Amazon

Amazon Music is now available on Google TV and Android TV

Amazon Music is finally coming to Google’s set-top box operating systems, with a new app rolling out for Google TV (currently just available on the latest Chromecast) and Android TV starting today. The app will function similarly to Amazon Music on other devices. Subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited (which costs $7.99 per month for Prime… Read more

Amazon’s head of Fire TV and Luna cloud gaming has left for Unity

Amazon’s head of Fire TV, Kindle, and its new Luna cloud gaming service departed the company this month. Marc Whitten has joined Unity as an executive on the company’s Unity Create business. Unity is a cross-platform game engine that many developers use to get their games running across multiple devices. Whitten’s departure, spotted by Matthew… Read more

The Verge’s favorite audio gear

Ever since Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded an almost undecipherable version of the French song “Au Clair de la Lune” in the mid-19th century, it’s been clear that the technology that you use to produce and listen to sounds can affect your experience. Even now, about 150 years later, the quality of your gear can… Read more

Apple Music will never get a free tier, Apple music publishing head confirms

Home News (Image credit: Apple Music) Hoping for a free Apple Music tier in light of Spotify’s recently-voiced concerns over people turning to music piracy should streaming giants raise their prices? It may come as no surprise to learn that Apple’s senior director of music publishing, Elena Segal, has confirmed that there will never be… Read more

Disney Plus

Our Verdict A well-stocked, easy-to-navigate catalogue of new and original content that Disney fans are bound to enjoy For Huge, intuitive catalogue 4K, HDR10 and Dolby Atmos/Vision Vast device support Against Poor 4K HDR discovery Once upon a time, a man called Walt Disney founded Walt Disney Studios with his brother and became one of… Read more

Google TV will include a new ‘Basic’ mode to make your smart TV, dumb

Google TV, the search giant’s latest attempt at TV software, will include a new “Basic TV” mode that strips out a TV’s smart features in favor of providing simple access to live TV and HDMI inputs, 9to5Google reports. It’s a potential boon to anyone that ever wanted to dumb-down their smart TV because they prefer… Read more

Spotify voices fears over price rises encouraging music piracy

Home News (Image credit: Spotify) Spotify fears raising its monthly subscription above £9.99 ($9.99) could “push users into piracy”, it told MPs at a parliamentary select committee inquiry on Tuesday, despite suggestions from record labels that an increase could help struggling musicians. The chief legal officer for the popular music streaming service, Horacio Gutierrez, claimed that… Read more

Nickelodeon creates Avatar Studios to create new Avatar, Legend of Korra content

ViacomCBS has announced a new studio based entirely around Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Avatar Studios will create “original content spanning animated series and movies,” according to a press release. Avatar and Korra original creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, are joining Nickelodeon as co-chief creative officers of Avatar Studios. The… Read more

ViacomCBS touts nearly 30 million global subscribers just before Paramount Plus launches

With CBS All Access morphing into Paramount Plus in just over a week, the company is announcing a new subscriber milestone for its streaming platforms: nearly 30 million global subscribers. The company also has 19.2 million subscribers domestically across its platforms, CBS All Access and Showtime. Pluto TV has 43 million monthly active users globally,… Read more

Netflix won’t be adding support for Apple spatial audio any time soon

Home News (Image credit: Netflix) Sad news for those of us happily anticipating 12-hour binges through the latest Netflix craze in glorious surround-sound on our Apple headphones and iOS device: Netflix has confirmed it actually isn’t testing support for iOS 14’s new spatial audio functionality. The news quashes claims made in a January report from iPhoneSoft, which suggested that the streaming… Read more

Amazon Luna cloud gaming now available on Fire TVs without an invite

Amazon’s cloud-gaming service, Luna, is now available to try for free in the US on select Fire TV devices without an invitation, the company has announced. Luna launched in early access last year, as an invitation-only service. Originally, customers also needed an invite to buy the Luna Controller, but Amazon now says it’s available to… Read more

Here’s Michael Bolton singing about payment for order flow

You know, when I think about the stock market, I don’t really think about Michael Bolton. But I guess Public — which refers to itself as “the investing social network” — was envious that Robinhood was getting all the press attention, so it hired Bolton to revamp his 1989 hit “How Am I Supposed to… Read more

Anker’s MagSafe-compatible battery pack will stick to your iPhone on March 3rd

Anker has released a new MagSafe-compatible battery pack that can attach directly to your iPhone to offer charging without the need for a cable, 9to5Google reports. The Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K Wireless Power Bank will launch on March 3rd for $39.99, beating Apple’s own rumored MagSafe battery product to market — with one big caveat…. Read more

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explains how the company plans to help artists (and itself) make money

Photo Illustration by Alex Castro | Photograph by Spotify The company wants to be at the center of creator monetization Spotify hosted an event on Monday to discuss its ambitions in audio, and one message came through loud and clear: the company wants to play a major role in helping creators make money. During the… Read more

Dali Oberon 1 C

Our Verdict Whichever connectivity hub you choose, the Oberon 1 C package promises sonic satisfaction in spades For Detailed, musical sound Superb midrange clarity Two Sound Hub options Against Not the last word in authority Slight lack of bass depth The shared pursuit of love and happiness aside, not everyone is after the same thing… Read more