quota Archives

AppWizard

September 7, 2026

Xbox Cloud Gaming Caps Hours: 15 for Ultimate [2026]

On September 3, 2026, Microsoft announced that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will see a shift in cloud gaming access. Starting November 2026, unlimited cloud streaming will be replaced by a tiered hour bank system: 15 hours for Ultimate, 10 for Premium, and 5 for Essential subscribers. Once a subscriber exhausts their allotted hours, they must wait for the next billing cycle or purchase additional time. This change is the most significant since the beta launch of Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2019. The announcement was made on Xbox Wire, and the new structure is reflected on Xbox’s product pages. The new tiered system introduces a scarcity model, with every paid tier now having its own cloud gaming quota. Essential subscribers, who previously had no cloud access, will now receive 5 hours per month. The pricing for the Game Pass tiers is as follows: Ultimate at .99 for 15 hours, Premium at .99 for 10 hours, and Essential at .99 for 5 hours. The free ad-supported tier remains unchanged at 5 hours per month. Microsoft's rationale for the change is based on usage data indicating that most subscribers do not heavily utilize cloud streaming, coupled with the rising costs of operating cloud gaming services. The company has stated that additional hours can be purchased once a subscriber's monthly allotment is used up, although pricing details for these add-ons have not yet been disclosed. The new hour caps will take effect in November 2026, following a shorter notice period compared to NVIDIA's GeForce NOW service, which implemented a 100-hour monthly cap earlier in 2026. The response from gaming communities has been largely negative, with concerns about the limits falling short of typical usage patterns and conflicting with the marketing of Game Pass as offering unlimited access. The introduction of hour caps could impact Game Pass's subscriber base, particularly among those who rely on cloud gaming as their primary access point. Microsoft's internal usage data will determine the extent of this impact, as the company aims to control costs without raising subscription prices.

BetaBeacon

September 6, 2026

Redfinger vs BlueStacks X vs now.gg: Cloud Emulator 2026

Cloud Android emulators move the workload off the device entirely, running the Android instance on a remote server while the PC displays the video stream and sends back taps, clicks, and keystrokes.

Winsage

September 3, 2026

Microsoft OneDrive wants to back up everything. You don’t have to let it

OneDrive offers a minimum of one terabyte of online storage for Microsoft 365 subscribers and provides seamless backup of files and settings, particularly useful when transitioning to a new PC. However, its automatic backups can lead to excessive internet bandwidth usage and clutter with unnecessary files. Recent updates allow users to opt out of OneDrive backup entirely, although the specifics of this feature are unclear. Users can also manage their experience by selectively backing up folders and regularly reviewing stored files.

AppWizard

September 3, 2026

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife opens fall quota hunt applications – The Advocate-Messenger

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has opened applications for fall quota hunts, including deer, waterfowl, pheasants, and sandhill cranes. Applications can be submitted through the MyProfile online portal until midnight (CT) on September 30. A minimum fee is required per application, and applicants will receive a confirmation number. Results will be posted online by 5 p.m. ET on October 9, 2026. The quota system includes 38 deer quota hunts, waterfowl hunts at five locations, pheasant hunts at three WMAs, and statewide permits for sandhill cranes. Mentored options for youth, mobility-impaired hunts, and a maximum of 10 percent nonresident participation in deer hunts are also included. Selected hunters must purchase necessary licenses and permits before hunting. More information is available on the Quota Hunts and Waterfowl Quota Hunts webpages, as well as in the Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide. For inquiries, the Information Center can be contacted at 800-858-1549 or via email.

Tech Optimizer

July 23, 2026

Simplify AI agent orchestration with Lakebase Postgres

The auditing process has traditionally been labor-intensive, requiring extensive document reviews. CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) partnered with the Databricks Forward Deployed Engineering team to develop a document processing application that reduces extraction time from hours to minutes while maintaining quality. The application is built on the Databricks platform, utilizing technologies like Lakebase Postgres, Databricks Apps, Lakeflow Jobs, MLflow, and Unity Catalog Volumes. The application addresses challenges in document parsing, including unpredictable per-task latency, rate-limit-aware throttling, workload prioritization, cost attribution per task, and real-time progress visibility. It eliminates the need for multiple specialized systems by integrating components such as a web application for user interaction, Lakebase for state management, an orchestrator for task management, and AI agents for document processing. The task queue is supported by two Postgres tables in Lakebase, tracking task status and execution attempts. Concurrency safety is ensured through a locking mechanism, and crash recovery is facilitated by lease-based locking. The orchestrator implements rate-limit-aware throttling and idempotent webhook callbacks to manage task processing effectively. An operator dashboard provides real-time metrics on task status, agent performance, and workload costs, with live updates through Postgres LISTEN/NOTIFY events. Cost attribution is managed at the application level, allowing for detailed monitoring of expenditures. Lakebase enhances the orchestration process with features like autoscaling compute, OAuth-rotated authentication, Unity Catalog integration, and support for branching and snapshots.

AppWizard

July 7, 2026

Your Android phone backup now counts against your Google storage — but the impact is smaller than you think

Google now counts Android backups, including SMS, call history, and device settings, toward your Google storage quota as of July 7th. New backup controls allow users to select which data to back up. The average size of an Android backup is around 40MB, suggesting minimal impact on most users' storage. Users can access these options through Settings > Accounts and Backup > Google Backup. The update is being rolled out, with existing accounts receiving the functionality in the coming months.

AppWizard

May 29, 2026

Complaints worked: Google is already addressing Gemini’s new usage limits

Google is making significant adjustments to its Gemini platform in response to user feedback regarding usage limits. The changes include a cap on how much quota a single Gemini prompt can consume, ensuring users can maximize their usage of the Pro model. Requests that fail will no longer count against users' quotas, and Google plans to introduce detailed usage breakdowns for better tracking. These adjustments follow user complaints about quickly exhausting quotas, with some reporting that single prompts consumed large portions of their allowances. Josh Woodward from Google confirmed the new cap is intended to enhance user value from the Pro model and clarified that only successful requests will count toward usage limits. Additionally, Gemini will remember users' preferred models across sessions, continuing to use the selected model until a switch is made or a usage cap is reached.