DirecTV Now Raising All Plan Prices by $5/Month to Stay ‘In Line With the Market’

AT&T’s live TV streaming service DirecTV Now will increase the price of every subscription tier by $5 per month beginning sometime around August 1, 2018. AT&T confirmed the price hike to CordCutters, stating that the move was made to ensure that the cost of DirecTV Now remains “in line with the market.”

The company is referencing the cost of rival services Hulu with Live TV, which started at $40/month, and YouTube TV, which recently raised to $40/month to compete with Hulu. Now, DirecTV Now’s entry-level “Live a Little” plan is raising from $35/month to $40/month, aligning with the competition.

In the 18 months since our launch, we have continued to evolve our DIRECTV NOW products to serve this new customer set and compare favorably with our competitors. To continue delivering the best possible streaming experience for both new and existing customers, we’re bringing the cost of this service in line with the market—which starts at a $40 price point.

Above the basic plan, “Just Right” will increase from $50/month to $55/month, “Go Big” will increase from $60/month to $65/month, and “Gotta Have It” will increase from $70/month to $75/month. While some emails sent out to customers reference an August 1 start date for the new prices, some users have noted earlier dates.

Although unconfirmed, AT&T’s $15 credit for Unlimited cellular plan users should still apply to the new DirecTV Now prices. With the price hike, this means that these users will pay $25/month for the “Live a Little” DirecTV Now plan.

The email messages also remind users of upcoming enhancements to DirecTV Now, including an option to upgrade from 20 hours of the True Cloud DVR Beta to 100 hours, parental controls, more local channels, and more. Coming sooner will be an option to add a simultaneous third stream to a plan and a new Spanish language and sports package.

Sling TV also increased a plan price recently, requiring Sling Orange subscribers to pay $25/month for its entry-level tier, up from $20/month.

Tag: DirecTV Now
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple’s Rumored 18W USB-C iPhone Power Adapter Prototype Shown Off in New Photos

Recent rumors and CAD renderings have suggested Apple may be planning to include an 18-watt USB-C charger and a Lightning to USB cable in the box with its iOS devices later this year, allowing for faster charging without requiring users to purchase separate charging accessories at additional cost.

New photos shared by Chongdiantou (via Mac Otakara) show what is claimed to be an engineering prototype of the actual U.S. version of the charger, although their legitimacy cannot be confirmed.

The design of the charger is generally in line with previous renderings, featuring a compact body in the style of Apple’s 5-watt charger that has always been included in the box with iPhones. The design otherwise simply includes a pair of prongs on one side and a USB-C port on the other end. The charger does, however, appear somewhat fatter than depicted in the original leaked rendering.

Text on the charger is somewhat different from Apple’s usual markings, although this may be due to its prototype nature. The text lists the charger with a model number of A1720, in line with Apple’s numbering scheme, and it confirms the charger offers output up to 5V at 3A (15W) or 9V at 2A (18W).

Apple is rumored to be including the more powerful charger with its new iPhones coming later this year, but it would make sense to also include it with upcoming iPad models, which have traditionally included 10–12W adapters.

Related Roundup: 2018 iPhones
Discuss this article in our forums

MacRumors Exclusive: Save Up to 40% on Anker’s Portable Batteries, Lightning Cables, and More

A few weeks after our last offer, MacRumors has again partnered with Anker to offer our readers up to 40 percent off eight of Anker’s iPhone and iPad charging products. The savings target two lightning cables, a Qi-compatible wireless charger, a wall charger, a car charger, and three portable battery packs, two of which have high-capacity batteries and dual USB-C/USB-A support for the latest MacBooks.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

As usual, Anker’s discounts are offered on Amazon, so once you find an accessory that you’re interested in you can add it to your cart, proceed to checkout, enter the relevant promo code into the Gift cards & promotional codes field, and then click “Apply.” Discount prices in this article don’t include taxes or shipping costs, but Amazon Prime subscribers can get the typical free two-day shipping on their orders.

Check out every Anker item on sale in the list below, and be sure to place orders this week as this sale is a bit shorter and will last from today, July 2, through Sunday, July 8. (Note that only one code can be used per order, so if you’d like to order more than one type of item, you’ll need to place separate orders.)

Portable Chargers

• PowerCore 10,400 mAh External Battery Pack – $23.99 with code RUMORS24, down from $29.99
• PowerCore+ 20,100 mAh USB-C Portable Charger – $51.99 with code RUMORS77, down from $65.99
• PowerCore+ 26,800 mAh with 30W Power Delivery Charger – $89.99 with code RUMORS37, down from $119.99

Lightning Cables

• PowerLine II Lightning Cable (6ft, White) – $9.74 with code RUMORS33, down from $12.99
• PowerLine II Lightning Cable (6ft, Black) – $9.74 with code RUMORS33, down from $12.99

Car, Wireless, and Wall Chargers

• 24W Dual USB Car Charger + 3ft Lightning Cable – $11.19 with code RUMORS78, down from $15.99
• PowerPort Wireless Charging Pad With 12W Wall Charger – $13.99 with code RUMORS72, down from $22.99
• USB Type-C Premium 5-Port 60W USB Wall Charger – $34.99 with code RUMORS76, down from $49.99

You can also head over to our full Deals Roundup for more of the latest discounts and sales happening this week.

Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: Anker
Discuss this article in our forums

British Ad Industry Regulator Upholds Apple’s iPhone X Claim of ‘Studio-Quality’ Portraits

A British advertising regulatory body has overruled objections to an Apple television ad in which the company claims iPhone X is capable of “studio quality” portraits (via AppleInsider).

The TV ad in question, which began airing in March, showcases the smartphone’s “radically new cameras with Portrait Lighting” and uses the phrasing, “Studio-quality portraits. Without the studio.”

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was compelled to review two complaints filed by viewers “who believed that the phone could not achieve studio quality photography, and challenged whether the claim ‘Studio-quality portraits’ was misleading and could be substantiated.”

In overruling the objections, the ASA said it had “considered consumers would understand the term ‘studio-quality portraits’ to mean that the lighting effects on the phone allowed the user to imitate a portrait photograph when taken in a studio”.

We acknowledged that the camera on the iPhone X featured a focal lens commonly found in studio photography and understood that the images shown in the ad were photographs taken with the phone. We considered that the lighting effects that could be used when capturing and after having captured an image allowed the user to mimic a photograph similar to those taken in a studio.

We recognized that there were many effects, techniques and tools used in studio photography which played a vital role in capturing high standard images, many of which were not available to someone solely using the iPhone X. However, we recognized the emphasis was placed on the significance of the lighting effects on achieving the quality of image the ad demonstrated, and we understood that those images shown were a true reflection of the capabilities of the iPhone X’s camera. For those reasons, we concluded that the ad was not misleading.

In Apple’s response to the finding, the company pointed out that there was no industry standard definition of “studio-quality portraits” and that there “were wide variances between techniques, equipment, lighting and talent,” which led it to understand the term as a subjective one.

Apple stated that the 50 mm focal lens in the iPhone X was one of the most popular professional studio portrait lenses and the lighting options available on the phone mimicked what could be done in a studio.

Clearcast stated that they met Apple at the time the product was released for a demonstration of the product and found that the images in the ad were a fair reflection of the camera’s capabilities. They stated that “Studio-quality” was not an official, measurable term and that the quality of the photographs, to some extent, depended on the skill of the photographer.

This isn’t the first time the British watchdog has looked at viewer complaints regarding Apple ads. In 2008, Android users took umbrage at an Apple ad that claimed “all parts of the internet are on the iPhone”.

The reasoning behind the complaints was that Java and Flash content aren’t supported on iPhone, therefore the claim was misleading. The complaint was upheld and the ad was banned in the U.K., as was another Apple ad that was adjudged to have exaggerated the speed of the iPhone 3G.

Related Roundup: iPhone XTag: AdsBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Neutral)
Discuss this article in our forums

Tear it up on Mars in ‘Red Rover,’ the driving sim built on NASA data

Previous

Next

1 of 4

During the festive holiday season in 2016, Alan Chan spent his week’s vacation time off work exploring Mars. As most of us did last minute Christmas shopping, ate turkey, and reminded ourselves of why discussing politics with dad is a bad idea, Chan was romping, carefree, over Mars’ ruddy surface in a rover-style space buggy. Not a bad time to get away from Earth, as it so happens!

“You look at satellite data and you just don’t have a sense of scale, right?” Chan told Digital Trends. “You think, like, ‘here are some mountains,’ but you don’t get a sense of what it would actually feel like if you were standing there. It’s like going up in an airplane. All the towns you’ve been to and the roads you drive around suddenly look completely different. [Being on the surface] totally changes your perception.”

Flat images could be made 3D and run through the Unreal engine to turn it into an explorable experience.

Before we get any further we should note that, no, you haven’t somehow missed out on the greatest homebrew rocketry story of all time. If you feel like you saw something about a solo Mars explorer on TV at some point in the past, you’re almost certainly remembering Matt Damon’s character from The Martian.

Chan — a video game cinematics creator from California — wasn’t physically on Mars. Instead, he was exploring the Red Planet through a hacked-together home project in which he took satellite and terrain data from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and transformed it into a photorealistic virtual recreation of the martian landscape

“This data was available online for scientific purposes,” he continued. “What I did was to take that information and reformat it so I could put it into a game engine.” With some neat triangulation software, flat images could be transformed into three-dimensions and run through the Unreal engine to turn it into an explorable experience. “I don’t think anyone else had done it before,” he said.

Alan Chan

The results are something that, until Elon Musk and others finally get their act together, lets users explore the sights of Mars — from the enormous Victoria Crater to Candor Chasma, one of the largest canyons in the planet’s Valles Marineris canyon system. You can even play it in full immersive virtual reality, courtesy of an Oculus Rift headset.

Less game, more data visualization

Ultimately, Red Rover isn’t really a game. There are no mission objectives, no evil aliens lurking behind rocks to be mowed down, and no way to die. What it is is an impressive demonstration of cutting edge data visualization; the way that creators can take advantage of the amazing space data being produced by organizations like NASA and turn it into something that’s approachable and understandable to the rest of us.

“I would love to visualize flying through the Great Red Spot on Jupiter but I don’t have enough data to do it just yet.”

It’s not wholly accurate, Chan acknowledged. The Martian buggy itself is, by his own admission, ridiculously overpowered. He also took a few liberties with the ambient wind noises, which are there to make it more immersive, but are probably more than you would actually hear in real life. However, the biggest bit of dramatic license involved creating textures to flesh out the extra detail needed for the planet.

Despite being the most high-resolution footage we’ve yet got of Mars, Chan notes that it still only equates to one pixel per half meter. That means that, uploaded with total fidelity, the surfaces look horribly stretched close up.

To counteract this, he replaced them with new texture data of sand, dirt and rocks to make it look better. (“You can actually disable that in the ‘options’ menu so you can see the data as it was actually taken,” he noted. If you’re more scientifically oriented you might want to do that.”)

Development screenshots. Alan Chan

In the future, Chan would like to extend the project to other planets, whenever the data is available. “I would love to visualize flying through the Great Red Spot on Jupiter but I don’t have enough data to do it just yet,” he said.

Mars remains the main focus, though. With that in mind, the title will continue evolving as more and more HiRISE data is beamed back to Earth.

Alan Chan, developer of Red Rover

In his Steam notes for the “game”, Chan — who is in late forties — notes that he grew up believing that we would have colonized Mars by this point. To date, we have not, which is why Red Rover may be your best chance to explore the planet.

At $4.99 on Steam, compared with the billions spent by space agencies, it’s almost certainly the cheapest.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What the hell? How Jonathan Higbee shoots these impossible street photos
• Toby Miller on being Shaun White’s protege and the future of snowboarding
• You may never own a quantum computer, but IBM will still let you use one
• Mind-reading A.I. algorithm can work out what music is playing in your head
• The best backward-compatible Xbox One games

The Nokia 7 Plus isn’t officially available in the U.S., but here’s why you should buy it anyway

This is your best chance to pick up the Nokia 7 Plus if you’re living in the U.S.

The Nokia 7 Plus is the best $400 phone you can buy right now, but unfortunately it isn’t officially up for sale in the U.S. HMD Global is currently focusing on Asian markets, and while the Nokia 6.1 is available direct from Amazon for $269, that’s the only Nokia-branded phone sold officially in the U.S.

However, the global variant of the Nokia 7 Plus is now being listed on Amazon for $359, with the particular model offering compatible bands for AT&T and T-Mobile.

It works on AT&T and T-Mobile

The Nokia 7 Plus variant on sale (TA-1062) features a host of LTE bands, specifically 1/3/4/5/7/8/20/28/34/38/39/40/41. Band 4 compatibility is key here as that makes the phone eligible to work on AT&T and T-Mobile. It doesn’t have all the requisite bands for either carrier as it’s missing band 12, so coverage will be limited. That said, bands 4 and 5 provide LTE connectivity across wide swathes of the country, so you shouldn’t face a lot of issues in this regard.

Should you face issues with LTE connectivity on either AT&T and T-Mobile in your locale, you can at least turn in the device as it’s backed by Amazon’s 30-day guarantee. Furthermore, you won’t be able to use the Nokia 7 Plus on Verizon or Sprint as this is a GSM model.

The build quality is fantastic

The Nokia 7 Plus has an aluminum unibody with a six-layer ceramic finish at the back, giving the phone a matte finish. The matte texture makes it easier to hold, and the aluminum chassis makes it one of the most durable phones in this segment.

Nokia devices in the past have long been associated with durability, and HMD is imbibing the same qualities to its portfolio of Android devices. I’ve been using my Nokia 7 Plus for well over two months now, and after numerous knocks and tumbles, the phone is still going strong.

Snapdragon 660 is a performance beast

The Nokia 7 Plus has the distinction of being the first HMD device to feature an 18:9 panel. It also features a Snapdragon 660 chipset, Qualcomm’s mid-range powerhouse. The Snapdragon 660 made its debut last year, and continues to be one of the best chipsets in the sub-$500 segment.

You also get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage as standard, microSD card slot, dual 12MP + 13MP cameras, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and a 3800mAh battery that delivers over a day’s worth of use with ease.

Nokia 7 Plus review: Come for the value, stay for the excitement

You get the promise of quick updates

HMD has committed to the Android One platform for all of its Android phones, and that translates to two platform updates and three years of security updates for all phones in its portfolio. HMD managed to do a stellar job rolling out updates, with the Nokia 7 Plus running Android 8.1 Oreo and the phone is in the first wave of devices to pick up the Android p update once it’s released.

It costs just $90 more than the Nokia 6.1

The main issue with importing a Nokia 7 Plus is the customs duties and shipping costs associated with the purchase, but with the phone available from Amazon and backed by a 30-day guarantee, this is the best time to get your hands on the device.

Right now, the phone costs just $90 more than the Nokia 6.1, and for that amount you’re getting an 18:9 panel, beefier hardware in the form of a Snapdragon 660, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, and much better cameras. Sure, you’ll lose out on warranty as the model on sale is a global variant that doesn’t offer U.S. warranty, but you’ll be able to return your unit within 30 days to Amazon should you face any issues.

As outlined above, the Nokia 7 Plus has outstanding build quality, and is one of the sturdiest phones in this segment today. For $359, there really is no reason not to try out the Nokia 7 Plus and see what’s on offer.

See at Amazon

Replace your recessed lights with these Philips Hue bulbs for $40 each

With 13 million color options, which will you pick?

Amazon currently has the white and color ambiance Philips Hue flood lights (BR30) on sale for $39.99 each, which is a savings of $10. This style lightbulb is designed to be used in floodlights and overhead recessed lighting, though if you are looking for a regular bulb, they are on sale as well for the same price. The cost of entry with Hue lights is on the more expensive side, so any time you can pick up an extra bulb or two at a discount you should.

Smart lights quickly become addictive, and before you know it, you want to replace every light in your home. This price drop is a match of the lowest we’ve seen the bulb hit, and that was for only a brief period of time around Black Friday. You can control them using the free Philips Hue app or with just your voice through Amazon’s Alexa on an Echo Dot and Google’s Assistant on a Home Mini.

In order for the lights to work, you will need the Philips Hue Smart Bridge, which is down to $52 from $60. For $17 more, you can get the 2-bulb starter kit, which comes with the Bridge and two white bulbs that you can use in your home as well.

See at Amazon

WhatsApp Gains New Group Chat Setting for One-Way Messaging

WhatsApp rolled out an update over the weekend that introduces a useful new administrator setting to the popular messaging platform to make group chats more functional.

Essentially, the new setting allows group chats to be set up so that only approved admins are able to send messages to the group, which should help prevent important information from being lost in a hail of messages from group members.

WhatsApp says the feature is intended for certain use cases where groups are used to receive important announcements, including parents and teachers at schools, community centers, and non-profit organizations.

To enable the setting in WhatsApp, tap Group Settings -> Send Messages and select Only Admins.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has focused on improving the group chat experience over the last few months, introducing group descriptions, a catch-up feature, and protection for users who are being added repeatedly to groups they’ve left.

Tag: WhatsApp
Discuss this article in our forums

Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ Breaks Single-Day Streaming Record on Apple Music

Drake’s fifth album, Scorpion, has surpassed the artist’s own single-day streaming record on Apple Music, with over 170 million streams in its first 24 hours of availability.

Apple told The Verge that Scorpion now holds both the U.S. and global streaming records for the company’s streaming service, and the debut is the biggest ever single-day streaming total for any album on any streaming service.

Drake’s last album, More Life, held the previous record with 89.9 million streams in its first day. It also set records on Apple’s Beats 1 radio service, marking the biggest Beats 1 show in its history at the time.

Apple promoted the artist’s latest release by launching a site that lets visitors make their own Scorpion album cover art with personal photos. The company also made sure Siri had something to say when fans asked the virtual assistant what Drake’s nicknames are.

Apple Music is working overtime for

This is what happens when you ask Siri what Drake’s nickname is pic.twitter.com/3fbRKvKAhA

— Micah Singleton (@MicahSingleton) June 28, 2018

Scorpion appeared on almost 30 of Spotify’s popular playlists, but the rival service was still unable to keep up with the Apple Music’s streaming figures for the album, despite it having around 120 million fewer subscribers than Spotify.

According to Spotify’s public charts, the album was streamed over 132 million times in its first 24 hours, but Spotify said that number could end up being higher once it finishes tallying the results.

Scorpion is expected to shatter the single-week streaming record of 431 million streams currently held by Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys.

Tags: Apple Music, Drake
Discuss this article in our forums

Multi-lens camera firm Light is putting up to nine lenses in a smartphone

Light

Light, maker of a wacky-looking 16-lens camera that hit the market last year, has plans to incorporate its technology into a smartphone.

Dual-lens phones are becoming increasingly commonplace, but Light intends to take on the competition with a smartphone featuring a seemingly absurd nine lenses.

Silicon Valley-based Light recently showed the Washington Post a bunch of concept and working prototype handsets with between five and nine lenses built into the back. It hopes to unveil the device by the end of this year.

The company claims its smartphone camera will offer excellent low-light performance and various depth effects while shooting images of up to a whopping 64 megapixels. That’ll surely seem like overkill for most casual smartphone owners, while those that choose to shoot photos at such a high setting will need to be mindful of storage space on the phone, as saving such large images to the cloud could prove time consuming and even costly, depending on your data plan.

There’s no word on whether Light is collaborating with an existing smartphone maker to build the phone, or whether it’s going it alone. We’ve reached out to the company for clarification and will update when we hear back.

Challenges

Design challenges include slimming down the technology, as Light’s standalone camera, at almost an inch thick, is something of a brick in smartphone terms.

It’ll also need to find an attractive price point for the device. Light’s standalone camera, which offers similar specs without all the phone functionality, already costs a wallet-flinching $1,950.

Light’s unique camera technology uses multiple lenses of varying focal lengths to capture multiple images at the same time, and then uses algorithms to fuse them together to create a single picture.

Its L16 camera also lets you adjust the focal plane and depth of field after the image has been snapped.

Light says its 52-megapixel camera offers DSLR-quality images, but reviews of the L16 at the end of last year cast doubt on its claims of excellent low-light performance. With development work continuing, however, the company last month issued a software update that it said improved the camera’s image quality by at least one full stop “in most low light scenarios.” Light described the update as a “huge” step forward, “specifically around fine details and noise reduction.”

With a growing number of smartphones featuring some pretty nifty camera technology with two or three lenses, Light will have to offer a truly top-notch camera — as well as a compelling smartphone design — to have any hope of succeeding in an already crowded market.

The company has support though, receiving a $30 million cash injection from GV (formerly Google Ventures) in 2016, as well as investment from manufacturing giant Foxconn.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The Rolleiflex returns with a twin-lens instant film camera with modern flair
• Canon tackles flare with new 70-200mm f/2.8, adds serious stabilization to f/4
• Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 Art review
• Nikon developing a 500mm super telephoto with compact Fresnel design
• Up close with 4 of the best macro lenses for your phone