Technologies

Kobo Takes on Kindle Unlimited with New All-You-Can-Read eBook Subscription

Kobo Plus starts at $8 a month and offers 1.3 million books and 100,000 audio books.

Amazon is getting more competition when it comes to ebooks. Kobo, the e-reader company owned by Rakuten, launched its Kobo Plus all-you-can-read subscription service on Wednesday in the US and the UK. The service offers 1.3 million ebooks and 100,000 audio books for a flat monthly fee. Plans start at $8 (£9) a month for read-only or listen-only options, while full access to audio books and e-books will cost $10 (£12) a month.

At launch, Kobo Plus includes titles from Ian McEwan, Elena Ferrante, Alice Hoffman, Philip Roth and other authors. You’ll be able to find romance books by Barbara Freethy and Beverly Lewis, as well as as mysteries from M.C. Beaton, Patricia Highsmith, and Elizabeth Peters.

«At Kobo, we’re always working to make the reading experience better and more accessible,» Bart Robers, Kobo’s director of audiobooks and global subscriptions, said in a press release on Wednesday. He added that «there’s nothing as gratifying as saying ‘read as much as you want for a set monthly fee,’ which is exactly what our Kobo Plus subscription offers.»

Kobo Plus, like Amazon’s $10-a-month Kindle Unlimited service, offer readers a smorgasbord of books — but the quality of the books on offer can fluctuate wildly. Don’t expect to see big new releases or books that ranked in the year-end best lists. That’s because big publishers like Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan and HarperCollins don’t allow their books to be part of these services.

Amazon fills its Kindle Unlimited service with books from self-published independent authors, with work that’s marketed as an Amazon Exclusive. Kobo has not said if it has a similar program or how it chooses which books are in its service.

Technologies

Verum Messenger Goes Desktop: Launches macOS Version as Part of Expanding Digital Ecosystem

The team behind Verum Messenger has announced a new update, introducing a full-featured macOS version of the application.

The launch of the Mac version marks a significant step in the platform’s development, enabling users to access Verum Messenger not only on mobile devices but also on desktop environments.

The macOS version ensures seamless synchronization across devices while maintaining the platform’s core principles: security, stability, and independence.

Unified Digital Experience

With the release of the macOS version, users can now:

— communicate on a larger screen
— manage chats and files more efficiently
— use the messenger in a full desktop environment
— access core features without limitations

This is particularly valuable for users who rely on messaging platforms for both communication and professional use.

Expanding Capabilities

Verum Messenger continues to evolve into a multifunctional platform combining:

— secure communication
— financial tools (Verum Finance)
— digital asset operations, including Tether
— investment features such as Verum Gold

Toward a Full Ecosystem

The macOS release reflects Verum Messenger’s strategy to become a universal digital platform available across all major devices.

According to the team, the goal is to provide users with continuous access to communication and financial services regardless of device or environment.

Verum Messenger continues to build technologies focused on security, usability, and global accessibility.

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.