Paid music streaming services to have bigger impact on Billboard charts in 2018

With paid streaming services changing the music landscape, it’s not surprising to us that Billboard is changing its ranking system to reflect this new reality. The streams from paid subscription services like Amazon Music and Apple Music as well as those hybrid paid/ad-supported services like Spotify and SoundCloud will have a bigger influence on Billboard’s charts in 2018.

According to a post on Billboard’s site, “Beginning in 2018, plays occurring on paid subscription-based services (such as Amazon Music and Apple Music) or on the paid subscription tiers of hybrid paid/ad-supported platforms (such as SoundCloud and Spotify) will be given more weight in chart calculations than those plays on pure ad-supported services (such as YouTube) or on the non-paid tiers of hybrid paid/ad-supported services.”

Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup 10/15-10/21

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Mastercard wants to get rid of having to sign for credit and debit card purchases by 2018

Signing off on credit and debit card purchases in this day and age feel like such an archaic activity in this day and age. And Mastercard acknowledges this as fact. According to the company, now there are only about 20 percent of its transactions in North America still need cardholders to sign for purchases. Mastercard is looking to eliminate this altogether by April next year—for both credit and debit transactions.

With the introduction of technologies like the card’s chip, tokens, biometrics, and digital platforms with better security, there shouldn’t be a concern about security. Mastercard claims most people aren’t even concerned about the loss of signatures. This move, in fact, could reduce time spent at store checkouts as well as reduce costs.

Source: Mastercard

Huawei is working on its own foldable phone, too

The big things in smartphone tech right now are the dual camera setup, no headphone jacks, and almost bezel-less displays. But it looks like the next thing we’re going to be seeing a lot of is foldable phones. ZTE has the Axon M and Samsung and LG have announced they are working on their own versions, too. Now, Huawei is looking to join the fray. The company’s CEO Richard Yu told CNET during the Mate 10 launch that they already have a prototype version of a foldable phone. And we can’t expect it to come out this year, instead Yu said the device might debut in 2018, which is also the timeline Samsung is giving for its foldable Galaxy X.

What’s holding them back is the available flexible screen technology at the moment as well as the need for a better mechanical design that what it currently has. Yu said, “We have two screens, but we still have a small gap. That’s not good, and we should get rid of the gap.”