The digital ad industry's biggest trade group says consumers want to see more commercials they can immerse themselves within — as long as they're done right.

A new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau on Monday pointed to substantial growth potential in the nascent world of virtual reality advertising, despite some marketers' concerns that the technology is destined to stay a niche offering.

The IAB reached its conclusion through dozens of interviews with key people in the publishing and advertising industries as well as software and hardware firms. Read more...

More about Business, Marketing, Advertising, Virtual Reality, and Vr

Source: www.Mashable.com

Welcome to the Hearthstone Meta Update, where you’ll find a review of one of the most powerful or exciting decks in competitive play. Today, we’re looking at the Zoo Warlock, AKA Zoolock. Learn how to build and play this deck, and be a little more prepared to climb the ladder. 

Aggro Shaman has been a top choice for Hearthstone players since the beginning of the One Night in Karazhan expansion, but it hasn’t always been this way. Zoolock was the original aggressive deck. The fact that it’s still a style found in the arsenals of the world’s best players is a good sign of just how well this fast and furious deck can perform. Read more...

More about Esports, Gaming, Zoolock, Hearthstone, and Entertainment

Source: www.Mashable.com

It's going to be a bad day for an astronaut when he gets stranded on Planet of the Apes.

Subscribe to CineFix here for more videos.

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Source: www.Mashable.com

In case you hadn't noticed, it's a presidential election year in the United States.

The first general election debate is Monday night, between GOP candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, moderated by Lester Holt of NBC News.

Fortunately, in 2016, the options of watching the debate are numerous, almost ubiquitous. It'll be harder to not watch the debate than to watch it. 

On television

The presidential debates are one of those events that get blanket coverage from networks, much like the political conventions.  Read more...

More about Debate, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Election 2016, and Us World

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Media player/server Plex is one of the most versatile independent solutions for folks with a big multimedia collection, but it has so far required users to run server software to power client apps on TVs and other gadgets. 

With today's launch of Plex Cloud, the server part of that equation is no longer necessary. 

The feature relies on Amazon's cloud and lets users build a media collection, without running their own server; setting up, Plex claims, takes less than 60 seconds. 

Plex Cloud offers unlimited storage and all the Plex features, save a few (Camera Upload, Offline Sync and the recently launched DVR aren’t available at launch, Plex says), will work the same as with a regular Plex account.  Read more...

More about Amazon Drive, Media Server, Media Player, Cloud Drive, and Plex Cloud

Source: www.Mashable.com

Starting Monday, you can buy an Uber gift card in stores. 

The ride-hailing company is now selling gift cards at Walmarts nationwide and plans to introduce them at CVS and Target. 

"Whether it’s exploring a new city, a night out with friends, or simply a safe ride home, Uber is ready to help get the special people in your life where they want to go. And treating them to these experiences has never been easier with the introduction of the Uber gift card," Uber product manager Drew Quinn wrote in a blog post announcing the news. 

Uber's gift cards follow a similar effort by rival Lyft. In August, Lyft began a partnership with Starbucks to sell gift cards at the coffee chain.  Read more...

More about Walmart, Starbucks, Lyft, Uber, and Business

Source: www.Mashable.com

LOS ANGELES — The stop-motion Star Wars YouTube series is coming to an end.

Go Rogue, created by a team of superfans, led by James DeJulio, features key toys from the Lego 'Rogue One' lineMashable got an early look at episode four (above).

The series was written by Kevin Ulrich and brought to life by stop-motion animators, and directors Dan MacKenzie and Tucker Barrie.

For this particular chapter, more than 20,000 Lego bricks were used. Also in the episode: Lego Star Wars toys including the AT-ST Walker and Krennic’s Imperial Shuttle, along with new minifigure characters Jyn Erso, Director Krennic, Cassian Andor, K-2SO, Baze Malbus, Chirrut Imwe and Death Troopers.  Read more...

More about Lucasfilm, Star Wars Rogue One, Star Wars, Legos, and Youtube

Source: www.Mashable.com

If you've been thinking about upgrading your streaming setup, Roku just gave you five new options to choose from.

The company unveiled its new line of streaming players on Monday, ranging from the $129.99 Roku Ultra to the tiny $29.99 Roku Express, which are available for pre-order now before they hit stores on Oct. 9.

At the top of the line, the Roku Ultra will replace the Roku 4 as the company's flagship offering. It supports 4k and HDR streaming (if you have a compatible set). 

The box itself doesn't look much different from the Roku 4 — it has the same microSD slot, ethernet port, USB port and optical-digital-out port for soundbars — but Roku has added a few tricks to the player. The Ultra comes with a new night-listening mode that automatically adjusts the volume, so quiet sounds are a bit louder and loud ones are slightly quieter. Read more...

More about Roku, Gadgets, and Tech

Source: www.Mashable.com

LONDON — This isn't funny. This isn't funny at all. 

As far as we're concerned, this marks the beginning of the end. 

It all starts innocently enough. People think they're witnessing a terrifying zombie attack, police are phoned, turns out the zombies are just actors. Har. Har. Har. 

But you won't be laughing when this classic Boy Who Cried Wolf-like scenario ends just as tragically as that story did. 

Responding to a call from a concerned citizen that reported seeing a "man biting a lady and assaulting her" on the M62, the North West Motorway Police were positively chuffed to find that the man and woman in question were *just* zombie extras on their way to an acting job. Read more...

More about Uk, World, Zombies, Watercooler, and Pics

Source: www.Mashable.com

Monday night marks the first presidential debate of the 2016 election, and John Oliver warns that both candidates come with their faults — but "not being as bad as Donald Trump is a low bar to clear."

Oliver has spoken out against Trump before, but on the eve on what is expected to be a pinnacle moment in the election, Oliver warns that while both candidates come with their baggage, Hillary's baggage pale in comparison to Trump's.

"You can be irritated by some of Hillary’s [scandals] ― that is understandable ― but you should then be fucking outraged by Trump’s," Oliver said on Last Week Tonight. Read more...

More about Last Week Tonight, Videos, Viral Videos, Watercooler, and Politics

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LONDON — A new advert for a British toy store is receiving praise on social media for its refusal to conform to gender stereotypes.

"If I Were a Toy" is an advert for Smyths Toys sung to the tune of Beyoncé's "If I were a Boy". The video revolves around Oscar, a little kid imagining what he'd do if he was a toy for a day.

In the 40-second ad, Oscar flies through space as a rocket, rides alongside Chewie in the Millennium Falcon, and dons a pink dress and crown before waving to his subjects from the roof of a castle. Read more...

Smyths Toys have received plenty of praise on Twitter for the ad.

More about Toys, Little Boy, Gender, Gender Stereotypes, and Toy Advert

Source: www.Mashable.com

Pokémon Go fans have a new way to play the game: a $34.99 wearable device called Pokémon Go Plus that, much like the app itself, has its ups and downs.

While it might not be quite as popular as it was in the weeks following its July launch, Pokémon Go is still breaking records. Players can now stay even more connected to the game with an official plastic accessory. The Pokémon Go Plus wearable went on sale Sept. 16, and we’ve spent a week with one figuring out how it improves (and detracts) from the game.

Before you rush to purchase a Pokémon Go Plus, know that with millions of players worldwide, the devices are in short supply. The wearables are marked up to approximately $80 on Amazon, with eBay listings showing similar closing prices. Read more...

More about Pokemon Go Plus, Niantic Labs, Mobile Games, Pokemon Go, and Entertainment

Source: www.Mashable.com

In a major milestone, the Indian Space Organisation (ISRO) today successfully launched a total of eight satellites into two orbits. This is the first time ISRO has launched payload satellites in two orbits, a rare feat for any space agency.

The Indian space agency launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C35 at 9:12 am today from the Sriharikota space centre in southern India. The launch was spread over 135 minutes, the longest by ISRO. It faced several other unprecedented challenges as well, including bringing together the entire mission in 25 days, its fastest. Because the satellites had to be injected into two different orbits, the PSLV-C35 had to be re-ignited after the first placement. Read more...

More about Transportation, Space, India, and Tech

Source: www.Mashable.com

LONDON — Remember when Daisy Ridley deactivated her Instagram account last month?

At the time, there was speculation the Star Wars actress had quit following the negative attention one of her posts about gun violence received.

Then there were reports that she'd reactivated her account to share the following note, before swiftly deactivating it again.

More about Uk, Los Angeles, Social Media, Instagram, and Daisy Ridley

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People have been going to the shore of the Qiantang river in Zhejiang for hundreds of years during the Mid-Autumn Festival, to witness the extra-high tidal bore rising up over the harbour.

The high tide usually hits on the eighteenth day of the Chinese lunar calendar's eighth month.

In this video, an unexpectedly high wave is seen rushing over the banks, as people yell and run for safety.

Some were caught up in the wave and swept down the bank. Fortunately, no injuries from the incident were reported.

More about Tidal Bore, China, World, and Video

Source: www.Mashable.com

LONDON — In one of the largest pro-choice demonstrations that Ireland has ever seen, thousands gathered in Dublin on a rainy Saturday afternoon to take part in a march calling for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, which places a constitutional ban on abortion. 

Witty rallying calls could be heard coming from the crowd: "Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate”, and “Get your rosaries off my ovaries". However, their chants could not completely drown out the jeers of one nearby pub-goer.

That is, until a gentleman with particularly potent pipes lent his voice to the cause.  Read more...

More about Singing, Ireland, Demonstration, Dublin, and March

Source: www.Mashable.com

LONDON — Welcome to the buddy movie you never knew you needed.

As part of an advertising campaign for clothing retailer H&M, David Beckham and Kevin Hart have joined forces for a glorious five-minute adventure.

The premise? They're both heading to Las Vegas together to put on "Beckham: The Musical".

The result? A series of hilarious disasters that starts with a surly police officer and ends with an explosion.

Now all we need is the full movie. Read more...

More about Uk, Funny, Musical, H M, and Las Vegas

Source: www.Mashable.com