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Get ready for more Spotify podcasts to become TV shows and movies

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According to Deadline, part of the deal involves the two companies jointly hiring a development exec to work inside Spotify, finding projects worth pursuing and helping to invest where needed to beef up scripts in development. While it’s not clear if Spotify and Chernin have landed on the right person year, their arrangement has already yielded some fruit. Chernin is already working on an adaptation of The Clearing, a podcast produced by Pineapple Street Media and Spotify-owned Gimlet Media about a woman who discovered the truth of her father’s hidden past as a murderer.

Considering just how popular podcasts have become in the last five years, it’s no surprise production companies are mining them for new IP to develop.‘Walking Dead‘ executive producer Gale Anne Hurd helped develop the supernatural podcast Lore into an Amazon Prime TV series that debuted just before Halloween in 2017. More recently, Netflix confirmed that it turned Hrishikesh Hirway’s Song Exploder into a multi-part docuseries that features the host digging into the particulars of a single song — just with the help of archival footage, original recordings and interviews with the artists themselves. And for what it’s worth, Chernin Entertainment already has some experience ushering podcasts through the development process — it acquired the rights to adapt Endeavor Media’s Blackout, a show starring Rami Malek as a radio DJ dealing with the apocalypse, last year.

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YouTube is sharing more ‘authoritative’ election info with voters

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YouTube already has a few election protection measures in place, like removing videos that encourage election meddling and banning claims that could mislead voters. Today, YouTube announced that it’s paying special attention to mail-in voting content and stepping up its efforts to fight misinformation with “authoritative information.”

Under videos that mention voting by mail, you’ll now see an information panel that directs you to authoritative info from the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank. YouTube is also adding more information panels, which will appear when you search for 2020 presidential or federal Congressional candidates, and it has created new panels on voter registration and how to vote. Those are available in English and Spanish.

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Apple’s brand-new iPad is down to $299 on Amazon

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For those unaware, the 8th-generation iPad is the newest version of Apple’s entry-level tablet. This model was announced at last week’s hardware event (along with new Apple Watches) and replaces the 7th-generation model but keeps same, affordable $329 starting price.

We have yet to fully review the 8th-generation iPad but our own Chris Velazco liked what he saw during the limited amount of time he spent with the tablet for our hands-on. The latest iPad hasn’t changed much in the way of design, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it looks a little dated when compared to other iOS devices, but we like its large, 10.2-inch display that continues to support the first-generation Apple Pencil. Also, many will appreciate the everlasting, physical Home button with TouchID that still adorns its bottom bezel.

The biggest changes are inside the tablet as Apple upgraded the processor to its A12 Bionic chipset. That’s a big improvement over the A10 chip inside the previous version. It makes the new iPad noticeably faster and smoother, not to mention better equipped to handle multitasking features in iPadOS 14 and mobile games that require a heftier GPU. The A12 Bionic chipset also includes Apple’s Neural Engine, so the new iPad should be better at handling machine learning-related tasks.

We’ll have a full review of the 8th-generation iPad soon, so you can always be super safe and wait to buy one until the official verdict has been handed out. However, the new tablet is an unquestionable upgrade from the 7th-generation model — and if that’s enough for you, Amazon’s new sale is a good opportunity to grab the latest model for less.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.



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Facebook’s Oversight Board will begin hearing cases before the US election

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Since the first 20 Oversight Board members were appointed back in May, we have been helping to get them up and running as quickly as possible. That has included finalizing a new software tool that allows members to securely access and review case information from anywhere in the world; and training them on our Community Standards and policy development processes. We look forward to the board beginning to hear cases in mid to late October.

Shortly after launching the board, Facebook announced that it wouldn’t be ready until “late fall,” leading to fears that it would arrive too late for the US elections. It appears now that it will come sooner, though with not a lot of time to spare before votes are cast on November 3rd. Plus, decisions could take as long as three months after an appeal is first heard.

Facebook said it tried to speed up the process without affecting quality. “Building a process that is thorough, principled and globally effective takes time and our members have been working aggressively to launch as soon as possible,” the company said.

The board includes Alan Rusbridger, former editor in chief of The Guardian, former Europe Court of Human Rights judge Andras Sajo, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former prime minister of Denmark and John Samples, the vice-president of the libertarian Cato Institute. Facebook has set aside $130 million for the board, but said that its decisions won’t necessarily set any precedents and that it can only address certain kinds of content. On top of that, Facebook has made it clear that it’s still in control of what happens on the site.

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Microsoft makes a last-minute Xbox Series S price cut in Japan

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Seemingly out of nowhere, Microsoft has decided to change the price of the Xbox Series S in Japan. The next-gen console was originally going to retail for 32,980 yen (roughly $313), but that’s now been revised down to 29,980 yen (roughly $284). It’s a surprising move given that pre-orders for the console are scheduled to go live tomorrow. Microsoft didn’t give a reason for the last-minute change. As our colleagues at Engadget Japan noted, though, the standard Nintendo Switch also costs 29,980 yen. Price matching could make it easier for Microsoft to tempt people who might have been considering Nintendo’s portable-console hybrid this winter.

Clearly, the Xbox team is serious about capturing the Japanese market. Back in November 2013, Microsoft launched the original Xbox One in most major markets including North America, Europe and Australia. The system didn’t arrive in Japan until the following September, though. The Xbox brand has always been a distant third behind Nintendo and PlayStation in the country, but Microsoft essentially gave up on a fightback before the console had even launched. At least with the Xbox 360, Microsoft tried to court the Japanese market with role-playing games like Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata. No wonder the Xbox One barely made a dent over there.



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NVIDIA apologizes in advance for low stock of its RTX 3090 GPU

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The RTX 3090 is designed for what NVIDIA calls “extreme gamers,” with features like 10,496 CUDA cores and a prodigious 24GB of GDDR6X memory. It’s also made for “creators making movies and rendering cinematics” or 8K gaming — provided you’re one of the very few people with an 8K TV. It also said that you’ll only see a 10 to 15 percent performance boost over the RTX 3080, but you’ll pay over double the price — $1,500 compared to $700.

Still, that’s not likely to discourage buyers who want to buy and flip the cards for a profit — in fact, the high price and apology could create even more demand. After all, when the RTX 3080 Founders Edition went on sale, it instantly sold out and started popping up on eBay for insane prices.

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You can already get $100 off the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

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Buy the Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition at Best Buy – $600

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition at B&H Photo – $600

To be clear, the S20 FE isn’t just a Galaxy S20 in name only. It has Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 865 processor, an AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, 128GB of upgradeable storage and a 4,500mAh battery, same as the regular $1,000 model. To hit the lower price, Samsung reduced the RAM to 6GB from 12GB, lowered the display resolution to Full HD and swapped out the metal for a polycarbonate body. For folks who just want a powerful phone, that’s a pretty fair trade-off to pay $400 less.

Other desirable features include a 12-megapixel f/1.8 standard wide camera, a 12-megapixel, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom (or 30x hybrid Space Zoom), and a 32-megapixel selfie camera. It’s also available in multiple colors like “cloud red,” “cloud navy” and “cloud mint.”

The Galaxy SE also comes with 5G connectivity, though the models offered on sale don’t support Verizon’s 5G mmWave network. None of the sites said how long this pre-order deal will last, but it’s no likely it will drop more than that before it starts shipping on October 4th.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.



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Microsoft is releasing a non-subscription Office suite in 2021

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In a blog post announcing the next version of its Exchange Server, Microsoft has slipped in a single line that’s bound to make those who hate paying subscription fees for Office apps happy. “Microsoft Office will also see a new perpetual release for both Windows and Mac, in the second half of 2021,” the tech giant’s Exchange team wrote (as spotted by Windows Central), confirming that a new version of Office you can purchase with a one-time payment is coming next year.

The company has been pushing Microsoft 365 for years now as the main way to get its Office apps. This subscription-based version of its suite gives you access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and other apps for a monthly payment. While you can use some of those apps for free online with a Microsoft account, you won’t be able to install them on your PC like you’d be able to if you pay for a subscription.

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Seagate’s 1TB Game Drive for Xbox Series X, Series S costs $220

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At this price (and with no other sizes or manufacturers available so far) adding storage to the cheaper console costs two-thirds of the system’s price. If you’d like to have some extra space to install those launch-day games, then you can pre-order the 1TB Game Drive for Xbox Series X and Series S right now and have it ship on November 10th.

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TikTok ask the court to prevent a US ban from taking effect

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As TechCrunch points out, public reports by ByteDance and Oracle have differed on the terms of the proposed deal, and the president has made public statements that he would not approve any deal where the Chinese company retained partial ownership of the app. ByteDance has applied for an export license in China to facilitate the deal, assuming it is approved.

NPR reporter Bobby Allyn posted a declaration submitted by new TikTok CEO Vanessa Pappas, which lays out many of her arguments for an injuction. The CEO cited the harm that could be done if the app is banned, even if it’s later reinstated, including notes on what happened when a ban went into place in India. TikTok also argued that the pending action has caused millions of dollars in lost business deals, as well as dozens of prospective employees declining to join the company.



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