Nielsen adds Facebook to measure popularity of TV shows online

Nielsen used to only use Twitter chatter to measure how popular a television show is online. Now, Facebook will be included in rating the popularity of shows on the web. Nielsen will be calling it Social Content Ratings, which replaces the existing Twitter TV Ratings, and it’ll track live activity during awards shows, original series premieres, and sporting events.

The information it gets from Facebook will be the stuff you share publicly or those you share with friends and followers. These will be included in the ratings Nielsen will release for the first half of 2016. They won’t get the specifics on the content, though. Instead, Facebook will be offering aggregate data. We won’t be surprised if Instagram is the next to be added and your memes might be put to use.

Source: Engadget

‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ release gets pushed back to December 2017

If you thought May 26, 2017 was a long time to wait for the next installment of the new Star Wars trilogy, then you’re in for a bit of a disappointment. The movie has been pushed back to December 15^th of the same year. The move was done after the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its December release (which was a first for a Star Wars film). What will be taking its place is Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Moving to December means that Star Wars will go head-to-head against James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar 2, which is set to be released the following weekend. If you think the date change has affected Episode VIII, the Rian Johnson-led film will start principal photography in London next month.

Source: Wired

Apple Watch Hermes edition to be made available online for the first time on Friday

The first major collaboration between Apple and fashion house Hermes, the Apple Watch Hermes edition is expected to come to the Apple Store and Hermes.com.

Announced in September, the Apple Watch Hermes edition features special bands as well as a unique watchface for the Apple Watch edition. The Hermes line went on sale in October at select Apple retail locations, such as Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. Hermes also sold the product through its luxury boutiques.

Source: AppleInsider

Apple hopes to empower musicians with new iOS music apps

Apple has released updated version of GarageBand (2.1) as well as a new Music Notes app that can turn any iPad or iPhone into a mobile recording tool whenever inspiration strikes.

The major update to GarageBand for iOS introduces multiple new features, including Live Loops  to make music like a DJ using only their iPhone or iPad. Garageband also includes the new Drummer feature with nine EDM and acoustic virtual session drummers that provide their own signature sound, as well as an expanded selection of amps for bass players. 

A completely new Music Memos app is inspired by Voice Memos and takes the functionality even further by adding musician-friendly features designed specifically for songwriting and developing musical ideas. Artists can record any musical instrument through the iPhone’s built-in microphone in a high-quality, uncompressed format, then name, tag and rate it to start building a library of ideas.

Music Memos is available for free on the App Store and is compatible with iPhone 4s and later, and iPad 2 and later. GarageBand 2.1 for iOS is bundled free with new iOS devices 32GB and larger, is available as a free upgrade for existing users with compatible iOS 9 devices or later, and is available to everyone else for $6.99 via the App Store.

Source: Apple