Google begins testing subscription service for Android apps and games - The UpStream

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

If you haven't noticed over the past few years, subscription services are all the rage. That's because guaranteed recurring revenue is far better for a company's stability than peaks and valleys of individual product sales. Many companies in a variety of industries have begun implementing this business model, from Netflix's primary business to Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass. Google has a collection of subscription services, including YouTube Premium, the ad-free version of YouTube.

Over the past few years, videogame streaming has become big business. The household name is certainly Twitch, and for good reason: it is the brand that brought the idea into the mainstream and currently houses the majority of the big-name streamers. It also has the financial might of Amazon after a $970 million acquisition. Since the acquisition, many have tried and no one has succeeded to take on the market leader, but that is about to change.

Since its implementation in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, better known as the ADA, has created a scenario for people with special needs having accommodations provided across the country. This can range from ramps and elevators to aisle clearance in stores. However, it has also consistently provided headaches for business owners, as compliance and rules are neither consistent nor well defined. While everyone knows the simple rules, such as 36-inch clearance in all public spaces, other rules are simply stated as "reasonable." The definition of reasonable varies, sometimes from town to town, making compliance difficult for many.

A few years ago, a unique company popped up, offering the ability to stream live TV over the internet. While that concept is far from novel, Aereo was streaming directly from local TV antennas, giving people access to local programming from markets they were not in. This was really popular for sports fans who lived in different markets, such as our former host who used it to watch Giants games when they were blacked out in Tampa. The company was sued, eventually losing a Supreme Court case, inevitably ending their operations in 2015.