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Viu to produce over 30 originals for 2022

Featuring Asian content

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File Photo: Watching Hotel Del Luna on Viu

Asian video streaming service Viu is welcoming 2022 with more than 30 Viu Originals slated for production.

The Korean and Chinese content-specializing platform is building on its 2021 success, which saw high-rating local and pan-regional original productions.

Viu Original Studio will have over 30 new productions released in the calendar year, including return seasons of popular shows like Close Friend (Thailand) and Assalamualaikum My Future Husband (Indonesia).

New local originals like Thai musical WANNABE and the much-awaited Korean original Again My Life are also set to be released.

More titles cover a range of genres, like romantic drama Finding the Rainbow, romantic comedy My Coach, thriller Remember 15, and action series Real Fake.   

The people behind Viu also promised Viu-ers to expect more original Chinese content lined up for the year.

Local stars on the rise

Viu’ 2022 grand plans will also give a stage for local actors of respective countries to showcase their skills.

For instance, WANNABE, a coming-of-age drama series and musical, will star Chanon (Nonkul) Santinatornkul. The multi-award-winning actor who will be making his vocal debut as a young rapper in the series.

The star-studded cast of the series also includes Sunny Day — Nay Mayo “Day” Thot of the popular rap group Thaiatnium.

Sci-fi comedy, AI5YA, meanwhile, is created by Malaysia’s beloved comedian Afdlin Shauk and stars another popular comedian in Zizan Razak. Romantic comedy Seribu Nina is also set to be launched for the Malaysian audience.

K-Drama galore

When it comes to their Korean market, much-awaited Korean originals such as Again My Life is based on a web novel published on KakaoPage, will star Lee Joon-Gi, Lee Geung-Young, and Kim Ji-Eun.

From Now On, Showtime features famous actor Park Hae-Jin and Jin Ki-Joo, who has appeared in The Secret Life of My Secretary and Come & Hug Me.

The drama is written by Ha Yoon-Ah, who wrote the script for the fantasy-comedy drama Mystic Pop-up Bar in 2020.

Another upcoming Viu Original is Why Her?, a romantic legal dram. It stars popular actors Seo Hyun-Jin, known for her roles in Dr. Romantic and the Beauty Inside. There’s also Hwang In-Yeop, who received attention for his role in True Beauty.

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New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Rolling out globally now

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New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

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Disney+ might get always-on channels similar to cable TV

Featuring content from Marvel, Star Wars, and classic Disney

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Disney+ | Disney Plus

The burden of choice on streaming platforms is real. If you’re like us, you’ve spent hours just mindlessly scrolling through titles on Netflix or Disney+ without watching anything. Netflix, at least, has a Play Something button to fight off that irresistible urge. Now, Disney+ is reportedly trying something different: always-on channels.

If you already cut cable from your lives, you’re likely missing traditional channels or networks that have pre-determined programming. It was a flawed system that eventually ended up with mediocre content and a downpour of ads. However, cable did allow us to keep watching without deciding what comes next.

Now, according to The Information, Disney+ is working on adding those channels to its streaming service. Naturally, these channels will include content from the platform’s library such as Marvel, Star Wars, and its list of classic animated films.

Strangely, the reported feature might still have ads in between programs. Though the addition of ads does mean a better similarity with real television, users still have to be paying subscribers to access the channels. Even if you’re already paying for Disney+, you might still get hit with ads.

Disney has not confirmed the reports yet. The platform might launch a version of the feature outside of the scope included in this report. It’s also unknown when these always-on channels will launch.

SEE ALSO: Macross to be available on Disney+

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Google might offer satellite connectivity soon

Starting with the Pixel 9 series

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A few years ago, Apple unleashed one of the most interesting features for the iPhone today: Emergency SOS. Designed for those who like their fair bit of the outdoors, Emergency SOS allows users to contact emergency services without network coverage. Other manufacturers, however, are struggling to adopt the same feature. Now, Google might soon join Apple in providing satellite connectivity for its users.

Despite the convenience, satellite connectivity hasn’t taken off as much as the industry expected it to. For one, a network of satellites isn’t the easiest thing to maintain. Apple is still currently offering its services for free, a gamble that may or may not pay off. Now, the iPhone maker won’t be alone.

According to Android Authority, Google might start offering the same service to Pixel 9 users. Starting with this year’s upcoming flagship, the company is reportedly teaming up with T-Mobile to create satellite connectivity for its users. The telecommunications network is teaming up with SpaceX for the feature.

The same report describes how the feature might work. Once activated, the feature will ask users of their situation: is everyone breathing, are people trapped, are weapons involved, among others. The phone will then relay this information to emergency authorities for a rapid response.

Unfortunately, pricing remains a mystery. While Apple is still offering its satellite connectivity for free, other brands might put the burden of cost on the end user. Hopefully, they won’t, but a paid version is unfortunately expected at this point.

SEE ALSO: Should you be excited for Apple’s satellite connectivity?

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