If you weren’t glued to your smartphone, or constantly checking Twitter/Facebook/other news app or social network of choice over the weekend, it’s possible you may have missed some interesting articles. Well not to worry, help is at hand, as this weekly round up brings you some of the most interesting reads in tech from the weekend that should help brighten up your day.
Periscope made it easy to watch the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight for free
The big sporting event of the weekend was the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing bout. But, with not everyone having access to the right VPN/streaming service to watch the fight live (or the desire to pay $100 to access Pay-Per-View), helpful Periscope users streamed the fight live from the ring. While the quality of the streaming sounds pretty awful, it seemingly served its purpose.
Britney Spears to follow Kim Kardashian by launching her own mobile game
Is there any area of life that the Kardashians aren’t involved in? In 2014, Kim Kardashian released a mobile game where she mentors people as they try to become famous. This game was such a massive success that games developer Glu Mobile is hoping to do the same with Britney Spears. The game sounds pretty similar to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, with Britney offers her own guidance on making it in the entertainment industry.
Instagram launches music channel, @music
Not content with dominating the world of photo sharing (while trying to break into videos), Instagram is moving from eyes to ears with the launch of a service to promote musicians who use the platform. Updated every Tuesday, it will showcase profiles of artists, as well as featuring other, exclusive editorial content, with the aim of not only highlighting well-known artists but also promoting new musicians.
Major music association calls Grooveshark’s death an ‘important victory’ for artists
Grooveshark has long had a difficult relationship with the music industry due to its legal battles over copyright infringement. But it seems this has all come to an end as the service – which was accused of sharing songs illegally as users uploaded content – will shut down rather than pay through the nose. The news has been hailed as a victory for the industry, with artists not being paid what they were due by Grooveshark.
Facebook offers to let publishers keep revenue from certain ads
The way we consume news is changing, something which Facebook has recognized with the launch of Instant Articles. This initiative will host news from a wide variety of sources such as BuzzFeed and The New York Times with the aim of speeding up the process of reading the news on mobile devices. To encourage more publishers to get involved, Facebook is offering to split the revenue by allowing them to keep all the money they make from certain advertisements.
An illustrated guide to the best ‘Star Wars’ video games
Finally, a little something for Star Wars fan given the significance of the date (May the 4th be with you). In this visual treat, The Daily Dot provides an illustrated walkthrough of the many Star Wars games that have been released over the years. Given that they excluded mobile, educational, Flash, and handheld-only games, there are still an awful lot, proving just what an impact the series has had.
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