Sky’s restructured TV pricing is simpler and more flexible

As UK consumers have become more confident with streaming services and accessing content via a low monthly subscription, UK broadcasters have been forced to take notice. These days, the all-you-can-eat package is no longer the de-facto option, with companies like Sky choosing to split bigger content bundles into more bitesize options.

In July, it broke up Sky Sports into 10 individual channels, allowing sports fans to pay only for the sport they actually wanted to watch and chop and change whenever it suits. Now, it’s bringing the same flexibility to traditional TV.

The new packages, first reported by Pocket-lint, shake out like this. Gone are the Original, Variety and Box Sets bundles, which have been replaced by the Entertainment package, which costs £20 a month. While that sounds like a downgrade, the Entertainment package provides 350 channels, compared to the 270 offered by the previous three combined. From there, it’s a case of adding extra bundles depending on your taste.

Kids, HD channels and Box Sets — including Game of Thrones and other Sky-exclusive shows — cost £5 per month each. Sky Cinema and Sky Sports can be added too, but they start from £10 and £18 respectively. However, with the package add-ons, they can be subscribed and canceled on per-month basis, which sidesteps Sky’s traditional 18-month sign-up period.

While the new bundles will likely appeal to new customers, Sky subscriptions still bring with them a certain layer of complexity. The Entertainment package is locked to an 18-month contract and the fact that subscribers must pay £5 a month for HD channels in 2017 is actually hilarious.

Via: Pocket-lint

YouTube debuts 360-video app on Steam VR

There’s a lot of VR content out there, but much of it is for one platform or another — what works on Gear VR may not on Daydream, the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift. Google just made it a bit easier to use one of its key Daydream VR apps by releasing YouTube VR for Steam VR on the HTC Vive. You can download it right now, but the app is an Early Access release and reviews are, to say the least, mixed.

Some users are reporting dropped frames despite powerful PC setups, and (many) others are saying that it doesn’t work at all, crashing on startup. At the same time, some folks affirm that it works just fine for them, and one user even said that the 360-degree videos play on an Oculus Rift, even though the app is ostensibly for HTC’s Vive.

Problems are normal for a beta release, but YouTube VR seems to have a major bug that stops the app completely for many. Hopefully, it will post a new version soon, or some enterprising Steam user will find a decent workaround. If you have a Vive headset (or Oculus, maybe), give it a whirl and let us know how it goes in the comments below.

Via: The Verge

Source: Steam

TVPlayer subscription lets you record live TV to the cloud

If you’ve forgotten about TVPlayer, don’t worry — so had we. The company, which offers a live TV streaming service in the UK, piqued our curiosity in 2015 with TVPlayer Plus. The £5 per month package gave subscribers access to 25 premium channels including National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. Since then, Plus has been split into two packages, Lite and Max, for £5.99 and £7.99 respectively. Next week, TVPlayer will launch a cloud-based DVR service that allows Plus members to record live TV. The feature is critical given that TVPlayer doesn’t have a conventional library of on-demand content like Now TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Plus members will get 10 hours of Network Personal Video Recorder (nPVR) storage as standard. For an extra £5 per month, you can boost that allowance to 150 hours. Unfortunately, it only works with paid TV channels — so anything you would normally find on Freeview, like Dave and BBC Four, will be off limits. TVPlayer says “additional channels will be added in the coming weeks,” however, followed by temporary downloads “in the coming months.” TVPlayer is available on a bunch of different platforms, including iOS, Android, Roku and Apple TV. Cloud-based recordings could have some utility, then, if you travel a lot and want to stream on the go.

Ultimately, though, TVPlayer still feels like a niche proposition. Streaming is hugely popular, but the industry has moved toward on-demand libraries, rather than linear broadcast channels. TV-style recordings are a useful perk — especially for shows like Match of the Day, which take an age to come onto BBC iPlayer — but you have to carefully manage your storage and remember to press the big red button. For a similar price, you could get a Now TV Entertainment Pass, which offers similar live streaming (without the free TV channels, admittedly) and a fairly extensive VOD catalogue.

Apple Continues to Work on All-New Mac Pro With Upgradeable Design

With the iMac Pro release dominating headlines on Thursday, we want to make sure nobody has missed that Apple also reiterated some other exciting news for pro customers: a modular Mac Pro is coming.

2013 Mac Pro on left vs. 2012 Mac Pro on right
The brief mention came at the very end of Apple’s press release about the iMac Pro becoming available to order:

In addition to the new iMac Pro, Apple is working on a completely redesigned, next-generation Mac Pro architected for pro customers who need the highest performance, high-throughput system in a modular, upgradeable design, as well as a new high-end pro display.

While this isn’t new information, it does let us know that Apple remains committed to an all-new, powerful Mac Pro with an upgradeable design after first teasing the news to a group of reporters back in April.

We don’t know what the new Mac Pro will look like, but given it will be a modular system, Apple could return to a tower design like the 2006 to 2012 Mac Pro with a case that could be opened with a lever on the back.

The promise that it will be a high-performance, high-throughput system suggests the modular Mac Pro could be even faster than the iMac Pro, which itself is easily the fastest Mac ever with workstation-class tech specs.

The maxed-out iMac Pro, for example, costs $13,199 and is equipped with an 18-core 2.3GHz Intel Xeon W-class processor, 4TB of SSD storage, 128GB of ECC RAM, and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics with 16GB of HBM2 memory.

It’s also good news for customers who were sad to see Apple discontinue its standalone Thunderbolt Display, which will be revived in the form of an all-new Apple-branded high-end display geared towards pro customers.

Apple’s discontinued Thunderbolt Display
What we also don’t know is when the new Mac Pro is coming. Apple only revealed that it wouldn’t be ready this year. It could certainly be released at some point in 2018, or it could take a little bit longer—it’s anyone’s guess right now.

Apple hasn’t updated the current Mac Pro in just shy of four years, beyond reshuffling some configurations and pricing back in April.

At the time, Apple’s software engineering chief Craig Federighi admitted that the 2013 Mac Pro’s so-called “trash can” design has a limited thermal capacity that doesn’t always meet the needs of the most demanding workflows.

“I think we designed ourselves into a bit of a thermal corner, if you will,” said Federighi, according to multiple reports.

It isn’t often that Apple pre-announces new products in its pipeline, but there were growing concerns the company was no longer focused on professional users, evidently to the point that it felt the need to respond in a big way.

“We’re committed to the Mac, we’ve got great talent on the Mac, both hardware and software, we’ve got great products planned for the future, and as far as our horizon line can see, the Mac is a core component of the things Apple delivers, including to our pro customers,” said Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller.

Related Roundup: Mac ProBuyer’s Guide: Mac Pro (Caution)
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U.S. states gear up to take on the FCC’s net neutrality repeal

After months of speculation and protests, the FCC has officially passed the Restoring Internet Freedom declaratory ruling on December 14, repealing the 2015 net neutrality regulations. The reaction was immediate, with industry bigwigs and influencers alike taking to the internet to express their views. Nothing may have changed yet, but regardless of which side you took in the battle, it’s likely the repeal is going to force big change in the U.S.-based section of the internet, for good or for ill.

But it’s not over yet. Moments after the motion was passed by the FCC, a handful of individual states have risen to challenge the decision, led by noteworthy supporters of the net neutrality bill. These challenge range from legal challenges by state attorneys general, to lawmakers in California and Washington pledging to propose net neutrality-style laws for their own states.

The legal challenge from New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman comes after his own investigation into allegedly faked comments left by a bot during the FCC’s public feedback process. This bot posted thousands of identical messages, using the names of thousands of unaware Americans — an act Schneiderman claims would have given the FCC a false impression of the popularity of the repeal. His open letter to the FCC was joined by attorneys general from 18 states, and it’s fairly safe to assume at least a few of those states will sign on to Schneiderman’s lawsuit against the FCC.

Among those joining Schneiderman in challenging the legality of the repeal is Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who released an official news release stating his intention to challenge the ruling. Claiming the repeal violates the Administrative Procedure Act, Ferguson is following the line set by Washington Governer Jay Inslee, who announced before the vote Washington would be looking to introduce its own regulations to protect consumers in its state.

Californian Democratic State Senator Scott Weiner is also looking to introduce new regulations following the vote. Shortly after the vote, Weiner wrote on Medium that he would introduce legislation to mimic net neutrality in his state. Scott echoed the fears of many opponents of the repeal, stating “providers are now free to manipulate web traffic on their networks, which means they can speed or slow traffic to certain sites and even block access” — fears that were exacerbated in November when Comcast retracted part of its open internet pledge, and in July when Verizon was accused of throttling video services as a “test”.

The FCC’s vote clearly wasn’t the end for the fight for the internet, and the battle for net neutrality is only just beginning. If you want to know more about net neutrality, we’ve written a guide on what net neutrality is and why you should care about it.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Here’s how tech influencers reacted to the FCC’s net neutrality repeal
• Comcast removes part of its open internet pledge regarding net neutrality repeal
• FCC officially repeals 2015 Net Neutrality regulations by a narrow margin
• No matter where you stand, this is what you need to know about net neutrality
• The FCC will make a final vote to reverse the net neutrality rules in December

We’re giving away the Honor 7X — Enter now!

If you’re after a stylish phone that doesn’t skimp on performance or features, the Honor 7X is absolutely worth a look. And we’re giving one away!

The Honor 7X has flagship looks and an enjoyable, high-performance Android experience in a chassis that’s just as desirable as phones costing twice as much.

And now you can win one!

THE PRIZE: One Android Central reader will be taking home a brand new Honor 7X in black!

THE GIVEAWAY: To enter, use the widget at the bottom of this page. Keep in mind that all winning entries are verified and if the task was not completed or cannot be verified, a new winner will be chosen. The prize does not include service.

The giveaway is open until December 31st, and the winner will be announced right here shortly after the close date. Good luck!

Enter to win an Honor 7X in the Happy Honor Days giveaway!

Awesome Finds Gift Guide

Team Thrifter looks at a ton of cool products every day – but these few are some of the most interesting we’ve seen in a while, like the RokBlok portable record player that spins around your record, and Klutz’s Lego Chain Reaction kit.

Bose SoundWear wireless speakerWhen speakers are too distracting and headphones are too uncomfortable, the SoundWear is your solution for listening to music up close without being a nuisance to everyone else in the room. It plays the music directly into your ears while comfortably sitting around your neck.Amazon$299.00WishlistKlutz Lego chain reaction crafts kitThis kit starts with a book and a few Lego pieces, but it ends up teaching you a whole new way to use Lego that you’ve never thought about before.Amazon$17.28WishlistMarshall Kilburn portable Bluetooth speakerMarshall speakers have a unique look that makes them just as at home in your living room as they are on the beach. They produce plenty of sound, and the rechargeable battery lasts up to 20 hours.Amazon$299.99Wishlist1000 Record CoversAfter decades upon decades of music, record covers have come to be seen as an art all their own. This book is a collection of 1,000 legendary covers in one awesome book.Amazon$17.99WishlistOliver Rocket Bath Bomb SetKnow someone in your life who hasn’t tried a bath bomb yet? Give them this gift set and soon enough they’ll be wondering how they ever took baths without it.Amazon$22.95WishlistRokBlok portable record playerVinyl doesn’t have to be complicated. Listen to your favorite records by just placing the RokBlok on top and pulling the lever. You can even pair it with a more powerful Bluetooth speaker. It’s really that easy.RokBlok$89.00WishlistU by Moen smart shower controllerA controller like this might have a high barrier for entry since it needs a custom installation, but how awesome would it be to have a system warm up your water and then let you know when it’s ready to go so you aren’t wasting water?Amazon$345.00WishlistPetCube Bites HD Pet Camera and Treat dispenserNo one really likes leaving their pet at home alone, but wouldn’t it be better if you could check on them and give them treats? This lets you do just that, so why not show them a little love and grab one now.Amazon$199.00WishlistLG 65-inch Wallpaper OLED TVI understand you’re probably not going to buy this $8,000 wallpaper-thin TV, but this category is called “Awesome Finds.” And this thing is definitely awesome. Just look at how pretty it is.Best Buy$8,000.00WishlistPower Vision PowerRay underwater droneEveryone has a drone that flies through the air these days. Don’t be like everyone else. Get this drone capable of 4K video streaming up to a depth of 98 feet underwater.Amazon$1,888.00WishlistAuxiwa Clip on Selfie Ring LightLighting is key when it comes to selfies, and this clip-on ring light will ensure that all of your selfies have the perfect lighting. Say goodbye to deleting 100 bad pictures, and hello to the perfect selfie.Amazon$17.00Wishlist

Daniel’s Favorite Things of 2017

Daniel’s Favorite Tech of 2017

2017 was a great year for tech — and for drinking great coffee. Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy both.

Google Pixel 2

There have been many negative things written about Google’s Pixel 2 since its October launch, but like many things on the internet, much of it is overblown or outright wrong. The reality is that, for me at least, the Pixel 2 is the best phone I’ve ever used. It does everything I need it to do, and does it quickly, reliably, and continuously for many hours at a time. Android 8.x and HTC’s hardware combine for an unimpeachable experience: from solid call quality (on VoLTE) to consistent data speeds, excellent speaker sound, reliable Bluetooth and all the other things the initial Pixel was dinged for, I can’t remember the last time I just picked up a phone and forgot about the phone. Except when I open the camera — then I remember how phenomenal Google’s software is. At $649, this is a must-buy.

$649 Buy Now

Moto G5 Plus

While Motorola has offered great devices for less than its competitors for years now, the Moto G5 Plus stood out as an extraordinary move forward for the company. With an impressive spec sheet, excellent build quality and an outstanding camera for its $229 price, the Moto G5 Plus is my budget pick of the year. You can’t go wrong with its slightly-beefier (but not much better IMO) Moto G5S Plus counterpart, too.

from $199 Buy Now

Netgear Orbi mesh router system

With just a main access point and a single satellite, the Netgear Orbi may not constitute a mesh router solution, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t pass for one. In my house, which is taller and narrow, I went from unreliable, spotty 2.4GHz and non-existent 5GHz service anywhere but the main floor to gigabit speeds everywhere I went. The Netgear app isn’t quite as good as Eero’s, but here’s the thing: I haven’t had to reset the system once since installing it nine months ago. This system is a steal at $350.

$350 Buy now

Nintendo Switch

I’m not a huge gamer, which is why the Nintendo Switch surprised even me with its multitudinous reasons to love it. I never dreamed that I’d be able to play games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey on a plane, but here we are and — I’ll be right back, gotta play — it’s pretty remarkable. The best part about the Switch is that it’s finally bringing some great third-party titles to Nintendoland, which is exciting for someone who would love to buy the kinds of innovative indie titles that grace PC, Xbox and PlayStation these days. Stardew Valley is a start, but let’s keep it going!

$299 Buy now

Bluewave GET

Here’s something you probably didn’t know: most phones are losing their headphone jacks. Joking aside, those of us with lots of high-quality wired headphones have but two choices in a jackless world: buy Bluetooth headphones (which I’ve done — see below) or use a (shudder) dongle. Or use the third option: Bluewave GET. This Montreal-built accessory is a headphone amplifier that uses Qualcomm’s AptX and AptX HD codecs to turn any pair of wired headphone into a relatively portable wireless one. Best of all, it allows high-impedance headphones (like my Sennheiser HD600s) to be used with smartphones that have piss-poor amplifiers. It’s a win-win, especially for $99!

$99 Buy now

Ring Wi-Fi Video Doorbell Pro

Ring’s connected doorbell, which alerts you when someone is by the front door and allows you to see and chat with the person on the other side, is absolutely incredible. A great app, inexpensive cloud subscription, and excellent video and audio quality, Ring has saved me from having to pick up a missed package at the post office more times than I can count. The Pro version, which requires a beefier 16V transformer and has no battery, supports 1080p video and 5GHz Wi-Fi in a slimmer body.

$229 Buy Now

Spotify

I used Spotify in 2016, but I loved Spotify in 2017. Not only did the service itself improve but the Android app got some nice performance bumps, too. New features like Release Radar were exciting (not to mention custom playlists that I loved), and continuous playback made it better for ongoing background listening. Moreover, being able to stream Spotify on practically every speaker I own, thanks to Spotify Connect, reinforced my love for the service. Best $10 a month I spend.

from $10 Buy now

Espro Press (Large)

I prepare coffee in many different ways, but the Espro Press continues to be my go-to container for what I consider the best “pressed” coffee out there. While I love the production of a pour-over, a French press, done right, is all about convenience. The Espro Press has a much finer filter (well, two filters) than the average French press, eliminating the sediment you get from a Bodum while allowing for finer grounds, which extract more flavor (in my opinion) from a given bean.

$120 Buy now

Chemex Eight-cup coffee brewer

The other way I brew coffee is with a Chemex, and to this day I haven’t found a coffee maker that extracts flavors as uniformly and deliciously than this glass marvel. You have to tweak the grind size to get it right, especially if you’re using the company’s paper filters, but I’ve yet to produce a better-tasting cup of coffee at home.

from $45 Buy Now

Sony WH1000XM2 noise-canceling headphones

I tried many noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones this year, and my favorite by far was the Sony WH1000XM2. They sound great, but more than anything they’re extremely comfortable to wear for long periods, and for those long commutes or plane rides, the ANC is incredible. It’s a competitive market, but Sony and Bose are at the top for a reason — and in my world, Sony wins.

$350 Buy now

Google Photos

No better service showcases the benefits of giving Google all of your personal information than Google Photos. I’m not being facetious, either: with Google, you have to acknowledge that you’re giving up a significant amount of privacy when you sign up for its products. But the returns of doing so with Photos is clear: immaculate search that learns as you add more content; incredible editing tools; cross-platform access that maintains the same experience regardless of OS; and inexpensive storage for full-sized photos. The best part is that Google continues to improve Photos every year, so Assistant is smarter, search is faster (and doggier!), and I never have to worry about whether what has arguably become my most source of memories — my phone’s photos — are going to be available to me.

Free See at Google

1Password

Continuing with the theme of convenience, the other service I couldn’t live without is 1Password. In 2017, the company cleaned up its Android app and launched a native Chrome app, both of which made it much easier to live with the once Apple-focused subscription throughout Google’s ecosystem. If you store anything of value, I highly recommend subscribing to 1Password.

from $3/mo Buy now

Booq Saddle Pro laptop bag

Last year I had a Booq Saddle Pro laptop bag and this year I’ve switched to the more back-friendly Pack Pro backpack, and … wow. This is easily the best backpack I’ve ever used, with plenty of internal space, a multitude of waterproof zippers, dedicated laptop and tablet sleeves, and two side pockets for water bottles. I recently took the ballistic nylon-covered Pack Pro on several planes and the shell, despite being shoved into various tight spaces, protected everything inside with aplomb. At $295, it’s not cheap, but it’s worth it.

$295 Buy now

Lady Bird

Never has a film so perfectly distilled the naive confidence of a teenager than Greta Gerwig’s perfect directorial debut. It’s funny and beautiful and relatable and, best of all, repeat-watchable. I loved everything about it, including Saoirse Ronan’s incredible performance as the titular Lady Bird.

various prices See more

Anderson .Paak – Malibu

Anderson .Paak’s sublime Malibu didn’t actually come out this year, but I spent a good chunk of 2017 listening to it — over and over again. Half sexy R&B pop, half socially-conscious hip-hop, Malibu has some of the funkiest, intelligent music of the decade. Regardless of which directions the album’s songs veer, one thing is consistent: .Paak is always optimistic in the face of trial. It’s Malibu’s happiness and hope that has kept it as this year’s best album for me — more than a year after its debut.

various prices See more

The Morning After: Friday, December 15th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

This Friday morning, we deal with how the FCC has repealed net neutrality and the repercussions of that. Disney is planning to buy a huge part of Fox, which would include the rights for the first Star Wars movies, X-Men, The Simpsons and countless others.

It’s done… or is it?The FCC has repealed net neutrality

Now that Ajit Pai has pushed through an FCC vote (along party lines, three to two) to undo Title II net neutrality protections, what’s next? We can explain, but first up is a series of court battles, including lawsuits filed by a number of states to keep Title II in place.

Including rights for Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ that it didn’t already have.Disney buys large chunks of Fox for $52 million

The Disney conglomerate adds Fox’s movie and TV studios (including big-name franchises like X-Men, Avatar, Alien and The Simpsons), majority control of Hulu, FX cable networks and $13.7 billion in debt. Now the big question is if this deal will pass muster with government regulators.

Let’s define ‘professionals.’The iMac Pro is fast, but who is it for?

Today marks the release of the iMac Pro, Apple’s first all-in-one desktop aimed at professionals. The question isn’t how it looks (like the regular iMac, but in Space Gray) or how it runs (fast), but who it’s for. It would be tempting to just say ‘creative professionals’ — the term we tech writers always fall back on when describing Apple users — but that doesn’t suffice here. We got to see how Apple’s most powerful PC ever handles under heavy use — it’s not all designers.

More like an asset.Bitcoin is failing as a currency

In the past 12 months, the value of bitcoin has risen from a low of $777.91 up to a high of $17,178. The currency has always been volatile, but for a while its ceiling was around the thousand-dollar mark. This new surge was largely due to the investment community — and is ensuring that bitcoin will probably never work as a currency per se. It may function as something else, however. Something closer to gold.

It’s all about the Joy-Cons.Nintendo is really excited about the Switch’s detachable gamepads

Who needs cloud saves when you have easy local multiplayer?

But wait, there’s more…

• The best movies and music to give as gifts
• Watch Blue Origin’s test dummy experience space tourism
• Ataribox delays pre-orders due to development problems
• ISS astronauts won’t miss out on ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’
• We talk to the creative forces behind the Nintendo Switch

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t Subscribe.

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RIP, AOL Instant Messenger

We knew this day would come. One of the major parts of our formative years on the worldwide web — we called it that back in the day — will cease to be. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) came to a close a few hours ago. While we’ve already eulogized it, it doesn’t make the moment any less bitter. Sunrise, sunset.

AIM started life as a built-in chat application for America Online’s desktop client, back when millions bought their internet service from AOL, now called Oath, and now owners of this very site. It didn’t capture the imagination of the early internet until it was spun out as a separate app back in 1997. The little yellow guy soon became iconic. Fortunately there’s no shortage of messaging services now — if you’re not Facetiming or using Snapchat, that is. We’ll always have the memories.

All good things come to an end. On Dec 15, we’ll bid farewell to AIM. Thank you to all our users! #AIMemories https://t.co/b6cjR2tSuU pic.twitter.com/V09Fl7EPMx

— AIM (@aim) October 6, 2017