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Al Jazeera America, the cable channel launched in 2013 to rival mainstream media like CNN and Fox News, has shut down following years of no viewership.

The channel came to be after Al Jazeera purchased Al Gore's Current TV for $500 million. When the channel officially goes dark in April, Al Jazeera says it will "expand its digital presence in the United States." The expansion "would bring new global content into America."

At its peak, the channel had just 30,000 viewers, a far cry from viewership levels required to be profitable. Rivals averaged anywhere from 300,000 to 1.5 million viewers during the same periods.

CEO Al Anstey, said the "decision by Al Jazeera America's board is driven by the fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace."

Netflix, which now offers their streaming service in 190 countries, says it will do its best to shut down proxy users who use the services to get around country-based content licensing restrictions.

Within the next few weeks, Netflix subscribers using proxies will be restricted to content from just their own countries, however, it is unclear how Netflix will pull off the feat.

VP of content delivery architecture David Fullagar did note the bigger problem is that Netflix's catalog is not equal across the world, but that Netflix is actively working on the complicated world of global licensing deals.

"We are making progress in licensing content across the world... but we have a ways to go before we can offer people the same films and TV series everywhere," he wrote. "For now, given the historic practice of licensing content by geographic territories, the TV shows and movies we offer differ, to varying degrees, by territory. In the meantime, we will continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location."

MUBI, the "Netflix for independent films," is expanding to China.

The streaming startup has announced a partnership with Hong Kong-based Huanxi Media, a company that finances films specifically for the Chinese market.

MUBI China, as the joint venture will be known, comes with a $40 million investment for 70 percent stake from Huanxi and an additional $10 million investment in the MUBI parent company.

Offering a "curated online cinema," MUBI is very interesting in that it offers 30 films at a time to stream via mobile or desktop and a new title is added daily as one falls off.

"What we are seeing in China is that they are at the very, very beginning of VOD," says Efe Cakarel, the CEO and founder of MUBI. "The market is wide open." He adds that while Chinese companies like Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba have focused on user-generated video platforms or ad-supported premium content, "no one has quite established a subscription-based platform, which we think is the only viable platform to show premium content and make the economics work."

Google has announced today that the Nexus 5X will start at $349 moving forward, a $30 price drop for the newly launched device.

The smartphone is the smaller of the two Google flagships, the same way Apple has the 6s and 6s Plus, and the specs are still very solid, especially for the updated price.

Under the hood of the Nexus 5 is a Snapdragon 808 processor, 2GB RAM and a 2700mAh. The phone runs on Android Marshmallow, has a 5.2-inch 1080p display (with Gorilla Glass 3), the USB-C charging port, and the same 12MP camera of the Nexus 6P which includes 1.55-micron pixels for excellent night shots.

Check out the device here: Google Store

Amazon's popular voice-activated personal assistant Echo is about to get smaller.

According to sources, Amazon will be releasing a smaller, portable model of the Echo in the next few weeks, under the codename "Fox."

The new portable will sell for cheaper than its larger brother, which sells for $180. The Echo can answer questions (similar to Siri and Cortana), can create your Amazon shopping lists, can control your music and can even plug into smart home networks to turn off connected lights, for example. It can also tell you the weather, traffic and give you restaurant recommendations through Yelp.

Echo has been a surprise hit for Amazon, which clearly launched it as an experiment to test out its voice command software, Alexa. After the company dropped the price, it started selling wildly and now has over 30,000 reviews, with a 4.5/5 star overall rating.

Most recently, Amazon set aside $100 million to integrate its Alexa software into other consumer devices, including a deal with Ford to have Alexa in new cars allowing for garage doors to be opened by voice command.

Source:
WSJ

According to Lenovo CEO Chen Xudong, Google will finally bring the Google Play store back to China.

Google has had very limited exposure in China for the last few years after the company refused to censor its services, but with over 1.3 billion people in the nation, it's clear that the company sees some missed opportunities.

In the last year, Google has made clear steps to try to get back int he good graces of the Chinese government. The company has taken a stake in China's most popular AI and voice recognition companies, Mobvoi, and Google's most recent flagship device is built by Chinese smartphone giant Huawei.

Android has also long been the top smartphone platform in the country, although the market is massively fragmented due to the lack of one centralized store.

There is no word on when the store will return to China (and whether or not it will be censored) but Xudong's word suggests a time frame within months.

Source:
9to5Google

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has confirmed the location of this year's I/O event, as well as the date.

According to the executive, the event is headed back to its original location: the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

For anyone who may be interested in attending, I/O will take place from May 18-20.

There was little other details given, but I/O tickets normally move quickly given Google's propensity to give away big ticket items to anyone who attends.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has noted this week that consumers sharing their Netflix accounts was "a positive thing" for the company.

Hastings explained that those who share accounts with paying subscribers often go on to subscribe themselves in the future.

"We love people sharing Netflix whether they're two people on a couch or 10 people on a couch," Hastings said. "That's a positive thing, not a negative thing."

As an example, Hastings noted that kids that grow up sharing their parent's accounts will eventually subscribe once they have grown up or have their own income and would like the ability to view on multiple screens without worrying that family is already using the service.

"As kids move on in their life, they like to have control of their life, and as they have an income, we see them separately subscribe," Hastings added. "It really hasn't been a problem."

T-Mobile CEO John Legere has taken to the T-Mobile newsroom to ease concerns that the carrier's new Binge On program violated basic net neutrality.

The basis of Binge On is that any customer with Simple plans can watch video from a number of providers and the data used would not go against their monthly caps. Additionally, all video you stream will be throttled to 480p, thus effectively limiting the amount of data you use, as well. There have been quite a few concerns about which video does not go against the cap and whether providers can get an unfair advantage by signing up for Binge On.

Here is Legere's full letter to the public in an effort to address those concerns:

Analysts in Japan have suggested that Nintendo will provide gamers with more information about its upcoming NX console this March ahead of an eventual launch in October.

It has been nearly a year since Nintendo hinted at the NX and we still have no idea what the console will bring to the table at this point.

Besides the first reveal in March, the Nomura Securities analysts claim that Nintendo will give a full reveal in June, almost undoubtedly during E3.

For now, there remain many, many questions about the console, some of which we hope will be answered soon.

This week, during CES, Google announced that YouTube will support HDR video, following in the footsteps of Amazon and Netflix.

Robert Kyncl, YouTube's Chief Business Officer, made the announcement while announcing a partnership with GoPro and its new 360-degree video.

HDR is the new fad in TV and video technology, promising improved video through expanded color palettes and contrast ratios. HDR picture quality, in theory, produces much richer colors and more realistic and natural images.

Of course, to be able to view the content you will need an HDR TV, but luckily, nearly every big manufacturer announced one this year at CES.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) have announced a massive technology overhaul for the world's biggest subway system, including Wi-Fi connectivity across all 278 stations.

Additionally, the MTA will add USB charging stations to subway cars and buses and MetroCard readers will eventually accept mobile payments, as well.

Cell service will be available by the end of 2017, so you never have to worry about missing a call when you are headed to work or home.

"The MTA is absolutely vital to the daily functioning of New York City, but for too long it has failed to meet the region's growing size and strength," Cuomo said. "This is about doing more than just repair and maintain -- this is thinking bigger and better and building the 21st century transit system New Yorkers deserve. We are modernizing the MTA like never before and improving it for years to come."

Source:
Capital NY

Apple Music's launch was far from the perfection we're used to seeing from Cupertino. Quickly Apple racked millions of users and by August 11 million users were trying out the service. But how many of these trials would never graduate to paid subscriptions?

Well, after the first batch of three month free trials, Apple's Tim Cook told that they've reached 6.5 million paying customers. Now according to unofficial sources the Apple Music has surpassed 10 million milestone.

Apple has yet to comment on the figures. The service seems to be racking more paying customers at a pace of a million a month. However, there's still a long way to catch up with industry-leading Spotify. Spotify has 20 million paying customers and a total of 75 million active listeners.

If Apple keeps up with the pace maybe we'll see the services compete for the first place in late 2016. Or is that too much to ask from Apple?

Microsoft is building its own cellular data service for Windows 10 devices, if their own app release can be trusted.

Reads Microsoft's new "Cellular Data" app for Windows 10:

Are you looking for a reliable, convenient way to stay connected everywhere you go, even when WiFi isn't available? The Cellular data app allows you to connect to a trusted nationwide mobile data network using only your Microsoft account.

Connect with – and pay for – a mobile data plan on your Windows 10 device using only your Microsoft account information.

That means no fixed contract and no long term commitments to a mobile network operator. Now you can buy and use mobile data at your own convenience. This is the easiest way to get online using a trusted nationwide network. Purchase a plan via Windows Store anywhere network coverage is available. The Cellular data app can get you connected at any time with a secure, high-speed mobile connection. This app is designed to work solely with specific Windows 10 devices and requires a Microsoft SIM card. Service is available in some markets and offers are for domestic plans only – international roaming offers will be available soon.

Candy Crush, the addictive mobile game still played by millions is now a trilogy.

Joining Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga is 'Candy Crush Jelly Saga,' which builds on the same foundation as its two predecessors.

For fans of the series, however, there will be one minor change. To complete the level, you will have to spread jelly to every square on the field, rather than trying to get rid of it like in past games. Additionally, you will face off against the 'Jelly Queen' in a few levels which means fighting an AI opponent trying to do the same thing as you in turn-based combat.