Netflix takes away star ratings, replaces this with thumbs up and down system

Netflix says it “feels very yesterday” so the star rating system is out. In its place we get the more straightforward thumbs up or down system. Todd Yellin, vice president of product innovation at Netflix, told journalists at the company’s Los Gatos headquarters that they “want to move to a system where it’s really clear." It seems this works better for them.

The streaming service beta tested this feature with hundreds of thousands of new users from around the world last year and found that over 200 percent more ratings were logged using the thumb system than the star ratings. This new system is expected to roll out to users in the coming weeks. Aside from this Netflix plans to introduce percent matching, which uses an algorithm to show a percentage below the title of how likely you’ll enjoy watching a specific show or movie. Yellin likens it to dating site matches with potential partners based on interests or earlier activity.

Source: The Verge

Snapchat brings Bitmoji shortcuts to both iOS and Android users

A few days ago we saw Snapchat testing out Bitmoji widgets of your friends for the Android home screen. But it looks like the feature isn’t limited to Android users anymore. In fact, Snapchat has taken the feature out of testing and into the hands of its iOS and Android users. For those using iPhones, though, you can only see the widget from the Today screen. If you’re on Android, well, then you can see that from your home screen like how it was done in the tests.

Source: The Verge

‘Assassin’s Creed’ movie comes to Blu-ray & DVD on March 21st

The film adaptation of Assassin’s Creed wasn’t as well received as hoped. But if you liked the movie, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will be available to you in the coming week. The video game turned film will be available on Blu-ray and DVD starting March 21^st. Of course, there will be bonus content included. There is a five-part documentary series showing how the movie was made and interviews with director Justin Kurzel and stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. You can also watch deleted scenes from the film.

Source: Gamespot

Amazon Web Services to provide developers with free credit for storage and computing for Alexa skills

A new program from Amazon might encourage developers to keep building and working on Alexa skills. Amazon Web Services is offering US$100 promotional credit as well as another additional US$100 per month to help pay for extra cloud computing and storage costs third-party developers might incur when their Alexa skills exceed the limits of the existing AWS Free Tier. By taking extra cost out of the way, this benefits Amazon’s own Echo smart speakers that are powered by Alexa, among other Alexa-powered devices. Skills are the system’s version of apps and by having more developers work on those, it gives more options and capabilities to users, which in turn can entice more people to use Amazon Echo products over its competitors.

Source: Geekwire