Wednesday, 29 July 2020

The First Etch A Sketch That Lets You Draw Circles Is the Perfect Fidget Toy

Unless you’re a savant born with unnatural abilities for using two knobs to create artistic masterpieces, the Etch A Sketch drawing toy gets less appealing the older you get. I was surprised to find that the new Etch A Sketch Revolution—arguably the first reimagining of the toy that now makes drawing smooth curves and…

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Giancarlo Esposito Teases The Mandalorian's Plans for Moff Gideon

David Lynch teases some mystery upcoming projects. The Train to Busan sequel has a new release date. Natalia Dyer talks Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship in Stranger Things going forward. Plus, what’s to come on the next Stargirl, and teeny new snippets of both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks. To me,…

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What Thunderbolt 4 Means and How It Could Change Computing

Technology standards don’t stay still for very long, whether it’s USB, DisplayPort, or wifi, they’re constantly gaining new abilities and a new number tacked to the end of their names. The latest protocol to edge its way to the consumer masses is Thunderbolt 4. Its arrival is likely to have a big impact on the laptop…

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How to Watch Tech CEOs Testify to Congress Today on YouTube, Facebook, and More

Big Tech companies will make history on Wednesday when some of the most powerful CEOs in the country testify to Congress. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet/Google will get the spotlight starting at 12 p.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, July 29.…

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Instagram Aims to Lure TikTok Creators with Cash

Instagram is offering financial incentives to prominent TikTok users in an attempt to persuade them to use Instagram's upcoming "Reels" feature, reports The Wall Street Journal.



Instagram is seeking to kickstart its new Reels service by making lucrative offers to popular TikTok creators with millions of followers. Set to launch next month, Reels is Instagram's answer to TikTok's short-form video clips.

Incentive payments for some are reported to be in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars," with the highest payouts for creators who commit to posting their videos exclusively to Reels. For creators who refuse to post exclusively to Reels, Instagram has asked that they post their videos to Reels before posting them to other platforms. Popular TikTok creators have been known to be the subject of payments from large companies to use specific songs, wear branded clothing, and promote products in their videos, in order to reach large audiences.

Instagram has "approached a diverse range of creators about Reels in several of the countries where it's currently being tested," a company spokesperson said. "We remain committed to investing in both our creators and their experience." Instagram is offering to cover the costs of producing their videos, and has reportedly used nondisclosure agreements to dissuade creators from sharing the terms of the potential deals.

Last week, TikTok announced a $200 million fund to counter Instagram's push, intended to help creators on the platform to "realize additional earnings that help reward the care and dedication they put into creatively connecting with an audience that's inspired by their ideas."

Following the announcement of Reels earlier this month, news of financial incentives for creators is confirmation that Instagram is gearing up to directly compete with TikTok. In April, YouTube announced "Shorts," a new service that will also replicate the short video format to compete with TikTok.

TikTok, owned by parent company ByteDance, has faced increasing global scrutiny in recent weeks over security and privacy concerns related to its Chinese roots.

Reels is scheduled to launch in the U.S. and several other countries next month, with numerous "exclusive posts" from prominent creators.
This article, "Instagram Aims to Lure TikTok Creators with Cash" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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