Reverberate: US media and marketing news you need to know – Tag Heuer's $1,400 smartwatch, Edge to replace Internet Explorer & Rand Paul stands firm against net neutrality
Morning all, here’s a glimpse at all the media and marketing news you should know today.
1. Tag Heuer’s luxury Apple Watch rival running on the Android Wear operating system will set consumers back $1,400, says Engadget. The company estimates that the wearable comes with a 40-hour battery.
2. Edge is Microsoft’s replacement for Internet Explorer on Windows 10, according to the Verge. Early builds of the web browser have shown digital ink annotation capabilities and integration with Windows digital assistant Cortana.
3. Presidential candidate Rand Paul has launched a “resolution of disapproval” to kill net neutrality. Mediapost reports that he claimed the rules would “do nothing more than wrap the Internet in red-tape”.
4. Digital streaming service Hulu picked up the complete 180 episodes of Seinfeld in a deal valued at between $150m and $180m. Mediapost reports that the news leaked ahead of Hulu’s official announcement.
5. Wrist tattoos have been found to interfere with the Apple Watch’s ability to track heart rates. The Washington Post reports that wrist and sleeve tattoos are hindering pulse reading, notifications and could fully stop NFC based payments using the wearable.
6. Budweiser has apologized for making light of rape on its Bud Light branding according to AdAge. AB InBev's branding for the beer claimed it was "the perfect beer for removing 'no' from your vocabulary for the night”.
7. Amazon, Google and Pandora have come together with music distributors to push back against an effort by musicians, publishers and record labels calling for greater royalties for the use of their songs. The Financial Times reports the MIC Coalition was launched in Washington on Wednesday.
8. Google has released a free web extension for its Chrome web browser that better protects Google accounts. Reuters reports that email in particular is protected from online attackers trying to steal passwords and other personal information.
Stay in the media and marketing news loop at thedrum.com and check out yesterday’s round-up here.
To receive The Drum's US Daily Newsletter sign up here.