Ridley Scott signs multi-year TV deal with Apple

Prolific producer Ridley Scott and his Scott Free Productions company signed a multi-year, first-look TV deal with Apple. They will be developing new projects for Apple TV+. This partnership won't be Scott's first time working with the tech giant. He once directed the famed "1984" commercial for the company's first Macintosh computer. This new Apple deal ends his years-long overall deal with CBS TV Studios. According to The Hollywood Reporter's sources, the Apple deal is valued in the high-seven-figure range.

Scott Free has developed a lot of renowned TV shows, including CBS' The Good Wife, CBS All Access spinoff The Good Fight, Amazon's The Man in the High Castle, and AMC's The Terror. They've also done films like Top Gun, Gladiator, and The Martian.

Facebook acquires Giphy, reportedly for US$400 million

Facebook has acquired GIF-sharing service Giphy and plans to make it part of the Instagram team. Facebook didn't reveal how much it paid for to buy Giphy, but Axios reports that it's priced at around US$400 million. Giphy is expected to keep its branding, but it'll be primarily integrated into Instagram. GIFs are prevalent and used heavily in Instagram Stories, so having more access to a GIF-sharing service could work in Facebook's favour. We might expect to see it more integrated into other Facebook services as well.

Source: Engadget

Fido Xtra perk gives subscribers two free months of YouTube Premium

Fido postpaid subscribers in good standing get a new Fido Xtra perk: free access to YouTube Premium for two months. You can redeem the offer until July 1, 2020. Head to the Fido My Account to get the perk. YouTube Premium is an ad-free YouTube experience where you can download videos to watch offline. It lets you play videos in the background while using other apps or when the device is locked. Plus, you get access to YouTube Music Premium, too. YouTube Premium costs $11.99 a month in Canada.

Source: iPhone in Canada

Google rolls out new Nest Aware plans in Canada

The simplified, more cost-effective Nest Aware plans are now available in Canada, which comes seven months since Google introduced these new subscriptions. Nest used to charge $5, $10, $30 per month and camera, depending on how many days of video history users wanted. Now, you can avail of either Nest Aware or Nest Aware Plus subscriptions. Nest Aware costs $8 per month or $80 a year, including 30-day "event video history." Nest Aware Plus costs $16 a month or $160 annually, including 60-day event video history and 10-day 24/7 video history. Event video history is the recordings of motion and sound captured by Nest cameras.

Both plans cover all Nest camera devices you have as well as products like Nest Mini, Google Home and Home Max, Nest Hub and Hub Max, and Nest Wifi Point. Both plans also offer "intelligent alerts," which will let you know when a Nest camera detects sounds or a person, and "activity zones," which you can define and then have Nest alert you when something happens in those areas. If you have an existing subscription, you can upgrade through the Google Store.

Source: MobileSyrup + iPhone in Canada