It's time for another daily dive into some of the better tech news from around the internet. If you're getting tired of the constant barrage of stressful stories, here are some that should make you feel a little warmer inside.
Today, we've got musicians turning to Zoom for a music video, Facebook fostering closer bonds, and digital movie loaners for your friends.
Zoom music videos are now a thing
Social distancing means we're all apart for a while, and that includes musicians. But just like everyone else is seemingly adopting Zoom for work, at least one band is doing the same when it comes to recording music videos, Mashable reports.
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down took to Zoom to record the music video for their new song, Phenom. While the music might not strike everyone's fancy, they've definitely got some creative choreography that makes the most of Zoom's signature grid.
Just give the video a watch; it's a treat.
Facebook wants to bring you closer to your partner
Facebook already permeates most of our world, so why not our relationships, too? That's what a new app from the company's New Product Experiment team aims to do, with a focus on bringing you closer to your partner. As The Verge reports, the new app, which goes by the name Tuned, gives couples a place to stay connected, sharing their moods, music, and a digital scrapbook.
A lot of couples arguably already use Facebook for this purpose but Tuned is a place just for couples to stay in touch. Whether you trust Facebook with the responsibility of keeping you connected with your spouse or partner is another thing. Still, it's a neat experiment.
Tuned is available to try on iOS through the App Store now.
Movies Anywhere lets you lend your flicks to friends
Remember when you could just loan a friend a DVD? Those were the days. That's pretty much impossible with movie collections moving to digital lockers nowadays, but Movies Anywhere has a nifty new feature that brings that experience back to life (sort of).
As reported by Tech Crunch, Screen Pass is a new feature now available through Movies Anywhere that lets you lend your digital flicks to friends and family. Screen Pass has been in private beta for a while, but Movies Anywhere moved up its launch into open beta now that more people are stuck at home for the foreseeable future.
There are some caveats to how the whole thing works. Only certain movies are eligible to be "loaned." You're also limited to three shares per month, and recipients have 14 days to watch loaned movies and 72 hours to finish them once they've started watching. Still, it's nice to have the option.
Tim Cook and Apple step up to help fight COVID-19
Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter over the weekend to provide an update on what Apple is doing to help out with the COVID-19 pandemic. And, well, it's quite a bit. Cook says Apple has sourced 20 million masks through its supply chain. It's also worked to create, produce, and ship much-needed face shields for medical workers.
Apple is dedicated to supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19. We’ve now sourced over 20M masks through our supply chain. Our design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers. pic.twitter.com/3xRqNgMThXApple is dedicated to supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19. We’ve now sourced over 20M masks through our supply chain. Our design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers. pic.twitter.com/3xRqNgMThX— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 5, 2020April 5, 2020
Cook's update follows a surge of efforts from tech companies, CEOs, and figures in recent weeks to assist pandemic relief efforts around the globe. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, for example, is spending billions to fund the development of seven possible vaccines for COVID-19.
Pet of the day
For each one of these daily good news updates, we're also tossing in some adorable critters. Today, we've Charlie, who decided to take a break from his feline duties to soak up some sun over the weekend.
If you want one of your pets included in these roundups, all you have to do is tweet at the Windows Central Twitter account with a picture of your buddy and their name.
