Technologies

Verizon’s Plus Play Arrives in Beta With Offer of Free Year of Netflix Premium

Verizon wants to draw people to its new subscription manager by offering free access to Netflix’s top plan if you buy another subscription.

In March Verizon announced Plus Play, a central location to manage all your streaming services and subscriptions. The company promised a full launch by the end of the year, and while it hasn’t fully reached that goal, Verizon is finally opening up the service in beta to its mobile and 5G and 4G LTE home internet customers.

To get people to try its free subscription management platform, the carrier is dangling a «limited time» offer of one year of Netflix Premium for free if you also sign up for «a 12-month or seasonal subscription» to one of its other partners. Initial eligible options include the NFL’s NFL Plus, the NBA’s League Pass, AMC Plus, Super Duolingo, Calm and Peloton.

Verizon says it will have 20 partners for the beta launch — including Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, HBO Max, Discovery Plus and The Athletic — with an undisclosed «many more» partners coming in the first quarter of 2023.

Netflix Premium normally runs $20 a month ($240 for the year) and includes 4K streaming and the ability to watch on four devices at once. While you can’t sign up for a monthly subscription to a different service and then get this deal, there are a few «seasonal» options that make it pretty compelling.

A seasonal subscription to NFL Plus Premium, which lets you stream local and national NFL games on a phone or tablet, runs a one-time $25 for the rest of this season. Under Verizon’s promotion, spending that $25 and signing up for NFL Plus through Plus Play will also get you Netflix Premium for free for a year.

It is worth noting that the carrier also has a seasonal offer for the regular NFL Plus at $13, but despite it having that seasonal language only the $25 Premium version will apply for the Netflix offer (a similar situation exists for the NBA’s League Pass).

If you’re already on Netflix, you can bring over your subscription and move to Premium through Plus Play. However, Verizon doesn’t appear to offer Netflix’s other tiers, and it isn’t immediately clear if you’ll be able to downgrade from Premium through Plus Play after the free year offer expires. Verizon’s website has steps on how to migrate a Netflix account.

If you have HBO Max, you can move your existing subscriptions to the platform, though you can’t move most other services. according to Verizon’s FAQ. If you want to take advantage of most of Verizon’s Plus Play offers, you’ll likely need to cancel your current subscriptions and then make new accounts.

What you can and can’t do with Verizon Plus Play

Plus Play is intended to be a hub where Verizon users can sign up, manage and cancel a host of streaming services and subscriptions. The Play Plus website will also be where the carrier offers deals or trials to get you to sign up for new services. While the platform will recommend shows to watch or things to do, it won’t be a place for you to watch shows or view content. Instead. it will direct you to that service’s app or website.

Verizon previously told CNET that it wouldn’t be able to see which shows you’re watching or content you’re interacting with. Instead, it will make the recommendations «based on information about you we’ve acquired independently of what you are watching on a particular service,» Frank Boulben, chief revenue officer of Verizon’s consumer group, said in March.

If you leave Verizon’s wireless or home internet services you won’t necessarily lose access to Plus Play, though it isn’t immediately clear if you’ll still be able to adjust your plans or sign up for new services. CNET has reached out to Verizon for more information and will update if it responds.

Verizon won’t add these subscriptions to your monthly wireless or home internet bill, but will instead charge them to a credit or debit card you have on your account.

Unlike with a wireless bill, the carrier won’t charge you an extra fee to pay for a Plus Play service with a regular credit card. But it will give you 2% back on Plus Play subscriptions if you pay with its Verizon-branded credit card.

Verizon is limiting the beta access, but it plans to expand the Plus Play offering to its Fios users in the future. It hasn’t specified when that might happen, however. It also hasn’t announced when the service will be available to its prepaid wireless users.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.

Green group hint: End user or customer.

Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.

Purple group hint: Not noisy.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Fixed.

Green group: Receiver of goods or services.

Blue group: Starting with weather conditions.

Purple group: Silent ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is fixed. The four answers are fast, firm, secure and tight.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is receiver of goods or services. The four answers are account, client, consumer and user.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is starting with weather conditions. The four answers are frosty (frost), mistletoe (mist), rainmaker (rain) and snowman (snow).

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is silent ____. The four answers are auction, movie, partner and treatment.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 14, #1670

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 14, No. 1,670.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a tough one, with a letter that is rarely used and which I just never guess. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has three vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with A.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with D.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can mean to keep away from something or someone.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is AVOID.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 13, No. 1669 was GUMBO.

Recent Wordle answers

Jan. 9, No. 1665: EIGHT

Jan. 10, No. 1666: MANIC

Jan. 11, No. 1667: QUARK

Jan. 12, No. 1668: TRIAL

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription

Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.

Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.

The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.

While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.

What the Creator Studio bundle comes with

The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.

Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.

Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.

A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.

Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.