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HBO announces ‘Game of Thrones’ spin-off ‘House of the Dragon’

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To close out its big HBO Max presentation — the service will launch in May 2020 with a $14.99 per month price — execs revealed that the flagship HBO show Game of Thrones will get a new spin-off based on Fire & Blood. House of the Dragon is a spin-off produced by author George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal, which is set 300 years prior to the events of the first show.

Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the “Battle of the Bastards” episode will serve as co-showrunner, as well as directing the pilot and additional episodes. The show is initially set for a 10-episode run, and is a part of Sapochnik’s overall deal to create shows for HBO and HBO Max. In a statement, HBO programming president Casey Bloys said “The Game of Thrones universe is so rich with stories. We look forward to exploring the origins of House Targaryen and the earlier days of Westeros along with Miguel, Ryan and George.”



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Samsung teases a clamshell foldable phone concept

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Samsung’s foldable display tech won’t just be limited to book-like phones akin to the Galaxy Fold. The company used its annual Developer Conference to preview a vertically folding, clamshell-style form factor. The company only said it was “exploring” the concept as part of its overall work on foldable devices, but it clearly put some thought into the technology. A short demo showed a user recording video in full screen at one moment, and creating a split view with more extensive controls when folding the phone 90 degrees. This might be ideal for recording your hands-free TikTok clips — you’d have a built-in stand.



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The first season of Call of Duty League begins January 24th

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Call of Duty has been a staple of the esports scene for years. Until now, though, it has primarily focused on city-independent teams. The League is a bid to bring some of the fandom of conventional sports teams to the gaming realm, including home and away games. Even some of the ownership is familiar — the family behind the Minnesota Vikings also owns Røkkr. It’s hard to say if this will translate to Call of Duty, but Activision is undoubtedly keen to find out.

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HBO Max will launch in May 2020 with ‘curated by humans’ push

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HBO Max

Initially, exec Bob Greenblatt said it will have around 10,000 things to watch, which may be less than competitors like Netflix, but claimed it’s going to lean on human recommendations rather than algorithms, and that a smaller catalog weeds out the “filler no one watches.” Said Greenblatt, “We will never rely on algorithms to serve our customers the best programming.”

Content announced during the presentation included a new Perry Mason series, a show from Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and an…Elmo-hosted late night talk show?

In terms of licensed content, at launch HBO Max will have the last 40 years of Batman and Superman thanks to the ties between Warner and DC, including the new Joker movie since that will be on HBO. And of course, it’s also the exclusive streaming home of Friends and The Big Bang Theory.

Developing…

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NCAA will allow college athletes to earn money off their likeness

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While the NCAA says it made the decision following months of “comprehensive” input, the fact California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the state’s Fair Play bill into law at end of September likely influenced the policy change more than anything else. The legislation allows the state’s college athletes to accept endorsement deals and hire agents starting in 2023. The NCAA had forcefully fought against the bill, going so far as to call it “unconstitutional” in a letter to Governor Newsom. Several other states — including Flordia and Illinois — are considering similar legislation.

Outside of top-tier college athletes being able to sign endorsement deals with companies like Nike, it’s hard to say what the NCAA’s decision may mean more broadly. In particular, we probably won’t see EA resurrect its popular NCAA Football series anytime soon. In 2013, the company shelved the franchise after it became the center of multiple lawsuits for using the likeness of college athletes in-game without compensation. That same year, the NCAA decided not to renew its licensing agreement with the publisher. There is some hope, however. After California passed Fair Play, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the company “would jump for the opportunity” to make new NCAA Football games. But with so many unknowns, it’s best not to get too excited just yet.

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Apple TV app is available on some Sony smart TVs

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Because Sony uses Android TV, this marks another instance of Apple blending its tech with the Android platform. The added feature is available through a firmware update, which is being rolled out to newer TVs. Sony hasn’t said which models will receive the update. But as 9to5Mac speculates, it will most likely be the models that are compatible with AirPlay 2 technology.

The Apple TV app will allow users to access Apple TV+, the company’s new streaming service, which launches on November 1st. In a push to bring Apple TV+ to more customers, the company will make the app available on Amazon Fire TV, LG and VIZIO platforms in the near future.

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Apple AirPods Pro hands-on: I can already hear the difference

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With all that said, these new AirPods are going to take a little getting used to, especially if you’ve grown fond of the original ones. So far, the biggest issue I’ve run into is that the capacitive controls baked into the AirPod Pros’ stems are a bit finicky — in theory, a quick squeeze will play or pause your current track, while longer ones will switch between noise cancellation and a Transparency mode that lets you hear ambient sounds normally. (You can’t tap these AirPods to control them, which is just as well since they naturally sit deeper in your ears.)

So far, though, I’ve had trouble gauging exactly how much pressure the AirPods Pro need to recognize a touch. My advice at the moment is to squeeze decisively, even if it feels a little silly. My first few minutes with these things was spent wondering why they wouldn’t respond to what felt like lengthy squeezes, to the point where I thought my pair might be defective. Nope. Just took me a while to really figure it out.

I also have my concerns about battery life. Apple says that, with Active Noise Cancelling enabled, the AirPods Pro are rated for 4.5 hours of use on a single charge. That’s pretty impressive when you consider the original AirPods got about 5 hours from one change, and that ANC typically blows through batteries like crazy. (You can turn off some of the AirPods’s microphones entirely to get an extra 30-ish minutes of use, but you lose ANC and the Transparency mode in the process.) We haven’t had these things long enough to tell if they live up to Apple’s promises, but stay tuned — we’ll soon have answers to this question, plus many others.

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Razer game controller turns your phone into a wannabe Switch

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The Junglecat relies on a low-lag Bluetooth connection, and topping it up with USB-C will give you a healthy 100 hours of battery life. A companion Android app provides per-game button mapping and stick sensitivity adjustments. And before you ask: no, there’s no Joy-Con style motion control or vibration feedback.

You can buy the controller now for $100. That’s a lot to spend on stepping up your mobile gaming experience, but Razer is no doubt counting on there being some Android gamers willing to pay a premium for flexibility and a well-established button layout.

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Alexa can use smart lights to wake you or lull you to sleep

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The features should start reaching American users this week. This kind of control isn’t unique in the smart light world — the Hue app has had features like this for a while. It’s relatively uncommon for voice assistants, though, and it’s much simpler (if not as advanced) to speak a command when you’re going to sleep.

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