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As expected, and announced a bit earlier for the European and UK markets, new Netflix users will be seeing a price raise in the U.S. and Canada.

New subscribers will see their monthly bill at $8.99 compared to the current $7.99 and current users will keep their $7.99 price for two years, including HD video streams.

Additionally, Netflix will be offering a $7.99 plan where users can only stream in SD (standard definition) and only on device at any time. The more expensive plan allows for streaming on two screens simultaneously.

All new users get a free trial, and you can change between plans at any time.

Netflix has confirmed that its impending price hike is no longer impending.

Overseas, European and UK users will see their subscriptions jump by £1 and €1, to £6.99 and €8.99, respectively.

Current customers will get to keep their existing price for two years.

Netflix first announced the changes during their quarterly earnings report last month.

The streaming company offers tens of thousands of TV episodes and movies and is most notable for its original content including House of Cards, Arrested Development and more.

Nokia's Lumia series photography lead, Ari Partinen, today announced on Twitter that he has quit his job at Microsoft and will be joining Apple's team in Cupertino, California in June.

Partinen is one of the figures behind Nokia's revolutionary oversampling technology, first introduced in Nokia Pureview 808 and later brought to Windows Phone-era in form of Nokia Lumia 1020.

Superb camera and imaging features have been among few strong marketing claims in Microsoft's attempt to grow its marketshare as it lags far behind Android and iOS, and so losing Partinen is going to be a big blow to Microsoft's camera division -- and a huge win for Apple.

Here's Partinen's original tweet:

According to the Financial Times, and later vetted by other outlets, Apple is preparing to purchase Beats Electronics for up to $3.2 billion.

Beats is popular for their headphones and more recently their music-streaming service that competes with Spotify and other unlimited streaming companies.

Apple has long been rumored to be developing their own streaming service, but it appears they could not innovate quickly enough, which could prove to be a negative turning point in the ongoing saga of Apple, a company that has not released a truly new product since the iPad in 2010.

Through its iTunes store, Apple created the market for music digital downloads, but there are plenty in the industry that believe that model is dead. Streaming services, where subscribers pay $5 to $10 for unlimited listens of huge catalogs, continue to see strong growth, especially through mobile devices.

Nintendo will develop and sell new hardware consoles aimed at emerging markets as it fights to climb out of a global slump it has fallen into in recent years.

Despite having a head start of a year, Nintendo's Wii U sales are actually lower than that of Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles, despite the latter only launching in the holiday season in 2013. Consumers in major western markets are overlooking Nintendo's latest hardware and it is showing on the bottom line in big red figures.

In an effort to turn itself around, Nintendo will look for growth through the development and sale of new hardware. This hardware will be aimed at emerging markets and will not simply be cut downs of the Wii U and other items it sells.

"We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said, reports Bloomberg.

"The product and price balance must be made from scratch."

The timing is good considering that China only recently lifted its decade+ ban on video game console sales in the country, although there are still considerable factors to take into account launching in China.

A large number of Internet and tech firms have signed an open letter to the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler opposing Net Neutrality proposals that could lead the way to paid prioritization.

Recent reports suggested that internal documents at the FCC proposed to allow Internet Service Providers (ISP) to negotiate a type of paid prioritization for better access to subscribers. Of course, the proposal has been widely condemned, as it is a clear break away from the FCC's position on paid prioritization in recent years.

Stating their objections to the possible rules change, a large number of Internet and tech firms have signed an open letter to Chairman Wheeler and the FCC, in which they argue essentially that the proposal is a major shift from the historical and traditional norm, and that it could seriously hurt innovation on the Internet.

"According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tolls on them. If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet," the letter reads.

"According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tolls on them. If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet."

Samsung has confirmed that Chang Dong-hoon has been replaced as the head of its mobile design team.

Chang had reportedly offered to resign his position as head of Samsung's mobile design team just last week. The Galaxy S5 smartphone launched recently and was met with criticism of its design and lack of hardware innovations. The plastic case design of the handset prompted the most negativity among reviewers.

Lee Min-hyouk, Samsung's vice president for mobile design, will take over Chang's position as head of the mobile design team, while Chang will continue to lead the design center at Samsung.

"The realignment will enable Chang to focus more on his role as head of the Design Strategy Team, the company's corporate design centre which is responsible for long-term design strategy across all of Samsung's businesses, including Mobile Communications," Samsung said in a statement.

Samsung's Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets have been its flagship brand for several years now, helping it to overtake and surpass bitter mobile rival Apple globally in terms of smartphone sales.


Sources and Recommanded Reading:
Samsung Electronics replaces mobile design head: in.reuters.com

Google has released an update for its Google Maps apps on Android and iOS adding a proper Offline Maps mode that could come in very handy.

Previously versions of the app had the ability to cache offline maps for later use, but it was a more limited functionality that was cut out by Google. This upset some users to the point that they had to revert back to older versions of the apps.

Now with the release of Google Maps v3.0 for iOS and Maps for Android v8.0, Google has introduced a more useful Offline Mode, which could help your tremendously on your travels if you are not guaranteed a consistent data connection.

All you have to do is search for an area and tap on its place info sheet, then when available, you can select "Save map to use offline," and give your map a custom name, like "Toronto Vacation." It will then be available as a Saved Map when you tap the profile icon next to the search box in the top-right corner of the app. It is the same on both platforms.

The new Maps apps also can inform you which lane you should be driving in to make sure you don't take the wrong lane and end up in a jam. There has also been improvements to the search nearby feature, allowing you to apply filters like opening hours, ratings, prices and so on so you can find a bar or restaurant to suit your needs and tastes.

We've known for quite a while that HTC One (M8) will have a little brother like its predecessor. HTC One mini 2 or whatever it might be called has been rumored and leaked since February. Now we've got assurance that it indeed is coming – and we have a price as well!

According to rumors the smaller version of M8 will sport the same aluminum body but the display has been reduced to 4.5 inches. The resolution of the display is said to be 720p, the SOAC is Snapdragon 400 instead of 801 and the camera loses its UltraPixel name but gains megapixels (13mpix vs 4mpix).

According to the two different online retailers in Finland the model will be released next Tuesday, May 13th. It will be priced at around 520 euros which is a whopping $720 and approximately $580 before taxes. That doesn't sound too inexpensive for a smartphone with a 720p display.

It's also worth noting that the retailers call it HTC One Mini M8 instead of the rumored HTC One mini 2.

HBO's wildly popular Game of Throne has set yet another record for BitTorrent sharing after the latest episode was spread across the world.

Game of Thrones is already a heavily pirated TV show due to its exceptionally large fan base, and HBO's reluctance to license it to streaming services like Netflix.

It is extremely popular on torrent sites, and has been breaking records during the airing, and subsequent uploading, of episodes of recent seasons. The latest episode of Game of Thrones is estimated to have been downloaded around 1.5 million times within a day.

That's not the big deal however, the big deal is that the Demonii tracker reported that over 200,000 people were sharing one single torrent for it at the same time. 163,496 were sharing a complete copy while 43,558 were still leeching.

207,054 is pretty impressive, but probably won't give HBO much reason to be happy.

Read more: TorrentFreak

Yet another bug with the iOS lock screen has been revealed, and it affects iOS 7.1.1 too.

Apple's iOS operating system has had a few lock screen bugs in its time. One such bug allowed access to a variety of apps on the device which could allow an attacker to steal private information, while another one that hit iOS 7 would allow non-emergency phone calls by simply hammering the button until it got stuck and crashed the screen.

Those flaws have been fixed, but a new one has surfaced. This one was shown off by Egyptian programmer Sherif Hashim, and it allows you to use Siri to get to the Contacts of an iPhone without unlocking the device.

In a demo video, Hashim tries unsuccessful to access to the iPhone's contacts by commanding Siri, while the handset is locked. However, he then goes on to give Siri a "Call" demand instead, and Siri helpfully asks who he would like to call. From here, Hashim can gain access to the full list of contacts on the handset.

So far, no other feature has been found to be accessible by tricking Siri.

Until it is fixed, the simplest way to avoid this flaw being exploited is to disable Siri access when the phone is locked, which you can do under Settings - Passcode.

Xbox head Phil Spencer has denied rumors that a handheld Xbox console (or Xbox Surface) is on Microsoft's short list of upcoming projects.

"I don't think we'll do a dedicated handheld gaming device," he confirmed.

For the time being, all of Microsoft's mobile gaming will be dedicated to Windows Phone and Windows-based tablets, with a possibility that future Windows Phones could use Xbox controllers and stream to the large screen without lag.

This is not the first time Microsoft has denied a gaming handheld is in the works, and it probably won't be the last but it truly seems like Microsoft wants nothing to do with that industry dominated by the Nintendo DS/3DS line.

According to "five sources" close to the company, Comcast may soon begin offering streaming video games from major publisher EA via their X1 cable box.

The companies have allegedly been testing the service for two years, and the streaming games will include hit franchises like FIFA and Madden.

Comcast's X1 cable box, the most high-end in the industry including a full interface, operating system and apps, also has the ability for voice control.

If accurate, the move would be the boldest by a cable company trying to get into the gaming world and fend off powerful rivals like Amazon and their set-top FireTV, which includes the ability to play games with a full-sized controller.

Comcast is currently in the process of acquiring Time Warner Cable for $45 billion, combining the biggest cable companies in the U.S. into a behemoth.

According to sources, Xbox Studios is in negotiations with premium cable channel Showtime to develop a live-action 'Halo' series.

The drama is supposedly high priority for Microsoft's Nancy Tellem, who is in charge of bringing original content to Windows and Xbox devices.

If the deal is struck, it would be a first in the industry as the series would air on Showtime and on Xbox as well, with more interactivity built in for gamers. Showtime would get the episodes first.

Steven Spielberg's Amblin TV has been developing the drama with Xbox Studios for over a year, with a script by screenwriter Stuart Beattie.

Xbox Live has 48 million users, but has lacked original content.

SanDisk has announced this week the launch of the world's first enterprise-class 4TB SSD using 19nm process technology.

Additionally, the company showed off new Lightning II performance SSDs with capacities up to 1.6TB.

Looking into the future, SanDisk confirmed Optimus MAX branded 6TB and 8TB SSDs at the 2.5-inch form factor for 2015, promising they will be first to market.

"We see reaching the 4TB mark as really just the beginning and expect to continue doubling the capacity every year or two, far outpacing the growth for traditional HDDs," Manuel Martull, SanDisk's product & solutions marketing director said.

The 4TB SSD can reach 400 MBps sequential reads and writes and up to 75,000 random I/Os per second (IOPS) for reads and writes, notes the company. The drive is aimed at those with data warehousing, media streaming and web server needs.

Pricing was not revealed since pricing for enterprise-class drives are determined by the third-party sellers.