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Adobe is charging an additional monthly fee to use particular colors in Photoshop. Some users have even seen parts of existing images turn black. The seemingly bizarre policy is all to do with Adobe's commercial agreement with Pantone, a company ... that offers services helping businesses create a consistent color scheme, such as branding. Historically, Adobe included more than 2,000 specific colors that are part of Pantone's "Color Matching Scheme". The idea of the scheme is to use a common reference that means any two uses of the color will look the same, no matter the origin or ... (view more)

Apple is to let app developers raise subscription prices without users actively accepting the hike. It's a reversal of the current opt-in system for increases. The move affects subscription apps which most commonly involve music and video streaming ... services and digital magazines. At the moment, developers can automatically charge customers at regular intervals until the customer cancels. However, if the developer wants to put the price up, they'll need to show a message clearly marked "Agree to New Price." If the customer doesn't tap on this button, their subscription automatically ... (view more)

Microsoft appears to be offering discounts on legitimate software to people running pirated copies. The Office deal isn't quite a like-for-like offer however. The offer, spotted by the Ghacks site, appears to be limited to users in specific ... countries. It's not clear if there's a pattern such as targeting countries with high rates of piracy, or those where people are likely to have enough money to buy legitimate software. (Source: ghacks.net ) A message shown to some users of unlicensed copies of Office 2019 in the ribbon bar reads "Get up to 50% off. For a limited time, save up to 50% on a ... (view more)

An Android app with 40 million downloads has been linked to large-scale fraud against phone and tablet users. The "SnapTube" app reportedly tricks users with a free trial that leads to an expensive and unwanted subscription. The operators of the app ... say they were previously victims of illegal activity by an advertising partner but have now fixed the problem. SnapTube is a tool that was downloaded from the Google Play Store 40 million times before being removed. It was billed as a way to download videos from Facebook and YouTube, something that's not possible with those services own ... (view more)

Google is changing the way its "incognito" mode works. It says the move is necessary, but some news and magazine website owners are upset by the change. Incognito is Google's version of private browsing. Despite the name, it's mainly about privacy ... on the user's device: when in incognito mode, the local browser stops adding websites to its browsing history, which consists of a list of pages the user has visited and the searches they've carried out. The mode won't stop the activity being recorded by an Internet service provider (ISP) or by a local network administrator - something that has ... (view more)

Adobe has warned users they could be in legal trouble if they carry on using older editions of software. But it seems to be more of a 'legal' technicality than a crackdown. The company wrote to some users of its Creative Cloud applications. That's a ... series of software and services launched in 2011 that replaced the more traditional model of buying Adobe software outright. Instead users now pay a subscription fee and can use the software (and receive updates to the latest editions) for as long as the subscription is active. Adobe recently wrote to some customers with the letter including the ... (view more)

Apple has bought a company described as "the Netflix of news." It's sparked speculation Apple will launch its own 'unlimited magazine' subscription deal. The purchase is for a company named "Texture," which lets subscribers pay $9.99 a month for ... access to more than 200 monthly magazines in digital format. The package includes some major titles including Vanity Fair, National Geographic, GQ and Entertainment Weekly. The company was started by six leading magazine publishers as a one-stop shop for targeting people interested in reading digital magazines. The magazines are viewable ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed it will sell another standalone edition of the Office suite for people who don't want an annual subscription. It will receive updates, but only for an unspecified period. Despite the name, Office 2019 will come out in the ... second half of next year. It's described by Microsoft as both a "perpetual release" and a "perpetual update", which is a somewhat unwieldy way to distinguish it from Office 365. (Source: office.com ) Office 365 is a subscription model in which users get continuous updates for as long as they pay either a monthly or annual subscription, but when they ... (view more)

Microsoft is offering a half-price deal for its Office 365 subscription package. However, some tight restrictions mean the offer will only be available to a specific group of users. Office 365 is a way of using MS Office applications (Word, Excel, ... etc) without having to pay the full purchase price outright; instead customers pay a monthly fee. The subscription covers access to the latest editions of all the applications, meaning Office 365 subscribers will be able to use all the features in the latest edition of MS Office without having to pay for an upgrade if and when it becomes available. ... (view more)

Unconfirmed rumors suggest Windows 10 may be free of charge for people already on Windows 8.1. An announcement may be coming later this month to clarify the pricing structure. Meanwhile, Microsoft has confirmed that only people on Windows 7 or later ... will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 directly, while those users running Windows XP or Vista will need to carry out a fresh install. The pricing rumors stem from a report by the Softpedia website. It's generally considered credible, but is only citing its source on the pricing structure as "some people close to the matter." ... (view more)