Wednesday Wrap: Sky Sports Mix, Spotify subscribers, A&K AK380 and Braven

Sky has launched a new sports channel called Sky Sports Mix that will allow all Sky TV customers to watch various sporting events for free.

The channel will host a range of live sport including football from the La Liga Spanish league, MLS football and FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying matches. Some Premier League and Football League matches will also be available to watch.

Sky Sports Managing Director, Barney Francis, said: “With Sky Sports Mix, we are giving millions more people access to great moments from some of the world’s biggest sporting events at no extra cost. It is a fantastic way for all Sky customers to be able to enjoy some of the great content that has made Sky Sports the first choice for sport."

“Sky Sports Mix will bring sport to more people and provide many different ways of enjoying our coverage, from high profile live events and fascinating documentaries to clips of incredible moments. Our aim is to offer sport in a way that can engage, encourage and excite everyone even further.”

For more information, head to Sky's website.

Spotify subscribers

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has announced on Twitter that the streaming service has now amassed 30 million paying subscribers. In June 2015, just prior to the launch of Apple Music, the service had 20 million subscribers. Spotify has added the extra 10 million subscribers in the same time Apple Music has picked up 11 million.

The war between streaming services has intensified recently, after high-profile artists Jay Z and Kanye West announced some of their content would be available exclusively on Tidal.

MORE: Best music streaming services 2016

Astell & Kern AK380 Black Edition

The Astell & Kern AK380 flagship hi-res audio player has had another lick of paint, this time with a new black finish. The back panel is made from carbon fibre and there’s new red accents around the volume control. Astell & Kern will also bundle your Black Edition player with a red leather case too.

The player has the same £3000 asking price as the regular and Copper editions and is available now.

See all our Astell & Kern news and reviews

Braven outdoor wireless speakers

Outdoor speaker specialist Braven has some new additions to its range of wireless speakers. The BRV-XXL is the largest of the newbies and resembles a boom box. Within the splashproof body are large drivers that allow the speaker to deliver a considerable low end punch.

There are also bass and treble controls so you can tweak the sound. The BRV-XXL will be available from early April for £300.

Other new speakers include the Braven 105, which can be hung up in the shower and will likely rival the UE Roll. This will be available in May or June for £50, along with the Braven 405 which will cost £80.

See all our Braven news

Apple loses video streaming court case

Apple has been found guilty in a German court of violating patents owned by OpenTV. The court ruling says Apple "must not supply software that infringes an OpenTV patent covering the mixing of video, audio and online information in a single stream."

To comply, Apple would have to remove or disable the infringing technology on all its devices in Germany. Products affected include the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iTunes, Apple TV and Quicktime video software.

Apple could face a fine of up to 250,000 Euros per infringement, but it's currently unclear if it will appeal the decision.

OpenTV has previously sued Netflix for infringing on its patents, but that dispute was settled between the two companies out of court.

Source: Reuters

Max is a staff writer for What Hi-Fi?'s sister site, TechRadar, in Australia. But being the wonderful English guy he is, he helps out with content across a number of Future sites, including What Hi-Fi?. It wouldn't be his first exposure to the world of all things hi-fi and home cinema, as his first role in technology journalism was with What Hi-Fi? in the UK. Clearly he pined to return after making the move to Australia and the team have welcomed him back with arms wide open.