All posts tagged: Subscription

Google just fired a warning shot in the AI subscription price wars

Google just fired a warning shot in the AI subscription price wars

Published by skeptic

Google just made its budget AI subscription plan a lot more budget-friendly, bringing a price war that’s been brewing in emerging markets squarely to American consumers. The company announced Monday that it is cutting the monthly price of Google AI Plus from $7.99 to $4.99 — while doubling the storage included at that tier, from 200 gigabytes to 400 gigabytes. Vikas Kansal, product lead for Gemini AI subscriptions, said on X that the storage updates would roll out to users over the next several days. Google AI Plus launched in January as the most affordable paid AI subscription in the U.S. market, aimed at individual users and students rather than enterprise customers. Apparently that wasn’t cheap enough. It includes a decent feature set, too, including video generation via Omni Flash; the creative studio Google Flow; and NotebookLM, Google’s AI research assistant. For heavier users, Google also offers AI Pro and AI Ultra at higher price points and usage limits. The price cut is worth indexing on for reasons beyond Google’s own product roadmap. Subscription pricing …

Subscription Boxes for Men: Go Inside the New GQ Box for Summer 2026

Subscription Boxes for Men: Go Inside the New GQ Box for Summer 2026

Published by Jenni Sidey

Four times a year, we pack a mix of our favorite things into the GQ Box, then ship it directly to your door. Besides a box full of vetted-and-endorsed goods, you get a crazy deal—this season’s box has over $300 worth of products (or over $350 for new members). Summer Savings: For a limited time, get your first seasonal GQ Box for 50% off ($59 $29.50)—or take $30 off an annual subscription—using code DEAL. Our Summer 2026 GQ Box has arrived—curated with a few versatile new seasonal essentials designed to elevate all of your sunny days whether you’re traveling, heading to the office, or making the most of a weekend away. Inside, you’ll find the PX Owen Jacquard Polo (in your selected size) and the Pocket Square Clothing Ean Sunglasses in Tortoise Black—two impeccable version of warm weather mainstays from brands you’ll want to get to know. For a fresh finish, we’ve included L’Atelier Parfum Green Crush Hair & Body Mist, along with the SilkCut Micro Modal Air Boxer Brief in one of five colors for keeping …

Meta Puts Perks Behind Paywalls: New Subscription Tiers Across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp

Meta Puts Perks Behind Paywalls: New Subscription Tiers Across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp

Published by skeptic

Would you pay for Facebook or Instagram? Meta is betting you might.  Following limited tests this spring, Meta announced on Wednesday that it would be launching paid premium subscriptions worldwide for Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus and WhatsApp Plus. The new tiers unlock extra app tools and allow users to get better metrics on their posts and control how ads target them Monthly subscription rates will start at $4 for Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus and $3 for Instagram Plus. Meta will also be launching Meta One plans for more advanced Meta AI options. For now, the new paid subscriptions don’t replace or eliminate the existing Meta Verified program, a separate subscription for creators and businesses that provides benefits like enhanced support and protection against impersonation, with tiers ranging from $15 to $500 per month.  Meta appears to be shifting into a new multitiered ecosystem, experimenting with a range of subscription levels and platform-specific benefits. The new paid tiers add significant revenue streams for the tech giant, which is investing heavily in its AI data centers as it competes with …

Eufy Brings Local AI Agents to Home Security, the First I’ve Seen Without a Subscription

Eufy Brings Local AI Agents to Home Security, the First I’ve Seen Without a Subscription

Published by skeptic

Eufy is one of my favorite choices for no-subscription home security cameras, so I was interested in what the brand would unveil for Anker Day on Thursday. One announcement caught my eye immediately: Eufy is releasing a new AI agent called EdgeAgent that will exist locally on a new companion device called the Smart Security Shield. Smart Security Shield is a sensor and camera with a 180-degree field of view and equipped with digital security key technology to prevent unauthorized access. It’s primarily designed for outdoor use, where the onboard AI chipset uses facial recognition to identify friends and family from up to 100 feet away. Eufy says the device will work with multiple hardware and service bundles from the company. Because EdgeAgent is entirely local, it doesn’t need to exchange data with online servers. Eufy says that makes the AI processing 63% faster than competitors’ cloud-based systems, cutting delays to only a few seconds. EdgeAgent will be able to process data and activate specific security measures based on its analysis, such as turning on a spotlight, …

Sky News to bundle perks from three podcasts in first online subscription

Sky News to bundle perks from three podcasts in first online subscription

Published by Sam Flores

Sky News Insider podcasts at launch: Trump 100, Electoral Dysfunction and Stuff Matters Sky News will include ad-free listening and bonus episodes across three podcasts as part of its first paid online subscription offering. The three shows included in Sky News Insider: Podcasts at launch will be: political podcast Electoral Dysfunction (hosted by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby), Trump 100 and new six-part series Stuff Matters from economics and data editor Ed Conway. Other existing Sky News podcasts or new launches could be added in future. The subscription perks will include bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to new series and episodes, a weekly newsletter with exclusive insight from podcast hosts, first release access for live show tickets and and access to a community forum through which people can chat with the hosts. The subscription bundle will cost £2.99 per month and launch on 15 June. Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes said: “Around our most-popular and trusted voices we see pent-up demand: people who want a bonus episode, the chance to interact with …

I ditched my Plex subscription for this self-hosted media server and never looked back

I ditched my Plex subscription for this self-hosted media server and never looked back

Published by skeptic

For years, Plex was a leading choice for home media servers, and it’s not hard to see why. There was a time when it was great for having a clean, central spot for movies, music, and TV shows. Things have changed, and even if you change settings, you can’t get the old design back. So, I’ve moved on to another service that gives me more privacy and is free, all in an open source package. Related After a decade of streaming, I finally tried Jellyfin — and I’m never going back I’m tired of the give and take that comes with premiums streaming services, so I’m making Jellyfin my home for media streaming. Plex locked features behind a subscription There’s too much money to be spent on Plex Jorge Aguilar / Make Use Of Plex has focused on making money and adding content it doesn’t own. Many long-term users have become frustrated as recent updates have changed what the software focuses on. Plex used to be great with its apps, but now it feels like …

Crunchyroll Streaming Deal: Get a Fan Subscription for Per Month for 3 Months

Crunchyroll Streaming Deal: Get a Fan Subscription for $2 Per Month for 3 Months

Published by skeptic

We’ve been tracking streaming price increases in 2026, which have piled up in just four months. We’re also always on the lookout for streaming deals, including a new one from Crunchyroll. The anime streaming service is offering new and returning US subscribers three months of either Crunchyroll Fan for $2 per month or Mega Fan for $3 per month. The deal is available through May 21 as part of Ani-May, Crunchyroll’s yearly celebration of anime retail, gaming and events. Crunchyroll is among the streamers that hiked prices this year. It announced an increase in the US in February, roughly a month after shutting down its free, ad-supported tier. Crunchyroll’s ad-free Fan, Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan subscriptions each rose $2 to $10, $14 and $18, respectively. The Fan and Mega Fan memberships included in the deal offer full access to the streaming service’s library and titles, such as My Hero Academia, Spy x Family and Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc; with Mega Fan, the number of simultaneous streams increases from one to four. Read more …

Final Fantasy 14 Hits Switch 2 in August With a New Subscription Twist

Final Fantasy 14 Hits Switch 2 in August With a New Subscription Twist

Published by skeptic

Square Enix held its Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival on Friday, showing off what’s next for the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The final big surprise of the show was the reveal of a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy 14 that’s coming in August.  FF14 on the Switch 2 marks the first time the MMORPG, which launched in 2010, has made its way to a Nintendo platform. In the short clip of the game being played on the Switch 2, it does appear to be a faithful port of the game to Nintendo’s newest portable console, but it will come with an additional cost to those FF14 players who want to play this newest version — and we don’t know how much it’ll be just yet.  Since FF14 is a subscription-based MMORPG, players need to buy the game as well as pay for a monthly subscription. The subscription can run from $13 to $15 and depends on the number of characters a player wants on their account. The wrinkle for the Switch 2 version …

Tim Cook’s Legacy Is Turning Apple Into a Subscription

Tim Cook’s Legacy Is Turning Apple Into a Subscription

Published by skeptic

Tim Cook’s tenure as CEO at Apple, which is coming to a close September 1, will likely be defined by operational efficiency and financial growth, ushering Apple into its trillion-dollar era. But his most significant achievement might be in doubling down on Apple’s services business, which includes iCloud, the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, News+, and more. It’s the subscription layer on top of iOS, and almost all of the services apps are tightly integrated with Messages, the glue that keeps people stuck to their iPhones. During Apple’s most recent earnings report, for the quarter ending December 2025, its services business reached an all time revenue record of $30 billion. This was a 14 percent jump from the same quarter the year prior; services was also a bigger money-making business than Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, Home, and other accessories combined. For the entirety of fiscal year 2025, Apple services generated more than $109 billion for Apple, again, up 14 percent from 2024. When Cook first took over as CEO in 2011, “services” weren’t even …

This free design tool replaced my Canva Pro subscription overnight

This free design tool replaced my Canva Pro subscription overnight

Published by skeptic

Canva Pro is one of the subscriptions I’ve had for a while. It has helped me do more than just create designs and edit photos; I’ve also hosted websites and presented PPTs using the platform. Lately, however, I have been thinking about whether I am using the Canva Pro subscription to its fullest and whether I can find cheaper alternatives for the things I do in Canva Pro. While I could find many Canva alternatives, answering the big questions meant I would have to stop using Canva for at least a short while. Only then would I be able to find whether the alternative was worth it. When I came across a viable, free alternative to Canva Pro, I decided to proceed with this experiment. Related Why Photoshop Is More Value Than Canva Pro for Creatives Why settle for templates? I canceled Canva Pro and felt nothing Turns out, most of what I was paying for just sat there Photo by Ruby Helyer, author. No attribution required.Credit: Ruby Helyer / MakeUseOf Like most people, I upgraded …