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Pandora unveils Premium family plan; Apple to use OLED panels for iPhones

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Pandora unveils Premium family plan; Apple to use OLED panels for iPhones

Top News

* Pandora Media Inc. unveiled a new Premium family plan for $14.99 a month, Android Police reports. The plan supports up to six different Pandora accounts with access to Premium features.

* Apple Inc. will use OLED screens, or organic light-emitting diode panels, for all three of its iPhones planned for 2019, Reuters reports, citing a post by South Korea's Electronic Times. The move could benefit OLED manufacturers such as LG Display Co. Ltd., while Japan Display Inc., one of Apple's main suppliers of LCD screens, plans to start producing OLED panels for smartphones from 2019.

* In an age when "YouTube star" is seen as a top career choice by young people, many over-the-top streaming platforms are still figuring out the right mix of interactive and social elements to incorporate in their content. Some of the biggest names in streaming, such as Hulu LLC and Netflix Inc., still offer very little interactive elements.

* Several big media companies underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index during the week ended May 25 amid M&A and corporate governance developments. Among those taking a tumble were Comcast Corp. and Walt Disney Co., both of which are angling to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox Inc.

Technology

* Facebook Inc. is designing its own chips to improve analysis and filtering of live videos, Bloomberg News reports. The homegrown chip design is part of the social media giant's efforts to remove disturbing content on its platform, such as footage of users committing suicide or murder.

* Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc. teamed up with Chinese electronics company Xiaomi Inc. to introduce its ARCore technology for phones in China, TechCrunch.com reports. The new technology, which reportedly enables augmented reality and virtual reality, will be available via Xiaomi's Mix 2S devices via an app in the Xiaomi App Store.

* The potential to harness artificial intelligence for social good emerged as a key theme at this year's VivaTech conference in Paris, an event that brings together global leaders in technology. Executives from Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft Corp. and Uber Technologies Inc. urged conference participants to look past AI's critics and early technological mishaps to see the possibilities to complement human intelligence in areas like healthcare and transportation.

* Uber is on a mission to rebuild its reputation after years of legal fights across the globe, scathing press and a lawsuit filed by Alphabet's self-driving arm contributed to its former CEO Travis Kalanick's departure. Taking to the stage at the annual VivaTech conference in Paris, where taxi drivers' anti-Uber protests turned violent in 2016, the company's new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, put the group's contentious relationship with French authorities aside to outline a new €20 million research and development center focused on plans for a flying taxi service by 2023.

Internet & OTT

* Amazon.com Inc. picked up sci-fi series "The Expanse" for a fourth season after it got canceled by Syfy (US), TheVerge.com reports. The show will return for its fourth season on Amazon, according to the report.

Film & TV

* Disney's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" topped the domestic box office for the May 27 weekend with $83.3 million, followed by 20th Century Fox's "Deadpool 2" at No. 2 with $42.7 million and Disney's "Avengers: Infinity War" at No. 3 with $16.5 million, according to comScore Inc. Paramount's "Book Club" was No. 4 with $9.4 million and Warner Bros.' "Life Of The Party" was No. 5 with $5.1 million.

* Gary Garfinkel, co-head of content acquisitions at CBS Corp.'s Showtime Networks Inc., has died from an illness, Multichannel News reports, citing a statement by Showtime Networks President and CEO David Nevins. Garfinkel joined Showtime in 1993.

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, Hang Seng lost 1.00% to 30,484.58, while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.55% to 22,358.43.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.36% to 7,625.13, and the Euronext 100 shed 1.16% to 1,054.14.

On the macro front

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index, the consumer confidence report, the State Street Investor Confidence Index and the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey are due out today.

Featured news

The Daily Dose Europe: ITV, BBC mull JV to buy half of UKTV; Serie A drops €1.05B Mediapro rights deal: British broadcaster ITV PLC is eyeing a £1 billion joint venture with the British Broadcasting Corp. to acquire half of UKTV Media Ltd., while Italian soccer league Serie A has canceled its €1.05-billion broadcast rights agreement with Spanish broadcaster MediaPro.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Chinese tech giants invest in Foxconn unit; SoftBank, Swiss Re end stake talks: Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are set to become major shareholders in Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd.'s smart factory unit, while discussions over SoftBank Group Corp. potentially making a minority investment in Swiss Re AG have ended.

M&A Replay: Comcast's Sky bid may face less scrutiny; Qualcomm/NXP deal nears China approval: Comcast's offer to buy Sky PLC may not face the same regulatory scrutiny in the U.K. as Fox's own proposed takeover of the pay TV giant, while Qualcomm Inc. is close to securing Chinese regulatory approval for its acquisition of Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV.

Sony takes over EMI; Microsoft buys AI startup: S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of U.S. companies' media and communications deal announcements and completions from May 20 to May 25.

Data Dispatch: 'Solo' barrel rolls into a big, Disney-led 2018 box office: While "Solo: A Star Wars Story" is suffering a little compared to its Star Wars predecessors, it should still clean up at the box office, following other big-budget Disney successes like "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."

The Best Of: Media & Comm, most read: Comcast takes risk with Fox bid; upfront events wrap: Stories about the pros and cons of Comcast's potential bid for Fox, IoT regulation and the 2018 upfronts are included in the most read stories for the week ended May 25.

The Best Of: Media & Comm, editor's picks: Comcast's reasons for Fox bid; Zuckerberg in Paris: Stories about Comcast's rationale for a potential Fox bid, Mark Zuckerberg's comments in Paris and the FCC's ask for comments on the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger are among the editor's top five picks for the week ended May 25.

Featured research

Economics of TV & Film: Kagan Box Office Report — Week 20: "Deadpool 2" and "Avengers: Infinity War" combined for $173.2 million, accounting for 68.3% of the $253.7 million total weekly box office, up 32.2% from $191.9 million in 2017.

Wireless Investor: Neutral-host, shared infrastructure may push small cell deployment across Europe: According to speakers and attendees at SCWS World, held May 21-23 in London, the biggest headwind to large-scale small cell deployment is a deficiency of compelling incentives facing the primary stakeholders who would make the investment.

Technology: US operators don't see eye to eye on 5G fixed wireless: With early 5G network deployments scheduled for later this year, the major U.S. mobile providers differ in whether these new networks can and should be used to deliver fixed wireless services as a competitor to existing fixed broadband services.

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