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YouTube is adding new features to its Premium Lite plan. The tier will offer background play and downloads for the mostly ad-free plan. The update comes a year after YouTube first launched the lower-cost plan. The Premium Lite tier is notable because for $8 per month you get most videos ad-free, emphasis on most. Currently, it still uses ads for YouTube music (along with random other videos), but the new update is bringing more Premium tier features without the $14 per month price tag. As a Lite user, you will be able to use background play on most videos. Notably, this announcement comes less than a month after Google cracked down on free workarounds to access background play on YouTube. "Background playback is a feature intended to be exclusive for YouTube Premium members. While some non-Premium users may have previously been able to access this through mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms," Google told Android Authority. Now, it's for Premium Lite users as well. YouTube Premium Lite users are also getting access to downloads. They can watch here it comes again most videos offline. These new features will roll out starting today and in the coming weeks to Premium Lite subscribers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtubes-premium-lite-tier-gets-background-play-and-downloads-170051755.html?src=rss
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Blizzard is finally bringing Overwatch to mobile devices, but not exactly in the way you think. The company isn't making a port of the mainline game. Rather, it just announced a spinoff called Overwatch Rush, which is being described as a "top-down hero shooter designed specifically for mobile set in the Overwatch universe." There have been rumors about an Overwatch mobile game for what seems like a lifetime. Most people assumed this would appear as a straight port, but a brand-new game is also great. It's not being developed by Team 4, the group that works on the mainline game, but is being made internally. Overwatch Rush features many of the heroes of Overwatch battling on familiar-looking maps, according to a gameplay video. The game offers 4v4 matches, though the characters are more cartoonish and stylized than the mainline game. This is likely to accommodate smaller screens and the top-down view. This is a mobile game, so the battles are described as "bite-sized" and the controls are touchscreen-based. Blizzard says it's still in the early stages of development but that it's going to offer "fast-paced, on-the-go play, with hero-centric combat and playstyle customization that suits both team and solo players." Overwatch Rush will be playable soon, as part of a beta testing process. It'll be free to play and available for both Android and iOS whenever the full game is ready to go. Blizzard says that a "new, separate, dedicated team" will be "focused exclusively" on Overwatch Rush. That's industry code for "we aren't draining resources from the main game to make the mobile spinoff." Oddly, the company recently held a series of panels to discuss the future of its franchises and didn't mention this mobile game. This isn't the company's first foray into mobile game development. It's had a hand in stuff like Diablo Immortal and Warcraft Rumble.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzard-finally-revealed-its-long-rumored-overwatch-mobile-game-162938590.html?src=rss
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Netflix, Disney+, Amazon's Prime Video and other major video on-demand (VOD) streaming services are set to face stricter regulation in the UK. Platforms with a monthly average of more than 500,000 UK viewers will be deemed Tier 1" services that are subject to similar oversight as broadcasters like the BBC and ITV under the eye of media watchdog Ofcom. Streaming services run by public broadcasters like ITVX and Channel 4 will have to abide by the new rules as well. BBC services such as iPlayer are exempt for now as theyre regulated under the Broadcasting Code, which broadcasters have to adhere to. That said, the UK government plans to update the BBC Framework Agreement so that iPlayer is regulated in the same way as Netflix et al. The government said the new rules will reflect changes in how people are watching TV. It claimed that 85 percent of people use an on-demand service every month while 67 percent watch live TV. It added that two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney.According to Variety, the rules will not apply to video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, since those are regulated under the Online Safety Act. However, individual channels on such platforms could be subject to the VOD standards code. Tier 1 platforms will have to adhere to regulations regarding accuracy and impartiality, while ensuring they shield audiences from harmful or offensive" material. Ofcom will be able to accept viewer complaints over apparent breaches of such rules and carry out investigations. The watchdog will then be able to take action if it determines that there's been a breach of the VOD standards code. That includes fines of up to 250,000 ($337,000) or five percent of "qualifying revenue" per breach.A public consultation will help shape the VOD standards code. The public and streaming services will have the chance to weigh in on what the rules should be. The standards code will then come into force a year after Ofcom publishes it. The government says "more than 20" platforms will be subject to the code as things stand.Separately, a VOD accessibility code will be established to bring streaming services further into line with broadcasters. Tier 1 streaming platforms will have to ensure that at least 80 percent of their total catalogues are subtitled, 10 percent have audio descriptions and five percent is signed. They'll have four years to meet the requirements of the accessibility code. "With UK audiences increasingly favoring on-demand platforms over live TV, we want to ensure that no one is left behind, and that everyone can enjoy the huge range of content available on video-on-demand services," Media Minister Ian Murray said in a statement. "Implementing a new Ofcom-regulated accessibility code for our largest video-on-demand services will give people with disabilities impacting their sight or hearing peace of mind that theyll be able to stream all their favorite films and TV shows long into the future."The UK government is implementing these rules for streaming services under the Media Act 2024. Currently, platforms including Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Discovery+, Hayu and ITVX are subject to statutory rules that Ofcom enforces. However, the watchdog has no oversight of Netflix as things stand. That platform's European base is in the Netherlands. As such, the Dutch media regulator oversees Netflix instead.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-disney-and-other-major-streaming-services-face-stricter-uk-oversight-160121268.html?src=rss
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