One of Sky Q’s greatest strengths these days is its aggregation of content from third-party apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. There is a downside, though: it can take longer to get to the content you want.
That’s an issue that Sky is constantly looking to address and is taking another step towards solving with its latest update, which integrates Disney+ content into voice search. Simply say, for example, “WandaVision” into your remote and you’ll be taken to the WandaVision Show Centre as seen in the picture above.
(Image credit: Sky)
That’s not the only new feature coming in the latest Sky Q update, which has started rolling out today and will apparently be with all Sky Q users by the end of April.
The new Voice Guidance option, seen in the image above, is designed to make Sky Q more accessible for the visually impaired through the addition of spoken descriptions of menus and available options, and audio instructions to easily get you to specific shows and movies. Voice Guidance can be enabled in the Settings menu or simply by saying “Voice Guidance on” into the remote control.
Sky Go is also getting some tweaks over the next month, including a new ‘Continue Watching’ rail that makes it easier to pick up a show or film where you left off, and ‘Sky Channels’ and ‘Browse by Category’ rails are also being added.
MORE:
Read our full Sky Q review
Then check out our Disney+ review
Looking for a new TV? Here are the best TVs you can currently buy
Netflix set out goals today to limit the damage the company does to the climate. By the end of 2022, it wants to reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions. That means it plans to reduce some of its emissions and find ways to offset or capture the rest.
By 2030, Netflix says it plans to cut emissions from its operations and electricity use by 45 percent. That goal roughly lines up with research from leading climate scientists, who have found that greenhouse gas emissions need to fall by about 45 percent globally this decade. But Netflix will eventually need to ramp up efforts to prevent pollution generated by producing and streaming its movies and TV shows.
To meet its deadline next year, the company is primarily relying on offsetting its emissions, a strategy with a checkered history when it comes to how well it actually slows down climate change. Netflix plans to invest in programs dedicated to preserving and restoring ecosystems that naturally store planet-heating carbon dioxide. Efforts to cancel out companies’ carbon footprints by planting trees and preserving forests have failed to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the past. Netflix, however, says that it has developed a thorough process to vet these kinds of projects, which might include visiting the sites in person or monitoring their progress via satellite. But many environmental advocates have pressured companies to do more to stop polluting in the first place, rather than relying on trees to clean up the mess.
Netflix disclosed its annual carbon footprint for the first time today in an environmental social governance report. That revealed that the company generated roughly 1.1 million metric tons of CO2 last year, equivalent to the yearly emissions from about 240,000 passenger cars. That total still doesn’t account for emissions that come from the internet infrastructure needed to stream its shows, or from the devices people use to watch its content.
Netflix did pollute a little less in 2020 than it did in 2019, but probably not by design. Production for a lot of Netflix content was delayed last year because of the pandemic, which the company said was the main reason for the 14 percent drop in emissions last year.
The year before the pandemic, Netflix’s energy use actually skyrocketed. It used 84 percent more electricity in 2019 compared to the year before. (Its subscriber base grew 20 percent over the same time period.) Netflix attributed much of that rise to the company self-producing more of its own films and TV shows.
The physical production of Netflix’s branded content was responsible for half of its entire carbon footprint in 2020. Corporate operations and purchased goods made up another 45 percent of emissions, while data centers made up 5 percent.
To cut down its planet-heating pollution moving forward, Netflix says it will replace fossil fuels with renewable energy as much as possible. When it comes to filming around the globe, the company said it plans to hire more local crews to avoid pollution from travel. It also wants to make its operations more efficient so that it can cut down on how much energy it uses in the first place. It has the most control over that at its own studios, but the company says it will also try to influence vendors and data center providers with whom it works. One small change the company has already made is the switch from incandescent to vastly more efficient LED lighting in many of its studios. Not only do LED lights use up less energy, but they also reduce cooling costs because they’re not as hot as traditional bulbs.
“The talent loves it because it doesn’t melt their makeup in the same way that incandescent bulbs did, so it’s a win-win-win,” says Emma Stewart, who was hired last year to become Netflix’s first sustainability officer.
Even incremental changes could eventually add up to big wins for the planet. “The film industry needs a leader when it comes to climate action. Changing the world begins with one company stepping up and inspiring others to join them. I’m thrilled at how Netflix is taking on this leadership role,” Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, said in a statement on Netflix’s new sustainability goals.
(Pocket-lint) – When a product arrives with a bag of sand and a bucket in tow for testing purposes, you know it’s not going to be just any old standard lifestyle product. But that’s exactly the point with the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3: it’s a rugged tablet, designed for drops, water- and dust-resistance, and being generally all-round well ‘ard.
“Oh, how very telephone engineer,” quipped one member of the Pocket-lint team. Because, really, beyond the lifestyle-looking shiny retail packaging, this tablet’s overall vision – it comes with a removable battery, people, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the dinosaurs existed, right? – is far more aligned to the workforce than our consumer norm on the test bench.
Except, in the right hands, it could stretch to appeal. Sure, plenty of current kit offers water- and dust-resistance, but that usually comes wrapped in a finish that’s prone to scratches or cracks. The Tab Active 3, on the other hand, almost wants to be abused – something that kids are supremely good at, even without meaning to be. So, buckets and spades at the ready, because this is the kind of tablet that will survive those trips to the beach.
Design & Display
8-inch PLS LCD display, 1920 x 1200 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio
Dimensions: 213.8 x 126.8 x 9.9mm / Weight: 426g
Rugged case and stylus included
Finishes: Black only
13MP camera
Pulling the Active Tab out of its box is a little like finding a time-travel wormhole. For a brief moment “Google Nexus 7” flashed before eyes, as if it was 2013 or something (which would be a little unfair: this Galaxy Tab has an 8-inch screen, not a 7-inch one).
Pocket-lint
There’s even a protective case in the box, complete with a stylus holster and chunky stylus included (but no hard hat) – it’s all very frontline-worker out-in-the-field kind of stuff – to add reinforcement. The stylus needs a fairly stiff tug to remove it, but at least you’ll know it’s securely stowed.
All this is very befitting of purpose though. The Tab Active 3 has a trio of physical buttons integrated onto its front – so no Android softkeys here, it’s hardware instead – to navigate around the Google Android (it’s version 10, so reasonably well up to date). Whether bare handed or gloved, you’ll be fine using this tough tab.
Pocket-lint
The screen itself has large bezels to its sides, so plenty of space to hold on, which again makes it look like an older-generation product. It makes sense in context, but that’s the reality of it – it doesn’t look new or especially fancy.
Rugged Testing
IP68 dust/water resistant – to 1.5m for 30mins
MIL-STD-810H military standard
1.5m drop tested
And so to the Galaxy Tab Active 3’s main sell: its ruggedness. This is certainly fun to test, because it’s such a rarity to lob a gadget around with pure abandon, but we got to go to town on this tablet.
Pocket-lint
It survived no worries, of course, as that’s its whole purpose. Sure, you’re probably not going to bury it in sand – but you could. So whether that’s the beach or a sandpit, it wont suffer ingress and be damaged, neither will it get all scratched up.
The drop test from 1.5m high is no bother either, although we think it would actually survive more severe impacts with that case attached. It’s not designed to, in terms of the test rating – it’s military standard though – but it’ll survive unscathed, whereas a ‘normal’ glass-backed tablet just isn’t going to.
It’s a similar tale for the waterproofing: we submerged the tablet in about 15cm of water for half an hour and that was no bother for it. Indeed, we think it’d survive for far longer (especially at that depth, as the pressure isn’t exactly high). Plus it can handle, according to the ratings system, 1.5m of submersion for that half-hour period of time without drowning.
Pocket-lint
All of this is good stuff, it’s the product delivering on what it’s supposed to do. But we’ve seen plenty of more refined consumer designs with newer hardware and specs also offer much of this – there are plenty of waterproofed mobile products, for example. It’s the Tab Active 3’s hard-shell extra casing that makes it a bit more significant though.
Performance & Battery
Samsung Exynos 9810 processor, 4GB RAM
5,050mAh removable battery, 15W charging
128GB storage, microSD card expansion
It’s rare that any products have removable batteries these days, but the Tab Active 3 does. A 5,050mAh one, no less, which is fairly capacious given the overall spec, and lasts for a long work day – around 11 hours. It’s not got phone longevity, therefore, given the scale of the device – but then you can just pop in a backup battery if you need.
Pocket-lint
Under the hood the Tab Active has Samsung’s Exynos 9810 processor, meaning it’s on last-gen hardware rather than being really eye-catching and up to date. That might well mean it doesn’t run as hard or as hot as some modern day cutting-edge flagship hardware, but it also means for a pricey slate such as this that you’re not getting the greatest of potential.
Of course whether that matters will depend on just what you want to be doing with this tablet. After all, while you could watch Netflix on your lunch break, realistically we suspect this tablet will have proprietary installs for specific tasks.
Pocket-lint
Samsung Knox, the company’s security framework – which is designed to give organisations the tools to manage work devices – comes as standard. That, really, tells you most of what you need to know – this is really for work rather than one to throw at the kids.
What is the Pocket-lint daily and how do you get it for free?
By Stuart Miles
·
Verdict
The more we lived with the Galaxy Active Tab 3, the more we wondered why it’s on both Samsung’s business and consumer website sections.
It’s clearly more aligned with the former, as at this price point it’s so far removed from a consumer-grade tough tablet for the kids that it won’t make sense for, well, almost anyone. We thought that might have been a good angle for such a products, but if that’s your thinking then save several hundred and pick up an Amazon tablet instead.
The fact is many consumer lifestyle products now offer some degree of rugged protection, more up-to-date designs, and as such the Active Tab 3 is therefore best left to who it’s really for: the workforce. It’s not bad by any means, it’s just kind-of retro and somewhat lost for purpose in a consumer context.
I had to take a break from streaming Hannibal because I’m about halfway through season 3 and I don’t want it to end (also it’s just too intense for a binge watch, let’s be real). But I just watched the first episode of The Irregulars — loosely based on the Baker Street Irregulars from the Sherlock Holmes books— and so far it’s really good, especially if you are like me and appreciate seeing an established story retold from the point of view of another character (or in this case characters).
A good batch of trailers this week, with that James Gunn movie everyone’s talking about and a Netflix flick about a group of astronauts headed to Mars who — surprise!— have an extra person aboard their ship.
The Suicide Squad
Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Viola Davis, and Sylvester Stallone (seriously the cast is huge) star in The Suicide Squad. The trailer is age-restricted (and the blank screen looked weird as an embed, which was why I went with a tweet of the video above instead) since the movie is rated R, so you’ll have to watch on YouTube after you verify you are old enough to watch a violent super villain movie trailer with a Steely Dan song playing in the background (which got the very old song trending). The much-ballyhooed, heavily anticipated The Suicide Squad comes to theaters and HBO Max on August 6th.
Stowaway
The three-person crew of a spaceship headed to Mars discovers an engineer unexpectedly (and unintentionally) has joined them. That’s problem one. Problem two: the ship’s life support system has been badly damaged and there’s only enough oxygen for three people. Dilemma! Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Toni Collette, and Shamier Anderson star in this space thriller (a bona fide genre now) that hits Netflix April 22nd.
Made for Love
This adaptation of Alissa Nutting’s novel tells the story of Hazel Green, whose controlling, creepy tech billionaire husband implanted a chip in her brain that lets him track her movements, feelings, and thoughts. Yes, I too shuddered to think how not-unlikely this scenario may be soon enough. Cristen Milioti stars as Hazel, and Billy Magnussen is husband Bryan, and (I guess for some comic levity?) Ray Romano plays Hazel’s father. Made for Love premieres April 1st on HBO Max.
The Nevers
This is the first full trailer of the HBO Max series about a group of women in Victoria-era England who suddenly have unexpected super powers. If you’ve heard of it but aren’t sure why, it may be the off-screen problems with creator Joss Whedon. He stepped away from the project six episodes in citing exhaustion (however, in addition to accusations of “abusive” behavior from actor Ray Fisher on the set of Justice League, several actresses from Buffy the Vampire Slayer have since come forward saying Whedon created a toxic work environment on that show). HBO opted to move forward with at least the first six episodes under a new showrunner and executive producer. The Nevers will debut April 11th on HBO Max.
Project A.R.E.S. (Astral Robot Enclosure Systems) tells a story:
Starship Copper Nebula, named so for its peculiar color, is tapped for space program A.R.E.S. The starship comes in contact with some sort of organic alien technology, which starts to merge with it, covering the external structure and contaminating the propellant.
This story continues through colors and lines, from the blue and copper shades and curved lines representing alien technology, to the aluminum and silver shades and straight lines embodying human technology. Three astronauts at the back, impersonated by the hex-shaped reservoirs, look into the void while trying to communicate with the alien being. Up front is a mirror, which reflects Copper Nebula’s destination
Eventually, the humans and aliens succeed in communicating and join each other in a common cause: survival.
When I built Project A.R.E.S. for the latest Cooler Master Case Mod World Series. My goal was to take the Cooler Master Cosmos C700M, (which we list in our Best PC Cases list) and re-think it from the ground up, following this sci-fi design language. My biggest inspiration — mainly for the mod’s color scheme and the starry face at the front of the case — came from Robot in Netflix’s Lost in Space show.
The finished product took about six months and ultimately won Best Tower of the Year in Cooler Master’s contest, is usually what matters most. But I take a lot of pride in how I actually accomplish this kind of work and in inspiring people to start pushing boundaries. By detailing the making of Project A.R.E.S., I hope to do just that. Let’s get started!
Case and Components
Here are the PC components I recruited for Project A.R.E.S.:
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos C700M
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Graphics Card: Inno3D iChill Frostbite RTX 2070 Super
As mentioned, the base of this project is the Cooler Master’s Cosmos C700M. You’re seeing two of those because I actually replaced the bottom panel of one with a second top panel (taken from the second case), for symmetry purposes.
The first step in making such an intricate mod is tearing the case apart, particularly the internals, which will be completely reworked. After that, I flipped the case 90 degrees in order to have the handle bars at both the front and back instead of at the top and bottom, where they were originally.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The C700M case has an amazing feature that helped a lot with these extreme modifications: threaded holes on all sides of the frame. This allows you to easily mount any kind of custom panel or bracket.
Next, I took some aluminum L-profiles and cut them to length to fit all around the case’s frame. This made it easier to add internal panels to close up all sides.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Custom Back Panel
Since the internals were still in the design phase at this point, I proceeded to cut the first custom panel for A.R.E.S., the back panel. I used 5mm acrylic, cut and engraved on my CNC router. The peculiar shape created a challenge, as I had a lot of curved corners and, simply, weird angles to replicate. To tackle this, I first cut an MDF (medium density fiberboard) prototype to trace down the measurements and ensure their accuracy.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
After that, I went to cut the real thing.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Due to the unique shape of the C700M, I had to bend the back panel’s top and bottom using a heat gun. For accuracy, I used the original panels from the C700M as a template.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
You might be wondering about the three circles in the panel. Those are there to show off the Bitspower Water Tank Hexagon reservoirs and to provide a sort of space helmet look. Ultimately, I used ornaments to complete the look.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Going back to the internals, I cut the two top and bottom grills out of 5mm acrylic to allow airflow to the pair of 360mm radiators and fans. I tried to keep Project A.R.E.S.’ insides as clean as possible to let enough air through. The final design is basically open-air though, and there are other entry points for air as well, so it wasn’t a big issue to begin with.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Rotating Hardware Panel
One of the most eye-popping features of Project A.R.E.S. is undoubtedly the rotating system for its main components. Below is an early 3D concept:
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The central design was so difficult to work out, and I went through tens of attempts before landing on one that actually worked. I eventually made the rotating hardware panel’s side wall and rotating bracket out of 5mm aluminum.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
To fix the central acrylic panel, I made four brackets out of 8mm aluminum and screwed them onto the two rotating discs.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Next, I added a small pocket to the side walls, so I could insert two small ball bearings.
This is how it looks without the central piece:
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Floating Effect
On to more aluminum milling. I started making the base and pedestal so that I could start having a clearer look on the final shape of the whole thing.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
First was the 8mm aluminum panel, which attached to the bottom of the case, thanks to two other strips that I cut, drilled and threaded.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
In order for the pedestal to give Project A.R.E.S. the illusion that it’s floating I called in three 40 x 40mm acrylic blocks. But to avoid having to drill holes in them and ruin the magic, I made six acrylic discs that I glued to the blocks and had them serve as mounting holes.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The main part of the pedestal is made out of 15mm acrylic. The trickiest part about constructing this piece was definitely creating the huge chamfered edges. I was able to create the look by using a tridimensional toolpath on the CNC router.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Since my machine isn’t very sturdy, it tends to chutter and leave undesirable finishes on the surface. So I took my orbital sander and got to work with some elbow grease to finish up that big chamfer.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I left a frosted finish so that the edges could catch some light coming from the central LED strip.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Since I didn’t really trust the acrylic to hold all the weight, I added a 5mm aluminum plate under it and a small channel to route the cable from the RGB strip to the back of the pedestal.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
At this stage, here’s what Project A.R.E.S. looked like:
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Current page:
Project A.R.E.S. (Astral Robot Enclosure Systems)
Netflix announced at Tokyo’s AnimeJapan 2021 Expo Saturday that it will launch 40 new anime titles in 2021, Bloomberg reported, following the success of its Blood of Zeusseries last year.
The new series to be released this year include an adaptation of the Japanese manga Record of Ragnarok, set to premiere in June; Yasuke, about an African samurai in feudal-era Japan which will premiere April 29th; and Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, based on the video game franchise. Netflix previously announced its anime series The Way of the Househusband, also based on a Japanese manga series, will debut April 8th. Variety notes that the number of anime titles coming to Netflix this year is nearly double the number of anime series and movies it released in 2020.
“We want to be able to pride ourselves as being the top entertainment destination with good quality content,” Taiki Sakurai, Netflix’s chief anime producer, told Bloomberg. “The growth of our business is directly connected to the growth of our anime.”
The worldwide anime market reached $23 billion last year, and is expected to grow to more than $36 billion by 2025, according to Bloomberg. Sony announced in December it planned to buy anime video site Crunchyroll for nearly $1.2 billion (although that sale has been delayed due to an antitrust probe by the US Department of Justice). According to the New York Times, Netflix said the number of households that streamed its anime offerings last year increased by half from 2019.
If you are looking to buy Microsoft’s most powerful console to date, the Xbox Series X, you can try your luck again right now at Best Buy. The retailer also has the more affordable, all-digital Series S available for $299.99.
Due to the high demand, we expect the supply to run out very quickly, so don’t hesitate if you’re hoping to score one.
Xbox Series X
$500
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s flagship console, serving as its most powerful (and biggest) option that costs $499.99. While the Series S is aimed at smooth 1440p performance, the Series X is focused on fast 4K gameplay.
$500
at Best Buy
Xbox Series S
$300
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Xbox Series S costs $299.99. Compared to the Series X, it’s far smaller, less powerful, and it has half the amount of SSD storage built in. It also lacks a disc drive.
$300
at Best Buy
Once you’ve secured your next-gen Xbox, you might want to buy some additional items, such as games to play on your new console. I strongly recommend picking up a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes a wide array of first- and third-party titles, including a slew of Bethesda games following Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax.
Of course, if you plan to share this console with a loved one, I also recommend buying an extra controller, as the console only comes with one controller.
While on the topic of buying new stuff, it’s not a bad idea to get a TV that will take advantage of next-gen hardware. If you have money to spend, Best Buy is currently selling a Vizio 65-inch 4K OLED TV for $1,500 — that is $500 off its usual price.
Vizio 4K OLED TV
$1,200
$1,300
8% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Vizio is a newcomer to the OLED TV space, but it’s using the same beautiful LG panel as everyone else — and pricing it for much less. The Vizio OLED should be a perfect fit for either the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, thanks to its fluid 120Hz 4K gaming capabilities, and the perfect blacks will make your Netflix content look great, too.
Amazon is coming out with a third generation of its Alexa Voice Remote, and it includes some unwelcome new buttons that will take you to the Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Hulu apps. If you’re one of the people who subscribes to and regularly uses all of those exact streaming services, this remote could be a nice upgrade. But for everyone else, the buttons will only add friction and annoyance to the Fire TV control experience.
We here at The Verge have talked about why we don’t like these buttons before. They turn your remote into a canvas for permanent advertising for services you may not even use, and they take up space that could be used for buttons that take you to services you do use. If you, say, don’t subscribe to Disney Plus or Hulu, then the buttons are, at best, useless to you and, at worst, waiting to be accidentally pressed, leaving you to back out of an app that’s begging you to subscribe.
The obvious alternative is to make the buttons mappable to the services you use and not put permanent branding on them. If the remote instead came with four buttons you could use to open your preferred streaming services, this would be a very different story. Alas, it is not. But hey, now the voice control button is an Alexa button for even more branding! (I will concede that this isn’t that bad, given that it was already called the Alexa Voice remote.)
The previous generation of the remote (which is still for sale), minus the branded buttons. Image: Amazon
I don’t want to make it sound like a few annoying buttons (that could actually be useful to some people) are the end of the world or that this new remote has no redeeming qualities. There’s actually one more new button that takes you to a “guide” showing you a cable-esque timeline of all the content available from the live providers you have, such as Sling, Hulu, or YouTube TV.
Unlike the branded ones, it’s small and not brightly colored, so it’s easy to ignore if you don’t need it (and it won’t be as prone to accidental presses). I just wish remote manufacturers would let us choose the functions we want on our remotes, especially since the streaming service landscape is ever-changing, and people have taken to subscribing to one service for a few months then switching to another.
Competitive games like Magic: The Gathering and League of Legends are absolutely dripping with lore. While they might not tell a story in the traditional sense, they have surprisingly robust fantasy worlds. Usually, you can only catch this in brief snippets through flavor text or character bios. But increasingly, game studios are attempting to build on these fictional worlds through more traditional storytelling, whether it’s comics, short stories, or TV shows.
The latest example is Dota: Dragon’s Blood on Netflix, which fleshes out the world of Valve’s long-running Dota 2 via an eight-episode anime. The good news is that it’s a fun, albeit brief, fantasy romp you can enjoy even if you haven’t played the game. The bad news is that it does very little to explain what makes the world of Dota interesting.
This review includes some spoilers for the early episodes of Dragon’s Blood.
Dragon’s Blood follows the paths of a few different characters, starting with Davion, a dragon knight helping a small town rid itself of some dangerous monsters. Early on, after a strange run-in with an elder dragon, he becomes possessed by a demonic force that occasionally causes him to inconveniently turn into a flesh-hungry dragon himself. Soon after that, he teams up with a disgraced princess named Mirana — who rides a giant cat — on a quest to cure himself and also prevent a war of some kind. There are also elves in search of magical lotus flowers, a goddess desperate to be worshipped, and a handful of other story arcs covering everything from warring elven factions to crazed monsters to the brief appearance of zombies. Oh, and an evil talking sword.
Really, there’s a lot happening, but the show moves at a brisk pace and never settles on a thread for too long. As is common in fantasy stories, there are a few groups with different goals, all seemingly rushing toward each other. But you rarely get to see those threads interact in interesting ways. Just describing the plot is difficult: there are people trying to stop a war, but some of the key elements — like those magic flowers that characters risk their lives for — are never really explained. It’s almost never clear why things that are deemed important actually matter.
There are some things the show does well. Most notably, it’s full of great action sequences — the animation was handled by Studio Mir, best known for its work on The Legend of Korra — with lots of cool special powers and dangerous-looking dragons. You don’t have to understand Dota lore to enjoy a well-choreographed battle between a superpowered knight and the dragon he’s been hunting for decades. The action is fast and fluid, and Dragon’s Blood makes great use of scale and spectacle, with a number of big battles and chase sequences. I should note, however, that things can get pretty graphic. Like Netflix’s Castlevania adaptation, Dragon’s Blood is full of blood and gore, with lots of decapitations and even one sequence where a dragon is butchered.
Essentially, the show is eye candy, quickly jumping from one action-heavy sequence to the next. It looks incredible, but since it’s only eight episodes, this fast pace means it never has the time to fully develop its characters or world. Even worse, Dragon’s Blood never does anything to make Dota stand out from the many other fantasy stories out there. I love ancient dragons and stealthy elf warriors as much as anyone, but they’re not exactly new territory. What is it that makes Dota 2’s universe interesting? As someone who watched the show but hasn’t played the game, I couldn’t tell you. I know it’s a franchise that has an incredibly devoted fan base, some who have played for thousands of hours. But the show reduces it to a bunch of great action sequences covering a generic fantasy story.
Maybe things will change in a second season now that the main cast has been introduced and the magical MacGuffins have been revealed. But after eight episodes, I can’t say I’m any more interested in playing a few rounds of Dota 2 than I was before. Dragon’s Blood is smart in that it doesn’t assume the viewer has much knowledge of the franchise. Unfortunately, it never inspired me to dig deeper, either.
Dota: Dragon’s Blood airs on Netflix starting on March 25th.
With cinemas closed, many of us are looking for ways to create a big-screen cinema experience at home. Step forward the Hisense L5F Laser Cinema, a new ultra-short throw projector that can throw a 120-inch 4K image when placed just 14-inches from a vertical surface.
The H5F – the latest addition to the Chinese tech firm’s L5 series of 4K projectors – launched in the US this week and carries an MSRP of $5000 (around £3700, AU$6600). Built-in Android TV brings support for a plethora of popular streaming apps such as Netflix and Hulu, and there’s a voice remote for using Google Assistant.
The DLP projector uses a single X-Fusion blue laser light source and phosphor colour filter for a claimed brightness of almost 2700 lumens and more than a billion colours. Indeed, Hisense claims the the L5F “delivers up to 83% of the DCI-P3 color gamut” – not bad for a projector that can be stowed away neatly between uses.
According to Hisense, the L5F delivers “true-to-life picture quality” with HDR support coming in the form of HDR10 and HLG. The company’s MEMC smooth motion technology should help deliver on the promise of crisp images during fast-moving scenes.
The projector has two 15-watt built-in speakers, so it’s technically an all-in-one entertainment solution. That said, you’d do well to upgrade to a separate soundbar or surround sound speakers if you want an audio experience worthy of the silver screen.
Those with a next-gen gaming console (here’s where to buy a PS5 and Xbox Series X, if you’re struggling to find one) will be pleased to note that you can connect a gaming system via the L5F’s four HDMI ports.
There’s no word on when the L5F will be available in the UK, but last year’s 100-inch L5F launched at AO.com for £5000 (it’s now dropped to £3000).
Looking for a more affordable way to get a big picture without a huge TV cluttering up your living room? Take a spin around our guide to the best projectors.
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Our pick of the best projectors: Full HD, 4K, portable, short throw
Hisense launches new TriChroma laser TVs at CES 2021
Expert advice: How to set up your projector and get the best picture
Netflix has announced that it will be experimenting with the release schedules of two reality TV shows, The Circle and Too Hot to Handle (via The Hollywood Reporter). Instead of releasing all of the episodes at once, it will release them over the course of a month, with each show having a batch of episodes released on Wednesdays, then releasing the finale by itself at the end of the run. This means you won’t be able to binge all of the episodes in a single weekend… and that may be a good thing.
These shows aren’t the first time Netflix has broken away from the binge model it popularized, in which all of the episodes of a show are released at once. It has released episodes of cooking competition The Great British Baking Show andmusic contest Rhythm + Flow on a weekly basis. With The Circle and Too Hot to Handle, though, Netflix is making a statement that it’s experimenting and trying to give people time to “dissect and dish” the events of the show. In other words, it’s giving people time to gossip about what happened and what could happen next.
There is a benefit to having people talking about your show for a month, rather than only for a weekend. Netflix arguably ran into this problem with The Witcher, with the show’s writing seeming better suited to weekly viewing rather than an eight-hour marathon. That’s especially true for a reality show like The Bachelor, with drama ratcheting up until a big finale. That’s the type of thing you’d want to keep people talking about — and maybe subscribing to your service to see what all the fuss is about.
That’s the type of effect Netflix could be trying to replicate. Reality TV lends itself especially well to a slow burn, keeping the internet buzz alive. Imagine if Tiger King had been released over a month or two, instead of all at once. While The Circle and Too Hot to Handle probably won’t become cultural touchstones like Tiger King did, there is a chance the release schedule will let them become bigger than they would’ve if we had all watched them over a weekend and then moved on.
I’m not trying to say that Netflix will (or should) switch to the weekly release model for its future narrative shows. Yes, Disney was very successful using that model with The Mandalorian and WandaVision, but those shows also had a lot going for them, and Netflix has a history of successfully releasing narrative shows all at once: the aforementioned Witcher series was still well-received, and Stranger Things was an inescapable cultural force for a while there. It’s also worth noting that narrative shows and reality TV are very different formats, and it could make sense to have different release plans for them.
The Circle is a game show about being isolated in an apartment and using only social media to connect with others (weirdly prescient for a show that first aired in 2018), and it will start showing on April 14th, with the finale releasing on May 5th. It seems like Netflix is planning a similar release schedule for Too Hot to Handle, a show where people try to date each other without any PDA, but the company hasn’t released exact details about it yet, other than a release window of “June.”
I can’t imagine there are many people out there clamoring for the ability to create a custom profile image on their favorite video streaming service, but HBO Max wants you to know that it’s giving customers just that option starting today. Subscribers can now choose from a range of preselected avatars — featuring over 120 characters from HBO Max’s library of content — or upload their own photo. The presets come from shows like Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and many others.
Uploading a custom photo isn’t something you can do on Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, or most of the other video streaming apps. (Netflix used to let you link to a social media account and show an image from there, but this is no longer available.) And it could help HBO Max feel just that extra bit personalized to you and other people in your home. If you’ve got kids, maybe they’ll get a kick out of seeing themselves on the profile select screen.
Image: WarnerMedia
“This new feature, which launches today and rolls out across all supported partners by March 26th, allows users to express their identity through a creative lens and further connect with the stories and characters they love on the platform,” WarnerMedia said in a press release.
You’ll be able to pick an avatar or take / upload your own photo using the HBO Max mobile or tablet app. That image will then appear across HBO Max on all of your devices. A WarnerMedia spokesperson told me that “uploaded photos are encrypted and hard deleted once a user removes or changes their profile photo.” And if you’ve got parental controls enabled, a PIN is required before the profile image on a kid’s account can be changed.
I guess HBO Max gets the win on this one versus its streaming rivals — even if WarnerMedia took its sweet time on other, more important things like adding 4K support.
Apple has been ordered to pay $308.5 million to Personalized Media Communications after a federal jury in Texas found the company had infringed on a technology patent related to digital rights management, Bloomberg reported. PMC had sued Apple over its FairPlay technology, used to distribute encrypted content from iTunes, Apple Music, and its App Store.
PMC, which is a patent licensing firm, originally sued Apple in 2015, claiming the tech giant had infringed seven of its patents. Apple successfully challenged the case to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but an appeals court reversed the patent board’s decision last March, and the case went to trial.
Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge on Sunday, but told Bloomberg it would appeal the ruling. “Cases like this, brought by companies that don’t make or sell any products, stifle innovation and ultimately harm consumers,” Apple’s statement reads.
Reuters notes that Sugarland, Texas-based PMC also has infringement cases pending against Netflix, Google, and Amazon.
So I have utterly failed at trying not to watch Hannibal right before bed; it definitely makes for weird dreams but it’s so good. I’m about halfway through season 2 now and getting very nervous for some of the characters I don’t remember from Silence of the Lambs and/or Red Dragon. I also have Promising Young Woman queued up and trying to avoid spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier until I can watch the first episode. Honestly too much good streaming content to keep up.
That said, though, I am very excited by this week’s lineup because we have new trailers, plural, for In the Heights, the movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway play (he also wrote another one you may have heard of, about Alexander Hamilton). Directed by Jon M. Chu, who directed Crazy Rich Asians, the trailers have a lot of familiar faces from Hamilton, including Miranda as the Piragua Guy, Christopher Jackson (George Washington) as the Mr. Softee driver, and as narrator and main character Usnavi is Anthony Ramos, who played both John Laurens and Philip Hamilton. Let’s goooo…
In the Heights
Also starring in In the Heights: Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, and Jimmy Smits.
In the Heights- Washington Heights trailer
I absolutely cannot wait. In the Heights comes to HBO Max and theaters June 11th (the trailers say June 18th, but Chu announced on Twitter it was moving up a week):
Surprise. We coming to Theaters one week earlier!!! There has been so much demand since our trailer release this week that we decided to get it out to you sooner. Let’s gooooooooooooo!!!! See you soon. JUNE 11th 2021. https://t.co/P5NB6z3INB
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) March 19, 2021
Yes there are a few other trailers this week too:
WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn
This documentary tells the story of the co-working business that grew into a massive company only to flame out in spectacular fashion after releasing itsbonkers S-1. There’s also a TV show in the works (based on the WeCrashed podcast) that will star Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto, but this doc looks to be tightly focused on WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, who was at the center of it all. WeWork comes to Hulu April 2nd.
Godzilla vs. Kong
I have to state for the record that I think Godzilla would win a head-to-head with King Kong. This is the latest trailer for the go-big-or-go-home monster movie that stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry. It’s slated to hit HBO Max March 31st.
Concrete Cowboy
Another movie long-delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Concrete Cowboy tells the story of a son reuniting with his estranged father who works at a stable in the inner city rehabilitating horses. Based on the novel Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri, Concrete Cowboy is directed by Ricky Staub and stars Idris Elba (honestly, so riveting in the trailer), Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, and Clifford “Method Man” Smith. It hits Netflix April 2nd.
Four Good Days
Glenn Close is mother to Mila Kunis’ heroin addict, and trying to help her get clean once and for all. Glenn Close is so intense in the trailer in the very best watchful-worried-mom way. Four Good Days was co-written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, and is based on the outstanding piece How’s Amanda? A story of truth, lies and an American addiction by Eli Saslow of the Washington Post. The film comes to theaters April 30th.
What day is it? Wednesday? Can someone please tell me? I don’t have a paper calendar, so there’s no way to know. And I can’t trust Dieter.
What’s that? There are Twitter accounts and bots that can tell me the days of the week? Perfect, I never stop scrolling.
INT. STUDIO APARTMENT — AFTERNOON
A man stands at his desk in front of the cold light of a computer monitor. We HEAR anxious TYPING as the man MASHES the keys on his keyboard. His eyes DART back and forth as he searches for treasures hidden in the depths of the internet.
Hours pass, and then…
Huzzah! I found accounts that will tell me the days of the week! Well, mostly. Here they are:
Monday
Follow @justacaseofthe2, which posts this line from WandaVision every Monday morning.
Tuesday
When I first posted this story, I couldn’t find an account that’s dedicated to posting when it is Tuesday. But literally one minute after I hit publish, a reader sent me a Tuesday-focused account, @No_Problemm_, which posts the Tuesday Again? No Problem………. meme.
And in the comments of the above tweet, I discovered another Tuesday-focused account, @TodaysTuesday. Every Tuesday, the account posts a clip from the Garfield movie A Tale of Two Kitties, which stars Bill Murray as everyone’s favorite Monday-hating cat.
Wednesday
Follow @MyDudes_, which posts the “It is Wednesday, my dudes” meme frog every Wednesday morning. (This week, the account made a special St. Patrick’s Day-themed post.)
Thursday
Follow @thursaconcept, which posts this line from Netflix’s Russian Doll every Thursday morning. What a concept.
Friday
Follow @FridaySailer, which congratulates you for making it to Friday with a picture of Mr. Krabs and a song that I’m 99 percent certain is used in SpongeBob.
The weekend
Follow @CraigWeekend, which posts a clip of Daniel Craig saying “ladies and gentlemen, The Weeknd” with a disaffected shrug of his shoulders every Friday evening. Yes, I know Craig doesn’t explicitly say the words Saturday and Sunday, but he tells me when the weekend starts, which is really all the information I need.
Every day of the week
If you don’t want to follow all of those accounts, follow @TodaysDayToday, made by The Verge’s own Chaim Gartenberg, which tells you the day of the week every morning.
Today is Friday.
— What day is it today? (@TodaysDayToday) March 19, 2021
Update March 19th, 7:44PM ET: Added a Tuesday-focused account.
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