Netflix keeps getting more expensive, which pushes more users toward its advertising tier. Today, along with the rise of ad subscriptions, Netflix also announced that ads will be expanded to more places in its app. Netflix Launches Vertical Video Stream Ads and More Podcasts in the Coming Year A few years ago, Netflix rejected the idea of an advertising tier. But then the company changed its mind and, undoubtedly due to the continued rise in prices, a large part of users are now opting for this more affordable advertising plan. Netflix revealed today during its upfront presentation that more than…
Author: Daniel Morris
Sam Rutherford for Engadget After the first batch sold out within a day, Valve announced plans to handle the next wave of Steam controller sales. Rather than playing free for all, the gaming company adopts a reservation system. This should ensure that more actual customers get their hands on the new gamepad rather than letting the hardware go to bots or resellers. For anyone looking to get started on getting a Steam controller, the reservation queue will open on May 8 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Only one controller…
Starting today, Apple will ask customers in the United States, Canada, and Chile to verify their student or educator status to receive educational discounts. Apple is adopting the UNiDAYS verification system it uses in other countries, with a new process to accommodate homeschooling families. Apple is also adding the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to its Education Store, meaning students and teachers are now eligible for up to 10% off Apple’s most popular wearable. Students and teachers in all three countries can use the UNiDAYS app or website to verify their academic status…
Spotify has launched a new feature that allows users to record AI-generated audio briefings, called Personal Podcasts, directly into their Spotify library. It uses a new desktop command-line tool that works with AI coding agents such as OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code. After you install the Save to Spotify CLI from GitHub and sign in to your Spotify account, you can ask the agent to generate a custom audio asset, such as a daily news summary, a study guide from class notes, or a weekly itinerary. Once generated, it appears alongside your regular music and podcasts in your library.…
After months of development, end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging has finally arrived on iOS, allowing Android and iPhone users to benefit from enhanced security across platforms when texting.Apple continues to make progress on its end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) RCS messaging, after a few months of testing on iOS 26.4 developer beta builds. It now appears that the feature is ready for wider public testing.On Monday, Apple announced that E2EE RCS messaging would roll out to iPhone users running iOS 26.5 with a supported carrier, and to Android users using the latest version of Google Messages. This means that, provided the aforementioned criteria…
Surya S. Nair/Shutterstock An increasing number of electronic devices rely on built-in rechargeable batteries, but we have not outgrown our need for single-use batteries. In the alkaline arena, the two heavyweight contenders are Duracell and Energizer, but in the shelf life contest, who reigns supreme? This question ultimately led Duracell to file a lawsuit against Energizer, accusing its competitor of misleading advertising. If you’re looking for a data-driven answer, it’s Energizer, but only with the brand’s Lithium Ultimate line. Based on pure capacity, which is measured in milliamp-hours, Energizer wins…
Apple said today that hearing aid features are now available for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 in Italy, Romania and Czechia, while high blood pressure alerts have expanded to Israel. The Hearing Aid option allows AirPods Pro to be used as an over-the-counter alternative to a set of traditional hearing aids. AirPods Pro can enhance sound to help with mild to moderate hearing loss, adjusting voices and sounds around the user to improve hearing. It can also tune music, videos and phone calls to optimal sound levels using a personalized hearing profile created after taking a hearing test.…
Last week, Apple delivered new firmware for the AirPods Pro 3, and today the AirPods Max 2 also received a new firmware update. New AirPods Max 2 firmware update is now available AirPods Max 2 owners, Apple offers new firmware to install today. The previous firmware version was build 8E251, and today’s new version is 8E258. No details have been shared on what is included in this latest firmware. Apple posts the AirPods firmware release notes on this page, but they have not yet been updated with the latest release details. Most firmware releases simply include “bug fixes and other…
VS Code is probably the best IDE around. It has almost everything you need, whether it’s AI features, stability or performance. In terms of pure functionality, it checks all the boxes, and on paper it’s open source. There’s not much to complain about at first glance. That said, VS Code is not entirely open source. The telemetry data collected by Microsoft remains a concern for some people, and the market itself is not truly open. Publishers must agree to Microsoft’s licensing terms, and marketplace APIs cannot be used outside of their ecosystem. This becomes a real limitation if someone wants…
iama_sing/Shutterstock Typically, a PlayStation console can last over half a decade, give or take a year or three. No one really knows how long Sony’s average PlayStation 5 will last (it’s not that old yet), but the PlayStation 4 lasted between 5 and 7 years. Of course, as anyone investing money into a system, you want to aim to be at the top tier for the lifespan of your system, and this is usually influenced by how you care for your console. The same principle applies to your DualSense controller:…