Amazon Buys Twitch for Just Under a Billion Dollars

http://youtu.be/HnVjPF_OXnA

We’re Headed to Berlin to Bring You the Samsung Event

As you know, John and I use the Samsung phones as our personal daily devices. I love my Note 3! So I’m super excited about the upcoming launch from Samsung in Berlin on September 3rd! Their invite says “Note the Date” and heavily suggests something about the Note line of products… but we’ll see what they have up their sleeve!

Actually, we’ll see first hand, because John and I will be working with Samsung at the event. We’ll be doing a livestream and hands on videos… maybe a meetup for all of you in Berlin? So be sure to keep an eye out for more details about when and where you can watch it all on social media. @GeekBeatTV everywhere. And we hope to see some other cool stuff at IFA, too!

Amazon Buys Twitch for Just Under a Billion Dollars

Wow! Okay… so everyone in the WORLD was wrong! A few weeks ago, the internets were abuzz with news that Twitch was being bought by Google for a BILLION dollars. That’s billion. Twitch is a livestreaming platform that focuses on the gaming community. A lot of gamers…more than 1 million of them…did things like set up cameras and broadcast their playtime. And people would watch. They watched 15 billion minutes of this!

Gamers were worried at the thought of a purchase… maybe they’d get roped into YouTube and the community would become lost. Fair concern. I was more sad that they killed Justin.tv – the broader livestreaming service. Thank goodness we broadcast Geek Beat LIVE to multiple platforms like TV, YouTube and Ustream! Anyway…

All that to tell you… that’s not what happened. Nope. Google may have considered it or bid for it even, but Amazon is the one who gets to take Twitch under its wing. And it’s not a billion dollars! It’s ONLY $970 million. In Cash. …. Close enough!
Hmm… I wonder what it’d be like to have 970 million dollars in cash.

They will certainly take the existing platform and grow it and expand it. We’ll just have to wait to see how it changes!

Light Up Your Photos with Flashpoint StreakLight 180

You might have seen THIS photo if you follow me on Facebook.com/CaliLewis…

Scott Kublin took it the other day using the Flashpoint Streak Light 180 WS Flash from Adorama. Go check out his review at geekbeat.tv/streaklight. Abbey the Chihuahua, Head of Security at the Geek House, didn’t need any help, but you’ll see how it really filled in my face where there were shadows. And it’s almost half the price of similar competitors!

Ralph Lauren Gets Into Wearable Tech

Now to the tennis world! Ralph Lauren is outfitting the ball boys at the US Open with shirts that have a conductive material woven through the thread and can report how the person is doing from a health perspective. It’ll display on a computer or a mobile app what the wearer’s heart rate is, and how their stress levels and breathing patterns are. As they go through tests on ball boys, they will be able to make adjustments as necessary and eventually move this to the players themselves. Of course, we’ve seen and talked about multiple shirts that are testing this market. It’s great that big names are getting involved too. Sometimes it’s hard to see tech like this at such infancy stages. I see where it could be going. I want it to get there NOW!

Grab Shows Over the Air with TiVo Roamio OTA DVR

While you wait, you could watch TV on your brand new TiVo Roamio OTA DVR. It’s only $50 and it lets you record 4 channels of over the air broadcast TV and gives you 75 hours of video. This is a potential option for cable cutters who just want to access the local TV stations and not pay for cable. Though you do have to pay $15/month for the guide system… you know… the thing that shows you what’s playing when… and other TiVo services. But it’s an interesting middle ground… get a couple of the best things from both worlds. It won’t be for everyone because of the monthly fee, but it’s a super cheap box that gives you different offerings than the Chromecast for example.

Sponsored by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Don’t regret thinking you’re okay because you’ve only had a couple drinks. Over 10,000 people die each year from drunk driving. Get a designated driver. Police will be out in force looking for you, especially with Labor Day coming up! Stay safe.