Geek News

Pocket Casts, the incredibly popular podcast application, announced today that it is opening up a public beta program for Android users. This will allow any interested user access to the app's newest features, with the caveat that builds might be broken or unstable. If you'd like to sign up for the public beta on Android, you can do so at this Google Play link . Android users 🤖: Our previously closed private beta is now open to all. If you're up for the occasionally broken build and like to test new features, you can opt-in here: https://t.co/W53Nqexr5Q — Pocket Casts (@pocketcasts) June 21, 2018 This isn't the first time the public has had access to Pocket Casts' beta programs . The company previously ran a closed beta for Android users, and anyone who paid for the web app also has access to an open beta for that version of the player...

YouTube announced several new features out of VidCon today that will shake up the way mid-sized creators monetize. In particular, it announced a Premieres feature, which will let creators pre-record videos for their live streams. This allows creators to focus on things like answering live chat questions while the pre-recorded video is playing. The platform is also expanding its YouTube Sponsorships and rebranding it as Channel Memberships. Creators can name their fan clubs and charge $4.99 for membership, so long as they have at least 100,000 subscribers. They can design custom emoji for their live streams and designate special perks for paying members, similar to how Patreon works. The feature will roll out over the next few weeks. The... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2KaIkks ...

While YouTube users have been able to schedule pre-recorded videos for years, up until now there hasn't been a seamless way to build anticipation for those videos. But, there's a new feature being launched at VidCon 2018, called YouTube Premieres , that's going to change that. This new tool will let creators hype up future on-demand videos with a dedicated, public landing page that they can link to before a video is live on their channel. Right now, YouTube creators tend to go on other social sites like Instagram or Twitter to let their followers know about incoming videos, but there wasn't a way for them to direct people to a specific page on YouTube -- not for pre-rec orded videos, anyway . Now with Premieres, they'll be able to do exactly that, complete with a countdown and, most importantly, the Super Chat feature that'll let creators inte...

YouTube is having a busy day at VidCon 2018. Aside from launching Premieres , a new feature that lets creators hype pre-recorded videos with a public landing page, the company is also announcing new ways for them to make more money. For starters, channels with more than 100,000 subscribers will now have access to Memberships, which will allow viewers to pay a monthly fee of $4.99 to get exclusive access to badges, emoji, livestreams, members-only videos and shoutouts, among other perks. This is exactly what YouTube was already doing with Sponsorships, though that was only available to a select group of YouTubers. If you're a creator but don't meet the 100k subscriber threshold, YouTube says it hopes to bring Channel Memberships to more people in the coming months. In addition to that, YouTube has teamed up with Teespring on a merchandise shopping tool that w...

YouTube has announced new features at its VidCon conference today that give creators additional ways to earn money on the platform. Most notably, YouTube is expanding a program over the next few weeks that lets creators and channel owners start their own fan clubs, where membership costs $4.99 to join and fans can pay for additional perks and exclusive content, similar to how Patreon and Twitch function. The feature was previously restricted only to YouTube Gaming channels . There are also additional integrations for YouTube videos going forward. For instance, a blogger making a Nike branded video can now display Nike products on a "shelf" below their video. YouTubers will also be able to design their own merchandise through Teespring... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2ywSyqE ...

Microsoft isn't about to let Google's visual search features go uncontested. The tech giant has introduced a Visual Search feature to Bing that uses your phone's camera (either a fresh shot or from your camera roll) to identify objects and serve up links related to what you see. Snap a picture of a landmark and you may get travel info, for instance. Logically, Microsoft is also playing up the shopping angle: search for an outfit or home furniture and you'll get prices and shopping locations. Visual Search is available in the US today if you're using the Bing app on Android and iOS, Microsoft Launcher for Android, and the Edge browser for Android. It'll also be available in the near future on both Edge for iOS as well as the Bing website. This is arguably overdue and isn't as sophisticated as live image recognition, but it's hard t...

Apple has announced a new update to music-making app GarageBand that adds loads of new sounds, loops, and instruments. As part of the update, Artist Lessons, which were previously $4.99 each, will now be free and included as part of Basic Lessons within the app. As part of GarageBand 10.3, the app is introducing two new drummers that play roots and jazz-influenced brush styles, 1,000 new electronic and urban loops in genres like future bass and chill rap, and 400 animal, machine, and voice sound effects. There are also three new traditional Chinese and Japanese instruments: the Guzheng, Koto, and Taiko drums. (Sounds from these instruments were introduced as loops as early as 2016 , and were included as options within GarageBand's Sound... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2lrNR8o ...

Algeria is not kidding around when it comes to exam cheats this year. The country is shutting off internet access for both mobile and fixed line connections for an hour after each high school diploma exam starts. Officials hope the move will stop any leaks. The temporary shutdowns will last until the end of the exam season on June 25th, the BBC reported . Algeria is also blocking Facebook across the nation during the period. If those seem like harsh measures, they're in place because of disruptions to exams over the last couple of years. In 2016, test questions leaked online both before and during exams. Authorities tried to stop the scourge last year by asking ISPs to block social media access, but that wasn't effective enough. During the exam period, students and school staff are banned from bringing any devices with internet access into exam rooms. Meta...

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