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Tesla update with Netflix, 'Cuphead' and Smart Summon is rolling out now
Tesla is rolling out its biggest software update yet via an over-the-air update. Version 10.0 should be particularly welcome if you're looking for more ways to pass the time while you're waiting for your battery to charge up at a Supercharger station.
China's Netflix equivalent just opened its first cinema
China's Netflix-like service, iQiyi, wants to bring on-demand movies to real-life movie theaters. The company just opened its first brick and mortar cinema to show online movies in an offline environment, complete with complete with popcorn, fancy seats and Dolby and THX sound.
Censors pull 'BoJack Horseman' two days after Chinese debut
Two days after its debut on China's iQiyi streaming service, Netflix's critically acclaimed animated show BoJack Horseman is no longer on the platform. The move is a blow to Netflix's ongoing attempts to gain a foothold in the region, which stretch back to 2014 when it began licensing shows to LeEco. Seeing as strict regulation has kept western streaming giants from entering into China, Netflix's deal with iQiyi (unveiled in April) was seen as a viable alternative.
Netflix gets its shows into China through iQiyi licensing deal
While Netflix has dominated much of the streaming content market, it's been blocked by regulators in a major region: China. Having previously licensed content to LeEco (which is currently dealing with its own problems) as far back as 2014, the company has now found a new stopgap method to get its material into the country by way of Beijing-based video service iQiyi, which is a subsidiary of Baidu.
China's Baidu teams up with TCL to launch their own Smart TV
Imagine a world where Twitter and Westinghouse hooked up to make Smart TVs powered by Netflix, and that's kinda what's happening in China right now. Baidu has hooked up with TCL to let the former's iQIYI video platform drive the latter's newest TV. The TCL-iQIYI TV+ (as it'll be known) is 29mm thick with a "top end" dual-core CPU running Android 4.2.2, and users will have free and permanent access to a library of around 200,000 high-definition video titles. Locals looking to snag the gear will have to save up RMB 4,567 ($746) when it launches at the end of today.
Vivo Xplay boasts 5.7-inch 1080p screen, dedicated audio chips and nifty single-hand mode (video)
Another 1080p quad-core Android phone, you say? Well, there's a bit more to it. Launched by BBK spin-off Vivo in Beijing just now, this 5.7-inch Xplay goes one step further than its smaller X1 and X1S cousins by packing one extra audio chip and the OPA2604 operational amplifier from Texas Instruments in order to add extra oomph to Cirrus Logic's CS4398 DAC and CS8422 stereo asynchronous sample-rate converter -- both of which are featured on the X1 series. If you're a DIY audio enthusiast, you might have already tinkered with an OPA2604 while making your own headphone amplifier; so in other words, Vivo is trying to save you the hassle. Before we dive into the audio performance, let's quickly look at the rest of the phone first. Underneath the 500-nit LTPS display lies a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core SoC (1.7GHz, 2GB RAM and Adreno 320 graphics engine), 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, 3,400mAh battery and NFC. On the back you'll find a Sony 13-megapixel imager next to a pair of speakers (FLAC playback is supported natively), but flip the phone over and you'll be looking at a surprisingly generous 5-megapixel front-facing camera -- much like the one on Oppo's mid-range Ulike 2. Vivo's somehow managed to pack all of this into a 7.99mm-thick body with a screen bezel of just 2.3mm thick (which bests Pantech's thin-bezeled Vega Iron) and a large viewable-to-total area ratio of 75.11 percent. Alas, for 3G there's only WCDMA 2100, meaning the phone may have to rely more on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 or WiFi in many parts of the world. More after the break. Update: Hands-on photos added below, followed by a couple of video clips after the break. %Gallery-187693% %Gallery-187679%
Baidu buys control of streaming video portal iQiyi, raises stakes in China's media wars
The merger of China's video giants Youku and Tudou this August must have struck a nerve over at Baidu: the search engine just bought out equity firm Providence's controlling stake in iQiyi, an already large video service built solely around streaming professional movies and TV shows. Should the deal wrap up as planned in the fall, Baidu plans to keep its new partner as a separate badge but weave its content throughout mobile sites and search results. The company is unsurprisingly taking a Google-like strategy to make sure it isn't left on the sidelines as searchers go elsewhere for video. Pragmatism aside, its deal could represent more for China as a whole -- when hundreds of millions of people are exposed to commercially-oriented video as a matter of course, it could tip the balance in a way that we didn't see with YouTube rentals.
