Disney+ to Launch Across Europe This Week With Reduced Streaming Quality, Launch in France Delayed

Disney's premium streaming service, Disney+, will launch across Europe on Tuesday with temporarily degraded video quality, according to Reuters. The measure aims to reduce the burden on the continent's data networks as millions of people switch to working from home.


In a company statement, Disney said it had agreed to a European Union request for streaming-video providers to "ensure the smooth functioning of the broadband infrastructure."

Anticipating higher consumer demand, the company is instituting measures to "lower our overall bandwidth utilization by at least 25 percent in all of the markets launching Disney+ on March 24th," said Kevin Mayer, head of Disney's Direct-to-consumer and International business.

In addition, the launch of Disney+ has been delayed in France by two weeks on request of the French government. Disney+ will now launch in the country the week of April 7.

Facebook yesterday also committed to downgrade video streaming quality across its social media platforms, including Instagram.

Last week, the European Union asked streaming services to consider temporary reductions in streaming quality due to the abnormally large number of people working from home and taking advantage of streaming services amid the viral outbreak. Netflix, YouTube, Apple TV+, and Amazon all responded to the call.

• Disney+ Pre-Launch Promotion Offering Discounted Prices for Europe

Currently, streaming content providers have only been asked to lower streaming quality in Europe, so the lower streaming rates do not affect the United States and other countries. The United States has not called on streaming content providers to implement data reduction measures.

It's not clear how long Disney plans to stream with reduced quality and whether tweaks will be made for a better compromise between quality and data usage. Netflix said that it will continue using the lower quality stream for the next 30 days.

Tags: European Union, Europe, France, Disney Plus

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Target Donates N95 Mask Inventory to Hospitals, Apologizes For Selling Masks in Seattle

Target has apologized for selling N95 masks in some of its Seattle stores after a photo of the masks went viral on social media. Personal protective equipment like masks are in short supply for doctors and nurses across the country as the covid-19 pandemic worsens, and Target has now has pledged to donate its supply…

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Kuo: Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization Coming to 6.7-Inch iPhone in 2020, Periscope Lens to Follow in 2022

Apple is rumored to be planning a high-end 6.7-inch iPhone model for release in 2020, and multiple reports have indicated that the device will feature multiple rear camera improvements, including larger sensors that capture more light for better image quality.

The latest word comes from noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who today said that the 6.7-inch iPhone will also feature sensor-shift image stabilization. In a research note with TF International Securities, obtained by MacRumors, Kuo predicted that the technology will expand to two to three new iPhone models in 2021.


While details are slim, sensor-shift technology could bring image stabilization to the Ultra Wide lens on future iPhones, starting with the 6.7-inch model. iPhone 11 Pro models feature optical image stabilization for both photo and video, but only when using the Wide or Telephoto lenses. Sensor-shift technology would provide a solution for this, as the stabilization would apply to the camera sensor itself and not be dependant on any specific lens.

Sensor-shifting image stabilization could also result in better shots with attachable lens accessories like the OlloClip.

Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes also claimed that sensor-shift image stabilization technology is coming to the 6.7-inch iPhone this year, so there are now multiple sources backing this rumor. The report claimed the technology would also be available on a higher-end model of two 6.1-inch iPhones that are rumored for 2020, but as mentioned above, Kuo expects the feature to be limited to the 6.7-inch iPhone until next year.

The rumored 6.7-inch iPhone would have the largest display of any iPhone ever. The device is rumored to be slightly taller than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Kuo today also predicted that at least one 2022 iPhone model will feature a periscope lens, which could allow for 5x optical zoom like Huawei's P30 Pro or even 10x optical zoom as is rumored for the device's P40 Pro successor. iPhones currently max out at 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom. Optical zoom preserves the quality of a shot when zooming in, while digital zoom results in some blurriness.

Related Roundup: iPhone 12

Tags: Ming-Chi Kuo, TF International Securities

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AirPower Isn't Dead, Says Leaker

Apple's AirPower wireless charging mat isn't dead after all, says leaker Jon Prosser.

The project is back on, internally. No guarantee that they’ll finalize and release it, but they haven’t given up yet and they’re trying to re-engineer the coils to displace heat more effectively. Prototyping is underway.

Note: None of the current prototypes support Apple Watch - that’s their biggest hurdle right now.
They refuse to release a version that doesn’t work with Apple Watch.
They’re re-engineering from scratch.





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Rumor Claims 'AirPower Isn't Dead' After Ming-Chi Kuo Says Apple Working on 'Smaller Wireless Charging Mat'

Nearly a year after canceling its AirPower wireless charging mat, Apple has resumed development of the project, according to YouTuber and leaker Jon Prosser. However, there is no guarantee that the accessory will ever be released.


Prosser claims that Apple engineers are attempting to redesign the mat's charging coils to displace heat more effectively, adding that prototyping is underway. Apple only said that the AirPower failed to achieve its high standards, but rumors suggested that the mat experienced issues with heat management and interference.

AirPower would have been able to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods case simultaneously, regardless of each device's position on the mat. The battery percentage of each device would have shown up on the iPhone's lock screen while charging.

AirPower isn’t dead 👀

The project is back on, internally. No guarantee that they’ll finalize and release it, but they haven’t given up yet and they’re trying to re-engineer the coils to displace heat more effectively. Prototyping is underway.

🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻 pic.twitter.com/tjbbViwGM2

— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) March 22, 2020

Apple first previewed the ‌AirPower‌ in September 2017 at Steve Jobs Theater, shortly after introducing the iPhone X, and said that it would be released by the end of 2018. Apple failed to deliver on that promise and ultimately canceled the mat in March 2019. At the time, Apple said it remained "committed to push the wireless experience forward."

Prosser has shared accurate Google leaks in the past, but he has only recently pushed more into Apple rumors, so his track record is limited on that front.

A few months ago, well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted that one of Apple's major new hardware products in the first half of 2020 would include a "smaller wireless charging mat," but he did not provide any further details and that timeframe may have changed due to the ongoing pandemic. It is unclear if the mat would have AirPower branding.

Tags: AirPower, Jon Prosser

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