Hasta La Gadget!

Logitech is bringing together two acquisitions over the past few years in its quest to provide live streamers the tools they need: The company has just launched a Streamlabs desktop plugin for Loupedeck consoles. If you’ll recall, the company purchased Streamlabs — a popular livestreaming software that offers a robust set of tools for broadcasting on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook — back in 2019. And in July this year, it acquired Loupedeck, which makes video streaming consoles that rival Elgato’s Stream Deck.

The Streamlabs Desktop Plugin 1.0 turns the Loupedeck Live and Live S devices into external controllers for the streaming software. Creators can use the consoles’ dials to control audio more precisely, and they can activate Streamlabs’ desktop commands and view the status of their livestream straight from their Loupedeck device. They can also set up scenes, sources, audio sources and scene collections in Loupedeck’s software, effectively freeing up more space on their monitor, which could instead be used for views of other things, such as their gameplay or chat. Logitech says the new plugin is rolling out with software update 5.8 today and will come preinstalled on all new Loupedeck devices.

“When we acquired Loupedeck earlier this year, we had a goal of providing a more seamless experience for Streamlabs creators from onboarding to everyday use with presets available out of the box for Loupedeck devices,” Ujesh Desai, Logitech G’s general manager said in a statement. “This 1.0 release is our first offering, which accelerates our goal to bring an ecosystem of hardware and software to creators everywhere, enabling them to focus on doing what they do best, which is make amazing content.”

It’s worth noting that Streamlabs and Loupedeck aren’t the only companies Logitech purchased over the past few years as part of its efforts to go all in on streaming. It also purchased Blue Microphones in 2018, and it announced a few months ago that it’s going to start selling Blue’s Yeti mics under the Logitech G branding going forward.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-launches-a-streamlabs-plugin-for-loupedeck-consoles-070159158.html?src=rss

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A new rule proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would ban the sneaky fees some companies slap onto their services at checkout time. Thanks to these junk fees, which have crept into the process of everything from buying concert tickets to booking vacation rentals, the prices consumers initially see are often nowhere near what they end up paying. 

The Biden administration has been putting pressure on companies like Ticketmaster and Airbnb to improve their ways, and both recently committed to providing more transparency about their extra charges. The FTC wants to take things a step further by banning the common deceptive tactics altogether. The proposed rule targets both hidden, mandatory fees that aren’t properly disclosed upfront and ambiguous “bogus fees” that leave consumers unsure of what it is they actually had to pay more for. 

These practices are misleading, with companies often resorting to “bait-and-switch pricing and misrepresenting the nature and purpose of fees,” the FTC argues in the proposal notice. Under the proposed rule, businesses would have to include these additional fees in their advertised prices, explain what each fee is for and let customers know if any of it is refundable.

The FTC took comments from the public last year to assess the impact of junk fees and ultimately gathered over 12,000 responses to shape its proposal. It’s now opening up comments for 60 days so consumers can weigh in on the rule it’s put forth. “By hiding the total price, these junk fees make it harder for consumers to shop for the best product or service and punish businesses who are honest upfront,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. The proposed rule would “save people money and time, and make our markets more fair and competitive.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ftc-wants-to-ban-hidden-junk-fees-that-jack-up-the-price-of-your-purchases-182058389.html?src=rss