Starting this week, the Magenta-heavy wireless provider will be shifting its wireless customers over to a Netflix plan that includes short advertisement interruptions before and during movies and TV shows.

The move comes several months after Netflix retired its cheapest commercial-free plan, called Basic, which offered standard definition streaming of shows and movies without advertisements for around $10 per month.

What version of Netflix will T-Mobile customers get now?

For several years, T-Mobile customers on eligible wireless plans were offered Netflix Basic for free, a great perk that helped wireless customers binge their way through popular shows like “Stranger Things,” “Ozark,” “Narcos” and “Squid Game.”

Some T-Mobile subscribers with multiple lines of service or on advanced plans were upgraded to Netflix Standard, which usually costs $15.50 per month and unlocks added perks like two simultaneous streams of high-definition content.

Customers who received Netflix Basic but wanted access to a higher tier of service like Neflix Standard were given the option to upgrade for a small fee — substantially less than what it would ordinarily cost to subscribe to the service on its own.

Earlier this month, documents leaked to The Mobile Report revealed T-Mobile would change how it offered free Netflix to customers: The company was eliminating all freebies involving the streaming service’s commercial-free plans, and would move all eligible subscribers over to Netflix with Ads.

T-Mobile has remained relatively quiet on the matter, but promotional materials and service terms reviewed by KnowTechie show the company has moved forward with the changes.

Starting this month, eligible T-Mobile wireless customers will be able to add Netflix with Ads as part of the company’s long-standing “Netflix on Us” perk when they agree to connect their Netflix account to T-Mobile.

While the perk was reserved in the past for customers of T-Mobile’s higher-priced unlimited tiers or for subscribers with more than one line of service, T-Mobile has eased up on these requirements for Netflix with Ads.

T-Mobile’s new strategy for “Netflix on Us”

Now, customers who have one or more qualifying line of service on the following plans can get Netflix with Ads for free (normally $7 per month):

• Go5G Next
• Go5G Plus
• Magenta Max

Customers with all other Go5G or Magenta plans will need two or more qualifying lines of service in order to get Netflix with Ads for free.

While the Standard tier was previously offered to customers with higher-priced plans or multiple lines of service, that perk is now gone.

Instead, all customers who receive the ad-supported tier for free are offered the opportunity to upgrade their subscription at a discounted rate when they agree to pay for it through their T-Mobile plan:

• Netflix Standard: $8.50 per month (normally $15.50 per month)
• Netflix Premium: $16 per month (normally $23 per month)

Essentially, the $7 per month discount is applied as a credit for either Netflix Standard or Netflix Premium, but only when customers agree to have their Netflix subscription billed through their T-Mobile account. If a qualified line of service is removed, canceled, or suspended, the discount goes away.

What are the differences between the Netflix plans?

Netflix with Ads and Netflix Standard offer many of the same perks: Users can stream high-definition content (up to 1080p resolution) on two devices at once, and can download movies and TV shows on up to two devices.

The key difference between the two plans is probably obvious, given the names of each plan: Netflix with Ads includes commercial interruptions. Netflix Standard does not.

For some people, the offer to eliminate ads for $8.50 per month is an attractive one: When billed through T-Mobile, the plan is about $1.50 cheaper than the retail cost of Netflix with Ads (or, put another way, how much the ad-supported plan would cost without T-Mobile covering the bill).

For frugal customers, getting the streaming service for free with their T-Mobile service is worth the compromise of having to sit through a few ads before and during shows and movies.

Netflix Premium offers additional perks, including the ability to stream ultra-high definition (UHD/4K) content on four devices at once, and the ability to download TV shows and movies to six different devices.

The cost of the Premium tier is $16 per month when billed through T-Mobile, making it a better fit for families who have multiple streamers living within the same household.

What other streaming services does T-Mobile offer for free?

Netflix isn’t the only streaming service perk T-Mobile subscribers can get for free. T-Mobile also offers free access to a number of other streaming audio and video services, some of which are limited-time, expanded trials of premium offerings and others that renew on a regular basis, listed below.

Hulu with Ads

Starting Wednesday, January 24, T-Mobile will offer eligible subscribers free access to the ad-supported version of Hulu.

The Hulu with Ads perk was announced as being exclusive to subscribers of T-Mobile’s priciest plan, called Go5G Next.

However, some customers (including this reporter) on older plans like Magenta Max have received text messages over the past few weeks informing them that their plans are also eligible for free access to Hulu with Ads — so, we’ll have to wait until Wednesday to see how T-Mobile offers the promotion.

Apple TV Plus

T-Mobile offers eligible customers with one qualifying line on the Go5G Next plan or higher (or the equivalent older Magenta plan) free access to Apple TV Plus.

The perk is offered as a one-year extended trial, which customers can renew every year if they maintain a qualifying line.

MLB.TV

T-Mobile has long been a sponsor of Major League Baseball, and for the past few years, it has offered customers on unlimited data plans free access to MLB.TV. The limited window to sign up for MLB.TV typically happens in the spring, around the start of baseball season.

In recent years, T-Mobile has offered MLB.TV through its T-Mobile Tuesdays app; this year, the freebie is expected to move to T Life, the new loyalty app T-Mobile is launching in the coming weeks. 

ViX Premium

Eligible customers can sign up for a one-year free trial of the Spanish-language streaming service. The service automatically renews after one year.

SiriusXM streaming radio

The same radio channels offered on SiriusXM satellite are also available through the SiriusXM streaming app, plus hundreds of online-only channels and personalized artist-specific stations powered by Pandora.

Eligible T-Mobile customers can get a six-month free trial of SiriusXM streaming radio, a savings of $60 per month; the trial renews after six month at $10 per month.

Pandora Premium

The streaming audio app includes the flagship Pandora radio experience powered by the Music Genome Project, as well as on-demand access to millions of songs and podcasts.

Eligible T-Mobile customers get four months of Pandora Premium for free, a savings of $40; the service renews after four months at $10 per month.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Prime Video & Netflix neck-and-neck in latest streaming report
• Netflix expands its gaming library with the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy
• Netflix offers downloads to its ad-tier subscribers
• Netflix’s new app turns your smartphone into a controller

The post T-Mobile demotes free “Netflix on Us” perk to the ad-supported tier appeared first on KnowTechie.

The lawsuit was filed back in 2020 by three Internet users — a resident of Florida and two residents of California — who argued that Google continues to collect information from users when they switch into Chrome’s Incognito mode.

In support-related materials published by Google, the tech giant claims that Incognito mode allows users to “browse the web privately” in a way that doesn’t allow Chrome to retain certain information, like browsing history and cookies.

But the three plaintiffs in the case said certain Google services, like Google Analytics and Google Ad Manager, still transmitted some data directly to Google about the types of websites Chrome users visited and how they interacted with them.

This led to the massive lawsuit against Google, which has now been settled outside court. For now, we don’t know all the implications and the possible payout, but that will likely become public come January 2024.

$5 billion lawsuit against Google settled outside court

The plaintiffs alleged Google violated various federal wiretapping laws by collecting data from users who opted for Incognito mode. They sought at least $5 billion in restitution from Google on behalf of Chrome users.

Google tried to have the lawsuit thrown out of court in 2021, but a judge ruled against them after determining the company “did not notify users that Google engages in the alleged data collection while the user is in a private browsing mode.”

Still, Google held firm. A spokesperson told financial news outlet Bloomberg that the company “strongly dispute these claims, and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them.” The spokesperson said,

“Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the choice to browse the Internet without your activity being saved to your browser or device. As we clearly state each time you open a new Incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session.”

Now, nearly three years later, Google has decided to settle the case. In a court filing published this week, Google said it reached a “binding term sheet,” or firm commitment, that resolves the issues at the center of the lawsuit.

The agreement still requires the approval of a federal court judge that is overseeing the case, but courts typically green-light settlements like this, particularly where there are no objections from either side.

What a lawsuit could have meant for Google and other developers

Google Chrome is the most-widely used web browser in the United States, with six out of 10 devices running some version of the software.

In addition to being the default web browser on most phones and tablets running Android, Google Chrome is extremely popular on desktops and laptops with Windows and MacOS, and a version of Google Chrome is also available for those who prefer Linux.

Being one of the most-popular browsers comes with several advantages: The company behind the number one web browser essentially gets to dictate how certain levers of the Internet are pulled.

Chances are, you’ve encountered a website that incorporates a mixture of Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, Google Fonts, Google Amp or some combination of the four — or maybe all four.

When you want your website to work for the most people, you build around the browser people tend to use the most — and Google Chrome is it.

Google Chrome also helps set industry trends and standards. It may not have been the first browser to offer extensions (Internet Explorer did it in 1999) or private browsing (Safari did it in 2005) or any of the other features we take for granted (like autofilled password fields).

However, it arguably improves upon those features, and other browsers tend to franchise those improvements.

But no one wants to own the most-popular anything when it comes to litigation. In this instance, a class action lawsuit would have counted anyone and everyone who ever used Google Chrome’s Incognito feature to browse the web between mid-2016 and early 2020.

The plaintiffs sought $5,000 from Google for every user who was allegedly duped into thinking that Incognito mode didn’t collect or transmit any web-related data to Google.

That number quickly adds up when counting the tens of millions of Google Chrome users in the United States — and that is how the plaintiffs came up with their $5 billion demand that was presented to the court.

Beyond requiring Google to open up its checkbook, the lawsuit could have been devastating to other tech companies that offer up similar features to Chrome’s Incognito browser.

Chrome aside, the next four most-popular web browsers in the United States are Safari, Microsoft Edge (a fork of the Chromium browser, which powers Google Chrome), Mozilla’s Firefox and Opera, each of which has its own private browsing mode that functions similar to Incognito.

An unfavorable outcome for Google in its class action lawsuit could have invited similar lawsuits against those and other developers that offer web browsers with private modes.

Technically, the outcome of this lawsuit doesn’t legally prevent similar class action cases from being launched. But, it seems highly unlikely that any plaintiff or law firm will rush to the courthouse to file one, since the lawsuit against Google was ultimately settled.

What does the settlement mean for Google and Chrome users?

The outcome of this particular class action lawsuit is something of a mystery: The case was settled behind closed doors and through a mediator, which means a lot of what was discussed between the two sides will remain private.

Had the case proceeded to trial, the plaintiffs would have been entitled to certain records related to the development and marketing of Google Chrome and its Incognito feature.

Those records could have included internal developer notes, logs of various bugs, e-mails between Google employees and marketing materials related to Chrome and Incognito mode.

They could also include the precise number of people who installed Chrome and turned on that feature — if any of that materials was actually available. At least, in this case, the public will not know, because the case was settled.

The terms of the settlement are also unknown at this time. Neither Google nor the plaintiffs in the case offered details of the settlement, including whether Google will agree to pay out anything or change how it promotes Chrome’s Incognito feature to users.

The last time Google agreed to settle a consumer-driven class action lawsuit (it happened just a few weeks ago), the outcome was a $2 credit for Play Store purchases. 

The plaintiffs in the case and Google are expected to notify the court about the terms of the settlement by late January 2024, at which point it will become a matter of public record.

That is, unless both sides agree to keep the settlement confidential (which seems unlikely to happen). The judge overseeing the case is expected to approve the settlement in February.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Is Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode really as private as you think?
• How reliable is ChatGPT’s incognito mode?
• Chrome for Android adds biometric locks for Incognito tabs
• Ghost without guilt: Instagram’s forthcoming incognito mode

The post Google to settle Chrome Incognito Mode lawsuit — will you get paid? appeared first on KnowTechie.

If you subscribe to Comcast’s Xfinity TV or Xfinity Internet services, now might be a good time to change your password.

This week, the company issued a press release affirming it was the victim of a data breach after one of its software vendors discovered a security bug that was being actively exploited by hackers.

The press release was issued when Comcast started notifying Maine regulators about the cybersecurity incident involving customer data theft, as required by state law.

Comcast is expected to distribute similar notices in states with near-identical laws on the books and where it operates its Xfinity services.

Here is a look at what exactly happened, what Comcast is doing about the situation, and what steps you need to take to protect yourself.

What happened?

The situation began unfolding in early October at a software company called Citrix, which provides tech-related services to thousands of enterprise customers like Comcast. 

Specifically, Citrix discovered that one of its products, Citrix NetScaler, had a serious security bug that allowed hackers to grab authentication tokens from onboard memory devices using the software.

Once a hacker obtained the authentication token, they essentially had access to a company’s NetScaler platform.

To make matters even worse, the same exploit was also found to affect Citrix Gateway, a similar service that allows companies to remotely — and, supposedly, securely — access parts of their technical infrastructure.

Citrix published a security bulletin on October 10, notifying clients like Comcast about the situation.

However, researchers believe the exploit was actively being used by hackers as soon as August, giving them plenty of time to target government users and corporations that rely on the two Citrix products.

How does Comcast fit into all of this?

Comcast didn’t say which Citrix products it uses, but given that the company offers residential and enterprise broadband Internet services, it’s fair to assume Comcast probably uses both NetScaler and Gateway as part of its business. 

In a press release issued on Monday, Comcast said it received guidance from Citrix on two occasions — October 10 and October 23 — with information about how to fix the security problem.

On October 25, Comcast said it was performing a “routine cybersecurity exercise,” and that is when it discovered that hackers likely gained access to its internal systems between October 16 and October 19.

“Xfinity notified federal law enforcement and initiated an investigation into the nature and scope of the incident,” a Comcast spokesperson said in a statement. 

What kind of information was supposedly taken?

It took Comcast nearly three weeks to conclude that “information was likely acquired,” which may include the personal information of some of its Xfinity TV, Xfinity Internet, and Xfinity Mobile subscribers.

That information could include:

• A customer’s name
• A customer’s address and other contact information
• The last four digits of a customer’s Social Security number
• A customer’s date of birth
• Usernames and “hashed,” or encrypted, passwords
• The answers to a customer’s “secret” login question(s)

Comcast said the findings are not conclusive, and its “data analysis is continuing.” But, since the company apparently has information that leads it to believe customer information was “likely acquired,” it began notifying state government officials and customers accordingly.

It isn’t clear why Comcast waited nearly a full month to notify customers after reaching the conclusion that the personal data of Xfinity subscribers may have been compromised.

A Comcast spokesperson has not yet returned an email seeking more information on that point.

What should Comcast customers do?

Change your Comcast Xfinity password

Comcast said it is proactively requiring some customers to reset their passwords when they try to log on to the Xfinity website and related apps.

If a customer gets this prompt, it doesn’t necessarily mean their account information was compromised, only that it could have been.

if you’re a Comcast customer, it’s probably a good idea to change the password on the Xfinity website and any other account where that password may have been reused. 

Stop reusing the same password

Since most of us live in the real world where no one actually does that, signing up for a password manager like Bitwarden or NordPass is a good idea.

READ MORE: The best free password managers

Password managers offer a safe (for the most part) way to manage different passwords from a single secure service.

Some — like NordPass and 1Password — will even warn you if you’re using an insecure password or reusing a password across different services.

NordPass

4.5

Starts at $2.29

Quick Verdict: NordPass offers strong security features and an easy-to-use interface with great business options. However, it's pricier than competitors, and the free version has limitations compared to others. Overall, it's still among the best choices available right now.

Who is it good for?:

• People who struggle to remember multiple passwords
• Useful for couples or families who need to share passwords securely and efficiently
• Businesses that prioritize strong security features and ease of use in managing password

Pros:

• Easy-to-use interface that only requires one master password
• Its data breach scanner and actionable password health report help users identify weak and compromised passwords
• Supports secure credential sharing

Cons:

• The free version has limitations
• It's a bit more expensive than some of its competitors

Check Price

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

Turn on “Two-factor authentication” wherever it is offered.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an extra layer of security that, coupled with a hard-to-guess password, makes it extremely difficult for hackers to gain access to your online accounts.

In most cases, Two-Factor Authentication involves sending a six-digit code to your phone, usually by text message (though, in some cases, you can also opt for a phone call).

There are also apps that will generate Two-Factor Authentication codes for e-mail services, social media accounts, and others.

Two-factor Authentication should always be turned on for services where hackers:

1. Could steal your money (think bank accounts or services where you pay for things online, like Amazon, your home Internet provider, etc.).
2. Could steal your personal data, like billing information, irreplaceable photos, or email messages.

Xfinity customers looking to add two-factor authentication to their accounts can follow along with this guide via the Xfinity website.

Keep an eye on your credit report and score.

While Comcast says it isn’t aware of anyone actively using the personal information of Xfinity subscribers, some data like names, addresses, birthdates, and Social Security numbers can be used by hackers to open loans, credit lines, and bank accounts.

Most banks, credit unions, and credit card companies offer a limited amount of credit monitoring and alerts to customers for free; if they don’t, Experian offers free basic credit monitoring.

Wrapping this all up

Comcast’s recent acknowledgment of a data breach serves as a critical reminder of the digital vulnerabilities that exist even within large corporations.

With all that said, act now: change your Xfinity password, stop reusing passwords, and turn on two-factor authentication. Stay vigilant to protect your personal info from cyber threats.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Comcast report proves people still don’t care about cybersecurity
• Comcast Xfinity subscribers will soon get faster internet speeds
• What equipment do I need to return to Comcast?
• Comcast is working on a smart TV and voice remote that could release late this year

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

The post Comcast hit by huge data breach: everything you need to know appeared first on KnowTechie.

In his ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said the ban approved by Montana lawmakers earlier this year overstepped the powers of individual states.

He said the measure “infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses.”

As KnowTechie reported back in May, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed into law Senate Bill 419, which effectively prohibited anyone in the state from downloading or using TikTok.

At the time, Gianforte supported the ban by saying the social media app infringed on the privacy rights of its users and called into question its connection to the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in China.

State lawmakers claimed without evidence that TikTok and ByteDance conspire with government officials in China to pass along sensitive data related to its social media users.

And while there have been incidents involving TikTok employees accessing private data of some U.S.-based users like journalists, the misappropriation of that data appeared to be for business-related purposes, not anything to do with the Chinese government.

What did Montana’s TikTok ban do?

TikTok has been the target of government scrutiny in the past: Former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden didn’t see eye-to-eye on much, but they were united in their support of restrictions or an outright ban on the app at the federal level.

While Trump was in office, his administration had called for ByteDance to divest its American-based TikTok business to a third party if they wanted to remain available in U.S. app stores.

Senate Bill 419 prohibited anyone in the state — including residents and businesses — from downloading, installing and using TikTok on any device.

It followed similar efforts at the federal government, in which TikTok was banned from government-owned devices and restricted certain government workers like military officials from using the app in connection with their work.

But Senate Bill 419 took things a step further by banning anyone in Montana from installing or using the app.

It proposed fines up to $10,000 per day for tech companies that allowed users within the Treasury State to download the app, but didn’t outline penalties for those who actually used it.

There were some exceptions to the law: It didn’t criminalize prior installations of the app — and, the law wasn’t scheduled to take effect until January 2024.

That means Montana residents and businesses had plenty of time to download and install the app before the law kicked in.

However, whether they could use TikTok apps already installed on phones and tablets was something of a gray area.

Shortly after Montana’s governor signed it into law, TikTok creators sued to prevent the ban from going into effect.

ByteDance supported some of these efforts, with a spokesperson saying the ban “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people…by unlawfully banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state.”

Why did the federal judge overturn the ban?

Judge Molloy ultimately sided with creators and ByteDance on the issue, saying Montana overstepped its bounds by implementing a state law on a matter that falls under federal jurisdiction.

The judge also found that the blanket ban on TikTok violated the First Amendment of residents in Montana.

He suggested that similar efforts at the federal level — if they ever made it to the point of a law passed by Congress — might also fail if challenged in court.

Judge Malloy also called into question Montana’s intent in passing the law.

He noted that it appeared to be more concerned with TikTok and ByteDance’s connection to the Chinese government than any real or suggested safety implications for residents and businesses. Judge Molloy wrote,

“Despite the state’s attempt to defend [the ban] as a consumer protection bill, the current record leaves little doubt that Montana’s legislature and Attorney General were more interested in targeting China’s ostensible role in TikTok than with protecting Montana consumers.”

“This is especially apparent in that the same legislature enacted an entirely separate law that purports to broadly protect consumers’ digital data and privacy.”

What happens next?

The ruling this week is a temporary win for ByteDance, TikTok and creators who use the app, but it doesn’t mean the case is completely over.

Instead, the ruling is a merely an injunction that prevents the Montana law from taking effect on January 1.

Officials representing the state will still have an opportunity to present their legal case outlining why the ban should move forward, and ByteDance and TikTok still have some work to do to fully overturn the law.

State officials could fight the judge’s injunction to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but at this stage in the case, it seems unlikely they would succeed.

Instead, their efforts are probably better spent defending the law through the next stage of the legal process — and it appears that’s what they are going to do.

Emily Cantrell, a spokesperson for the Montana Attorney General’s office, told the Associated Press in a statement,

The judge indicated several times that the analysis could change as the case proceeds.

We look forward to presenting the complete legal argument to defend the law that protects Montanans from the Chinese Communist Party obtaining and using their data.

Meanwhile, ByteDance is treating the injunction as an initial win for their side, saying it proves their argument that the law is unconstitutional. Jamal Brown, a spokesperson for TikTok, said in a statement,

The judge rejected this unconstitutional law and hundreds of thousands of Montanans can continue to express themselves, earn a living, and find community on TikTok.

For the moment, nothing changes in Montana — residents and businesses will still be allowed to download TikTok from app stores, and use the app as they’ve been doing this entire time.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• TikTok experiments with 15-minute videos
• TikTok ads are about to flood the apps search results
• YouTube Shorts rips off another Instagram and TikTok feature
• TikTok could soon let creators charge $1 or more for video access

The post Federal judge blocks Montana’s proposed TikTok ban appeared first on KnowTechie.

For months, there were leaks that Apple was planning to make the swap on the iPhone 15. Apple even confirmed the switch was inevitable after the European Union required them to do it.

Apple’s new release lets you use old Lightning cables with new iPhones, but it’s pricey–as expected from Apple.

Apple has not disappointed on either front. Hours after the company introduced its newest high-end iPhone models on Tuesday, a new dongle turned up in the Apple Store.

The USB-C to Lightning adapter does just what the name implies–makes Lightning devices compatible with USB-C ones.

The rub? It costs $29.

$29 saves you from re-buying all your Lightning-tipped accessories

USB-C to Lightning Adapter - Apple

$29

New iPhones with USB-C? You'll need a new dongle to use all your existing Lightning-connector devices and accessories with it.

Check Availability

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Now, I know what you’re thinking: Why would anyone want this?

Believe me, I had the same thought — after all, customers upgrading from old iPhone models can just buy new USB-C cables at places like Amazon, which are sold for far less than the $29 Apple wants for its adapter.

But I actually think there’s a compelling reason for Apple to sell this adapter, so hear me out.

First, it’s important to note that Apple didn’t just decide this week to switch its consumer products to USB-C.

Macs have included USB-C ports for several years now. The data and charging port on nearly all of its current iPad models uses USB-C.

The iPhone has been the lone hold-out, and for one good reason: Last month, Apple said iPhone sales brought in over $39.6 billion in net sales revenue during its last financial quarter.

That accounted for nearly half of the $80 billion in overall sales revenue that quarter. Half!

Even with rumors that Apple was about to refresh its iPhone models–which predictably happen around September of every year–people were still buying iPhones. A lot of them.

I’d be lost without this Lightning accessory

When people buy iPhones, they also tend to buy accessories–cases, extra cables, and stuff like that. If you think about how many iPhones there are in the world (over 2.3 billion!), that’s a lot of users with a lot of Lightning accessories.

I’m in this camp. Back in 2013, I bought a small iHome clock radio to use with my iPhone 5C (I don’t care what anyone says; it was a great phone). Over the years, I’ve come to depend on this radio more and more.

The iPhone 5C has since been replaced with an iPod Touch, which I use primarily to run a white noise app and to set multiple wake-up alarms.

The radio has become part of my bedtime regimen, including the white noise app sounds. I bought two spares at a garage sale, just in case…

Apple stopped selling the iPod Touch last year, which means affordable replacements are going to be pretty hard to find soon. The more reasonable option would be to use an iPhone–after all, it runs the same apps.

But it doesn’t have a Lightning connector, and with the radio having no other way to play audio from an Apple device, it looks like I’ll be buying one of these Lightning to USB-C adapters at some point.

My case might not be super common, but it probably isn’t entirely unique, either. There are tons of speakers, headphones, and external batteries with built-in Lightning cables that work just fine today but won’t plug into iPhones going forward.

If you are someone who spent over $250 on a pair of headphones that connect exclusively via Lightning, chances are you want to get as much mileage out of them as possible. And that’s where the Lightning to USB-C adapter comes in handy.

The USB-C to Lightning dongle will save waste

There are also compatibility concerns with devices that can’t be easily upgraded. For example, vehicles with infotainment systems that are designed for Lightning cables.

For years, drivers knew that if they picked up a Lightning cable with MFI (Made For iPhone) certification, it would work with CarPlay.

The switch to USB-C raises questions. Will third-party USB-C cables be compatible with existing CarPlay systems? Will GPS and other tools glitch with sub-standard cables?

No one really knows the answer to this, and we won’t get an answer until it gets tested by users on their daily commute.

With the product page for the Lightning to USB-C adapter specifically mentioning CarPlay, Apple might know there is an issue. Those who purchase the dongle can still use Lightning cables that support CarPlay with newer iPhones, providing peace of mind.

That peace of mind, of course, costs $29. While that might seem high (because it is), it’s actually a really important benchmark for third-party manufacturers who might want to start selling a similar dongle of their own.

Third-party device makers will have to come well under Apple’s $29 price if they want their dongles to be competitive. They’ll also need to bring new features, like right-angled connectors or longer cables.

Eventually, none of this will matter.

Apple’s switch to USB-C for iPhones will only accelerate the adoption of that standard in the world of consumer electronics.

Just as most people eventually moved on from the 30-pin ports that graced the earliest iPods and iPhones, the same will be true for the Lightning connector. At that point, the dongle won’t be needed at all.

Until then, it’s nice to know the option is there.

USB-C to Lightning Adapter - Apple

$29

New iPhones with USB-C? You'll need a new dongle to use all your existing Lightning-connector devices and accessories with it.

Check Availability

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• How much is the iPhone 14?
• Apple’s USB-C charging speed cap gets a big “nope” from EU
• AirPods and AirPods Max may not get USB-C versions until 2024
• iPhone 15 with USB-C means you can kiss all your cables goodbye

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On Thursday, the Mickey Mouse company announced it will soon raise prices across its three streaming services — Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. This means that customers who pay extra to enjoy ad-free interruptions will have to shell out a little more cash for that privilege.

The new prices will primarily impact streamers who watch the ad-free version of Hulu and Disney+, which will increase by $3. Cord-cutters who watch live TV channels on Hulu will also see the cost of service go up, as will fans of sports who watch games on ESPN+.

Here is a look at the new prices across Disney’s streaming services, starting October 12, 2023:

Streamers can save money if they are willing to bundle services together, but the price of some bundles will also increase starting October 12:

The new Disney Duo packages will debut on September 6, 2023. Existing customers can switch to the new Duo plans on their monthly or annual renewal date.

Two reasons: Because they need the money and because they think they can.

To the first point, Disney has spent tens of billions of dollars on streaming content — from hit shows like “The Mandalorian” and “Wandavision,” to forgettable series like “Diary of a Future President” and “Just Beyond.”

On paper, Disney’s streaming strategy sounded solid early on: Make as much content as possible, and people will spend an endless amount of time browsing through its thousands of classic movies and upcoming series.

Turns out, what people really want are comfort shows and movies — series, and films they can watch over and over again. And Disney just didn’t produce enough of those for its streaming platform.

Meanwhile, Disney has spent quite a bit of money securing live sports rights for ESPN+, including out-of-market National Hockey League games, USL Championship soccer matches, and other events.

And while its top-tier sports are still relegated to the ESPN cable channel (which isn’t available on ESPN+, at least not yet), there is still a significant cost with delivering all that live sports to streamers who pay less than $10 a month to access them.

All of that investment has earned Disney hundreds of millions of global subscribers across their three services — and Disney has yet to see $1 in profit from their streaming business.

Earlier this week, the company revealed it lost $512 million on streaming — which is better than the $659 million it lost earlier in the year but not enough to satisfy investors (its stock price has not gone above $100 per share since early May).

So, if you’re Disney, what do you do?

The answer is simple: charge customers more.

Since returning to Disney as its top executive last year, CEO Bob Iger has been pretty vocal about his belief that Disney can charge more for its premium content — classic movies, hit television shows, and live sports.

He reached this conclusion after a price hike last year ultimately resulted in a few customers leaving Disney+ for other services.

“We were pleasantly surprised that the loss of subs due to what was a substantial increase in pricing for the non-ad supported Disney+ product was [minimal]. It was some loss, but it was relatively small. That leads us to believe that we, in fact, have pricing elasticity.” – Disney CEO Bob Iger, Q2 2023 Conference Call

But Iger said raising prices was only one half of the strategy. The other half? Getting people to watch ads. If streamers are opting for the ad-free version of Disney+ and Hulu, the company can only make money on them once — when they pay their monthly subscription.

But if Disney can convince streamers to opt for the ad-supported versions of their services, they make money on customers every single day that they stream content.

If you’re a business, two streams of revenue are obviously better than one. So, with that in mind, Iger said Disney was going to implement price hikes on their ad-free streaming plans while keeping the cost of ad-supported plans low because Disney wants more customers to stream content with ads.

“I think one of the things that we not only have discovered, but that we believe we have to do, is that we’ve got to widen the delta between the ad-free service and the non-ad supported service. Because we clearly would like to drive more subs to the ad-supported service.”

Disney is hoping price-conscious consumers — those who don’t want to shell out $14 to $25 a month for commercial-free plans and bundles — will switch to the ad-supported versions.

And those who don’t? Well, Disney is hoping the price increases offset the costs of not generating ad revenue off the backs of those streamers.

Either way, the company is hoping to improve the revenue brought in from streaming, so it can reverse its losses and ultimately turn a profit. And it wants to do that by next year.

For many of the same reasons above, Disney is hiking the price of its Hulu with Live TV service, with streamers now paying between $76 and $90 per month to watch live television content alongside Hulu’s on-demand catalog of movies and TV shows.

There is one other reason why Disney is raising the price of its live TV service: The cost of offering live broadcasts and cable channels is going up for them.

Programming rates have steadily increased since the mid-2000s, with fees charged to cable and satellite companies for the right to retransmit channels outpacing the rate of inflation.

When cable and satellite companies are charged higher programming fees, they pass the cost on to customers — which results in higher bills.

For years, TV fans have ditched cable and satellite services for cheaper streaming options like Hulu with Live TV. But the same economics that is responsible for crazy fees across cable and satellite are starting to catch up with streaming cable TV replacement (and the situation could get even worse if broadcasters have their way at the FCC).

Hulu with Live TV offers the very channels that are responsible for high cable and satellite fees: Broadcast network affiliates from ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, and cable channels like ESPN, Fox Sports 1, Fox News Channel, Nickelodeon, CNN, TBS, and TNT.

The cost of carrying those channels always trickles down to consumers.

Cord cutting vs. traditional cable – they’re practically the same now.

Hulu with Live TV hardly stands alone: Every streaming cable replacement — including YouTube TV, Fubo, DirecTV Stream, Vidgo, Philo, Frndly TV, and Sling TV — has raised their subscription price to offset higher programming fees.

The services that offer live news and cable channels, like Hulu with Live TV, typically see the largest increases, while those that don’t (like Philo and Frndly TV) generally see a more modest bump in prices.

Disney tries to make up for the high cost of live TV by offering a nice perk to subscribers of Hulu with Live TV: Free access to their other streaming services.

Customers who pay $77 a month for Hulu with Live TV get the ad-supported version of Disney+, while those who want live TV channels with ad-free access to Hulu’s on-demand catalog also get the ad-free version of Disney+. Both plans also include ESPN+.

This means if you’re already paying for a streaming cable replacement like YouTube TV or Fubo and you enjoy Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+, switching to Hulu with Live TV makes sense because the perk of getting all three services will save you a little money each month.

For everyone else, though, there are better options.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

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On Monday, Sony announced its new line of A95L QD-OLED TVs will become available for pre-order on August 21st, with three models offered at various price points:

• A 55-inch model will cost $2,800 (or $4,000 in Canada)
• A 65-inch model will cost $3,500 (or $5,000 in Canada)
• A 75-inch model will cost $5,000 (or $8,000 in Canada)

Sony typically announces new TV models at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but the electronic maker decided this year to delay its announcement for two months.

It wasn’t entirely clear why Sony decided to unveil the TV sets in March, but they come with a number of incremental improvements.

First, the top-of-the-line A95L will offer a new feature called XR Clear Image, which will detect the video quality and resolution of source material like TV shows, movies, and video games, and improve the quality of the video on the fly if it is needed.

Sony states that this feature enhances the resolution of lower-quality videos, like high-definition movies, standard-definition TV shows, and older video games without 4K support. It brings them up to the level of actual 4K video quality, as expected by streamers and video game enthusiasts.

Sony is also bringing a new game menu that will offer auto HDR tone mapping and auto genre picture mode for those who use PlayStation 5 consoles to game and stream TV.

Does your TV let you watch two things at once? Well, this one does!

And a new multi-view feature that is exclusive to its A95L QD-OLED TV sets will allow people to watch two things at once — Sony uses the example of someone playing a video game on one half of the screen while watching a walkthrough video on Twitch or YouTube on the other half.

Sony claims its A95L QD-OLED TVs offer better color brightness than conventional OLED TVs, owing in part to Sony’s decision to fuse quantum dot technology (which can be found on lower-cost TVs made by Samsung, TCL, and others) with OLED technology.

Beyond that, the Sony A95L QD-OLED TV offers many of the same features that are found in other models of Sony smart TV sets. The A95L line uses a modified version of Google TV that offers direct access to thousands of streaming apps without the need for a separate streaming stick.

Sony TVs come equipped with a voice-powered remote control that allows users to perform various tasks through Google Assistant. And the TVs support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for improved picture and sound.

Why should I choose a QD-OLED TV over a regular OLED TV?

Regular OLED TVs are some of the most-superior TV sets on the market, offering incredible color, contrast, and viewing angles compared to direct-lit (backlit) or edge-lit LCD TVs.

On an OLED TV screen, each individual pixel is self-lit, which means viewers are treated to deep black levels and better color reproduction compared to lower-priced LCD screens.

But OLED has some trade-offs: OLED panels can’t get very bright, and while color is better on OLED screens compared to LCD TVs, they aren’t better at reproducing color than QD-LED TVs like those made by Samsung and TCL.

QD-OLED TVs, like the Sony A95L line-up, of the benefits of OLED screens — the wide viewing angles and deep black levels — with the color accuracy and reproduction of quantum dot screens.

Why should I choose a lower-priced TV set over a QD-OLED TV?

Chances are, you own a smartphone, tablet, and TV set. And each device probably has a different type of screen, especially if you are the type who likes Apple products.

iPhones, for example, use OLED screens (except for the iPhone SE), while iPads tend to use older LED screens (except for the 12-inch iPad Pro, which uses mini-LED).

TVs run the gamut from lower-priced, direct-lit LED screens all the way up to fancy OLED panels.

If you can’t tell the difference between the screens on your device, you probably won’t be too blown away by a QD-OLED TV set

And if that is the case, you absolutely should save your money and go for a lower-priced option. Sony offers a number of entry-level TV sets, and others like Sony, LG, Vizio, and TCL offer similar models that cost even less).

The same goes for people who like to buy a new TV set once every few years, especially when they go on sale.

Rather than drop thousands of dollars on a QD-OLED TV, shoppers who like to regularly refresh their TV set should pick a low-end to mid-range model — one that will have enough features but is still priced low enough to justify buying a new TV set in the near future.

On the other hand, if you find that the video on your iPhone or Android tablet (some of which use OLED panels) looks better than the video on your TV set, or you’re looking to buy one TV that will last for several years, a Sony A95L model might not be a bad investment.

While it is expensive, it packs a lot of high-end features that will leave most shoppers satisfied with their purchase and confident that their TV set will work well in the future.

If this sounds like something you want to add to your shopping list, Sony’s Bravia XR A95L QD-OLED TVs will be available for pre-order starting August 21.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

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UPDATE 7/24/2023:  It’s official: Spotify raised its prices. In the US, a Premium Single subscription will go from $10 to $11 per month. Premium Family and Student plans will also rise by $1, now costing $17 and $6 per month, respectively. Premium Duo will see the biggest increase, going from $13 to $15 per month.

Streaming music service Spotify will raise the price of its Premium tier in the United States by $1, with the announcement coming as soon as next week, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.de

The price increase will ultimately see Spotify users in the United States pay $11 a month for the privilege of streaming an unlimited amount of music from the service’s catalog of tens of millions of songs and other audio tracks and podcasts.

Price increases will also roll out to other countries over the next few months, the Journal said, citing anonymous sources.

There is little reason to doubt the accuracy of the report

Since last year, Spotify executives have affirmed their desire to raise prices on streamers in order to offset higher licensing costs and other expenses.

Spotify’s competitors, Apple Music and Amazon Music have implemented their own price increases recently, with premium subscribers to each service paying around $11 per month as well.

Spotify has largely resisted raising prices in the United States and elsewhere. But it has faced increased pressure from investors to generate more revenue from its services.

The company spent hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring podcast studios like Gimlet and the Ringer along with top talents like Joe Rogan, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with very little in the way of a return to show for those efforts.

Like other media companies, Spotify has also been impacted by a relatively weak ad market over the past year, with companies pulling their marketing budgets in a way that has impacted the bottom lines of major media companies around the world.

Its business woes forced the company to downsize earlier this year, a move that saw hundreds of employees lose their jobs.

Spotify has around 515 million global users, making it one of the largest streaming audio services in the world.

READ MORE: The best Spotify alternatives

The price increase expected next week comes as Spotify looks to incorporate more audio content and features, including a long-awaited high-fidelity feature.

The new content and features could help justify charging customers more money for access to the premium tier of service.

Ways to Save Money on Spotify

Spotify is one of the few streaming audio services that offer multiple options to subscribe to its Premium plan, and many of those options can save people quite a bit of cash.

The best Spotify alternatives

While Spotify is one of the largest and most well-known streaming audio platforms on the market, they aren’t alone in delivering millions of songs, podcasts, and audiobooks to users, and at a pretty reasonable price.

One of Spotify’s main rivals is Apple Music, which offers a catalog of tens of millions of tracks alongside tens of thousands of streaming radio stations and its own three streaming stations Apple 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country.

High-quality, lossless audio streams are included in Apple Music, which starts at $11 a month for an individual plan or $17 a month for a family plan.

Apple Music is also bundled in Apple One, a premium subscription offering that also unlocks access to Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness, and other apps.

Amazon Music is another strong contender, with members of Amazon Prime getting a limited amount of free audio tracks to stream without ads.

Upgrading to Amazon Music Unlimited grants full access to Amazon’s collection of songs, as well as podcasts and audiobooks, many of which are presented ad-free within the Amazon Music app.

And, like Apple Music, supported tracks on Amazon Music stream in high-fidelity. Amazon Music costs $9 a month or $90 a year for Prime members; those without a Prime membership will pay $11 a month or $110 a year.

Deezer offers a good selection of songs, with a strong catalog of international fare along with familiar favorites.

For a long time, Deezer didn’t offer high-fidelity music streams, but the service is starting to roll out that feature on supported tracks — and it’s included in the cost of its premium plan.

Deezer Premium costs $11 a month or $99 a year; a student discount knocks the price down to $6 a month but can’t be purchased on an annual basis. Deezer also offers a family plan for $18 a month or around $200 a year.

Other Spotify alternatives include YouTube Music (which is included in YouTube Premium), Tidal, Soundcloud, and Qobuz.

Nearly all of the streaming music services mentioned offer free trials, so Spotify Premium subscribers who are looking at switching to a different service can try each one out before making a commitment.

Reasons to Stick with Spotify

The price increase might be enough to convince some long-time Spotify users to consider switching to another service, but there are a number of reasons why sticking with Spotify might actually be better.

Spotify is a pure-play audio company — unlike Apple and Amazon, which offer a number of non-audio related services, Spotify concentrates its efforts on building the best-streaming audio experience for customers.

And it shows throughout the product, with Spotify having one of the best user interfaces on the market that is both easy to use and offers a number of great features.

The ability to stream music, podcasts, and audiobooks within a single app is a huge benefit for those who don’t want to have to bounce between different apps simply to listen to the audio content that they want.

Spotify has also made significant investments in improving the service, including the introduction of an AI-powered “DJ” that shuffles through familiar tracks and surfaces new ones, complete with its own personality (which is, apparently, based on a real person).

And the service is widely supported across a number of platforms and devices, owing in large part to its decision to be hardware-agnostic.

Whether you own a PC or a Mac, an Android or an iPhone, an Xbox or a PlayStation, a Google Home or an Amazon Echo, a Roku or a Fire Stick (and, recently, an Apple TV), you can play music and podcasts from Spotify – it integrates with just about everything.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Starting this week, the cost of YouTube Premium is now $14 per month, up $2 from its prior price, while an annual subscription costs $140 a year, an increase of $20.

In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said the price increase was needed to help “continue delivering great service and features.”

“We believe this new price reflects the value of YouTube Premium, which allows subscribers to enjoy ad-free YouTube with background and offline play and uninterrupted access to over 100 million songs with the YouTube Music app.” – YouTube spokesperson

YouTube also offers a family plan for its Premium service, which costs $23 a month and allows up to six people to share the benefits of YouTube Premium from their own accounts.

YouTube Premium offers a number of benefits, including commercial-free access to YouTube videos, the ability to download YouTube videos to mobile and tablet devices for offline playback, better video resolution (1080p), and a queue feature on phones and tablets.

YouTube Premium also unlocks access to YouTube Music Premium, which offers around 100 million songs and other forms of audio. The service is comparable to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

YouTube Premium customers can switch between watching a music video or listening to the album version of a song on most tracks.

Why is YouTube raising the price of Premium?

There are a few likely reasons why YouTube decided to raise the price of its Premium subscription.

First, raising the price of YouTube Premium follows a trend among other video services that have slowly increased their prices over the last few years.

On the video front, nearly all popular streaming services — Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max, Paramount Plus, Starz, and, most recently, Peacock — have implemented price hikes.

Streaming video platforms are not cheap to operate

It takes money to produce content, market their services, and distribute shows and movies to customers. Many services offered a low price point to rope customers in, and now they’re raising prices on the customers who are willing to stay.

But there is another reason why streaming services are raising prices: Many now offer ad-supported plans, which tend to cost less than commercial-free subscriptions. And the connected TV ad market is exploding, with some analysts estimating that it could reach anywhere from $41 billion to $87 billion by 2027.

Some media executives recently started telling investors that some price hikes were intended to push budget-conscious streamers toward their ad-supported plans.

For streaming companies, the strategy is seen as a win-win

Customers who don’t want ads will have to pay more for the privilege, and companies can generate significant ad revenue from streamers who want to save a little money.

YouTube was one of the first video platforms to really capitalize on the idea of advertising. And for years, it dominated in that category, thanks in large part to the fact that nearly everyone, everywhere, watches YouTube.

So, it might be surprising to learn that YouTube has recently started to struggle when it comes to its advertising business.

In April, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, disclosed that YouTube’s advertising revenue fell 2.6 percent compared to 2022, marking the third-consecutive financial quarter that YouTube’s ad-related business experienced lower revenue.

YouTube has tried a number of things to reverse this trend

It recently carried out an experiment that warned streamers against using ad-blocking software to watch YouTube videos (a pop-up message directed them to YouTube Premium).

The platform is in the process of introducing unskippable 30-second ads on the TV version of its app, similar to ads on broadcast and cable TV. And now, it’s charging streamers more for the privilege of YouTube Premium.

Despite the price increase, YouTube Premium is still a compelling offer. The inclusion of YouTube Music Premium is one of the best benefits because it eliminates the need for a separate subscription to Spotify, Apple Music, or a comparable service.

Perks like offline downloads, mobile queues, and higher-resolution video are a nice treat.

And, perhaps best of all, YouTube shares its Premium subscription revenue with its YouTube Creators — which means whenever a YouTube Premium subscriber watches a video from their favorite Creator, the people behind that video get paid.

For everyone else, there’s still the free version of YouTube — which is fine, as long as you’re willing to sit through some ads.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

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On Thursday, executives at Telly said it is still on track to ship 500,000 of its smart TV sets across the country and has selected a “diverse cross-section of the U.S. population” to be among the first to get them.

Telly didn’t say how many of the smart TV sets were shipping this week, nor did it reveal the approximate locations of those first lucky customers. 

The Telly device contains a main 55-inch screen that will allow television watchers to stream content from a supplied Android TV dongle or a different device like a Roku, Amazon Fire TV stick, or game console.

A sound bar located directly below the main screen includes a six-driver system that is engineered by Harman Kardon, and just below that is a supplemental screen that will include advertisements.

In a statement, Telly CEO Ilya Pozin said:

“Our disruptive ad-supported business model makes the television completely free to consumers, but the most exciting thing about Telly is the technology that enables our dual-screen television to get better with every update. We can’t wait for customers to see what a truly smart TV can do, as we continue to surprise and delight Telly households for years to come.”

Telly is hoping to differentiate itself in the television hardware market by making its TV sets available without cost to customers.

The company makes money through the advertisements that appear on the secondary screen — and it imposes several requirements on customers to ensure those ads are delivered.

Among other things, Telly requires customers to connect their TV sets to the Internet and not use any technology that prevents the blocking of their advertisements.

Customers also can’t sell or otherwise give their Telly TV set to another person, must agree to use Telly as their primary TV set, have to notify the company if they change their address, and can’t “attach peripheral devices” without Telly’s express consent.

Read the fine print

Telly says it reserves the right to ask customers to return their TV sets if the company finds that they aren’t using them in line with their terms of service.

If the TV set isn’t returned, Telly says it will charge a credit card on file as much as $1,000 (an earlier version of its terms of service said the charge was only $500; it isn’t clear when the amount was updated).

Those demands haven’t deterred TV fans from signing up for Telly: More than 250,000 households registered for a device within the first week after Telly was announced.

Of those who have registered, Telly says around two-thirds represent younger consumers in the “Millennial” and “Generation Z” camp, which are increasingly attractive to advertisers but tend to be hard to reach.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

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