iWorld
YouTube challenges Facebook & Twitter with mobile live
MUMBAI: Beware, Facebook and Periscope. YouTube is ready to ramp up a challenge with its live mobile closeup. Google-owned video network has began to let popular online video personalities broadcast on the go using mobile devices.
The new mobile live streaming feature allows YouTube content creators whose channels have more than 10,000 subscribers to broadcast through apps tailored for mobile devices such as smartphones.
According to product managers Barbara Macdonald and Kurt Wilms, this launch will put the power of live streaming in the hands of hundreds of thousands of talented creators, giving them a more intimate and spontaneous way to share their thoughts, lives and creativity.
The feature would be available more broadly at YouTube soon.
However, the functionality remains unchanged. As before, you can set a custom title, enable or disable live chat, and choose to send a notification to all of your subscribers. You can broadcast in portrait or landscape and messages will appear on your screen as fast-moving bubbles.
Facebook and Twitter have already added such capabilities to their mobile applications, getting an advantage on YouTube.
YouTube is banking on its reliability and rock-solid infrastructure to tempt people across, as well as a new Super Chat feature. Like Twitch and other live streaming services, this gives viewers the option to pay for a distinct, brightly colored message. It’ll stay pinned to the top of the chat window for up to five hours, and earn creators another slice of cash as they converse with their fans in real-time.
Macdonald and Wilms said that Super Chat is like paying for that front-row seat in the digital age.
In December, Facebook began testing a live audio streaming service that will let people essentially broadcast radio-style on the leading online social network.
The new feature came as an alternative to a Facebook Live tool that lets people stream live video at the social network.
An audio-streaming option promised to be useful in areas where telecommunication networks have trouble handling the larger data demands of video streaming.
Gaming
Sony raises PS5 prices for second time in under a year
US disc edition jumps $100 to $649.99 as memory costs surge.
MUMBAI: Sony just hit the pause button on affordable gaming because when memory prices skyrocket, even the Playstation has to pay the premium. Sony has announced its second price increase for the Playstation 5 range in less than a year, citing pressures in the global economic landscape and a sharp rise in memory component costs driven by AI demand.
In the US, the PS5 disc edition will rise from $549.99 to $649.99, a $100 hike while the digital edition increases to $599.99. The more powerful PS5 Pro will jump $150 to $899.99. The Playstation Portal remote player will also rise by $50 to $249.99. The new prices take effect on 2 April 2026.
Similar increases have been applied in the UK (£90 per model), Europe and Japan. Sony last raised PS5 prices in the US in August 2025.
“We know that price changes impact our community, and after careful evaluation, we found this was a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide,” Sony said in a blog post.
The hikes come amid an unprecedented surge in memory prices, as manufacturers prioritise supply for AI data centres. Analysts say Sony had likely secured price protections for components that have now expired, forcing the company to protect its hardware margins.
Ampere Analysis research director of games Piers Harding-Rolls told CNBC that further increases from Microsoft and Nintendo would not be surprising, though Nintendo may hesitate to raise the price of its recently launched Switch 2 while establishing the new platform.
The increases arrive eight months before the highly anticipated release of GTA 6, which is expected to drive strong console sales. However, early reactions online have been a mix of disappointment and resignation, with growing concern that premium gaming is increasingly becoming a hobby for higher-income players.
In a sector already grappling with tariffs, inflation and component shortages, Sony’s move underscores a tough reality: even the most popular consoles are not immune to the rising cost of keeping up with the latest technology.
