Apple Card members can skip April payments

In order to comisserate with customers in these uncertain times,  Apple Card members  have the option of skipping their April payments. The company introduced its Customer Assistance Program last month to help customers who are currently facing financial difficulties. The Assistance Program allowed users to skip payments in March with no penalties, it is offering the same for April according to Bloomberg.

“We understand that the Covid-19 situation poses unique challenges for everyone and some customers may have difficulty making their monthly payments,” Apple said in an email to Apple Card owners. “If you previously enrolled in the Customer Assistance Program in March, you will need to enroll again.”

ESPN & Netflix's Michael Jordan documentary show to air earlier than expected

ESPN Films and Netflix's The Last Dance will be launched earlier to keep sports fans entertained while a lot of us stay at home. The 10-episode documentary series revolves around basketball legend Michael Jordan. It was initially supposed to launch early in the summer, but now it'll airing on ESPN in the US starting April 19 until May 17. Internationally, it will be released a day after, starting April 20.

The Last Dance follows Jordan's rise in the '90s, the Chicago Bulls' success, and the increasing popularity of the National Basketball Association at that time. There will be over 500 unseen hours of footage from the Bulls' last championship run with Jordan in 1997 to 1998 as well as commentary from the basketball star himself and other Bulls figures and sports luminaries.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Roku brings Google Assistant, Alexa support to Canada

It's been well over a year since Roku brought Google Assistant and Alexa integration to its devices. Finally, Canadian Roku owners get the same privilege with version 9.3 update. The company says the update will be coming to select players in April, with all portable Roku players getting the update in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Roku TV owners have to wait for the update to roll out in the coming months. 

Roku devices do have a built-in voice search option, but the company just started out rolling out more natural command language here. So, you can say things like "I want to watch movies with Ryan Reynolds" and have the device understand what you're saying. Version 9.3 will bring voice control to other parts of the platform, allowing you to control media playback. And when you do get the update, you can link your TV to your smart speaker and ask it to turn your television on and off, control media playback, and swap inputs.

Source: MobileSyrup

Google won't be pulling April Fools' pranks this year

As what brands should be doing during this trying time, Google, who spends around 40% of its budget on April Fools' pranks, has wisely opted not to do it this year. Business Insider got their hands on an internal email that says Google will "take the year off from that tradition out of respect for all those fighting the COVID-19 pandemic." The company also asked that the teams not perform smaller ones themselves "internally or externally." You might think pranks are harmless, but now is not the best time to pull one.

Source: The Verge