O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: Marvel

  • Disney announces price increases for subscription services to take place this fall

    Disney announces price increases for subscription services to take place this fall

    You’re not going to love this, but at least the price increases aren’t as high as they could be.

    Disney announced that the company will increase the cost of its suite of streaming services, including Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+. Prices will go up for both ad-supported and ad-free plans, and some of Disney’s bundles will also be more expensive. Most plans will see an increase of $1 to $2 per month.

    The tiers break down as follows:

    • Disney+ With Ads – $9.99, up from $7.99
    • Disney+ Ad-Free – $15.99, up from $13.99Hulu With Ads – $9.99, up from $7.99
    • Hulu Ad-Free – $18.99, up from $17.99
    • ESPN+ – $11.99, up from $10.99

    The Disney Duo Basic plan with ad-supported versions of Hulu and Disney+ is going from $9.99 to $10.99, but pricing for the premium version is not changing and will remain at $19.99.

    The ad-supported bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will increase from $14.99 to $16.99, and the premium trio bundle is increasing from $24.99 to $26.99. Hulu’s Live TV plan with VoD ads will be priced at $82.99, up from $76.99, and the ad-free version will be priced at $95.99, up from $89.99.

    Disney+ subscribers will be given access to ABC News Live as well as continuous playlists beginning on September 4, with the first playlist offering preschool content. Four additional curated playlists are set to come out later this year with seasonal content, “Epic Stories” from franchises like Marvel and Star Wars, “Throwbacks” with nostalgic pop culture content, and “Real Life” with documentaries and biopics.

    The company has stated that it plans to implement the price increases beginning Thursday, October 17.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Disney

  • Marvel app allows developers to turn sketches into prototypes

    marvelappicon

    This could turn into something nifty.

    Per TechCrunch, UK startup Marvel, which created an app that lets you turn sketches into app “prototypes” — had just one and a half month’s runway left after burning through the majority of a £60,000 investment from Haatch, has raised a £525,000 seed round from Connect Ventures, app studio ustwo (makers of iOS game Monument Valley, amongst other endeavours), and various angel investors, including Roberto Bonanzinga, Andy McLoughlin, Richard Fearn, and Jeremy Yap.

    To that end, Marvel co-founder Murat Mutlu has stated that the startup’s mission going forward is to “lower the barrier” to prototyping.

    (more…)

  • ComiXology removes in-app comic purchasing

    Comixology_biteI think it’s safe to say that it was Amazon that did the removing, but the fact remains that a major feature of the iOS app was removed. For the Android version, there were also some changes, but not as drastic. Comic purchases are now routed through comiXology instead of Google. The move is intended to avoid paying Apple and Google a premium for making purchases through their systems.  For Apple, that means loosing 30 percent of each purchase, something it has charged for in-app purchases since 2011. Instead of buying within the app, in the iOS case, customers will now have to make purchases via the comiXology website. Purchases will then be downloaded to the app once the user opens it, much like e-books do on Amazon’s Kindle for iOS app.

    (more…)

  • Amazon grabs a new demographic…comic book readers

    comics-by-comixologyIf you love comic books and love reading on your iPad, you’ve probably heard of comiXology. The company (and app) are responsible for bringing comic books into the digital age of online purchasing and reading content on a mobile device. So it was only a matter of time before it attracted the eye of the largest online source for purchasing reading material. ComiXology’s CEO, David Steinberger, posted the news on their web site Thursday afternoon that they had been purchased by Amazon.

     

    (more…)