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 Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 5, #1477

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 5, No. 1,477.

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 pretty tough one. I grew up on a farm, so I know the word, but I didn’t put it together right away, even though the letters are common ones. 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

There is are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter B.

Wordle hint No. 4: Down on the farm

Today’s Wordle answer describes a piece of farm equipment.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a machine for making paper, hay, or cotton into bales.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is BALER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 4, No. 1476 was CURVE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 30, No. 1472: BLINK

July 1, No. 1473: MOLDY

July 2, No. 1474: INCUR

July 3, No. 1475: POPPY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 5, #489

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 5, No. 489.

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

The theme of today’s NYT Strands puzzle isn’t terribly tough, but at least one of the words is unusual and really, really long to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Every second counts.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Does anybody really know what time it is?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DIAL, SOLE, MOLE, MOLES, SHAKE, CHEEP, ROLE, HOME, LOCK, MEAT, TAME, TAMES, ROLES, ROON, TRON

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

CLOCK, WATCH, SUNDIAL, HOURGLASS, CHRONOMETER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TIMEKEEPERS. To find it, look for the T that’s four letters down on the far left, and wind across.

Technologies

Microsoft Is Eliminating Passwords in August: Here’s What You Need to Do to Prepare

Microsoft Authenticator has already stopped autofilling passwords, but the biggest change comes next month.

In June, Microsoft Authenticator stopped letting users create new passwords. In July, it turned off the autofill password function. And in August, the login app will stop supporting passwords entirely, moving to more secure passkeys, such as a PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Attila Tomaschek, CNET’s software senior writer and digital security expert, says that passkeys are a safer alternative to the risky password habits practiced by 49% of US adults, according to a recent survey by CNET.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» Tomaschek said.

Using the same password for several accounts or adding personal hints can be a convenient way to remember your login. But that puts you at a big risk for scammers, identity theft and fraud. Here’s more on Microsoft’s plan for eliminating passwords and how to make the switch to passkeys before August.

When will Microsoft Authenticator stop supporting passwords?

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here’s a timeline of other changes you can expect from Microsoft.

July 2025: You won’t be able to use the autofill password function.
August 2025: You’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why are passkeys a better alternative to passwords?

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.