Friday, March 1, 2019

If Disney controls Hulu, the streaming service could go global

A new report suggests Disney is considering an investment in Hulu, the US-only streaming TV and movie service. If the report is correct and the investment materializes, it could allow Disney CEO Bob Iger to follow through on his plan to roll out the streaming service out to the rest of the world. 

But, before you cancel your Netflix subscription, a few things need to happen – starting with any proof of the report of Disney buying AT&T’s stake in Hulu being true.

Right now, AT&T and its subsidiary Warner Media own around 10% of the streaming service, but Variety broke the news that it is looking to sell that to the House of Mouse for a potentially large sum of money (around $930 million). 

That money would theoretically help pay down AT&T’s reportedly staggering business debt of around $183 billion (£138 billion, AU$258 billion) – and, more importantly, give Disney a sizable 40% stake in Hulu. (Disney already owns 30% of the service.)

On its own, that wouldn’t give Disney enough leverage to control the future of Hulu. But add in the additional 30% ownership share Disney will own after it acquires 21st Century Fox, and Disney could feasibly own 70% of the streaming service. 

Disney could own Hulu, so what? 

This is where things get interesting. During an investment call held in November, Disney CEO Bob Iger was asked about its investment in Hulu, particularly what he would do after the sale of 21st Century Fox was approved.

Iger’s response included making larger investments on the content side and a potential global expansion for the streaming service. 

“After the deal closes and after we have the 60% ownership, we’ll meet with the Hulu management team and the board, and discuss what the opportunities are in terms of both global growth and investing more in content,” Iger said. “But that’s something that we have to do after the deal closes.”

While it’s hard to predict exactly what Disney will do when it finally owns a majority stake in Hulu - and how that might work in tandem with or against its own streaming service – it seems very likely that a global rollout could be in the works.

  • Don’t forget about Disney’s other new streaming service, Disney+


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Best gaming laptops 2019: the 10 top gaming laptops we've reviewed

If you would have asked us to find the best gaming laptop a few years ago, we would have pointed you to something with an Intel Core i7 processor, dedicated graphics and 8GB of RAM. A lot has changed in the last few years, though, and the best gaming laptops come in every shape and size. Because it’s harder than ever to find the best gaming laptops, we’ve picked out a few of our favorite devices. 

And, while plenty of gaming laptops look like ordinary office devices, you shouldn’t ignore them. Thanks to Nvidia Turing Max-Q graphics for laptops, revealed at CES 2019, the best gaming laptops are stealthy – like the aptly named MSI GS65 Stealth. Don’t worry, though, there are still huge desktop replacement laptops like the MSI GT75 Titan if that’s more your style.

So, whether you’re looking for a desktop replacement, packed with an RTX graphics card that can handle Metro Exodus and Anthem with all the bells and whistles, or if you want something thin and light so you can play games in the office, you’ll find something that fits your needs here. We’ve even found some budget models like the Dell G3. And, don’t worry, we’ve tested these gaming laptops ourselves, so you can be sure you’re getting your money’s worth.  

These days, many gaming laptop manufacturers seem to be locked into a race to see who can craft the thinnest gaming laptop that doesn’t compromise on power. And, right now, the crown might have to go to the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701. At just 0.7 inches thick, this monster of a laptop houses an Intel Coffee Lake Core i7 chip, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics and 16GB of RAM. That means you can crank any PC game under the sun to max settings, and take it with you wherever you go. And, of course, it’s packed with RGB lighting that’ll dazzle anyone that looks at it.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 

If you want to play some of the best PC games on the move, but you don’t want everyone to know you’re playing games, the MSI GS65 Stealth is the best gaming laptop for you. Coming in at just .69 inches thick and featuring impressive hardware like Intel Coffee Lake processors and Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series – refreshed with RTX 20-series graphics at CES – the MSI GS65 Stealth packs a ton of power into a very svelte package. There’s nothing you won’t be able to throw at this thing that’ll slow it down. And, thanks to the subdued design, you’ll be able to bring this beefy rig everywhere you go, making it the best gaming laptop on the market right now.

Read the full review: MSI GS65 Stealth 

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

Some gaming laptops just don’t pull any punches, enabling you to run any game you can imagine without breaking a sweat – and the MSI GT75 Titan is one of these laptops. It’s a titanic desktop replacement packing 6-core Intel Coffee Lake processors, plenty of RAM and powerful Nvidia Pascal graphics. You’re not going to be able to carry it around with you, and it’s not going to be something you’ll be caught with in a coffee shop, but if raw power is what you’re after, look no further. Just be ready to break open your piggy bank. 

Read the full review: MSI GT75 Titan

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

Thin and light gaming laptops are everywhere right now, but if you don’t care about that, and want a thick, heavy and monstrous laptop that can demolish any game you throw at it – the Asus ROG G703GI is for you. This is a massive – and expensive – laptop, but it justifies its size and price with gaming performance that rivals the best gaming PCs. Just don’t think you’ll be able to haul it along with you to your local coffee shop without its two power bricks – or awkward stares.

Read the full review: Asus ROG G703GI 

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

The Razer Blade might still have an unbearably edgy name, but now that the 2018 version is here, it’s fitting – it’s still on the cutting edge. Beyond its insanely high-end specs and beautiful chassis, it can fit up to a 4K Ultra-HD display, with the specs to actually back it up. That’s not to mention the expandability that the Razer Core X opens up. It might be expensive, but if you’re a Razer fan looking for the best gaming laptop, it might just be for you.    

Read the full review: Razer Blade

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

If you want one of the best gaming laptops, but don’t want to miss out on the ultra-portable craze, you need to consider the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1. Packed with an Intel Kaby Lake G-series processor, this gaming laptop can keep up with its competitors rocking a GTX 1050 without featuring truly discrete graphics. And, when you combine that gaming horsepower with a chassis that looks this good, it’s a total win – even if you have to endure some fan noise to get there. 

Read the full review: Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

It may not boast the most innovative design, substituting the usual black and red aesthetic for one that makes it feel like Halloween all year round (no complaints here). But, it’s undoubtedly one of the best when it comes to gaming in 1080p. In fact, we were able to crank the setting s all the way up in Overwatch without ever straying below 60fps. It doesn’t feature the longest battery life, but the screen, power and onboard sound system more than make up for it.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Strix GL502

  • This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Alienware 17 R5

When you’re setting out to buy one of the best gaming laptops, one of the first things you’ll likely notice is how expensive they can get. Luckily, the Dell G3 15 is not just extremely affordable, but it punches above its weight class with great 1080p gaming performance. With up to an Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU, you’ll be able to play all the latest games at 1080p without breaking a sweat, even if it’s not at max settings all the time. And, that blue on black color combo is quite a looker, if that’s your aesthetic. 

Read the full review: Dell G3 15 

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

It used to be that the best gaming laptops were thick, bulky devices that were necessary to experience the best PC games on the move. Those days are over. The Gigabyte Aero 15 packs a 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and a GTX 1060 into a package that allows it to pass as an Ultrabook. And, thanks to that beefy 6-core processor, it’s not just one of the best gaming laptops – it’s one of the best laptops, period.

Read the full review: Gigabyte Aero 15

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

Ever since Intel unveiled its i9-8950HK, we just knew that it would find its way behind the best gaming laptops 2018 had to offer, and we’ve been proven right heading into 2019. The Alienware 17 R5 is a beast of a gaming laptop with the aforementioned CPU and an overclocked GTX 1080. If you’re willing to get an absolute tank of a laptop that weighs nearly 10 pounds, this hulking computer will demolish any and all games you throw at it. Just don’t expect to throw it in a bag without some severe back pain.

Read the full review: Alienware 17 R5

  • Image Credit: TechRadar

Gabe Carey and Bill Thomas have also contributed to this article



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Developers enjoying higher UK paychecks

Learning to code is certainly paying off for UK developers who earn 145 percent more than the country's average pay of £29k according to new research from Hired.

The career marketplace's new global State of Software Engineers Report 2019 has revealed that the UK's top developers embedded engineers, earn an average of £71k. 

However, the US is still a more profitable place to work for skilled coders with the top paid developers in San Francisco's Bay Area earning 66 percent more than their UK counterparts with an average annual salary of £118k.

Hired's report also shed light on the fact that global demand for blockchain skills is up by 517 percent compared to this time last year.

High demand for developers

While blockchain engineers are in highest demand, security engineers are also being courted by companies with demand for workers to fill this role growing by 132 percent.

The top three best paid London developer positions are embedded engineer at £71k, blockchain engineer at £69k and data engineer at £68k.

The report also revealed that one in five software engineers are self-taught coders and less than half have a computer science degree. Many of these coders learned their skills from developer bootcamps, such as General Assembly and Hack Reactor, and 76 percent of those who did said these workshops helped prepare them for a software engineering job.

JavaScript is the most commonly used coding language though Go, Scala and Ruby are the most in-demand languages.

Hired's CEO Mehul Patel provided further insight on the report's findings, saying:

“Empowering tech talent with data that helps them understand their market worth and reveals hiring trends will help them have a more seamless job search experience. We hope this insight will fuel thoughtful career conversations among the developer community and provide actionable data that will help software engineers reach their goals.” 



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