‘Frozen 2’ coming to Disney+ in U.K., Ireland two weeks early

Frozen 2 will become available on Disney+ in the U.K. and Ireland two weeks ahead of schedule on 3 July. The beloved animated feature which is already available on the streamer in the U.S., Australia and the Netherlands, follows Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven on their journey into the unknown to discover the source of Elsa’s magical powers and save the kingdom of Arendelle.

‘Frozen’

Directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, Frozen 2 is the second highest grossing animated film of all time.

Disney+ Original documentary series Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 will also premiere globally on Disney+ on 26 June. In the series, the filmmakers, artists, songwriters and cast reveal their work, heart and collaboration it took to create one of the most highly-anticipated films in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ near-century of moviemaking.

Disney+ has become the streaming home of Frozen content with Frozen, Frozen 2 and the documentary series, along with Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, Frozen Fever and Lego Disney Frozen – Northern Lights available for subscribers.

Frozen 2 and Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 join Disney+’s lineup of popular movies, original content, and classic titles from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more.

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All you need to know about home design games which are on rise

Social distancing and lockdown has involved many in home improvement works like adding a new rug or changing the order of the furniture and so on. However, decorating a home is not always feasible when many are at a financial crunch due to COVID 19 pandemic. Therefore, home decoration games are an unlikely game theme, but in the pandemic it became handy. As one can decorate their virtual homes according to their desires without investing time, money, and hassle or gather ideas on how to rearrange their furniture to give their home a new look. The concept has attracted the app store by storm in recent times as more new players looking for new options in gaming to get over from the lockdown boredom.

What’s the house design game?

House design games are simulation games that have advanced graphics and it feels like decorating their own homes which are similar to playing with child’s dollhouse. The main purpose of the game is to create an attractive aesthetic design inside one’s virtual home.

In the game, a player is provided with a basic room from where one should usually start out along with options like carpets, wall coverings, couches, lamps, and so on. It depends on the player  how they want to design their room with their imagination.

Why home design games are skyrocketing?

The rise of the gig economy and a seemingly impending recession – make mortgages seem even more out of reach. Personalising a house may have been a luxury in real life for mature generations of people, but for many young people tapping away at our phone screens for future design of homes may be as close as we can get. This less-than-perfect reality has spurred a meteoric rise of apps to fulfill us digitally. Interior design apps are on the rise as home ownership rates among people under 35 have fallen by 20 per cent in the last decade according to Statista report. Interior design games allow users to play and experiment with interior design – two things nearly impossible to achieve without time, effort, and money in real life.

Also home design games are appealing and they work as a form of wish fulfillment. Players might be living in a small, cluttered apartment full of mismatched furniture in a real-life, yet they are able to live out their dreams of more idealistic looking living spaces.

Types of Home Design games

There are various types of home design games are available for android and iOS devices both in freemium and premium models. First of its kind is Glu Mobile Design Home is one of the most popular interior design apps, with over 75m downloads and at least 1 million daily users. Players are given daily “challenges” of decorating different rooms, with a vast range of furniture to choose from. A player unlocks paintings, ornaments, and additional pieces of furniture in various colors and styles. Rooms are judged by other players, which players need to take into account. A high score earns a player new furniture options and more opportunities to score highly later on virtual cash and rewards are handed out daily, and can also be won based on a rating system.

Second is My Home – Design Dreams by Zenjoy which is close to 2 million downloads in Google play store has an in-game heartfelt story where a player gets to meet lots of lifelike characters in the storyline! A player gets to design from a quaint living room to a grandiose bedroom, a tiny condo to a luxurious mansion, and even a small home shop to their very own fashion showroom. Unlike Design Home this game includes match-three puzzle games to win coins, which can be utilised to decorate all kinds of rooms and houses including a backyard, a balcony, and even pools.

It is unclear how much interior design apps manage to monetize the game, or whether most of their income is made through small in-app purchases, with users upgrading their digital inventory rather than their real-life homes. However it is My Home – Design Dreams has in-game ads everywhere from crossing one level to get the desired item one has cross hurdles of ads which sometimes is bit annoying however the zeal to decorate the home for the players keep players rolling. Here is a small instance of such ad encounters:

As the housing market continues to be inaccessible for young people, home ownership will become an ever more distant fantasy – therefore the digital version of designing home is on the rise.

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Syrinthia Studer to head live-action films at Nickelodeon and Awesomeness Films

ViacomCBS has named Syrinthia Studer as the first EVP of Nickelodeon and Awesomeness Films, overseeing all live-action feature-length content for both Awesomeness and Nickelodeon’s kids and family studio.

Reporting to studio EVP Shelley Zimmerman, Studer’s new role encompasses development, production, acquisitions and co-financing work. She will be based in LA and is in charge of developing original feature-length live-action content for the Gen Z, and kids and family audience.

Most recently, Studer was the EVP of worldwide acquisitions at Paramount Pictures, where she oversaw the global content acquisitions business (including acquiring films for domestic and international theatrical distribution, as well as home entertainment platforms). Some of her notable acquisitions include Book Club (which grossed US$100 million at the worldwide box office, according to ViacomCBS) and Richard Linklater’s Oscar-nominated Boyhood.

Studer joins Nickelodeon and Awesomeness Films as the kidcaster builds up its animated film slate. It’s signed an original animated film deal with Netflix, which will see Nick produce movies based on its popular IPs including Ninja Turtles and Loud House. It’s also working on a PAW Patrol movie with Spin Master and Paramount Pictures, with plans to hit theaters in August 2021.

Awesomeness is behind recent teen pics To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, The Perfect Date and Before I Fall.

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Another contender enters the FPS genre, Riot Games’ ‘Valorant’ launches worldwide

Riot Games has finally launched Valorant. After a round of closed beta, this new 5v5, character-based first-person tactical shooter (FPS) is now available to download all over the world including India.

HIGHLIGHTS —

♦ Riot Games’s Valorant for PC launched worldwide

♦ Valorant is eventually expected to find its way to smartphones and consoles

♦ Valorant is a round-based, attackers vs defenders multiplayyer FPS title

♦ The game servers are not yet available in India yet but Riot Games says the servers will become available soon

Billed as a game of precise skill, high stakes and lethal gameplay, Riot Games’ Valorant is all set to notch up the thrill quotient in the gaming landscape. Valorant requires players to lock in their agent for the entire duration of the match and then try to win a round-based, attackers vs defenders, best-of-24 rounds fight.


The official description of the game reads — Valorant is your global competitive stage. It’s a 5v5 tac-shooter matchup to plant or defuse the Spike in a one-life-per-round, first to 13 series. More than guns and bullets, you’ll choose an Agent armed with adaptive, swift, and lethal abilities that create opportunities to let your gunplay shine.

Set on a near-future Earth, in Valorant, players choose from a global cast of agents, all hailing from a real-world location and culture. Each agent brings a unique set of tactical abilities they can use to gather information, fortify locations, scout for enemy intel, breach defensive sites, control territory, and more.

Speaking about the launch of their newest offering, Riot Games publishing head (South Asia) Sukamal Pegu, “Riot Games is highly committed to providing the India and rest of the South Asia region with an excellent gaming experience. While you’ll be joining the worldwide launch on 2 June 2020, the official servers which will support Middle East & South Asia will come later in the year.”


Although the game has been launched globally, it will only be available in select regions for now. Countries such as India initially have to settle for remote servers for gameplay as of now.


Shedding light on the regions and servers where the game is playable, he added, “Players in South Asia will be playing on the South East Asia servers (for now), and though you will experience a higher ping, you’ll still be able to engage in enjoyable competitive battles. Make sure you register with your actual home country and original Riot ID to make your future server transition easier! Our ِِregional social handles will soon be launched. Keep an eye out to get the latest updates.”

Valorant release time: Countdown and release date download update ...

Valorant remains available only on PC. But conjecture is that the company will eventually branch out to consoles and even smartphones in the future. Riot Games has announced that it will be releasing more information about Valorant in the coming days.

For the fans who wish to download the game, the game is not available on Steam – like other Riot Games titles. So players have to go on Valorant’s official website and click on  ‘Play Now’. You then log in to your existing Riot account or create one. Once the process is over, you will be taken to the Valorant download page. The game has launched with 11 agents and 4 maps and a new game mode called “Spike Rush”

Before you start playing the game, we will recommend making sure if you have the latest graphics drivers. Nvidia recently released a “Valorant Game Ready Driver” last week which has been numbered as the GeForce Game Ready 446.14 WHQL driver. The game driver brings support for Windows 10 May 2020 update which has been rolling out globally.


 

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Disney channels discontinue from Cable TV networks in Singapore; makes way for Disney+

Disney channels have been dropped from Starhub and Singtel cable TV in Singapore following a disagreement and probably to make way for Disney+.

Channels such as Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, and Go Disney have been removed from both the TV networks. The news of was unveiled by Disney on its Disney Junior Asia Facebook page : 

“To our viewers subscribed to Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior and Go Disney on Singtel and StarHub, we are disappointed to confirm that the Disney Channels have been removed from their platforms. We worked hard to come to a fair agreement, and despite their decision, we will continue efforts to make our content available in Singapore.”

With Disney+ already releasing in Japan, cable network operators such as these two are naturally concerned about how big of the TV market share in Singapore will be taken up by Disney+ when it’ll debut in Singapore. Having a huge catalogue of its own shows, the House of Mouse surely has an advantage when it comes to streaming on its own service while StarHub and Singtel will have to work with content providers to get shows on their TV network.

On the same issue, StarHub shared :

“We strive to do our best for customers and secure quality content at the right value, to avert any unsustainable cost increases to our customers. We regret that despite our best efforts to negotiate for a reasonable deal, we are not able to reach an agreement to continue the broadcast of Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. We share our customers’ disappointment. We are committed to delivering the best variety of content to customers and channel cessations are always the very last resort.

Our customers can continue enjoying quality children and animated programmes on Animax, BabyTV, CBeebies, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. among others. 

StarHub is also continuously working on enhancing and offering new content to our customers. Besides delivering 20,000 hours of fresh content to our viewers every month, we have also partnered with Amazon and Netflix to bring an even greater selection of programmes to our customers. StarHub Entertainment Pass customers can also enjoy the flexibility of switching to any of the other six entertainment passes at any time, to enjoy a different variety of programmes, without any extra charges nor limit to the number of times of switching.”

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Gal Gadot hints at queer romance in ‘Wonder Woman 1984’

Actress Gal Gadot who plays Wonder Woman has hinted at a potential romance between her character and actress Kristen Wiig’s supervillain Cheetah in the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984.

As Daily Mail UK reports, In an interview with SFX Magazine, Gadot and Wiig teased about their thoughts on fan theories about the relationship between their characters, in the Wonder Woman sequel.

Being enquired if Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) and Barbara Ann Minerva (Cheetah) were on a date during a scene that appeared in the trailer, Wiig asked: “Oh, for a lesbian thing?”

Gadot then said: “The sexual tension is always there, I can tell you that!”

Cheetah is one of Wonder Woman‘s most iconic enemies in the DC comics, but the pair have not been involved in any romance in the comics.

The female superhero is back with a new battle, a new armour, new villains, edgier action and a reunion with her long-last love. The trailer as well as Gadot have teased the beginning of a “new era of wonder” with the awaited Wonder Woman 1984. Initially slated to release on 5 June, the film will now hit the screens on 14 August 2020. 

Gadot is reprising her role as Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in the sequel of the 2017 DC film. Other returning stars include Chris Pine as Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman’s love interest), Robin Wright as Antiope, Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta, and Pedro Pascal as Max Lord.

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WOW! Unlimited Media collaborates with Moonbug and Crave to expand in Canada

Moonbug, a global entertainment company that develops and distributes values-based content for kids, has partnered with WOW! Unlimited and Crave, Canadian streaming service to expand its footprints in Canada.

Under this deal, Moonbug’s leading soccer series Supa Strikas – seasons four to six including 39 episodes will now be exclusively available for streaming in Canada for the first time. Besides that, the brand-new season seven will be launched exclusively as part of WOW!’s curated kids content collections on Crave. Additionally, 10 episodes of both Little Baby Bum and My Magic Pet Morphle will also be available in the WOW! collection this summer.

Commenting on the deal, Moonbug head of the Americas Andy Yeatman said, “WOW! Unlimited Media and Crave are critical partners as we continue to build a stronger presence and bring fun, next-generation kids and youth animation across the globe. We’re excited to strategically join forces to bring three of our popular shows to Canadian children of all ages and look forward to finding new ways for audiences to connect with our characters.”

WOW! senior vice President and general manager Marni Shulman added, “We are always looking for fresh, new, quality programmes to add to our WOW!-branded kids and preschool collections on Crave. With this partnership, we are thrilled that more Canadian children will be able to enjoy Moonbug’s wonderful stories and loveable characters along with over 350 hours of WOW!’s curated kids programming already available to stream.”

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YouTube Kids can now be accessed on Apple TV

YouTube Kids, Google’s VOD streaming service targeted at kids, is now available on Apple TV streaming boxes. The YouTube Kids app can now be downloaded on App Store in the UK, US, and other countries and can be used with or without a Google login.

YouTube Kids comes with its key parental controls, where parents can set viewing limits, content restrictions based on age, and other limits. In 2018, YouTube introduced this feature to restrict content to human-approved videos. YouTube Kids is meant to give children a safer alternative to YouTube, where even ‘Restricted Mode’ can let through violent content and other things parents and caretakers don’t want kids to consume. 

Last year, YouTube disabled comments on videos in an effort to stop predatory behavior and also reached a $170 million with the Federal Trade Commission over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Act (COPPA), putting into place new rules for kids’ video, but creators said the rules were confusing and resulted in lost revenue.

One can sign in to their account to transfer existing parental controls to the Apple TV, and Google allows to change the settings from the tablet or phone app. YouTube Kids can be restricted to specific videos and channels approved by parents as well as allowing kids to search for anything within the confines of the machine- and human-curated catalogue.

Launched in 2015, YouTube Kids is meant as a safer environment for children to browse and watch YouTube content, but it’s not been without its controversies. It’s essential to remember that completely unsupervised YouTube viewing, of the Kids app or otherwise, is never a good idea.

YouTube Kids still offers more features that can help caretakers prevent harmful content from being viewed by children, including one that lets them whitelist specific videos or channels.

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Samsung unveils Odyssey G7 curved gaming monitor

Samsung Electronics has announced the global launch of its groundbreaking Odyssey G7 gaming monitor. Unveiled at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, the Odyssey lineup reimagines the gaming experience by combining the deepest, most immersive curved displays with best-in-class performance features.

The G7 monitor is the world’s first 1000R gaming monitor, meaning it boasts a curvature radius of 1,000 millimeters. It also features a powerful combination of various features under the hood, including rapid 1ms response time with 240Hz refresh rate and crystal clear QLED picture quality to satisfy gamers’ need for smooth and captivating gameplay.

The Odyssey portfolio’s premium performance has been certified by TÜV Rheinland, which recognised the monitors with high performance 1000R curved display and ‘Eye Comfort’ certificate.

“Samsung is maintaining its position as the global gaming monitor market leader with continued innovation in creating immersive, next-generation gaming experiences, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Samsung Odyssey G7 curved monitor is the ultimate combination of curvature, comfort and competitive edge, giving gamers the advanced performance they need and demand,” said Samsung Electronics senior vice president of visual display business Hyesung Ha.

The 27- and 32-inch G7 delivers a rapid, 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time and deep 1000R curvature, giving games an edge. Gamers can also benefit from Wide Quad-High Definition, 16:9 aspect ratio, 600 cd/m2 peak brightness and Quantum dot technology for exceptionally accurate color presentation regardless of lighting.

Samsung also incorporated futuristic design elements based on observation of market trends and feedback gathered from consumers. The matte black exterior is paired with a colour-changing rear core lighting system that can remain static or dim during gameplay, as well as change colors based on the preferences of the gamer.

G7, also supports NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility and adaptive sync on DP1.4, offering players dynamic and seamless gameplay during any scenario.

 

 

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Tinkle to celebrate Shikari Shambu’s birthday with a virtual party

Tinkle Comics is celebrating the 37th birthday of its beloved character Shikari Shambu who made an appearance in Tinkle in 1983. Shambu’s birthday will be marked by a string of week-long activities on their platform including a Zoom party.

“The Tinkle Team is very excited to celebrate Shambu’s birthday. We are having a super fun virtual birthday party filled with games, activities and also a special session with Savio (Shambu’s artist for over 20 years) where the kids learn to draw their favourite Tinkle Toon – Shambu, from the celebrated illustrator himself!” mentioned Amar Chitra Katha president and COO Preeti Vyas.

Shikari Shambu is a conservationist and a wildlife expert. shambu was formerly created by Tinkle editor Luis Fernandes, and artist V.B. Halbe brought this classic toon to life, which is currently illustrated by Tinkle art director Savio Mascarenhas.

” Shambu has been the strength of Tinkle. He has faced every challenge in life with great courage.” This is exactly what Shambu feels that we think about him. Sigh, the poor fellow doesn’t know that we ‘know it’ !!

And yet love him a lot.”

Happy Birthday Buddy.

Live the wild side of life!!!” wished Mascarenhas.

Alongwith the fun filled activities on his birthday on 3 June, Shambu will also join the workshop conducted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India and Tinkle on World Environment Day coming up on 5 June. Named, Young Naturalists Workshop with Shambu, the interactive four-day workshop aims at building a connection between children and the environment.

The workshops are divided into 60-minute sessions, where, a WWF India naturalist, teaches children, aged between eight and 15 years, the basics about butterflies, birds, plants, reptiles and marine life. Mascarenhas is also seen popping into the sessions to guide kids on how to draw the character.

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