AMC and Netflix have inked a deal to bring several series from the cable network to the streaming platform later this summer. Variety reports that the agreement includes seasons 1-8 of Fear the Walking Dead, season 1 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, seasons 1-4 of Preacher, seasons 1-3 of A Discovery of Witches, seasons 1-3 of Into the Badlands, seasons 1-2 of Kevin can F*** Himself, seasons 1-2 of Dark Winds, seasons 1-2 of Gangs of London, season 1 of Anne Rices Interview With the Vampire, season 1 of Anne Rices Mayfair Witches, season 1 of Monsieur Spade, season 1 of That Dirty Black Bag and season 1 of The Terror. All of them will join Netflix on August 19 and will be available for one year. The first seasons of both The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will land on Netflix on January 13.
Budget-minded viewers may also appreciate that these AMC shows will be available to watch ad-free, even for people on Netflix's ad-supported standard plan. The same is true of all eleven seasons of The Walking Dead that are already on the streaming service.
"These curated titles are also being strategically windowed to drive interest in current and upcoming seasons on our direct-to-consumer and partner platforms," AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan said of the arrangement. "We believe this significant expansion of our Netflix relationship will drive viewership and engagement on Netflix, while also raising awareness and interest in our award-winning content on AMC-branded and partner platforms across our distribution ecosystem.
The cable company pursued a similar, even shorter-term deal to get Fear the Walking Dead and other programming in front of the Max streaming audience in 2023. The companys own streaming service, AMC+, had 11.5 million subscribers as of May 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amc-is-bringing-fifteen-shows-to-netflix-for-one-year-230551808.html?src=rss
The sudden and tragic passing of Kevin Conroy, the revered voice actor who voiced Batman/Bruce Wayne for Batman: The Animated Series and the Batman Arkham games and died in 2022 at 66, somehow felt worse with the release of the Suicide Squad game. Rocksteadys disappointing open world DC Comics game almost marked the last time that Conroy would voice The Dark Knight and an evil Batman at that. Even if the game was good, it wouldnt feel right letting Conroys credit list end on such a down note.
Thankfully, a new Warner Bros. Animation trilogy based on the Justice League: Crisis of Infinite Earths DC comics series will feature the final voiceover performance of Conroy as Batman. The climatic scene showing his final moments found its way to X yesterday.
Conroy's final voiceover occurs in the final film of the trilogy. If you dont want to know how it ends before youve had a chance to watch the whole thing, you should stop scrolling down right now.
This is a much better way to End Conroys performance as Batman. I loved the dialogue here, I miss Kevin so much pic.twitter.com/2qpd15eVGQ BrutalVengeance (@BVengeance267) July 16, 2024
The whole scene feels like a purposeful nod and tribute to Conroy and his contributions to the animated and pixelated Batmen. The scene starts with lightning as the virtual camera pans down to Batman. Hes standing on a building overlooking Gotham City just like in the opening credits of Batman: The Animated Series, the 90s afternoon TV cartoon that first glued Conroys voice to the image of Batman.
The Joker, voiced by Troy Baker, sneaks up behind ol Bats and tries to sucker punch him but fails. He strikes Joker to the ground and Joker says with a smile, Im flattered. The end of the world and you wanted to spend it with me. I didnt know you cared.
Some kind of destructive force envelopes the city and sky. Batman remarks just before the world implodes, I care, Joker, about Gotham, about justice and if it has to end, at least I go out like this. Being Batman.
We also shouldve included a Kleenex warning because its such a touching way to pay tribute to Conroy and his legacy to the Batman series.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hear-kevin-conroys-final-performance-as-batman-in-crisis-on-infinite-earths-221556477.html?src=rss
Anthropic announced that its Claude chatbot is now available as an Android app. After introducing the platforms free iOS app in May, Android owners can now also play with the company's AI on their mobile devices. The Android app is free and works with both the Pro and Team plans for paid users. Conversations with Claude can happen across hardware, with both of the mobile apps and the web version connected to each other.
This platform is one of several large-language model AI chatbots currently available to the public. OpenAI and its ChatGPT tool have attracted the lion's share of attention. ChatGPT is already available in both Android and iOS app form, and it underlies many features of the new Apple Intelligence. However, it's possible that Claude may have more powerful skills. According to Anthropic, the Claude 3 version of the platform performed better than both ChatGPT and Google's Gemini on some important benchmarks. The Claude 3 Opus version scored top marks in March and the Sonnet 3.5 version did the same in June. We always need to take that kind of comparison from one of the companies in question with many grains of salt. But even the leaps between the Sonnet and Opus over the course of a few months do appear to be impressive.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anthropics-claude-chatbot-is-now-an-android-app-220046355.html?src=rss
Googles secret new line of Pixel 9 phones isnt that big of a secret anymore. Taiwans National Communications Commission (NCC) released new photos of the phones including the Pixel 9 Pro Fold from almost every conceivable angle.
Android Authority found the photos in the NCC archives and uploaded galleries of each of the four phones including the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL and 9 Pro Fold. They reveal some interesting details about the new Pixel phones.
The charging rates will be a little faster than the last generation of Pixel phones: Taiwanese authorities measured 24.12W for the base model, 25.20W for the Pro and 32.67W for the 9 Pro XL. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, however, was the slowest of all of them at 20.25W. These numbers dont often match up perfectly with the advertised ratings, so expect Google to be promoting higher numbers at its event.
Speaking of chargers, it looks like Google needed a bigger charger to power its new phones. Photos included in the NCC leak show each phone will come with a wall charger thats around 45W depending on which model you purchase. The chargers plug moved from the middle to the top of the brick.
NCC/Android Authority
The latest photo dump also shows the 9 Pro Fold unfolded for the first time. Google has moved the selfie camera to the inside screen for a wider field of view. The 9 Pro Fold also has a slimmer top and bottom, a reduced fold crease on the display and a full 180 degree unfolding angle to make a screen thats just over 250mm or just under 10 inches.
These photos are the latest in a very long list of leaks of Google Pixel 9 photos. The last Pixel 9 leak came down yesterday showing two prototype models of the base and XL models. Google might look into buying a new combination lock for the high school locker where they apparently keep all their unreleased gear.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-photos-reveal-more-details-about-googles-pixel-9-pro-fold-213344869.html?src=rss
A US Senate Committee led by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has issued a report claiming nearly half of Amazon warehouse workers were injured during the week of Prime Day 2019. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman described the companys behavior from five years ago as incredibly dangerous. For its part, Amazon claims Sen. Sanders is distorting and cherry-picking facts while ignoring others to fit a narrative.
The report cites internal company data, including injuries Amazon isnt required to document for OSHA, allegedly showing warehouse workers suffered nearly 45 injuries per 100 workers during the week of Prime Day 2019. Meanwhile, of the recordable injuries serious enough that the company has to report them to OSHA, the report claims Amazons were more than double the industry average over 10 per 100 workers.
The incredibly dangerous working conditions at Amazon revealed in this investigation are a perfect example of the type of corporate greed that the American people are sick and tired of, Sanders wrote Tuesday in a HELP Committee announcement. The Senator said Amazon treats its workers as disposable and with complete contempt for their safety and wellbeing.
Meanwhile, an Amazon spokespersons statement, shared with Engadget, claims the committees findings paint a misleading picture. The company says the committees conclusions drew from unverified anecdotes, misrepresented years-old documents and included factual errors and misguided analysis.
For example, one of the false claims in the report implies that were not adequately staffed for busy shopping periods, company spokesperson Kelly Nantel wrote in Amazons statement. This is just not true, as we carefully plan and staff up for major events, ensure that we have excess capacity across our network, and design our network so that orders are automatically routed to sites that can handle unexpected spikes in volume.
Amazon says its made significant progress in the five years since the data the report cited, including reducing its recordable incident rate (those requiring OSHA reports by law) by 28 percent in the US. The company says it also lowered its lost time incident rate (workers who suffer more significant injuries that require time off) by 75 percent.
No matter whose framing you prefer, this isnt the first time Amazon has been criticized for its warehouse working conditions. Last year, a coalition of labor unions, citing OSHA data, claimed the company was responsible for 53 percent of all serious warehouse injuries recorded in the US in 2022. That report claimed Amazons warehouse workers were injured more frequently (and often more severely) than their non-Amazon counterparts.
Last month, the California Labor Commissioners office fined Amazon nearly $6 million for violating a state law requiring large companies to notify warehouse and distribution workers in writing about their expected quotas, how often theyre expected to perform certain tasks and what consequences they would face for failing to meet their quotas. That law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, was drafted in reaction to Amazon workers claiming they would skip bathroom breaks or risk injury to optimize their output.
That followed a 2021 report by The Washington Post (ironically, owned by Jeff Bezos), claiming data shows Amazon's warehouse workers "suffer serious injuries at higher rates than other firms. The company, still helmed by Bezos at the time, quickly changed its Time Off Task policy in response.
In addition, as CNBC notes, OSHA and the US Attorneys Office are investigating conditions at some Amazon warehouses. The Department of Justice is also investigating whether the company underreports injuries an accusation echoed by Sanders in the HELP Committees findings.
Perhaps The Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS), an organization that tries to balance corporate and regulatory priorities (good luck with that), found a spin we can all agree on. If [Sanders] wants to improve safety for delivery workers, he should start with the US Postal Service, as OSHAs own data shows the USPS by far has the highest percentage of investigations resulting in citations compared to other large employers in the industry.
The moral of the story? No matter what a company is accused of, theres a good chance the US Postal Service sucks even more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senate-probe-bernie-sanders-claims-nearly-half-of-amazon-warehouse-workers-were-injured-during-prime-day-2019-204028410.html?src=rss
Streaming has hit a new high on the American viewing charts. According to the latest Nielsen data, streaming services were responsible for 40.3 percent of daily TV viewing in June 2024. It's a banner result for streaming video, which first overtook cable in Nielsen ratings back in 2022. The June result marks not only the biggest share recorded for streaming since Nielsen added it as a tracked category on The Gauge report, but it is also the largest share Nielsen has ever recorded for a single viewership category. Cable TV secured 27.2 percent of American viewing for the month, followed by broadcast TV at 20.5 percent.
YouTube was the favorite streaming platform with 9.9 percent of the monthly usage, followed by Netflix at 8.4 percent. The summer sensation of Bridgerton helped boost Netflix's performance; the costume drama was responsible for a staggering 9.3 billion minutes of viewing during the month. There's a notable drop after those two services, with Amazon's Prime Video securing 3.1 percent, and companion platforms Hulu and Disney+ coming in with 3 percent and 2 percent shares, respectively.
In case those streaming figures seem low, it's important to note that Nielsen tracks viewing only on television screens. That means the vast number of hours Americans spend streaming shows on their phones and tablets isn't part of this accounting.
While streaming continues to draw ever-more eyeballs, executives are more focused on drawing in dollars. Another report, this one from analyst PricewaterhouseCoopers, projected that advertising would be responsible for about 28 percent of global streaming revenue. In 2023, the ad share was 20 percent.
The report credited that shift to the growth rate of subscription revenue stalling out. "Usage and consumer uptake of the core offering is continuing to increase albeit at a lower rate than in recent years but companies are having greater difficulty getting people to pay more for digital goods and services," PwC said. "As the number and range of streaming services proliferate, a form of market saturation has begun to kick in." In response, recent years have seen many of the top video streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video have introduced hybrid models that offer lower monthly subscription costs in exchange for viewers watching ads. If the PwC forecast is accurate, we can expect other platforms to follow suit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/streaming-accounted-for-more-than-40-percent-of-tv-viewing-in-june-203206939.html?src=rss
Behaviour Interactive has shared a bunch of Dead by Daylight-related updates, including the release date for an upcoming spinoff. The Casting of Frank Stone, which was developed by Until Dawn studio Supermassive Games, will hit PC, PlayStation and Xbox on September 3.
This is a single-player game that brings the narrative adventure format that Supermassive has used so effectively in its previous projects to the DbD universe. The story will change based on the decisions you make and how you deal with quick-time events and puzzles. It focuses on a bunch of young people who want to film their own horror movie in a condemned steel mill, only to find evidence of crimes carried out by a serial killer. The game is said to take between five and seven hours to complete.
As for the main game, Lara Croft is now available as a survivor as part of the Tomb Raider chapter, which went live today. Cross-progression will finally be available starting on July 22 as well. You'll need a Behaviour account and a copy of the base game for each platform on which you want to play it. You'll have access to all of the same progress and purchases on each system.
Those who have been waiting for extra DbD mayhem can look forward to a limited-time mode that pits two killers against eight survivors when the long-awaited 2 vs. 8 option goes live on July 25. The maps are larger and survivors will need to repair twice as many generators to escape. To keep the action fast paced, hooks and perks will be removed. Survivors will be able to try out a new class system instead. The 2 vs. 8 mode will be available until August 8.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-by-daylight-spinoff-the-casting-of-frank-stone-arrives-on-september-3-192339402.html?src=rss
A pre-release build of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has leaked online two months before release, according to reporting by Insider Gaming. This is a fully playable version that was randomly posted on a tracker, according to sources who have downloaded and experimented with the build. It remains unclear how the game ended up online.
Players have said that the game is around 75GB in size. Though this leaked build is playable, it does have some issues. There are missing strings and a bunch of placeholder assets, but the version does include server data that should allow for online play. As expected, gameplay footage has begun popping up online, but well refrain from posting any so as to keep things spoiler-free. We will drop a trailer though, because the game looks neat.
In addition to forgoing gameplay videos, we dont recommend heading to a torrent site to look for the leaked build. This is not only bad for the hard-working folks who made the game, but will more than likely riddle your PC with more bugs than an open Florida patio in summer. Torrents aint what they used to be.
pic.twitter.com/Fx8XOCwow0 Focus Entertainment (@Focus_entmt) July 16, 2024
Developers Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive have issued a statement regarding the leak, asking fans to wait for the official release and thanking them for ongoing support. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 comes out on September 9 and will be available for the PS5, Xbox Series S|X and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/warhammer-40k-space-marine-2-has-leaked-online-two-months-before-release-185034761.html?src=rss
It's hard to believe, but athletes have never had access to a dedicated space for spending time with their babies and young children while competing at the Olympics. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will see the first-ever Olympic Village Nursery, courtesy of Pampers and designed for children of diaper-wearing age.Located in the non-residential area of the Olympic Village Plaza, the nursery will be open daily from 9 am to 9 pm, providing a calm space to care, nurture and bond. In addition to comfortable seating and a play zone, there's also a private area for breastfeeding. Naturally, Pampers diapers and wipes will be on offer, too. One of the athletes helping launch the initiative is US Track & Field legend Allyson Felix, who is both an 11-time Olympic medalist and a mother. Felix explained to NBC, "I had the experience of coming back to competition with my daughter, and it was really challenging. [...] It was even hard in ways I didn't expect, like staying in hotels, washing bottles, all the things you have to bring, feeding your baby in stadiums, who's going to watch your baby."The nursery is part of the IOC's commitment to pro athletes who are also parents, recognizing the unique challenges they face while balancing extremely demanding careers with raising young children. Within or beyond sports, what's a longstanding pain point your brand could solve? Before you get started, find your Allyson Felix a knowledgeable advocate with first-hand experience of exactly what needs fixing.
Sling is coming in hot in the year 2024 and offering its users live 4K content. The platform says that Sling TV subscribers will be able to watch the forthcoming MLB All-Star Game in glorious UHD. The event airs on Fox Sports on July 16.
The company says this 4K experience will only be available to customers in certain markets, though did indicate that this will lead to more high-resolution offerings in the near future. Get ready to see your favorite sports like never before, said Seth Van Sickel, senior vice president of product & operations, Sling Video Services.
Competitor Fubo TV has been offering 4K streams on select sporting events since 2019 and YouTube TV has been doing the same since 2021. Univision aired the first 4K soccer broadcast all the way back in 2016.
It is true, however, that a vast majority sporting events arent streamed in 4K. Even many that are advertised as being 4K are actually upscaled 1080p streams. Its actually pretty difficult to broadcast live sports in 4K, due to the number of cameras required to adequately cover one of these events. Major NFL games often require 80 to 100 cameras and, well, 4K cameras are much more expensive than HD cameras.
There are also several bottlenecks to overcome. 4K cameras require at least twice the amount of cabling running from the cam to the production area. With a sporting event, that translates to thousands of feet of dense cabling for a single camera, let alone 80. 4K cameras also increase the number of required video console inputs by a factor of four.
The stream has to be processed and compressed for broadcast, which takes a whole lot of computing power. These processors must be kept cool, which is yet another expense. Finally, the broadcaster has to send the feed to its distribution partners, and many of them simply cant handle 4K. The whole thing is just an expensive undertaking, despite the fact that 4K TVs have been standard in homes for around a decade.
As for Sling, it plans on continuing with this experiment in 4K streaming with college and pro football on Fox Sports and the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics on NBC. Maybe this will finally make 4K sports streaming the norm and not a once-in-a-while experience.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sling-will-finally-stream-its-first-live-event-in-4k-the-2024-mlb-all-star-game-173536869.html?src=rss
