The Apple-Spotify relationship could face new pressure after Spotify began distributing emails recommending that users avoid buying subscriptions to the streaming service through Apple’s app store. The subscriptions run $13 through Apple, compared to $10 on Spotify’s website. Apple charges a 30 percent cut in a model that many companies rely upon to get their products to consumers. “The emails explained how to cancel the app store subscriptions and sign up on the Spotify website,” reports Bloomberg. “Apple doesn’t encourage this kind of thing. The company forbids any buttons or links within apps that could allow people to buy things externally that they would otherwise purchase through the app.”

According to mobile analytics startup Mixpanel, more than 38 percent of iOS mobile devices are now running iOS 8.4, Apple’s latest mobile operating system. That means a growing number of consumers now have access to a free trial of the new Apple Music service, reports VentureBeat. “Dangerous for Spotify,” said Suhail Doshi, Mixpanel’s chief exec. “That’s hundreds of millions of people who can get a free three-month trial with Apple Music.” While Spotify recently expanded to include videos and podcasts for its 75 million users, Apple Music could prove to be a threat to existing music services such as Spotify and Rdio.

For those who may be questioning the growing value of YouTube celebrities, you may be interested to learn that 24-year-old Felix Kjellberg (aka PewDiePie) of Sweden now has 37.7 million subscribers on YouTube, while PewDiePie Productions generated about $7.4 million in revenue last year. According to Engadget, Kjellberg made $4 million the year before by “playing video games, recording his reactions and uploading the resulting videos to YouTube.” Kjellberg has defended himself following social media backlash by noting his many charitable contributions. In addition, he claims his “bro army” (fans) raised more than $1 million for various charities.

Showtime’s over-the-top streaming service, which provides on-demand access to the premium cable network’s content and live East and West Coast feeds, is now available to consumers. The service is offered for $10.99 per month for subscriptions on Apple mobile devices including iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, in addition to Apple TV, PlayStation Vue and Roku. Hulu customers can add the new service to their current subscription for $8.99 per month, reports TechCrunch. All are offering a 30-day free trial subscription. The service’s launch is coinciding with the July 12th season debuts of Showtime originals “Ray Donovan” and “Masters of Sex.”

Facebook-owned photo-sharing service Instagram is quietly rolling out support for 1080×1080 pixel resolution for its images, which up until now had remained at 640×640 resolution. “An Instagram spokesperson tells us that the company started ‘gradually rolling out 1080 across iOS and Android’ last week, meaning that most people should already be seeing the higher-resolution images in the mobile app,” The Verge explains. However, the desktop version of Instagram does not include the upgrade. According to the spokesperson, “right now we are focused on mobile, with no plans to share on Web.”

Italian surveillance firm Hacking Team, a company that provides technology for state intelligence agencies to infiltrate computer networks, was itself hacked in a breach that exposed more than 400 gigabytes of data. “The breached trove includes executive emails, customer invoices and even source code; the company’s Twitter feed was hacked, controlled by the intruders for nearly 12 hours, and used to distribute samples of the company’s hacked files,” explains Wired. “These are the equivalents of the Edward Snowden leaks for the surveillance industry,” said Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International. “There are few countries [Hacking Team] aren’t willing to sell to. There are few lines they aren’t willing to cross.”

Amazon announced that it plans to conduct a special one-day sale for Prime members on July 15. The “Prime Day” sale, commemorating the e-commerce giant’s 20th anniversary, promises “more deals than Black Friday.” Special deals will start to appear at midnight and new offers will be introduced as frequently as every 10 minutes. The event is designed to bring more shoppers to its subscription service. “You can simply sign up for a 30-day free trial and cancel before the end, though of course Amazon is hoping that plenty of those that do join to take advantage of its one-day sale end up staying on and paying the $99-a-year membership fee,” reports Digital Trends.

Japan broadcaster NHK has chosen the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London to test its Super Hi-Vision 8K system. NHK is using Sony’s high-end F65 4K camera for production and upconverting content to 8K through a Sony processor. The production also includes a a FOR-A FT-ONE camera and two Ikegami SHV8000 Super Hi-Vision cameras. “Japan’s government and NHK are leading an effort to bring Super Hi-Vision — which combines 8K with a 22.2 surround sound system and a high frame rate of 60 frames per second — to Japan,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. “Plans are to start some satellite 8K broadcasting, beginning next June with the Rio Olympics.”

Google Glass may have failed to gain mainstream traction its first time around, but the device managed to generate some significant interest from a range of businesses and organizations. As a result, a new version of Glass is likely going to focus on the enterprise market. According to 9to5Google, the next device is being referred to by Google as “Enterprise Edition” or “Google Glass EE.” Development transitioned from Google X to Tony Fadell’s team at Google’s Nest division earlier this year. Now that a device called “GG1” has passed through the FCC, the company may be closer to making an announcement. Sources say extensive testing is scheduled for later this year.

Facebook, Google, Pinterest and Twitter are among those looking to bridge mobile browsing and online purchasing with “buy” buttons that provide shoppers with one-click ordering for products offered by thousands of retailers. Despite increased mobile usage, Americans still order most of their products from desktop and laptop PCs. According to The New York Times, “This may seem like a minor inconvenience in a world where so much information is at our fingertips, but it is a big deal for tech companies whose multibillion-dollar advertising businesses are increasingly mobile yet remain highly tethered to the success of online shopping.”

Messaging app Snapchat announced some significant updates this week, including the introduction of two-factor authentication to improve security, a new way to add a group of friends with Add Nearby, and an upgrade to Snapcode that lets users add selfies and add screenshots of Snapcodes through the Add Friends feature. Perhaps most significantly, Snapchat users should be interested in the new Tap to View function that eliminates the need to press and hold the screen in order to view a Snap or Story, an improvement that Snapchat says, “means no more tired thumbs while watching a several-hundred-second Story.”

Blogging platform Tumblr recently launched Tumblr TV, a new feature designed to help users discover and share GIFs. The rollout follows the introduction of Tumblr’s GIF search engine in early June. “The addition is a combination of a search and viewing feature for GIFs, which helps you find the animated images housed on Tumblr and then view them in a full-screen mode,” according to TechCrunch. “The ‘TV’ part of the feature’s title refers to the fact that the interface offers player controls, like play, pause, forward and backward.” The Tumblr GIF search engine is only available to logged-in users, while Tumblr TV is open to all. Both are desktop only for now.

For its upcoming Shark Week, Discovery Channel plans to allow third-party sources to post content via live-streaming app Meerkat. “Finbassador” educators, conservationists and marine experts are scheduled to post clips on SharkWeek.com to complement the content being broadcast on the network. The Meerkat content is not expected to appear as part of the television broadcasts. “There’s a stream planned around a live shark feeding from the National Aquarium in Baltimore,” reports USA Today. “And Discovery plans to stream various parties and promotional events leading into Shark Week, which officially commences on air July 5.” According to Discovery, no money exchanged hands to launch the collaboration.

Facebook is rolling out a new option allowing marketers to pay for video ads only after users view the ads for a minimum of 10 seconds. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The social network previously charged advertisers immediately when their video ads came into view, but marketers have been calling for ways to ensure consumers actually see their video messages, as opposed to simply scrolling past them in the Facebook News Feed.” The option is available through the Power Editor and API buying tools. “We don’t believe it’s the best option in terms of capturing the best value and brand objectives marketers care about, but we want to give them control and choice over how they buy,” said a Facebook spokeswoman.

Facebook has been in discussions with major labels such as Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group about its potential interest in the music industry. “To what extent the social network wants to get involved is still up in the air — while the popular assumption may be a streaming service, sources say that Facebook hasn’t yet decided precisely what it wants to do,” according to The Verge. Facebook is likely interested in growing the engagement of its users (who spend over 40 minutes per day in the U.S.), while one source mentioned that the company is looking to do something unique with its video platform.