Technology, Subscription | featured news

Roger Corman's campy B movies, children's shows like "Sesame Street" and "Inspector Gadget," and inspirational monologues by celebrities — these are among the 30 channels that will require a paid monthly subscription on YouTube coming soon.

Adobe Systems Inc said upgrades for its flagship software package, which includes Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash, would be available only through online subscriptions, effective immediately.

The Web site this week is expected to announce a plan to let some video makers charge a monthly subscription, according to people with knowledge of the plan.

Netflix stock is on its way to its biggest one-day gain since the video subscription service went public more than a decade ago. The stock had climbed $38.40, or 37 percent, to $141.66 in early afternoon trading Thursday as investors celebrated a fourth-quarter earnings report that Netflix Inc. released late Wednesday. Earlier in the session, the shares hit a new 52-week high of $149.17.

Microsoft Corp has put its talks with media companies about an online subscription service for TV shows and movies on hold, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Apple appears to have reversed its guidelines for magazine and newspaper subscriptions purchased in its App Store, in a big victory for publishers who blanched at the original terms.

Miramax has become the latest movie studio to make its movies available for streaming on Netflix's online subscription service.

So, 100,000 new digital subscriptions in four weeks for the nation's third-largest newspaper -- is that an impressive figure? "If you're The New York Times, no," said Alex Daley, an analyst for Casey Research. "The New York Times is the Apple of the journalism world," he added.

Hulu's paid video service, Hulu Plus, will surpass one million subscribers in 2011, marking the first time the company has released stats about its premium service.

Qualcomm is offering to refund customers who bought its portable TV sets, ahead of shutting down the broadcasts on March 27. Qualcomm's FLO TV service is the only subscription-based broadcast TV service in the U.S. designed for portable gadgets. It's been live since 2007, but has never garnered much interest from customers.