New Year’s Day was the biggest sales day ever for Apple’s App Store, with nearly $240 million in purchases, the gadget giant said Thursday. The App Store has been a linchpin to Apple’s sales of both devices and the commission-generating programs and services made for them. The original iPhone, launched in 2007, didn’t cross the …

Streaming services surged last year, overtaking digital sales of music for the first time in the US, Nielsen Music said Thursday. It’s the latest evidence that consumers have quickly shifted away from the digital downloads typified by Apple’s iTunes to streaming music alternatives. The change has made subscriptions the music industry’s dominant sales model (the US recording industry’s main trade …

CBS will join Hulu’s new live-streaming service, planned to launch early this year. On Wednesday, the broadcast giant and the streaming-media company said they’ve reached a deal to bring CBS’s broadcast network programs and some on-demand shows to the Hulu live-TV service. (Disclosure: CNET is owned by CBS.) Under the deal, Hulu will get the company’s sports programming, including its …

It’s not quite as uncomfortable as an alien popping out of your chest, but an official “Alien” VR experience may bring you closer to a screeching, drooling alien maw then ever before. Twentieth Century Fox, the studio releasing Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant” movie in May, said Tuesday it will also produce a virtual reality experience to go along with film. …

Call it a Christmas miracle? Garth Brooks’ entire catalog of music will be available to stream exclusively on Amazon’s Spotify rival, Music Unlimited, beginning at midnight ET Saturday, the company said Wednesday. Brooks, one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, had already opened up to Amazon Music Unlimited in October, the same month the e-commerce giant launched the …

This is the second story in a two-part series about the complications of Facebook’s unique media impact. The first part examines Facebook’s struggles with challenges typically faced by media and news organizations. Let’s give Facebook some props: The first step is admitting you have a problem. Facebook has always preferred to be a tech company first, a media power never. …

Now playing: Watch this: Facebook tackles fake news 1:19 Facebook plans to make it easier to report possible hoaxes, add warnings before you share a disputed article and downplay questionable stories in your news feed, the company said in a blog post Thursday. And it’s enlisting the help of a particularly powerful technology: real, trained human brains. “It’s important to …

This is the first story in a two-part series about the complications of Facebook‘s unique media impact. Facebook has titanic media power. The only thing that matches that influence may be the company’s denial it exists. The US election crystallized the stakes. There are a myriad of reasons behind the voting decisions of millions of people, and the world’s biggest …

That week you played “Chandelier” on infinite repeat on Spotify may end up paying off. The music streaming service trolled its data to find megafans of artists Sia, Shawn Mendes, DNCE, Fetty Wap, Migos, Young Thug and KoRn. A limited number of these addicts are getting themed gifts plus a personalized card from the stars themselves. It’s the latest instance …

Now playing: Watch this: A Smosh wedding! We put ‘Ghostmates’ stars to the test 3:51 When Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox tackled their second movie, the Smosh co-founders decided to write what they know. Sorta. Paranormal buddy-comedy “Ghostmates” follows Padilla’s character as he moves into an apartment already inhabited by the restless spirit of Hecox’s character — a ghost roommate. …