My Little Pony’ Movie in Development at Hasbro With ‘Ice Age’ Writer

My Little Pony’ Movie in Development at Hasbro With ‘Ice Age’ Writer

Jeff Sneider

TheWrap

Hasbro Studios has hired Joe Ballarini ("Ice Age: Continental Drift") to write a "My Little Pony" movie, TheWrap has learned.
Hasbro will produce the animated feature under its Allspark Pictures label, which allows the company to self-finance or co-finance projects. Allspark's first release will be "Jem and the Holograms," which was co-financed by Universal and co-produced by Blumhouse.

Megan McCarthy will co-executive produce the full-length feature, having written for Discovery Family's popular TV series "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic." McCarthy was also involved in the "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls" movies, which received limited theatrical releases prior to their debuts on home video.

The "My Little Pony" franchise features a rich mythology built around characters that have colorful bodies and manes among other distinguishing attributes.
Hasbro currently plans to self-finance the development and production of the "My Little Pony" movie, which it is currently talking to distributors about releasing in 2017.

Hasbro plans to continue making action-heavy tentpoles aimed at young men, such as the "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" movies at Paramount, and the company continues to develop board game adaptations "Monopoly" and "Candyland." Because all four of those films are big-budget projects, Hasbro has less say on the creative side, but it will have more control on the "My Little Pony" movie.

"My Little Pony" has garnered headlines of late due to its popularity with adult men who refer to themselves as "Bronies," which signals the brand's ability to transcend typical gender and age lines.
News of the "My Little Pony" movie was first reported by Variety.

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Taylor Swift’s New Song Is Finally Here!

Taylor Swift’s New Song Is Finally Here!

Taylor Swift has finally rewarded fans after days of teasing her new single by releasing “Welcome to New York!” The Big Apple gave Taylor some mega-catchy inspiration as the song is a mix of pop music swing and shoulder-bumping dance moves. Taylor has been dropping hints lately about her new song, leaving fans wondering what she had in store for them. All the teasing and hinting was totally worth the wait because this song is amazing!

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Taylor Swift Fires Back at Olly Mur's Big Diss

Our jaws dropped when we heard that Olly Murs dissed Taylor Swift's new song "Out of the Woods," claiming she writes too much about Harry Styles. Based on her reaction, she felt the same way! While appearing on the Australian radio station 2DAYFM, the singer slammed the critics who blast her for writing about her exes — and it sounds like she was talking directly to Olly.

"You're going to have people who say 'oh you know, she just writes songs about her ex boyfriends'," she said. "I think frankly that’s a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says it about Bruno Mars."

We totally agree! She should be allowed to write about whatever she wants to write about. And apparently, he felt really bad about the diss too, and even sent her a letter to apologize.

"I reached out to Taylor around two days ago. I gave her a letter and said, 'I'm really sorry...It came out wrong. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make any offense'," he told the Daily Mail.

The singer says he just wanted to defend his friend, but the joke came out harsher than it should have.

"It always came out that every article says Taylor writes songs and they always link it to Harry so I was just making a joke and defending my mate."

While it's cute that he cares so much about his friend, he didn't have to bring her down in the process! We're just glad that he apologized for his comments. The "Shake It Off" singer doesn't seem like the type to hold a grudge, so she's probably forgiven him now that he said he's sorry.

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Spotify finally has subscription sharing for an extra $5 per user

Spotify finally has subscription sharing for an extra $5 per user

Steve Dent

Engadget

Spotify has just addressed one of the main beefs with its service: the lack of ability to share a premium subscription. With Spotify Family, you can now share your $9.99 plan with up to four other folks for an extra $5 per. That means the price starts at $14.99 for you and one friend, going up to $29.99 with five people altogether, for a savings of $5 to $20. They won't be stuck with your musical taste, either, as each member will get their own account with separate playlists, recommendations and more. That makes Spotify's premium service pretty tempting, and don't worry if your family or friends aren't music lovers -- that never stopped Sprint's Framily subscribers.
Source: Spotify

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How Justin Bieber Could Spoil Instagram’s Plan to Introduce Ads

How Justin Bieber Could Spoil Instagram’s Plan to Introduce Ads

Marcus Wohlsen

Wired

It finally happened: Snapchat will now have ads. Pinterest is also experimenting with advertising, as is Instagram. All three of these companies are in the enviable position of running wildly popular online platforms, but also in the less enviable position of not having a great, obvious way to make money off of them. Ads seem like the most direct plan, but there’s a problem, a problem summed up by one man.
His name is Justin Bieber.

If you have an internet connection, chances are you know who Justin Bieber is. He was discovered on YouTube. His 55.7 million followers make him the second-most followed person on Twitter, ahead of the President of the United States. The internet is his medium, and he is its master.

That mastery was on full display earlier this month in the form of a poorly shot video selfie of Bieber walking through a plaza in Italy. Here’s how Adweek describes the compelling footage: “To commemorate the event on Instagram, he shoots a quick social video where he utters ‘fettuccine Alfredo’ in his best fake Italiano and then asks his bodyguard whether he wants to get some. (The helpful hulk, in case you are wondering, answered his boss with a ‘yes.’)”

Italy was pretty awesome, could find me in your city next – #imatourist #nowork #sightseeing #fettucciniAlfredo #imthatguywithafannypack #ifuseemeletmeenjoymyvisit #illbebackfortouripromise


During the second week of October, the video received nearly 735,000 likes and almost 50,000 comments, according to Adweek ‘s weekly survey of Instagram activity. The number is impressive in itself. But what’s potentially worrisome for Instagram’s ad ambitions is just how thoroughly the size of Bieber’s engaged audience crushes that of other, more traditional brands—that is, potential advertisers.

The most popular Instagram video in the consumer electronics category, for example, was a GoPro scene of two guys on an amusement park ride that was “liked” 134,000 times. BMW topped the car category with almost 44,000 likes for one video, and Urban Outfitters the retail category with more than 50,000 likes. Not bad, but nothing like the Biebs.

The paradox for the latest online platforms is that, while their popularity is driven by user-generated content like Bieber’s, that content totally eclipses anything an advertiser is likely to offer, especially since users are already accustomed to no ads. An ad in your Instagram feed, if it doesn’t outright annoy you, is easy to ignore if Justin Bieber in Italy is a thumb-swipe away. Or the catnip of your friend’s next selfie Snap. How can any ad compete for those precious microseconds of your attention?

Pinterest is in the best position to capitalize on ads, since it’s so well designed as a place to browse for stuff you want to buy. But as with Instagram, brands don’t have to advertise to get on the thing. You can simply act as users with their own accounts and promote their stuff for free. Of course, advertisers will probably keep trying, and at least for a while keep paying these companies in hope of connecting with all the attention the Biebers of the world help them to capture. Maybe paid ads will help push traditional brands’ feeds in front of more users, causing their popularity to surge. But only seeing is Beliebing.

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Demi Lovato Shows Off Vibrant New Pink Hair Extensions

Demi Lovato just found a whole new way to kick up her rainbow-colored hairstyle without the committment of permanent dye! She added some super bright pink hair extensions from her brand new Secret Color line, and we love how perfectly the shade blends with her edgy blue-streaked cut!

We never realized you could use Demi's hair extensions brand to add color to your 'do without necessarily adding length, but it's such a clever way to (temporarily!) go pink!

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Taylor Swift Previews 'Welcome to New York' Song

Taylor Swift Previews 'Welcome to New York' Song

Taylor Swift has released the 30-second preview for her brand new song“Welcome to New York” 

The 24-year-old singer debuted the clip on Good Morning America on Monday (October 20) and also released a video of herself talking about the track.

“The first song on 1989 is a song called ‘Welcome to New York’ and I wanted to start the album with this song because New York has been an important landscape and location for the story of my life in the last couple of years,”Taylor said in the clip.

 “You know, I dreamt about moving to New York. I obsessed over moving to New York and then I did it. The inspiration that I found in that city is kind of hard to describe and hard to compare to any other force of inspiration I’ve ever experienced in my life. 

It’s like an electric city and I approached moving there with such wide-eyed optimism and sort of saw it as a place of endless potential and possibilities. You can kind of hear that reflected in this music and in this first song especially. This is a song I did with Ryan Tedder called ‘Welcome to New York.’”

Get the new song tonight at 11:59pm on iTunes!

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You can't upgrade the new Mac mini's RAM

You can't upgrade the new Mac mini's RAM

Jon Fingas

Engadget

If you're planning to snag the new Mac mini and load it up with aftermarket memory, you may want to reconsider your strategy. Macminicolo owner Brian Stucki (among others) has discovered that the RAM in Apple's latest tiny desktop isn't upgradable, much as you'd expect with the company's laptops and the 21-inch iMac. The move isn't completely surprising given that the Mac mini is basically a MacBook in different clothing, but it's a step backward given how relatively easy it was to upgrade the previous generation. All that you can do now is replace the hard drive, provided you're willing to void your warranty. You'll have to consider buying either a higher-end model or a custom order to get more RAM, and both of those options are typically more expensive than adding RAM yourself. This limitation isn't necessarily a deal breaker, but it's unfortunate if you like the idea of upgrading a Mac on your own terms.

Source: Brian Stucki (Twitter)

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Leak gives a clearer look at Motorola's upcoming Droid Turbo

Leak gives a clearer look at Motorola's upcoming Droid Turbo

Jon Fingas

Engadget

So far, the pictures we've seen of Motorola's soon-to-launchDroid Turbo have been... incomplete. You won't have to wonder exactly what this Verizon-only smartphone looks like any longer, though. Evan Blass (@evleaks) has posted a press image (available through Verizon's web code) which provides a good look at the phone, including its frequently elusive front. In short, this is a hybrid between last year's Kevlar-laden Droid Maxx and the styling cues of 2014 Motorola flagships like the new Moto X and Nexus 6. The biggest upgrades over the Maxx are likely to be in the guts, such as the 21-megapixel camera, the rumored Quad HD screen and a speedy Snapdragon 805 chip. Whether or not the Turbo is as tough as it looks, you'll know the full story when the phone launches in nine days.

Source: Evan Blass (Twitter)

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Here's every device getting Android 5.0 Lollipop so far

Here's every device getting Android 5.0 Lollipop so far

Jon Fingas

Engadget

If you're a die-hard Android fan, you're probably champing at the bit waiting for that Lollipop upgrade -- when will you get it? Are you going to get it? Thankfully for you, a number of companies have already promised to upgrade some of their devices to this candy-flavored OS. Google's Nexus 4, 5, 7 and 10 models are naturally first in line, as are Android One and Google Play Edition hardware; its outgoing Motorola brand is equally on top of things with plans to patch the Moto E, G and X alongside Verizon's Droid Mini, Maxx and Ultra. HTC and OnePlus don't have full details, but they're both pledging to give their recent flagships a taste of Lollipop within 90 days of receiving finished code. NVIDIA and Sony, meanwhile, are being a bit vague. While they're respectively teasing plans to update the Shield Tablet and the Xperia Z series, they won't say exactly when just yet; Sony has committed to the "beginning of 2015" for Z2 and Z3 models.
As for other manufacturers? Well, don't hold your breath. LG tellsTechRadar that it has nothing to say on "if / when" Lollipop will reach the G3, let alone older gear. The upgrade is likely coming, but the statement is far from reassuring. Mum's the word from Samsung as well, although leaks show that a Lollipopped version of TouchWiz is in the works. It's also reasonable to expect that relatively large brands like Acer, ASUS, Huawei and Xiaomi are on deck -- just don't be shocked if their older devices don't make the cut.Source: HTC (Twitter), Motorola, Sony Mobile Blog

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Taylor Swift  Looks Beautiful Even Without Makeup – No Makeup Pictures!

Unlike other celebrities, Swift looks gorgeous even without makeup. Here are a few pics of Taylor Swift without makeup to prove our point.

Taylor swift was photographed carrying a guitar case in her hand, wearing very casual but classy clothes. The singer wore a semi striped red and white top and teemed it with a pair of maroon quarters. Her hair was braided and she was carrying a sling bag. Her face looked so pretty even without makeup.

A smile is the best make up one can wear. And that is all Taylor Swift needs. She doesn’t need to hide behind make up. A picture of her wearing a blue shirt and carrying a bowl of vanilla and chocolate chipped ice cream shows her natural beauty abundantly.

Taylor swift was photographed in an over sized tee shirt in a field. She had one hand on her waist and her hair was let down on her shoulder. Her hair looked like a series of wavy curls and made her look magnificent, even without makeup.

Taylor swift was spotted wearing a polka dot shirt with brown pants and a red beanie with a navy blue blazer. She had a sling bag and her hair fell as golden locks from under the beanie. Taylor hardly had any makeup on her face but looked absolutely fabulous.

Taylor looks as good on screen as she does off it. She makes an adorable celebrity on the red carpet but when she’s off it and without makeup she looks natural and perfect. A picture of her wearing a black blazer with her wonderful curly hair falling down on her shoulder is a sufficient example of her natural beauty.

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Google's Nexus Player gets FCC approval, right on cue

Google's Nexus Player gets FCC approval, right on cue

Jon Fingas

Engadget 

Well, that didn't take long. Just a couple of days after Google stopped pre-orders of the Nexus Player while it waited for the FCC's all-clear, its Android TV puck has received approval. There aren't any surprises in the regulatory filing, but it should let you both pre-order the WiFi media hub soon and (hopefully) get it around that originally promised November 3rd release date. If you were worried that you'd have to make do with a Chromecast for a little while longer, you can relax.

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