Netflix teases its first German show entitled ‘Dark’

In the same vein as Stranger Things, Netflix banks on the thrill of missing children with possible connections to the supernatural with its first German production. Called Dark, the show’s trailer sees children disappearing and seemingly swallowed by the earth near the town of Winden. But things don’t seem quite right. And it’s not just about the supernatural connection and the really creepy vibe the show exudes. There seems to be a pattern of when the kids are taken and as shown in the trailer, there are three significant dates shown in a diagram: 1953, 1986, 2019.

Dark is part of a US$1.75 billion wave of new projects coming to Netflix from Europe. And with Netflix expanding overseas, you can expect more foreign shows to appear on the service. Dark will premiere on Netflix in Winter of 2017.

Source: The Verge

Spotify might be testing Hi-Fi option

Similar to what Tidal is doing, Spotify might be giving its paying subscribers a better audio quality option. Of course, at an additional price. Some Spotify users have shared on Reddit that they’re being offered the Hi-Fi service for an additional US$5 to $10 per month. But those who did try to sign up have either been getting an error message or notices that it wasn’t available in their area. This new offering will supposedly be called Spotify Hi-Fi and will provide lossless CD quality audio, discounts on limited edition vinyl, and exclusive pre-sale concert tickets. However, Spotify refused to comment about this saying it tests “new offers and products all the time.” If it does roll out, will you be willing to sign up?

Source: CNET

You won’t see any Pixel-branded laptops anytime soon

Looks like we’ve seen the last of the premium Pixel-branded laptops. Let’s clarify, though, that this doesn’t mean the end of Chrome OS or Google’s laptop initiatives. According to Rick Osterloh, senior vice president for Hardware at Google, the company will not use the Pixel brand for laptops in the future. Pixel has been associated recently with Google’s new and well-received line of smartphones, which have, unfortunately, been having some issues with supply and demand recently.

Osterloh says during an interview at Mobile World Congress that there might be new product categories that will carry the Pixel name, though. As TechCrunch points out, if you head to the Google Store, there are no Pixel laptops for sale at the moment. But as Osterloh qualifies, there might be Google-branded laptops in the future still but they “don’t have any plans to discuss at this time.”

Netflix adds support for HDR video streaming on mobile phones

With Netflix getting aggressive in the mobile space and smartphones getting bigger, better screens, it seems the latest announcement from the company is an inevitability. According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, their streaming video service will soon support HDR video streaming on smartphones. He made the announcement during his keynote at Mobile World Congress saying it’ll start with the LG G6. Having an 18:9 display ratio, the LG flagship allows for full screen viewing of Netflix originals like House of Cards and Stranger Things. Now, you can add being able to see these shows in HDR, too. The price that comes with it, though, is a bump in price at US$11.99 a month instead of US$9.99 and, of course, higher data use.

Aside from HDR, Hastings also announced that there will be new video encodes for mobile devices to help those with poor internet connection to stream up to 30 hours of Netflix videos per month even with a small 2GB data cap.

Source: Android Authority