Spotify acquires Podz to boost podcast discovery

Spotify has been throwing many of its resources into growing its podcast business. Its latest move is the acquisition of Podz, a startup with tech that can generate preview clips of podcasts. Podcasters don't need to create clips themselves, as Podz can automate the process. It finds the important moments from episodes using machine learning trained on over 100,000 hours of audio. 

Spotify wants this acquisition to help improve podcast discovery, allowing you to browse through short podcast snippets to find what you want to listen to instead of listening to longer podcast episodes. According to Spotify, it will make it "easier for listeners to find the content they want to listen to, and for creators to be discovered and build a fan base." 

Source: The Verge 

Facebook's Oculus acquires 'Population: One' battle royale developer BigBox VR

Facebook is bringing more interesting content to its VR platform. The company's Oculus arm just acquired BigBox VR, the developer behind Population: One, a Fortnite-esque battle royale game. The developer will continue to support the game on its existing platforms, and it still plans to expand the title. So, those who play the game on a non-Oculus device can continue to do so.

Source: Engadget

Facebook acquires Downpour Interactive, the studio behind VR shooter 'Onward'

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

Facebook continues to grow its Oculus Studios stable with its latest acquisition. The company has just bought Downpour Interactive, the developer behind the virtual reality shooter Onward. Facebook hasn't revealed the deal's financial terms, but it mentioned that it purchased the entire studio.

According to Downpour and Facebook, they plan to support Onward on all the platforms it is currently available, which includes Steam. Downpour intends to work on new projects, but it won't share any details on what these might be. But its team hopes to "bring those experiences to as many people as possible."

Source: Engadget

Google acquires Neverware, will now support Chrome OS running on old PCs

Over the last five years, Neverware has turned old PCs and Macs into a Chromebook with its CloudReady software, allowing you to extend the life of machines that would be rendered obsolete. Now, Google has acquired Neverware and plans to make its software into an official Chrome OS release. Existing users will be able to transition to the updated software. And once the transition is complete, Google will support CloudReady in the same way it does Chrome OS.

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