Hasta La Gadget!

David Ellison, the new chief executive of Paramount, has big plans for the media giant and wants to turn it into a “media and technology” company, according to the Financial Times. Ellison is taking over as Paramount’s boss after his production studio, Skydance Media, agreed to acquire the company behind massive films and franchises like The Godfather, Top Gun, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Skydance served as its financial partner in several projects that include Top Gun: Maverick. According to Reuters, Skydance is paying $2.4 billion to buy National Amusements, the firm that holds a controlling stake in Paramount.

As the Times notes, Paramount struggled financially after investing billions of dollars in its streaming service. Paramount+, however, has yet to turn a profit despite the company’s efforts and even though it launched a plan with ads in order to get more people to sign up. Earlier this year, the media giant laid off 800 employees, including Paramount+ workers. But Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, intends to continue investing and working on the streaming service.

He’s planning to rebuild Paramount+’s technology and use modern infrastructure to improve its recommendation algorithm that helps users find new shows. In addition, he’s planning to work with his father’s company to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Jeff Shell, who’s going to become the combined company’s president, told the Times that Paramount+ is going to team up with other streaming services and enter bundling agreements. The goal is to cut costs and to get customers to keep paying for access. Shell said they’ve already had calls from “different potential partners” and they’re going to consider agreements that will get the service “more scale” and will get them to break even more quickly.

The merger is expected to be finalized next year, after which the new Paramount will be valued at $28 billion. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paramount-and-skydance-will-merge-to-create-new-tech-media-giant-140052942.html?src=rss

Spotify is bridging the gap between podcasters and their listeners by launching a comment section for podcasts, which will start showing up on episodes today. Listeners can find the service’s new comment section by scrolling past the play controls or navigating to the episode page once they’re done listening. At launch, all posts will be private by default, and creators will have full control over what comments will show up on their page. They have the power to publish and unpublish any response they want. If they have no time to do that, they can enable comments for specific episodes only or opt out of the feature altogether. 

The service is making it possible for all creators to oversee comments by giving them access to the updated Spotify for Podcasters app, whether or not they’re hosted by the company. Creators that aren’t hosted on the Spotify for Podcasters platform just have to claim their show through the app first. In addition to being able to control what responses get published on their page, creators will also receive notifications for new comments and for reaching show milestones. They’ll get access to analytics and insights on their audience, as well. 

Spotify says listeners who engage with its interactive features, such as its Q&As and polls, are (on average) four times more likely to return to a show within 30 days. Those users also spend twice as many hours per month listening to podcasts than those who don’t engage with Spotify’s interactive features. The company intends to make its platform even more interactive and has more plans for fall this year. It also vows to continue improving its comments experience based on the feedback it gets from both podcasters and listeners. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-is-launching-a-comment-section-for-podcasts-130034091.html?src=rss

Blizzard and Hasbro have revealed the Transformers skins for Overwatch 2’s upcoming collaboration with the popular mecha toy franchise. The two companies released an animated trailer on the Overwatch YouTube channel today, showing off the skins based on three Autobots and a Decepticon.

The trailer shows that the Transformers skins are assigned to Reinhardt, Bastion, Illari and Ramratta — four characters that were already robots or humans wearing armor to begin with. Reinhardt will be cosplaying Optimus Prime, the fearless leader of the Autobots; Bastion will be Bumblebee; Illari will be pretty in pink as Arcee; and Ramratta will be the fearsome Decepticon leader, Megatron. Many Overwatch 2 players are anticipating how well the Transformers skins will fit with the game’s aim-and-click, collection, and respawn mechanics in actual gameplay.

The Transformers crossover comes on the heels of the game’s collaboration with Porsche back in May, which transformed (pun entirely intended) the newest models of the German company’s cars into souped-up skin for D.Va and Pharah. Earlier this year, players got to dress up Cassidy as Spike Siegel and Ashe as Faye Valentine during the Cowboy Bebop collaboration, among other characters from the classic anime. Last year, fans put Doomfist in a skin based on Saitama from another hit anime, One-Punch Man.

The Overwatch 2 x Transformers collaboration begins tomorrow. Blizzard didn’t put a price tag on the Transformers skins nor mention whether they’ll be obtained as free rewards via gameplay. For reference, the Cowboy Bebop and Porsche skins cost a pretty penny, so you may be expected to spend big on the Transformers skin you like the best. Regardless, this crossover may appeal to players who played with Transformers action figures and watched the animated series when they were kids.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/overwatch-2-shows-off-transformers-skins-in-animated-trailer-222358657.html?src=rss

Japanese researchers have set a new world record for internet download speeds, reaching 402 terabits per second (Tbps). This surpasses their previous record of 321 Tbps from the previous year. To put this into perspective, 402 Tbps is equivalent to 402,000,000 megabits per second (Mbps), vastly outstripping typical home internet speeds, which are often below 1,000 Mbps.

This remarkable speed enables downloading massive files, like the 18+ GB game Elden Ring, almost instantaneously. The researchers achieved this breakthrough using widely available fiber optic cables, augmented by innovative new technologies. These advancements include the first-ever O to U-band transmission system capable of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) in standard optical fiber, coupled with custom-designed amplifier technology.

This chart from the NICT press release illustrates the significant improvement of this new record and the wavelengths used by researchers to achieve it (Image credit: NICT).

The international research team was led by the Photonic Network Laboratory at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Tokyo, Japan. Their method involved enhancing data signal amplification to maximize the transmission capabilities of fiber optic cables.

This included using six doped-fiber amplifier variants combined with Raman-amplification techniques to span all low-loss transmission bands of silica fibers, achieving an unprecedented 37.6 terahertz (THz) of bandwidth over 50 kilometers of fiber optic cable.

No, you cannot get it at home

Despite the significant advancements, such extreme speeds are unlikely to be available to consumers anytime soon; Current hardware limitations mean that even top-tier gaming PCs cannot handle or write data at such high speeds. Nonetheless, the new transmission system represents a substantial leap forward in data transfer capabilities.

The experimental nature of this research suggests that while consumers won’t see these speeds in the near future, the findings could significantly influence the development of faster internet technologies, potentially revolutionizing data transmission rates in the future.

Japan Sets New Internet Speed Record At 402,000,000 Mbps

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Samsung continues to advance digital health innovation by integrating comprehensive, personalized, and accurate health data through its BioActive Sensor. The latest iteration of it, to be featured in the upcoming Galaxy Watch, promises huge advancements in terms of wellness features and improved health measurements.

The new BioActive Sensor includes several enhancements aimed at providing more precise health insights. Samsung engineers focused on three key upgrades: enhancing the performance of light-receiving photodiodes, adding a wider range of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and optimizing their arrangement.

This redesign reduced the number of photodiodes from eight to four while doubling their performance, thus allowing more space for a diverse array of LEDs, including Blue, Yellow, Violet, and Ultraviolet, alongside increased numbers of Green, Red, and Infrared LEDs.

These improvements set new standards in wearable technology by boosting the accuracy of health metrics such as heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen levels, and stress levels. The South Korean company states that heart rate measurements during intensive workouts will be 30% more accurate when compared to previous versions.

The diverse LED colors and specially designed photodiodes enhance the ability to explore new aspects of health monitoring, enabling users to better predict trends and take proactive steps for preventative care.

One of the key features introduced with the new BioActive Sensor is the Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) Index — This index is a biomarker of metabolic health and biological aging, and is influenced by lifestyle and dietary habits. It offers users a snapshot of their biological age, helping them make informed decisions about their wellness journey and strive towards a healthier future.

The AGEs Index is just one of the advanced features planned for the next Galaxy Watch so, stay tuned to know more about Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Watch, and don’t forget to check our review of the Galaxy Watch6.

Samsung’s New Galaxy Watch Sensor To Revolutionize Preventative Wellness

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.