Today, Google launched its Pixel Pass plan, a payment system for buying the new Pixel and Pixel 6 Pro, two phones that the company also officially announced today.
Pixel Pass is a payment service that lets you pay for your Pixel and a slew of Google services over the next two years. It starts at $45 per month if you’re buying the Pixel 6 and $55 per month if you’re buying the Pixel 6 Pro. You’ll also be able to upgrade periodically, with Google letting you recycle your phone to gain access to a new one along with a ton of subscriptions and added value.
Aside from access to Pixel phones, Google gives you YouTube Premium, which provides access to ad-free YouTube and YouTube Music, 200GB of Google One Storage, the Google Play Pass, and a Preferred Care coverage plan. It is a tempting plan that is analogous to the iPhone Upgrade Program and Apple One, both of which have elements of Google’s Pixel Pass plan.
“You can subscribe to Pixel Pass on the Google Store or with a phone plan on Google Fi. When you subscribe to Pixel Pass on the Google Store, you save up to $294 over two years,” Google explained in a blog post. “Plus, your Pixel phone is unlocked, so it works with all major carriers. And if you subscribe through Google Fi with a phone plan, you can save an additional $5 off your monthly Fi plan, totaling up to $414 in savings over two years.”
You can buy the Pixel Pass with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro today either directly on the Google Store or via Google Fi. If you’d rather buy the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro outright, the company will sell it to you from $599 for the Pixel 6, with carriers offering various trade-in deals to subsidize your purchase if you sign on for their own payment plans.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.