Forbes reports: “Zoom CEO Eric Yuan’s kids finally care about what he does for a living. Sure, they were there that morning in April 2019 when Yuan, the founder of the world’s most popular videoconferencing company, rang the opening bell at Nasdaq, with Zoom’s stock-market debut making him a billionaire.”
The Verge reports: “Apple and Amazon very, very quietly unveiled a monumental app deal this week, without fanfare or, sadly, much in the way of transparency. Out of nowhere, buttons to buy or rent movies appeared in the Amazon Prime Video app.”
Variety reports: “HBO made good on its promise, throwing the doors open on a free, live-streaming buffet of some 500 hours of premium content Friday morning.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Tin Giant is suing Atari for failing to pay for its services on the design of the VCS console. According to court documents sourced by Gamesbeat, Tin Giant has filed a suit for breach of contract and defamation with federal court in Colorado.”
Billboard reports: “After overall U.S. album sales bottomed out to their worst week on record a week ago, the music industry has some good news. Total album sales volume increased in the latest tracking week, while digital album sales hit a seven-month high.”
The Verge reports: “Twitch is bigger than it’s ever been before. The site’s viewership increased a full 31 percent between March 8th and March 22nd, growing to 43 million hours watched from 33 million hours, according to data from Stream Elements and Arsenal.gg.”
VentureBeat reports: “All of that social distancing is helping mobile gaming grow, according to mobile market data and analytics App Annie. Global mobile game downloads were up 20% in Q1 2020 compared to the same period last year.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “The games industry has been waiting for virtual reality to explode and finally make it to the mainstream for five years. The release of the Oculus Quest last year, plus the recent launch of Half-Life: Alyx, have been steps in the right direction, but VR headset prices are still too steep for a lot of players.”
Billboard reports: “SoundCloud is taking more action to assist creators affected by the coronavirus pandemic. After previously rolling out a number of support initiatives — including offering its SoundCloud Pro Unlimited subscription for 50% off through March 30 and providing access to Twitch’s Affiliate program — on Thursday (April 2) SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor announced a plan worth $15 million to support creators during the shutdown, as well as initiatives designed to bolster their careers long-term.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “T-Mobile is giving Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s Quibi a boost in its bid to lure subscribers, announcing Wednesday that some wireless customers will get a free one-year membership to the mobile-first video service.”
