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Apple News adds audio stories and a daily podcast
It also introduced local news hubs for select cities and regions.
Apple News+ has issues, but it's a great deal for casual readers
Yesterday, Apple unveiled Apple News+, an all-you-can-eat subscription service that offers access to over 300 different magazines and periodicals, including newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, for $9.99 a month. I already subscribe to a couple of other Apple services like iCloud and Apple Music that are a little bit underwhelming, so I'll admit I'm a bit wary of getting another one. But for a magazine lover like myself, News+ sounded incredibly intriguing.
Apple may relaunch its Netflix for magazines service in the spring
Apple may launch a new version of Texture, a magazine subscription app it bought in March, in the spring. However, publishing executives are reportedly wary of including their products in the service and potentially losing revenue to Apple's all-in-one model.
Apple News app will provide real-time results on Election Day
Come November 6th, Apple will turn its News app into election central. According to TechCrunch, the company is planning to launch a new Election Night section that will display live results, highlight updates to key races and share major stories from major news outlets. The Election Night tab will appear in place of the Midterm Elections section in the app starting at 8 PM ET on election day.
Recommended Reading: Midterms have already been hacked
The midterms are already hacked. You just don't know it yet. Benjamin Wofford, Vox The concerns regarding voting processes in the US are nothing new, especially when it comes to vulnerabilities. Vox is the latest to take an in-depth look at the troubling issues surrounding voting systems ahead of the midterms on November 6th. And it's (still) not pretty, even after months of warnings from all sides.
Apple's News app draws 90 million regular readers
Sure, Apple includes its News app on iOS devices and Macs, but how many people actually flip through it on a regular basis? Quite a few, it seems. As part of a rare peek, the New York Times reported that News has about 90 million regular readers. They're not just skimming, either, since stories routinely rack up over a million views each. It comes at a cost -- advertisers complain that they don't make much money, and there's a concern that media companies might become overly dependent on Apple at the expense of both ad money and reader data. This is still no mean feat, though, and Apple credits what it isn't doing to its growth.
Apple seeks major newspaper allies for its subscription bundle
While rumors indicate Apple has bigger plans for its subscription bundle than just news, it has to start somewhere. In order to get that rolling, Recode reports it has opened discussions with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post about signing on with its recently-purchased "Netflix of magazines" app, Texture. All three have business models offering subscriptions to their news as premium pay content so it's obvious why Apple would want to include them, but less clear about whether they're inclined to join. According to Recode, Texture pays out to publishers based on how much its customers use a particular title, while the subscriptions each paper has bring money in regardless of whether a customer reads any or all of their content. Apple may have relationships with publishers via their apps and selling subscriptions in its Apple News outlet, but figuring out a way to get content aligned with a new business model could be the first hurdle to becoming an even bigger player in all forms of media.
Apple rumor points to a TV, music and news subscription bundle
Just three months ago, Apple purchased a company described as the "Netflix of magazine plans" and now The Information reports that it may have bigger ambitions. A plan it's considering, according to sources, is to integrate Texture's digital magazine plan with its own Apple News app, and then in the future offer a bundle that includes news, video content (like the kind it will get from Oprah) and Apple Music. While all of the items would still be available separately, it would offer an interesting package to cord-cutters willing to get their media from the same company that makes their phones, laptops, speakers and streaming boxes. If this is the idea, Apple would hardly be the only one going that route, as Amazon offers similar content under Prime, Google just refashioned YouTube premium plans to cover music and original video streaming, and there are indications Spotify will increase its focus on video. Meanwhile, just in video there's competition like Netflix, Hulu and traditional TV providers like Comcast or AT&T. Subscription rumors are nothing new for Apple, whether it's about video, news (from 2010!), or anything else. As usual, offering exclusive content is a way to increase revenue from its customers in between their hardware upgrades, and keep them tied in with its products. Nothing appears to be confirmed yet, but The Information's report follows a recent rumor from Bloomberg that said the news package could launch next year.
Apple News had a one-week exclusive on a documentary series
Apple isn't kidding about its intentions to turn its News app into more than just an aggregator. BuzzFeed has confirmed to Digiday that Apple reached a deal to premiere the documentary series Future History: 1968 through News a week before it reached social networks, YouTube and even BuzzFeed's own mobile app. Apple had first crack at the initial three episodes and gave BuzzFeed a cut of the pre-roll ad revenue in addition to featuring the show prominently. It not only highlighted the documentary in its featured video galleries, it sent a notification to people who follow BuzzFeed News.
Apple may add subscriptions to its News app
Apple is apparently putting its Texture purchase to use to build a subscription-based news service. Bloomberg reports that the electronics juggernaut is looking to make some changes to the way Apple News operates and that the new premium offering should launch sometime within the next year. A cut of subscription revenue will go to magazine publishers, of course. Texture's quasi-Netflix approach to reading offered all-you-can-eat magazines for $10 a month.
Ask Engadget returns (and you should send us your questions)!
A long time ago in a far-away land called 2013, we used to run a feature called "Ask Engadget" where you -- our readers, fans, followers and critics -- could ask us for our advice, opinions and recommendations on everything from cheap laptops and starter cameras to routers and email clients. You would write into ask@engadget.com with all the pertinent details about your issue, and like your favorite trusted oracle, we would gather all our knowledge and experience into a reply (and let the community weigh in as well).
The new 'Zelda' DLC is all about exploration and survival
The Nintendo Switch is a neat little console -- but its debut was almost overshadowed by its flagship launch game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The game was lauded as a long overdue evolution on the Zelda formula, and it deserved the praise, too -- it's an objectively excellent adventure game that brings the classic Nintendo franchise into the modern era. Still, fans were worried Nintendo would stumble when it came to the game's DLC packs. Rest easy, Hylian hero, Breath of the Wild's first DLC drop is light, but actually pretty good. Mostly because it focuses on what made the game great in the first place: survival, exploration and problem solving.
Théoriz recreates the Holodeck with AR tech and projectors
If you had to list the most mind-blowing tech demos in recent memory, Microsoft's Hololens AR headset would need to be included, as would its projector-enhanced Illumiroom. A company called Théoriz from Lyon, France has married both of those things to create a "mixed reality room" that uses projector tech, motion tracking and augmented reality together. Its latest technology demo video made it seem like we're closer to Star Trek's Holodeck than ever before, so we went to take a closer look.
The rise of electric cars will kill the gas station
Gas stations are a lifeline. They not only fuel our cars but us, too -- whether it's with lukewarm coffee during the morning commute or the salty-sweet buffet during road trips. They're a glowing oasis when the gas tank is empty and our bladders are full. It's going to be a long while before the handy service station goes away, but its days are numbered -- because electric cars are going to change everything.
The high-tech war on Tibetan communication
Each year, March 10th in Tibet brings more police onto the streets, closer online censorship of terms like "Free Tibet" and "Dalai Lama" and a spate of cyberattacks. "Every March 10th, almost all major Tibetan organizations in Dharamsala are targeted with Distributed Denial of Service and other cyber attacks," said Tenzin Dalha, a researcher at the Tibet Policy Institute, part of the Central Tibetan Administration. Four years ago, that happened to the Voice of Tibet (VOT), a nonprofit media outlet run out of the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, bringing its website down for several days. The reason for the crackdown is that the date commemorates March 10th, 1959. On that day, rumors spread in the Tibetan capital Lhasa about the impending arrest of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, by the Chinese, who had invaded the territory in 1950. Tibetans rallied to support their spiritual leader and the mass protests led to a violent crackdown. The Dalai Lama and his entourage escaped to India, where he and the Tibetan government-in-exile remain. When VOT started in 1996, it was one of the few channels of communication between Tibetans and their government-in-exile across the border, as all newspapers, television and other print materials were heavily censored. Using shortwave radio, it transmitted its news service across the border into Chinese-occupied Tibet, both in Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese.
How Troy Baker's Naughty Dog work influenced 'Shadow of War'
Troy Baker has lent his voice and performances to some of the biggest games of the past decade. From six roles across Darksiders 2 to playing Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite or stepping into The Joker's shoes in Batman: Arkham Origins, you might not realize it's actually him delivering the lines until you see the credits. That's because he approaches each performance incredibly differently. With Middle-earth: Shadow of War his job was particularly complex: In addition to reprising his role as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor who's more or less possessed by an undead prince, Baker served as the director for all of the game's performance-capture story sequences. For that task, Baker relied on his experience with director Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog and his roles in the studio's The Last of Us (TLoU) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Naughty Dog is widely regarded as having some of the best performances and shot composition in video game story sequences -- there are definitely worse places to look to for inspiration.
The Honor 9 is a cheaper, smaller flagship
Slowly, Honor is making a name for itself producing cut-price phones with seriously competitive specs. An offshoot of Huawei, the experimental brand repackages the parts -- hardware and software -- refined by its corporate sibling, before assessing and undercutting its rivals significantly. For the budget-conscious customer, it's a tempting offer. Today, Honor is revealing its latest handset for Europe, the Honor 9, which continues that trend. It's a replacement for the Honor 8 and boasts a spec sheet similar to the Honor 8 Pro, which my colleague Jamie Rigg was smitten with earlier this year. The phone differs in two key areas, though: size and price.
Zombie shooter 'Arizona Sunshine' invades PSVR
When zombie apocalypse VR game Arizona Sunshine came out for SteamVR and the Oculus Rift last year, it quickly became the game everyone name-checked when talking about good VR. The game went on to sell more than more than $1.4 million in first month after release. It also won the VR Game of the Year award from Upload VR. Now, the immersive shooter is headed to Sony's popular PlayStation VR headset on Tuesday, June 27th.
Astronomers capture best picture yet of the star in Orion’s armpit
Betelgeuse isn't just an etymological inspiration for Michael Keaton's best role, it's a colossal star forming the right shoulder in the well-known constellation Orion. Astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Northern Chile to photograph it, producing the most detailed image yet of any star besides our own sun.
Facebook won’t release data on political ads to researchers
While many political scientists are itching to get their hands on data documenting how political ads on Facebook performed, the company says it won't be releasing that information. Facebook says it doesn't differentiate between political and commercial ads with this policy and that's not likely to change any time soon.
