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Amazon is battling back against Spotify on the audiobook front. Starting today, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the US, UK and Canada have access to Audible's library of a million-plus audiobooks. Individual subscribers and the primary account holders of the family plan can listen to one book a month at no additional cost alongside their music and ad-free podcasts. Naturally, Amazon doesn't want to cannibalize Audible's business. Along with a swathe of on-demand content, the latter's Premium Plus subscription offers one audiobook credit per month. Redeem that and the title is yours to keep forever, even if you cancel your plan. Amazon Music Unlimited's approach is more like a library. You can effectively borrow one audiobook from Audible's catalog at a time. You can listen to the book as much as you want during that month. When your next billing cycle starts, you can try another one or borrow the same audiobook for another month. You can, of course, subscribe to Audible or buy audiobooks ad hoc if access to one per month isn't enough for you. As it happens, Amazon is offering new Music Unlimited subscribers three months of free access. Otherwise, Amazon Music Unlimited costs $10 per month or $99 per year for Prime members and $11 per month for other users. Last year, Spotify started offering Premium subscribers 15 hours of audiobook listening per month at no extra cost (which is not enough to listen to all of The Fellowship of The Ring, for instance), with the option to add 11 hours of listening time for $11. The company later introduced an audiobook-only plan with 15 hours of listening time for $10 per month just $1 less than it costs for a Premium plan with the same benefit plus much more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/amazon-music-unlimited-subscribers-can-now-borrow-audiobooks-from-audibles-library-140002085.html?src=rss
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Sony is reportedly in talks to purchase Japanese publisher Kadokawa, Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the dealings. Kadokawa owns FromSoftware, which is behind incredibly difficult Soulslike games, including Elden Ring, Dark Souls and Bloodbourne. Sony already holds a 14 percent stake in FromSoftware. Elden Ring is the brain child of director Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin and available on Sony's PlayStation 4 and 5, among other platforms. FromSoftware released it in early 2022 and it has since sold over 25 million units. Its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, also sold five million copies in just three days when it came out in June. FromSoftware isn't the only studio Kadokawa owns. Sony would also gain ownership of Acquire, Spike Chunsoft and Gotcha Gotcha Games bringing the developers of games like Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Shiren the Wanderer and Tenchu under its umbrella. Plus, purchasing Kadokawa would expand Sony's existing anime and manga portfolio. Sony is valued at about $114 billion, but it's unclear how much it's willing to fork out for Kadokawa. However, sources say a deal might go through in the next few weeks, so we should have more information then. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sony-reportedly-in-talks-to-buy-elden-ring-and-dark-souls-developer-133015041.html?src=rss
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Accessing and securing the cloud is a necessity for companies and Microsoft has taken another step by announcing the Windows 365 Link device. According to Microsoft, "it enables desk-based users to work securely on a familiar Windows desktop in the Microsoft Cloud with responsive, high-fidelity experiences." Windows 365 Link is a small, lightweight device that Microsoft claims can immediately wake from sleep, boot up in seconds and locally process video conferencing solutions like Microsoft Teams. It doesn't store local data or apps, has security baseline policies enabled and doesn't allow for individuals to disable security features. Plus, logging in requires Microsoft Entra ID along with the Microsoft Authenticator app or USB security keys. Microsoft's new device also works with dual 4K monitors, an audio port, four USB ports, an ethernet port, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E. The Windows 365 Link is currently available in preview but should come to select areas in April 2025 for $349. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/microsoft-made-a-349-hardware-client-to-connect-to-cloud-pcs-133027364.html?src=rss
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