Claire Reilly

Streaming to outstrip pay TV as Aussie SVOD services loom large

Streaming subscriptions are set to outstrip pay TV subscriptions in Australia within three years. That’s the assessment of tech analyst firm Telsyte, which is predicting that the number of paid subscription video on demand (SVOD) services in Australia will more than double, from 1.9 million subscriptions in June 2016, up to 4.1 million in June …

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Twitter introduces emoji

Hamburger, hamburger, taco, praise hands? Yes, we know you’re hungry by the emojis you tweet out, and now advertisers will too. Twitter has unveiled a new feature allowing advertisers to target specific users with splashy ads, all based on the emojis they tweet out with their daily musings. With more than 110 billion emojis tweeted out since 2014, this could …

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Samsung Pay launches in Australia, time to ditch your wallet (and your train ticket?)

In the future, you won’t need your wallet. In fact, if Samsung has its way, when you leave the house in the future you won’t need anything other than your Samsung Galaxy smartphone. The Korean company launched Samsung Pay in Australia today, partnering with American Express and Citibank to deliver the contactless mobile payment platform. That means that, from today, …

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Show don’t tell: Facebook launches video replies for comments

The advice most of us live by when it comes to surviving on the internet is, “Don’t read the comments.” But you can forget reading the comments, with news that Facebook will now let you upload videos in comment threads. When you click the camera icon next to a comment field, instead of just seeing an option for images, you’ll …

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Holy garbanzo beans! Watch every ‘Key & Peele’ sketch online

If you’ve been at a loss since “Key & Peele” ended on TV last year, we have good news. The comedy duo have released their entire back catalogue of sketches, including 176 that were previously unavailable online, in one “authoritatively and unequivocally complete archive.” That means you can get your fill of psycho valley girl Meegan, rage-filled substitute teacher Mr …

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​What is it like in their shoes? Get onstage with ‘Hamilton’ in Facebook 360

The cast of Hamilton have gathered on stage (and on Facebook) for a teaser performance ahead of the Tony Awards this Sunday, performing one of the hits of the Broadway musical in an awesome 360-degree video. Billed to be the big winner of this year’s Tonys, fans queue every day outside the Richard Rogers Theatre on West 46th Street desperately …

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Samples from The Avalanches’ first album in 16 years leaked by Amazon France

After more than 15 years of staying silent in the music scene, The Avalanches are back. But their return has come a little earlier than expected after Amazon France leaked 30-second snippets from each song on the upcoming album. “Frontier Psychiatrist” might have introduced a generation to sample-heavy pop music and changed the Australian music landscape in 2000, but it’s …

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Optus cuts EPL pricing, launches early

Optus has announced an early-bird deal for customers streaming the upcoming English Premier League season, dropping the AU$15 fee for customers on entry-level plans and making access free across the board. Optus nabbed the exclusive live EPL rights from Foxtel last year in a major coup that marked the company’s transition from telco into a more diversified media company. But …

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VR parachuting is the future, and the height of weirdness

Virtual reality was the talk of the show floor at Computex in Taiwan this year. HTC was showing off three slick new VR experiences for its Vive headset, Microsoft was talking up the future of Windows Holographic, and we saw plenty of new VR headsets and even VR-friendly backpacks. But it wouldn’t be a trade show smack bang in the …

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​Windows Holographic devices coming ‘in months’ not years

When Microsoft’s Mr. Virtual Reality, Alex Kipman, took to the stage at Computex in Taiwan today, there were plenty in the room who might have expected him to reveal a launch date for Microsoft HoloLens. Those people were ultimately disappointed. Instead, Microsoft revealed that it would be opening up the “mixed reality” platform that drives HoloLens, known as Windows Holographic, …

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