Janko Rottgers
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Articles by Janko Rottgers
How one of the Bay Area’s most boring towns became the center of streaming
Published May 24, 2026at6:00am The main strip of downtown Los Gatos, complete with coffee shops, restaurants, and the obligatory Lululemon, hardly feels like Silicon Valley. There are no roaming packs of startup employees, no VCs in black Patagonia vests listening to nervous elevator pitches, and none of the lunch crowd you get in downtown San Francisco, Palo Alto, or Sunnyvale.
Littlstar Adds Content From Whistle, New Form, Silver.tv to Its VR & PlayStation Subscription Service
A&E-backed video aggregator Littlstar has teamed up with Whistle, New Form, Silver.tv and others to launch premium content channels for its paying subscribers. The new partnerships will bring esports and other types of short-form content to the PlayStation and VR devices supported by Littlstar.
Bigscreen Partners With Paramount for Ticketed VR Movie Screenings
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM San Francisco-based virtual reality startup Bigscreen has teamed up with Paramount Pictures to bring the theater experience to VR headsets: Bigscreen will begin showing classic Paramount movies like “Interstellar” and “Star Trek” in a virtual movie theater, where users can watch the films together with friends. Much like a traditional theater, Bigscreen won’t overwhelm users […]
Google Founders Resign From Alphabet Leadership, Sundar Pichai Becomes CEO
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is adding another responsibility to his job: Pichai will also be the CEO of parent holding company Alphabet going forward, taking the helm from co-founder and longtime CEO Larry Page. Additionally, co-founder Sergey Brin will be resigning from his post as the president of Alphabet. Brin and Page jointly announced the leadership change in a blog post Tuesday afternoon, writing: “Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President.
E-Book Subscription Service Scribd Raises $58 Million
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM Digital reading subscription service Scribd has raised a $58 million round of funding led by Spectrum Equity. The new funding round brings the total amount of money raised by Scribd to $106 million. Scribd launched in 2007 as a hosting service for digital documents, and has since evolved into a subscription service for e-books, audio […]
Former OWN COO Neal Kirsch Joins Gaming TV Network VENN (EXCLUSIVE)
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM The Video Game Entertainment and News Network (VENN) is staffing up ahead of its 2020 launch: VENN has hired former Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) and Discovery Networks executive Neal Kirsch as its new COO & CFO, the company is scheduled to announce Thursday. Kirsch served until late 2016 as the COO & CFO of Oprah’s […]
WarnerMedia Hires Jeremy Toeman, Matthew Davis as Innovation Lab Execs (EXCLUSIVE)
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM WarnerMedia is building out the leadership of its New York-based Innovation Labs: The AT&T-owned media company has hired Jeremy Toeman as vice president, technology & product and Matthew Davis as vice president, creative. Both will be based in New York and report to WarnerMedia executive vice president Jesse Redniss, who is also the general manager […]
Instagram Starts Testing New Stories Format Dubbed ‘Reels’ in Brazil
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM First there was Vine, then Tiktok… and now Instagram Reels? In an attempt to stay relevant with music-loving video makers, Instagram started to test a new Stories format by that name in Brazil Tuesday. Reels, in essence, are a collection of creation tools that include the ability to add music to a video, as well […]
Pluto: Vevo Stations Launching on Ad-Supported Video Service
Music television is back: Major label-owned music video platform Vevo is launching a series of linear channels for leanback viewing on Pluto TV, the ad-supported video service that got acquired by Viacom earlier this year. A first channel, dubbed Vevo Pop, will launch on November 12; additional channels, including a holiday-themed station, are expected to go live in the coming weeks. Vevo plans to launch 10 free, ad-supported channels on Pluto altogether.
Instagram to Start Hiding Like Counts in the U.S.
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM Instagram likes are about to disappear from public view for many more users: The Facebook-owned photo sharing service is getting ready to hide like counts from U.S. users as early as next week, CEO Adam Mosseri announced at a Wired event in San Francisco Friday. In an attempt to strengthen conversations over popularity contests, Instagram […]
Disney Plus Will Be Available on Fire TV Devices at Launch
link to original article This article was originally posted on VARIETY.COM With days left until the service’s official launch, Disney and Amazon have struck a deal to carry apps for the Mouse’s upcoming Disney Plus streaming service on Amazon’s devices. Disney Plus will be available on Fire TV streaming devices, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and compatible Fire Tablets, the two companies announced Thursday afternoon. In […]
Why Microsoft and Warner Bros. Archived the Original ‘Superman’ Movie on a Futuristic Glass Disc (EXCLUSIVE)
Microsoft has teamed up with Warner Bros. to store a copy of the 1978 movie “Superman” on a small glass disc about the size of a coaster. The collaboration, which will be officially unveiled at Microsoft’s Ignite 2019 conference in Orlando, Florida Monday, is a first test case for a new storage technology that could eventually help safeguard Hollywood’s movies and TV shows, as well as many other forms of data, for centuries to come.
U.S. Regulators Have Started to Investigate TikTok (Report)
U.S. regulators have opened an investigation into ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, and its acquisition of Musically in late 2017, Reuters reported Friday morning. Regulators are said to focus on potential national security risks, given that ByteDance is based in China. The investigation is being handled by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which usually reviews these kinds of deals as they happen.
Podcasting 101 Video Series Explains How to Produce Professional Shows
Google and public radio distributor PRX have teamed up for a 10-part educational series meant to teach budding podcasters how to perfect their craft. “Podcasting 101,” which is scheduled to launch on 10/31, will show podcasters how to record professional-sounding audio, how to write scripts, how to monetize their shows and more.
Sony PlayStation Vue TV Service Is Shutting Down in January
Sony is shutting down its live TV subscription service PlayStation Vue: The company announced Tuesday that Vue will be shuttered on January 30. “Unfortunately, the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected,” Sony said in a blog post. “Because of this, we have decided to remain focused on our core gaming business.” Developing.
TikTok China Espionage Fears Raised by Senators Schumer, Cotton
Senate Minority Leader Chuck. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) want U.S. intelligence officials to take a closer look at TikTok: In a letter to the acting director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, the two senators asked to review security risks posed by TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government. “With over 110 million downloads in the U.S. alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore,” Schumer and Cotton wrote.
Amazon Launches Ad-Supported News Video App
Sunday, October 20th, 2019 Man's Body Found Outside Lansdowne Townhome Community Police are investigating a body found outside a townhome in Lansdowne this morning as a homicide. Officers were dispatched to the 4000 block of Twin Circle Way just after 10 a.m. when a passerby discovered the body of a deceased man outside on the townhome community property. The Baltimore County Po... ...
Sandbox VR Raises $11 Million From Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Orlando Bloom, Will Smith, Others
Sunday, October 20th, 2019 Man's Body Found Outside Lansdowne Townhome Community Police are investigating a body found outside a townhome in Lansdowne this morning as a homicide. Officers were dispatched to the 4000 block of Twin Circle Way just after 10 a.m. when a passerby discovered the body of a deceased man outside on the townhome community property. The Baltimore County Po... ...
AmazeVR Strikes Immersive Content Distribution Deal With Atlas V, Felix & Paul Studios (EXCLUSIVE)
Thursday, October 17th, 2019 *** BREAKING NEWS*** Rep. Elijah Cummings has died due to complications concerning long-standing heath conditions. Tuesday, October 15th, 2019 Middle River | ARMED ROBBERY | 12500 Blk Eastern Ave. | Reported business robbed. Suspect(s) fled. No further info available. Tuesday, October 15th, 2019 Threat on Perry Hall High School Not Credible Baltimore County Police is aware of a rumor spreading on social media in reference to a threat on Perry Hall High School.
Reddit Adds Snapchat Sharing to Its iOS App
Sunday, October 13th, 2019 Baltimore Police Department UPDATE Detectives believe the suspect vehicle involved in the shooting of a 2-year old child this morning is a silver Mazda MPV. A $15,000 reward is being offered in this case. Please share. Saturday, October 12th, 2019 Photos from Tracie Morris's post MISSING: Kimberly Breeden (Morrow) age 35. Height 5’1-5’3. Weight approx 120. Haven’t heard from or seen her in almost 2 months.
‘The Exorcist: Legion VR’ Deluxe Edition Coming to Steam This Thursday
Consider it the box set for VR, if you will: Just in time for Halloween, Fun Train is reissuing its “Exorcist” series with a deluxe edition that includes all 5 episodes on the Steam store. Ahead of the release, Fun Train shared 2 pieces of key art from the game exclusively with Variety’s readers. The new “Exorcist: Legion VR’ Deluxe Edition includes enhanced graphics and animations as well as upgraded movement controls.
Twitch’s Latest Music Channel Wants to Put Gamers to Sleep
Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019 Baltimore Police Department At approximately 3:10pm, BPD officers received a report of a loose bull on North Avenue in West Baltimore. The bull is currently in the area of Presbury and Warwick Avenue. Please avoid this area. ... See more Monday, September 30th, 2019 Two Die in Weekend Fires in Woodlawn, Lansdowne Two people died in accidental dwelling fires over the weekend -- a man in Woodlawn and a woman in Lansdowne.
Vimeo Launches Video Production Jobs Marketplace
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019 Baltimore Breaking News Network Update. Police have confirmed that a 30 year old woman was transported to a local hospital where she was later pronounced deceased. Additional details have not yet been released. Dundalk | SHOOTING | 500 Blk Fairview Ave. | Police on scene w/ 1 shot. EMS requested. No further details available. Saturday, September 21st, 2019 Dundalk | SHOOTING | 500 Blk Fairview Ave. | Police on scene w/ 1 shot. EMS requested. No further details available.
Kano Star Wars, Frozen Coding Kits Incoming, Per FCC Filing
Educational consumer electronics startup Kano is getting ready to release “Star Wars” and “Frozen” coding kits, according to regulatory filings. Recent FCC filings made by the company reveal plans to release a product called “The Force Coding Kit” as well as one called “The Disney Frozen Coding Kit.” Kano representatives didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. The filings were heavily redacted, omitting photos, user manuals and other key documents from public display.
Kano Tipped to Launch ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Frozen’ Coding Kits
Click here to read the full article. Educational consumer electronics startup Kano is getting ready to release “Star Wars” and “Frozen” coding kits, according to regulatory filings. Recent FCC filings made by the company reveal plans to release a product called “The Force Coding Kit” as well as one called “The Disney Frozen Coding Kit.” Kano representatives didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. More from Variety Will Disney Plus Shake Up How Consumers Value Streaming Services?
Google Assistant’s Name, Personality, Gender and Other Design Choices
A few years back, Google was actively exploring whether it should launch a male counterpart to Amazon’s female Alexa voice assistant. “When we first launched the Google Assistant, we intended to use a male voice, just to be different,” recalled Google Assistant product manager Brant Ward recently. However, at the time, text-to-speech technology was still struggling to make male voices sound natural. “You’d get these warble effects, oftentimes, with male voices,” said Ward.
HTC Replaces HTC Vive With New $699 Vive Comos VR Headset
Wednesday, September 11th, 2019 Never Forget. Wednesday, September 11th, 2019 Sunday, September 8th, 2019 Anyone know what happened on Woodland by Tony's Pizza around 12:30-1:00? Saturday, September 7th, 2019 White Marsh | BUILDING FIRE | 6200 Blk Days Cove Rd | 2nd alarm sounded. Reported heavy smoke showing on arrival @ the Baltimore County landfill. Crews working, fire knocked.
Spotify Adds Snapchat Music Sharing Feature
Sunday, September 8th, 2019 Anyone know what happened on Woodland by Tony's Pizza around 12:30-1:00? Saturday, September 7th, 2019 White Marsh | BUILDING FIRE | 6200 Blk Days Cove Rd | 2nd alarm sounded. Reported heavy smoke showing on arrival @ the Baltimore County landfill. Crews working, fire knocked. Saturday, September 7th, 2019 Dundalk | DWELLING FIRE | Unit Blk Winona Ave. | Crews on scene, 1.5 story dwelling w/ fire showing. Interior attack in progress. Update. Fire knocked.
Roku Introduces $180 Smart Soundbar, Subwoofer
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019 Maryland State Highway Administration School starts tomorrow! Learn and obey the "alternately flashing warning light" system that school bus drivers use to alert motorists: 🚸Yellow flashing lights indicate that the bus is preparing to load or unload children. 🚸Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop vehicles. 🚸Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate the bus has stopped, and that children are getting on or off.
Vevo Partners With Vewd to Bring Music Videos to TiVos, Smart TVs
Tuesday, August 27th, 2019 Baltimore City | SHOTS FIRED | N Fremont Ave and Pennsylvania Ave | Suspect fired at police then fled in vehicle. More info when it becomes available. Saturday, August 24th, 2019 White Marsh | MVC W/ INJURIES | White Marsh Blvd & Honeygo Blvd | Injuries reported w/ 1 vehicle on fire. Seek alternate route.
Hollywood Coalition Wants to Help You Turn off Motion Smoothing on Your TV
Tuesday, August 27th, 2019 Baltimore City | SHOTS FIRED | N Fremont Ave and Pennsylvania Ave | Suspect fired at police then fled in vehicle. More info when it becomes available. Saturday, August 24th, 2019 White Marsh | MVC W/ INJURIES | White Marsh Blvd & Honeygo Blvd | Injuries reported w/ 1 vehicle on fire. Seek alternate route.
This Website Creates Spotify & Apple Music Playlists Based on Your Local Weather
Electronica musician Tycho launched a clever promotional website for his new album “Weather” this week: Visitors of Tycho’s website can use a web app to generate a playlist based on their local weather. Playlists can be saved to both Spotify and Apple Music, and consist of 25 songs, both from Tycho’s catalog as well as a wide variety of other artists. The web app was developed by Lee Martin, the former vice president of design at Songkick.
SiriusXM Announces $4 Streaming Plan for Students
Tuesday, August 20th, 2019 Towson | VEHICLE VS POLE | Edgeclift Rd & E Joppa Rd | Units on scene with 1 trapped, now extricated. Patient is critically injured. Tuesday, August 20th, 2019 SB 95 whitmarsh area not sure on mm pretty bad wreck had a rotator from teds/sullivans headed that direction must of involved a truck of some sort traffics pretty heavy. Sunday, August 18th, 2019 Baltimore County Police Department #BCoPD investigating an early morning shooting in the Parkville area.
Facebook Looking to Hire Journalists for Curated News Section
Sunday, August 18th, 2019 Baltimore County Police Department #BCoPD investigating an early morning shooting in the Parkville area. On 8/18/19, at 12:50 a.m., police responded to the unit block of Running Fox Road and found two males suffering from trauma to the body. Both victims were immediately transported to local hospitals for treatment. Detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit are currently investigating this incident, which is believed to be isolated. ^AB ...
LGBTQ Creators Sue YouTube Over Alleged Discrimination
Tuesday, August 13th, 2019 Halethorpe | MVC W/ RESCUE | Sb I-95 @ I-695 IL. | Crews on scene w/ 1 tractor trailer on it's roof. 1 patient heavily entrapped. Working rescue. MDE & Trauma Go-Team requested. Monday, August 12th, 2019 Tons of police cars (city and county) at canton crossing by chik fil a. Not sure what happened but they had 2 guys in handcuffs.
LGBTQ Creators Sue YouTube Over Alleged Discrimination
A group of LGBTQ+ creators has sued YouTube and its parent company Google, alleging that the video platform was regularly restricting their abilities to make money with their videos based on their sexual orientation. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California Tuesday, seeks class-action status. YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
Superplastic Raises $10 Million to Turn Janky and Guggimon Into Animated Instagram Stars (EXCLUSIVE)
Superplastic, the designer toy brand launched by Kidrobot founder Paul Budnitz, has raised a $10 million Series A round of funding to turn two of its characters into animated digital media stars: Starting Tuesday, the company’s Janky and Guggimon characters will come to life on Instagram, where they will publish animated videos, interact with their fans and more. “Our characters live their lives on social media,” Budnitz told Variety during a recent interview.
Amazon Is Bringing Prime Video to Oculus VR Headsets
Oculus VR headset users just got one more video service to watch in their virtual living rooms: Amazon’s Prime Video service went live on Oculus Go, Quest and Samsung Gear VR headsets with a dedicated Prime Video VR app Wednesday. In addition to access to the entire Prime Video catalog, Prime Video VR will also feature select 360-degree video films. At launch, these include “Invasion!” from Baobab Studios and “Greenland Melting” from Frontline and NOVA, according to a blog post.
Google’s Stadia Game Streaming Service to Include Free Monthly Game
Google has been busy sharing additional details about its upcoming game streaming service Stadia, clearing up some confusion in the process. Stadia’s pro subscription tier, which will cost $10 per month, won’t be a Netflix-type subscription service. However, subscribers will get free games, at the rate of about a title per month.
Hulu Is Getting NASA TV in Time for the Moon Landing Anniversary
Click here to read the full article. Hulu’s live TV service is getting NASA TV just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. In addition to a live feed, which is available only to subscribers of Hulu’s live TV tier, Hulu is also gaining access to select NASA TV series on demand. The live TV deal was announced by NASA on Twitter this week, and first spotted by Engadget.
Hulu Is Getting NASA TV in Time for the Moon Landing Anniversary
Shares of iHeartMedia, the U.S.’s biggest radio network, fell as much as 7% after they commenced trading Thursday on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Last month, after exiting a year-long bankruptcy reorg, iHeartMedia announced it was approved for listing on NASDAQ, instead of pursuing an IPO.
Hulu Is Getting NASA TV in Time for the Moon Landing Anniversary
Janko Rottgers, provided by Published 11:48 am CDT, Thursday, July 18, 2019 Click through to see photos of people watching the 1969 Apollo 11 moon mission. A crowd gathers to watch the Apollo 11 crew land on the moon, July 20, 1969, Central Park, New York. Click through to see photos of people watching the 1969 Apollo 11 moon mission. A crowd gathers to watch the Apollo 11 crew land on the moon, July 20, 1969, Central Park, New York.
Firefox wants to help you fool ad trackers with 100 useless browser tabs - Tech News | The Star Online
LOS ANGELES: Advertisers are tracking you across the Web to build profiles and personalise ads. Firefox maker Mozilla now wants to help consumers bury their tracks, and throw off advertisers, with a fun little hack. The non-profit browser maker launched a new website called Track This on June 26 that opens 100 browser tabs to confuse ad trackers.
Firefox Wants to Help You Fool Ad Trackers With 100 Useless Browser Tabs
Advertisers are tracking you across the web to build profiles and personalize ads. Firefox maker Mozilla now wants to help consumers bury their tracks, and throw off advertisers, with a fun little hack. The non-profit browser maker launched a new website called Track This Wednesday that opens 100 browser tabs to confuse ad trackers.
‘Men in Black’ VR Experience Coming to Dreamscape (EXCLUSIVE)
Ahead of the launch of “Men In Black: International” this week, Sony Pictures Entertainment is getting ready to transport fans into the universe of the franchise: The studio announced a new partnership with VR startup Dreamscape Monday to bring a “Men in Black” VR experience to Dreamscape’s flagship location at the in Century City, Calif. this summer.
Spotify Releases Stations App for iOS and Android in the U.S.
Spotify’s personalized radio app Stations is now available to U.S. consumers: The free app, which offers music fans a way to stream curated and personalized radio stations similar to Pandora, debuted on the U.S. App Store and Google Play Monday. Techcrunch was first to spot the release Tuesday. “Easily create stations for all the music you love, all for free,” the app description on Google Play reads.
iPadOS, Dark Mode and Sign in With Apple: All the Biggest News From WWDC
Apple used its worldwide developer conference (WWDC) in San Jose, Calif. Monday to preview the next major versions of its mobile and desktop operating systems. In addition to announcing that it would replace iTunes with 3 dedicated media apps, Apple also showed off a bunch of new products and features. Among the announcements, 3 stood out in particular: iPadOS, dark mode and sign in with Apple.
Apple Announces Revamped User Interface for Apple TV
Apple introduced a new version of tvOS for at its worldwide developer conference (WWDC) in San Jose, Calif. Monday. The new version of tVOS comes with a redesigned user interface as well as multi-user support, allowing Apple TV owners to access personal content recommendations for each and every household member. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the new version of tvOS as part of a plug for Apple TV+, the company’s paid video streaming service that is slated to debut later this year.
Facebook Flooded by Bots, Takes Down 2.2B Fake Accounts
Facebook saw a huge jump of bots trying to create fake accounts during the first quarter, with the company revealing Thursday that it took down 2.19 billion such accounts over the first three months of this year. “We’ve seen a steep increase in the creation of abusive, fake accounts on Facebook in the last six months,” the company said as part of its third community standards enforcement report. “We catch most of these accounts within minutes of registration.
Songza Co-Founders Have Left YouTube Music Ahead of Google Play Music Shut-Down
The three co-founders of Songza, a music curation startup acquired by Google in 2014, have left YouTube Music, Variety has learned. Former Songza CEO Elias Roman, former chief product officer Elliott Breece and former chief operating officer Peter Asbill all quietly transitioned to new positions at Google’s startup incubator Area 120 in March. A YouTube Music spokesperson confirmed the departure, but said that the YouTube Music team was otherwise intact, with T.
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