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Elon Musk's X has hiked prices for its ad-free Premium+ subscription service to $22 a month, up from $16 before ($168 to $229 annually), TechCrunch reported. That represents a 37.5 percent increase, the largest since Elon Musk purchased the platform previously known as Twitter back in 2022. One stated reason for the hike is that Premium+ is now "completely ads-free," with X claiming that it's a "significant enhancement" to the previous ad-free experience. It also promised a few other features. "Premium+ subscribers will enjoy higher priority support from @Premium, access to new features such as [X's advanced search tool] Radar, and higher limits on our most cutting-edge Grok AI models," the company wrote in a help page article. X also promised that more subscription revenue would be shared with creators. Premium+ prices are also rising by a similar amount in Europe, the UK, Canada and Australia. Existing users on monthly subscriptions will keep their current rates until January 20th, and price for other tiers (Basic and Premium) remain unchanged. X first introduced the Premium+ subscription tier in October 2023, promising an ad-free experience your "for you" and following timelines, along with existing Premium perks like a blue checkmark. However, users quickly noticed that ads appeared elsewhere on X (profiles, replies, Explore and elsewhere). A further update in August 2024 promised to eliminate those too, but X said that users would still see "occasional branded content in less common areas." Now, it seems, those will be vanquished too. X has reportedly lost 2.7 million active users in the last two months, with rival Bluesky gaining nearly the same number over that period. That has likely led to some loss in advertising revenue, which the platform may be hoping to recoup by raising subscription prices. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-hikes-ad-free-premium-subscription-price-from-16-to-22-133016526.html?src=rss
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Around the world, government organizations are calling out Google for monopolistic practices. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) will reportedly announce Google is in violation of the country's antitrust laws in regards to its search engine, Chrome, and issue a cease and desist letter, Nikkei Asia reported. The watchdog started an investigation into Google's practices last October. The JFTC reportedly accuses Google of requiring smartphone manufacturers to sign a contract stating Chrome will be not only pre-downloaded on all devices, but that it will be placed in a certain spot on the screen. The manufacturers are allegedly forced to do this in order to have the Google Play available on their devices. In the US, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled in November that Google "is a monopolist" in the search engine industry. The Department of Justice (DoJ) then called for Google to sell Chrome as it "will permanently stop Googles control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet." The DoJ also called for Google to cease favoring Chrome on Android. Google recently released a proposal to appease the DoJ, but stated it will appeal the judge's ruling before a hearing scheduled for April. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-could-be-accused-of-antitrust-practices-in-japan-130039793.html?src=rss
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Apple is working on the next generation of AirPods Pro, and they may have some new health features, according to Bloombergs Mark Gurman although its a rumor we heard before, back in 2021. The company has reportedly started testing features like temperature sensing and heart rate monitoring for the earbuds. Apple has found that the Apple Watch still does the latter better, but the AirPods arent terribly far off in their readings. The company may have also revived its idea of putting cameras into AirPods, a rumor weve heard a few times over the last year. But itll still probably be years before any camera-equipped AirPods appear. Mat Smith Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you missed Apple is reportedly working on a Face ID smart doorbell system Our favorite books we read in 2024 The 7 best white elephant gifts that are worth stealing Intel Arc B580 review The new king of $250 GPUs (for now). Engadget Intels Arc B580 is a rarity: A $250 GPU that delivers solid 1080p and 1440p gaming, even with a bit of ray tracing. Faster than a Radeon 7600 and RTX 4060 from the dominant GPU players, and Intels XeSS upscaling works well, even if its not as well supported as DLSS 3. According to our review, its a clear win for Intel until we see whats new from AMD. Continue reading. James Bond (the movie franchise, not the spy) may be in deep jeopardy. The Broccoli family is not happy with Amazon. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon and Barbara Broccoli, the producer who inherited the franchise from her father and film producer Albert Cubby Broccoli, are in the middle of a fight thats halted production on the next Bond film. Apparently, Barbara doesnt trust Amazon with her familys famous film franchise. Broccoli was quoted telling some of her friends that the people who run Amazons media empire are fing idiots. When Amazon purchased MGM, executives started thinking of ways to expand the Bond film franchise to other mediums like a Moneypenny spinoff series for Prime Video or a separate spy film or TV show in the Bond universe. Broccoli refused to let any of these projects go forward. She also took umbrage with Amazon entertainment executive Jennifer Salkes use of the word content to describe new James Bond projects. (I love that.) Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121512095.html?src=rss
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