Apple is reportedly reviving its device subscription program, 'Apple Upgrade,' potentially launching July 28. Partnering with Klarna, the service will offer iPhones, Macs, iPads, and Apple Watches with upgrade flexibility, but some devices will be ineligible.
Alibaba has previewed its Qwen3.8 AI model, claiming it's "second only" to Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 with 2.4 trillion parameters. This launch, coinciding with China's top AI summit, highlights the country's push to match US AI leaders.
The Hill, a digital-first news publication, is launching a new subscription service called The Hill Insider. The service offers premium content like newsletters and video calls, with basic and premium tiers costing $5.99 and $9.99 per month respectively. The main website will remain free.
Microsoft announced Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will drop from $29.99 to $22.99 per month, while future Call of Duty games will no longer launch on the service. The change ends Microsoft's experiment using CoD to boost Game Pass subscriptions—a strategy that failed, with the company reportedly losing $300 million in CoD sales last year. Under new leadership following Phil Spencer's retirement, Asha Sharma is reversing the controversial 2024 day-one CoD strategy that was meant to drive Game Pass growth but instead plateaued the service at around 30 million users while cannibalizing CoD sales.
Xbox has reduced monthly Game Pass subscription prices following significant backlash, but will now delay the release of new Call of Duty titles on the service by approximately one year.
Microsoft has also reduced the price of its Xbox Game Pass video game subscription service, Microsoft Gaming boss Asha Sharma has announcedMicrosoft’s gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass will be coming down in price from today, but future Call of Duty titles will no longer be available on the service at launch. Other games from Microsoft-owned studios will still be playable on Game Pass from the day of their release, and older Call of Duty games will remain available, the company has clarified.Last October, Microsoft increased the price of its top-tier Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription by almost 50%. From today the price will reduce from £22.99/month to £16.99/month in the UK, and from $29.99 to $22.99 a month in the US. PC Game Pass will also drop from $16.49 to $13.99/£13.49 to £10.99 a month. Continue reading...
