Samsung to offer PlayStation Now on 2015 Smart TVs

Samsung and Sony don’t usually play nice. Unless, it’ll benefit both of them. At the upcoming CES 2015, we will be seeing Samsung’s new range of Smart TVs to have support for PlayStation Now. It was announced before Christmas but the actual products will be on showcase at the tech show.

PlayStation Now on Samsung should work like an app as well that connect’s to Sony’s Gakai-powered games service. North American consumers are expected to be part of the rollout of these new TVs this year.

Source: Kotaku

Twitter begins roll out of ‘while you were away’ recap

Ever wondered what the people you follow on Twitter say when you aren’t on the service? Instead of scrolling back, Twitter introduced a new “While you were away” feature to its users. They first talked about this in November as part of their plan to boost user engagement. This feature shows a recap of tweets since you last opened the app. It will show up at the top of your timeline. We don’t exactly know how Twitter chooses which tweets get the special mention. It most likely involves retweets and favorites.

According to The Verge, it doesn’t break up the flow of your Twitter feed too much. It isn’t available for everyone just yet but there seem to be a large number of users who have it already. We’ll just have to wait a bit for the official announcement and wider rollout.

Source: TechCrunch | Via: The Verge

Montblanc unveils e-Strap watchband for traditional watches

The watch industry regards the burgeoning smartwatch segment with much suspicion. But it would seem one of the traditional watchmakers want to get in on the game somehow. Montblanc unveiled a new e-Strap watchband that adds a 4-centimer widget to the inside of a watchband. It has a screen and a notification system that is connected to a smartphone app. It isn’t as advanced as other fitness trackers or smartwatches but it will give you standard notifications and accelerometer data to track your steps.

Since this is a luxury brand, it is made out of Florentine leather and the device is made from a carbon material they call “diamond-like carbon.” Yes, terms like will turn things into expensive, luxury items. Montblanc is making the e-Strap an add-on for its watches but they will sell it as a standalone product for about US$300.

Source: TechCrunch | Via: The Verge

‘The Interview’ is top-selling movie on Google Play and YouTube

Moving on to more The Interview-related news. Sony seems to have made the right choice of distributing the film online. And Google is reaping some of the rewards. The movie has turned into the top-seller on both Google Play and YouTube. They won’t reveal specific figures but we know that Sony has already made US$15 million in revenue from the sale and rental of the movie. This should increase since Apple made the movie available on their platform as well. It has been getting bad reviews from the critics but the hype surrounding the controversial movie has gotten moviegoers curious about it.

Source: Bloomberg | Via: Ubergizmo