Apple’s Video, Gaming, News, & Credit Card Rollout; Nintendo- 2 New Switch Models Coming

Apple officially rolled out its new services today. Businessinsider.com notes that the $9.99 News+ service was pretty well as expected…300+ magazines, Wall Street Journal and LA Times content, and more. As we reported previously, the NY Times and Washington Post decided not to play. The News+ subscription will launch later today with iOS 12.2.

Besides the news service, the TV Plus video subscription service bowed. All will be on demand and ad free….for a fee! According to theverge.com, the Apple TV app is designed so you can view what you want (that Apple offers) in one place. No firm date for the app on Macs, except ‘soon.’ It will also be available on TVs from Sony, LG, Vizio, and others.

One thing that wasn’t leaked ahead…Apple Arcade…and iOS subscription gaming service. Apple claims it will run across mobile, desktop, and TVs in your living room. They are working with developers from Sega, Devolver, Disney, and others. Cupertino says there will be over 100 games available at launch, which will take place this fall in 150 countries. No pricing was given.

A second item that was a ‘one more thing’ worthy of Steve Jobs…Apple has introduced Apple Card, a new payment service that’s a part of Apple Pay. It’s supposed to be an easier to use credit card…not that using those is hard. Appleinsider.com reports that it will take advantage of the ease of iOS to make the card easy to acquire and use. You can sign up right from your iPhone, and will be able to use Apple Pay to make transactions the same day you apply. The Wallet App will show you where the card has been used, utilizing Apple Maps, and can track spending habits. It’s offered in conjunction with Goldman Sachs, and will have a 2% Daily Cash back on purchases, or 3% if the purchase is from Apple. Besides the card, Apple announced that you can use Apple Pay now on transit systems in Portland, New York City, and Chicago.

Rejoice, gamers…Nintendo is working on 2 new versions of the Switch. Theverge.com says one will be a cheaper variant, and the other will have ‘enhanced features targeted at avid video gamers.’ It appears the vibration feature will be dropped from the cheaper model. Look for both handsets to be announced at E3 in June.