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Netflix has announced today that it has partnered with giant mobile carrier Softbank to launch their video streaming service in Japan.

The service will launch on September 2nd and will be offered in three tiers. The cheapest (basic) costs $5.40 (￥650) and is great for an individual while the next tier up is $7.85 (￥950) and allows for two streaming HD devices while $12 (￥1,450) gets you HD access on up to four devices.

In addition, the two companies will also produce original content just like Netflix does in other nations.

Japan has 36 million households with broadband and has been seen as a logical next step for Netflix as it expands around the globe.

Thanks to China's iNexus site, we appear to have a leaked image of the upcoming Huawei Nexus smartphone.

Reportedly, Google will launch two Nexus phones this year, a 5.2-inch model from LG and a larger 5.7-inch model from Huawei.

Strangely, the device appears to have a camera module that juts out, but otherwise does not look all too different from previous Nexus devices.

Thanks to the images, we can see their is a USB Type-C port, dual LED flash and stereo speakers but little else is known. A final screenshot purports that the prototype of the device is running a Snapdragon 810 with 3GB RAM and at least 64GB of internal storage.

We will know more in the coming weeks and months.

Microsoft has announced today that their digital personal assistant software Cortana is now available in public beta for Android owners.

"If you are currently a Windows 10 user, you already know the benefits of Cortana. The Cortana app on Android is the companion to your Windows 10 PC, extending Cortana's functionality across any device you carry, everywhere you go," adds Microsoft.

Just like on the desktop edition, you can set reminders, search the Web, track your important tasks and other important info (like flights) all accessed by voice.

In addition, Microsoft has updated Cortana to be accessed through the home button (in case you didn't want to use Google Now).

Nintendo has confirmed that they are looking to Hollywood for potential collaborations in the future.

The last film Nintendo used its IP for was 1993's disastrous Super Mario Bros., and Nintendo has understandably guarded its popular characters since then, sticking strictly to video games. Over the past few years, however, Nintendo characters have begun slipping into feature films, most recently in the Adam Sandler comedy 'Pixels' but the "cameos" have been few and far between.

"For Nintendo IP, a more active approach will be taken in areas outside the video game business, including visual content production and character merchandising," the company said during its recent quarterly earnings report.

Even more importantly is the fact that Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto and his Software Planning and Development (SPD) division will oversee the ongoing relationship with Hollywood.

"As we look more broadly at what is Nintendo's role as an entertainment company, we're starting to think more and more about how movies can fit in with that--and we'll potentially be looking at things like movies in the future," said Miyamoto in June.

According to a new survey, 48 percent of consumers who have tried using Apple Music have already stopped using it.

The survey comes via MusicWatch, and suggests that Apple's streaming service has already fizzled, like many of the company's non-iPhone devices and services have in the past.

Apple Music costs $9.99 per month for unlimited streaming and exclusive content, and Apple boasted of 11 million users a few weeks ago. Important to note is that all users are on a free trial so it is unclear whether Apple will steal any users away from established rivals like Spotify.

For its part, Apple says "Among those who signed up for the trial, 79 percent are using it on a weekly basis."

Source:
NYPost

Popular browser maker Opera has celebrated 20 years on the market with a brief history of the browser that is now used by 350 million people across desktops and mobile devices.

Pictured is Opera from 1995, back when it was called MultiTorg Opera and it was available on a floppy disc for a charge.

Reads the post: "[Opera]It all started in Norway in the minds of two computer engineers, Jon and Geir. They started to develop browsing software as a project for Telenor. Before long, they founded their own company, Opera Software, and continued working on the browser, which would soon be called Opera. From the beginning, Opera's vision was to bring the best internet experience to any device, regardless of network conditions or location. With that in mind, the Opera Mini browser was born in 2005 and quickly became one of the world's most popular mobile browsers, as it enabled users of even the most basic mobile phones to access the web."

By 2006, the company says it had reached 1 million users for Opera Mini and in 2008 that number had ballooned to 11 million. Today that number is 269 million.

Samsung announced last week that for $1, iPhone owners could test out new Galaxy smartphones for 30 days in an effort to get some users to switch over.

After just a few hours, Samsung has announced that their test program is a hit and there are none left available to rent. iPhone owners looking to try out a Galaxy S6 Edge, the new Galaxy S6 Edge+ or the new Note 5 will have to wait a little bit.

"We're now working quickly on how to make the Ultimate Test Drive available to even more people," said a spokesperson, although they would not comment on how many devices were available for loan in the first place.

Check out the program here: Ultimate Test Drive

According to a new report, Germany has apparently ruled that taking photos of food can infringe on the chef's copyrights.

Sharing images of the food can be illegal, and if you are taking photos at a famous restaurant, you must ask the master chef for permission before you upload it to Instagram.

In 2013, a German court widened copyright law to include applied arts, meaning almost everything can be copywritten if you build it. The report even notes that any restaurant owner can put up a notice in their restaurant that photos cannot be taken without permission and it is acceptable.

Of course, such measures could lead to less innovation in the world of food, but for now it seems that the law is little known, even in Germany.

Earlier this week, Spotify updated its privacy policy and it quickly angered and outraged users.

Under a section that read "Information Stored on Your Mobile Device," Spotify noted that "with your permission, we may collect information stored on your mobile device, such as contacts, photos, or media files." As you can imagine, there was considerable outrage as to why a streaming music service would need your contacts or your photos so CEO Daniel Ek posted a new blog post to clear up the confusion.

The post in its entirety:

We are in the middle of rolling out new terms and conditions and privacy policy and they've caused a lot of confusion about what kind of information we access and what we do with it. We apologize for that. We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will – and will not – be used.

We understand people's concerns about their personal information and are 100 percent committed to protecting our users' privacy and ensuring that you have control over the information you share.

So let me try and clear things up.

In our new privacy policy, we indicated that we may ask your permission to access new types of information, including photos, mobile device location, voice controls, and your contacts. Let me be crystal clear here: If you don't want to share this kind of information, you don't have to. We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data – and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow you to customize your Spotify experience.

A number of Popcorn Time users have been sued in a U.S court for viewing and sharing a film using the popular BitTorrent-based app.

The complaint was filed in an Oregon District Court, identifying 11 IP addresses allegedly used while downloading and sharing "The Cobbler". All IP addresses are linked to Comcast customer accounts. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants ordering they halt pirating movies, and up to $150,000 in damages.

More than likely the alleged pirates will receive a settlement offer in time, as is common with BitTorrent users sued for sharing content without consent. Popcorn Time doesn't resemble a BitTorrent client, but it does connect to BitTorrent swarms to download the content in the background.

In another interesting case linked to Popcorn Time, two men were arrested this week in Denmark for operating websites that provided information about Popcorn Time.

What makes their arrest interesting is the fact that their websites offered no copyright-infringing content at all, nor did they even host Popcorn Time apps for visitors to download. Instead, the sites posted updates about Popcorn Time and provided instructions and tips on using the apps.

According to new reports, BlackBerry is preparing an Android smartphone for release this November on all the major U.S. carriers.

Codenamed the BlackBerry Venice, the device will be the company's first smartphone to not run on proprietary BlackBerry software.

The new leak comes via "retired" leaker Evan Blass who also posted a detailed picture of the device. If accurate, the Venice will be a slider that slides to expose a full tactile keyboard bringing back the most popular option for smartphones in 2009.

If the other piece of the report is also accurate (all four major carriers), that will be a huge boost for BlackBerry as the company has struggled to secure deals with all the carriers in the past especially since the carriers will no longer use marketing dollars on their devices.

Vaio, the computer brand once owned by Sony, is trying to make a comeback.

Sony sold the brand last year to a private-equity fund as it tried to exit unprofitable businesses and the firm immediately discontinued global sales as it tried to makeover the brand in Japan.

Vaio Corp. will begin selling new notebooks in Microsoft retail stores starting in October and CEO Yoshimi Ota also noted that the company will attempt a move into Brazil using Positivo Informatica as a partner.

The brand will likely have a hard time making a comeback. Even in Sony's home of Japan, Vaio only has 1 percent market share. The global PC market in general continues to contract and Vaio will have to compete against giants like Dell, HP and Lenovo with just one factory and 250 employees.

However, Ota says the company will be profitable by attacking the super high-end niche market, rather than trying to take market share like Sony did. "At the new Vaio, I ask every project team to make realistic goals and be accountable," Mr. Ota said.

The new designs will sell for about $2,199 in the U.S., and the first model - VAIO Canvas Z - is really more of a "giant tablet" that has an i7 processor, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM and a detachable keyboard. The device is being aimed at graphic designers, photographers and high-end Mac users.

Valued at $15 billion by venture capitalists, it appears that Snapchat has a long way to go before it is even remotely profitable.

According to a new report, Snapchat lost $128 million between January and November 2014 while only bringing in $3 million in revenue. That being said, the company only started ads last October, so the revenue could be much higher this year but there is evidence to the contrary.

Snapchat's new killer feature, 'Discover,' which allows media properties to offer micro-broadcasts saw a huge surge in popularity when it launched, but traffic (and ad revenue) have both fallen off a cliff since then, says the report. Snapchat was allegedly asking for $750,000 per day from advertisers but has since dropped their rates to just $20 per 1000 views.

Only in a tech bubble could a company with no chance of ever being profitable be valued at $15 billion.

Microsoft is clearly not being subtle in codenaming their upcoming Surface Phone.

According to sources, the device is code named 'Project Juggernaut Alpha.' Of course, a juggernaut is a large, overpowering and unstoppable force which Microsoft certainly hopes its flagship device will be.

Now, we have a look at the alleged specs, which are (true to the name) very powerful:

Display: 1440×2560 16:9 AMOLED 5.5″ ClearBlack with Gorilla Glass 4
Processor: Intel Atom x3 (SoFIA) 64-bit
Camera: Back: 21MP PureView Zeiss 6-lens, and the selfie camera will be a 8MP Zeiss Wide-Angle
RAM: up to 4GB RAM (base model will have 3GB and top model will have 4GB)
Operating System: Windows 10 Mobile
Storage: Internal storage of 64GB or 128GB expandable to 256GB with microSD.
Surface Pen
USB Type-C
Wireless Charging
Aluminium & Magnesium unibody

Now, whether the smartphone will remain a rumor or actually launch remains to be seen but Microsoft will be aiming high if it does.

Android fans rejoiced last week when Bethesda announced that Fallout Shelter was finally headed to the platform.

The game, first announced at E3, should excite fans of the classic Sims games as it takes features of Sims, Sim City and Sim Tower.

In Fallout Shelter - a dystopian future - you create a "vault" underground to survive, basically building homes and trying to find a mate while protecting your vault from thieves.

Check it out on Google Play here.