Beats 1 Charity Auction Offers Behind the Scenes Studio Tour With Zane Lowe

Apple’s Beats 1 Radio division is teaming up with auction site Charitybuzz to raise money for MusiCares through an auction that offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the Beats 1 studio in Los Angeles with Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe.

Described as a one-day internship, the auction provides one winner with a full day at Beats 1, as well as access to a few members of the Beats 1 team. In addition to spending time in studio with Zane Lowe, the auction winner will also get to attend a mentoring lunch with Beats 1 Global Operations Manager and LA Chapter Grammy Governer Julie Pilat.

Several other benefits are included as well, like a free pair of Studio3 headphones and the chance to play a song on the Beats 1 radio. A full list of benefits:

– One (1) day at Apple Music’s live station, Beats 1, which broadcasts to over 100 countries

– Time in studio with Zane Lowe during his flagship show, which broadcasts Mondays to Thursdays from 9-11am LA time.

– Music Business Mentoring lunch with Beats 1’s Global Operations Manager & LA Chapter GRAMMY(R) Governor Julie Pilat.

– Attend a Music Meeting and discuss the Beats 1 List with the head of Beats 1’s Music Team. You’ll get to discover the most exciting new music in the world.

– Choose a song and play it, live on the radio, during Beats 1 Request.

– Hear your voice on Beats 1! Record a voiceover demo with their Production team.

– Go home and listen to Beats 1 with a pair of Beats Studio3 Headphones (colors may vary).

The person who wins the auction must visit Beats 1 in LA before December 20, 2018. The auction is valid for one person and the winning bidder must personally utilize the award. Transportation and accommodations are not included in the purchase price.

You can hang @Beats1 for the day and support @MusiCares – check this out. https://t.co/r06pwvbNqm

— juliepilat (@juliepilat) December 7, 2017

Proceeds from the auction, which has an estimated value of $5,000, will go to MusiCares, a foundation run by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. MusiCares provides resources for musicians in times of need, helping them out in financial, medical, and personal emergencies.

Apple has worked with Charitybuzz many times in the past, auctioning off lunches with iTunes chief Eddy Cue and Apple CEO Tim Cook to raise money for charities that include the RFK Center, Autism Movement Therapy, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation.

Tags: Zane Lowe, Charitybuzz, Apple Music, Beats 1
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Nobody knows if Snapchat shows are actually successful

Snapchat hasn’t been coy about its obsession with making original video content. Snap Inc., its parent company, sees TV-like programming as the holy grail and key to its long-term success. The quick, raw, disappearing videos that made Snapchat popular with teens are no longer enough to keep users locked in. Especially as Instagram has started stealing its most popular features, like Stories. Snapchat won’t admit it, but Facebook may have inadvertently driven its push into original programming. Conquering that world won’t be easy, and right now there are more questions than answers about whether Snapchat shows are working and how viable they are.

Over the past few months, Snapchat has lines up a slew of TV networks to create exclusive content for its Shows platform, such as A+E Networks, Discovery, ESPN, NBCUniversal and Turner (owner of CNN, TBS and TNT). According to The Wall Street Journal, Snapchat is also in talks with CBS and Fox, two of the biggest players in the TV industry. It’s an ambitious effort, and Snapchat appears confident that it has the perfect formula for viable mobile-first, short-form video programming.

NBCUniversal, which invested $500 million as part of Snap’s IPO in May, was one of the first networks to put the potential of Snapchat Shows on display. The company, like many other traditional media outlets, craves the young demographic that live on Snapchat. Last July, NBCUniversal launched Stay Tuned, a twice-daily news show created from the ground up with Snapchat users in mind. The show features two- to five-minute episodes shot in portrait mode, the ideal format for watching on-the-go on a smartphone. It’s complemented by bright, colorful imagery and large text overlays that are displayed as the host discusses the news of the day.

So far, NBCUniversal’s bet seems to be paying off, with the network claiming that the show has garnered more than 29 million viewers since its debut. That number, however, needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Snapchat does not disclose valuable metrics like user watch time and series retention stats, so it’s hard to know what exactly qualifies as a “viewer.” The company also doesn’t disclose monthly active users, which is considered a key metric in determining user growth.

A spokesperson for Snapchat did not provide specific viewership numbers, but did say that Stay Tuned has over 2.5 million subscribers. That’s rather small when you consider that Snapchat has 173 million daily active users. Snapchat told Engadget that networks find its platform appealing because they can connect with audiences different than those who watch traditional TV. According to Snap, more than 60 percent of the people who watch Stay Tuned are under 25 years old. And it’s no secret that “millennials” are a highly coveted demographic, not just by media companies but fashion and tech brands, as well.

Stay Tuned on Snapchat.

ESPN, which is owned by Disney, is another network that recently launched a show on Snapchat. Last month, it announced a mobile-focused version of its flagship TV news program, SportsCenter, exclusively for Snapchat. It features many of the same traits seen on Stay Tuned: vertical scenes, large text overlays and GIFs. You’ll also notice young hosts with upbeat personalities and casual outfits. ESPN and NBCUniversal are betting that they have a better chance connecting with Snapchat users than, say, 40- or 50-year-old anchors in suits.

An ESPN representative declined to share viewer stats for SportsCenter on Snapchat, citing Snap’s reservation about releasing usage data to external parties. The spokesperson said that numbers for the show are “very promising” since it launched last month, but noted that it’s early and there’s not enough data to quantify accurate regular behavior.

We believe that mobile is fundamentally a new medium. It’s not another screen to repurpose things, it’s a place where you actually have to create especially for it.

Sean Mills, Snapchat’s head of original content

Viewership numbers for Shows are vague at best and often non-existent. But that hasn’t stopped Snap from launching 30 series with over 500 episodes in about a year. It’s no easy feat to create that amount of content in such a short time, and it’s a sign that networks including CNN, E! Entertainment (owned by NBCUniversal) and ESPN have enough faith in the platform to invest significant resources.

That said, it’s not as if the networks don’t make cash. On Snapchat’s version of SportsCenter, for example, there are video advertisements for Dunkin Donuts, Express and the NFL, which a viewer can interact with by swiping up on a card if they want to shop or learn more about a product. Each show has ads like these and there’s a revenue sharing agreement between them and Snap, though it’s unclear just how much money these generate.

A January report from research firm Digital Content Next claimed that Snapchat “holds little to no short-term financial interest” for publishers. Mashable, meanwhile, reported that ad money for “top partners” has reached “seven and eight figures annually.” Back in September, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke told The Information that The Rundown, a pop culture show on Snapchat from E! Entertainment, was making “over a million [dollars]” in revenue from the app.

Not surprisingly, Snapchat isn’t the only one trying to make social TV a hit. Facebook introduced its own video platform, Watch, in August, where it streams anything from original shows created by independent artists to Major League Baseball games. Per video analytics firm Delmondo, though, Facebook Watch videos are only being viewed an average of 23 seconds at time — so the company needs to figure out a way to keep people’s attention longer than that.

To make matters worse, unlike Snapchat, Facebook doesn’t allow ads on their shows, which people such as Burke see that as a deal breaker. “They have no respect for professionally produced content, or at least they’re not showing they do,” he said to The Information. “Just seems wrong to me and unsustainable.”

Snapchat would like to keep the networks happy, but it needs to focus on keeping viewers’ attention first and foremost. The key to that, according to Snap’s Head of Original Content, Sean Mills, is to make shows that are relatable and to treat them differently than traditional TV. “We believe that mobile is fundamentally a new medium,” he said. “It’s not another screen to repurpose things, it’s a place where you actually have to create especially for it.” Mills pointed to ESPN reimagining SportsCenter, which has been around since 1979, for the Snapchat generation as the perfect example of this.

Whether it’s working on new shows like Stay Tuned or existing franchises such as SportsCenter, Mills said Snapchat doesn’t only have “one playbook that we’re just going to keep running.” He added that he believes Snapchat’s current strategy is setting it up for a bright future. But that future could be clearer if the company was more transparent about how many people are actually watching its shows, and if they keep coming back to them.

“I think we’re onto something,” he said. “The numbers, in terms of the size of the audience, the loyalty and engagement sort of backs that up.” Of course, what numbers Mills is referring to are a complete mystery. You’ll have to take the company’s word that it’s on the right path, and we won’t know for sure until these shows start getting cancelled. Or not.

Amazon Echo speakers and Music Unlimited head to 28 more countries

It took Amazon a while to get its streaming music strategy truly off the ground — its Music Unlimited service, with competes with Spotify, Apple Music and the like, only launched last fall. But today, both Music Unlimited and the Echo smart speaker lineup are expanding in a big way: Amazon has announced that both are available in 28 new countries, most of which are found across Europe and South America.

Pricing for Music Unlimited will vary by area, but Amazon says it’ll offer the same three plans it currently does — including an Echo-only plan, the standard individual plan for smartphones, computers and other devices and a family plan for multiple users. Amazon’s also not discussing pricing for Echo hardware, as that also will vary from country to country. But launching both the hardware and service at the same time is a smart move, as the company says its music service is designed with voice control in mind. Of course, Spotify and the like work just as well, but having both the Echo and Music Unlimited available at the same time will ensure new customers can use their new speakers to their fullest extent.

Source: Amazon

Pirate simulator ‘Sea of Thieves’ hits Xbox on March 20th

Rare’s cartoony pirate simulator Sea of Thieves sets sail for your Xbox One and Windows 10 March 20th. Microsoft’s stab at breaking out of its Forza, Gears of War and Halo release cadence can’t get here fast enough, and if you’re feeling impatient you can preorder right now to unlock some bonus bits. What’re those, pray tell? Access to the shared-world’s closed beta in addition to some cosmetic items, according to Xbox Wire.

Oh, and the game is also getting a custom translucent purple controller with laser etched “barnacles.” It’s oddly reminiscent of the Atomic Purple N64 Nintendo released near the end of that console’s life-cycle. It’s fitting considering Rare used to make games exclusively for the house that Mario built.

So far, there have been multiple alpha tests for the game (deadline to sign up for the most recent one was December 1st), which is a good sign. It’s Rare’s first stab at something along the lines of Destiny, and there are a ton of moving pieces here. Perhaps unfairly, Sea of Thieves has a lot riding on it. It’s Rare’s most ambitious game to date, sure, but Microsoft desperately needs a hit as well. And for that hit to not be Forza, Gears of War or Halo related. No pressure here, folks.

Source: Xbox Wire

The best touchscreen winter gloves

By Nick Guy

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter, reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here.

Over the past five winters, we’ve tested 47 pairs of touchscreen gloves while moving half ton of stumps, climbing on ice, and just walking and biking around town. For the third year in a row, Moshi’s Digits are our favorite touchscreen gloves for most people, offering the right combination of warmth, dexterity, and grip. They aren’t the absolute warmest touchscreen gloves you can buy, but they’re warmer than anything that’s better for using on touchscreens, and better for using on touchscreens than anything that’s warmer.

Who should buy these

Touchscreen gloves are for anyone who uses a smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch and lives (or regularly visits) somewhere that gets cold. At some point or another, you’ll be out in the cold and need to respond to a text you just received, or to use your device for some other reason, and you won’t want to strip down to do it. Touchscreen gloves are also handy for drivers of cars with touchscreen panels.

How we picked and tested

Over the past several years, we’ve spent more than 30 hours researching hundreds of gloves. We’ve conducted testing across cold winters in Oregon and in Buffalo, New York. Some years we’ve tested during hikes and ski trips, and other times we’ve used gloves while walking around downtown in the evenings and during daily dog walks. In 2015, we even tested gloves in a 42º F walk-in cooler at Resurgence Brewing Company in Buffalo, New York. We’ve also tested durability by running strips of Velcro across one glove from each pair to see if they snagged. To read in detail about our tests throughout the years, check out our full guide to touchscreen gloves.

We also interviewed Matthew Meyer, founder of TouchscreenGloveReviews.com, who has followed the field since 2008 and has reviewed just about every glove available. He looks for three things in every touchscreen glove: grip, 10-finger compatibility, and ease of use (essentially, fit and conductivity).

We looked for gloves that were either gender-neutral or had versions for men and women (though we made some exceptions if a glove really stood out). Fashion was a legitimate concern, but we were more concerned about functionality. We also found that stretchier gloves made from knit and spandex were more pleasant to use with touchscreens, though fleece is a better option if warmth is your top concern.

Every winter, we’ve noticed that the stock for our touchscreen-gloves picks grows thinner as the weather gets colder. The following picks were available at the time of this writing, but we’ve had to adjust our recommendations several times over the years due to stock issues.

Our pick

The grips on the palms of the Moshi Digits help to keep your phone from slipping. (The current version adds grippy dots to the palm.) Photo: Kevin Purdy

Moshi’s Digits are the touchscreen gloves we recommend for most people. First and foremost, they’re very good knit winter gloves, as they kept our hands pretty warm in even subfreezing weather. On top of that, we found ourselves able to thumb-type with little issue; with autocorrect turned on, we had zero typos in our typing tests. A rubberized palm helps to keep your phone from slipping out of your hand. For 2017, Moshi added a pattern of dots to the inside of the palm for an even better grip.

Above all else, the snug fit throughout the hand and fingers (including at the tips) and a lack of seams on the fingertips gave the Digits the edge in accuracy and handling over competitors. We were very impressed with the responsiveness in our testing: Despite the gloves’ slightly bulky feel, we found typing easy, even with our thumbs.

A thinner pick for warmer climates

The Glider Gloves Urban Style Touchscreen Gloves were our original pick, several years ago, for the best touchscreen gloves, and we still like them. Their conductivity is great, and because they’re thin, they’re also very accurate if you get a good fit (we recommend sizing down if your fingers are shorter than average).

The reason they’re no longer the top pick is that warmer designs with a comparable level of touch accuracy are available: The Urban Style gloves have a single-layer knit style, so they’re less resistant to wind; they stop being warm enough somewhere in the high 30s. That said, the Urban Style gloves are still a great buy if you live in a more-temperate area or don’t venture out into the cold much.

Premium leather

Kent Wang’s Deerskin gloves are a good pick if fashion is your primary focus. Photo: Kevin Purdy

If you insist on an all-leather glove, chances are you’re concerned enough with fashion that you know what you want already. We thought the Kent Wang Deerskin gloves were a good premium option for those who want the look and feel of all-leather while maintaining touchscreen compatibility.

The Deerskin gloves are made of calf leather and deerskin and are classically designed—there’s no way to tell them apart from a pair of gloves that aren’t touchscreen compatible, as they don’t look “techy.” We found them to fit well, with a little more give than other leather gloves that can be too constricting.

This guide may have been updated by Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Note from Wirecutter: When readers choose to buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn affiliate commissions that support our work.

‘Overwatch’s’ Winter Wonderland event returns on December 12th

Overwatch’s “Winter Wonderland” is on the way and it’s bringing with it some familiar gameplay as well as a new arcade mode. Last year’s Mei’s Snowball Offensive will be returning and of course there will be a selection of new skins — Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan teased a lot of legendary skins but only confirmed Hanzo, Junkrat and Roadhog skins.

The main attraction of this year’s holiday event is a mode called Mei’s Yeti Hunt wherein five Meis have to battle one yeti, aka Winston. At first, the person playing as the yeti has to try to collect enough powerups to trigger its Primal Rage mode while the five Meis try to bring him down. However, once Primal Rage mode is achieved, the yeti then goes after the Meis who have to avoid being killed. The Meis win if they can kill Winston, but Winston wins if he can take down enough of the Meis.

“I know a lot of you are thinking that this sounds kinda silly and kinda ridiculous,” Kaplan said in a video about the event, which you can watch below. “Well, I’m here to tell you it absolutely is. But the point of some of these seasonal brawls is just to be fun and light and refreshing for a short period of time.”

“Winter Wonderland” arrives on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One on December 12th.

Source: Blizzard

Essential Phone sends 360-degree live video to Facebook and YouTube

Essential has been racing to improve the (frankly lackluster) camera software on its phone ever since launch, and now those upgrades are showering affection on the handset’s signature 360 Camera attachment. Andy Rubin’s outfit is delivering an update that adds streaming live 360-degree video to both Facebook Live and YouTube Live. In other words, that add-on just became much more useful — you can broadcast your adventures in a VR-friendly format just by clipping a camera to your phone.

The addition could make this one of the better bargains for 360-degree livestreaming, at least if you’re looking for a higher-end phone. Now that the price of the Essential Phone itself has dropped to $499, you’re looking at less than $700 for a complete streaming setup. Is there a huge audience for this? Probably not, but it helps the phone stand out in a field where having an all-screen design is no longer a novelty.

Source: Essential (Twitter)

Kaspersky Lab is closing its Washington, DC office

Kaspersky Lab Inc. has had a rough time with the US government this year and now Bloomberg reports that the company will be closing its Washington, DC office. However, while its government business seems to be dead in the water, Kaspersky still plans to sell to non-federal US customers and will be opening offices in Chicago and Los Angeles next year.

In July, the Trump administration removed Kaspersky from its list of approved IT vendors and in August reports surfaced that the FBI was trying to convince companies to ditch Kaspersky’s products. These moves were a result of US government suspicions that Kaspersky funnels information from its customers to the Russian government. Best Buy pulled Kaspersky products from its shelves shortly thereafter and the US government ultimately banned federal agencies from using the company’s security software in September.

While the UK’s cybersecurity authority, the National Cyber Security Centre, also advised government agencies against using Kaspersky software, the company’s vice president, Anton Shingarev said in a recent interview, “We are in talks with NCSC and are trying to figure out what’s needed to deserve an opposite recommendation. In general, they support the idea of opening the source code of our software for independent audit.” He also said that Europe’s regulators are “fact-driven” while the US ban was based on “emotions” and “speculations.” Kaspersky has repeatedly maintained that it does not share its information with the Russian government.

To quell concerns about the company, Kaspersky announced in October that it would open up its source code to third-party review. That’s set to begin early next year.

Via: Bloomberg

Uber will soon have to compete with China’s Didi Chuxing in Mexico

China’s major ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing is expanding its services to Mexico, Reuters reports. This will be Didi’s first international expansion and sources told Reuters that the company is planning to launch in Mexico during the first quarter of 2018, though exactly where in the country wasn’t made clear.

This move means Didi will be encroaching on some of Uber’s territory — Uber already has seven million users throughout 45 cities in Mexico — but this isn’t the first time Didi and Uber have battled it out. Uber tried to gain a foothold in China and lost around $2 billion doing so. But last year it gave up that fight and sold its Uber China arm to Didi. In another challenge to Uber, Didi has invested in its rivals around the world including Southeast Asia’s Grab, Brazil’s 99, India’s Ola, Estonia’s Taxify, the Middle East’s Careem and Lyft.

Along with Uber, Didi will be competing with Cabify — another ride-hailing company currently used in seven Mexican cities. And this could be just the first global move on Didi’s part. It raised around $5.5 billion from investors back in April, part of which was to spur its international expansions.

Via: Reuters

What is an RSS feed and how can I use it?

With so much new content on the web being added daily, it can be tough to keep up with what’s happening online. There’s a number of different ways people try — visiting specific websites every day, doing Google searches, or relying on social media to keep up with what’s going on in the world. One solution that sometimes gets overlooked is an RSS feed.

You’ve probably heard of it before — that’s because it’s a technology that has influenced many modern internet tools you’re probably familiar with.

Check out our guide below to what RSS is and how you can use it in your daily life on the internet.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for “really simple syndication,” or, depending on who you ask, “rich site summary.” At their heart they are just simple text files with basic updated information — news pieces, articles, that sort of thing. This stripped-down content is usually plugged into what is called a “feed reader” or an interface that quickly converts the RSS text files into a stream of the latest updates from around the web.

As internet content became more complex, so did RSS files, which quickly adopted images, video, and more, but still in a stripped down format for easier loading and compatibility across all feed readers. Readers usually automatically update, so that it delivers the newest content right to your device. Basically, this approach allows internet users to create their own online e-zine filled with custom updates from the sites that they like to visit regularly.

I thought RSS was kind of old. Is it still used online?

Yes and no. RSS feeds are certainly still present (more on this later), but you have noticed that they resemble a more modern form of content sharing: Social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites have become the go-to option for following sites, watching feeds, and learning about the latest content. Other online options (such as Google News) simply aggregate full links to the latest stories, with algorithms to pick out stories you may like.

The result has been less interest in RSS feeds in the past several years. Online brands already have to post to social media for their marketing goals, and they may not want to take the extra time to convert content into a bunch of RSS files too. This is why a new blog or website may only offer “subscription” content by following them on social media, but no RSS feed. Google doesn’t even like to support RSS feeds anymore, and Google Reader is a long-dead endeavor. However, RSS feeds still have their place!

Okay. So what can I do with RSS that makes life easier?

RSS feeds remain great for an in-depth look at a site’s new content—not just the stuff that gets pushed up on social media. If you are truly devoted to a site and want to see everything it has to offer, then an RSS feed is still the best way to make sure you don’t miss anything. Obviously this doesn’t work as well with all sites, especially very large sites that push up a lot of daily content you don’t want, but it’s still a good solution for traditional, magazine-model sites. It’s a good alternative to social media if you just want the news and articles without all the baggage that comes with having a Twitter or Facebook account.

Additionally, these RSS feeds are often very easy to read at your leisure, and will update even if you are not online, so they are particularly useful for catching up on the news during your downtime. This has grown into a solid benefit with the emergence of well-crafted mobile apps that act as feed readers.

Really? What kind of apps?

Many different kinds! However, some of the most popular include:

Feedly: Feedly can be used for both entertainment and professional purposes (following competitors, keeping up on industry news, etc.). It has a simple interface with basic categories to collect individual RSS feeds, as well as a home page filled with the latest news from everywhere. This is currently one of the most popular feed readers online, although sometimes subject to attack.

Flipboard: Flipboard has won admiration for its beautiful design that looks particularly good on mobile devices. It’s a good choice if you want a more organic, ezine-like way to peruse the latest news from your favorite sources.

Digg Reader: Digg Reader is a traditionally popular feed reader that many people still like to use. One of its best recent updates was a Chrome extension that allows you to instantly add a new RSS feed if you are browsing and come across a site you really like.

What’s the future of RSS?

The future of RSS appears to lie in very specific solutions for certain services. We are currently seeing RSS solutions (and in some cases, solutions that just look like RSS) for things like YouTube channels, weather updates, podcasts, Reddit tags, and even Craigslist.

For example, it can even help you stay on top of something you are buying. Let’s say you are looking for a fridge, a welding job, or a three-bedroom apartment on Craigslist. Just type in your search terms and scroll to the bottom of the page.

In the bottom-right corner, there should be a button that allows you to subscribe to that list of classified ads, allowing you to set up notifications designed to alert you when any new posts are published within a specific category.

This is just one of the many different uses for RSS.

Updated on December 7, 2017 by Tyler Lacoma. Revised page to discuss modern uses of the RSS model.

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