Instacart rethinks its subscription plan with a focus on family sharing

Instacart hopes to make its subscription service more alluring through a simple strategy: let everyone in on the shopping. The company has introduced an Instacart+ service (yes, yet another “+”) that replaces Express while adding family sharing features. Family accounts let another member of your household (such as a partner or roommate) participate without sharing your sign-in or subscribing on their own. Family carts, meanwhile, make it easier for others in the home to add to the grocery list.

The expanded offering also brings more perks for Chase cardholders. You can have free Instacart+ memberships, ranging from three months for Freedom and Slate holders through to a year for Sapphire Reserve. The new plan is otherwise very similar to Express. You’ll have free delivery for orders over $35, lower service fees, five percent credit back on pickup orders, and bonuses like Delta miles.

This new subscription costs the same $10 per month ($99 per year) as its predecessor. The family sharing could make it an easier choice if you’re not the only one ordering deliveries. With that said, the value proposition remains largely the same as with Express — this only really makes sense if you use Instacart every week.

DJI’s RS3 mirrorless camera stabilizer unlocks automatically and is easier to balance

DJI has significantly expanded its gimbal lineup with the RS3 and RS3 Pro models designed for mirrorless and cinema cameras. It also launched some other interesting cinema products derived from the innovative Ronin 4D camera gimbal, including a LiDAR f…

Steam games are coming to Nreal’s augmented reality glasses

Nreal users can now play some Steam games on their augmented reality glasses. The Chinese company has released the beta version of “Steam on Nreal,” which gives users a way to stream games from their PC to their AR eyewear. Nreal admits that installing the beta release will require a bit of effort during the setup process, and the current version is not optimized for all Steam games just yet. It will work on both Nreal Light and Nreal Air models, though, and it already supports some popular titles like the entire Halo series. 

To note, users can already play games on Nreal’s glasses by accessing Xbox Cloud Gaming on a browser inside the company’s 3D system called Nebula. But Steam on Nreal will give users who don’t have Xbox accounts the opportunity to see what gaming on the device would be like. Company co-founder Peng Jin said the beta release is “meant to give people a glimpse into what is possible.” He added: “AAA games should be played on a 200-inch HD screen and they should be played free of location restrictions.”

Nreal launched its Light mixed reality glasses in 2020 after a US court ruled in its favor for the lawsuit filed by Magic Leap. The American company accused its former employee Chi Xu of using stolen secrets to set up Nreal, but the court decided that Magic Leap failed to make any viable claim. In 2021, Nreal launched a new model called Air that was designed with streaming shows and playing mobile games in mind. Air looks more like a pair of ordinary sunglasses than its predecessor does, and it also comes with a better display.

In an effort to offer more content and perhaps entice those on the fence to grab a pair of its glasses, Nreal has also announced AR Jam, an online international contest for AR developers that will kick off on June 27th. Developers can compete in various categories that include at-home fitness, art, games and video, with each one having a $10,000 grand prize. Those interested can head over to the company’s Developer page for more information.

Qualcomm won’t have to pay its $1 billion EU fine over LTE deal with Apple

The European Union’s second highest court has ruled in favor of Qualcomm (PDF) and has scrapped a 2018 European Commission decision to slap the company with a €997 million ($1.05 billion) fine. Back in 2018, the Commission said Qualcomm abused its market dominance in LTE baseband chipsets by paying Apple billions of dollars from 2011 to 2016 to exclusively use its chips in iPhones and iPads. That allegedly prevented rivals, such as Intel, from striking deals with the iPhone-maker. Now, the General Court has annulled “in its entirety, the Commission decision.”

In its announcement, the General Court said it based its decision on two factors. First is that it found a “number of procedural irregularities” that affected Qualcomm’s right of defense. The Commission apparently failed to record the precise content of meetings and conference calls with third parties in connection with the case as it was required to do so. Further, it based its decision on Qualcomm’s alleged abuse of market dominance for LTE chipsets alone, even though the case’s statement of objections also mentioned its abuse of position when it comes to Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) chipsets. 

The General Court has also found that while Qualcomm’s payments reduced Apple’s incentives to use other companies’ products, there were no viable alternatives to its LTE chipsets for iPhones at the time anyway. It has also decided that there was no sufficient evidence to determine whether Qualcomm’s payments prevented Apple from using other companies’ chipsets for its iPad models released in 2014 and 2015.

This is the second fine imposed by the European Commission against big tech companies that the General Court has scrapped. In January, the court also overturned the €1.06 billion fine the Commission levied against Intel. Similar to this particular case, the Commission accused Intel of abusing its dominant position in the market by offering manufacturers such as HP, Dell and Lenovo incentives for using its microprocessors instead of those from rival AMD’s. 

Qualcomm’s fight might not be over, though. As Reuters notes, the Commission can still file an appeal with Europe’s highest court. Indeed, it told the publication that it will study the court’s judgement closely before deciding on its next steps.

PayPal will let users split the cost of purchases over up to 24 months

PayPal is expanding its buy now, pay later options with a longer-term payment plan. The company has enabled users to cover the cost of a purchase over a few interest-free payments and it also offers credit cards. Pay Monthly, which is issued by WebBank, is another option for folks in the US.

It’s valid for purchases between $199 and $10,000. The cost will be split across monthly payments of between six and 24 months. If you select the Pay Monthly option at checkout, you’ll then need to complete an application. Should that be approved, you’ll be able to select from three payment options with different time frames. APR is calculated on a risk basis and will be between zero and 29.99 percent. The first payment is due a month after purchase.

You can set up automatic payments from your debit card or bank account. Alternatively, users can manage payments through PayPal’s app and website. As with the company’s other buy now, pay later options, there are no late fees. PayPal says millions of retailers will support Pay Monthly — including Samsonite, Fossil and Advance Auto — and that purchases will be eligible for PayPal Purchase Protection.

With its latest option, PayPal is getting out ahead of Apple Pay Later, which will be rolled out as part of iOS 16 later this year. That’s aligned more with PayPal’s Pay in 4 option, in that users will make four equal payments over six weeks, with no interest or late fees. However, purchases are said to be capped at $1,000.

Such moves by the likes of PayPal, Apple and Square are indicative of a broader trend of major tech companies moving deeper into lending, a finance sector that was primarily the domain of banks. However, there are risks to using now, pay later services, especially if consumers fall behind on payments.

Samsung’s Smart Monitor M8 falls back to a low of $600

Samsung is selling its new M8 smart monitor for $100 less than its retail price again. The tech giant made the M8 available for pre-order in March and dropped its price for the first time last month. If you missed that opportunity to buy the M8 at a discount, you now have another chance to grab the white version for $600 from Amazon or the tech giant’s website. The M8’s other color variants have always been $30 more expensive than the white version, and the same is true even for this deal. You can get the pink, green or blue M8 for $630, though that is still $100 less than its retail price. 

Buy Samsung M8 Smart Monitor at Amazon – $600Buy Samsung M8 Smart Monitor at Samsung – $600

The 32-inch display has a 3,840 x 2,160 pixel resolution, supports HDR 10+ and has refresh rates of up to 60Hz. It’s not just a monitor you can use with a desktop computer or a laptop, though: It’s also a WiFi-capable smart TV that supports Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV, as well as cloud gaming platforms. The display has built-in dual 5W speakers and a built-in home hub that allows you to use it to control SmartThings-compatible IoT devices, such as smart lights and thermostats. It even has built-in support for Microsoft 365, so you can edit documents or browse the web without having to connect it to a computer. 

If you work from home or take online classes, you can use the detachable SlimFit Cam it comes with for video calls. Plus, you can change the monitor’s angle and position using its height-adjustable stand. It’s not the biggest display out there, but the M8 makes a great choice if you have limited space in your home or if you’re looking for a computer monitor and a smart TV in one.

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This is what the Nothing Phone 1 will look like

Even though the Nothing Phone 1’s launch is still about a month away, the company has already begun showing what the device will look like to help generate hype. From afar, the device appears to be a blend of the iPhone X’s back (with its pill-shaped dual-camera island) and the iPhone 12’s flat edges. However, the back cover here is transparent, revealing a big wireless charging coil, several screws (something you don’t really see on phones these days) and a mysterious pattern teased earlier by founder Carl Pei.

Nothing didn’t provide any further detail in these teaser posts, but we imagine the company still has a few tricks up its sleeve — particularly, how Pei will enable “an open and diverse product ecosystem” with this device. So far, we know that the Phone 1 will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset — Engadget understands that it’ll be a mid-tier processor — and the pure Android-like Nothing OS with some design flair. Nothing’s design team is led by former Dyson lead designer, Adam Bates, who joined the company in early 2022.

The Nothing Phone 1 will be launched in London at 4PM BST/11AM EST on July 12th. There will be a livestream available, but you’ll have to RSVP in advance.

Twitch opens up ads program to more streamers and increases payout

More Twitch streamers will find invites to join the platform’s Ads Incentive Program now that the company is opening up the opportunity to welcome “more… Partners than ever.” In addition, Twitch will stop paying streamers in the program using a fixed CPM structure — instead, it will use a percentage-based revenue share model to increase ad payouts. When the streaming service launched the program in February, it promised creators a flat payout every month based on the hours they stream and the ads they serve per hour. A user who agrees to stream 40 hours per month, for instance, will earn $300 if they run 3 minutes of ads per hour.

The idea behind the flat payout is to eliminate the guesswork for creators who’d rather know how much they’ll earn for the month. With this new model, though, creators will get 55 percent of the revenue from every ad that runs on their stream. Twitch says that represents a 50 to 150 percent increase in ad pay rate for the vast majority of creators on the platform.

While this rollout is meant to bring more Partners, who need to meet a pretty demanding set of requirements, into the fold, smaller streamers will also be able to benefit from the higher revenue structure soon. Starting in August, qualifying affiliates can also earn more money from the 55/45 split by agreeing to run 3 minutes of ads per hour and activating the setting in their Ads Manager. Further, an affiliate who opts in will be able to stream free of pre-roll ads, or those ads that play as soon as a stream begins for a user.