On this podcast, we talk about: Cutting through the 5G hype. Pixel 3’s computational photography chops. Netflix’s blowout subscriber growth in the last three months. The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, brought to you by the CNET News team in New York and producer Bryan VanGelder. …

FuboTV, which streams live-TV channels with subscriptions starting at $45 a month, said Monday it’s close to 250,000 subscribers, more than double from a year earlier.  So is that a lot or not? Depends how much slack you give to a service going up against a wall of Goliaths. Most of FuboTV’s competitors are owned and operated by big tech …

Apple Music is linking itself up with Genius, the source for annotated song lyrics previously known as Rap Genius. Genius will provide lyrics to “thousands” of songs on Apple Music itself, and Apple Music subscribers who visit Genius can play any song in full on that song’s page. As streaming becomes the most common way people listen to tunes, Apple Music and Spotify have …

The budding world of interactive TV may have just landed its biggest patron yet. And it’s… Walmart?  Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said Thursday that it’ll launch an interactive video joint venture with Eko, a startup with a long track record in the niche format. Walmart is investing $250 million, according to a report by Reuters. Walmart declined to comment on …

SoundCloud is widening its program that lets artists make money off the tracks they upload there, unlocking its SoundCloud Premier program to almost all creators who pay for an $8-a-month Pro account or a $16-a-month Pro Unlimited account.  Sometimes referred to as the YouTube for audio, SoundCloud said the expansion would unlock revenue for hundreds of thousands of creators. Previously …

NewTV, the closely watched Hollywood startup with $1 billion in funding from Hollywood studios, on Wednesday rechristened itself Quibi, a portmanteau of “quick bites” — its go-to descriptor for the high-end, short-form shows it hopes you’ll stream on your phone.  NewTV has made bold promises about its ambitions, but it’s entering into a competitive field that’s only getting more crowded. …

Netflix is pretty well versed in the art of burning through money to make internet TV. But like just about everyone else, the streaming service has no clue what Apple is doing with $1 billion of television programming.  “I don’t have any idea what that Apple product is going to be,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, said Tuesday. “I don’t think …

The Google Lens augmented-reality tool is directly integrated into Google’s new Pixel 3 phone, Google said Tuesday at a launch event for several new products. Lens unlocks previously announced capabilities like Style Search, which identifies products online that’re similar to the one you’re pointing your phone’s camera at, or a feature that gives you the option of having your phone autodial …

Netflix said it plans to buy its first studio — ABQ Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico — to create a production hub in the same place where movies like The Avengers and Sicario and shows like Breaking Bad were filmed.  The company plans to spend $1 billion in production there over the next decade, it said in a statement. But no big deal …

Facebook Stories, a timeline of photos that disappears after 24 hours, has hit a milestone of 300 million people using it every day via its namesake social network and messaging service Facebook Messenger, the company said Wednesday. At a presentation in New York on the sidelines of Advertising Week, Facebook also said that it’s opening up advertising in Facebook Stories to all …