Netflix plans to roll out a cheaper ad-based subscription tier by the end of 2022 — faster than originally expected — as it seeks to draw in new revenue and subscribers, according to an internal note to employees. The note said consumers desire "lower-priced options" in the market, citing ad-supported tiers offered by every major streaming brand except for Apple. More: - The rollout appears to fast-track the company's previous plan to offer an ad-supported tier in 1-2 years.
- Netflix said it could offer the cheaper plan sometime in the final three months of 2022.
- The note acknowledged that the timeline is "fast and ambitious and it will require some trade-offs."
- In the same timeframe, the company intends to crack down on account sharing following testing in South America. It plans to charge account holders who share their passwords outside their households.
- The plans come after Netflix recently reported its first subscriber loss in over a decade.
- The firm lost ~600,000 subscribers in the U.S. in Q1 but gained in Japan, India, and the Philippines, for a net loss of 200,000 subscribers.
- It forecasts a loss of 2 million subscribers in Q2 2022.
THE NEW YORK TIMES 
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 The original iPod came out in 2001 Apple said it has discontinued the iPod touch, officially ending company sales of the iconic portable music players. Reports called the announcement "an end of an era." Touch will be sold by Apple and its retail partners until supplies run out, the company noted. More: - Apple released its first version of the iPod in October 2001. It advertised the device as "ultra-portable" with a 10-hour battery life and the ability to hold up to "1,000 CD-quality songs."
- The company introduced the iPod touch with added features in 2007.
- The model discontinued today is the seventh-gen iPod touch, which was released in 2019, two years after Apple discontinued the iPod Nano and Shuffle.
- The company noted that "the music lives on" through its products, such as iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac, that integrate music.
- The iPod touch that's still for sale on Apple's website starts at $199 for a 32GB model. It comes with Apple's A10 processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and can handle messages but not phone calls.
9TO5MAC
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Tinder owner Match Group filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of unlawfully forcing app developers to use its in-app payment technology, which charges fees of up to 30% on transactions. Match Group accused Google of monopolizing the in-app payments market, claiming its policy is anticompetitive and will further the company's "near-total control of the Android ecosystem." More: - Match, which owns Tinder, OkCupid, and Match.com, called the fees "exorbitant." It said the fees use up resources that it could otherwise invest in technology, employees, and user-requested features.
- In response, Google said Match Group's apps are eligible for the lower 15% commission on in-app purchases, which it called “the lowest rate among major app platforms.”
- The fees help protect Android users from fraud and abuse, according to the company.
- Match could still go through other app stores and allow sideloading if it doesn't want to comply with the rules, Google said.
- "This is just a continuation of Match Group's self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive from the mobile platforms they've built their business on," a spokesperson said.
- Meanwhile, Google has said it will remove apps, such as those offered by Match, from its Play Store if they don't use its billing systems. Following an extended grace period, it plans to start enforcing the policy on June 1, 2022.
CNET
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 IBM Quantum lab in New York IBM announced plans to launch a 4,000+ qubit quantum computer by 2025, a large jump from its 127-qubit processor released last year. Information in quantum computers is represented by quantum bits, or qubits, that are “entangled” with others in the processor. In classical computers, bits must be either 1 or 0, but qubits can be both at the same time, giving them vastly more power. More: - IBM revealed an updated roadmap of its quantum ambitions this week:
- The company previously said it plans to launch its 433-qubit chip known as “Osprey” later this year. It's also working on a "Condor" chip with 1,121 qubits, due out in 2023.
- Now, the company has added two more devices to the mix. It's planning a 1,386-qubit processor called "Flamingo" for 2024. By 2025, it plans to launch a 4,158-qubit system made up of three processors called “Kookaburra.”
- In interviews this week, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said organizations may be able to deploy quantum computers for simpler use cases in 2023 to 2025.
- For example, companies could use them to create better car batteries or optimize their search engines, he said.
- By 2025 or 2030, the use cases could grow more complex, such as the pursuit of new therapies by pharmaceutical companies.
- Devices such as Kookaburra could open the door to commercial opportunities for quantum, Krishna said.
IEEE SPECTRUM
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 A message from EQUITYBEE It’s not every day that a prominent startup-like Instacart lowers their valuation by a staggering 40%. Yet, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the food delivery app’s workers should be worried. What could be in it for employees: - Employees stand to gain more in case the valuation goes back up
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Nintendo has announced a 10-1 stock split, effective Oct. 1. It also said it expects to sell 9% fewer Switch units this fiscal year compared to the prior year. More: - Other tech giants including Amazon and Tesla have recently announced stock splits, which make their shares cheaper and more accessible to retail investors.
- Splits can create more demand for a stock and enable companies to gain liquidity.
- Nintendo's stock currently trades at $433 and has a minimum trading limit of 100 shares. The stock split will bring the limit down to $4,325 to purchase 100 shares.
- Nintendo also said it expects to sell 21 million Switch devices in its financial year ending March 2023, down from the previous year's 23 million.
- Sales of the console reached nearly 29 million two fiscal years ago.
- Shortages of chip components and other parts have had a large impact, the company said.
- It also forecasts software sales of 210 million units this year, a drop from last year's 235 million.
- Switch titles due out this year include "Mario Strikers: Battle League" and "Splatoon 3."
- The much anticipated "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" has been delayed to spring 2023.
CNBC
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KuCoin, a global cryptocurrency exchange, said it has raised $150M to expand its Web3 presence and decentralized finance services. The fresh funding values KuCoin at $10B, up from $100M in November 2018. More: - KuCoin, the fifth-largest crypto exchange worldwide by trading volume, wants to expand beyond centralized trading services.
- It's seeking to boost its investments in crypto wallets, play-to-earn blockchain games (GameFi), and NFT platforms.
- The firm wants to improve its ethereum-based public blockchain and introduce decentralized wallet products in Q2.
- It plans to roll out its NFT marketplace, Windwave, in the near term.
- KuCoin's pre-Series B financing round was led by Jump Crypto, with participation from Circle Ventures, IDG Capital, and Matrix Partners.
Zoom-out: - The round comes during a dropoff in the crypto market.
- On Monday, the price of bitcoin fell below $31,000, the lowest level since July and more than 50% lower than its all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November.
- As of Tuesday morning PT, it was trading higher at $31,722.
TECHCRUNCH
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- A jury has ordered software company Pegasystems to pay ~$2B in damages to rival firm Appian Corp. for trade secret misappropriation.
- Google is expected to unveil its Pixel 6A phone, a Pixel Watch, and new Android 13 features at its I/O developer conference on Wednesday and Thursday. The Keynote starts at 10 a.m. PT tomorrow and will stream on the I/O website.
- Tesla will issue an over-the-air update to fix an overheating issue in the infotainment system of some 2021 and 2022 vehicles. The accompanying recall affects about 130,000 cars in the U.S.
- Drone maker DJI will release its latest micro drone, the Mini 3 Pro, on May 17. The drone has obstacle avoidance and can shoot 4K HDR video.
- NASA and Epic Games partnered on a contest that will reward developers for creating Mars-like simulations for virtual reality.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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