Get in the KNOW
on LA Startups & Tech
X
Photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash
Netflix’s Ad-Supported Plan Could Launch By Year’s End
Christian Hetrick
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Netflix’s promised ad-supported tier and crackdown on password sharing could launch by the end of this year, with the streaming giant reportedly accelerating its timeline on the moves after losing subscribers last quarter.
Executives at Netflix told staffers that they aim to introduce a cheaper subscription with ads during the final three months of 2022, according to the New York Times. The company plans to start restricting password sharing around that same time, the report added.
Bringing commercials to Netflix by year’s end would be a much faster timeline than company leaders have previously signaled. On the company’s first-quarter earnings call last month, co-CEO Reed Hastings told investors that advertising was something Netflix was “trying to figure out over the next year or two.”
That itself was a big deal, given Netflix’s long-standing opposition to ads. But the company’s streaming rivals have shown that customers are increasingly willing to sit through commercials if it means paying less per month in subscription fees. While competitors like HBO Max and Paramount Plus continued to grow their customer bases last quarter, Netfllix lost 200,000 subscribers and expects to lose 2 million more in the current quarter.
Netflix has also blamed password sharing for its sluggish growth, estimating that 100 million households may be using accounts without paying for them. (The company has 222 million paying customers globally.) In March, the company started testing extra charges for subscribers to share passwords outside of their households, initially rolling out the changes in Chile, Peru and Costa Rica.
Greg Peters, Netflix’s COO, said during the last month’s earnings call that the company would “go through a year or so of iterating” before deploying a password sharing plan. Now, according to the Times, Netflix wants to roll out the extra charges “in tandem” with the ad-supported tier it aims to launch later this year.
From Your Site Articles
- Netflix To Crack Down on Password Sharing, Add Ad Tier - dot.LA ›
- Netflix's Pivot to Ads Boosts An Already Hot Smart TV Market - dot.LA ›
- Netflix Could Generate $3B From Ads After Deal With Microsoft - dot.LA ›
- Everything You Need to Know About Netflix Ad Plans - dot.LA ›
- Netflix’s Low-Cost Ad Tier Arrives. Undercuts Disney Plus - dot.LA ›
- Netflix’s Low-Cost Ad Tier Arrives. Undercuts Disney Plus - dot.LA ›
- Netflix Launches 'Basic With Ads' Plan - dot.LA ›
- Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Steps Down - dot.LA ›
- Without Neuromarketing Tech Firms’ Ads Get Lost in the Noise - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Christian Hetrick
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Here's How To Get a Digital License Plate In California
03:49 PM | October 14, 2022
Photo by Clayton Cardinalli on Unsplash
Thanks to a new bill passed on October 5, California drivers now have the choice to chuck their traditional metal license plates and replace them with digital ones.
The plates are referred to as “Rplate” and were developed by Sacramento-based Reviver. A news release on Reviver’s website that accompanied the bill’s passage states that there are “two device options enabling vehicle owners to connect their vehicle with a suite of services including in-app registration renewal, visual personalization, vehicle location services and security features such as easily reporting a vehicle as stolen.”
Reviver Auto Current and Future CapabilitiesFrom Youtube
There are wired (connected to and powered by a vehicle’s electrical system) and battery-powered options, and drivers can choose to pay for their plates monthly or annually. Four-year agreements for battery-powered plates begin at $19.95 a month or $215.40 yearly. Commercial vehicles will pay $275.40 each year for wired plates. A two-year agreement for wired plates costs $24.95 per month. Drivers can choose to install their plates, but on its website, Reviver offers professional installation for $150.
A pilot digital plate program was launched in 2018, and according to the Los Angeles Times, there were 175,000 participants. The new bill ensures all 27 million California drivers can elect to get a digital plate of their own.
California is the third state after Arizona and Michigan to offer digital plates to all drivers, while Texas currently only provides the digital option for commercial vehicles. In July 2022, Deseret News reported that Colorado might also offer the option. They have several advantages over the classic metal plates as well—as the L.A. Times notes, digital plates will streamline registration renewals and reduce time spent at the DMV. They also have light and dark modes, according to Reviver’s website. Thanks to an accompanying app, they act as additional vehicle security, alerting drivers to unexpected vehicle movements and providing a method to report stolen vehicles.
As part of the new digital plate program, Reviver touts its products’ connectivity, stating that in addition to Bluetooth capabilities, digital plates have “national 5G network connectivity and stability.” But don’t worry—the same plates purportedly protect owner privacy with cloud support and encrypted software updates.
5 Reasons to avoid the digital license plate | Ride TechFrom Youtube
After the Rplate pilot program was announced four years ago, some raised questions about just how good an idea digital plates might be. Reviver and others who support switching to digital emphasize personalization, efficient DMV operations and connectivity. However, a 2018 post published by Sophos’s Naked Security blog pointed out that “the plates could be as susceptible to hacking as other wireless and IoT technologies,” noting that everyday “objects – things like kettles, TVs, and baby monitors – are getting connected to the internet with elementary security flaws still in place.”
To that end, a May 2018 syndicated New York Times news service article about digital plates quoted the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which warned that such a device could be a “‘honeypot of data,’ recording the drivers’ trips to the grocery store, or to a protest, or to an abortion clinic.”
For now, Rplates are another option in addition to old-fashioned metal, and many are likely to opt out due to cost alone. If you decide to go the digital route, however, it helps if you know what you could be getting yourself into.
From Your Site Articles
- 8 Alternatives to Uber and Lyft in California - dot.LA ›
- Automotus Will Monitor Santa Monica's New Drop-Off Zone - dot.LA ›
- Metropolis CEO Alex Israel on Parking's Future - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read moreShow less
Steve Huff
Steve Huff is an Editor and Reporter at dot.LA. Steve was previously managing editor for The Metaverse Post and before that deputy digital editor for Maxim magazine. He has written for Inside Hook, Observer and New York Mag. Steve is the author of two official tie-ins books for AMC’s hit “Breaking Bad” prequel, “Better Call Saul.” He’s also a classically-trained tenor and has performed with opera companies and orchestras all over the Eastern U.S. He lives in the greater Boston metro area with his wife, educator Dr. Dana Huff.
steve@dot.la
Six Technologies That Could Help End California's Cycle of Drought
05:00 AM | November 04, 2021
Photo by redcharlie on Unsplash
Even after last month's record-breaking storm, scientists are skeptical California will be lifted out of its drought any time soon. Lake Oroville, for example, is still 16% below its historic average, and the state's long-term forecast still features drier-than-usual conditions.
With 45% of the state still in exceptional drought, the solution to California's water crisis may lie in emerging technology that could help to better reuse and conserve water.
Here are six of the most promising new water conservation technologies for residents and agriculture.
1. Satellites:
California farmland uses three to four times more water than its residents. Much of this water comes from aquifers, and before 2014 farmers could take as much water as they wanted from these natural underground basins. Over time this free-for-all approach caused the underground water table to sink, and led to depleted aquifers. The state imposed restrictions, but found it difficult to enforce usage.
Recently, a team of researchers at California Polytechnic University realized regulators could use images from NASA satellites to estimate the amount of water being used on crops, and use that information to figure out if farmers were exceeding the allowed amount. The Sacramento-based remote sensing company Land IQ refined the technique by combining satellite imagery with stations on the ground to collect data and monitor usage.
2. Strips Drip
The IoT (internet of things)—physical objects equipped with sensors or software that connect and exchange data over the internet—has bestowed digital intelligence onto ordinary devices like lightbulbs and thermostats. Now IoT technology is playing an important role in water conservation. In addition to connecting systems in the water supply chain, IoT technology can also help consumers save water. Swedish company Sensative's Strips Drip product, for example, addresses the problem of broken and leaky pipes that can go undetected for days. When placed in hard-to-reach places, like under a sink or a washing machine, the strip can alert the user of leaks, freezing pipes, or extreme temperatures.
3. Cloud-seeding drones
Cloud seeding, the practice of adding chemicals like silver iodide to clouds to induce rain or snow, has been around for decades. Eight states in the western U.S. are currently using cloud seeding, but the approach comes with drawbacks, namely that the chemicals added to the clouds fall on people, crops, and drinking water. In response, the United Arab Emirates—a country that also struggles with punishing heat and little rainfall—is trying a new technology: They're using drones to zap clouds with electrical charges. This causes smaller water droplets to combine into larger droplets, which triggers rainfall—without chemicals. Cloud seeding can potentially increase rainfall by 35%, which would go a long way toward alleviating drought and water scarcity.
4. Microdrip irrigation
Not all important innovations are complex—sometimes the answer to a problem is a beautifully simple solution. The former chairman of Israel's water authority, Uri Shani, realized one way to alleviate water scarcity is through drip irrigation. Drip irrigation, which delivers water directly to the plant's roots, is the most efficient watering system for growing crops. The problem with existing drip irrigation, however, is the cost required to power the pumps that push water through hundreds of feet of pipe.
Shani came up with a solution that plays off existing drip irrigation technology. He realized he could add a new kind of emitter that offers less resistance to water pressure and use gravity to power the water through the pipes. His N-Drip Gravity Micro Irrigation System lets farmers take advantage of the efficiency and water conservation provided by micro-drip irrigation without the cost of electric or diesel-fueled pumps.
5. Offenham Vertical Farm
Hydroponic growing—when the roots of plants are in water, not soil—cuts water usage by about 80%. The water is recirculated, and there's no runoff or evaporation, so it's a great option for low-water agriculture.
Vertical hydroponic farms take the hydroponic concept inside. Along with the water conservation benefits of hydroponic farming, indoor vertical crops save space and require almost no chemicals. They are also less likely to be contaminated with salmonella and E. coli. However, most indoor farms are powered by artificial light, which uses energy.
U.K.-based Shockingly Fresh have solved that problem by creating an indoor vertical hydroponic farm that uses only natural light to grow and heat the crops. Their first commercial site in Offenham, England can produce four times the typical yield of a traditional farm while using much less energy and water. The three-acre farm is already producing lettuce and bok choy for supermarkets, and the company is planning a 32-acre farm in Scotland, between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
6. Wave-powered desalination system
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant in San Diego County provides 50 million gallons of drinking water to 400,000 San Diego County residents every day. While the Carlsbad plant uses a solar-powered generation system and energy efficient motors, many desalination plants use fossil fuels or nuclear energy—which partly explains environmentalists' hesitation around the tech.
Resolute Marine Energy, a Boston-based startup, has developed a way to turn saltwater into drinking water by using the power of ocean waves. The company developed a technology called Wave2O that can completely power a desalination plant with a Wave Energy Converter attached to the bottom of the sea. The converter moves back and forth with the waves and generates enough power to send the seawater onshore and power a reverse osmosis unit. Their current system can provide water to about 40,000 people a day. The company plans to bring the technology to Cape Verde, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa, that currently gets 85% of its water from diesel-powered desalination systems.From Your Site Articles
- Vertical Farms Could Offer Respite From California’s Drought - dot.LA ›
- Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Will Reman Operational - dot.LA ›
- Compton Vertical Farms Lands SoCal Distributor - dot.LA ›
- Compton Vertical Farms Lands SoCal Distributor - dot.LA ›
- Plenty Vertical Farming May Be the Answer to Sustainability - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read moreShow less
Hilary Achauer
Hilary Achauer is a freelance writer based in San Diego. She’s written for The Washington Post, The Week, Eating Well, Greatist and Men’s Health. Find her on Instagram at @hilaryachauer or @HilaryAchauer on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/HilaryAchauer
https://www.instagram.com/hilaryachauer/
RELATEDTRENDING
LA TECH JOBS