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Media Notes: May 27, 2021

The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge had a Cruella drive-in movie night – Last night at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Disney film was shown for NHS staff.

Nintendo Plans Upgraded Switch Replacement as Soon as September -Nintendo Co. plans to begin assembly of its new Switch as soon as July and release the upgraded replacement for its four-year-old game console in September or October, people familiar with the matter said.

The new console, likely to be priced higher than the $299 original, may be announced ahead of the E3 conference starting June 12. [Bloomberg]

Cannes Lions is hiring a “specialist DEI consultancy to examine its practices after controversy arose over its handling of educational program.” – “The Lions revealed the move after meeting with Abraham Abbi Asefaw, former co-dean of Cannes Lions’ learning program the Roger Hatchuel Academy (RHA), who complained earlier this month in social media posts about its attitude to diversity. Asefaw had revealed how he was removed from his position, resulting in there being no people of color in leadership positions at the RHA. ” [Ad Age]

Tribune Publishing offering buyouts to newsroom employees, two days after purchase by hedge fund Alden – The voluntary separation plan was sent Wednesday to nonunion newsroom employees at the Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Publishing newspapers. [Chicago Tribune]

Why Apple and Google’s Virus Alert Apps Had Limited Success –  Some researchers say the companies’ product and policy choices limited the system’s usefulness, raising questions about the power of Big Tech to set global standards for public health tools.

Computer scientists have reported accuracy problems with the Bluetooth technology used to detect proximity between smartphones. Some users have complained of failed notifications. And there is little rigorous research to date on whether the apps’ potential to accurately alert people of virus exposures outweighs potential drawbacks — like falsely warning unexposed people, over-testing or failing to detect users exposed to the virus. [NY Times]

HBO Max celebrates one year since launch – Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of HBO Max. In the year since rollout, the platform has undergone a remarkable evolution and hit several significant benchmarks, adding 11.1 million HBO/HBO Max subscribers over the past year to surpass 44 million in the US (as of end of Q1). Not only is the platform seeing a rapidly growing user base, but viewers are more engaged than ever: we have seen up to a 70% increase in audience engagement vs. HBO Go or Now*, and the average time it takes a user to click play after logging into the platform is down to 100 seconds.

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