A popular third-party app of YouTube has been taken down by Google, due to a legal challenge by the company, which allowed users to block ads without a Premium subscription.
YouTube Vanced was able to block any ads that would play before, during, and after a video you had planned on watching. As it was available on Android, the app could be used on Amazon Fire TV devices, handhelds running Google's OS, and more.
But while you can still use the app if you already have it installed on your device, it won't see future updates.
The Vanced website instead highlights web extensions that you can install to almost mimic the app's intention without purchasing a YouTube Premium subscription that does these features officially. But this only highlights the issues with YouTube's paid service.
Analysis: YouTube Premium needs more choice
Advertisements are part of the YouTube experience - they always have been in one way or another. But in the last few years, ads have changed from being a short break, into an irritating distraction.
There was a time when you would usually see an ad begin at the start of the video, but now they're essentially anywhere in the video.
You might click on one video for example, and be greeted with an 'Ad starting in 5..4..3..' right away, alongside when you're clicking on different timestamps of the video.
It can be very annoying, and while this can be avoided with a YouTube Premium subscription at $11.99 / £11.99 / AU$14.99 a month , many users simply don't want to pay this amount just to block ads.
With this subscription, you get YouTube Music, downloads, and background play included. While these are welcome features, they're features that users don't want to try.
But there's yet to be a tier where you just want to solely block ads. This seems like an easy win for YouTube, yet there's no way of signing up to a simple tier that only blocks ads.
It's why there have been popular third-party apps and web extensions that have fulfilled this need, and for free. But with Google only seeing legal reasons for these methods and not other ways to appease these users, there's little chance of seeing different Premium tiers in the near future.
Intel set to splash billions on new European empire
Intel has announced plans to invest tens of billions of dollars into semiconductor manufacturing projects across Europe.
During a webcast attended by TechRadar Pro , company CEO Pat Gelsinger revealed plans to invest €80 billion ($88 billion) in Europe over the next decade in an attempt to cultivate a “next-generation chip ecosystem”.
Although Intel will work on a litany of projects across a number of countries, the most significant pledge was perhaps a €17 billion ($18.5 billion) investment in a new manufacturing “mega-site” in Germany.
Nicknamed Silicon Junction, the facility will house two new fabs capable of producing top-tier chips for both Intel itself and customers of Intel Foundry Services (IFS). Gelsinger says he hopes to be able to break ground in early 2023 and fire up the engines by 2027.
Intel on the continent
Currently, the lion’s share of semiconductor manufacturing takes place in the APAC region, where companies like TSMC and Samsung are based.
In light of the ongoing chip shortage and rising tensions with China, the United States is investing heavily in ramping up its own production capacity, with a large helping hand from Intel.
Earlier in the year, for example, Intel announced it would splash $20 billion on a new state-of-the-art chip factory in Oregon, US. The 1,000-acre site will house up to eight separate fabs once complete.
But with this latest round of investments, Intel will seek to turn Europe into a competitive player too, in support of the European Commission's ambitions to onshore 20% of the semiconductor supply chain by 2030, as set out in the European Chips Act.
“The recent chip shortage has reminded us of the risk of being too dependent on any one region in the short-term,” said Gelsinger. “Our landmark pan-European investment addresses the global need for a more balanced and resilient supply chain.”
“This broad initiative will boost Europe’s R&D innovation and bring leading-edge manufacturing to the region for the benefit of our customers and partners around the world. We are committed to playing an essential role in shaping Europe’s digital future for decades to come.”
In addition to the manufacturing hub in Germany, Gelsinger announced a further €12 billion ($13.2 billion) investment in its facility in Ireland, which will double in size and bring Intel 4 (the new name for the firm’s 7-nanometer process) to Europe for the first time.
Intel will also establish a new R&D hub in France, which will become the company’s European headquarters for research in high-performance computing (HPC) and AI, creating an estimated 1,000 additional high-tech jobs.
Lastly, the company laid out plans to utilize the expertise it will gain from the acquisition of Tower Semiconductor with a new “state of the art back-end manufacturing facility” in Italy.
“This is a special moment for Intel and Europe,” Gelsinger added. “We hope these investments are a magnet for engineers, technicians, innovators, entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses as we collectively solve the hard challenges of the digital age.”
Moon Knight is off to a good start, but there's one Marvel show it can't take down...
Moon Knight, the latest offering from Marvel Studios, has gotten off to a good start with viewers.
The TV show is set in the present day and follows Oscar Isaac's Steven Grant, an employee in a museum gift shop who, while living a seemingly ordinary life, suffers from terrible blackouts. After one such blackout, he discovers that he has Dissociative Identity Disorder, a mental health condition whereby a person has multiple personalities.
His other persona is a ruthless mercenary called Marc Spector, an earthly avatar of Khonshu, the Egyptian God of the moon and vengeance. This other persona grants Spector superhuman abilities, which allow him to moonlight as the vigilante known as Moon Knight.
Moon Knight debuted on Disney Plus on Wednesday (March 30), and the data for its early performance on the streaming service is now in. According to Samba TV, which measures the viewing habits of three million Smart TV households across the US, 1.8 million US households caught Moon Knight in its first days of release.
Internationally, Moon Knight was watched by 277,000 households in the UK in its first five days of release, 88,000 households in Germany, and 11,000 in Australia. By way of comparison, that puts the show level-pegging with Falcon and the Winter Solider , around 100,000 ahead of WandaVision , and 300,000 ahead of Hawkeye .
Not bad for a relatively unfamiliar comic book hero – but there's still one man to factor in, and, at the moment, he looks untouchable.
Who has Moon Knight failed to overshadow?
Loki . In the Tom Hiddleston-led show's first five days on Disney Plus, it pulled in 2.5 million viewing households.
As well as that, Loki also holds the record for the most-watched Disney Plus season series finale, with 1.9 million households tuning in for its conclusion.
Does that spell trouble for Moon Knight?
Absolutely not. Tom Hiddleston has been a stalwart of the MCU for more than a decade, and his character commanded tremendous name recognition. There's even a recent TechRadar article that ranked him as the best of Marvel's villains .
Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight, on the other hand, is brand new to the MCU , with no appearance in any previous movie or series. So, all things considered, a second place start is pretty good-going for a brand new character.
Critics have praised the show, too. TechRadar's Tom Power loved it , calling it "a captivating, innovative TV series unlike anything Marvel has produced so far," while the show boasts a very healthy 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes .
As with everything with made by Marvel these days, there's a long-time plan for the character, but Isaac isn't contracted beyond the show's six episodes . However, with numbers like this, the superhero studio will be very encouraged.
