Are you ready for this year’s summer adventures? I’m already daydreaming about mine and I can’t wait to start capturing all those special moments once June finally arrive. If you’re feeling the same, you’re going to want a proper action camera like GoPro Hero11 Black Mini, which is now 44% off at Best Buy, bringing it down to just $140. Mount it on your helmet, put it on a stick, take it for a swim—whatever fun things you want to do this summer, this compact GoPro can record it all. Not only does the camera capture gloriously stable video in 5.3K resolution at 60 FPS (or 2.7K at 240 FPS), but it can automatically upload all footage to the cloud so you don’t have to worry about it. With video stabilization, it’s perfect for action-heavy sports and activities. And while GoPros have always been pretty small, this model is even smaller. It’s a miniscule square that weighs an equally miniscule 133 grams (or 0.29 pounds) and it’s built to withstand falls, bumps, crashes, mud, snow, rain, dirt, and more. It can dive down to 33 feet in water and has a scratch-resistant lens. You’ll need a microSD card for it (sold separately), but those are fairly inexpensive these days. Don’t wait until it’s too late! Prep for the summer by grabbing this GoPro Hero11 Black Mini for $140 at Best Buy. That’s a steep drop from its original $250 price tag and a deal you won’t want to pass up. This tiny 5K GoPro is a steal now that it`s 44% offBuy now at Best Buy Read...

Max is changing its name back to HBO Max, and much like The Joker in one of Warner’s DC Universe films, I can’t stop laughing. Three years have passed since the mega-merger that birthed Warner Bros. Discovery and led to a new name for its flagship streaming service. The Max brand was supposed to emphasize a breadth of programming beyond the HBO catalog, but Warner’s executives now say the forthcoming rebrand (or unbrand) represents a return to quality over quantity. This would be easier to accept if HBO’s owners had any credibility left. But over the past few years, pretty much everything the Warner-Discovery merger was supposed to accomplish has failed. Now, the company can no longer articulate what it’s aiming for, other than to squeeze a little extra profit from a flailing enterprise. It’s as funny as it is sad. Max’s broken promises Let’s go back to when AT&T announced it would spin off WarnerMedia into a new company and merge it with Discovery. (The spin-off itself acknowledged that AT&T shouldn’t have bought Warner in the first place, but that’s a whole other story.) Here’s what the companies’ 2021 press release claimed the merger would accomplish: Increase investments in original programming for its streaming services. Enhance programming options “across its global linear pay TV and broadcast channels.” Create new opportunities for “under-represented storytellers and independent creators.” Give viewers “innovative video experiences and points of engagement.” Here’s what the company actually did: Became the first streamer to remove popular original programming from its catalog. Axed completed films for the sake of tax write-offs. Lost the rights to live NBA games, the crown jewel of its sports programming, starting next season. Quickly started cancelling shows that highlighted underrepresented communities. Did not deliver any notable video innovations, but did start charging extra for 4K video and will soon shake down password sharers for more money. Raised prices for ad-free streaming. Paying more for less (again) More broadly, Warner Bros. Discovery promised to deliver what CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels called a “blowout DTC (direct-to-consumer) product.” At a 2022 industry conference, Wiedenfels said this service would be “one of the most complete, sort of four quadrant, old-young-male-female products out there.” Over time, the company did take some steps to bulk up Max’s offerings. It brought in Discovery’s catalog of reality TV programming, launched a live feed of CNN programming, and added live sports from TNT and other Warner cable channels. But with the name reverting back to HBO Max this summer, Warner says completeness is no longer the goal. President and CEO of streaming JB Perrette said in a press release that HBO Max will offer “not everything for everyone in a household, but something distinct and great for adults and families.” That likely means less of what Max added over the past few years. Its sports offerings will be slim without the NBA; CNN will have its own separate subscription service, raising questions about the future of Max’s CNN programming; and cable channels such as Discovery could be spun off into a separate company. “The things subscribers want from us are HBO programming, scripted dramas, comedies, documentaries, the pay-one [licensing window] movies, library movies, and basically the Warner Bros. TV library,” CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys said. News, sports, and reality programming are conspicuously absent from that statement. While Warner hasn’t announced any immediate changes to HBO Max’s content, the likely outcome is that you’ll be paying more for less. Bad for business, too If it makes you feel any better, this hasn’t worked out for Warner Bros. Discovery’s business, either. Like other TV programmers, Warner has been leaning on profits from traditional pay TV bundles to fund its forays into streaming. The merger was supposed to help, as the combined entity would have more bargaining power to increase pay TV carriage fees. But with the loss of NBA rights and the overall trend toward hollowing out original pay TV programming, those channels have become increasingly worthless. Carriage fees for TNT are now flat or in decline, and cable companies such as Comcast and Spectrum are getting Max thrown into their TV packages at no extra charge, hurting Warner’s streaming revenues. Last August, Warner took a $9 billion write-down on the value of its TV assets and may now look to spin them off; meanwhile, the company’s stock price has fallen from $24.88 on the day of the merger to $9.05 as of this writing. All this just so we can get back to where we started, with a service supposedly focused on quality again. Given what we’ve seen over the past three years, you’d be justified in seeing this as just an excuse to cut more corners and fatten executives’ pay packages instead. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter weekly newsletter to get more streaming advice every Friday Read...

The BBC sports presenter says he reposted material which he’s since learned contained “offensive references.” Read...

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Roku is spending $185 million to get into a business that most other streaming platforms have avoided. In early May, the company announced that it will acquire Frndly TV, the cheapest of all the live TV streaming services. For $9 per month, Frndly TV offers a bundle of channels you’d typically find in a cable TV package, including Hallmark, A&E, and The Weather Channel. While it’s normal for streaming platforms to offer their own free or premium streaming services, most aren’t selling their own bundles of cable channels with optional DVR service. Roku is doing something pretty unusual here, and while it says it’s just trying to boost subscription revenues on its platform, that doesn’t sound like the whole story to me. How Frndly fits in Frndly TV is what’s known in industry jargon as a “virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor,” or vMVPD. You could also use the terms live TV streaming services, streaming channel bundles, or cable replacements. Whatever the nomenclature, the point is that these are essentially cable TV packages delivered over the internet. You get a big bucket of cable channels, a grid-based channel guide to flip through, and DVR functionality for recording live airings and watching them at your leisure. Most major streaming platforms have stayed out of this business, which involves cutting carriage deals with numerous TV programmers (and dealing with the risk of blackouts when renewal negotiations fail). It’s a messy business and one that’s barely profitable, if at all. So while you can access services like Hulu + Live TV and Fubo on a Fire TV Stick or Apple TV 4K, Amazon and Apple haven’t bothered putting together channel bundles of their own. (The only exception is Google, which operates YouTube TV and has its own Google TV/Android TV streaming platform.) Nonetheless, Roku sees an opportunity in Frndly TV, which claimed to be profitable in 2022. While Roku once described itself as an advertising company, lately it’s been talking up its plans to grow subscription revenue as well. The company already gets a cut when users subscribe to services on its platform, but with Frndly TV it can claim 100 percent of the revenue for itself. The near-term playbook, then, will look like it did for the Roku Channel, the ad-supported streaming service Roku launched in 2017. Roku makes more money when people watch the Roku Channel instead of other ad-supported services, so it’s aggressively promoted its own service in practically every corner of its home screen. The company has made no secret of its plans to do the same for Frndly TV. “We’re going to use [the platform] to drive Frndly, which is now part of Roku,” CEO Anthony Wood said during an earnings call. Thinking bigger If all Roku does with Frndly TV is use its home screen to peddle more Frndly TV subscriptions, that’d be pretty boring. And maybe that is the entire strategy. But my theory is that Roku will use Frndly TV as the first step toward offering a broader lineup of pay TV channels. Frndly TV, after all, is a niche within a niche, with channels that focus largely on reality TV and reruns. It carries none of the top 10 cable channels and only eight of the top 50. None of those channels cover news or sports. As of late 2022, Frndly TV had a mere 700,000 subscribers. By entering the vMVPD business, Roku instantly becomes a major player that can negotiate more and better carriage deals on behalf of its 90 million households. It would be weird if those efforts started and ended with whichever programmer has the syndication rights for Columbo and Bonanza. An equally plausible outcome is that Roku expands its channel offerings over time, taking advantage of TV programmers’ newfound willingness to allow for more flexible bundles. It could then tie those offerings into its home screen and live TV guide, with a built-in billing system to manage subscriptions. For folks who still have cable or just want an easy way to access cable channels, Roku could present itself as the simplest solution. I’ve always wondered why no streaming platform has done this—here’s me arguing for Apple to do it in 2017—and now Roku is in the best position to pull it off. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter weekly newsletter to get more streaming advice every Friday Read...

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After years of teases, hints, and vague promises, standalone streaming ESPN is finally, really coming, and we even know how much it will cost.  The new streaming service, called simply ESPN, will debut in “early” fall, at a variety of price points depending on whether you get it on a standalone basis or as part of a bundle.  To stream an “ultimate” version of ESPN that includes all its linear networks as well as broadcasts on ABC, it will cost you $29.99 a month, or $299.99 a year—yep, kinda steep, but pretty much in line with expectations ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.  You’ll also be able to get ESPN in a bundle along with Disney+ and Hulu with ads for $35.99 a month, while an ESPN bundle with ad-free Disney+ and Hulu will run you $44.99 a month.  As part of a special introductory offer, Disney will serve up the with-ads version of the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle for $29.99 for the first 12 months.  The “ultimate” tier of the new ESPN streaming service will include—at last—everything ESPN, including all its linear networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ESPNEWS, and ESPN Deportes) along with all ESPN broadcasts on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX.  You’ll also get such signature ESPN shows as SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take, NFL Live, The Pat McAfee Show, Pardon the Interruption, College GameDay, and NBA Today.  That’s a big change from the ESPN+ streaming service, which only ever offered a sliver of ESPN’s linear content. Indeed, plenty of ESPN+ signups have found themselves caught off guard when they learned that SportsCenter, Monday Night Football (save for occasional one-off games), and other key ESPN shows weren’t included.  Speaking of ESPN+, that service will morph into what Disney is calling “select” ESPN. The “select” tier will cost $11.99 a month, or $119.99 a year, while bundles go for $16.99 a month (with ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu) or $26.99/month (with the ad-free versions of the latter two streamers).  Those who are still ESPN+ subscribers when the new ESPN streaming service arrives will automatically be moved over to the “select” version of the new service, meaning the old ESPN+ is effectively going away.  News of the coming ESPN streaming service comes just a day after Fox announced its own new streamer, Fox One. The upcoming Fox service will offer a variety of content, including sports, and like streaming ESPN, it’s slated to tee off in the fall.  The arrival of a standalone streaming ESPN has been years in the making, with Disney execs finally confirming the service last year.  Up until now, the only way to get the full-on ESPN experience has been through a cable or live streaming TV service, neither of which come cheap. There was ESPN+, but as I mentioned earlier, it was a poor substitute for the real deal. Read...

1. USB audio controllers Beacn Fumbling around for the volume key or audio settings on a PC can be a killjoy at times. But what if you could just reach out and turn a knob to control your game volume and game audio settings or to mute or mix your sound wherever it may be coming from — your PC speakers, headset, or your apps? Wouldn’t that be a luxury? USB audio controllers let you do just that without you having to touch your PC keyboard. They’re ideal if you have multiple audio sources on the go for gaming, streaming, chats, or music and you want to manage them. These devices come in a variety of forms, from simple ones with just knobs like the ones from PCPanel, to more sophisticated ones (like the Beacn Mix Create) with color displays and buttons — so there’s a level of functionality to fit all needs. Buy the PC Panel Pro for $99.99 Buy the Beacn Mix Create for $219 2. Customizable keyboard touch bars Corsair The more information you have about your PC’s hardware or the game you’re playing, the more control you ultimately have. A second display or mini touchscreen can be used to display facts and figures or extra screens, but for a more curated experience some gamers have turned to using customizable keyboard touch bars. Corsair’s iCue Nexus is the only product that really fits that description. It’s a 5-inch touchscreen bar that works with Corsair’s iCue software app, on which you can load your own personalized screens, system monitoring stats, and custom commands. You can even control your devices from the screen’s tiny interface, without having to disturb whatever it is you’re doing on your main display. Buy the Corsair icue nexus for $91.97 3. AI Noise Cancelling Mic Adaptors (or digital-to-analog converters) Asus If you’ve got a wired headset that doesn’t have noise cancellation, then you can give it noise cancellation just by fitting one of these adapters to the end. Asus’ ROG Clavis gaming DAC works with any 3.5mm headset and also microphones and mobile devices too. The noise cancellation is performed at the level of the adapter itself, so you don’t have to worry about loading up drivers. Users say the noise cancellation is very good, in that it blocks out most ambient noise in your environment, so that you can enjoy your gaming audio the way it was meant to be listened to. Buy the Asus ROG Clavis gaming DAC for $106.37 4. Macro pads Keebmonkey Some gamers might be familiar with macro pads. These handy devices not only expand the key load at a player’s fingertips, but they also allow players to trigger off macros and other commands faster than they otherwise could on a keyboard. Macro pads come in a variety of sizes and shapes and with different key configurations. One that’s quite popular is the Megalodon Triple Knob Macropad, which has just about everything you’d need for gaming. It sports 16 programmable hot swappable keys and three knobs, as well as RGB backlighting and a tiny LCD screen which shows you which layers you’re in. It’s also made from anodized aluminum, so it has a very solid build that won’t easily break. buy the Megalodon Triple Knob Macropad for $79 4. Swiftpoint gaming mice Swiftpoint Among PC gaming mice, the mice from Swiftpoint stand out in the pack because of their huge array of features. The company’s latest mouse, the Swiftpoint Z2, for example, is the only mouse I’ve reviewed that has different depths of button actuation with haptic feedback, as well as a gyroscope and that also converts into a joystick — yep that’s right, it’s also a joystick! On top of those features, it also has a mini-OLED display. The Z2 is also the most customizable mouse I’ve ever used, with 13 programmable buttons and 20 profiles. They sell out very quickly, so picking one up isn’t always easy. Buy the Swiftpoint Z2 for $199.99 Read...

The new Albert Park facility will give critical revamps to F1 garages but also seven indoor sport courts and improved clubrooms for community sport. Read...