iWorld
Netflix to launch in Italy in October 2015
MUMBAI: After targeting to launch in Spain this October, Netflix Inc is also looking at arriving in Italy in October 2015.
This autumn, Internet users in Italy will be able to subscribe to Netflix and instantly watch a broad selection of TV series and movies in high-definition or even Ultra HD 4K on nearly any Internet-connected screen.
At launch, the Netflix offering will include such original series as Marvel’s Daredevil, Sense8, Bloodline, Grace and Frankie, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Marco Polo and critically acclaimed documentaries Virunga, Mission Blue and docuseries Chef’s Table as well as various stand-up comedy specials. Additionally, younger viewers will find a wide selection of programming for kids. Netflix is fully localized, offering Italian subtitles and dubbing.
Viewers will continuously be offered new titles. Among the shows scheduled for launch later this year are Netflix Original series Narcos and Club de Cuervos as well as Marvel’s Jessica Jones, the second of four Marvel series that will be available exclusively on Netflix, leading up to the mini-series event The Defenders, which reunites characters from the previous four.
Netflix members can also look forward to the first Netflix Original feature films, with announced titles including Beasts of No Nation, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon The Green Legend, Jadotville and The Ridiculous 6.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
