Galaxy S9 and S9+ with 128GB or 256GB of storage now available for pre-order

Both variants are being sold exclusively through Samsung.com.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are great smartphones, and with 64GB of internal storage and microSD support, offer plenty of space for all your local files. If you find yourself needing more room, however, Samsung’s got you covered with newly announced 128GB and 256GB versions of both phones.

These versions of the S9 and S9+ have all the same specs and features we already know, with the exception that the 64GB of storage has been upgraded to 128GB or 256GB. The processor, display, cameras, and everything else remains the same. Even with the increased storage, you can still expand them further with a microSD card.

Pricing for the new and old models is as follows:

• Samsung Galaxy S9 w/ 64 GB — $719.99
• Samsung Galaxy S9 w/ 128GB — $769.99
• Samsung Galaxy S9 w/ 256GB — $819.99
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ w/ 64GB — $839.99
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ w/ 128GB — $889.99
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ w/ 256GB — $939.99

After the pre-order period ends on May 17, prices of the top-end 256GB models will increase by $20 — to $839 for the Galaxy S9, and $959 for the Galaxy S9+.

The 128GB and 256GB S9 and S9+ are available for pre-order now and will officially launch on May 18. As a reminder, these versions are only being sold through Samsung.com and not through carriers.

Additionally, anyone who buys a Galaxy S9 or S9+ of any storage size before May 17 can get a free pair of Gear IconX (2018) wireless earbuds or purchase the Gear S3 Frontier for just $99 (normally $350).

See at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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Win a trip to the OnePlus 6 launch in London!

OnePlus is getting ready to launch the OnePlus 6 in London on May 16. What does your schedule look like that day? You could just watch the livestream from home, but what if you could witness the launch live and in person? Read on for details!

Be among the first to try out the latest OnePlus flagship and get your hands on exclusive swag right then and there. You will also have a chance to rub shoulders top-tier tech influencers and chat with other fans just like you. What’s more, you’ll receive round-trip tickets and 2 nights of accommodation in London, free!

How to enter

Answer the questions in the widget below. To qualify you must be at least 18 years of age and you must be able and available to travel to London May 15, returning May 17.

Win a trip to the OnePlus 6 launch in London!

Univision plans Netflix-style streaming service

Univision’s streaming ambitions are growing beyond live video. The Hispanic-American broadcaster has unveiled an on-demand service that gives you access to both its own shows as well as partners like the BBC and Viacom. Full access to live and on-demand content will cost you $8 per month, but current pay TV customers can spring for the on-demand portion for a $3 monthly fee.

The company didn’t say how soon the on-demand portion would be ready.

Univision isn’t shy about the reason for widening its internet offerings: it sees this as a “Netflix for Spanish-language content.” The network is already partnering with Netflix on Hispanic productions, but this provides a service devoted primarily to that audience. It’s not directly challenging the streaming giant so much as it is creating a supplement.

Source: Deadline

Pandora nears 6 million paid subscribers as it chases profit

In the face of stern competition from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, Pandora managed to show some growth in its latest earnings report. Paid subscribers for Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium, the on-demand feature that launched last March, hit 5.63 million in the first quarter, up 19 percent from the same period last year.

Revenue for the quarter rose to $319.2 million, up 12 percent over the first quarter of 2017. That excludes income from the Australia and New Zealand markets as well as Ticketfly. Pandora shut down in Australia and New Zealand in July and sold Ticketfly to Eventbrite in September.

But Pandora is still losing money. The company posted a net loss of $131.7 million, a slight improvement on the $132.3 million loss in Q1 2017. Overall engagement is down year-over-year, with active listeners dropping 4 percent to 72.3 million. Listener hours dipped from 5.21 billion to 4.96 billion. However, in March, Pandora showed positive growth in recapturing lapsed listeners for the first time in 18 months, so usage numbers might rise again soon.

In December, Pandora launched Premium Access, letting listeners use its on-demand service for a limited time if they watched a 15-second video ad. That opens the window to queueing their choice of songs and building playlists, among other features. Pandora says 13 million people have used the feature so far, giving it an opportunity to grow paid subscribers after those listeners tried the Premium tier. The company has also added other features, like personalized automated playlists and web browser listening, in an effort to get more listeners hooked on Premium.

Pandora’s subscriber numbers pale next to Spotify, which reached 75 million paid subscribers in the first quarter — though Pandora is only available in the US. Both streaming services are struggling to earn a profit. As record labels, publishers, songwriters and artists seek bigger royalty payouts, streaming services might have to get more creative in their search for profitability.

Source: Pandora

Idaho State University lost a dirty bomb’s worth of plutonium

Well this isn’t good. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency tasked with administering the nation’s supply of fissile materials, announced on Friday that Idaho State University may be subject to fine for losing a gram of weapons-grade plutonium. While the quarter-sized chunk of radioactive rock isn’t nearly enough to generate a mushroom-cloud, it is sufficient for use in a so-called “dirty bomb,” according to agency spokesman Victor Dricks. And to show that the NRC isn’t fooling around, that fine will run ISU a tidy $8,500. Wait, that’s it?

A February 7th inspection revealed a pair of violations, “the failure to control and maintain surveillance of licensed radioactive material; and the failure to provide accurate and complete information to the NRC in its inventory records,” per the NRC announcement. The $8,500 levy comes in response to the first infraction only, since the university ” took prompt corrective actions after the violations were identified.” The missing sample, however, has yet to be recovered.

“The NRC has very rigorous controls for the use and storage of radioactive materials as evidenced by this enforcement action,” Dr. Cornelis Van der Schyf, vice president for research at the university, told the Associated Press. He blamed shoddy bookkeeping from a decade and a half ago as the primary culprit.

“Unfortunately, because there was a lack of sufficient historical records to demonstrate the disposal pathway employed in 2003, the source in question had to be listed as missing,” he told the AP. “The radioactive source in question poses no direct health issue or risk to public safety.” Well, that’s a relief.

Source: Associated Press

VUDU Adds UHD Support for Apple TV so You Can Stream Disney Films in 4K

Streaming movie and TV service VUDU today implemented UHD support for the Apple TV, which means there’s finally a way for Apple TV owners to watch Disney content, Marvel movies, and Star Wars films in 4K HDR.

As noted on Reddit, the Apple TV is now listed on the VUDU UHD compatible device list, and the VUDU Apple TV app, which was updated today to version 1.1.0, confirms that 4K and HDR support is available.

Disney content is available through iTunes on the Apple TV, but Disney does not permit Apple to sell its offerings in 4K due to pricing issues, giving Apple TV owners few options for watching high-quality Disney content on their set-top boxes.

The VUDU app on Apple TV does not let users to rent or buy movies or TV shows directly on the device, but content added to a VUDU user’s collection from elsewhere, such as the web, will show up on the Apple TV and will be available for 4K playback.

Most Disney content in UHD quality on VUDU is priced at $24.99, but other 4K titles can vary in price and are around $15 to $20. VUDU has several purchasing options, such as standard definition, high definition, and for some content, disc + digital.

The VUDU website features support for renting and buying more than 100,000 titles, plus it allows for linking an existing UltraViolet or Disney Movies Anywhere account. All of that content, both linked and purchased on VUDU, is available on the Apple TV.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTag: VUDUBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple will shut down Texture’s terrible Windows app

Apple bought Texture, the ‘Netflix for magazines,’ back in March as a clear bid to get in on an uncluttered media provider niche. The service gives subscribers unlimited access to a number of publications — but now, you won’t be able to use it on Windows devices. Without explanation, Apple informed users that the Texture app will be pulled from the Microsoft Store after June 30th. As of now, it will still be available for Android, Amazon Fire, and iOS.

It’s a lot like when Apple acquired navigation app HopStop in July 2013 and, days later, pulled the Windows version. This time isn’t quite the same, though. A note appeared on Texture’s website explaining why the Windows version was removed: “To keep things working smoothly, older versions of the app sometimes need to be retired.” Indeed, the app hasn’t been updated in awhile and is rated poorly on the Microsoft store, so it’s not undue reasoning — but since Texture doesn’t have a browser version, Windows subscribers will have to pick up a different device to keep using it, The Verge pointed out.

Via: The Verge

Source: Texture (Microsoft Store)

Gboard beta for Android lets you create your own GIFs

Google’s third-party keyboard Gboard added a quick way to create reaction GIFs on iOS last January. Now the feature is starting to show up on some Android handsets, as first noted by Android Police. We’ve been able to confirm the Make a GIF button on a Pixel 2 handset that’s downloaded the Gboard app beta.

If you want to try the new feature at home, you’ll need the latest Gboard beta. Then, you simply open the GIF interface in Gboard on your supported phone, tap on the “My GIFs” tab and make a quick animation using the camera. You can add some funky filters to your moving picture, as well, and save it in the My GIFs tab. Whether or not you’ll see the feature right away seems to depend on which model you’re rocking; Android Police has seen it show up on a Pixel, but not a Galaxy S9 (we used a Pixel 2 in our testing). It’s likely the feature will work on many other handsets when it rolls out of beta.

The updated app also includes new stickers, which includes an Allo-like gallery and the old-style blobmoji for those of you who miss the adorable little gumdrops.

Via: The Verge, Android Police

Vine 2 Project Postponed for an ‘Indefinite Amount of Time’

After Twitter discontinued the original Vine service in 2016 and transitioned it into “Vine Camera,” Vine co-founder Dom Hoffman said he was developing “a follow-up to Vine” that would serve as a sort of Vine 2 app.

Hoffman didn’t provide much info on the second-generation Vine app, but he did say that it was self-funded and would be released at some point in 2018.

It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, though, as Hoffman today announced that the Vine 2 project has been postponed for an “indefinite amount of time” citing legal and financial reasons.

Vine 2, he says, will not work as a personally funded project and it needs to operate as a company with “sizable external funding,” which he does not have the resources to start up at this time due to his work on Interspace and Byte.

The code and ideas still exist, but until everything else comes together, we can’t move forward.

Again, this is indefinite, which means that it could take a long time. But it’s necessary.

I’m very, very sorry for the disappointment. If it’s any consolation, I think it would have been even more disappointing if this service had been developed and released incorrectly, which is where we were headed. I’d like for us to get it right.

The community forums that were set up for the Vine 2 project will continue to be available for community members who had joined, and Hoffman says that any changes to future Vine projects will be announced there.

Vine was founded in June of 2012 and was acquired by Twitter before its launch in January of 2013. The Vine service became a huge hit after launch and it developed a dedicated fan base, but after it began to wane in popularity, Twitter decided to shutter it.

Twitter has turned the original Vine app into Vine Camera, an app that allows users to create six-second video loops that can be shared on Twitter.

Tag: Vine
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Fortnite on iOS Has Earned $50M Since Launch

Popular battle royale game Fortnite has eared more than $50 million in revenue since its March 15 launch, according to new data shared this afternoon by app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

Fortnite is free to download, but it encourages players to shell out cash within the app for “V-Bucks” that can be used to purchase customization items like emotes, outfits, gliders, and more. The minimum in-app purchase is $9.99 for 1,000 V-Bucks, but players can spend more if desired. Players are also able to earn V-Bucks in game, but at a slow rate.

On iOS devices, Fortnite has proven to be incredibly popular. While it was still in beta, Fortnite had earned more than $1.5 million, and during its first month of availability on iPads and iPhones, the game brought in $25 million. It only took two weeks for that to double to $50 million.

Fortnite continues to be the number two top free game on the iOS App Store, with Epic Games managing to keep players engaged through different seasons that introduce new challenges to complete and content to unlock. Players can also purchase Battle Passes for $10 worth of in-game currency to receive additional items for completing season content.

Fortnite’s fourth season content, which debuted earlier this week, is what pushed it over the $50 million mark. Player spending in the game jumped up 293 percent on May 1 when the content launched, a 4x increase compared to the preceding Tuesday.

Sensor Tower says that Fortnite’s strategy of selling limited-time skins and other items has resulted in players spending approximately $1 million per day in the mobile game alone.

PUBG, another battle royale game that launched shortly after Fortnite, has not been as successful, which Sensor Tower attributes in part to its loot box monetization strategy. While Fortnite offers unique items available for a limited amount of time, PUGB only allows players to purchase randomized boxes that can result in duplicate and non-useful items.

Tags: Sensor Tower, Fortnite
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