A pandemic isn't the ideal time to release your first new album in a decade. Fortunately, Mandy Moore is using the time she would have been on tour to dig up some memorabilia from her early career.
Moore showed off her finds to Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday, which included an extremely '90s photo with the Backstreet Boys and an unauthorised Mandy Moore book.
"It's an actual book that was for sale for $12.95 that someone wrote without me knowing about it," said Moore. "But it has lots of fun facts. Like, this page here is '10 Things We Love About Mandy,' and the very first fact is 'Mandy is proud of her big feet.'" Read more...
The impact of COVID-19 on smartphone sales was drastic, as market analysts noted shipments worldwide dropped by millions in the last few months. While manufacturers are typically nonspecific about sales numbers, IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone tracker noted this was “the largest annual (year over year) decline ever” at about 11.7 percent.
Canalys pegged the worldwide drop in Q1 at 13 percent from last year, while Strategy Analytics saw the numbers plunge by 17 percent. According to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, “Samsung’s global marketshare is holding steady at over 21 percent, and it remains the world’s top smartphone brand.” That continues to be followed by Huawei and Apple, as all the major manufacturers shared in a hit to their sales. The companies that remained flat or showed growth according to the analysts included Xiaomi and Vivo, owing to strong sales in India where some products launched before lockdowns began.
Canalys
And things will likely get worse before they get better, as Canalys Senior Analyst Ben Stanton stated “Most smartphone companies expect Q2 to represent the peak of the coronavirus’ impact.”
The coronavirus pandemic has the U.S. is in shambles right now, but what else is new? Trump has continued to Trump throughout the crisis, stubbornly blustering on with his ill-informed ideas in defiance of all medical advice or logic. Now BuzzFeed News reports a man with no background in medical supplies was awarded a $69 million ventilator contract after tweeting at Trump that he could provide them. Shockingly, not a single one has arrived.
"There's literally a law that allows him to compel companies to make ventilators, and he's combing through his Twitter replies like he's putting a band together," quipped Late Night host Seth Meyers on Thursday. "Honestly, how long until he replies to a spam email offering free boner pills?" Read more...
Working from home can have a massive impact on your health and fitness, especially when it disrupts your normal routine.
Gone are the days of nipping to the gym on your lunch break or squeezing in a class before your last train home. Your fitness can start to spiral without a regular workout plan, and it can be difficult to recover. It's not impossible, though.
You can fully commit to working out from home if you have the right equipment and plenty of motivation. You really haven't got any excuses any more, because you can purchase everything from treadmills to ellipticals online. Motivation is a little more tricky, but surrounding yourself with quality fitness gear may provide a push to get started. Read more...
Communities and friends band together in tough times — if anyone knows that, it's the former employees of the Parks and Recreation department of Pawnee, Indiana. The core cast of Parks and Recreation reunited for a socially distant special on Thursday to raise money for Feeding America.
When Leslie (Amy Poehler) lets on that phone trees and media outreach might be slightly tiring her out both mentally and emotionally, Ron (Nick Offerman) knows exactly what to do. He merges their video call to include all of Leslie's best friends as they join in a chorus of "5,000 Candles In The Wind." The rendition quickly put a smile on Leslie's face and ours as well. Sometimes a quick singalong with friends — even fictitious ones — is all you need for a little uplift. Read more...
Walmart has introduced a faster delivery service called Express Delivery, which can get your orders to your door in less than two hours. In its announcement, the retail giant said it accelerated the service’s development in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic — most people are sheltering-in-place after all and are relying on deliveries more than ever.
Apparently, Walmart has been pilot testing the option in 100 stores since mid-April and will expand its availability to 1,000 locations in early May. Over the next few weeks, it’ll make its way to nearly 2,000 stores, giving shoppers easy access to almost everything Walmart sells, including food, consumables, grocery items, toys and electronics.
Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s chief customer officer, said in a statement:
“We know our customers’ lives have changed during this pandemic, and so has the way they shop. We also know when we come out of this, customers will be busier than ever, and sometimes that will call for needing supplies in a hurry. COVID-19 has prompted us to launch Express Delivery even faster so that we’re here for our customers today and in the future.”
The company will rely on its usual delivery providers for the new option, but take note that Express Delivery will cost you extra. You’ll have to pay $10 per order on top of the existing delivery charge if you want to get your purchases as soon as possible.
Mobile streaming service Quibi is less than a month old, but it's already shoving its sticky little fingers where they don't belong.
A new report by Victory Medium researcher Zach Edwards has revealed Quibi leaked user's signup emails to multiple third-party advertisers, including Google, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter.
In order to create a Quibi account, new users were asked to provide an email address to which the company would send a confirmation link. However, unbeknownst to said users, clicking the link sent their email address to third-party advertisers and analytics companies in plain text. Read more...
Netflix has removed an episode of the political thriller Designated Survivor from its streaming service in Turkey following a demand from a regulator. It did so to comply with local law, it told Variety in a statement.
The episode in question, the seventh one of season two, depicts a fictional Turkish president who manipulates the US president (played by Kiefer Sutherland) into sending a political opponent back to Turkey. It's still available on Netflix in all other countries.
The streaming giant revived Designated Survivor as an Netflix Original after ABC axed the show following a two-season run, but only kept it alive for one more season before pulling the plug. The company has picked up several projects from Turkey, including teen dramedy Love 101 and supernatural drama The Protector.
Netflix said in a transparency report in February it had only removed shows and movies nine times in its history over government takedown requests. Perhaps most notably, it yanked an episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj that criticized Saudi Arabia, but only in that country.
Amazon’s New World MMO will apparently have an intricately detailed war system, based on the company’s latest post about the game. As part of New World’s Developer Diary Series, Amazon has revealed how players will be able to wage war against each other and showed off the siege platforms and traps they can use.
A faction can only declare war against another if it has weakened a territory enough, the post reads, and wars will be scheduled to avoid raiding and fighting during inconvenient hours for participants. The game will beam players to the battlefield from wherever they are when the time comes for battle. And once they’ve arrived, they need to capture three Rally Points in front of the defenders’ fort if they’re the ones attacking before they can breach the fort gates and capture the territory.
Attackers will have to pay for the siege weapons — cannons, fire launchers and rapid-fire turrets — they plan to use. But defenders can build ballistas, cannons, rapid-fire turrets, or other siege weapons on their walls at no cost. Both sides can also place traps to prevent the enemy from moving forward after they get past the siege weapons.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a bit longer to experience a New World war yourself. Amazon recently had to push back its release date to August 25th, 2020 and its Closed Beta launch to July due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Consumers aren't rushing to buy as many iPhones, iPads, or other Apple products as before the pandemic, but the company's services seem to be doing just fine.
During Thursday's earnings call, Apple disclosed that its services category, which includes the App Store and Apple TV+, hit an all-time revenue record of $13.3 billion for the second quarter.
The company saw strong performance within the App Store (for both downloads and search ads), Apple Music, video, and cloud services. App Store revenue also grew by double digits, as people continue to make in-app purchases and opt into subscriptions. Read more...
Reddit botched the rollout of a new feature that could have endangered some vulnerable users — and now it is eating crow.
On Wednesday, Reddit announced that it was initiating a limited rollout of a new group chat feature called "Start Chatting" that would allow subreddit members to speak directly with each other in chatrooms. It was originally positioned as a way for Redditors to connect with people during COVID-19 social distancing.
The problem? Not only was there no way for communities to opt out of the feature, but moderators also would not be able to, well, moderate them. In the over 1,500 comments to the original announcement, many mods quickly pointed out that this made the chat function ripe for abuse by trolls. Read more...
Epic is the next big game developer cutting physical esports tourneys from its schedule as it deals with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has canceled the 2020 Fortnite World Cup outright in addition to moving all other Fortnite events online. While it was no surprise that an in-person event wasn’t going to happen, Epic added that the “limitations of cross region online competition” also made an internet-based tourney impractical.
The company said it was “hopeful” it could put on a Fortnite World Cup in 2021, but was otherwise focusing on FNCS (including official broadcasts) and Cash Cups. Third-party events will get support, but they must be internet-only “until further notice.”
The move isn’t completely surprising. An in-person World Cup might have had few attendees even if lockdowns lifted overnight, and issues like lag and time zones make a truly global competition impractical. Still, it’s a significant blow to Epic’s esports plans for the year. The World Cup is supposed to be Fortnite’s marquee esports event, and its absence leaves a conspicuous void in the competitive calendar.
Physical Events - For the rest of 2020, all Fortnite competitions will be held online. Due to the limitations of cross region online competition, there will not be a Fortnite World Cup in 2020.
There are two personality types while social distancing: those who love to cook and those who cook to live. While some folks are living for all the Pinterest-worthy recipes they've been whipping up, others are searching for ways to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen as possible. For those in the latter category, we've got just the thing: this Wolfgang Puck 7-in-1 Immersion Blender.
Gone are the days of energy-sucking slicing, dicing, chopping, blending, whisking, shredding, and mashing. This fancy blender from master chef Wolfgang Puck can handle all seven of those tasks in one, thanks to its 400-watt motor, built-in functions, and adjustable speed dial with two-speed pulse control. Better yet, it can do it all in just minutes, saving you lots of time and energy. Read more...
You can't exactly take mom or the motherly figure in your life out to dinner for Mother's Day this year, but don't fret. There are still plenty of ways to show her you care — whether that means sending her a bouquet of flowers, helping her enjoy a full day of self care, or showering her with jewelry to spruce up her quarantine attire.
All these gifts are an extra 15% off with the code MOMSDAY15, so you can treat her to the best of the best without breaking the bank.
Picked at their perfect bloom and dipped into a non-toxic formula to preserve their natural beauty, these stunning roses will last for an entire year with no need for maintenance. The small classic box includes four extra-large red roses and is on sale for just $49.29 (usually $79) with the code MOMSDAY15. Choose from the classic square black box or white box. Read more...
Thanks to COVID-19, masks have become one of the world's most coveted commodities — even a fashion statement in some circles. Many people are rushing to buy masks, and it should be noted that N95 and surgical face masks are in critical supply. If you manage to get your hands on some, you may want to consider donating them to a local hospital instead.
If you can't quite figure out how to make one at home and are still looking to purchase a mask of your own, here are four great deals you can shop while supplies last.
Don't be fooled by the name: the KN95 designation is not the same as an N95 mask, but is tested to meet the standards for Chinese KN-95 (these masks are not FDA-approved so cannot be used in US hospitals). This five-pack of KN95 masks features a 3D comfort design and provides 90% filtration against particulate pollution, gases, bacteria, viruses, and most odors. They're made with comfortable stretch fabric so they're not a pain to wear, and they have convenient ear loops that offer a tight fit. They're reusable, too, so you don't have to keep restocking. The five-pack typically retails for $26.99, but it's Read more...
Wow, everything is just a dumpster fire right now, isn't it? For us online folk (and even offline folk, if we're being completely honest), it's hard to avoid an article, or even a tweet, that'll literally ruin your day. The bad news is everywhere you look (except maybe on Some Good News).
For that reason, it's important to get away from all the dread once in a while to talk about something a little more lowkey and not all that serious — like the cool stuff we bought this month to keep us from totally losing it. Hey, maybe you'll find something you want to get yourself, too. Read more...
Working from home, while kind of awesome in some respects, presents a unique set of challenges that most office workers don't have to worry about.
Being home at all hours of the day can make you a little stir crazy. It's imperative that you find a routine, but even with a routine, it's sometimes easy to accidentally work from your bed all day. Or stay in the same pair of sweatpants for three days straight. Or turn on Netflix and inexplicably lose a few hours while your boss (eek!) has been trying to reach you on Slack for way too long.
Plus, when you work in an actual corporate office, you get sweet perks like free WiFi, a secure network, a desk phone, and maybe even complimentary snacks. Once you're at home, it's up to you to find solutions to all of those things, and then some. Read more...
The Purple Royal Seat Cushion earns its price with its supportive, comfortable, and impressively ergonomic design — anyone who is using a hard chair for WFH would benefit from the investment.
The AirPods Pro pack noise-cancelation, versatility, comfort, and portability, making it the perfect pair of headphones to keep you productive throughout the day.
TunnelBear's affordable and approachable VPN service keeps your web traffic private and out of reach for data thieves, hitting on everything a basic VPN should do.
A great laptop stand will change your day-to-day at work for the better, and this one from WorkEZ hits all the marks it needs to at an affordable price.
Not only is Google Drive completely free up to 15GB, it also comes with a suite of high-quality productivity programs and ample cloud storage space for most remote workers.
Spring is quickly slipping through our fingers, which means it's time to look forward to summer — or at least to summer TV. The coronavirus may have completely disrupted theatrical releases, but television continues to stream on schedule for the moment.
Here are the TV comedies we can't wait for in May and June.
Trying (May 1)
Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) just want to have a baby, but due to biological complications they learn they can't. They embark on the arduous journey of adopting to expand their family, but it won't be a quick or easy path.
