Новости за 28.09.2017

Netflix today announced its plans to invest at least $400 million in Canadian film and TV productions over the next five years, Variety reports. It’s the first time the streaming service has launched a permanent production presence outside the US.

The FAA announced today that it has restricted drone use over several national US landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. The FAA says the new restrictions are in place at the request of US security and law enforcement agencies.

Heading into tomorrow’s release of the $79.99 Super NES Classic Edition, the question on the minds of Nintendo fans is what supply will look like. We all remember the impossible odds of procuring an NES Classic last year, and Nintendo has stated numerous times that it has ramped up production and launch-day units this time around.

Facing scrutiny from Congress, Twitter today disclosed that more than 200 Russia-linked accounts had been used to spread propaganda and misinformation on the company’s platform.

Lego’s hometown of Billund, Denmark, is about to see a huge boost in tourism. Set just 10 minutes away from the airport, Lego House is a new 12,000-square-meter playhouse for Lego fans of all ages, including AFOLs (that’s “Adult Fans of Lego,” according to the company’s own lingo). The building, made to look like 21 Lego bricks stacked on top of each other, is topped by a 2x4 Lego block keystone. Seven years in the making and designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, the facade is comprised of clay tiles... Читать дальше...

Alcatel showed off a phone called the Idol 5 earlier this month at IFA. Now it's bringing that device to the US with slight spec boosts. It’s only available through Cricket Wireless. It comes out on October 27th alongside a new VR headset call the Uni360.

With its next release, renowned game studio Thatgamecompany is expanding to new platforms by debuting Sky on Apple hardware. And to help drum up some excitement, the developer is releasing one its most beloved games, Flower, on both iPhone and iPad today.

The European Union is once again asking Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other web companies to crack down on hate speech and speech inciting violence and terrorism — but this time, it’s taking things a step further. The European Commission has issued guidelines for web companies to follow, and it’s warning the companies that, if they don’t comply, the Commission may pass legislation. And that legislation, of course, could lead to some huge fines.

Viki, a streaming site that lets you watch Asian dramas, now has a translation tool called “Learn Mode” to help you learn Chinese and Korean. It’s not effortless, as learning languages never is, but it’s probably one of the more pleasant ways I’ve attempted to learn a new language. I took Chinese classes in college, and the professor’s MO was recitation and pop quizzes, so given the choice, I prefer the $4.99 a month standard Viki pass.

ZTE is apparently working on a new flagship smartphone called the Axon M, with the unique headline feature of dual screens that can unfold into a combined 6.8-inch display, according to Android Authority.

YouTube is adding new requirements for users who link out to crowdfunding campaigns or other external sites in their videos. Users must now join the YouTube Partner Program in order to add end cards with external links — a common way for YouTubers to point fans toward merchandise or Patreon pages. This limits the cards to channels with 10,000 total public views or more, once YouTube has approved them for the program.

When Super Mario Run made its debut on the iPhone last year, it represented something new: the well-crafted platforming action of Mario tailored to a touchscreen interface. It was a lighter, more streamlined Mario, but it was still Mario at its core. The one thing the game didn’t have much of, though, was staying power. It launched with a small number of levels and not much else, meaning players have been hopping through the same stages since December. But that changes today. Nintendo just released the first major update for the game... Читать дальше...

On the morning of June 5th, 2012, John Chapman drove up to Agate Beach in Newport, Oregon, to take a look at a massive, 188-ton dock that had washed ashore during a storm. The dock was coated in seaweed and, to Chapman’s surprise, covered with small crabs, mussels, barnacles, and sea stars.

Roku completed a public offering this morning, raising $252 million in an IPO that valued the company at $2 billion. It will trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol ROKU. The company makes streaming sticks that allow you to watch streaming video on your television. It also makes software that is baked right into new TV sets from a range of well-known manufacturers. Investors sent shares surging on the first day, betting the company can fend off larger rivals.

Nomad is an accessory company that makes cables that are known for two things: being durable, and being incredibly wild looking when it comes to adding a wide variety of adaptors to the ends. But the company’s newest cable, the Universal Cable USB-C, might be the wackiest-looking one yet, with the ability to transform from a USB Type-A to Micro USB cable into a full USB-C to USB-C cable, or any combination of those four tips you can imagine.

I am not a member of the test group for Twitter’s expansion of the tweet from 140 characters to 280.

More automakers are partnering in preparation for an electric car future. Mazda and Toyota are next, joining with Denso Corporation to form a new company that will develop electric vehicle technologies.

Katy Perry is releasing a full-length special on YouTube Red about the time she live-streamed her life on YouTube for four days this summer. The documentary, Will You Be My Witness?, will premiere on YouTube’s subscription service on October 4th, Billboard reports.

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Marvel has released a behind-the-scenes featurette for Thor: Ragnarok, in which director Taika Waititi discusses how he approached the film and how he hopes to inject some new fun into the character.

Faithful fans of the ill-fated GoPro Karma drone who were holding out hope for a sequel this year are going to be disappointed. While GoPro did mention the Karma during its big Hero 6 Black event today, it only did so in the capacity of a new software update. And even there, those updates are meager.

The consumer 360-degree camera that GoPro’s been talking about since CES 2016 is finally coming to market. Today, the company took the Fusion camera out of its summer-long pilot program and, later this month, it will put it on store shelves. As CEO Nick Woodman teased onstage at the company’s event in San Francisco, there’s potentially much more than meets the eye to Fusion.

GoPro just officially unveiled the Hero 6 Black at an event in San Francisco, and it will be on store shelves this afternoon around North America. It carries the same exterior design over from the Hero 5, waterproofing included, with the highlight features being increased frame rates, better overall image quality and speed, thanks to a new and custom processor. That improvement will come at a steep price: the company’s newest flagship camera will retail for $499, a hundred bucks more than its predecessor. Читать дальше...

It’s getting a bit cheaper to turn your dumb house into a smart one. Price has been the biggest hindrance to the expansion of the smart home, and it still is, to a certain extent. But recently, some of the biggest players in the smart home industry, along with some new entrants, have helped lower prices to more acceptable levels for the masses.

China announced today that carmakers who want to produce fossil fuel-powered cars must first obtain a new energy vehicle score by producing zero-emission and low-emission cars, as first reported by Bloomberg. The new rule applies to automakers who make or import over 30,000 fossil fuel cars a year.