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Discord has begun rolling out a redesigned desktop app that adds more customization to the client. To start, the new app increases the number of free themes to four. Where previously you could choose between two skins light and dark if you weren't a Nitro subscriber, now your options are light, ash, dark and onyx. In short, everyone gets access to more dark themes. Discord has also added three new UI density options default, spacious and compact. These are separate from the app's existing message layout options, so it's another way to tweak the look and feel of the interface. With this redesign, the company is also finally giving users the option to resize the channel list. Discord has also redesigned the controls that appear when you're on a voice or video call. Now, more of the buttons you may want to press during a call will appear in the center bar along the bottom of the screen. At the same time, the mic and camera buttons feature more color, so you have a better indicator if you're muted or your camera is active. "All of these updates are meant to enhance legibility, reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed by visual noise, and maintain consistency across desktop and mobile devices," Discord explains. Discord Separately, the redesigned app ships with a new overlay that Discord says is faster and won't impact game performance. Taking a page Valve's recent redesign of Steam, Discord has reworked the interface around widgets, meaning you can move around each individual element as you wish. The company has also re-engineered the overlay so that it doesn't "hook" itself into games. As a result, it's less likely to trigger anti-cheat systems like BattleEye. In turn, that means the new overlay is compatible with "a larger portion of the most-played games on Discord." It's even possible to watch a friend's stream directly from the new overlay. The redesigned app and overlay arrive after Discord CEO Jason Citron announced last May the company would refocus on building the best possible communications tool for gamers. In 2020, Discord briefly rebranded itself as a general purpose chat app after many young people turned to the platform to stay in touch with their friends during lockdown. "After taking stock of the world now that the pandemic is largely behind us, and learning directly from you about how Discord can be even more useful, we've recognized the need to narrow our focus from broadly being a community-centric chat app to being a place that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests," Citron wrote last year. The update also arrives at what could be a pivotal moment for Discord. According to a recent New York Times report, the company could go public as early as later this year. With 72 percent of Discord users regularly gaming on PC, ensuring those people are taken care of ahead of a potential IPO takes on a sense of urgency.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/discords-redesigned-pc-app-has-multiple-dark-modes-a-new-overlay-and-more-160019822.html?src=rss
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While computers are great and all, there is something so satisfying about physically writing something down. Digital notebooks kind of provide the best of both worlds, allowing you to handwrite as much as you want on just one device. One of the newest options on the market is Amazon's 2024 Kindle Scribe with a redesigned display and uniform borders. Right now, the 16GB version is on sale for $325, down from $399 a 19 percent discount. Our pick for best e-reader E Ink tablet is marked down as part of Amazon's Spring Sale, a site-wide event. The new Amazon Kindle Scribe received an 86 in our review thanks to its nice design, AI enhancements and excellent reading and writing experience. It also comes with a Premium Pen that has a rubberized top to symbolize an eraser. Our biggest quip was its cost, but that's somewhat less concerning thanks to this discount.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-second-gen-kindle-scribe-drops-to-a-record-low-price-for-the-amazon-spring-sale-153010005.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
The once-iconic music-sharing platform Napster just sold for $207 million, according to reporting by CNBC. A company called Infinite Reality ponied up the cash. What could Napster offer in 2025 to warrant such a price tag? Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto says itll be used for marketing in the metaverse. In other words, a platform from 1999 will be used as part of a technology that seemingly peaked in 2021. That sounds about right. More specifically, the company plans on creating virtual 3D spaces for music fans to attend concerts and listening parties, in addition to creating a sales platform for musicians and labels to sell merch. This isnt the worst idea in the world, as attending these kinds of shared events is probably my favorite aspect of VR. "The most legendary collab?! Infinite Reality has acquired iconic online music brand @Napster.With this acquisition, we're expanding and reimagining Napster, empowering artists with new audience monetization and engagement capabilities, underpinned by iRs #immersive pic.twitter.com/L4Fig7QFct Infinite Reality (@Infinite_iR) March 25, 2025 When we think about clients who have audiences influencers, creators I think its very important that they have a connected space thats around music and musical communities, Acunto said. We just dont see anybody in the streaming space creating spaces for music. Napster holds numerous licenses to stream millions of songs, which is what made it an attractive prospect to Infinite Reality. The company says its version of Napster will disrupt legally. Current Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos says that the purchase will allow artists to create crazy environments that are really only limited by their imaginations. As an example, he described a reggae artist who might enjoy a virtual beach environment. Acunto adds that itll be like Clubhouse times a trillion. Hes referring to the virtual events app that became popular during COVID, but eventually petered out. Infinite Reality has been on a buying spree the last couple of years. In addition to Napster, it purchased the Drone Racing League, the metaverse marketing platform Landvault and the VR shopping platform Obsess. As for Napster, it started in 1999 and took the world by storm, creating an easy-peasy way to steal music. It only took a couple of years for mounting legal battles to catch up to the platform and it declared bankruptcy in 2001. However, that was just the beginning. The software company Roxio purchased the platform in 2002 and relaunched it as a legitimate e-commerce venture that sold digital music files. In 2008, Best Buy came calling and scooped it up. The retail giant only held on to Napster for a few years before selling to Rhapsody in 2011. Rhapsody tried to make Napster a household name in Europe for the next decade before a consortium of blockchain companies, led by Hivemind and Algorand, bought it in 2022. These companies had plans to do some kind of NFT-based nonsense, because music x web3 is one of the most exciting spaces. That didnt work and, well, here we are. Heres to another 25 years of being passed around like a hot potato.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/napster-just-sold-for-207-million-154432315.html?src=rss
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