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A new government program is trying to encourage Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer lower rates for lower income customers by distributing federal funds through states. The only problem is the ISPs dont want to offer the proposed rates. Ars Technica obtained a letter sent to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signed by more than 30 broadband industry trade groups like ACA Connects and the Fiber Broadband Association as well as several state based organizations. The letter raises both a sense of alarm and urgency about their ability to participate in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The newly formed BEAD program provides over $42 billion in federal funds to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure, deployment and adoption programs in states across the country, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The money first goes to the NTIA and then its distributed to states after they obtain approval from the NTIA by presenting a low-cost broadband Internet option. The ISP industries letter claims a fixed rate of $30 per month for high speed Internet access is completely unmoored from the economic realities of deploying and operating networks in the highest-cost, hardest-to-reach areas. The letter urges the NTIA to revise the low-cost service option rate proposed or approved so far. Twenty-six states have completed all of the BEAD programs phases. Americans pay an average of $89 a month for Internet access. New Jersey has the highest average bill at $126 per month, according to a survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report. A 2021 study from the Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of households with an annual salary of $30,000 or less have a broadband connection.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/isps-are-fighting-to-raise-the-price-of-low-income-broadband-220620369.html?src=rss
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The Boys may be one season away from ending but its not done caking your screens with blood and torn muscle tissue. Cast member Jensen Ackles who plays Soldier Boy on The Boys revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con that Amazon will produce a prequel of the superhero show called Vought Rising. The new prequel will take place in the 1950s during the early days of the evil Vought empire, the mega conglomerate that runs the entire superhero industry in The Boys universe. The new series will show the early exploits of characters like Soldier Boy and the almost-immortal Nazi supe Stormfront played by Aya Cash. The story will revolve around some kind of twisted murder mystery about the origins of Vought, according to executive producer Eric Kripke and showrunner and executive producer Paul Grellong. Vought Rising sounds like a reimagining of Watchmen without the brooding and self-importance. Thats not to say Watchmen is bad. Those things and its brutal honesty about the nature of its characters are what makes it great but would it kill Rorschach to make just one curse-laden pop culture reference? The Boys has become Amazons Game of Thrones. Even when the main series ends, it wont be the last we hear from it. The same Comic-Con panel also revealed its college themed spinoff Gen V is getting another season, according to GamesRadar+. Theres also another spinoff in development called The Boys: Mexico with Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Blue Beetle writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, according to Deadline. Theres also The Boys Presents: Diabolical, the animated anthology series in which some of the original series writers and producers like Garth Ennis and Seth Rogen and special guest stars like Awkwafina and Andy Samberg penned original stories about supes and presented them in different animation styles. Not to sound ungrateful but when are we gonna get another season of that?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-giving-the-boys-the-prequel-treatment-201058614.html?src=rss
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Have you ever looked at something in your home like a dining room table or an adjustable height desk and wondered what it would be like to go on a date with it? Also, were you sober at the time? A new dating sim game called Date Everything! will let you see just what its like to search for true, meaningful love with the things you see almost every day (in the cleanest way possible, of course). The surreal sounding dating sim game comes from an LA-based studio called Sassy Chap Games founded by a group of voice actors whove worked on games and shows like Critical Role, HiFi-Rush, One Punch Man, Final Fantasy XV, X-Men 97 and Genshin Impact. The indie game publisher Team17 will distribute the game for PC on Steam, the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, according to a press release. The game puts players in the role of a lonely heart who receives a special pair of glasses called a Dateviator that transforms items in their home into human date candidates. For instance, the vacuum cleaner turns into a hunky heartthrob named Hoove and the laundry hamper transforms into a fiery redhead named Harper. Date Everything! has 100 possible mates in your home with their own voices, styles and personalities. You get to know items like the refrigerator or the drawing room piano in their human forms. Depending on how things go, the relationship can end in one of three ways: Love, Friend or Hate. These relationships create a chain of different possible paths in which your choices influence the outcome along a critical path tying it all together, according to the press release. Team17/Sassy Chap Games Since Date Everything! comes from a studio founded by voice actors, all of the characters are fully voiced. Some of the more familiar names include Felicia Day from Supernatural and Mystery Science Theater 3000, Johnny Yong Bosch from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Grey DeLisle from Scooby-Doo and The Last Airbender. Date Everything! doesnt just sound like a new and interesting twist on the dating sim game concept. It also sounds like a great way to boost your ego. If youre down because you dont have someone in your life, at least you can play the game and realize, Well, at least Im not trying to date my garbage disposal.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-date-everything-in-date-everything-190032967.html?src=rss
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We haven't had an update on Netflixs Bioshock movie in a couple of years, leading some to wonder if it was quietly canned. The good news? The movies still coming. The (potential) bad news? The budget has been slashed, according to reporting by Variety. This comes from producer Roy Lee, who was one of the people behind The Lego Movie. He announced the reduced budget during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. He didnt put out any numbers, but did say that the movie is currently being reconfigured to be a more personal film. Director Francis Lawrence is still helming the picture. He has directed four of the five Hunger Games movies, along with I Am Legend and the original Constantine. The Bioshock film was first announced back in 2022, but since that time Netflix has experienced something of a regime change on the executive level. Dan Lin replaced Scott Stuber as the streamers film chief and Lin has tightened the purse strings away from stuff like Zack Snyders Rebel Moon. The new regime has lowered the budgets, Lee said at Comic-Con. So were doing a much smaller version. In addition to budget cuts, Lee noted that Netflix has changed its compensation strategy with regard to movies. Its shifting to a more traditional model that relies on bonuses tied to actual viewership numbers. This could actually be good news. In my opinion, personal stories tend to work better than constant CGI battles with hordes of faceless baddies. Bioshock is also, at its heart, a personal story about family, with the fantastical Rapture setting being window dressing. I guess it ultimately depends on how much of that budget was cut. Theres a big difference between a slightly reduced budget and a massive cut that turns all of the footage into darkened corridor scenes filmed in a series of Toronto or Atlanta warehouses. The release date hasnt been announced and, honestly, it could still be a ways off. Director Lawrence has a lot on his plate right now, including an adaptation of Stephen Kings The Long Walk and yet another Hunger Games movie.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-bioshock-movie-is-still-happening-but-with-a-reduced-budget-184524214.html?src=rss
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Warner Bros. Discovery followed through on its threat to take appropriate action against the NBA for rejecting its broadcasting rights offer. Variety reported on Friday that the media company sued the league in the New York State Supreme Court after the NBA turned down its bid to match Amazons streaming package that kicks in starting in the 2025-26 season. The conflict stems from Warners belief that its current contract gives it the right to match any offer that would replace Warners TNT as a home for NBA games (and the iconic Inside the NBA) in the upcoming deal. As for the leagues stance, The Athletic reported that since the current agreements were signed when streaming was on the horizon, but not part of the deals, the NBA disagrees with Warners matching claim. The lawsuit was expected as soon as the league announced its new broadcasting and streaming package, which also includes Disney (ABC and ESPN) and Comcast (NBC). The NBA reportedly told Warner it rejected its matching offer because it wanted to put all its games on its streaming service, Max, in addition to TNT. Amazon also allegedly offered to pay its first three years in full, whereas Warner offered a three-year line of credit. Finally, the NBA reportedly believed Amazons reach was simply greater. Warner Bros. Discoverys most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Videos offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon, the NBAs statement on Wednesday read. Charles BarkleyTNT / Warner Bros. Discovery Unless Warner can force the NBAs hand, the new agreement will almost certainly mean the end of Inside the NBA. The decades-old sports show, starring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille ONeal, has harnessed a rare blend of comedy, chemistry and (sometimes taking a backseat to the first two) sports analysis. The beloved program, which has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards, began in 1989 as a Johnson solo effort before fleshing out its tight-knit cast through the following years and (in the case of Shaq) decades. Turner has partnered with the NBA since the 1984-85 season, which coincided with Barkleys (and Michael Jordans) entrance into the league out of college. Barkley lashed out at the NBA after hearing about the new rights package, accusing it of wanting to break up with us from the beginning in a statement on X. Adding, Im not sure TNT ever had a chance, the Hall of Famer described it as a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks, Barkley wrote before thanking Turners fans for the last 24 years hes been on the show. Inside the NBA will return next season, perhaps its last, along with the networks standard lineup of NBA games, before the new deal begins in the 2025-26 season.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/warner-bros-discovery-sues-the-nba-in-a-last-ditch-effort-to-block-amazons-new-streaming-package-183352404.html?src=rss
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