Hashtag Trending – Apple buys Shazam, Bitcoin spikes, Ready Player One

Apple is buying the business of one of its most popular apps. Bitcoin is climbing the charts again. And a preview of Steven Spielberg’s new movie involving a virtual-reality dystopia.

From Facebook, Apple is buying Shazam. You probably know Shazam as the app that identifies songs for you. And you probably know Apple as the maker of the phone that runs that app. Now Shazam will be coming under Apple’s very large wing. Both firms confirms confirmed the deal on Monday. Apple says that Shazam has been one of its most popular apps since it launched in 2008. No plans were announced for how the technology will be further integrated into Apple’s products. But with music-focused devices like the AirPods, the HomePad, and even the Apple Watch, you can bet we’ll be seeing a lot more Shazam in the future.

On LinkedIn, Bitcoin is hitting another all-time high. The world’s most talked-about crypto-currency climbed above $17,000 U.S. on Monday. The surge comes after Bitcoin’s debut on regulated exchanges. When the Cboe Global Markets Exchange saw Bitcoin futures spike to $20,000, the price quickly followed. It’s just the latest in Bitcoin’s incredible growth in the final part of 2017. By the way, if you’d invested just $100 in Bitcoin at the beginning of the year, it’d now be worth $160,000.

Trending on Youtube, is the official trailer for Ready Player One. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie imagines a world in 2045 that is obsessed with a virtual reality game called The Oasis. Our hero, Wade Watts, prefers the vibrant and thriving metropolis to his drab life in the downtrodden slums of Columbus, Ohio. But when The Oasis creator dies, it sparks a high-stakes race to claim his fortune and control over the new virtual world. Wade strikes out to find the most sought-after Easter Egg of all time. But with the world’s most powerful corporate interests also in the hunt, is he in over his head? I guess we’ll find out when the movie is released March 30th, 2018.That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.