Netflix is now available in over 190 countries

Safe to say Netflix had a rather big announcement at CES 2016. The company just launched in over 130 new countries around the world. Netflix Co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings made the announcement at a keynote during CES. This gives the new countries access to Netflix’s original shows and movies. The company promises that this year they will release “31 new and returning original series, two dozen original feature films and documentaries, a wide range of stand-up comedy specials and 30 original kids series—available at the same time to members everywhere.”

Netflix has also added Arabic, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chines to the 17 languages it supports. At the moment though, they still aren’t available in China, a big market that comes with a lot of restrictions. But they are supposedly working on options to provide the service there. It’s also still not available in Crimea, North Korea, and Syria due to US government restrictions on American companies. Netflix launched its service in 2007 and has expanded globally, first to Canada, then to Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan to include 60 countries.

Nextbit Robin to start shipping on February 16th

Bucking the usual trend of gadgets taking too long to ship on crowdfunded sites, Nextbit has just announced they plan on starting shipment for its Robin handsets on February 16^th. The Robin is touted as the first “cloud-first” smartphone, meaning it’ll offload apps and data to a free 100GB cloud storage bucket when not in use. These bits of information will then be restored when you need it. Of course, we can’t say how smoothly this could work in real life just yet.

Early backers get first dibs, of course, so the first 1,000 should get their phones first. These are the GSM versions though. The CDMA models will come out at a later, unspecified date.

Source: Kickstarter | Via: Android Police

CES 2016: L’Oreal gets into the wearable tech game

L’Oreal isn’t a brand you usually associate with the Consumer Electronics Show. But they are here this year to show off new wearable and internet-connected products. Their first device is made in partnership with manufacturing and logistics company PCH. It’s a UV-sensing stretchable patch worn on the skin that will then be scanned using a smartphone app to tell the strength of the sun’s rays. This My UV Patch is meant to educate the public about the effects of too much sun exposure. It can be worn around five days and it’ll be given away for free. It’ll be launching in 16 countries and is seen as a way for the company to help develop new products in the future.

Source: BBC

CES 2016: Bang & Olufsen introduce all-in-one soundbar

What does it mean for a soundbar to be an all-in-one device? Well, it won’t just be able to boost the audio from your TV. In the case of high-end audio maker Bang & Olufsen, its new BeoSound 35 supports music streaming services like Spotify and Deezer so you can already get your music going from there. It also supports Google Cast, Bluetooth connectivity, and AirPlay. Access to it is easy because you can use any B&O remote to control it or even use the BeoMusic app. And, of course, it works with the company’s other audio gear. It promises to beam audio 180 degrees, which is said to be enough to fill a room.

The unit has its own OLED display with on-board touch controls. And it steps a bit away from the usually boxy soundbars with a more pentagonal shape. It has the loud speaker at the center and its tweeters on the ends. Plus, it’s made with an aluminum outer shell to make it look even more striking (and it helps heat management, too). You can opt to wall-mount this or place it on a stand. Of course, this comes with a steep price tag at US$2785 or almost $4,000 when it sells starting April.

Source: Engadget