PewDiePie quit plan prompts YouTube reply

YouTube has denied making changes to its algorithms, after its most popular star said he would delete his channel.

Video gamer Felix Kjellberg, known as PewDiePie, suggested changes to YouTube's algorithms had affected the discoverability of creators' content.

On Tuesday, a Forbes report named the Swedish gamer who now lives in the UK as the highest-earning YouTuber.

YouTube told the BBC it had not made any changes to its "suggested videos" algorithms.

However, other video-makers have reported the same problem, with new videos being viewed fewer times than old content.
Algorithms

The "suggested videos" feed appears when a video is being watched, and recommends more content to watch.

Mr Kjellberg said the feed usually accounted for more than 30% of his video traffic, but in recent weeks it had suddenly fallen to under 1%, signalling an undisclosed algorithm change.

Other criticisms aimed at YouTube included suggestions that:

    channels he had previously subscribed to had been removed from his subscriptions list
    the homepage - which in 2006 used to show videos from channels the user had chosen to subscribe to - was now filled with "recommended" videos viewers were not interested in
    the suggested videos feed favoured click bait and pornography

Film-makers have argued that YouTube has made it more difficult for fans to keep track of their latest uploads, and for new viewers to discover their content, since the platform was acquired by Google.

In a video uploaded on Friday, video gamer Mr Kjellberg said he would delete his channel when it reached 50 million subscribers as a result of his frustration with the platform.

His channel, currently the most-followed on the video-sharing site, is about 200,000 subscribers short of that target.

However, when asked by the BBC, YouTube denied that it had made any changes to its algorithms in recent months.

It added that it had found no evidence that people were being unsubscribed from channels they followed.

A spokeswoman said: "Some creators have expressed concerns around a drop in their subscriber numbers.

"We've done an extensive review and found there have been no decreases in creators' subscriber numbers beyond what normally happens when viewers either unsubscribe from a creator's channel or when YouTube removes spammed subscribers."

Mr Kjellberg is currently producing new episodes of his YouTube-financed series Scare PewDiePie, and on Tuesday topped Forbes' list of highest-paid YouTube stars for the second year in a row.

His PewDiePie gaming channel is likely to reach 50 million subscribers in a matter of days.

Mr Kjellberg suggested at that stage he would "start fresh" with a new channel, although some have taken his claim as light-hearted.

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Apple Music attracts 20 million subscribers in 18 months

Apple Music has said it will continue to tie artists to exclusive deals, as its number of paid subscribers passes 20 million for the first time.

There has been criticism that putting albums behind a streaming paywall harms fans and, ultimately, artists.

"I don't think exclusives or promotions are anything new," Apple Music boss Eddy Cue said.

"They were done in the record business, they were done on iTunes, now they're being done on streaming."

He continued: "The exclusives are relatively short term - it's not something that stays on any one platform. But being able to do unique things with artists is a good thing and I think that'll continue."

Cue said Apple had hosted 70 exclusives over the last year, six of which topped the US Billboard charts, including Drake's Views.

Apple also streamed Chance The Rapper's Coloring Book, which made history on Tuesday by becoming the first album to be nominated for the Grammys without being available in shops or download stores.

However, Universal Music Group chief executive Lucian Grainge recently called for an end to exclusives.

And Kanye West has said streaming companies are engaged in a testosterone-fuelled battle that was ruining the music industry - despite releasing his own album as an exclusive on Jay Z's Tidal service.

Cue told the BBC that exclusives were "not the answer to everything" but they "served their purpose".

One purpose is undoubtedly to attract new customers - and Apple has gained three million new subscribers in the last three months.

The tech company said 60% of its users had not downloaded a song from the iTunes store over the last 12 months, suggesting they were a "whole new audience".

Launched in June 2015, Apple Music has swiftly become the second biggest player in the market - behind Spotify, which now boasts 40 million subscribers.

Their popularity has helped reinvigorate the music industry, which recently saw its first big gain in revenue for 20 years.

The increase was largely due to a 45% increase in streaming revenue, with sites like Apple, Deezer, Tidal and Spotify charging £10 per month for instant access to millions of songs.

Cue and Apple Music DJ Zane Lowe spoke to the BBC as the company revealed its most popular music and apps of 2016.

Zane, what's your view of music in the last 12 months?

Zane Lowe: It's been a mad year, hasn't it? When I think back over the last 12 months, I've turned to music so many times. It's been the consistent bringer of joy in an otherwise fairly emotional year.

A lot of huge superstars have really shown themselves to be just that this year, [with] people like Drake releasing multiple records. And I think Skepta is the number one superstar coming out of the UK in 2016.

Drake is doing huge numbers on streaming - but that means he dominates the charts at the expense of new music. Does that concern you?

ZL: I don't run the charts and I don't have any influence over the charts. What we do is we focus on bringing new music to its audience, and that's always been the equation that matters to us. Where the charts fit in to that, I don't give any huge amount of thought, to be honest with you.

Is it possible to create a star entirely within the Apple Music ecosystem, without TV or magazines or radio play?

Eddy Cue: I think we've shown with somebody like Chance The Rapper that we can bring him into the charts.

ZL: Take Christine and the Queens - she was only recognised in France when we started playing her and all of a sudden she is regarded as one of the breakout artists of the last 12 to 18 months.

It won't come as a surprise when I tell you that I think Beats 1 and Apple Music have played a really valuable role in bringing an artist like Christine to a global audience,.

Most streaming services charge £10 a month - but recently Amazon Unlimited and Electric Jukebox have started experimenting with lower prices. How closely are you monitoring their subscriber numbers?

EC: We watch what all of our competitors are doing. There are a lot of promotions and different ways for people to do things around pricing. But we're looking at ways to help artists get discovered, to make it easier for you to listen to music. All those kinds of things is the focus we have.

You've done well from exclusives this year, but a lot of fans get aggrieved when their favourite artist streams music exclusively on a service they don't subscribe to. Will you continue to pursue those deals?

EC: I don't think exclusives or promotions are anything new. They were done in the record business, they were done in the cassette business, they were done on iTunes and now they're being done on streaming.
The exclusives are relatively short term - it's not something that stays on any one platform. But being able to do unique things with artists is a good thing and I think that'll continue.

If you look at Kanye's latest album The Life Of Pablo, it was pirated hundreds of thousands of times when it was an exclusive on Tidal. Isn't that damaging to the industry?

EC: Again, if done correctly, I think they can serve a purpose. They're not the answer to everything. But when we've done things with Drake, for example, or Frank Ocean, they've worked really well for them and for us.

How important is it to invest in content now that iPhone sales are slowing down?

EC: That's a loaded question! Look, I think we are going to continue to invest in music in a huge way, whether it's new pieces of software, Beats headphones or the audio that we do.

We've just released the greatest-sounding iPhone we've ever done with stereo speakers, so we're committed to audio and the music business in a huge way - along with continuing to invest in all of our hardware business which is doing quite well.

Would you consider upgrading Apple Music to high-fidelity or "lossless" audio?

EC: There's a lot of talk about that - but what we've focused on is making sure we get the best masters.

One of the things we realised early on when we were doing iTunes was that the quality of the songs we were getting sometimes weren't the best - because they weren't coming directly from the master tapes. They had already been pre-processed and all that.

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Fitbit confirms Pebble takeover deal

Fitbit, the world's bestselling wearable tech-maker, has confirmed it is buying the inventions that power Pebble's smartwatches.

However, the deal does not include any of Pebble's products, and work on several crowdfunded devices that have yet to be made has been cancelled.

Pebble said it would try and refund backers of the Time 2, Core and Time Round gadgets by March 2017.

It also warned those who already owned its gear to expect less support.

"We don't expect to release regular software updates or new Pebble features," the firm said in a statement on its most recent Kickstarter campaign page.

"Our new mission will focus on bringing Pebble's unique wearables expertise to future Fitbit products.

"We're also working to reduce Pebble's reliance on cloud services, letting all Pebble models stay active long into the future."

The announcement comes just over eight months after Pebble cut 40 jobs - amounting to 25% of its workforce.

"Money is pretty tight these days," the start-up's chief executive Eric Migicovsky said at the time.
Health tech

The deal offers Fitbit a way to invigorate its own line-up after its Blaze smartwatch had a troubled launch.

"Pebble's key asset was its software," commented Paul Lamkin, editor of the Wareable news site.

"A lot of people think its quite a lot better than anything Apple and Google have managed to do, and it offers Fitbit a huge developer community, which it wouldn't have otherwise had."

Fitbit suggested that the deal would help it target a wider range of customers.

"With this acquisition, we're well positioned to accelerate the expansion of our platform... as well as build the tools healthcare providers, insurers and employers need to more meaningfully integrate wearable technology into preventative and chronic care," said Fitbit's chief executive James Park.

Fitbit added that "key personnel" from Pebble would join its company.

But the Bloomberg news agency reports that Mr Migicovsky will not be part of them and will instead rejoin the San Francisco-based start-up incubator Y Combinator.

Other smartwatch makers have also found the market to be tougher than expected.

Lenovo recently said it would not launch a new generation of its Moto watch to coincide with the launch of Android Wear 2.0 because it did not see "enough pull in the market".

Intel was recently forced to recall its Basis Peak smartwatches because of overheating problems, following which there have been reports that it is cutting jobs within the team responsible.

A fresh report from the market research firm IDC also indicated that Apple Watch sales had slumped.

But the firm's chief executive Tim Cook responded saying the product's sales growth was "off the charts".

Pebble was a pioneer of two significant tech trends of recent years - crowdfunding and smart watches. Now its demise - because that is effectively what the sale to Fitbit means - is a measure of how the climate around both those ideas has darkened.

The first Pebble watch was the standout Kickstarter success that seemed to validate the idea of using crowdfunding rather than venture capital to get a tech hardware idea off the ground.

That offered a different, more intimate relationship with a product's buyers - but as others have found out, when things go wrong the anger of this new type of consumer/fan is all the greater.

Even though backers who won't now receive discontinued Pebble products will get refunded, many are very unhappy.

One, Matt Penton, told me "this is a terrible way to treat the community of backers" and said it was a betrayal that Pebble had not turned to that community for help before selling out to Fitbit.

But this is also a sign that the market for smart watches may be smaller than seemed likely when Pebble was followed by the likes of Samsung and Apple in giving consumers a new form of wearable connectivity.

We must assume that the "various factors" cited in Pebble's explanation of the rush to sell up include disappointing sales in the crucial holiday season.

The big players in wearables now seem to be focusing on fitness fanatics rather than fashionistas - so Fitbit may also have its work cut out if it is to continue to grow.

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Virgin Media unveils 4K box and large tablet

Virgin Media has launched its first 4K TV set-top box, offering four times the resolution of high definition broadcasts.

The firm also unveiled a large tablet and an online store from which its UK customers will be able to purchase HD, but not 4K, content - it had only sold rentals before.

Its pay-TV rivals BT and Sky already offer 4K services of their own.

One expert suggested Virgin's initial line-up of content might disappoint.

"Virgin Media will hope that this well long overdue move will help boost its declining TV base," said Paolo Pescatore from the technology consultancy CCS Insight.

"For the first time in a while its total TV subscribers grew in the last quarter, reversing a worrying trend seen over the last couple of years.

"But despite claims that the box is future-proof, it lacks premium 4K content such as live sport and on-demand movies, unlike rivals, which is something that it needs to address.

"However, its hands are tied due to the high fees BT Sport and Sky will most likely command [for their content]."

Virgin's chief digital entertainment officer has played down the issue.

"The box is 4K capable and therefore future-proof," David Bouchier told the BBC.

"Do we see a significant demand sitting here in 2016 for a large amount of 4K programming by the majority of our subscriber base? No we don't.

"We would quite happily put the 4K football matches on if we felt that this was something that our customers were saying.

"I'm not saying that it's like 3D [which failed to catch on], but we need to wait and see exactly what people think.

"It's not something that is a must have.

"What is a must-have is six-times recording [where the new box records six shows simultaneously], that's what they really want."

For now, the V6 box also lacks HDR (high-dynamic-range) playback, a technology that allows images to reveal more detail and display a wider range of colours.

But Mr Bouchier said he hoped to add the facility some time next year when the chip-maker Broadcom released new firmware for the processor inside the device.

Virgin is charging a one-off fee of £99.95 for the box, but it does not require subscribers to take out a new contract or pay more per month than otherwise.

Portable screen
 
Virgin has also introduced the TellyTablet, which runs the old Marshmallow version of Android, and is an optional extra purchase.

It features a 14in (35.6cm) touchscreen, making it larger than both Apple and Amazon's biggest tablets, but smaller than Samsung's Galaxy View.

Fitted with four speakers, the new device is being pitched as a way to watch TV around the home.

It contrasts with Sky's approach, which involves offering a small wi-fi equipped box that extends its service to multiple TVs.

The TellyTablet is limited to 1080p HD playback, which has helped keep down its cost.

"It's not a service enhancement that we would have guessed before we heard it because tablet sales have already started slowing," commented Ed Barton from the consultancy Ovum.

"The two things that stood out are that it's big and it's relatively cheap.

"But the question is: how much of an overlap is there between Virgin subscribers and those that want a big £300 tablet? I'm not sure it's going to be huge."
 
Movies in the post


Virgin is also adding new services including a Kids app, which brings together cartoons, TV shows, interactive games and picture books in one place.

It is targeted at children aged three-to-six years old and guarantees no advertisements or in-app fees. However, it is limited to the firm's premium subscription options.

The company's new online store will let people buy digital copies of movies shortly after their cinema run, and then be sent a physical disc-based copy when it becomes available.

Mr Bouchier acknowledged that Virgin was adopting a practice pioneered by Sky in April 2015.

"Sky was very successful and within a very short space of time had a bigger market share than iTunes," he said.

"One of the major reasons for that was that it had the DVD-to-the-home as an integral part of the proposition.

"So, we will be one of only two places where you will get the electronic version in your digital locker... and also a DVD in the post."

But Mr Barton said Virgin might find it harder to succeed.
"

What Sky has is its own TV channels on which it has run adverts very aggressively promoting the release of movies in its Store," he explained.

"It worked very well for tent-pole releases, such as the recent Star Wars movie.

"So one wonders what Virgin's marketing and communications will be, as it won't work just by setting the store up."

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Snapchat unveils strange vending machine for its sunglasses

Snapchat is now selling smart sunglasses from a smiling yellow vending machine that it just deposited near a beach in California.

Yes, you read that sentence correctly.

Snapchat unveiled a new line of funky sunglasses with a built-in wireless video camera in September, marking its first big move from apps to hardware. At the same time, the company renamed itself Snap Inc.

Now those glasses, called Spectacles, are finally going on sale for $129.99, but there's a catch.

The company is only selling the glasses from unusual anthropomorphic vending machines called Snapbots, which look more than a little bit like Minions.

The first (and so far only) vending machine "landed" near Snapchat's headquarters in Venice Beach on Thursday. Snapchat has created a map for customers to keep track as additional vending machines are added or relocated.

Related: Google Capital is now an investor in Snapchat

It's unclear how many vending machines Snapchat intends to install. Reps for Snapchat did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Some Snapchat fans quickly made the trek to the first vending machine on Thursday morning. By the afternoon, there were Spectacles listed for resale on eBay for as much as $950.
Snapchat's sunglasses have drawn comparisons to Google Glass, another smartglasses product that ultimately flopped after a period of public beta testing. If nothing else, it's clear that Snapchat is following a very different playbook. 

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Blippar wants your face in its app

Ever seen someone across a crowded room and struggled to remember who they are? Well now there's an app which would allow you to fit the face to a name.

Blippar, the augmented reality business, is adding facial recognition to its app. Some will find that cool, others will see it as a creepy invasion of privacy.

At the moment the Blippar app gives you information about all kinds of objects when you point your smartphone's camera at them - it will identify famous paintings for example, or provide advertising content when you point it at a product.

Now the app will also recognise people - in real life or in photos and videos.

Blippar's co-founder Omar Tayeb gave me a demonstration, pointing the app at magazine pictures of Michael Fassbender and Hillary Clinton, then at a TV interview with Boris Johnson. In each case, the app recognised the faces and provided information about them - their social media profiles and Wikipedia entries.

He explained that Blippar had made more than 70,000 "public figures" recognisable by the app. I was rather surprised when he pointed the phone at me to find I was among them.

Users will soon be able to upload their own faces.

Here is where some people will feel uneasy. Do you like the idea that a stranger could come up to you in the street and scan your face to find out more about you? Google decided to ban facial recognition apps from its ill-fated Google Glass device amid concerns about privacy.

In Russia an app that combined a neural network with facial recognition software scanned social media profiles to link names and photos. This was then used to identify women who had appeared in pornographic movies.

But Mr Tayeb says privacy is "baked into" the Blippar app.

"It's a totally opt-in service, the user has full control over what's shown and they're able to deactivate it at any time," he explains.

Anyone who does not want their face stored on Blippar's servers, including those 70,000 public figures, can ask to have it removed.

But what happens if a mischievous friend decides to take a photo of you and put it into the database?

Mr Tayeb says the process of creating a face profile involves you taking moving pictures of your own face and claims the system is sophisticated enough to recognise if someone is trying to register someone else.

Blippar believes it is creating a new form of communication involving the most expressive single feature we possess - our faces.

"It's a social tool, something people can have fun with," says Mr Tayeb.

I'm not entirely clear why people will find facial recognition compelling - though as I get older and more forgetful I can imagine that contact lenses that could tell me exactly who I was talking to would be useful.

Blippar's technology is certainly impressive. But in an era where our every move is watched over by CCTV cameras, the idea of smartphone lenses examining our faces wherever we go may not get the warmest of welcomes.

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