Saturday
Jan292022

Joni Mitchell wants her song Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation concerns

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Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young in asking her music to be taken off Spotify over worries of COVID-19 misinformation on the streaming service. In a message on her site, the Canadian singer said she stands in solidarity with Young and the "global scientific and medical communities." 

She doesn't cite Joe Rogan, whose popular podcast is a Spotify exclusive, in her desire to pull her music from the service. Instead, she did link an open letter from a group of scientists and medical professionals that criticized Spotify for hosting's The Joe Rogan Experience. The letter accuses Rogan of spreading misleading claims on his show and provoking distrust in medicine and science. The group wanted Spotify to "take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform."

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Saturday
Jan292022

Netflix officially lists HDR support for Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 5A

Photo by Jonas Elia on Unsplash

If you wanted to watch HDR or HD content on Netflix on some of the newer Pixel devices, your wait is over. The streaming service has officially added the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and the 5A to its list of devices that support HDR and HD streaming. The update to its support pages seems to have happened sometime after January 14. 

It isn't clear why Netflix hasn't added the Pixel 6 lineup to these lists earlier. But The Verge noted that some users were reporting on Reddit that their phones couldn't play HDR content properly, while it worked fine for others. Perhaps that was a problem they wanted to address first. Hopefully, it works fine for everyone now.

Friday
Jan282022

Apple iPhones might get contactless payment feature thanks to Canadian startup acquisition


Photo by Thai Nguyen on Unsplash

It might be easier for small business owners with iPhones to accept payments on their mobile devices. The company is reportedly working on a feature that integrates contactless payment into the iPhone. Apple has allegedly been working on the service since 2020 when it acquired Canadian startup Mobeewave, which is known for developing tech that turns a phone into a payment portal.

Mobeewave's technology only required an app and the phone's NFC to work. You just have to type in the amount you want to charge, and then the customer needs to tap their credit card on the back of the phone. Apple has declined to comment on Bloomberg's story, so it's unclear if the feature will work the same way on iPhones. 

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Friday
Jan282022

SiriusXM brings back Neil Young Radio after Spotify removal

Source: SiriusXM

A day after Neil Young's music was pulled from Spotify, SiriusXM announced it's bringing back Neil Young Radio to its lineup and reintroduced the artist's music catalogue on both its satellite and streaming music channel. It will be available on SiriusXM's Depp Tracks (channel 27) for seven days and a month of streaming on the SXM App.

You can expect the channel to feature "rarities and exclusives, every new song from his latest album Barn, epic hits and fan favourites from his solo music, collaborations with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash & Young." According to SiriusXM's press release, the musician will also share "insights behind writing and recording the music."

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