Your Netflix subscription may soon cost more, or have fewer features. The streaming media company is reportedly considering a higher-price tier called Ultra with HDR video and HD audio support. Assuming the new tier does roll out (it’s in testing now), PhoneArena says it’ll cost US$16.99 which is $3 more than the current Premium plan. That isn’t too bad, but the change will likely see the number of simultaneously supported devices on each tier reduced as well.

Some Italian consumers say that based on promotional material they’ve received from the video streamer, the new Netflix lineup reduces the number of screens that can stream Netflix simultaneously with the Premium plan from 4 to 2. However, others in Italy who received information about the new Ultra tier say that the Premium service will continue to allow four screens to stream Netflix at the same time. If Netflix does cut the number of simultaneous screens in half for its Premium plan, that would be akin to a price hike for those who share the service with three other users.

There isn’t any guarantee the Ultra tier will survive its limited testing phase, but if it does there’s a good chance you’ll get less for you money on the current plans.

Page 2 of Particle Debris points to a nifty article by Dan Moren about how the Apple TV 4K could be improved. These are fairly obvious enhancements, but remain unimplemented. John continues the discussion with a theory about why that’s so.

Thousands of iOS and Android apps are leaking data. Over 113 GB of data have been exposed because of 2,271 misconfigured Firebase databases. Firebase is a service that Google offers that contains tools that developers use to create mobile and web apps. Cloud messaging, push notifications, database, analytics, advertising, and more are all tools that Firebase offers, which makes it a popular tool, at least among Android developers.

Starting with January 2018, Appthority researchers scanned mobile apps that used Firebase systems to store user data, analyzing the app’s communications pattern for requests made to Firebase domains.

After scanning more than 2.7 million iOS and Android apps, researchers said they identified 28,502 mobile apps (27,227 Android and 1,275 iOS) that connected and stored data inside Firebase backends.

The EU is considering a new copyright law, and critics say it could endanger parts of the internet. Everything from memes, music remixes, and even news would be affected. Italy Wikipedia shut down in protest because editors say «Wikipedia itself would be at risk of closing.»

Two particular parts of the new rules – articles 11 and 13 – have been the focus of much criticism online. Article 13 has been the most controversial, requiring websites to enforce copyright, even on content uploaded by users. Article 11 of the proposed law requires online platforms to pay publishers a fee if they link to their news content.

Sharing photos with friends is cool, but not when your decides to send photos without your knowledge. That’s exactly what’s happening for some Samsung smartphone owners. Mashable says people are freaking out because the photos on their phones are being sent out to other people via SMS and they don’t even know it’s happening until the get a call or text from the recipient. From Mashable:

A few Redditors are claiming that their Samsung smartphones — in one case a Galaxy S9+ — sent photos from their camera roll to another person without their knowledge. And while this nightmare scenario has yet to be confirmed, you’d better believe that Samsung is looking into it.

Samsung is indeed looking into the problem, although it seems to be somewhat isolated. That isn’t, however, much of a consolation for Samsung smartphone users who’re dealing with photos randomly going out to people in their contacts list. Maybe it’s time for your Samsung-toting friends to delete those potentially awkward photos from their phones just to be safe.

The Apple TV 4K has been shipping since September, 2017. Now there’s a new competitor, Amazon’s Fire TV Cube. One might think that a later design might be seriously better than the Apple TV 4K, but as this review demonstrates, the Fire TV Cube is a long way from achieving that. Apple’s mighty little black brick packs some real punch while «the Fire TV Cube is simply last year’s Fire TV combined with an Echo Dot.» This is a good review.