Spotify tries for a more visual approach to podcasts and news

Spotify is host not just to the latest hits but is home to things like audiobooks and podcasts, too. The streaming service is looking to expand this often-overlooked segment with a new feature they’re calling Spotlight. With this feature, podcasts will come with visual components like text, videos, and images to provide more context to what you’re listening to. The streaming service has partnered with the likes of BuzzFeed News, Cheddar, Crooked Media, Gimlet Media, Genius, The Minefield Girl, Refinery29, Lenny Letter, and Uninterrupted to help launch this new feature. Some of its own original series will also get the treatment, including Secret Genius, Spotify Singles, RISE, and their new Viva Latino podcast. Spotlight is first launching in the US and will supposedly roll out in additional markets “in the near future.”

There’s a new site that’ll make it easier for you to search for Netflix content

This might be what your weekend needs. Reddit user CrazedEli or Ville Salminen in real life built and shared on the r/television subreddit his newest site called Flixable. It’s basically a search engine for Netflix that shows you what’s popular, original, or leaving the streaming service. It’ll let you browse by genre or IMDb rating as well as filter searches based on release date. Salminen said he built the site as a hobby to teach him more about programming but he also realized it addressed a need people still had: how to look for content beyond what Netflix’s algorithm suggests—which admittedly looks like most of their original content but not much of the other content they offer. For now, it catalogs what’s available on Netflix in the US, but he says he’ll be expanding this to include other countries as well.

According to Salminen, “With Flixable, I had one aim. To build a site that would make it easier for Netflix subscribers to choose what to watch on a movie night.” He previously created a similar browsing site for Netflix called AllFlicks but he sold that to Reelgood in November 2017. This new site is basically building on his dream of rebuilding AllFlicks from scratch. He is in talks with Hulu representatives to make a similar site for the service.

Source: Mashable

Paul Bettany might replace Matt Smith as Prince Phillip in Netflix’s ‘The Crown’

Netflix

The next two seasons of The Crown will have new faces taking on the familiar roles. And one of those reportedly taking on the role of Prince Phillip is renowned British actor Paul Bettany. He’s reportedly in talks to replace Matt Smith. Other actors who they’re reportedly talking to include Helena Bonham Carter, who is expected to take on the role of Princess Margaret from Vanessa Kirby. Peter Morgan plans to recast the roles of the characters because they’re getting older. Morgan said, “You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it. The feelings we all have as 50-year-olds are different than the feelings we all have as 30-year-olds.”

The only confirmed cast member is Olivia Colman. She’s set to play Queen Elizabeth II and will take the role from Claire Foy. While the third and fourth season haven’t gotten the official greenlight yet, early production is reportedly underway.

Source: The Independent

Apple’s Everyone Can Code Initiative adopted in Europe

Apple today announced 70 colleges and universities in Europe have adopted Everyone Can Code, a comprehensive program designed by Apple to help everyone learn to build mobile apps. These colleges and universities are adopting Apple’s App Development with Swift curriculum, helping to create opportunities for all students and equipping them with the skills they need to pursue careers in the booming app economy.

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