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Facebook helps you host viewing parties for live TV
Facebook's Watch Party won't just help you help watch online videos with friends -- it'll soon help with old-school TV. The social network is launching a new Watch Party experience that will let you host live TV shows, starting with sports. Start a party and you can cheer in chat, create polls and offer trivia questions based on player stats. It's not going to compare to gathering around the couch, but it should deliver more of a thrill than everyday group discussions.
Twitter's experimental beta testing app is available today
Twitter is making good on its promise of testing new conversation features in public. The social network has launched Twttr, an experimental app that lets early adopters try prototypes of new Twitter features. It'll start with the conversation test, which turns threads into chat-like presentations with color-coded users and indentation. However, Twitter told TechCrunch it could use the app to explore other changes, such as new ideas for status updates and pinned introductory tweets.
NBC's free news streaming service will fully launch in May
NBC has run a limited version of its streaming news channel for the past few months. Soon, however, it'll be ready to open the taps: the broadcaster is officially launching its free NBC News Now service in early May. It'll be available on a plethora of devices (including living room devices like Apple TV and Roku) and should deliver eight hours of original programming per day, including live updates both on the hour and for breaking stories. The ultimate aim is to provide around-the-clock content, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim said.
Series will give Snap's founding story the 'Social Network' treatment
Quibi, an upcoming mobile-first video streaming service, will create a series based on Snap's founding. Film executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman -- HP Enterprise's former CEO and current Quibi chief -- have announced their plans for Quibi and SXSW, and they include making both scripted and unscripted originals available for streaming. The duo picked up a screenplay entitled Frat Boy Genius, which nabbed the top spot at the 2018 Black List, for the platform. As you can guess from that title, it tells a semi-fictionalized story of Snap's beginnings that shows Spiegel in a pretty unflattering light.
