Media
2Day FM Sydney is ditching its crusty music format for a fresh new one, which is a shock in a market that almost entirely caters mainly to older millennials with "throwbacks" galore. It's gotten so bad that Triple J, a previously 'alternative' station, now
Max launches in Australia March 31, putting Binge in limbo.
There's a a big shake up coming for Foxtel, specifically Foxtel's Binge. Another streaming platform is launching in Australia, with Warner Bros. Discovery today announcing the local launch date for Max. The service will start March 31, but other details are still a little unclear. Previously known as HBO Max, but also confusingly hosting both HBO Originals and Max Originals, the service has been available in the US since 2020.
It looks like the service will launch with exclusive access to HBO programming, as well as other Warner Bros. Discovery properties. Which does might put Binge in a bit of limbo, if we're reading this literally.
Via Whistleout:
A spokesperson for WBD confirmed to WhistleOut that new Warner Bros. and HBO content won't premiere on Binge. Hubbl has started bringing some live and on-demand Kayo Sports over to Binge to add value to the service.
WhistleOut has reached out to Foxtel for comment on what will happen to the existing catalogue of HBO content on Binge.
And from the press release:
As the home of HBO Originals and Max Originals, Max will offer fans culture-defining series including returning seasons of The Last of Us, And Just Like That..., House of the Dragon, Euphoria and Peacemaker as well as highly anticipated new shows such as It: Welcome to Derry and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, from the world of Game of Thrones.
Subscribers will also be able to enjoy recently released theatrical hits from Warner Bros. Pictures, including blockbusters from the last few years such as Barbie, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and Twisters, alongside treasured franchises including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the DC Universe. Coupled with all-time fan-favourites including Friends, The Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty, best-in-class real-life stories across food, home, lifestyle and factual like 90 Day Fiancé and Outback Opal Hunters, as well as family viewing such as Ben 10 and We Bare Bears, Max promises to set the bar for consistently captivating, craveable entertainment.
In addition, WBD also announced a launch partnership with Foxtel, providing Foxtel subscribers with access to the Max app at no additional cost.*
*Requires a compatible Foxtel IQ box. Some customers will need to upgrade their box. Included Max plan is Basic with Ads.
Developing...
The 150-year-old font you've seen everywhere, but never heard of.
A gorgeous story from Marcin Wichary about the 150-year-old font that can still be seen everywhere. Even Australia, as the author notes.
But there was one font I didn’t even notice, even though it was everywhere around me. Last year in New York, I walked over 100 miles and took thousands of photos of one and one font only. The font’s name is Gorton.
[...]
Gorton made its way to peace- and wartime nuclear facilities, it was there on the elevator at the Kennedy Space Center with labels marked EARTH and SPACE… and it went to actual space, and then the Moon, as key legends on Apollo’s onboard computer.
Marcin Wichary
A nice AEW Grand Slam in Brisbane.
The only way I can make this post relevant is to mention that ESPN is coming to Disney+. Not sure yet if that will include All Elite Wrestling content.
Australia
Australia’s world-first under-16 year old social media ban has become law, via Sydney Morning Herald: As expected, Albanese gained Coalition support for the social media package, given Dutton called for the age limit in June, but the debate was marked by warnings from the Greens and crossbenchers, as well
Social Media Ban
According to a report from the government Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in February, just 12% of Australians aged 18-24 accessed the news via news websites on the open web. In comparison, a pretty substantial 46% of Australian's in that age bracket accessed news via closed social
PS5 Pro
Shipping hardware is hard! And sometimes it's hard to guage the scale of an issue. Just look at early shipments of Amazon's new Kindle Colorsoft, many of which had a "yellow band of discoloration" at the bottom of their screens. Amazon announced it was
A look behind triple j's rebrand at the ABC.
A little over a month ago, ABC youth brand triple j relaunched at its One Night Stand music festival. And it was a pretty big rebrand, touching the logo, typeface and general audio style of the station. A pretty big change is the new "J" audio sting that plays often on the station.
Gloss Australia reached out to the ABC for more details on the sonic rebrand, but didn't hear back. On the visual side of things, Howatson+Company, partnering with the ABC, has more info on the visual changes:
Since 1975, national broadcaster triple j has served as a lighthouse for young Australians, actively pushing culture forward and challenging norms through its disruptive programming, shows and events. Yet for the last 15 years, the brand and logo have remained static. To address this, triple j has partnered with Howatson+Company to reinvigorate the brand for today’s listeners.
To make it, a custom variable typeface was designed that changes based on audio and musical inputs. The type was taught to respond to music and sound using algorithmic machine learning, creating a reactive design.
The brand’s most iconic element, the drum, was also updated to reflect the tastes of the station’s youth audience today, featuring a simplified base designed to reference digital soundbars and incorporate a hidden ‘j’.
The rebrand successfully refreshes triple j’s visual world while preserving its core identity as a champion of youth culture and new Australian music.
Kindle
Amazon has announced new Kindle e-readers, though the most interesting one won't arrive in Australia until 2025. The Kindle Colorsoft features "a new light-guide with nitride LEDs that, when combined with our custom algorithms, enhances colour and increases brightness, all without washing details". The colour e-ink
Australia
Warner Bros. Discovery, which operates Max (formerly HBO Max), has been hinting at an Australian launch for months now. And while there was some talk of the company independently launching the service and possibly taking shows away from Foxtel and Foxtel-owned streaming service Binge, WBD may instead be giving Foxtel
PlayStation 30th Anniversary limited editions immediately sell out in Australia.
The best bet going forward is JB Hi-Fi, which are offering a ballot approach to pre-orders.
Otherwise Ebay has scalpers re-selling preorders with huge markups already.
Hideaki Nishino
iPhone 16 Pro Review
Thoughts on the button that isn't a button
Valve
Australia forced Valve to implement a refund policy. Now it won't sell the Steam Deck in the country.
New
In Australia the AirPods 4 without Noise Cancellation are available for $219 AUD. If you want the main new feature of Active Noise Cancellation it'll set you back $299 AUD. From Apple: AirPods 4 feature an entirely new acoustic architecture, low-distortion driver, and high dynamic range amplifier, and
New
The iPhone 16 Pro 128GB is $1799 AUD, 256GB is $1999 AUD, 512GB is $2349 AUD and 1TB is $2699 AUD. The iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB is $2149, 512GB is $2499 and 1TB is $2849 AUD/ From Apple: With Apple Intelligence, powerful Apple-built generative models come to iPhone in
New
The new iPhone 16 and 16 Plus is "built for Apple Intelligence", which is likely code for a slight RAM increase to 8GB from 6GB in the previous model. There's also a processor bump, the 'Camera Control' camera button and "a big boost