Disney+ price hike (and how to avoid it), new PS5 controller and iPhone 16 release rumors

• 🔒 Disney+ will stop sharing passwords in September

• 🫰 Prices will rise in October

• 💸 Ad tier: from $7.99 to $9.99/month

• 💰 Ad-free offer: $13.99 to $15.99/month

• 🤝 Disney announced a paid sharing feature… for “an additional fee”

• 😐 The crackdown also applies to Hulu and ESPN+

I try to inform you about price increases, even if it is bad news, but I also offer Solutions to save money on all things technical with The Shortcut.

1. Verizon offers a free Disney+ package for 6 months with the 5G Get More or 5G Play More mobile phone plans (registration required by November 17, 2024). After that, it costs $10/month. With other plans, it is also available for $10/month (without the 6 months free).

2. American Express Platinum CardThe $695 annual fee includes a $240 Digital Entertainment Credit ($20/month in account credits) for Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Peacock, The New York Times, and WSJ. Use it or lose it!

3. When Disney follows Netflix’s password raidYou can stream from a laptop with a shared account. Buy a cheap HDMI to USB-C cable on Amazon and connect your laptop to a TV.

If it feels like the price of Disney+ is increasing every year, it’s because that does it. But we’re here to help you escape the Disney price hike phase, one item at a time.

🔒 For paying subscribers, Free trial users or everyone who shares our newsletter

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation Gift Card for 83 $

• 🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for 39,99 €

• 🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $40

• ❎ 50% discount Xbox Game Pass for 26,99 € (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51 and soon $60 for 3 months)

At the end of this newsletter: We are expanding our discount codes – initially for paying subscribers – as inserts. It’s like the CD-ROM leaflets in the 90s magazines.

😬 You can’t afford it? I am opening up more ways to become a Premium subscriber for people who don’t have $5/month ($4.16/month) to spare. Support us in other ways by Recommend The Shortcut to your friends and familyHelp us grow!

Get a 7-day free trial

• 💰 Google is accused of spending billions to create an illegal monopoly

• 🌎 It is the standard search engine worldwide

• 📱 95% of searches on smartphones are carried out by Google

• 🙅‍♂️ Google announced that it would appeal the antitrust ruling

• 👴 It takes Years so that this can be clarified

🧠 Did you know? Google pays Apple Billions the default search in Safari on your iPhone and then charges more money for its text search ads.

🧑‍⚖️ Monopoly money. According to a landmark antitrust ruling by a US federal judge, it’s a monopoly. Bad news for Google (and its ability to charge higher prices for search ads) and bad news for Apple (the company made $20 billion in 2022 from this deal).

🔜 That’s not all, says the FTC. Google pays Reddit 60 million USD/year to train its Gemini AI with Reddit user data (although this would dangerous AI overviews). Suddenly Reddit was prominently featured in Google searches, and traffic there increased by 50%. Quite a deal?

🧾 Our evidence. Hey, look at us! The abbreviation reported on a exclusive story about a 2,000% increase in PSVR 2 sales last week (above our Sample data). Countless websites have linked to us. Who beat us on Google when you found our Exactly Headline? Reddit and its site repurpose our story.

This is shady. This is also a monopoly 🎲 🎩

• 🎮 Sony’s Astro Bot controller is hard to find

• 🚨 Out of stock? See my X for refill notifications (Enable notifications)

• 😍 The new controller has one of the most unique designs ever

• 📆 Will ship with the PS5 game on September 6th

• 💰 $79.99 in stores like Walmart and Amazon

We have a PSVR 2 PC adapter back in stock guide, and it looks like The Shortcut needs to do the same for the Astro Bot PS5 controller. I always help Subscribers to The Shortcut and answer 1:1 questions. There will be more.

• 🚀 Apple’s event may take place on Tuesday, September 10th

• 📆 If so, the iPhone 16 release date would be Friday, September 20th

• ✋ Apple won’t delay it even if AI isn’t ready yet

• 🤖 Apple Intelligence will not be available until October in iOS 18.1

In a month, Apple will announce the iPhone 16. The popular theory is that Tuesday, September 10th will be the date. The timing suits us, as a lot of tech press (including The Shortcut) will be at IFA 2024 in Berlin the week before.

The most interesting news this week comes from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg: Apple habit to delay the iPhone 16, even though its Apple Intelligence won’t be ready until October with iOS 18.1. But you can Try Apple Intelligence in beta Now.

Check out the alleged iPhone 16 colors

• 🎨 GameStop is selling an exclusive gray color of ModRetro Chromatic

• 🤩 It’s the ultimate Game Boy from Oculus Rift inventor Palmer Luckey

• 🌞 The pixel and color accurate IPS LCD is bright enough for outdoor use

• 📆 Price: $199 & ships this holiday

If you grew up with a Nintendo Game Boy and want to relive the joy of on-the-go gaming from the 80s and 90s with a 2024 twist, check this out:

The ModRetro Chromatic will be available at GameStop in an exclusive gray colorway. now available for pre-order. The handheld is rightly described as the ultimate Game Boy, allowing you to enjoy Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on a pixel-perfect, backlit IPS LCD display.

Check out GameStop’s exclusive pre-order

Learn more about ModRetro

• 🗺️ 20 maps from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 have apparently leaked

• 🚫 Images were shared online and quickly faced copyright claims from Activision

• ☢️ Map names include Babylon, Canals, Catacomb, Dig, Island, Nuketown and Radar

• 🔜 Black Ops 6 open beta is in September (exact date to be announced)

• 💸 We have a guide on how to get the game for only $11.99

How to get this Call of Duty for $11.99

• 🆕 Lenovo is apparently preparing to release a new Legion Go model

• 📏 The Lenovo Legion Go Lite will have a smaller screen

• 🥶 The cooling system also seems to be improved

• 🤫 The info was discovered on the Lenovo website, but no announcement yet

Read more about the Lenovo Legion Go specifications

• 🆕 Nintendo has announced new gameplay details for Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

• 🐴 Zelda can use various skills to traverse the world and defeat enemies

• 😍 You will visit classic locations from the series, such as the village of Kakiriko

• 📆 Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will be released on September 26th

• 🎮 See the Nintendo Switch Lite limited edition

Read more and watch the trailer

Buy it now at Best Buy

Buy it now at GameStop

GameStop: Switch Lite Hyrule Edition

• 🆕 HBO has released a trailer for the second season of The Last of Us

• 📆 It returns in 2025 (already in January)

• 👀 It features some key characters from the game, including Dina and Abby

• 🎮 The season will cover the end of The Last of Us and the first parts of The Last of Us Part 2.

• 😮 Neuralink has successfully implanted its brain chip in a second patient

• ♿️ The patient has a spinal cord injury, similar to the first patient Noland Arbaugh

• 🤯 Arbaugh can control a computer mouse with his mind

• 🤞 “I don’t want to jinx it, but the second implant seems to have gone very well,” Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation Gift Card for 83 $

• 🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for 39,99 €

• 🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $40

• ❎ 50% discount Xbox Game Pass for 26,99 € (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51 and soon $60 for 3 months)

We are extending our discount codes to paying subscribers as a freebie. It’s similar to CD-ROM freebies for magazine subscribers from the 90s.

😬 You can’t afford it? That’s fine. I’m opening up more ways to be a paid subscriber for people who can’t spare the $5/month ($4.16/month) to keep us going. Support us in other ways by Recommend The Shortcut to your friends and familyHelp us grow!

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