, set a new record by reaching No. 1 on Apple Music’s Top Albums chart in 152 countries in 24 hours. According to Apple, in the album’s first full day of release, “Donda”

UPDATE: Spotify has corrected a statement it sent to Variety earlier on Monday that inaccurately stated that West also topped Rodrigo’s record as 2021’s most-streamed artist in 24 hours; West’s record is only for 2021’s most-streamed album in 24 hours. After several weeks of one of the most highly publicized and confusing album rollouts in

Longtime attorney Eric Farber has launched Creators’ Legal, an online platform that offers contract templates and other dealmaking tools designed for content creators. The website offers a range of industry standard contracts, as well as the ability to sign and store agreements in a “digital briefcase.” The contracts are drafted by content and media lawyers

Social media star Jake Paul was victorious Sunday in a boxing match with Tyron Woodley, continuing Paul’s attempt to prove that he can make it as a professional boxer. He won by a split decision in the eight round contest. The three judges delivered scorecards: 77-75 Paul; 77-75-Woodley; 78-74 Paul. #PaulWoodley official scorecards. Do you

The era of irrational exuberance was already running on fumes by the time the Twin Towers fell. The 9/11 terrorist attacks marked the end of the first frenzied wave of investment and hype about dot-com ventures that brought Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Hollywood together in the pursuit of riches, innovation and creativity. Not always

China announced further steps to control celebrity fan culture, which regulators say has become “chaotic.” The moves came as one of China’s most prominent stars Vicki Zhao Wei was scrubbed from the internet and another star, female actor Zheng Shuang was punished for a tax scandal. The Cyberspace Administration of China on Friday issued a

Apple has reached a tentative settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2019 by a group of U.S. app developers who asserted that Apple engaged in anti-competitive practices in relation to the App Store and that it charged developers exorbitant commisions on in-app purchases. Apple confirmed the settlement terms, which still require a judge’s approval,

Netflix launched the first test of its plan to use mobile games to boost its core streaming-subscription business, with the introduction of two “Stranger Things” games for Android, available — for now — only to users in Poland. “Today members in Poland can try Netflix mobile gaming on Android with two games, ‘Stranger Things: 1984’

Kiernan Shipka has signed on to star in supernatural thriller “Treat,” studio Cadence13’s first feature-length podcast — which the company describes as an “audio movie.” “Treat” is in production now and is scheduled to premiere on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, timed for Halloween, available worldwide on all major podcast platforms. The project comes from C13Features,

Vice Media Group launched a new wave of layoffs, reflecting the youth-culture media company’s ongoing financial struggles and need to realign toward profitable areas of the business — amid a broader shift toward video and visual content. Several Vice employees posted on social media that they were laid off Thursday. A source familiar with the

Bright, a startup that has recruited several hundred celebrities, artists and influencers to host ticketed live Zoom events, announced $15 million in funding from investors including several Hollywood celebs. Bright was founded by former YouTube exec Michael Powers and investor and music manager Guy Oseary, whose clients include Madonna and U2. The funding round was

JoJo Siwa’s brand has always been happiness. She first burst onto the scene as the daughter of one of Lifetime’s titular “Dance Moms,” where she became known not just for her dance moves, but for the way she accessorized. Siwa wore bright, sparkly bows in her hair at all times, to some of the moms’