Netflix commits to invest $400 million in Canadian productions

Jan Thus

For the first time ever, Netflix is setting up a permanent production presence outside of the US and it has chosen Canada. The video streaming service plans to invest at least $400 million for the production of Canadian films and TV shows over the next five years. Netflix will be working on shows and movies in both English and French and they plan to work with local studios and producers. This deal has been made as part of Netflix’s and the Canadian government’s push to support digital innovation. If Netflix fails to deliver on its commitment within the timeframe, the Canadian government can reportedly impose fines on the company.

Netflix has already been doing work in the country, though. One of these is the six-hour miniseries Alias Grace, which is based on Margaret Atwood’s novel and is co-produced by CBC, Netflix, and Halfire Entertainment. It’ll air on CBC in the country and stream on Netflix globally starting Nov. 3^rd.

Source: Variety

Spotify’s new personalized playlist is a blast from your musical past

Spotify wants to hit you with a wave of nostalgia with its new personalized playlist aptly called Your Time Capsule. It’s a throwback playlist tweaked to suit your taste. Mine has 55 songs that feature a healthy mix of late ‘90s and early 2000s hits that have me singing along to everything that comes up. The algorithm is spot on, which has always been a strength of the music streaming service. Your Time Capsule makes use of Spotify’s new Now Playing look, which you might have seen in the Today’s Top Hits playlist. The cover art of what’s playing takes up your entire screen as seen above.

This playlist is available for all Spotify users above the age of 16 in most countries. If you want to get your own playlist, you can generate this through this link.

Source: The Verge

Review: Apple iPhone 8 Plus

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

iPhone 8 Plus feels substantially more powerful and quicker than most top tier Android competitors. It smokes the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in everything from loading videos and websites, as well as simply navigating and moving from app to app.

Apple's iPhone 8 Plus may look like more of the same in terms of large smartphone dimensions, but the real significance of this update is under the hood and in the updated cameras.

The iPhone 8 Plus is the fourth large-format smartphone from Apple and it retains the same dimensions as the iPhone 7 Plus. A fact that multiple case and accessory makers have happily declared.

While it features the same 5.5-inch display that's made the jumbo iPhone the go-to device for iOS users who want to supersize, there are some surprises. The true-tone display that's been an iPad Pro exclusive feature now appears on iPhones 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

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A Microsoft Surface Pro with LTE is coming this year

Microsoft announced that it is releasing a Microsoft Surface Pro that features onboard LTE connectivity. Created mostly for enterprise or corporate customers, an always-connected Surface will help mobile workers or field operatives by enabling access to the Internet and to back-end systems wherever they may roam.

In a surprise reveal during Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, Fl, Microsoft representatives said the Surface Pro with LTE would be coming by December 1 Neowin notes, it will be sold in two configurations: Core i5/4 GB RAM/128 GB SSD and Core i5/8 GB/256 GB. These revelations came from a session at Ignite this week in Orlando.

Source: Thurott.com