Tech
HHW Gaming: Twitch Partnering With Cxmmunity To Create An Esports League For HBCUs
Source: Nicolas Menijes / EyeEm / Getty Believe it or not, Black teens want to play video games professionally too, and are pretty damn good at it. Twitch is looking to give these gamers the opportunity they deserve. The streaming giant announced its partnership with the organization Cxmunnity, which pushes gamers of color to participate in Esports and within the gaming community to form the first-ever Esports League for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The new league will provide HBCU students with educational and scholarship support through Twitch Student while helping expand HBCU’s Esports programs. Colleges having Esports teams is nothing new. In fact, there are more than 200 universities that have teams or clubs associated with TESPA, Collegiate Star League, and the Natio...
Google’s Newest Feature Will Make It Easier To Find Black-Owned Businesses
Source: Google / Google Maps The search for Black-owned businesses to happily spend our Black dollars has gotten even easier. Google announced a new feature that will help single out Black-owned businesses when people search for them using their search engine and Google Maps. The new tool is part of the pledge the company made to help support the Black community with “initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions.” So how will it work? When specifically searching for a Black-owned business, Google or Google Maps will designate the companies as such by placing a black heart with an orange three-striped background badge next to it. In order to participate, Black owners need to claim their business on Google and then verify they own it via email, mail, or phone to apply for a...
Amazon Prospers During Pandemic With Expectation-Beating Results
Amazon dodged a coronavirus bullet in its second quarter, posting big gains in sales and operating income as shoppers around the world stayed home and did the bulk of their shopping online. The online retail giant, which operates the Amazon Music streaming platform and is one of a small handful of tech companies in the “trillion-dollar club”, reported net sales of $88.9 billion in the quarter ending June 30, 2020, beating analysts’ expectations with a whopping 40 per cent improvement on the same period last year. Also during the period, operating income almost doubled to $5.8 billion, up from $3.1 billion in second quarter of the previous year. Revenue from subscription services ballooned to $6 billion, well advanced from the $4.6 billion reported in the corresponding per...
HHW Gaming: 2K Annouces Partnership With NFLPA & OneTeam Partners
Source: Rich Barnes / Getty When 2K drops its first non-simulation football video game, it will feature the names and likeness of the NFL’s players. 2K announced Thursday (Jul.30) its new partnership with OneTeam Partners and the NFL Players Association. The new collaboration will allow 2K to include National Football League players in the multiple non-simulation titles coming in the near future. Speaking about the new partnership, David Ismailer, President of 2K, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to be working with the NFLPA and OneTeam to bring the biggest and best stars in football to the games we’re working on. We want to give fans experiences that are authentic, memorable, and fun, and having a roster of real-life sports heroes through the Players Association and OneTeam is a huge ...
SiriusXM, Pandora Add Self-Pay Subscribers, Advertising Falls Amid Pandemic
Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, on Thursday said it added self-pay subscribers in its satellite radio and Pandora businesses for the second quarter, the first one that was fully affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The company, controlled by John Malone‘s Liberty Media, said its satellite radio subscribers fell when including promotional subs, just like had been the case in the first quarter. In the year-ago period, it had added a total of 174,000 net users. In the latest period, SiriusXM added 264,000 self-pay customers, but lost 768,000 promotional subs to end June with 30.3 million self-pay and 34.3 million total users, down 516,000. “Paid promotional subscribers decreased due to declines in shipments from automakers offering paid trial su...
HHW Gaming: ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Beta Start Date Revealed, Hawkeye Will Be In The Game
Source: Square Enix / Marvel’s Avengers Crystal Dynamics held its second War Table live-stream event and dropped more details on the highly-anticipated Marvel’s Avengers game. Mark your calendars PS4 owners, you get the first crack Marvel’s Avengers beginning August 7 Crystal Dynamics revealed during the event. Those excited to get their hands on the game and pre-ordered it will gain access to the closed beta before it officially opens to everyone else August 14, and that also includes Xbox One and PC players as well. Not only will you be able to hop in Tony Starks’ Iron Man suit of armor and take it for a test spin, but you will be previewing a quite sizeable chunk of the game before it officially launches globally on September 4. The beta will allow you to play several single-player miss...
4 Big Tech CEOs Getting Heat From Congress on Competition
Four Big Tech CEOs — Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai of Google and Tim Cook of Apple — are set to answer for their companies’ practices before Congress as a House panel caps its yearlong investigation of market dominance in the industry. The four command corporations with gold-plated brands, millions or even billions of customers, and a combined value greater than the entire German economy. One of them is the world’s richest individual (Bezos); another is the fourth-ranked billionaire (Zuckerberg). Their industry has transformed society, linked people around the globe, mined and commercialized users’ personal data, and infuriated critics on both the left and right over speech. Critics question whether the companies, grown increasingly powerful after...
HHW Gaming: Baraka, Erron Black & Kitana Get Summer-Themed Fits In Latest MK 11: Aftermath Costume Pack
Source: NetherRealm Studios / Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Baraka, Erron Black, and Kitana are getting in the summer spirit thanks to the latest costume pack coming to Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. The actual summer is definitely a dub thanks to COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean Mortal Kombat 11 can’t celebrate the annual season. With the Summer Heat Skin Pack, which is the first of three character skin packs following the expansion’s release, Baraka, Erron Black, and Kitana will be in a summer mood while dishing out punishment. As pictured above, Princess Kitana will be rocking seasonal Edenian attire with her “Endless summer look.” Erron Black gets real patriotic by sporting a red, white, and blue suit with a top hat to match, and Baraka is ready to hit the grill with and serve up the compet...
HHW Gaming: Damian “Dame D.O.L.L.A” Lillard, Pop Smoke & More Featured On ‘NBA 2K21’s Soundtrack
Source: 2K / N.B.A. 2K21 While gamers are still currently virtually hooping in NBA 2K20, we are learning more about the forthcoming installment in the famed basketball video game franchise NBA 2K21. Today (Jul.27), 2K announced what artists players can look forward to hearing in when they load up NBA 2K21 and browse the menus or take on friends in the neighborhood. The soundtrack features 52 tracks in all including two exclusive new songs from NBA 2K21 cover athlete Damian Dame D.O.L.L.A. Lillard as well hits from, Travis Scott, Stormzy, Roddy Ricch, Wale, Pop Smoke, and The Strokes. The playlist was “meticulously selected by 2K to deliver an immense number of curated beats for a visceral in-game experience,” and is described as “one of the largest and most definitive collections of music ...
HHW Gaming: ‘Madden NFL 21’ Unveils The The X-Factor Abilities For The League’s Elite Quarterbacks
Source: EA Sports / Madden NFL 21 EA had Madden fans and players talking and debating after they revealed the overall ratings for the NFL’s talent. Now it’s time to see X-Factor abilities for the league’s elite talent. EA is kicking off a week that will see the reveal of the X-Factor in-game abilities for 50 of the NFL’s best players. Starting today (Jul.27), we learn about the X-Factor abilities the best quarterbacks under center in the NFL. The reveal includes Madden NFL 21 cover athlete Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes. Source: EA Sports / Madden NFL 21 Now, if you happen to be new to the Madden franchise, X-Factors are described as “powerful in-game abilities mimicking real-life talent, behavior, and characteri...
Brazilian Funk Powerhouse KondZilla Launches Twitch Channel With Exclusive Deal
The arrangement — which involves exclusive music, video and gaming content — follows the Twitch deal with rapper Logic earlier this week. Brazilian funk music company KondZilla, which operates one of the biggest YouTube channels in the world, has signed a partnership with Twitch to operate a channel on the streaming platform, in one of the first major deals Twitch has done with an international artist or label. Under terms of its deal, KondZilla is providing exclusive music, gaming, video and podcast content, including live remixing of video game tracks produced by DJs on Kondzilla Records, Andre Izidro, head of marketing and intelligence at KondZilla, tells Billboard. The Twitch channel will promote games, chats and feature funk music and stars from KondZilla, such as Mc Jotta...
TikTok Establishes $200M Fund to Pay Creators
“TikTok has grown to become a source of income and opportunity for creators and their families — and we couldn’t be more encouraged by their success.” Over the past two years, short-form video app TikTok has become a gold mine for talent: Popular creators like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae have turned their accounts into full-blown careers, signing with Hollywood’s biggest agencies and raking in money from record labels to promote songs. Now, TikTok is helping more creators make money on the platform with the introduction of its $200 million Creator Fund, which will “encourage those who dream of using their voices and creativity to spark inspirational careers,” TikTok U.S. general manager Vanessa Pappas wrote in a company blog pos...
