What’s new on Amazon Prime Video for July 2018

Three new Amazon Originals and a bunch of old favorites!

We’re getting into the meat of summer. That means a couple things. First is that you should probably be spending a good bit of time outside. But that also means you’ll be reminded of just how great things are inside, with conditioned air, a distinct lack of bug life, and a lot less perspiration. Outside? Hot. Inside? Cool. With loads to watch on TV — an specifically on Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon Prime Video has is one of the go-to destinations for on-demand content, thanks in no small part to devices like the new Amazon Fire TV Cube, the $50 Amazon Fire Stick, the $70 Amazon Fire TV, and even the $229 Amazon Echo Show.

In addition to some old favorites, Amazon has three new Originals coming up in July:

• Comicstaan S1: The Prime Original series is a nine-episode series that brings together seven of the biggest comedians in India, to find the next big name in stand-up. The show will be hosted by Abish Mathew and Sumukhi Suresh and the top ten contestants will be judged by a seven-member jury panel. Comicstaan season one is available in UHD. (July 13)
• Tumble Leaf S4a: The Prime Original kids series is aimed at preschoolers, set in a whimsical land where a small blue fox named Fig plays each day and discovers adventure, friendship and love around every bend in the path. Children will be enriched by narratives that promote play, the fun of learning and understanding the world around them. (July 24)

So let’s just get to it — this is what’s coming up on Amazon Prime Video in July 2018:

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 1

• 21 Jump Street, Seasons 1-2
• Burn Notice, Seasons 1-7
• Damages, Seasons 1-5
• NYPD Blue, Seasons 1-12
• The Closer, Seasons 1-7 (exclusive)
• 20,000 Days On Earth (2004)
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
• All is Lost (2013)
• American Psycho (2000)
• American Psycho 2 (2002)
• An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)
• And God Created Woman (1988)
• Angel Heart (1987)
• Angela’s Ashes (1999)
• Assassination (1987)
• Avenging Force (1986)
• Barfly (1987)
• Blazing Saddles (1974)
• Blue Chips (1994)
• Body Count (1997)
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
• Cadillac Man (1990)
• Christmas Trade (2015)
• Cronicas (2004)
• Dead Man Walking (1995)
• Double Jeopardy (1999)
• Dr. T. and the Women (2000)
• Finding Bliss (2009)
• Gran Torino (2008)
• Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
• Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
• Invaders from Mars (1986)
• Jeepers Creepers (2001)
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
• Ladybugs (1992)
• Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf (2014)
• Letters to Juliet (2010)
• Maximum Overdrive (1986)
• Mixed Signals (1997)
• Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)
• Ms. 45 (1981)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• Murphy’s Law (1986)
• Next (2007)
• Number One with a Bullet (1987)
• Our Nixon (2013)
• P.O.W. the Escape (1986)
• Patriot Games (1992)
• Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
• Pretty in Pink (1986)
• Rabbit Hole (2011)
• Sahara (2005)
• Sex Drive (2008)
• Six Shooter (2013)
• Snake Eyes (1998)
• State of Grace (1990)
• Street Smart (1987)
• Stripes (1981)
• Switchback (1997)
• The Act of Killing (2012)
• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
• The Brothers Bloom (2009)
• The Eternal (1998)
• The Foot Fist Way (2006)
• The Fourth War (1990)
• The Graduate (1967)
• The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008)
• The Invisible War (2012)
• The Longest Yard (2005)
• The Mechanic (1972)
• The Monster Squad (1987)
• The Twilight Saga (2008) (exlusive)
• Trade (2007)
• V for Vendetta (2005)
• Waste Land (2010)
• Witness (1985)
• Woody Allen – A Documentary Parts 1 & 2 (2011)
• Wooly Boys (2004)
• Yelling to the Sky (2011)
• Zodiac (2007)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 8

• Snowden (2016)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 13

• Movies
• A Fly in the Champagne (2009)
• Between Two Harbors (2015)
• *Comicstaan (Prime Original series), Season 1, Episodes 1-4
• Innersection: Black (2013)
• Innersection: Blue (2011)
• Modern Collective (2009)
• Ocean Driven (2015)
• Surfing Presents: Du Ciel (2016)
• Winter Out West (2018)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 14

• The Forgiven (2017)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 16

• Cook Off! (2007)
• Wanderland (2018)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 20

• Max Steel (2016)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 24

• *Tumble Leaf (Prime Original series), Season 4a
• How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 27

• *Eat.Race.Win (Prime Original series), Season 1
• The Glass Castle (2017)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 28

• Friends with Kids (2012)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on July 29

• The Americans, Season 6

Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video on July 3

• 7 Days in Entebbe (2018)
• Beirut (2018)
• Blockers (The Pact) (2018)

Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video on July 6

• You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video on July 10

• A Quiet Place (2018)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video Channels

Amazon Prime Video Channels is another section of Amazon Video that gives subscription access to countless other video feeds, including major premium movie providers an live sporting events. Here’s what’s coming up in July 2018.

July 1

• Power, STARZ, Season 5

July 2

• Jakers!, PBS Kids, Seasons 1-2
• The Tunnel: Vengeance, PBS Masterpiece, Season 3 Premiere

July 6

• AVP San Francisco Open at The Embarcadero, AVP (7/6-7/8)

July 7

• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, STARZ (2017)
• Justice League, HBO (2017)
• *UFC 226 (PPV) – Miocic vs. Cormier, UFC

July 8

• I’m Dying Up Here, Showtime, Season 2 Finale
• Sharp Objects, HBO, Season 1

July 11

• TKO: Total Knock Out, CBS All Access, Season 1 Premiere

July 14

• Battle of the Sexes, HBO (2017)

July 20

• Outcast, Cinemax, Season 2 Premiere

July 21

• The Snowman, HBO (2017)

July 27

• Wild Kratts, PBS Kids, Season 14 Premiere
• AVP Hermosa Beach Open at Hermosa Beach Pier, AVP (7/27-7/29)

July 28

• Victoria & Abdul, HBO (2017)

July 30

• Endeavor, PBS Masterpiece, Season 5 Finale

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Google Account page on Android updated with new UI and features

The new look will come to iOS and web later in the year.

Your Google account is an important part of your online presence, and to make sure it’s as easy to understand and manage as possible, Google’s revamping the way you interact with it on Android.

If you head to Settings -> Google -> Google Account on your Android phone, you’ll see a brand-new interface for your entire Google account. A new Home page shows important info at a glance, such as your account storage, options for increasing your security, and more. From here, you’ll find other tabs for your personal info, contacts you’re sharing info with, payment methods and subscriptions, etc.

The updated UI looks really sleek, and it’s reminiscent of the design found in Google’s recent Tasks and News apps.

Along with the revamped interface, there are also a few new features to check out. You can now search for specific topics/settings you’re looking for, quickly get help from the new Support tab, and there are more tools for better-managing your data and privacy.

Although the new Google Account page is currently only live on Android, Google says it’ll expand to both iOS and the web later this year.

Pixelbook 2: What Google can do to make the best Chromebook even better

Best Android Phone Under $400 in 2018

• Best overall
• Runner-up
• Best for outside the U.S.
• Best for less

Best overall

Moto X4

See at Amazon

The Moto X4 is the long-awaited sequel to the Moto X Pure Edition and it’s the best phone you can buy under $400. It has a striking design, clean software, a great display, and a pretty good pair of cameras on the back. It’s also one of the few phones in its price range with an IP68 rating. Even better, you can get Amazon’s Prime Exclusive version for $270. Even better, all models work with all U.S. carriers

Bottom line: If you’re buying an unlocked phone and have a $400 budget, the Moto X4 is your best bet right now.

One more thing: The model made for Project Fi is the only Moto X4 with Android One, and the only model that’s guaranteed to receive updates for at least two years.

Why the Moto X4 is the best

The phone to get if you want bang for your buck.

The design of the Moto X4 is just as nice to hold as it is to look at, thanks to its gentle curves, and it’s durable with IP68 water and dust resistance. The software is as close as it gets to stock Android without bearing the Pixel brand (even more so with the Android One variant on Google Fi), but you still get all of Motorola’s useful motion gestures for quickly launching functions like the camera and flashlight.

You won’t get support for Motorola’s extensive collection of Moto Mods like on the Z2 Play, nor is the battery life from its 3,000 mAh cell the best we’ve seen. But the display is terrific, performance with its Snapdragon 630 chipset is smooth and speedy, and its dual cameras can take some really great photos.

Runner-up

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra

See at Amazon

If you thought Motorola was the only game in town under $400, think again. Sony’s excellent Xperia XA2 Ultra has a 6-inch 1080p panel with slim bezels and a fingerprint sensor on the back. Its Snapdragon 630 platform, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage are equal to the Moto X4, but its 3,580mAh battery is ginormous, and should last over a day on a single charge. Sony’s Android 8.0-based software is also minimal and fast.

Moreover, this beast has a massive 23MP rear camera and a 16MP front camera with a flash and OIS, making it one of the most capable camera phones on the market. So why doesn’t this take the overall lead? Because it only works on AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S.

Bottom line: The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is a huge phone with plenty to like, but it only works on two major U.S. carriers.

One more thing: There’s a smaller Xperia XA2 for just $340 with practically the same specs and a smaller 5.2-inch display.

Best for outside the U.S.

Moto G6 Plus

See at CPW

Motorola’s 2018 budget flagship is the Moto G6 Plus, and it’s basically a taller, skinnier Moto X4 — which is why it’s not available in North America. But if you’re in South America, Europe, or the UK, the Moto G6 Plus is going to be your best bet under $400. At £269.00 or around EUR 260, you get a Snapdragon 630 platform, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and a great 12MP rear camera with a secondary sensor that does portrait mode and more.

Made of Gorilla Glass 3, the Moto G6 Plus has a beautiful shiny back plate and a great overall design, and the 3,200mAh battery keeps things going all day.

Bottom line: If you can buy it, the Moto G6 Plus is an oustanding, affordable phone.

One more thing: The Moto G6, which is available in the U.S., is a great alternative to both the G6 Plus or the more expensive Moto X4.

Best for even less

Moto G6

See at Amazon

The Moto G6 is the best budget phone you can buy, and at $249 it’s way below our $400 budget. With Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and back, a dual camera setup, and a spritely but power-efficient Snapdragon 450 processor, the Moto G6 is beautiful and capable — and you’d never think you were getting it for a third the price of many flagships.

It doesn’t have the same quality camera as the Moto G5 Plus, but it’s close, and the added features, great battery life, and awesome Moto software make up for it.

Bottom line: You can’t go wrong with the Moto G6, which is far better than its $249 price tag would suggest.

One more thing: The Moto G6 is available through Amazon’s Prime Exclusive program, offering a $15 discount in exchange for pre-loaded Amazon apps.

Conclusion

The sub-$400 market is both extremely competitive and a little confusing, but there’s never been more great options readily available, and with the emergence of Android One, you can finally count of getting consistent updates without having to buy a flagship phone straight from Google. The Moto X4 and Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra are both great examples of attractive, affordable phones with premium features like water resistance and fast fingerprint sensors. At the same time, devices like the Moto G6 and G6 Plus redefine what it means to be a top-tier budget device.

Best overall

Moto X4

See at Amazon

The Moto X4 is the long-awaited sequel to the Moto X Pure Edition, and at $399.99, it’s the best phone you can buy under $400. It has a striking design, clean software, a great display, and a pretty good pair of cameras on the back. It’s also one of the few phones in its price range with an IP68 rating. Even better, you can get the Amazon’s Prime Exclusive version for $280.

Bottom line: If you’re buying an unlocked phone and have a $400 budget, the Moto X4 is your best bet right now.

One more thing: The model made for Project Fi is the only Moto X4 with Android One, and the only model that’s guaranteed to receive updates for at least two years.

Updated June 2018: The Moto X4 is still our best phone under $400, while the U11 Life with Android One has become our top recommendation for European shoppers. We’ve replaced the Moto G5 Plus with the Moto G6.

These are all the Moto phones Motorola is releasing in 2018

2018 is shaping up to be a big year for Motorola.

Ever since its acquisition by Lenovo, Motorola’s turned into a company that’s not shy about releasing a lot of different phones each year. This allows for a lot of choices, but it can also make trying to pick the perfect phone a bit headache-inducing. No matter your opinion on Motorola’s release cycle, however, there’s no denying that 2018 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for the company.

We’ve seen a ton of leaks, rumors, renders and more for Motorola’s lineup of phones for 2018 ever since the beginning of the year, and this is everything we know so far.

The phones that are still on their way

Motorola One Power

The wildcard on this list easily goes to the Motorola One Power. We didn’t have any idea such a phone existed until late May, and based on what we know so far, it looks quite a bit different from the rest of Motorola’s 2018 handsets.

First off, the overall design language isn’t anything like the rest of this year’s Moto phones. There’s a giant notch at the top of the screen, vertical dual cameras on the back, and what appears to be a metal unibody.

Android One branding suggests that this phone will be among the first Motorola phones to get software updates and new security patches, and the full-on “Motorola” branding is unique from the short-hand “Moto” tag on the rest of the company’s products.

Shortly after the phone broke cover for the first time, even more press renders and a hands-on photo surfaced along with alleged specs. According to Andri Yatim on Twitter, the One Power will come equipped with the Snapdragon 636 processor, 6GB RAM, 64GB of storage, a large 3,780 mAh battery, and NFC for Google Pay support. Then, on June 21, TechInfoBit shared multiple hands-on pictures that showcase the phone from various angles.

As for the camera situation, the two sensors on the back include a primary 16MP shooter with f/1.5 aperture and a seondary 5MP f/1.9 one. As for the front-facing camera, its 16MP with f/1.9.

Moto Z3

Next, let’s talk about Motorola’s highest-end and most premium phone for 2018 – the Moto Z3.

Just like last year, we’re expecting Motorola to release two entries in its Z-series in 2018. The regular Moto Z3 will be the most powerful of the two, and it’s expected to come with a 6-inch FHD+ display. Like we saw through a lot of 2017, bezels surrounding the screen should be cut down considerably. The Z3 is said to have the slimmest bezels of the two, but the Z3 Play still looks a lot more modern when compared to the Z2 Play.

Along with showing off the phone itself, the image of the Z3 also reveals a new Moto Mod. It may not look like anything at first glance, but the “5G” branding near the bottom suggests that this Mod will allow the Z3 to get 5G data speeds. Furthermore, the monthly data allotment page is taken right from the Project Fi app and could be a hint that more Moto phones will find their way to Google’s MVNO.

Moto X5

If you’re not about the Moto Mod life but still want a quality phone from Motorola, the X series has proven to be the way to go. Our first look at the Moto X5 shows a very similar design compared to the X4, but there are a couple key differences.

Just like the Z3/Z3 Play, we’re looking at a tall display with slim bezels on all sides. However, unlike those two phones, the X5 appears to have a notch near the top just like another phone with an X in its name. This is one trend I was really hoping wouldn’t catch on, but if it has to make its way into one Moto phone, so be it.

The screen on the X5 is said to measure in at 5.9-inches with a FHD+ resolution, there are dual cameras on the front and back, and there’s also mention of “Moto’s Smart AI.”

Unfortunately, it’s possible none of this will mean anything. A report surfaced in early March suggesting that Motorola had canceled the Moto X5, meaning it won’t be released at all. As a big fan of the X4, this would be incredibly disappointing if it turns out to be true.

The phones that have been released

Moto Z3 Play

Following up last year’s Moto Z2 Play, Motorola’s released the Moto Z3 Play. The overall design is mostly the same due to the phone supporting all existing Moto Mods, but the bezels surrounding the 6.01-inch 2160 x 1080 AMOLED screen are considerably smaller.

Inside the Z3 Play is the Snapdragon 636 processor, 4GB RAM, 32 or 64GB of storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Motorola’s introducing dual cameras to the Z Play line this year, with the Z3 Play featuring a 12MP + 5MP sensors. The front-facing camera captures pictures at 8MP, a fingerprint sensor can be found on the right below the volume buttons, and Motorola’s has a new on-screen gesture system not unlike what Google’s messing with in Android P.

Despite all these improvements, the Moto Z3 Play will be faced with a lot of stiff competition — especially with a starting price of $499 in the U.S.

Moto Z3 Play hands-on preview: Three’s company

Moto G6/G6 Plus/G6 Play

Motorola’s Moto G series has been its most popular (and profitable) since the very first Moto G that came out in 2013, and this year’s entries have proven to be some of the best so far.

For 2018, Motorola released three G phones — the Moto G6, G6 Play, and G6 Plus. The Play is the most affordable of the bunch, with the G6 Plus being the flagship entry and the regular G6 finding home in between the two.

While the G6 Play is made out of a shiny plastic, the G6 and G6 Plus both have glass bodies that look and feel much nicer than their asking prices. Add that together with dual cameras, 18:9 screens, and Snapdragon processors, and there’s a lot to like here.

Moto G6, G6 Play, and G6 Plus: Everything you need to know!

Moto E5/E5 Plus/E5 Play

Similar to the G series, Motorola released three entries in its E5 series this year in the forms of the Moto E5, Moto E5 Plus, and Moto E5 Play.

The E5 Play is the cheapest phone in Motorola’s 2018 portfolio, touting a plastic body, 16:9 display, removable battery, and pretty low specs.

The E5 and E5 Plus still won’t blow your socks off, but they’re a bit more modern with glass designs, big, 18:9 screens, and respectable specs across the board. Oh, and did we mention the E5 Plus has a gigantic 5,000 mAh battery? 😳

If this year’s G6 phones are too rich for your blood, the E5 models are absolutely worth a look.

Moto E5, E5 Plus and E5 Play: Everything you need to know!

Updated June 21, 2018: Added new hands-on photos of the Motorola One Power.

Final Cut Pro Gains Support for Editing RAW Files From DJI Inspire 2 Drone

Apple today updated Final Cut Pro, its video editing software for professionals, to version 10.4.3, introducing minor new features and a few bug fixes.

The new update introduces support for viewing and editing ProRes RAW files from the DJI Inspire 2 drone with the DJI D-log setting, which is the only new feature that Apple listed in its software release notes.

The update also addresses a bug that could cause deleting unused render files from a Compound clip in the browser not to work, and it fixes an issue that resulted in some Panasonic P2 video files being imported with mixed-down audio channels.

Today’s 10.4.3 update to Final Cut Pro comes one month after 10.4.2, another minor bug fix update, and more than two months after the release of Final Cut Pro 10.4.1, a major update that introduced a new ProRes RAW format, new closed captioning tools, and enhanced tools for exporting files.

Final Cut Pro can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $299.99. [Direct Link]
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GarageBand for Mac Updated With New Drummers, Loops, Sound Effects and Free Artist Lessons

Apple today updated its GarageBand music creation software for Mac to version 10.3, introducing new loops, sound effects, drummers, and more, all for free.

There are two new Drummers that offer Roots and Jazz-influenced brush styles, along with 1,000 new electronic and urban loops that cover genres like Reggaeton, Future Bass, and Chill Rap.

Apple says that it has added more than 400 animal, machine, and voice sound effects that can be worked into music creations, and there are also free downloadable Artist Lessons.

The new Artist Lessons are designed to teach users how to play hit songs on piano and guitar, and are taught by the artists that made the songs famous.

This is the first major update to GarageBand for Mac in a year. The last update, 10.2, was introduced in June 2017 and brought new Drummers along with support for the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro.

Since April 2017, the GarageBand apps for both iOS and Mac have been available to download for free. You can get the new version of GarageBand for Mac from the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: GarageBand
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Google Assistant’s ‘Continued Conversations’ Rolling Out to Reduce Need for ‘OK Google’ Commands

Siri rival Google Assistant received a major update today across the Google Home speaker ecosystem with a feature Google revealed at I/O in May, called “Continued Conversation.” Now, when you speak to Google Assistant and wake it up with a “Hey Google” or “OK Google” phrase, you don’t need to repeat the phrase again for a follow-up request.

For example, you can ask “Hey Google, what’s the weather today?”, and then follow up with “And what about tomorrow?” or “Can you remind me to bring an umbrella tomorrow morning?” When your thread of requests is finished, Google explains that you can say “thank you” or “stop” to end the conversation, but Google Assistant will also do this automatically if it detects you’re no longer talking to it.

Continued Conversations will need to be turned on in the Google Assistant app’s Settings > Preferences > Continued Conversation. When starting up a new conversation you’ll still need to say “OK Google” or activate a physical trigger every time, but the company hopes that reducing the instances you need to speak a wake-up phrase will result in more fluid and natural interactions with Google Assistant.

In comparison, Apple’s Siri still requires you to say “Hey Siri” every time a command is given, or by activating the AI assistant manually on iPhone or HomePod. Later this year, Apple will debut improvements to Siri in iOS 12 in the form of a new “Siri Shortcuts” feature, allowing iPhone owners to build customizable workflows and connect a variety of third-party apps and services under one voice command.

Siri remains one of the downsides for Apple’s products for some users, with a recent survey finding that iPhone X early adopters were very satisfied with all features of the smartphone except Siri. Around the time of that survey, The Information reported that Siri has become a “major problem” within Apple and that the assistant remains “limited compared to the competition,” including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Tags: Google, Google Assistant
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MoviePass Will Introduce Surge Pricing for Popular Films Beginning in a Few Weeks

Movie subscription service MoviePass today confirmed that it will soon introduce surge pricing into its business model, charging customers from $2 and up for films that the company deems popular. The news comes from MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe, who confirmed to Business Insider that surge pricing will affect monthly subscribers while annual subscribers will be exempt from what he describes as “high-demand” pricing.

The change will appear for affected subscribers within the “coming weeks,” according to Lowe. Surge pricing is a dynamic, time-based strategy that apps like Uber use when a large amount of customers are requesting rides in the app but there aren’t enough drivers to taxi them around.

Now this will extend to MoviePass, so on opening weekends or at particularly busy late-night showings of popular movies, monthly subscribers should expect to pay a bit more above their locked-in $9.95/month subscription price. Because this is not a fee that the movie theater is charging, users can expect MoviePass to take the surge pricing fee from the credit cards associated with their account — although Lowe or any MoviePass spokesperson has yet to confirm this.

“At certain times for certain films — on opening weekend — there could be an additional charge for films,” Lowe told Business Insider.

Lowe said this decision was a way to have its theaters partners see more traffic for big blockbusters in the mid-week and less-crowded weekends following the movie’s opening weekend. It was also to “make sure that we can continue to offer a valuable service and support the whole enterprise,” Lowe added.

Otherwise, there are two other additions coming to MoviePass this summer: a bring-a-friend feature and IMAX/3D screenings. In the MoviePass iOS and Android app, subscribers will be able to add on a ticket for a non-MoviePass friend, the cost of which will be “somewhere near the retail price of the ticket.”

For IMAX and 3D movies, users will be given the option to pay an added fee for the premium screenings, ranging from $2-$6 according to Lowe. As of now, one of MoviePass’ detriments is that it only allows subscribers to watch regular 2D movies. At launch subscribers will have to choose one of these features or the other for a single film, but eventually they will be able to combine premium and bring-a-friend options for the same movie.

The MoviePass news comes after AMC just yesterday revealed its own movie subscription service, which will let customers watch three movies per week for $19.95 a month — including IMAX and RealD 3D showings. Lowe responded to this new rival service today as well:

“It’s been tough when you have the president of AMC essentially for eight or nine months telling everybody that our subscription was not sustainable, and then he comes out with a program that essentially could cost him $60 or $80 a month to pay the studios their minimums and collecting $19.95,” Lowe said, referring to AMC CEO Adam Aron. “So it is a little bit kind of funny that it’s pretty clear what he wanted to do — clear the way for his own subscription program and not have competition.”

All of the new MoviePass features — including surge pricing — will appear in the MoviePass app by the end of August.

Tag: MoviePass
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Tim Cook Reaffirms Apple’s Commitment to Ireland After Tax Dispute and Abandoned Data Center Plans

Just weeks after Apple abandoned its plans to build a $1 billion data center in Ireland, and amid a major Irish tax dispute with the European Commission, Apple CEO Tim Cook ensures his company remains committed to the country.

In a recent interview with The Irish Times, Cook said Apple appreciated the support it received from the community who wanted the data center to be there, and reaffirmed Apple’s commitment to Ireland as a whole.

“We loved the community there. Fortunately we had great support from the community who wanted us there. That’s probably the biggest disappointment from our point of view; we felt we could have been in the community and made a lot of friends like we had in Cork and grown the relationship over time,” Cook said. “But we understand and respect the process.”

Of course, not all local residents wanted the data center there, as concerns were raised about its potential effects on local animals, flooding on a neighboring golf course, and its close proximity to a shut-down nuclear power plant.

Last October, Apple finally won approval for construction by the Irish High Court, after an appeal by two individuals against the decision was dismissed. However, the appellants decided to take their case to the country’s Supreme Court, resulting in Apple abandoning its plans just before the hearing was to occur.

“Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre,” Apple said in a statement ahead of the Supreme Court heading on Thursday.

“While disappointing, this setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow,” the company said, citing plans to expand its European headquarters in County Cork where it employs over 6,000 people.

Cook added that Apple “didn’t come to Ireland for tax,” nearly two years after the European Commission ruled that the company received illegal aid from the country, ordering it to repay 13 billion euros to the country. Apple and Ireland are both appealing the ruling, as escrow payments begin for now.

“We came to Ireland in 1980 because we saw a community we thought we could grow, and could do a number of things to support the continent. We’ve stayed on course on that over almost four decades. It hasn’t been a straight line – life isn’t a straight line, things go up and down – but it’s always been in a trajectory that is increasing. I don’t anticipate that changing.”

Cook visited Ireland this week, where he met with the country’s head of government Leo Varadkar in Dublin, before heading to Cork, where Apple’s European headquarters are located. Apple recently expanded the campus with a new building that provides space for an additional 1,400 employees.

Apple’s recently updated European Job Creation page reveals that it now supports 1.7 million jobs across Europe, including around 1.5 million jobs attributable to the App Store ecosystem, some 17,000 of which are based in Ireland.

Apple’s website notes that it “has been based in Cork for over 35 years and now directly employs 6,000 people throughout Ireland supporting all aspects of the business.” The company also says its Irish team has “doubled in size over the last five years and includes over 80 different nationalities.”

All in all, this amounts to a good PR campaign for Apple, echoing much of what it said in its Message to the Apple Community in Europe a few years ago.

Tags: Tim Cook, Ireland
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Facebook Messenger Expanding Chat Translation to All Users in United States and Mexico

Facebook today announced it is expanding chat translation within Messenger to all users in the United States and Mexico.

When you receive a message in a language that is different from your default language in Messenger, Facebook’s artificial intelligence assistant M will automatically offer a suggestion to translate the message. When you tap on the suggestion, you will be asked to enable auto-translation. Upon doing so, all future messages received that are not in your default language will be automatically translated.

“This is a meaningful milestone for M Suggestions and will enable people to connect with people they would not be able to communicate with otherwise in a way that is seamless and natural,” a Messenger spokesperson said.

Auto-translation is enabled on a per-conversation basis, and all messages are shown in both the original language and translated version. You can opt-out of the feature at any time via the M Settings menu in Messenger, accessible by tapping your profile picture in the top-left corner of the app.

At launch, M can translate from English to Spanish, and vice versa. Facebook plans to add other languages and countries in the future.

Facebook first launched chat translation via M for users of its Marketplace service in the United States in early May. M Suggestions as a whole launched in April 2017, and are now available in 11 countries and five languages.

At its F8 developer conference last month, Facebook previewed an upcoming redesign of Messenger, including a simplified user interface, a dark mode, and customizable chat bubbles. At the time, the company said the facelift will be available “very, very soon,” but as of now, the update has yet to be rolled out.

Apple is known to have looked at a similar implementation of Siri in iMessage as M in Messenger. A patent published in 2016 for a “virtual assistant in a communication session” depicts a scenario in which users can invoke Siri from within chat threads to get answers to relevant queries, complete scheduling tasks, and more.

Apple hasn’t moved forward with the idea, but it did introduce Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12, enabling users to connect certain third-party apps to Siri to greatly streamline voice controls with app-specific actions.

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Messenger
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