Not every Samsung Galaxy phone needs to be as fancy as the S10. At MWC, the A30 and A50 debuted with bright displays and powerful cameras.
Source: CNET
We combed through Lyft’s SEC filing. Here’s everything we learned.
Source: CNET
CEO Tim Cook takes questions from investors about privacy, politics and new products.
Source: CNET
Moto’s budget friendly phone is now on Google’s phone service.
Source: CNET
Uber’s recent stumbles have helped Lyft surge ahead in terms of revenue, but its costs are growing, too.
Source: Wired
Another overly niche streaming service is closing up shop. On Friday, Alpha – a geek-friendly streaming service that focused on TV, pop-culture, sci-fi, comics, video games and more – announced it was shutting down. The subscription-based streaming service had been a joint venture between Nerdist and Geek & Sundry, and offered $4.99-per-month access to a mix of exclusive original content and other fan favorites from both brands.
Launched in 2016 by Legendary Digital Networks, the company had claimed a year ago it had a “six-figure” subscriber base that had grown by 200 percent over the past year. But even then, its potential reach would have remained small – Nerdist and Geek & Sundry combined had 8 million monthly uniques. Only a fraction of that audience would have likely converted to paying customers.
The company says today Alpha customers watched a cumulative 600 million minutes.
In an announcement to subscribers, the company said Alpha will no longer be active as of March 31, 2019. As of today, it will no longer accept subscriptions and renewals. However, existing subscribers can continue to watch until the end.
Some of the service’s content will move to Twitch, while others will become VOD (video on demand.)
“This is the end of an era that we will remember fondly, but it’s also the beginning of a future where more of the premium Nerdist and Geek & Sundry content featured on Alpha will be available to more viewers than ever,” the company wrote in an email to subscribers.
The decision to close up Alpha appears to have been fairly recent. In August 2018, the company acquired a sci-fi drama “Sona” starring Ashley Clements for the service, and commissioned a new sci-fi series “Orbital Redux” which was to be streamed live, as a twist to get viewers to watch.
But at the end of the day, there’s a lot of competition for consumers’ dollars on the wider streaming market, and plenty of bingeable sci-fi and pop culture content to be found elsewhere.
The full email to subscribers is below:
Dear Valued Alpha Member,
We regret to announce that effective March 31, 2019, we will be closing Alpha. All of us at Nerdist and Geek & Sundry are so thankful to you for being a part of this amazing community. Since Alpha launched in November of 2016, we have watched over 600 million minutes of content together. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve GIFed. And we’ve cherished the friendships we’ve made. And while Alpha is going away, we have some exciting news to share.
First things first, starting today, new subscriptions/renewals will no longer be accepted, however all accounts that are active on March 1, 2019, will continue to be active until the service closes. If you have remaining months on an annual subscription after March 31, 2019, we will refund any prepaid amounts on a prorate basis to your payment method on file.
But here’s the good news! As part of an ongoing partnership with Twitch, the library of Alpha content will be streamed to the Twitch platform effective immediately. Some titles are already being shown on the Geek & Sundry Twitch Channel, and episodes that have been streamed will remain viewable as VODs to subscribers. We would love for you to come join us on Twitch, so we can continue entertaining each other. Don’t worry. If you’re not already a Twitch account-holder, signing up is a breeze!
This is the end of an era that we will remember fondly, but it’s also the beginning of a future where more of the premium Nerdist and Geek & Sundry content featured on Alpha will be available to more viewers than ever.
Thanks for coming along with us on this continuing adventure.
Your Friends at Alpha
Source: TechCrunch
If you want to get a taste of what’s coming in the Division 2, you can download the beta for free and play all weekend.
Source: CNET
ENIAC was the world’s first electronic digital computer, and it was programmed by a team of six women. Remembering their contributions could inspire more young women to pursue careers in the tech industry.
The post Long before Gates or Jobs, 6 women programmed the first digital computer appeared first on Digital Trends.
Source: Digital trends
Rackspace, the hosted private cloud vendor, let go around 200 workers or 3 percent of its worldwide workforce of 6,600 employees this week. The company says that it’s part of a recalibration where it is trying to find workers who are better suited to their current business approach.
A Rackspace spokesperson told TechCrunch that it is “a stable and profitable company.” In fact, it hired 1,500 employees in 2018 and currently has 200 job openings. “We continue to invest in our business based on market opportunity and our customers’ needs – we take actions on an ongoing basis in some areas where we are over-invested and hire in areas where we are under invested,” a company spokesperson explained.
The company, which went public in 2008 and private again for $4.3 billion in 2016, has struggled in a cloud market dominated by giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Google, but according to Synergy Research, a firm that keeps close watch on the cloud market, it is one of the top three companies in the Hosted Private Cloud category.
It’s worth noting that the top company in this category is IBM, and Rackspace could be a good target for Big Blue if it wanted to use its checkbook to get a boost in market share. IBM is in third or fourth place in the cloud infrastructure market, depending on whose numbers you look at, but it could move the needle a bit by buying a company like Rackspace. Neither company is suggesting this, however, and IBM bought Red Hat at the end of last year for $34 billion, making it less likely it will be in a spending mood this year.
For now the layoffs appear to be a company tweaking its workforce to meet current market conditions, but whatever the reason, it’s never a happy day when people lose their jobs.
Source: TechCrunch
If you’ve been thinking of buying a new gaming PC recently, you might want to consider heading to Walmart. It is currently running sales on some great gaming laptops, cutting pricing on the ROG Strix Hero II, the HP Omen 15, and more.
The post Walmart cuts the price on the slim-bezel ROG Strix Hero II gaming laptop by $400 appeared first on Digital Trends.
Source: Digital trends