News written by Petteri Pyyny (August, 2019)

In our article series, we're digging into AfterDawn's news archive and looking what happened exactly 20 years ago. This article series also celebrates AfterDawn's 20th anniversary.

So, we're digging into our news archive and trying to figure out what was hot and what was not, back in August, 1999 when our site was only 2 months old. I'd like to remind you, our readers, that back then, AfterDawn was strictly focused on digital audio and video technologies and reporting events in those genres. More generic "all about tech" arrived to our site much later.

DVD releases were back then what the Netflix releases are now: Matrix as an example

Back in 1999, DVD players were The Tech that many households were planning to get for the "entire family's Christmas present" - i.e. the most sought-after tech that had hit the mainstream. Thus, new DVD movie releases were also big news back then, just like, say Netflix's next month's releases are now.

In the autumn of 1999, the most anticipated movie release among the tech enthusiasts was definitely The Matrix, which was about to be released on DVD format in September. Warner Home Videos, who owned the DVD rights, was hoping that Matrix would become the first movie ever to sell over one million DVDs. But, at around the same time, in in the end of August, another blockbuster made its way to DVD format, too: Titanic. Which one won the race? Well, ;Matrix did.

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Disney has finally revealed what devices will be supported once the new subscription service, Disney+, will launch in November. Service is set to launch with pretty aggressive pricing, set to be $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, if paid annually.

At the launch, the list of supported platforms and devices is already pretty impressive, with just one notable exception there:

• Apple TV
• Android (phones and tablets)
• Android TV
• Chromecast
• Desktop web browsers, including Chrome
• iPad
• iPhone
• Playstation 4
• Roku devices
• Roku TV
• Xbox One

Most notable "not there" in the list is definitely the Amazon's Fire TV.

Launch countries and pricing

As said, the service will launch in November. On November 12th to be exact, in United States, Canada and Netherlands. List of all countries that will get the service in November are (but not necessarily on 12th of November):

• United States
• Canada ($8.99CAD/mo or $89.99CAD/year)
• Netherlands (€6.99/mo or €69.99/year)
• Australia ($8.99AUD/mo or $89.99AUD/year)
• New Zealand ($9.99NZD/mo or $99.99NZD/year)

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Even though there's a ceasefire between United States and Chinese telecom giant Huawei, the company is determined to seek alternatives to Google-controlled Android. Today, those plans came to life today as Huawei released its own operating system, called Harmony OS.

Announcement was made during Huawei's own annual developer conference in China. According to Huawei, the new operating system is suitable for all kinds of devices, ranging from small IoT devices to full-blown smartphones and tablets.

A modularized #HarmonyOS can be nested to adapt flexibly to any device to create a seamless cross-device experience. Developed via the distributed capability kit, it builds the foundation of a shared developer ecosystem #HDC2019 pic.twitter.com/2TD9cgtdG8

-- Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) August 9, 2019

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