Healthcare technology company Abbott introduced a rapid test for the coronavirus that has received emergency clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration. The Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test, which begins production this week, is the size of a small kitchen appliance, and can give a positive result in five minutes, and a negative result in under fifteen. The testing solution uses saliva and mucus samples from a patient.

Apple has sourced and is donating 10 million face masks to the medical community in the US, and millions more to the hardest-hit regions in Europe. “These people deserve our debt of gratitude for all the work they’re doing on the front lines,” said CEO Tim Cook in a video on Twitter.

Apple is also offering free 90-day trials for the Final Cut Pro X video-editing suite and Logic Pro X recording studio package, for those homebound who want to create videos. Final Cut Pro X is normally priced at $299.99; Logic Pro X goes for $199.99.

LG Electronics USA is adding digital movie streaming service Movies Anywhere to its smart TVs. The collection of over 7900 films come from Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Instagram introduced a new feature, Co-Watching, that lets users browse posts with friends, and view saved, liked and suggested content by tapping a photo icon in an ongoing chat. The feature, aimed at helping people socialize safely during the health crisis, will be available globally “over the coming weeks,” said Instagram.

OpenVault launched a new solutions suite that is designed to help service providers cope with maintaining subscribers’ satisfaction and reducing their face-to-face interactions with operators’ support staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. OpenVault’s “Distance Diagnostics and Remote Care” suite provides access to tools operators need for remote identification and resolution of potential pain points as consumers’ broadband usage soars – Nielsen estimates that quarantining will increase streaming video viewing by as much as 61%, while OpenVault has determined that business-hours broadband consumption increased by 41% in the week after COVID-19 was deemed a pandemic by the CDC. For more, go here.

YouTube is defaulting to standard-definition video quality across the globe for a month to reduce strain on internet networks during the coronavirus pandemic. “We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” said parent company Google. YouTube users can override the setting and still watch content in HD formats if available.

Google yanked the Android version of the Infowars app from the Google Play online store, after Infowars founder Alex Jones disputed the need for social distancing and other efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus. “Now more than ever, combating misinformation on the Play Store is a top priority for the team,” said a Google spokesperson. Infowars had already been banned by YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Twitter, Facebook and Spotify. In a video responding to the ban, Jones described it as “modern book burning.”

Amazon Music, Facebook, SiriusXM-Pandora, Spotify, Tidal and YouTube Music are contributing to the COVID-19 Relief Fund announced last week by the Recording Academy’s charitable foundation MusiCares, which supports music industry workers in need. Since the fund’s establishment, MusiCares and the Recording Academy have raised millions more than the initial $2 million to start the fund, thanks to its partners.

Twitter announced it would be donating $1 million equally between two organizations, The Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Women’s Media Foundation, to further their work specifically related to supporting reporting on COVID-19.

Verizon is expanding its efforts to aid consumers dealing with work-from-home and shelter-in-place realities with the More at Home…on Us program. The initiative includes learning tools from Quizlet, Epic, Bookful and Chegg, as well as entertainment content. “Connectivity is incredibly important during times of crisis,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO Verizon Consumer Group. “We know customers are staying home and trying to manage the new normal, so we’re giving them more ways to learn and watch at no added cost.”

TV may be increasingly fragmented, but we are also witnessing a move on the ad side toward simplification, as emerging solutions like addressability allow advertisers to more efficiently reach desired audiences at scale. That’s according to FreeWheel’s Q4 2019 U.S. Video Marketplace Report, “Reaching Premium Video Audiences in a Hyper-Fragmented World,” which notes that in the fourth quarter, campaigns that engaged in addressable advertising increased by 48%, compared to 2018. For more key takeaways, go here.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak and the economic downturn, MAGNA is revising its media owners net advertising revenue forecasts for 2020 and 2021. MAGNA now expects media suppliers’ total linear ad sales to decline by -12% (-20% in the first half, -2.5% in the second half) while digital ad sales will inch up +4% (-2% in the first half, +10% in the second half). Overall, all-media full year ad sales may decrease by -2.8% this year as the spending cut from most industry verticals will be mitigated by the incremental political spend ($4.9 billion, up +26% vs 2016), and a v-shaped rebound in the second half. Total market decline anticipated (-3% or -$6.2bn vs 2019) remains less severe than the decline experienced in 2008-2009 (-20% or -$33bn vs 2007), mostly because of the weight and resilience of digital advertising today.

STREAMING

Video streaming service Hooq, a joint venture from Singtel, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros Entertainment, said it has filed for liquidation. “Global and local content providers are increasingly going direct, the cost of content remains high, and emerging-market consumers’ willingness to pay has increased only gradually amid an increasing array of choices,” said a company rep, adding all that is making growth for an independent OTT distribution platform “increasingly challenged.”

The 2020 SXSW Film Festival was canceled, but streaming event Support the Shorts is offering select short films from the festival for free on the Mailchimp Presents platform. Over 70 shorts, including the four festival winners, are available. “We have been heartened by the outpouring of sympathy and support for our filmmakers from so many corners since the cancellation of SXSW,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film for SXSW. “Our inboxes blew up with some variation of ‘I’m so sorry, what can we do to help?’ In the face of this unprecedented crisis, it was exciting for SXSW to be able to pass on this lucrative opportunity for all the official short film selections for SXSW 2020.”

Live local OTT platform Syncbak has launched a new channel within its SBTV streaming platform specifically dedicated to covering COVID-19, aggregating and curating news content from local TV broadcasters in more than 115 markets across the US. Content is refreshed hourly. Although SBTV generally carries advertising, the newly-launched channel will run ad-free on SBTV.

Canoe is working with its clients, including NBCU, Disney, and ViacomCBS, on coronavirus PSAs. When the PSAs run with donated time through the Canoe VOD ecosystem, Canoe will be waiving their fees for impressions generated by those PSAs in hopes of making it frictionless to get helpful information out to the public.

Samsung TV Plus and Players Media Group announced the launch of PlayersTV, a new network “at the intersection of sports, culture and lifestyle.” “Athletes are producing great content but getting it into the hands of our fans has been an issue for athletes across sports,” said Chris Paul, NBA player and founder of Oh Dipp! Productions. “PlayersTV was developed to tackle that issue head-on. It will be a hub where fans from around the world can access our content and provides us with the opportunity as creators to support each other.” PlayersTV is available for free on channel 1003 on Samsung TV Plus, as well as on all 2016-2020 Samsung Smart TVs.