YouTube Premium price hikes in the US
Amazon Prime and Netflix increased their prices last month. It was only a matter of time before other streaming services followed their example. This time it is YouTube’s turn. While YouTube Premium prices increased in many countries in 2024, prices remained the same in the US through 2023. This changes as YouTube Premium goes live this week prices were increased At all four levels.
YouTube Premium Lite saw a $1 price increase, as it went from $7.99 per month to $8.99. It’s worth mentioning that the Lite subscription doesn’t remove all ads, and doesn’t include YouTube Music. The Personal plan, which offers a completely ad-free experience, now costs $15.99 per month after a $2 price increase, which means it was available for $13.99 before the change. YouTube’s Family plan increases by $4, from $22.99 per month to $26.99. And the annual plan has also been increased by $20, it was previously available for $139.99, but now costs $159.99 per year. Reports indicate that the new prices are already effective for new customers, while active customers will see the change from June 7, 2026.
YouTube continues to make money through its advertising business, and has launched an aggressive ad-blocking campaign to attract new subscribers. But such price increases may discourage users from subscribing. Netflix was recently ordered To issue refunds to its users after an Italian court found that its price-gouging clauses were unlawful.
WhatsApp will soon let you set a username
WhatsApp Messenger is preparing a feature that users have been demanding for a long time. This will allow users to set a username for their account. This is quite useful, as it will allow you to share your username with others without sharing your phone number. Usernames in WhatsApp will be compatible with Android, iOS, Windows and web. It has some interesting requirements, usernames can be anywhere between 3 to 23 characters. But, names can’t start with www, or end with a domain like .com. This is to prevent malicious actors from disguising themselves as the official website. The username in WhatsApp will require at least one character. They can only contain letters, numbers, periods, and underscores. No other special characters will be allowed.
Username feature is still in betaAnd it is believed that it will be introduced to a small group of users in the coming months. Once it passes testing, WhatsApp will likely enable the feature for more users.
Amazon Luna no longer lets you buy games from third-party stores
Amazon has been making some big changes to its gaming division since last October. Now, it has announced that Luna will no longer allow users to purchase games from third-party game stores. For those unaware, Luna, formerly called Amazon Cloud Gaming, allowed users to stream games from storefronts like GOG, EA, Ubisoft, Jackbox Games Subscription as part of the Bring Your Own Library feature. This was useful for gamers who did not have a gaming PC or console, you could stream games on web browsers on laptops, phones, tablets, etc. This is what is changing.
On April 10, 2026, Luna stopped offering the option to purchase games, access third-party game stores, and subscriptions. A support page Amazon says Luna will also discontinue its Bring Your Own Library service. The games you already own will no longer be able to be streamed on the platform from June 10, 2026. However, the games you purchased can still be accessed from their respective storefronts, such as EA Apps, GOG, and Ubisoft Connect. Users will be able to download games and save data for up to 90 days after closure, but Amazon says it cannot guarantee that save data from Luna will work on other gaming services.
Cyberpunk 2077 brings various improvements to PlayStation 5 Pro
CD Projekt Red has released a Free update for Cyberpunk 2077For Sony PlayStation 5 Pro. The new version comes with several enhancements such as support for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This AI-powered upscaling technology helps improve game performance by rendering graphics at a lower resolution and upscaling it. BVH8 (8-Way Bounding Volume Hierarchy) to improve the performance and efficiency of beam-traced lighting, shadows, and reflections is now available in Cyberpunk 2077 for PS5 Pro. The update also includes VRS (Variable Rate Shading) algorithm for optimized shading.
Users can choose between 3 graphics modes: Ray Tracing Mode, Performance Mode and Ray Tracing Pro Mode. The first is the default option, while the vehicle offers a steady 60fps with ray-traced reflections on painted and transparent objects and all shadows rendered using ray tracing. Performance mode aims for 60 fps on regular displays and up to 90 fps on VRR-enabled displays. Ray Tracing Pro mode delivers enhanced graphics such as ray-traced skylights, emissive lighting, and ambient occlusion at up to 40 fps on high frame rate (HFR) displays and 30 fps on non-HFR displays.
Microsoft allows testers to more easily access experimental features in Windows 11
Over the past few years, Microsoft has been using a technique called Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR) to gradually roll out new features in Windows 11. This allows the quality of features to be tested before releasing it to a wider audience. Many users were disappointed with this approach, as it meant a longer wait, raising the question of what the whole point of being a Windows Insider is when you don’t have access to the latest features. But, users who are eager to try out the features have ways to enable such experimental options with the help of third-party tools like ViveTool. The process involves finding a feature flag and manually enabling it through the terminal.
Microsoft is making several changes to improve the Windows 11 experience. And as part of this effort, it is make way easier How users can access experimental features in the OS. Insiders who have enrolled in the beta channel will be able to enable or disable experimental features from the Feature Flags page in the Settings app. This will not include bug fixes, etc., but fresh perspectives will be welcomed among testers.
