Technology

San Francisco, Dec 23 (IANS) Streaming giant Netflix is reportedly hiding its cheapest ad-free plan from some users when they try to subscribe to the platform.

Netflix launched the "Basic with Ads" plan on November 3 at $6.99 per month, compared to between $9.99 and $19.99 per month for an ad-free subscription.

According to 9to5Mac, among the four ad-free plan options, the new ad-free plan is hidden in a really tiny link on the Netflix subscription page, which means Netflix hasn't discontinued the new ad-free plan service.

However, some users can still see the four plans in the list without having to click on any links, so it seems that the company is running some sort of A/B test, said the report.

The report also mentioned that Netflix may be using dark pattern practices to trick users into choosing between a less profitable option and other more expensive options.

Earlier this week, a new report said that about nine per cent of Netflix subscribers in the US have opted into the streaming service's new "Basic with ads" steaming plan.

According to analytics firm Antenna, in addition to the Basic with Ads subscribers who signed up for Netflix, the firm observed only 0.1 per cent of Netflix's existing US subscribers switching to the Basic with Ads plan in November.

It also mentioned that HBO Max saw a mild pickup when it first launched its ad-supported option in June 2021.

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San Francisco, Dec 23 (IANS) Android 13 update is bringing the once Pixel-exclusive Personal Safety application to more smartphones.

Currently, on the Google Pixel phones, the Personal Safety application includes several features designed to make sure that users are ready for any type of disaster strike, reports 9To5Google.

Users can add or edit critical medical information, assign emergency contacts and get alerts for nearby crises.

Additionally, on some devices, users can even call for help when a car crash is detected.

While the application was originally built as an exclusive set of features for Pixel phones, with the release of Android 13, Google has decided to make it available as an option for other smartphones too.

Meanwhile, in September, Google had released a new "clear calling" feature in the first beta for the Android 13 quarterly release that reduces background noises during calls.

The "clear calling" feature works on most mobile networks but is "not available for Wi-Fi calling."

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San Francisco, Dec 23 (IANS) Tech giant Apple has temporarily removed the option to upgrade to the new HomeKit architecture on its devices.

The statement came after several users reported issues and problems with the Home app after the upgrade was installed in devices running iOS 16.2, reports MacRumors.

The ability to upgrade to a new Home app architecture is one of the key features in iOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1, with the tech giant claiming that the upgrade offers "improved performance and reliability."

Issues reported by users include HomeKit devices stuck showing "updating" or "configuring" status, devices going missing entirely, invitations to share the Home with other users failing, HomeKit Secure video recording not working, and much more, the report said.

However, now, the company has confirmed in a support page, "We temporarily removed the option to upgrade to the new Home architecture. The option to upgrade will return soon. If you have already upgraded, you are unaffected by this change."

Meanwhile, last week, the tech giant had fixed a zero-day security vulnerability that was actively exploited on most iPhones, in its latest iOS software update.

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San Francisco, Dec 20 (IANS) Elon Musk-run affordable satellite internet service Starlink has reached 1 million active paid subscribers, which now includes private jets, cruises, boats and more.

In October, SpaceX had announced that its satellite internet service would soon be available on select airplanes with the official launch of Starlink Aviation next year.

"Starlink now has more than 1,000,000 active subscribers -- thank you to all customers and members of the Starlink team who contributed to this milestone," tweeted the company.

Earlier this month, Starlink took off on the first JSX jet, a private airline company.

Starlink is providing high-speed, low-latency internet to passengers during flights on the jet, with more JSX jets to join the service soon.

Musk has announced that Starlink will soon be available for recreational vehicles (RVs) in December.

SpaceX will also have a new government-focused satellite internet service called Starshield with a focus on "national security".

Of more than 3,131 working satellites in orbit, approximately 2,700 are at their operational altitudes and capable of serving customers on the Earth.

Another 390 satellites are in the process of climbing to their operational orbits. Once they're done, SpaceX's first Starlink constellation will be more than two-thirds complete.

The constellation is made up of five orbital 'shells' -- distinct groups of satellites that share a similar orbital inclination (the angle between the satellite's orbit and Earth's equator) and altitude.

Two of those shells, known as Group 1 and Group 4, contain 3,168 satellites or more than two-thirds of the constellation.

They are nearly identical and focus on Earth's mid-latitudes, where almost every person (and customer) on Earth resides.

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San Francisco, Dec 20 (IANS) Tech giant Samsung's upcoming flagship smartphone series, Galaxy S23, will reportedly feature a 12MP selfie camera.

The Galaxy S23 and S23+ will get a new, upgraded front camera as it will swap out the 10MP selfie camera for a 12MP one, reports GSMArena.

This might seem like an upgrade for the S23 and S23+ but it would be a downgrade for the Ultra model as the previous Galaxy S22 Ultra featured a 40MP front camera.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the company had delayed the launch of the Galaxy S23 series to mid-to-late February next year.

The reason for the delay is that the tech giant had not been able to decide on the final pricing structure for the smartphones.

Last month, it was reported that the S23 series is likely to feature Qualcomm's third-generation ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.

In August, Samsung Electronics' Mobile Experience (MX) division had shared confirmed information with major camera partners that it would install a 200MP main camera on the Galaxy S23.

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New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) Domestic smartphone brand Lava on Monday launched a new budget-friendly smartphone -- "X3" under its aX' series with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB ROM which can be further expanded up to 512 GB.

The smartphone is priced at Rs 6,999 and comes in three colours -- Arctic Blue, Charcoal Black and Luster Blue.

The smartphone will be available for pre-orders from December 20 on selected online platforms, said the company.

The smartphone comes equipped with an 8MP Dual AI Rear Camera with LED Flash and a 5MP front camera for selfies.

The camera offers various modes which will allow users to explore features like AI Mode, Beauty Mode, HDR Mode, Portrait Mode, Night Mode, AR Stickers, GIF, QR Scanner and Timelapse, according to the company.

Moreover, powered by Android 12 Go, the smartphone features a 16.55cm (6.5 inches) display and MediaTek Helio A22 chipset with a clock speed of up to 2.0 GHz.

The smartphone also comes equipped with a rear fingerprint scanner.

The new device comes packed with a 4000mAh battery, dual 4G SIM support, and a Type C charging port.

Last month, Lava launched another budget-friendly smartphone -- Blaze NXT, with a premium glass back and octa-core MediaTek Helio G37 chipset, priced at Rs 9,299.

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San Francisco, Dec 18 (IANS) Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly working on a redesigned 'kept messages' feature on Android, which will give users the ability to keep or undo a kept message.

With the new feature, it will be possible to keep a disappearing message to prevent its expiration, reports WABetaInfo.

The messaging platform is working on bringing this feature for a future update of the application.

Users in the conversation can keep a disappearing message or undo a kept message by viewing the message option.

However, if they undo a kept message, that message will automatically be deleted for everyone and it will not be possible to recover it, the report said.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the messaging platform had started to roll out a new disappearing messages shortcut on Android beta.

After downloading the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.25.11 update, some users were able to access the new feature.

The new shortcut is placed within the 'Manage Storage' section and is marked as a tool to save space.

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New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) Elon Musk-owned Twitter has suspended the official user queries account of the homegrown microblogging platform Koo, @kooeminence, which now shows that the account has been suspended, and its tweets are no longer visible.

Reacting to the ban, the co-founder and CEO of Koo, Aprameya Radhakrishna, tweeted: "One of the Koo handles on Twitter just got banned. For what? Because we compete with Twitter? So? Mastodon also got blocked today. How is this free speech and what world are we living in?"

Additionally, Koo co-founder Mayank Bidawatka took to Twitter to express the loss of the account, emphasizing that the platform is the best alternative to Twitter.

"I've said this before. We run Koo and the journalists should just migrate. Migrate tools are available. Koo is the best alternative to Twitter. This place is what it is because of you and millions of other users like us. Let's not fuel this guy's ego," he tweeted.

This comes after Musk recently suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who had been covering him, including those from the Washington Post, the New York Times, Mashable, and CNN, without warning.

However, Musk lifted the suspension of some journalists on the micro-blogging site after running a poll on the platform, asking if he should "Unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time".

Koo has over 50 million downloads and is actively leveraged by over 7,500 eminent personalities across fields.

Last month, Koo said it is now available in Brazil with the addition of the Portuguese language, making it available in 11 native languages now.

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San Francisco, Dec 17 (IANS) Twitter for Android now supports a themed icon on devices running Android 13 or higher with its latest stable update.

According to 9to5Google, this will include Google's Pixel smartphones as well as Samsung Galaxy devices, which both support this 'Material You' theming on home screen icons.

With the new update, it will change the Twitter icon's colour to match the users' wallpaper and system, as well as any other apps that support this feature.

Other notable apps that support themed icons include Slack, Spotify, Telegram, Mastodon, Reddit and more, according to the report.

This change was merged into Twitter for Android updates by Chris Banes as he confirmed in a tweet, said the report.

"Enjoy the last change I merged before leaving the birdhouse," he tweeted.

Banes is a former Twitter employee, who worked on Twitter's Android app, before leaving the company (along with much of the Android team) in November.

This latest Twitter update does not support the new Twitter Blue, which for now is only available through the iOS app and provides the platform's new form of verification and other features for $8/month (or more), the report added.

Moreover, in a series of updates, last week, Twitter confirmed that the micro-blogging platform will increase the tweet character limit from 280 to 4,000.

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San Francisco, Dec 17 (IANS) Meta has announced that it will shut down its cameo-like app, Super, on February 15, 2023.

Super is a live-streaming platform for influencers developed by Meta in 2020.

The company said that it had hoped to create a virtual meet-and-greet experience that was similar to what users experience at a real-life event like VidCon or Comic-Con, reports TechCrunch.

"What we found we'd created, however, was a much greater opportunity for creators and fans to connect in fun and exciting ways," the company was quoted as saying.

"We saw creators and fans raise funds for good causes, launch a new set of books, test drive new jokes for standup routines, and even play trivia against one another. It was amazing to see the joy and creativity in each new Super event. Sadly, however, the time has come for us to say goodbye," it added.

Although, Super will not be officially shut down until February, users won't be unable to create new events during this time, said the report.

Moreover, Super joins a long list of experiments and apps that have been shut down by Meta earlier.

Earlier this week, Meta reportedly shut down its Connectivity division almost 10 years after launching the initiative.

In October, the company announced to shut down its newsletter product called Bulletin for creators and writers by early 2023, while, in August, it shut down Quest 1 virtual reality (VR) headset support for 'Population: One', its popular battle-royale game set in VR.

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