HomeWeekly News Roundup (13 December 2015)
There are no Force Awakens spoilers in this WNR, rest assured, even if one of the stories is about such a spoiler. It would be far too cruel to know too much about the film only a week to its release.
On to the news …
Star Wars: Rey spoiler subject to DMCA take-down
I normally don’t write news stories unless I’m familiar with 100% of the story (maybe not always the background behind the story), but I did a first time week by writing a news article on a photo that I haven’t even bothered to look at. But it’s all intentional you see, as that photo may very well contain a spoiler for the new Star Wars movie (don’t worry, this link has no spoilers unless you click on the clearly marked spoiler ridden link within the article), and I just couldn’t bear to possibly ruin a major plot point by actually taking a look.
Walmart started selling a new toy for the new movie, perhaps a week earlier than originally planned, and the packaging for the toy apparently contains a major spoiler for the film. The photo was uploaded online and shared, but then became a subject of a DMCA take-down by Lucasfilm, despite them not owning the copyright on the photo at all (and their claim that the photo was for a unreleased product is untrue, since Walmart was selling the toy publicly). So once again, we have the exploitation of copyright law for non copyright reasons, something that will go unpunished yet again.
Or at least that’s what I think the story is about, since as mentioned earlier, I haven’t the heart to look at the “offending” photo for fear it will ruin my Star Wars VII experience. I don’t like writing stories based on guessing, but sometimes the needs of the one outweighs the needs of the many (oops, wrong movie franchise). There goes my journalistic integrity out the window, not that I had much to begin with anyway!
Samsung leads the 4K TV market, but 4K TV adoption still faces many obstacles
What’s holding back 4K adoption? Apparently, it’s the question “what the heck is 4K”. A new poll finds that 42% of those surveyed didn’t even know what 4K was, and when they were informed, most didn’t really care about the increased resolution or the expanded colour range.
Just goes to show that for many, even DVD (and certainly Netflix) is good enough already, and that Ultra HD Blu-ray and 4K will always be a niche thing for those that truly want the best possible representation of the film (until something even better, like 8K, comes along).
Still, many will end up buying 4K TVs eventually once the price premium has dropped to an acceptable level (and then later on, when every TV will be 4K – this might happen a lot sooner than you think, since I’ve already got myself a 42″ 4K set for under $USD 300, and that was months ago, mainly because it was as cheap if not cheaper than similar non 4K sets of the same size).
The Blu-ray Disc Association better market 4K as such (a niche technology for home theater enthusiasts), and don’t waste time (and money) trying to market to the Walmart crowd.
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Got Netflix? Often find movies in your “watched” queue that’s not supposed to be there? Your Netflix account may have been hacked, and you’re not the only one that have had this happen. Read this news story to find out how you can make sure your Netflix account is secure!
The PS4 won the important month of November
Sony has let the cat out of the bag early, and announced that the PS4 was the best selling console in the US for November, ahead of the official NPD announcement. This marks a change from last November and the last month, when the Xbox One won. While the Xbox One could still have won Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it looks like its “greatest gaming lineup” in November failed to beat Sony’s PS4, which many gamers find superior in terms of performance (pricing wasn’t an issue, as both consoles were discounted to $300 for Black Friday, and the rest of the holiday sales period).
If Microsoft want to beat the Sony, it looks like the pricing for the Xbox One will have to below that of the PS4. Exclusives can only do so much, and even the effect of price cuts diminish the longer it gets into a console’s life cycle (if one console has a huge lead, then gamers will naturally flock to that console, just so they can play with their friends online). Can Microsoft afford to do it? Do they want to or need to beat the PS4?
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That’s all I have for you this week. Next week, The Force Awakens opens in cinemas around the world – not sure they’ll be much non Star Wars news, especially during the latter half of the week, but what can you do. See you next week.