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Google Fi temporarily increases data limits to 30GB per month
Like the major telecom providers, Google recognizes that people are spending more time on their phones during the coronavirus pandemic. To help meet that demand, Google Fi is doubling the data its customers can use before they are downgraded to 2G speeds or forced to pay an additional $10 per gigabyte for the rest of the billing cycle.
Spotify's Premium Family plans get an explicit content filter
Spotify is rolling out a new Premium Family Plan with a much-awaited setting. Parents will now have the ability to filter out songs with swearing, violence, drugs and more via an explicit content filter that can be applied to individual accounts. That feature was surprisingly lacking on a plan with the word "family" in it, considering that it might be used by young children who thought "Snoop Dogg" was some kind of cartoon.
Tidal is the first music streaming service to accept Venmo
High-fidelity music streaming service Tidal now lets subscribers pay using their Venmo balance. It's the latest in a slew of partnerships for the PayPal-owned payments app, following support for Uber, Shopify and Hulu, as it looks to monetize transactions. New Tidal users will be able to select Venmo as a payment option at sign-up on the app, while existing users can make the switch by visiting the My.TIDAL.com mobile website. Once you choose Venmo as your payment option, Tidal will grab your monthly subscription cost from your account or linked payment method.
Sorry, MasterCard's free trial protection only applies to physical goods
Yesterday, MasterCard announced a new feature that would protect its customers from the automatic billing that kicks in after a free trial. The policy will require merchants to notify users about the end of the free trial, the cost of continuing with a subscription and how to cancel the subscription. And it seems like a pretty good feature, especially if you tend to forget to end subscriptions after free trials. But MasterCard has now updated its blog post about the new policy and it looks like it will only apply to physical products, not digital services.
MasterCard won't let companies bill you after free trials for physical products (update)
We've all made the mistake of starting a free trial and forgetting to cancel it before the billing period kicks in. Now, MasterCard will protect against this --but only for physical products. The company announced a new policy that will require merchants to get authorization from you before hitting you with recurring charges for subscriptions. It will also require companies to provide you with monthly updates with pricing and clear instructions on how to cancel if you need it.
Hulu is the first streaming service to take Venmo
Hulu is expanding its payment options to include Venmo. Starting today, subscribers will be able to use the popular peer-to-peer payment app to pay off the cost of their Hulu membership each month. It marks the first time a streaming video service has adopted Venmo for payments.
Netflix tries bypassing Apple's App Store for payments
Netflix is bypassing App Store for its recurring subscription fees. Currently, Netflix pays a 30 percent cut of first-year subscription fees to Apple and 15 percent for each recurring year. But now in 33 countries, TechCrunch reports that new or lapsed customers in places including Canada, Germany, Mexico and Poland will be asked to pay via mobile web rather than in-app. The streaming service did something similar on Android earlier this year.
Apple could lower its cut of subscription fees on video apps
Earlier this year Apple sweetened the split with iOS developers on subscriptions, by promising to halve its usual 30 percent cut -- once a user has been signed up for a year. Now, Bloomberg reports rumors that the company will move to an 85/15 split for all subscription video apps, with no time restriction. That could make partners and customers alike happy, since some services like Spotify, Netflix and YouTube have tacked on an extra buck or two whenever customers sign up via iTunes, just to cover the extra costs.
FCC fines Comcast $2.3 million for shady billing practices (updated)
Comcast is no stranger to customer complaints, but today the service provider's practices cost it $2.3 million. That fine will settle an FCC investigation into whether the company was charging its customers for services and equipment that they didn't authorize. The practice of so-called "negative option billing" charges subscribers for items that they don't explicitly turn down. The FCC explains that the practice forces customers to spend the time and effort to contact the cable company to dispute the charges and seek a refund.
FCC labels ensure you get your daily dose of internet
The FCC passed its so-called Open Internet guidelines last year, and much of the talk focused on the practice of net neutrality. Those rules also reclassified broadband service as a utility and discussed steps for increased consumer protections, including consumer broadband labels to explain cost details and more. Revealed today by the FCC, the new labeling system offers information on pricing, data allowance and network performance so that customers can easily find the information they seek before signing up with a service provider.
Tidal charged ex-subscribers and re-activated accounts (update)
If you gave Tidal a shot and have since cancelled, you likely noticed you were charged for the service in the last day or so. You're not alone. The Verge's Chris Welch was charged $20 by the streaming service, the price of its Premium or hi-fi tier. As if the bogus charge wasn't enough, Tidal offered those affected by the error three months of Tidal Premium in addition to a refund. This means that accounts that were closed have now been re-activated.
Carrier billing is coming to all Windows devices
Wish you could put that Windows app purchase on your phone bill rather than rack up a separate charge? Microsoft just made your day. It's bringing carrier billing to all Windows devices, so you only have to make one payment to cover everything. There are 90 providers involved, too, so there's a very good chance that your network of choice is eligible. The move is welcome, if not totally surprising. When Windows 10 focuses heavily on universal apps that run on both phones and PCs, it only makes sense to pay through your carrier on whichever hardware you use.
Hours is a clean, useful time tracker for iPhone
I've been working from home for a few years now, and even though I'm a telecommuter, I occasionally take a side gig. There are many apps that will let me track by billable hours, including the aptly-named Hours by Tapity (US$4.99). I found Hours to be simple to use, legible and functional. Plus, you can export data to your computer via email. Handy! Here's my look at Hours. Looks Hours is very well-organized. The date and total hours worked are displayed at the very top of the screen. Calendar and preference icons are in the top left and right corners, respectively. The color-coded timers themselves show a running total as well as the project or client they're associated with. There's no guesswork about what's what or how to use Hours, and I like that. Use Starting a new timer is a piece of cake. Sweet, billable cake. Just tap the big 'ol New Timer button to open the edit screen. From there, add the name of the project your timer is for, as well as optionally adding client and task. Next, choose one of sixteen colors for the timer. It's pretty great that there are so many colors to choose from, as it helps keep track of things. Your timers appear in creation order on the app's main screen. You can reorder them at any time by tapping and holding, then dragging them into the order you'd like. To get a timer going, simply tap the clock icon next to its name. As time passes, you'll see that timer's color grow along the timeline at the top of the screen. This is so helpful, in that it provides at-a-glance information on what you've been working on. To stop a timer, just tap the clock icon again. The app's reminders function is also super useful. Have you ever forgotten to start or stop a timer? Now Hours can nag you. Set your work hours and then have the app prompt you if: 1) You haven't started a timer by a custom hour, 2) You've left a timer running after a custom time , or 3) You've gone [x time] without tracking any time There's another handy bit: have you ever needed to round hours up or down? You can tell Hours to snap timers to an increment of your choosing, and round up based on that same number. Finally, Hours lets you choose between a 12- or 24-hour clock. You can even use the decimal system, if that's your thing. The only thing that's left is to get paid! Just export your work hours to your Mac and create a sweet, sweet invoice. Conclusion Hours isn't a client tracker, project manager or to-do app. It's not supposed to be. Hours is a useful, legible and easy-to-use time tracker. If that's the functionality you're after, consider Hours.
Can't pay a bill or activate your phone on Verizon? It's not you, it's them (update: fixed!)
Verizon Wireless acknowledged today that its billing system is having issues for customers across much of the US. According to subscribers tweeting on the #VerizonOutage hashtag, issues have extended over the last two days, preventing them from doing simple things like activating a new phone or paying their bill. In tweets and a message on its news page, Verizon said the issue is affecting customers in the Northeast, Midwest and Southern regions, but has yet to offer an ETA for a fix. It doesn't appear to be affecting things like phone calls or connecting to the internet, but if your bill is due right about now, this could be a problem. We've contacted Verizon for more information and will update you when we hear anything. Update: Verizon reports the issue has been repaired overnight, so My Verizon and other wireless account tools should be working now. [Thanks, Aaron]
Google Now gets billing integration, reminds you when payment is due
Google Now, with cards displaying info for your upcoming flights and shipment tracking, is becoming more and more useful. The latest improvement to Mountain View's virtual assistant integrates billing reminders based on your emails. A tipster sent screens of the new feature to Android Police, though it doesn't look like billing has rolled out to all users yet. If you do see it on your phone, you'll only get basic information about your accounts, such as when a bill is due and how much you owe.
PlayStation Store now supports PayPal funding on PS3
Sony has expanded its PlayStation Store payment options on the PlayStation 3, allowing users to fund Sony Entertainment Network purchases via PayPal's online money transfer service. PayPal support was introduced for Sony's Entertainment Network website back in January, and mobile PayPal funding was later made possible with the Mobile Billing option. Up until this week, however, users accessing the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation 3 were only able to add funds using a credit card or prepaid voucher. A firmware update for the Xbox 360 added PayPal as a billing option in 2011.
You can now use PayPal to fund your PS3 PlayStation Store purchases
PayPal support for Sony Entertainment Network, the company's online digital content hub, is nothing new -- Sony integrated the billing option in January of this year. Now, however, PlayStation 3 users that want a more secure way to fund their purchases directly within the PlayStation Store will find PayPal as an alternative at checkout. There's still a $5 - $150 cap on the amount you can add to your wallet, so you can't exactly go hog-wild with the downloads. But, hey, at least you now have even more flexibility to drain that checking account.
Sony adds mobile billing option to PlayStation Store, SEN
In addition to credit cards, pre-paid giftcards and PayPal, the PlayStation Store and Sony Entertainment Network now support a "mobile billing" option for buying Hatsune Miku DLC, episodes of Teen Wolf, Music Unlimited subscriptions and whatever else the kids are into these days. When adding funds to your virtual wallet through either the PS3's PlayStation Store or SEN's Account Management site, selecting the "Use Mobile" option will initiate the procedure. After receiving and confirming a text message (standard carrier rates apply, natch), the amount added to your wallet will either be tacked onto your phone bill, or deducted from your pre-paid phone account if that's how your plan swings. We're still holding out for a poultry-based bartering system. How many chickens do you think Battlefield 4 DLC is going to cost?
ArcheAge gives import progress report
Wondering what's going on with ArcheAge and when-oh-when will we ever see it in North America and Europe? While Trion Worlds is still being cagey with its time frame, CM James Nichols gave a progress report to give us some info as to what the team is doing. Nichols reported that the team is tackling several hurdles, including connecting the game to Trion's billing system, setting up the server architecture, and translating over a million words for those of us that don't speak Korean. He said that players should expect any changes to the Korean version to be "very minimal," so players shouldn't expect huge new features or differences. He urged patience for those looking to beta test ArcheAge: "We're just as excited to get to the point where we can invite external testers, but expect the closed testing period to last at least a few months." [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
The Turbine billing system has attained sentience (not really)
We hope you've got a little extra money squirreled away in your bank account because the Turbine billing system is hungry. It seems that some players were charged a bit more than usual for their Dungeons and Dragons Online accounts this week, some of them as many as 100 times their normal VIP fee. TurbineTolero took to the forums to clarify the issue: This impacted a limited number of players after the maintenance work, and we have a list of the affected users. We're working with our partners to make sure that over charges are reversed. You do not need to contact us to receive help, but if you have any questions you are welcome to call or send a ticket (phone is 1-855-WBGAMES and tickets contact can be done via http://support.turbine.com). Our sympathies extend to those affected more than passingly by the bug. [Thanks to Marc for the tip!]
