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

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.

Technologies

Reddit Outage Resolved: Here’s What Happened

Did you have trouble reading your favorite subreddits today? You weren’t alone.

If you had trouble accessing the news and discussion forum Reddit on Tuesday, you weren’t the only one. However, as of 10:15 a.m. PT, the site appears to be back up and running normally. Reddit’s status monitoring page, RedditStatus.com, notes that «all systems (are) operational» after the brief outage.

But earlier, at 9:30 a.m. PT, RedditStatus.com said the company was «investigating elevated errors across reddit.com and native apps.» RedditStatus.com reported degraded site performance for both desktop web use and native mobile apps.

Earlier on Tuesday, the site-monitoring service DownDetector also reported issues at Reddit, providing additional details. At one point on Tuesday, DownDetector received over 100,000 reports that the site was having problems. At 10:25 am PT, the report numbers fell to under 600. (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

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«Reddit is currently experiencing a significant internal outage causing widespread service disruptions,» the site said earlier Tuesday. «The impact is categorized as Very High, primarily affecting mobile app access (55%) and website connectivity (39%). While reports are heavily concentrated in major hubs like New York City and Chicago, the lack of ISP correlation suggests a broad, nationwide issue stemming from Reddit’s internal servers rather than external network providers.»

A representative for Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another social media site, X, formerly Twitter, also showed problems on Tuesday, according to DownDetector. Those problems seemed to spike around 6:30 a.m. PT and improve after.

Technologies

This 3-in-1 Charger Is a Must-Have for Travelers, and It Just Hit a Record-Low of $95

Snag it for $45 off and charge your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time.

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you know that outlets are a precious commodity in places like airports and coffee shops. So why waste one on a single device when you can charge up to three at once? Right now, you can grab this seriously sleek Ugreen Magflow three-in-one foldable charger for just $95 at Amazon. That’s a $45 discount and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen. Just don’t wait too long, as this deal could expire at any time.

At just 7.4 ounces, this compact charging station is designed to be taken on the go. But despite its size, it still supports 25-watt MagSafe charging for iPhones, as well as 5-watt wireless charging for AirPods and Apple Watches. The charging stand also tilts up to double as a stand, and it’s equipped with 16 magnets to keep your phone aligned and securely in place. Plus, it’s got built-in protections against overheating, overcharging, short-circuiting and more to prevent damage to your devices.

Why this deal matters

This folding Ugreen charger is great for juicing up your devices on the go, and it’s never been more affordable. Plus, Ugreen makes some of the best MagSafe chargers on the market right now, so don’t miss your chance to grab one at a record-low price.