Netflix launches a standalone app for kids’ games

Netflix launches a standalone app for kids’ games

Netflix is launching a new standalone app for kids’ games called Netflix Playground, the company announced on Monday. Netflix Playground is available as part of a Netflix subscription, and doesn’t have any ads or in-app purchases. Netflix says the app gives children access to an “ever-growing” library of games for kids. Netflix Playground is launching…

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Netflix confirms it’s raising prices again

Netflix confirms it’s raising prices again

Netflix has quietly hiked its prices once again. The streaming giant’s most affordable, ad-supported tier now costs $8.99 per month, up from the previous $7.99 monthly subscription fee, Netflix confirmed to TechCrunch in an email. The standard plan without ads also now costs $19.99 per month, a $2 increase from the previous $17.99 subscription fee,…

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How soap opera-TikTok hybrids became a billion-dollar business

How soap opera-TikTok hybrids became a billion-dollar business

Over the past few years, a new category of mobile apps has quietly exploded into a multi-billion dollar business. They’re called “micro dramas” — short-form, mobile-first scripted shows designed to be watched vertically on your phone. Think soap opera meets TikTok, complete with secret billionaire romances, disapproving werewolf mothers-in-law, and cliffhangers engineered to keep users tapping. The leading…

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BuzzFeed debuts AI slop apps in bid for new revenue

BuzzFeed debuts AI slop apps in bid for new revenue

BuzzFeed, the U.S.-based media company known best for its quizzes, listicles, and, for a time, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism division, is reinventing itself for the AI era. At least, that’s the pitch. At the SXSW conference in Austin, BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti introduced the company’s next media foray: a spin-off called Branch Office,…

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Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’ wins three Oscars, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ wins two

Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’ wins three Oscars, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ wins two

Two Netflix films, “Frankenstein” and “KPop Demon Hunters,” won multiple Academy Awards tonight. Director Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of “Frankenstein” won for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, while Netflix’s most-watched movie ever “KPop Demon Hunters” won for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. In recent years, films produced…

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