Entertainment 2.0 from The Digital Media Zone

This week, we break down the massive redesign coming to Android Auto and Spotify’s 20th-anniversary celebration. We explore Spotify’s pivot into AI-generated podcasts, the latest high-end home audio from Bose, and the looming price hike for the Nintendo Switch 2. Plus, we look at a new collaboration between Discord and Xbox Game Pass that adds more value to your subscriptions. We’re discussing exactly how these shifts in the landscape will impact your tech budget and your daily routine.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #710.

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• Android Auto is getting video apps, music updates, and more Gemini smarts
• Spotify is celebrating its 20th birthday with a Wrapped-like feature that covers your entire time on the app – Engadget
• Spotify Now Welcomes AI-Generated Podcasts Created With AI Agents
• Bose is rebooting its smart speakers for the Sonos haters – Fast Company
• Nintendo Announces Switch 2 Price Increases
• Xbox Game Pass and Discord: Building on Our Partnership to Bring More Benefits to Players

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #710 – Switch 2 Realities & Spotify at 20 appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

Big shifts are coming to your home theater and gaming setups. We look at the new Onn 4K Pro Google TV streamer to see if Walmart’s hardware can actually handle a “Pro” workload. On the gaming front, Xbox is slashing Game Pass prices while simultaneously changing the rules for its biggest blockbuster releases. Finally, we discuss the return of the Steam Controller and why its $99 price tag is the least of its problems for PC gamers.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #709.

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• Walmart’s Google TV Streamer competitor starts hitting store shelves for $60 with a big downgrade
• Xbox cuts Game Pass prices but new Call of Duty games will no longer hit the service on day one – Engadget
• Valve’s $99 Steam Controller has a big problem — and it’s not the price | Windows Central

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #70 – Game Pass Price Cut appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

This week, we dive into a major shakeup for your living room and your wallet. From Sony’s latest display breakthrough to a surprising price hike from the world’s most popular streaming service, we break down what these changes mean for your monthly budget. Plus, we look at new hardware from Walmart that could change how you stream this year.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #708.

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• Inside a corporate retreat that went very badly wrong
• Sony True RGB TV — A New OLED Rival?
• Netflix is Raising Prices in the U.S. Again – Thurrott.com
• Walmart’s new Chromecast with Google TV replacement starts showing up in stores, $30
• The PS5 is getting more expensive… again

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #708 – Sony’s RGB Breakthrough appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

This week, we’re looking at the shifting landscape of consumer entertainment, from rising hardware costs to new ways to manage your massive media libraries on the go. We tackle the latest updates to your favorite media server, a significant price jump for a popular streamer, and the arrival of high-end audio and mobile computing power from LG and Razer. Join us as we find out which of these updates actually improve your daily experience and which ones just hit your wallet.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #707.

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• Plex – Metadata Editing on Mobile
• Introducing Lists on Plex
• The best deal in Google TV might be getting a price hike
• tvOS 26.4 rolls out across Apple TV 4K devices, with Genius Browse, other new features
• LG Sound Suite review: Dolby Atmos FlexConnect in a powerful package
• Razer announces an Intel-powered Blade 16 for 2026 | Windows Central

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #707 – Plex Mobile Updates and Onn Price Hikes appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

Are you getting less for your subscription dollar? This episode breaks down the new Prime Video Ultra tier and why your favorite features might soon cost you extra. We also look at the new AirPods Max 2 to see if the internal upgrades justify the premium price tag. For the music lovers, we explain how Spotify’s new “Exclusive Mode” changes the game for PC listeners. Finally, we discuss Project Helix and how Microsoft plans to change the way we buy and play next-gen games.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #706.

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• Prime Video Restricts 4K and Ad-Free Streaming to New $4.99/Month Ultra Plan in the US – Thurrott.com
• Apple announces the AirPods Max 2 with improved noise cancelation and H2 chip
• Spotify rolls out ‘bit-perfect’ playback in Windows app
• Microsoft confirms Project Helix with a custom AMD chip built for next‑gen Xbox, plus new FSR Diamond tech that promises sharper, cleaner visuals for everyone

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #706 – Prime Video Price Hike and Xbox Project Helix appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

Is your digital life about to get cheaper or just more complicated? This episode breaks down new ways to save on your favorite services, from Audible’s “Standard” plan to a feature-boosted YouTube Premium Lite. On the corporate side, we discuss the potential birth of a new streaming superpower as Paramount eyes Warner Bros. Discovery. Finally, we analyze the new faces leading Xbox and what their strategy shift means for the future of the console.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #705.

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• How Paramount Beat Out Netflix, Won Warner Bros. and Will Change Hollywood Forever
• YouTube Premium Lite adds background play and downloads
• Audible Introduces a Less Expensive Audiobook Plan
• Exclusive: Talking to new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and CCO Matt Booty — “This team has brought it back before, and I’m here to help us do it again.”

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #705 – Streaming’s New Superpower? appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

Another streaming service is raising prices, and this time it comes with a surprising milestone that signals a major shift in how we consume TV. On the gaming side, a global shortage is creating some serious headaches for a beloved piece of hardware — and the ripple effects could be felt for a long time. Plus, cloud gaming just got a lot more accessible for millions of households with a popular device they already own.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #704.

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• AMC+ raises prices on all subscription plans immediately for new customers
• Audible Launches Immersion Reading for Deeper Kindle Integration – Thurrott.com
• Valve’s Steam Deck OLED will be ‘intermittently’ out of stock because of the RAM crisis | The Verge
• Nvidia GeForce Now Comes Natively to Amazon Fire TV Sticks

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #704 – Streaming Shifts, Steam Deck Shortages & Cloud Gaming appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

YouTube TV is giving subscribers more flexibility with new genre-focused plans. But not all the news from Google is good — YouTube Music is now gating song lyrics behind a Premium subscription. And in a more positive move, Spotify is rolling out “About the Song,” a new beta feature that surfaces interesting backstories and behind-the-scenes details.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #703.

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• YouTube TV Launches First Genre-Specific Plans
• Spotify now lets you swipe on songs to learn more about them
• YouTube Music is Making Song Lyrics a Premium Feature
• You are being misled about renewable energy technology
• Josh Pollard on LinkedIn

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #703 – YouTube TV’s New Plans appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

We’re diving into subscription fatigue, innovative reading technology, and the hardware shortage crisis affecting gamers everywhere. Crunchyroll hits subscribers with $2 monthly increases across all tiers, but there is a silver lining. Spotify unveils Page Match, a clever feature using your phone camera to find your exact place in audiobooks from physical books (and vice versa), alongside a Bookshop.org partnership that brings physical book purchases into the Spotify app. Hardware news is concerning: Valve pushes back its Steam Machine launch. NVIDIA compounds the problem by reportedly scrapping all new graphics card launches this year.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #702.

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• Crunchyroll increases prices for all anime streaming plans
• Spotify Partners With Bookshop.org and Debuts Page Match Feature to Bridge Physical, E-book, and Audio Formats
• Valve Delays Steam Machine and Steam Frame Due to Memory and Storage Shortages
• NVIDIA reportedly won’t release new graphics cards this year

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #702 – Component Shortages & Spotify’s Physical Book Push appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

In this episode, we explore the shifting landscape of home entertainment, starting with TCL’s rapid ascent to challenge Samsung for the top spot in the global TV market while Google TV’s North American presence shrinks. We dive into how the Auracast standard is being utilized in Sennheiser’s RS 275 TV headphones and Marshall’s Heddon hub to allow seamless audio broadcasting. Additionally, we discuss Sonos’ return to hardware with the professional-grade Amp Multi and Microsoft’s rollout of the Xbox PC app for Arm-based devices.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET!

Click here to download episode #701.

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• Google TV’s future sounds a bit bleak even as TCL nears the crown
• Sonos bursts out of the shadows with a bespoke amplifier, says more is coming
• These Sennheiser headphones are a world’s first for audio connectivity – and I’m excited | ZDNET
• Marshall’s new Auracast hub turns Bluetooth speakers into a unified sound system
• The Xbox PC app is now rolling out publicly for Windows Arm PCs — Microsoft Prism now supports “85%” of Xbox Game Pass titles

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles.

The post Entertainment 2.0 #701 – Google TV’s Decline and the Global TV Market Shift appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.