All articles tagged with #premium
Blood Dungeon arrives on Xbox Game Pass as a day-one title for Ultimate and PC Game Pass members, a fast-paced 2D bullet-hell platformer with over 100 enemies and Xbox Play Anywhere support; Premium subscribers can also play the quirky shooter-racer Aerial Knight's DropShot on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and handheld.
Spotify is testing a foreground skip button for some paid subscribers that lets listeners skip podcast ads and other promos, potentially reshaping podcast monetization by privileging Spotify’s ads while publishers’ ads can be skipped. The feature is limited (only on foreground app, for select Premium users) and marketed as improving listener engagement, but networks warn it could push advertisers to other platforms and shift podcast discovery toward clips and video,
Premium subscribers gain two new titles on Xbox Game Pass: Monsters are Coming!, which now debuts on Xbox Series X|S (and supports Play Anywhere), and PowerWash Simulator 2, which adds a new Muckingham campaign and fresh locations.
Spotify announced 300 million Premium subscribers (up 9% YoY), bringing total monthly active users to 777 million and €4.78B ($5.5B) in revenue with €545M net revenue and a 33.4% gross margin. The company highlighted features like Reserved early-ticket access and AI-generated personal podcasts, while noting outages in May and July and ongoing debates over AI content on the platform.
Spotify is adding Running Mode to its Fitness hub for Premium iOS users in the US, enabling tailored workouts with 25 presets, exact duration, BPM matching, and motivational audio cues to generate seamless playlists that tempo-match your run, as part of a broader fitness push after its Peloton partnership.
Oil volatility driven by Middle East tensions and SPR constraints has boosted USO option premiums. The piece endorses selling an out-of-the-money cash-secured put on USO (for example, the August 28 weekly $100 put at $2.40) to collect premium, aiming for about an 18% annualized return. If USO stays range-bound or climbs, the premium decays for profit; if assigned, you can buy USO at a discount and potentially use covered calls to lower cost basis. The setup relies on a floor from SPR and ongoing supply constraints amid uncertain demand.
Apple reportedly plans a broader foldable iPhone rollout, targeting about 10 million units to be produced this year—up from 7–8 million earlier estimates—as part of a multi-model lineup slated for the second half of 2026 into 2027, aiming to strengthen its position in the premium smartphone market where Samsung leads; Apple has not publicly commented on the plan, and the stock moved modestly in the prior session.
Ubisoft+ Premium is free for five days on PC and Xbox, unlocking Premium Editions of most Ubisoft titles (including Assassin's Creed Shadows and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora). Sign up on Ubisoft's site (not via Xbox), link your Ubisoft and Xbox accounts, and provide a payment method to avoid charges after the trial ends on June 23. Games become installable on Xbox in about 15 minutes, and you’ll have access to over 60 titles during the trial, with the option to cancel at any time to avoid a paid subscription, which the trial is designed to upsell you into ahead of the July launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Forbes reports Apple is pursuing a foldable iPhone around $1,999, a move designed to expand its high-end lineup and help keep the average iPhone selling price elevated by capturing demand for premium devices while potentially offsetting pricing pressure on standard models.
Spotify announced at its investor day that US premium subscribers will soon be able to generate AI-powered personal podcasts tailored to their interests and listening habits, using prompts (like daily city updates or local concert roundups) and scheduling episodes daily or weekly; users can pick a voice and add context with PDFs or links, with episodes saved to their library and linked to relevant content. The company also unveiled a real-time podcast Q&A feature, Studio by Spotify Labs for desktop podcast creation, creator sponsorships, and perks such as AI-generated covers/remixes and early access to concert tickets, with rollout starting next month and a credit system for ongoing use.
YouTube says it can detect when live-chat engagement peaks during a livestream and automatically skip ads for everyone watching, as part of broader monetization tools including Super Chats and other gifts; this comes as YouTube Premium pricing rises and gifting expands to horizontal streams, with more customization on the way.
YouTube has raised Premium pricing in the US to $15.99/month for individuals and $26.99 for families, with Premium Lite at $8.99; the changes take effect on June 7, 2026, and are noted in subscriber emails. Separately, reports of 90-second unskippable ads are said to be a UI bug that inflates ad timers; YouTube says there is no 90-second non-skippable format and a fix is rolling out. Free users will still face more ads as the service monetizes content.
Uber Technologies said it will acquire Blacklane to broaden its high-end chauffeur offerings for executives and wealthy clients, a deal expected to close by the end of 2026 with undisclosed financial terms. Blacklane operates in 500+ cities across 60+ countries, and the purchase is poised to bolster Uber Elite, the company's premium chauffeur option, amid growing competition in luxury ride-hailing.
Spotify announced Taste Profile, an opt-in, AI-powered feature that lets Premium users fine-tune its recommendations by describing what they want more of or less of—such as upbeat music for workouts or news podcasts during commutes—and by giving ambiguous prompts. The feature, demonstrated at SXSW, is rolling out in beta to New Zealand Premium users before expanding to other regions, and can cover music, audiobooks, and podcasts. Taste Profile adds to Spotify's existing AI tools like Prompted Playlist and remains optional for those who prefer to rely on the standard algorithm.
Spotify Premium users can now automatically sort Mixed playlists with a new Smart Reorder option in Mix, arranging tracks by BPM and key for a smoother flow between songs while warning that it will override any manual sorting; this follows a recent move to automate playlists with Prompted Playlists.