Adobe has canceled plans to discontinue its 2D animation software Animate.

On Monday, Adobe announced that it would stop allowing people to sell subscriptions to Animate on March 1, saying the software had “served its purpose." People who already had a software license would be able to keep using Animate with technical support until March 1, 2027; businesses had until March 1, 2029. Per an email sent to customers, Adobe also said users would lose access to Animate files and project data on March 1, 2027. Animate costs $23 per month.

After receiving backlash from animators and other users, Adobe reversed its decision on Tuesday night. In an announcement posted online, the San Jose, California-headquartered company said:

Read full article

Comments

© David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A potential deal between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) streaming and movie studio businesses has raised fresh concerns about consolidation in the streaming industry. Attempting to quell fears that an acquisition of WBD’s streaming and movie studio businesses might lead to higher prices, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarados suggested in a Senate hearing today that any merger would have the opposite effect.

During the hearing, which was held by the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, Sarandos sought to convince the senators that Netflix wouldn’t hold a streaming monopoly if regulators allow the acquisition to close.

Netflix is the largest subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) provider by subscribers (301.63 million as of January 2025), and WBD is the third (128 million streaming subscribers, including users of HBO Max and, to a lesser degree, Discovery+).

Read full article

Comments

© Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Crunchyroll is one of the most popular streaming platforms for anime viewers. Over the past six years, the service has raised prices for fans, and today, it announced that it's increasing monthly subscription prices by up to 25 percent.

Sony bought Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2020. At the time, Crunchyroll had 3 million paid subscribers and an additional 197 million users with free accounts, which let people watch a limited number of titles with commercials. At the time, Crunchyroll monthly subscription tiers cost $8, $10, or $15.

After its acquisition by Sony, like many large technology companies that buy a smaller, beloved product, the company made controversial changes. The Tokyo-based company folded rival Funimation into Crunchyroll; Sony shut down Funimation, which it bought in 2017, in April 2024.

Read full article

Comments

© Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Technology companies spent part of the 2010s trying to convince us that we would want an 8K display one day.

In 2012, Sharp brought the first 8K TV prototype to the CES trade show in Las Vegas. In 2015, the first 8K TVs started selling in Japan for 16 million yen (about $133,034 at the time), and in 2018, Samsung released the first 8K TVs in the US, starting at a more reasonable $3,500. By 2016, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) had a specification for supporting 8K (Display Port1.4), and the HDMI Forum followed suit (with HDMI 2.1). By 2017, Dell had an 8K computer monitor. In 2019, LG released the first 8K OLED TV, further pushing the industry's claim that 8K TVs were "the future."

A marketing image for 8K TVs that's (still) on LG's US website. Credit: LG

However, 8K never proved its necessity or practicality.

Read full article

Comments

© LG

LG has launched a subscription program in the UK that allows people to make monthly payments in order to rent LG TVs, soundbars, monitors, and speakers.

LG Flex customers can sign up for one-, two-, or three-year subscriptions to get lower monthly payments.

“At the end of your subscription, you can apply for a free upgrade, keep paying monthly, or return your device,” the LG Flex website says. Subscribers will have to pay a £50 (about $69) fee for a “full removal service,” including dismounting and packaging, of rental TVs.

Read full article

Comments

© LG