Kalakshar US

YouTube Music has started putting lyrics — a previously free feature introduced in 2020 — behind a paywall, according to multiple users and 9to5Google. In the latest update, the “Lyrics” tab in the Now Playing screen displays a warning message: “You have [x] views remaining. Unlock lyrics with Premium.” Free users get lyrics for five songs, then after that, will only see a few lines before the rest of the song is blurred.

Google has been testing the feature since at least September with a limited number of users, according to previous reports. It’s been speculated that YouTube may have made the change to recuperate costs spent with lyric aggregators like Musixmatch. Spotify also put lyrics behind its Premium paywall in 2024, but a user backlash forced it to reinstate the feature for free users.

Google has yet to confirm the change, and while it appears to be a larger rollout, the feature change could still be in testing. YouTube Music’s Premium subscription costs $10.99 in the US with ad-free playback, offline downloads, AI features and more — the same as its main rivals Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/youtube-music-starts-limiting-lyrics-for-free-users-101258311.html?src=rss 

It might be near impossible to be a kid these days without a smartphone, but AT&T wants to offer parents a decent compromise. The wireless carrier launched its AmiGO Jr. Phone, which combines Samsung hardware and AT&T’s app, to offer kids a smartphone that has parental controls baked right in.

The AmiGO Jr. Phone is just a Samsung Galaxy A16, which still remains a solid budget smartphone pick with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 6.7-inch display and reliable battery life. However, AT&T tweaked the Samsung hardware into its kid-friendly smartphone by including features like live location tracking, safe zones and screentime restrictions that can be controlled via the AmiGO app. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a smartphone with parental controls, since competitors like Bark and Pinwheel have been on the market for a couple of years now, but it’s the first time a major mobile carrier is offering its own standalone product.

As for the AmiGO Jr. Phone, it’s now available on AT&T’s website for $3 a month, but you’ll have to commit to a 36-month contract that provides bill credits. You still have to pay for your monthly service charges as an AT&T customer, but it’ll be cheaper than buying a Galaxy A16 outright for $200. For even more security, AT&T also launched its AmiGO Jr. Watch 2 to expand its ecosystem that already includes a tablet designed for kids.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/atts-budget-friendly-phone-for-kids-was-designed-with-parental-controls-in-mind-202200139.html?src=rss 

Apple is keeping the entry level for iPhones at $599, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. In the latest Power On report, Gurman said that the iPhone 17e is “due imminently” and will keep the same price as its predecessor.

Considering we’re about a year away from the iPhone 16e’s announcement, we’re due for a successor to Apple’s more affordable smartphone. According to Gurman, Apple upgraded the new budget-friendly iPhone with MagSafe charging and the A19 chip that’s seen in the iPhone 17 base model. The iPhone 17e will also get Apple’s latest in-house cellular and wireless chips, Gurman reported. 

In our review of the iPhone 16e, we weren’t particularly sold because of its limited camera capabilities, particularly when compared to the iPhone 17‘s release a few months later. However, for the same $599 price, Apple’s iPhone 17e is getting a few notable upgrades and will compete with Google’s Pixel 10a. More specifically, Gurman expects Apple to target the emerging economies and enterprise demographics with the iPhone 17e. While Apple faces a lot more competition in overseas markets, iPhone sales have been experiencing a resurgence in China. Apple is even forecasting strong sales for iPhones across Asia, especially in China and India.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-17e-will-reportedly-bring-some-key-upgrades-without-raising-the-price-174154577.html?src=rss 

On Friday, New York State Senators Liz Krueger and Kristen Gonzales introduced a bill that would stop the issuance of permits for new data centers for at least three years and ninety days to give time for impact assessments and to update regulations. The bill would require the Department of Environmental Conservation and Public Service Commissions to issue impact statements and reports during the pause, along with any new orders or regulations that they deem necessary to minimize data centers’ impacts on the environment and consumers in New York.

The bill would require these departments to study data centers’ water, electricity and gas usage, and their impact on the rates of these resources, among other things. The bill, citing a Bloomberg analysis, notes that, “Nationally, household electricity rates increased 13 percent in 2025, largely driven by the development of data centers.” New York is the sixth state this year to introduce a bill aiming to put the brakes on data centers, following in the footsteps of Georgia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia, according to Wired. It’s still very much in the early stages, and is now with the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee for consideration. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/new-york-lawmakers-introduce-bill-that-aims-to-halt-data-center-development-for-three-years-224005266.html?src=rss