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Netflix and Hulu already won 21 Emmys ahead of the main event
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards took place this weekend and both Netflix and Hulu put on a good showing. Netflix raked in 16 awards while Hulu programming took in five -- a positive preview for how each streaming service will fare during the primetime Emmy Awards, which will take place on September 17th. Overall, Netflix was at the top of the winner's list, coming in second to HBO.
Netflix and Amazon leave the BAFTA TV awards empty-handed
What should have been a night to remember became one to forget for Netflix yesterday. The company started the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) TV awards with six nominations — five for The Crown and one for Stranger Things — but walked away with nothing. Amazon and Transparent had a similarly poor evening, losing to The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story in the international category.
'The Crown' gives Netflix its best shot yet at a TV BAFTA
Despite producing a long list of critically-acclaimed TV shows, Netflix's original programming has yet to be rewarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). The streaming giant has received Academy nominations in the past and recently scooped a BAFTA film award for Ava DuVernay's prison documentary 13th, but so far a British TV accolade has proved elusive. Next month, however, Netflix will travel to Royal Festival Hall full of hope, because today it found out that The Crown is dominating this year's list with five nominations.
Panasonic's new prototype TV can hide in plain sight
Panasonic has shown off a transparent TV before, but the company has since improved the image quality to the extent that the idea of a television built into your furniture's glass panes is not only possible -- it's right here. The OLED screen is made from a fine mesh, embedded into the glass sliding door. While the TV image is visible even with the backlighting on, once it's dimmed the image is clear and bright enough to be almost indistinguishable from existing televisions. (The last model was a bit too dim, and required under-shelf lighting to boost the image.) Turn the TV panel off, however, and it's hard to tell it was ever there to begin with. Want one? Panasonic's spokesperson says the television is likely to stay in development for a while longer: at least three more years.
'Mr. Robot' star Rami Malek wins Outstanding Lead Actor Emmy
The USA series Mr. Robot has more than just surprisingly realistic hacking scenes, as it now can claim an Emmy win. Series star Rami Malek snagged the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series award tonight, beating out Kevin Spacey, Bob Odenkirk and others. After double checking to make sure we were all seeing this too (good call), Malek said he wanted to "honor the Elliots...because there's a little bit of Elliot in all of us." The show's season finale airs Wednesday night, and if the breakdown of its hacking scenes hasn't turned you into a fan yet, take a look at our interviews with show creator Sam Esmail.
Amazon's pilot episodes are now free on YouTube and Facebook
If you don't have a Prime subscription but want to check out some of Amazon's original series, you're in luck. The company has made ten pilot episodes from some of its best dramas, comedies, and kids' series free to watch on YouTube and Facebook for the first time ever. The lineup includes Amazon's most-streamed show, The Man in the High Castle, as well as Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent, both of which have won multiple Golden Globes.
Tom Clancy's 'Jack Ryan' is now an Amazon exclusive series
Tom Clancy's famous fictional CIA agent Jack Ryan is back in action after 2013's critical and commercial disappointment Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Amazon has greenlit a 10-episode series, exclusive to Prime Video, that will star John Krasinski, of The Office fame, as the titular hero. Plot details are scarce, though it seems the series will be an origins story, with Ryan being an up-and-coming CIA analyst fighting terrorist groups.
Woody Allen's Amazon series arrives September 30th
Amazon's had its day on stage at the Television Critics' Association press tour, and this fall will be a big one for the streaming video firm. It's revealed that a raft of shows will debut across September and October, including Woody Allen's Crisis in Six Scenes, which drops on September 30th. The bigger news, however, is probably dedicated to the return of the award-winning Transparent, the third season of which kicks off on September 23rd.
Nanofiber film could lead to electronic skin
If you want electronic skin or other transparent wearable devices, you need to send a current through that skin. However, it's hard to make something that's both conductive and transparent -- and that's where a team of American and Korean researchers might save they day. They've developed a nanofiber film that's 92 percent transparent, but has electrical resistance that's "at least" 10 times better than the previous best. You create it by electrospinning polyacrylonitrile (a polymer resin) until it forms a mat, spatter-coat it with metal and then electroplate it. The result is a material that eases the flow of current but is mostly made up of see-through holes.
Scientists made see-through wood that's stronger than glass
Researchers at the University of Maryland were able pull away color and chemicals from a block of wood to leave it impressively see-through. The result is a material that is both stronger and more insulating than glass, with better biodegradability than plastic. "We were very surprised by how transparent it could go," said Liangbing Hu, who wrote about the project in Advanced Materials.
Amazon wins its first BAFTA with 'Transparent'
Amazon doesn't have the volume or breadth of exclusives to compete with Netflix, but it does have a few standout originals that are slowly winning mind share for Prime Video. At the BAFTA TV awards last night, for instance, the company took home the International category for Transparent. The show beat out Narcos, the drug-fuelled crime drama from Netflix, as well as Spiral and The Good Wife. Netflix had also been nominated in the Radio Times Audience Award for its documentary series Making a Murderer, but lost out to the BBC period drama Poldark.
Amazon beats Netflix to take home two Golden Globes
The 2016 Golden Globes ceremony was held last night, once again highlighting Amazon and its growing repertoire of high-quality TV shows. Mozart in the Jungle, which follows a group of orchestral musicians and the conductor Rodrigo De Souza, picked up two awards for the best comedy or musical TV series and the best performance by an actor in a comedy or musical TV show. Amazon's Transparent was also in the hunt for both accolades, but failed to outshine its streaming-exclusive rival.
Amazon discounts Prime subscriptions to celebrate its Emmy wins
If you haven't heard, Amazon original series Transparent won five Emmys over the weekend, including Jeffrey Tambor nabbing Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. To properly celebrate, the online retailer is discounting the cost of Prime for new members this Friday. From 12:00 AM ET to 11:59 PM PT, signing up for the annual subscription will set you back $67 instead of the usual $99. Of course, opting for Prime gets you access to Transparent (season 2 starts in December) and other movies and TV shows in addition to music streaming, free two-day shipping and more. [Image credit: Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]
Samsung reveals plans for new mirror and transparent OLED displays
Samsung has unveiled its new mirror and transparent OLED displays in Hong Kong, and from the sound of it, the company has big plans for both of them. While the event has only showcased the screens as ad billboards and as a virtual necklace stand, Samsung believes they have bigger uses in the future once they're integrated with Intel's RealSense technology. It plans to develop the mirror display, for instance, as a "virtual fitting room," made possible by the Intel technology's 3D cameras and an "automated library of stored perceptions." Customers can use the high-tech mirror to see what jewelries, clothes or shoes look like on them before actually trying them on to make sure they fit.
Transparent eggs let scientists see how bird embryos grow
If you want to see how animal embryos grow in eggs, you typically have to poke a hole in the egg and patch it up later. That's not always safe, and it may give you an incomplete picture of what's going on. Scientists at Beijing's Tsinghua University think they have a better solution, though. They've developed transparent artificial bird eggs that mimic the real deal while showing every single nuance of the embryo's development. The key is a special process that gives an organic polymer the same shape as an egg, offering the avian a relatively natural environment that's easier to work with in a lab.
Daily Roundup: Apple Watch battery life, Russian combat bots and more!
One of the biggest complaints about smartwatches is their mediocre battery life. It sounds like the Apple Watch will be no different. In other news, internet activist Barrett Brown was sent to prison for five years and Russia showed off some "combat robots" that still have a lot to prove, fortunately. Catch up on today's top stories after the break.
Amazon will stream 'Transparent' for free this Saturday
Fresh off its two Golden Globe wins, Amazon is streaming all ten episodes of its Transparent original series for free this weekend. Starting at 12:01AM ET until 11:59PM PT Saturday, you can watch via Amazon's Instant Video app for TVs, streaming gadgets and mobile devices, including Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation and more. The show won Best Musical or Comedy Series and the lead, Jeffrey Tambor of Arrested Development fame, took home Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series a few days back. If that wasn't enough of a celebration, new Prime subscriptions will be $72 on Saturday -- a nod to the 72nd installment of the awards soirée. When the time comes, you can start the viewing session right here. [Photo credit: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Amazon Studios]
Amazon scores two Golden Globes, Netflix debuts House of Cards trailer
Tonight's Golden Globe Awards were a triumph for internet TV services, as Amazon and Netflix scored wins for their original series -- all on a night when the big four broadcast networks didn't win any. Amazon had two awards to Netflix's one, and won their head to head battle as its hit Transparent triumphed in the "Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy" category that included Orange is the New Black, Silicon Valley, Jane the Virgin and Girls. Series star Jeffrey Tambor collected the other award for Best Actor in a TV Comedy. Netflix won a single award (Kevin Spacey, Best Actor in a TV Drama, House of Cards) but might have given us the best moment of the evening by releasing a trailer for House of Cards season three. It's embedded after the break if you need a taste of the Underwoods before the new season debuts worldwide on February 27th.
Netflix and Amazon's video battle continues at the Golden Globe Awards
Once upon a time awards shows had sources from a predictable list of sources, but now internet video has crashed the party. When the Golden Globe Awards are presented January 11th, Netflix will be up for seven while Amazon has snagged two nominations for its new show Transparent. The two are even going head to head in the Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy, where Transparent and Orange is the New Black are joined by Silicon Valley, Jane the Virgin and Girls. Last year Netflix broke through with its first win as Robin Wright brought home a trophy for her performance in House of Cards, and now it's back for more. The company's focus on original content is showing (has anyone watched Marco Polo yet?) and Amazon is quickly catching up, while Hulu has... a GIF generator and some episodes of Deadliest Catch. (That was mean, actually we'd keep an eye out for season two of The Wrong Mans December 24th, plus new series from Amy Poehler, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and Jason Reitman on the way. Maybe next year Hulu.)
Twitch seeks transparency for promotional broadcasts
Twitch will begin instituting new policies that clearly label sponsored broadcasts on its channels, the video streaming platform announced on its blog. "We want complete transparency and unwavering authenticity with all content and promotions that have a sponsor relationship," Twitch wrote. Copy and graphics for future Twitch-driven campaigns will now have labels to indicate that they are promotional in nature. For instance, the front-page video carousel will include a new "sponsored" graphic when applicable, and Twitch will add sponsored labels to its content newsletters as well. Future tweets from the streaming platform's official accounts will also include language that indicates if the broadcast is promotional as well. Twitch isn't the only company opting for more transparency in how sponsored content is listed; Valve introduced new policies for Steam Curators to openly disclose paid recommendations this week as well. [Image: Twitch]
