Tag Archives: Media

Neil Young is returning to Spotify after boycotting it over Joe Rogan’s vaccine comments

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Neil Young is back on Spotify after boycotting the platform over two years ago, he said in a new blog post. The Canadian singer ditched the platform over vaccine misinformation on the Joe Rogan podcast, later saying he was fed up with Spotify’s "shitty" sound quality anyway. 

Young returned because Rogan's podcast is no longer exclusive on Spotify. "My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify," he said, without specifically mentioning the Joe Rogan Experience.

There's no way he could also pull his catalog from Apple Music and Amazon as well, he added, "because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all" if he did. Young also expressed hope that Spotify would improve its sound quality, while shouting out Quobuz and Tidal for presenting his songs in high-res. 

"Spotify, you can do it! Really be #1 in all ways. You have the music and listeners!!!! Start with a limited Hi res tier and build from there!" he wrote. (Spotify did announce that it would launch a HiFi tier way back in early 2021, but it has yet to actually do so.) 

Fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell joined Young in the boycott, and her music is still missing from the platform. Both had reason to be incensed about the vaccine misinformation on Rogan's show as both were victims of polio — a disease that was wiped out in North America thanks to vaccines.

It's hard to say how Young's boycott affected Spotify, but it certainly impacted his finances. Last year, Billboard estimated that pulling his songs from Spotify cost him roughly $300,000 in lost recorded music and publishing royalties.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/neil-young-is-returning-to-spotify-after-boycotting-it-over-joe-rogans-vaccine-comments-071217691.html?src=rss

Smash Bros-esque fighting game MultiVersus is returning on May 28

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It's been a busy several few months for fighting game fans between the likes of Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 1 arriving. Another game is entering (or more accurately re-entering) the fray as Warner Bros' platform fighter MultiVersus will return on May 28. It will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

MutliVersus is Warner Bros' take on the Super Smash Bros. series. The aim is to weaken enemies enough to knock them off of a platform. Instead of controlling the likes of Mario, Link, Pikachu and Sephiroth, the roster is made up of characters from across WB properties, including DC Comics, its movies (hence the inclusion of LeBron James from Space Jam: A New Legacy) and even HBO. It's an enjoyable two vs. two take on the format.

The free-to-play game debuted in open beta in July 2022 and it was an instant hit. It brought in 20 million players in its first month. However, the player count dwindled quickly (at least on PC) amid complaints of a lack of updates and new characters. Developer Player First Games said last March that it would take the servers offline in June so it could work on the game ahead of its full release this year. One aspect of this that angered some fans was the fact many spent money on the game to unlock characters and cosmetics, only for it to go offline for what turned out to be another 10 months.

Along with the full release date, game director Tony Hyunh announced some of the updates to MultiVersus. There will, of course, be new characters. Hyunh didn't reveal any of the fresh faces, but I have my fingers crossed for a couple of names from Succession and The Last of Us showing up, just because. You can also expect more stages and fresh attacks for each character. We'll learn more details in the lead up to the release date.

Player First Games rebuilt the game from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 to improve character lighting and the visuals. Hyunh says the team incorporated new rollback netcode to minimize lag for online play and to ensure consistent performance. There will also be a player versus environment mode that will allow you to play the game without having to square off against other players.

MultiVersus is returning just after Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to focus more on live-service, mobile and free-to-play games with a long-tail rather than single-player experiences. That's despite the disappointing performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (a live-service title) and colossal commercial success of Hogwarts Legacy, which sold 22 million copies last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/smash-bros-esque-fighting-game-multiversus-is-returning-on-may-28-164706013.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Apple reinstates Fortnite creator’s developer account after two-day ban

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Apple has reversed its decision to ban Epic Games’ developer account after it emerged that European Union officials were investigating the issue. And the EU is currently fining Apple for almost two billion dollars, so it's probably wise to pay attention.

This means Epic can bring its own app store to iPhones and iPads in the EU. “Following conversations with Epic, they have committed to follow the rules, including our DMA [Digital Markets Act] policies,” an Apple spokesperson told Engadget.

Earlier last week, Apple killed Epic’s developer account, claiming Epic was unlikely to abide by contractual agreements and even describing Epic as “verifiably untrustworthy.” Now, nearly four years after its disappearance, the publisher can more easily bring Fortnite back to those devices in the bloc.

Yes, Fortnite was last (officially) on iOS four years ago.

— Mat Smith

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Another Super Mario Bros. movie is coming in 2026

And the first is coming back to theaters this summer.

Nintendo and Illumination are releasing a second animated film for the Super Mario franchise, and it’s expected to come out April 3, 2026. The news comes from series creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, who tweeted it from the Nintendo of America X account on Sunday as part of the ongoing Mario Day shopping push celebrations. Based on his description, it doesn’t seem like it will be a direct sequel to the first, though. To kill time until 2026, you can play some Mario game remakes and make Mario Kart Lego sets.

Continue reading.

Oppenheimer ruled at the 2024 Oscars 

Apple and Netflix were nearly shut out.

Despite combining for 32 nominations, Netflix and Apple TV+ were nearly shut out of the 2024 Oscars, with Netflix winning just a single award for Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Best Live Action Short Film). Netflix scored six prizes last year. The big surprise was Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+) not gaining a single award. Oppenheimer claimed prizes for Best Picture, Best Director, editing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Original Score and Cinematography. 

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Marilyn Monroe gets digitally resurrected as AI

Thanks to a company that owns the rights to her likeness.

TMA
ABG

At SXSW on Friday, Soul Machines unveiled Digital Marilyn, an AI chatbot designed to look and talk just like Marilyn Monroe. It was made in a partnership with Authentic Brands Group, which owns the rights to Monroe’s likeness and those of numerous other dead and living celebrities, including Elvis Presley and Shaq.

Soul Machines introduced its Marilyn Monroe AI to the public in an International Women’s Day Instagram post. Notably, all of the other AI celebrities the company currently offers chats with are men who are alive, and who can weigh in on their inclusion.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apple-reinstates-fortnite-creators-developer-account-after-two-day-ban-114505117.html?src=rss

Oppenheimer ruled 2024 Oscars as Apple TV+ and Netflix were nearly shut out

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Despite combining for 32 nominations, Netflix and Apple TV+ were nearly shut out of of the 2024 Oscars, with Netflix winning a single award for Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Best Live Action Short Film). The big surprise was Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+) not gaining a single statue, notably Lily Gladstone losing the Best Actress prize to Poor Things' Emma Stone. 

Universal was the big winner with Oppenheimer (Best Picture, Best Director, editing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, original score, cinematography) while Poor Things (Disney's Searchlight Pictures) garnered four prizes. The other half of "Barbenheimer," (Barbie, ofc) took just a single prize for best song with Billy Eilish's What Was I Made For (and not I'm Just Ken, sung live at the ceremony by supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling). 

The gala was a letdown for Netflix, which scored six prizes last year. Netflix has won 23 Oscars since 2017, but has yet to win in the Best Picture or Best Actor/Actress categories. That's despite four nominations this year for Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Colman Domingo for Rustin and Annette Bening for Nyad. 

Lily Gladstone was perhaps slightly favored over Stone to win for Killers of the Flower Moon and she also would have been the first Indigenous American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor or Actress. The studio was also up for Best Supporting Actor with nominee Robert De Niro and Best Director for Scorsese. Apart from Gladstone's loss, though, awards were distributed largely as anticipated. 

This year, it couldn't be said that judges were swayed by a lack of theatrical presence from streamers. Killers of the Flower Moon had a fairly wide release in cinemas, while Maestro stayed in theaters for a month prior to its Netflix release. Both chalked up decent box office numbers. 

The ceremony itself appears to have been watchable, with Deadline proclaiming that producers "finally made an Academy Awards ceremony for the 21st century" and The Hollywood Reporter calling it "busy and eclectic." USA Today did describe it as "boring," but every Oscars for the past 20 years has gotten the same knock.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oppenheimer-ruled-2024-oscars-as-apple-tv-and-netflix-were-nearly-shut-out-052543094.html?src=rss

We’re officially getting another Super Mario Bros. movie in 2026

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Riding the success of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo and Illumination are releasing a second animated film in the franchise that’s expected to come out April 3, 2026. The news comes from series creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself, who tweeted it from the Nintendo of America X account on Sunday as part of the ongoing Mario Day celebrations. Details are so far scant, but Miyamoto says the team is “thinking about broadening Mario's world further, and it'll have a bright and fun story.”

Based on his description, it doesn’t seem like it will be a direct sequel to the first, though that remains to be seen. In an announcement video also featuring Miyamoto, Chris Meledandri from Illumination said the team is already “storyboarding scenes and developing set designs for new environments.” Animations are due to begin soon. The next movie set in the Super Mario Bros. world will be released in the US and other areas on April 3, 2026 before coming to other regions later that month.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie absolutely crushed at the box office when it was released last April, becoming the highest-grossing video game movie at opening. It hit $1.3 billion worldwide by the beginning of June, Variety reported. If you didn’t get a chance to catch it in theaters then — or you’re just dying to see it on the big screen again — AMC Theaters is bringing The Super Mario Bros. Movie back to theaters this year on June 28, as spotted by GoNintendo.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/were-officially-getting-a-second-super-mario-bros-movie-in-2026-152430999.html?src=rss

You can write long-form articles on X if you pay for Premium+

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Journalists, creators and long-winded VCs on X now have a new way to be exhausting on main. X now allows verified organizations and Premium+ subscribers to publish long-form “Articles."

The feature adds a basic text-editing interface that includes embedded media and some text formatting options, like the ability to make bulleted lists. It also appears that articles can be longer than the 25,000-character limit currently in place for premium subscribers’ “longer posts” feature. According to my initial tests, I hit the character limit for articles at just over 100,000 characters or about 15,000 words.

Here’s what the editing interface looks like:

The text editor.
Screenshot via X

Notably, Twitter began working on longer form posts long before Elon Musk’s takeover of the company. The company showed off an early version, originally called “Notes” in 2022, as it looked to lure newsletter writers and other creators to the service. Musk confirmed last summer that the publishing tools were still in the works.

The rollout of publishing tools is notable as Musk has often been hostile to journalists on his platform. Last year, Musk directed a change to X’s recommendation algorithm so that links to newsletter platform Substack would not appear in users’ “For You” feeds, which has throttled many independent writers’ reach on the service. X also stripped headlines from news stories shared on the platform last fall (headlines eventually returned, in a much smaller font).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-write-long-form-articles-on-x-if-you-pay-for-premium-005707599.html?src=rss

You can write long-form articles on X if you pay for Premium+

Posted on by

Journalists, creators and long-winded VCs on X now have a new way to be exhausting on main. X now allows verified organizations and Premium+ subscribers to publish long-form “Articles."

The feature adds a basic text-editing interface that includes embedded media and some text formatting options, like the ability to make bulleted lists. It also appears that articles can be longer than the 25,000-character limit currently in place for premium subscribers’ “longer posts” feature. According to my initial tests, I hit the character limit for articles at just over 100,000 characters or about 15,000 words.

Here’s what the editing interface looks like:

The text editor.
Screenshot via X

Notably, Twitter began working on longer form posts long before Elon Musk’s takeover of the company. The company showed off an early version, originally called “Notes” in 2022, as it looked to lure newsletter writers and other creators to the service. Musk confirmed last summer that the publishing tools were still in the works.

The rollout of publishing tools is notable as Musk has often been hostile to journalists on his platform. Last year, Musk directed a change to X’s recommendation algorithm so that links to newsletter platform Substack would not appear in users’ “For You” feeds, which has throttled many independent writers’ reach on the service. X also stripped headlines from news stories shared on the platform last fall (headlines eventually returned, in a much smaller font).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-write-long-form-articles-on-x-if-you-pay-for-premium-005707599.html?src=rss

Prime Video’s latest Fallout trailer deftly captures the tone of the games

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Amazon has released a full trailer for the live-action Fallout series that's coming to Prime Video soon. It's our most in-depth look yet at the show and early indications suggest that the creative team has captured the distinct blend of irreverence and violence that helped Bethesda's game series become so successful.

The clip focuses on Lucy (Ella Purnell), a young woman who emerges from a fallout bunker into what used to be Los Angeles, 200 years after a nuclear apocalypse. Lucy quickly discovers that life on the surface isn't quite as cushy as staying in a luxury vault. "Practically every person I've met up here has tried to kill me," she says, seconds before we see a robot attempt to harvest her organs.

The trailer (and the show) gets a helping hand from the otherworldly charm of Walton Goggins as a pitchman for living in a fallout shelter. His character somehow survives the apocalypse and is still around two centuries later, carving out a life as a mutated bounty hunter called The Ghoul. The trailer has a ton of other references to the games for fans to drink in.

Amazon also took the opportunity to reveal that Fallout will arrive on Prime Video on April 11, one day earlier than previously announced. You won't have to wait a week between episodes either, as the entire season will drop at once.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-videos-latest-fallout-trailer-deftly-captures-the-tone-of-the-games-170210309.html?src=rss

Prime Video’s latest Fallout trailer deftly captures the tone of the games

Posted on by

Amazon has released a full trailer for the live-action Fallout series that's coming to Prime Video soon. It's our most in-depth look yet at the show and early indications suggest that the creative team has captured the distinct blend of irreverence and violence that helped Bethesda's game series become so successful.

The clip focuses on Lucy (Ella Purnell), a young woman who emerges from a fallout bunker into what used to be Los Angeles, 200 years after a nuclear apocalypse. Lucy quickly discovers that life on the surface isn't quite as cushy as staying in a luxury vault. "Practically every person I've met up here has tried to kill me," she says, seconds before we see a robot attempt to harvest her organs.

The trailer (and the show) gets a helping hand from the otherworldly charm of Walton Goggins as a pitchman for living in a fallout shelter. His character somehow survives the apocalypse and is still around two centuries later, carving out a life as a mutated bounty hunter called The Ghoul. The trailer has a ton of other references to the games for fans to drink in.

Amazon also took the opportunity to reveal that Fallout will arrive on Prime Video on April 11, one day earlier than previously announced. You won't have to wait a week between episodes either, as the entire season will drop at once.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-videos-latest-fallout-trailer-deftly-captures-the-tone-of-the-games-170210309.html?src=rss

Facebook is using AI to supercharge the algorithm that recommends you videos

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Meta is revamping how Facebook recommends videos across Reels, Groups, and the main Facebook Feed, by using AI to power its video recommendation algorithm, Facebook head Tom Alison revealed on Wednesday. The world's largest social network has already switched Reels, its TikTok competitor, to the new engine, and plans to use it in all places within Facebook that show video — the main Facebook feed and Groups — as part of a "technology roadmap" through 2026, Alison said at a Morgan Stanley tech conference in San Francisco.

Meta has made competing with TikTok a top priority ever since the app, which serves up vertical video clips and is known for its powerful recommendation engine that seems to know exactly what will keep users hooked, started exploding in popularity in the US in the last few years. When Facebook tested the new AI-powered recommendation engine with Reels, watch time went up by roughly 8 to 10 percent, Alison revealed. “So what that told us was this new model architecture is learning from the data much more efficiently than the previous generation,” Alison said. “So that was like a good sign that says, OK, we’re on the right track.”

So far, Facebook used different video recommendation engines for Reels, Groups, and the Facebook feed. But after seeing success with Reels, the company plans to use the same AI-powered engine across all these products.

“Instead of just powering Reels, we’re working on a project to power our entire video ecosystem with this single model, and then can we add our Feed recommendation product to also be served by this model,” Alison said. “If we get this right, not only will the recommendations be kind of more engaging and more relevant, but we think the responsiveness of them can improve as well.”

The move is a part of Meta’s strategy to infuse AI into all its products after the technology exploded with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the end of 2022. The company is spending billions of dollars to buy up hundreds of thousands of pricey NVIDIA GPUs used to train and power AI models, Zuckerberg said in a video earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebook-is-using-ai-to-supercharge-the-algorithm-that-recommends-you-videos-033027002.html?src=rss