Snapchat's subscription service may be more popular than you think. Snap has revealed that Snapchat+ has topped 3 million subscribers. That suggests growth is once again accelerating. While growth slowed after the 1 million mark in the first month, it reached 2 million users in January — there's clearly an audience willing to pay $4 per month for early features and VIP benefits like priority comments.

The social network is also adding a few new features for everyone. A new "After Dark" shared Story lets friends add to a summary of late-night escapades. A Communities feature for sharing views with classmates, meanwhile, is expanding to more schools over the course of the month.

Snap Map will be more useful as well. You'll see 3D landmarks that could help you find content around hotspots, while location sharing helps you keep track of pals. Places can also have tags to help you find trending venues.

The Snapchat+ expansion and new features come at a crucial moment. Snapchat has continued to grow, reaching 750 million monthly active users (and 375 million daily users) as of February despite competition from the likes of Instagram and TikTok. It also follows after a rough 2022 that included layoffs of 1,300 workers and the early death of its Pixy selfie drone. Sustained growth could not only help Snap bounce back, but help reduce its dependence on ad money.

Google may be close to launching its long-rumored foldable Pixel phone. CNBCclaims to have seen internal communications revealing that the Pixel Fold will be announced at the I/O conference on May 10th, and ship in June. The device will reportedly cost around $1,700, or close to the $1,800 Samsung asks for the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

The company may tout a few advantages over its rival. The Pixel Fold will have a book-like design with a 5.8-inch external screen and 7.6-inch folding display, but will supposedly have the "most durable hinge" of any foldable, according to Google. It should also be water-resistant and pack a larger battery that lasts up to 24 hours in normal use, and 72 hours with Extreme Battery Saver.

Don't expect performance gains. The Pixel Fold will apparently use the same Tensor G2 chip as in the Pixel 7 series, and previous leaks suggest it might have cameras that predate the Pixel 6. As with other Pixels, the draw may be the 'pure' Android experience — this will be the first opportunity to see Google's own approach to foldable devices.

The price is still steep compared to regular Pixel phones, which top out at $899 for the Pixel 7 Pro. Google may sweeten the deal by encouraging trade-ins, however. The company may even offer a free Pixel Watch to Fold buyers.

If the details are accurate, the foldable Pixel may not be an easy sell. Google is expected to debut the Pixel 8 this fall, and that's likely to include upgrades like a third-generation Tensor chip. With that in mind, North Americans have had few options for foldable phones beyond the Galaxy Z Fold series and previous-gen Moto Razr models. The Pixel Fold may stand out simply by providing real competition in a small category.

Meta has started the layoffs it announced in March. The company has confirmed that it's letting go of the first wave of the roughly 10,000 affected employees. CNBCnotes that this initial round of job cuts focuses on technical roles, such as software engineer, AR/VR gameplay programmers and user experience designers. Business positions (such as finance and legal) will be cut in May. Other tech workers may be affected next month.

Company chief Mark Zuckerberg outlined the schedule for the cuts upon revealing them last month. This comes after Meta laid off 11,000 people last fall. The two rounds of cuts represent Meta's first mass layoffs, and Zuckerberg has characterized 2023 as a "year of efficiency" where the company narrows its focus and is theoretically more productive.

Meta is dealing with a rough economy like other big tech firms laying off staff, but is also struggling to pivot to the metaverse. The social media pioneer has continued to pour billions of dollars into the Reality Labs unit responsible for its VR headsets and virtual platforms like Horizon Worlds, but these have yet to translate to major revenue growth. Ad revenue for Meta's main social platforms fell in 2022.

The company's outlook for its just-ended quarter suggests the worst of the downturns may be at an end. Results will be announced next week. Reality Labs isn't expected to turn a profit, though, and it may be some time before Meta's social businesses return to meaningful growth.

This is a prime moment to buy a high-powered Mac laptop for a grad, or as a treat for yourself. Amazon is offering steep discounts for 14-inch MacBook Pro models with the M2 Pro chip. The base version with a 10-core CPU and 512GB of storage is available at an all-time low price of $1,799, or $200 off. The biggest bargain, however, is a 12-core CPU variant with 1TB of storage that's selling for $2,249, or a sizeable $250 off. At these prices, there's little reason to get a MacBook Air — the Pro delivers considerably more features for a slightly larger outlay.

The 2023 revision of the 14-inch MacBook Pro is an iterative upgrade, but that still makes it an excellent laptop. It maintains the superb display, speakers, input and connectivity of its predecessor, but the M2 Pro improves performance and extends battery life. This is a compact powerhouse for creative work, particularly if you tend to work away from a wall outlet — Apple Silicon-based Macs sustain their speed while on battery power, unlike many competitors. It's quiet, too.

This is still an expensive computer that may be pricier than some competitors, and you'll want a Windows-based machine if you either crave a gaming rig or have certain must-run apps that aren't Mac-native. If those aren't issues, though, this is a very well-rounded portable with few shortcomings.

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After 25 years, Netflix's original business is shutting down. The company has revealed that it will "wind down" DVD rentals (that is. DVD.com), with its last movie discs mailing on September 29th. Simply put, the shrinking demand for physical rentals is making it "increasingly difficult" to offer the service the company wants.

Netflix shipped its first disc (Beetlejuice, if you're curious) in 1998. It has since mailed over 5.2 billion movies in its signature red envelopes (nearly all of them before 2019) to more than 40 million customers. You likely know the story after that. The company began streaming on-demand video in 2007, and that business grew quickly enough that it became Netflix's dominant offering. After a premature attempt to spin off the mailed rentals as Qwikster in 2011, Netflix moved them to DVD.com in 2016. By that point, the company was well into producing original streaming shows.

Developing...

Months later than rumored, Meta's Horizon Worlds is opening its doors to younger teens. The company is making its metaverse space accessible to teens aged 13 to 17 in the US and Canada in the weeks ahead. Unsurprisingly, the company is promising "robust" safety measures and parental controls — it wants to be sure the experience is age-appropriate, and the gradual rollout will help it gauge how well those protections are working.

Teens' Horizon Worlds profiles will be private by default, and won't automatically show locations or active statuses. They won't see unfamiliar adults in their "people you might know" lists. Age ratings prevent teens from creating or using mature content, and a "voice mode" garbles the voices of anyone that isn't following back. These younger users will also get safety tips while they're in VR. 

Parents can use the Meta Quest app or Family Center (now available for Horizon Worlds) to control features like personal boundaries. They can also allow or block apps, track usage and see who's following who. All users can cast their VR view to an external screen, so a parent in the room can see what's happening.

The strategy closely reflects Meta's approach to teen safety on Facebook and Instagram. That won't necessarily please everyone. Senators have urged Meta to keep teens off Horizon Worlds over concerns the company's safeguards may be inadequate. They've noted that Meta's own research revealed harm to some teens, and that other virtual spaces like VRChat are prone to predatory and toxic behavior.

There's plenty of pressure on Meta to expand, however. The social media giant has struggled to pivot to the metaverse, and continues to lose billions investing in the Reality Labs unit behind Horizon Worlds and Quest headsets. A wider teen audience could boost Horizon's audience and spur the market for VR hardware.

YouTube already bans videos that directly promote eating disorders, but now it's clamping down on content that may unintentionally encourage that behavior. To begin with, the service banning videos on eating disorders that feature "imitable" behavior or weight-oriented bullying. The company will also restrict informative and artistic videos containing disorders (such as someone discussing their recovery) to users 18 and older.

You'll also see crisis resource panels for eating disorders in more places. While they already appear in search results in nine countries (including the US, Canada and UK), you'll now see them underneath relevant videos in those areas. Viewers in the US may be encouraged to call or chat with the National Eating Disorder Association in the US.

The new approach will initially be viewable today and reach more people in the weeks ahead. YouTube says this is an "ongoing" effort.

The addition is an acknowledgment that videos can affect people in "different ways," YouTube says. Ideally, this will minimize the chances of helpful video creators inadvertently fostering eating disorders in at-risk viewers.

Whether or not this works as intended is another matter. YouTube's enforcement hasn't always been consistent, and it has occasionally had to reverse policies (such as one limiting profanity in monetized videos) that inadvertently punished certain creators. Gaming and LGBTQ video producers, for instance, have complained that YouTube has demonetized clips that aren't harmful. With that said, the updated policy is focused on limiting access to videos, not removing their money-making potential.

Samsung is replacing its Free app on Galaxy devices with a client that's more focused, if also a little familiar. The company is launching a beta News app that, somewhat like its Apple equivalent, concentrates on top headlines (here organized into morning and evening briefings) as well as customizable feeds. Unlike many other news apps, though, you can also listen to podcasts.

The app will reach US-based Galaxy hardware in the weeks ahead, and will automatically replace Free if it's already installed. You can otherwise download it from Samsung's Galaxy Store. The news will initially come from "trusted partners" that include Axios, Huffington Post (formerly a sibling brand of Engadget) and Sports Illustrated. More outlets and additional features are coming, Samsung says.

The change may create a few hassles. Free combined news with Samsung TV Plus channels and casual gaming. Now, you'll have to go to separate apps to access that content. However, the News app may be considerably more useful if you're catching up on the day's events, or want to listen to a recap during the commute home.

There's no mention of a paid service comparable to Apple News+, which offers access to some subscription-only news sources as well as magazines. However, the strategy isn't all that different. Samsung is shifting its attention to services at a time when the phone market is grim — you may be more likely to stick to your Galaxy phone (and pay for content on it) if services like News prove appealing.

It's not just American broadcasters departing Twitter in opposition to the "government-funded media" label. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is "pausing" its use of Twitter over the label's implication that the government may influence its editorial output. Reporting is "impartial and independent," the media outlet says.

There's no word on whether or not the CBC is in discussions with Twitter to alter the label. We've asked the broadcaster for comment. The UK's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) succeeded in having Twitter change its label to "publicly-funded" soon after a quickly-organized interview with Elon Musk, who said he agreed with the corporation's description of itself.

The CBC is a Crown corporation, which means it's completely owned by the Canadian government but editorially independent — the country's Broadcasting Act enshrines that hands-off approach in law. It also makes some of its money from advertising.

Attention to the issue in the US began in earnest when National Public Radio (NPR) objected to "US state-affiliated" media labelling. Twitter changed the label, but to a "government-funded" designation that still implied bias. NPR quit the platform days later. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made a similar move, noting that most of its revenue comes from private sources.

The CBC's halt won't necessarily lead Twitter to change its label policy. However, it makes clear that the exodus is an international phenomenon. Don't be surprised if the trend continues in other countries where similarly structured broadcasters operate.

The rumored feature upgrades for the Google Pixel 7a may prompt a price increase. A 9to5Google retail source claims the upcoming mid-range phone will cost $499, or $50 more than the Pixel 6a. That's not shocking given possible upgrades that include a 90Hz display, a 64MP main camera and wireless charging, but this is a far cry from the $350 of the Pixel 4a.

Google is reportedly compensating for the hike by keeping the Pixel 6a on sale at a lower price. You may still get a budget phone, even if it's just last year's model. There's no word on Google extending software update support for the 6a, so we still wouldn't count on Android version upgrades past July 2025.

You may not have to wait as long for the Pixel 7a as you did for its ancestor. The same source says the new phone will be available in retail stores on May 11th. Front Page Tech's Jon Prosser says the 7a would be available for immediate purchase on May 10th, but 9to5 believes it won't reach any customers until the following day. That's still better than for the 6a, which didn't ship until two months after its launch event.

If the report is accurate, the $499 price for the Pixel 7a won't thrill fans who've witnessed ballooning prices elsewhere in the tech world. However, Google has incentives to carry on with this strategy. CEO Sundar Pichai recently declared that the Pixel 6a, 7 and 7 Pro represent the "best-selling generation" of phones in Google's history. While that's not a surprise given previously modest sales (Counterpoint Research estimates Google had six percent of the North American market in the fourth quarter), it suggests Google is content to build on its existing formula.