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Updated 2024-05-06 00:49
Limitless is a new AI tool for your meetings —and an all-hearing wearable gadget
The Limitless Pendant comes in a bunch of colors and doesn't really look like an AI gadget. | Image: Limitless The Limitless Pendant doesn't exactly scream AI." As Dan Siroker, the CEO of the company behind the new device, lifts it up to show me over Zoom, the round, rubbery-looking gizmo reminds me more of an old-school clippable Fitbit. But what Siroker is actually showing me is a device that can be clipped onto your shirt or worn on a string around your neck that is meant to record everything you hear - and then use AI to help you remember and make sense of it.The Limitless Pendant is part of the whole Limitless system, which the company is launching today. (Oh, and in case you're wondering: yes, it's very much a reference to the movie.) Siroker's last AI product, Rewind, was an app that ran on your computer and would record your screen and... Continue reading...
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston wants you to embrace AI and remote work
Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Dropbox Leaders can't keep mashing the go back to 2019 button.' Continue reading...
Adobe Premiere Pro is getting generative AI video tools — and hopefully OpenAI’s Sora
Generative AI-powered tools for quickly removing objects in video clips will be arriving in Premiere Pro later this year. | Image: Adobe Adobe is working on a generative AI video model for its Firefly family that will bring new tools to its Premiere Pro video editing platform. These new Firefly tools - alongside some proposed third-party integrations with Runway, Pika Labs, and OpenAI's Sora models - will allow Premiere Pro users to generate video and add or remove objects using text prompts (just like Photoshop's Generative Fill feature) and extend the length of video clips.Unlike many of Adobe's previous Firefly-related announcements, no release date - beta or otherwise - has been established for the company's new video generation tools, only that they'll roll out this year." And while the creative software giant showcased what its own video model is currently capable... Continue reading...
Sony’s PS5 Pro is real and developers are getting ready for it
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony is getting ready to release a more powerful PS5 console, possibly by the end of this year. After reports of leaked PS5 Pro specifications surfaced recently, The Verge has obtained a full list of specs for the upcoming console. Sources familiar with Sony's plans tell me that developers are already being asked to ensure their games are compatible with this upcoming console, with a focus on improving ray tracing.Codenamed Trinity, the PlayStation 5 Pro model will include a more powerful GPU and a slightly faster CPU mode. All of Sony's changes point to a PS5 Pro that will be far more capable of rendering games with ray tracing enabled or hitting higher resolutions and frame rates in certain titles. Sony appears to be encouraging... Continue reading...
Senator Elizabeth Warren claims TurboTax ‘relentlessly’ upsells customers in letter to FTC
Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has written a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, saying that TurboTax continues to relentlessly upsell" customers while also directing them away from services that would otherwise be free.As noted in the letter, Warren's staff analyzed TurboTax's services using a sample taxpayer and found that the company attempted to upsell the customer eight times during the tax filing process. Warren writes that in several cases," these solicitations appear to be efforts to mislead customers into thinking that they must pay the extra fees in order to file their taxes when that is not the case." Some show up as full-screen prompts, forcing users to scroll to the bottom to deny the upgrade.In one instance,... Continue reading...
Ikea’s new gaming furniture looks like furniture, not an energy drink
Ikea's Brannboll range is just the right mix of neutrals and bright colors to match most modern homes. | Image: Ikea Ikea is introducing a new range of gaming furniture that subverts the usual dark, edgy gamer" aesthetic for designs that are more likely to blend in with your existing home decor.The company's Brannboll collection is a lineup of 20 items, including a desk, chairs, accessories, and various storage solutions. Following the mostly-black ROG collaboration Ikea released back in 2021, which was similarly free from overly aggressive gamer" flourishes, the new Brannboll collection instead focuses on the kind of designs that Ikea does best - simple and recognizably Scandinavian.Seating is the main focus. There's an armchair that folds out into a lounging position, a rocking-style chair designed to swing with your body's movement, and an... Continue reading...
The first Apple-approved emulator for the iPhone has arrived... and been pulled
A screenshot from iGBA. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge I played Game Boy Advance games on my iPhone this weekend thanks to a new emulator called iGBA, which appears to be the first Game Boy Advance emulator on the App Store since Apple started allowing emulators worldwide. The only trouble is, it doesn't look like iGBA is developer Mattia La Spina's own work. Something seemingly confirmed by Apple after it pulled the app for violating its copyright and spam rules, according to MacRumors.In an email to The Verge, developer Riley Testut said the app is an unauthorized clone of GBA4iOS, the open-source emulator he created for iOS over a decade ago (and recently resurrected for the Vision Pro). He said his app uses the GNU GPLv2 license. A Mastodon user found that iGBA does not reference the... Continue reading...
Google’s Pixel 9 may get an Apple-like satellite SOS feature
Image: OnLeaks / 91Mobiles Google could be adding a feature very similar to Apple's Emergency SOS feature to the Pixel 9 and the next Pixel Fold. That's according to leaker Kamila Wojciechowska, who writes for Android Authority that the company would partner with T-Mobile to offer the feature but may add other providers later.Just like Apple's system, Google's SOS feature would reportedly present future Pixel owners with a series of questions to ascertain what's happening, rather than let users thumb one out. A video in the Android Authority article features the animation Google will display to users to help them get the phone aligned with a satellite.According to Wojciechowska, these are some of the questions the feature will ask:
Blackmagic Design releases a DaVinci Resolve editing panel for iPads
Blackmagic's new Micro Color Panel lets you edit video on the go. | Image: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design announced its video editing software, DaVinci Resolve, was coming to the iPad back in 2022, and although it supports multitouch input and the Apple Pencil, sometimes, nothing beats purpose-built hardware. On Friday, Blackmagic announced the $495 DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel, which it says will be available worldwide in May and is specifically designed for the iPad.At 14.33 inches by 7.18 inches, the Micro Color Panel is about the size of a computer keyboard. It has an iPad Pro mounting slot and connects either via Bluetooth or USB-C. Besides being smaller than Blackmagic's other color panels, the Micro is also significantly cheaper (The next one up - the Mini Panel - is listed at over $2,000 on Blackmagic's... Continue reading...
Best video game TV show ever?
The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 34, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been writing about the Humane AI Pin and the Aboard app, reading about the Com World War and why studios cancel already-made movies, watching Ripley and a deep dive into the Game Boy's incredible sturdiness and power, listening to The Rest is History take on Martin Luther, and seeing if Amazon's Echo Frames can replace my headphones.I also have for you an excellent new video game show, a new ebook reader worth a look, yet another doc about how bad tech is, a sweet new drone, and much more.I also... Continue reading...
Police arrested four people over $300,000 of stolen Lego kits
Image: California Highway Patrol Los Angeles citizens can rest easy knowing that a criminal theft ring is no longer stalking the city's retail stores to feed a Lego black market. That's because the California Highway Patrol (CHP) announced this week that it had arrested four people it accused of swiping what police estimated was approximately $300,000" worth of Lego sets.The four had allegedly burgled stores like Target, Home Depot, and Lowe's of their Lego stock and sold them to black-market dealers who would then vend the stolen bricks at seemingly legitimate businesses, swap meets, or online." Police say they were booked on charges related to Organized Retail Theft, Grand Theft, and Conspiracy to commit a crime." Image: California Highway Patrol... Continue reading...
Bluesky lifted its ban on heads of state signups
Image: Bluesky Bluesky is apparently ready for a bigger challenge. It says it's allowing heads of state to sign up now, a little over two months after it opened for general signups. In May last year, the site asked its users not to give invitation codes to recent/prominent heads of state," stating that it was its policy not to accommodate them.When Bluesky instituted its heads-of-state policy, the site was still in its showing-everyone's-ass phase, and its moderation approach wasn't in place, yet. So instead of the varying degrees of controlled chaos that social networks are, Bluesky was filled with, well, lots of unsettlingly sexy pictures of the cat-eating alien puppet star of the 1980s sitcom Alf, which The Verge's Elizabeth Lopatto pointed out... Continue reading...
This week’s trailers offered twists on familiar genres
This week saw some fun trailers tapping into heady science fiction, comic book movies, and taboo horror, each with a fun mixed genre twist. Joker: Folie a Deux is a comic book movie about the love affair of The Joker and Harley Quinn that's also a musical, and Apple TV Plus' new Dark Matter series is a kidnapping thriller with an interesting alternate reality twist. Then there's Maxxxine, a horror slasher that looks to also be a whodunit crime mystery.Joker: Folie a DeuxJoker: Folie a Deux takes a crack at the origin of The Joker and Harley Quinn's romance, which has been explored in some of the best episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and lightly featured in 2016's Suicide Squad. This movie is supposed to be a jukebox musical"... Continue reading...
Xgimi’s portable MoGo 2 Pro projector is $200 off right now
The Xgimi MoGo 2 Pro is an excellent Android TV projector with Chromecast built-in. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge Let's face it, a big TV isn't always an option, especially if you live in a tiny apartment or prefer a more nomadic lifestyle. In those instances, it might be wiser to buy the Xgimi MoGo 2 Pro, a portable Android TV projector that's small enough to toss in your backpack before heading out the door. Thankfully, Xgimi's 1080p smart projector is currently on sale at Amazon for $399.99 ($200 off) when you clip the on-page coupon, which drops it to one of its lowest prices to date.Despite its small stature and modest 400 ANSI lumens, the MoGo 2 Pro can project large, 200-inch images while delivering surprisingly good picture quality at smaller sizes (think 30 inches). It looks best when viewed in the dark, like most projectors, which... Continue reading...
Galaxy AI features are coming to last-gen Samsung phones — including the S21 series
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Samsung is planning to bring select Galaxy AI features to several older flagship phones and tablets next month via the One UI 6.1 update, according to 9to5Google and Android Central, both of which referred to a post from a Samsung representative who posted on the company's community forum in Korea. The Verge has reached out to Samsung for further comment.A slightly trimmed-down version of Galaxy AI (sans Instant Slow-Mo) will be coming to Samsung's flagship lineup from 2022, specifically the S22, S22 Plus, S22 Ultra, Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, Tab S8, and Tab S8 Ultra. Each device will receive the same version of Galaxy AI as Samsung's lower-priced Galaxy S23 FE. Instant Slow-Mo, which automatically plays a video in slow motion once you tap... Continue reading...
Tesla slashes price for monthly Full Self-Driving subscription
Photo by Edie Leong for The Washington Post via Getty Images Tesla is reducing the subscription fee for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assist software in a reflection of the company's continuing financial hardships. The company slashed the price to $99 / month, down from $199 where it has been since at least 2021.Tesla announced the price adjustment in a post on X, in which it described the Level 2 driver-assist system as FSD (Supervised)" - a name tweak that's meant to convey the fact that drivers are required to pay attention to the road and stand ready to take control of the vehicle. (The company has been criticized for failing to include proper driver monitoring and other protections against overreliance on the system.)
Japanese man arrested for allegedly hacking Pokémon game to sell custom monsters
The Pokemon Company Japanese police arrested a man after finding evidence that he illegally tampered with save data for the Nintendo Switch games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which he used to create custom characters that he sold on an online gaming marketplace.According to machine translations of stories at NHK and the Asahi Shimbun, the Kochi Prefectural police arrested 36-year-old Yoshihiro Yamakawa on April 9th after cyber patrol officers caught him selling the characters online. Yamakawa, who used an online tool to modify the game's save data, was arrested under suspicion of violating a Japanese law known as the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.The police report, according to both outlets, states that the Japanese police cyber patrol caught Yamakawa... Continue reading...
The best smartphone you can buy for under $500
You can get a great device for less than $500 these days if you know how to pick your priorities. | Image: The Verge You can't have everything at this price, but you can get a great smartphone. Whether you want an iPhone, a 120Hz screen, or water resistance, you've got options. Continue reading...
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for a fourth season
Paramount Plus Season 3 of Paramount Plus' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is still in production, but the streamer has already decided to renew the series. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is coming to an end.Paramount Plus announced today that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be back for a fourth season following the premiere of its third sometime in 2025, and Star Wars: Lower Deck's upcoming fifth season will be the series' finale. In a statement about Strange New Worlds' renewal, executive producer Alex Kurtzman and showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers said they were thrilled about being able to continue telling new stories about the crew of the Enterprise.And while Lower Decks is wrapping up,... Continue reading...
Game publisher blames media for studio closure
Prytania Media The grim cadence of video game layoffs continues apace, but this latest news comes with a strange twist. Prytania Media has shut down studio Possibility Space effective immediately. In an email to employees reproduced on social media by Polygon reporter Nicole Carpenter, Jeff Strain, Prytania's co-founder, seemingly attributed the closure to an as-yet unpublished article from Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach.Strain wrote that he received questions from Gach regarding an upcoming article and that some of those questions pertained to a not-yet-public project codenamed Vonnegut." According to Strain, after receiving questions on Vonnegut, he had an emergency meeting with its publishers wherein it was decided that the publisher would cease... Continue reading...
With theVision Pro’s Spatial Personas, you can be lonely with friends
I failed converting Wes to K-pop, but we agreed that Cowboy Carter slaps. | Screenshot: Victoria Song / The Verge The inside of an Apple Vision Pro is a lonely place to be. My spouse and I can't watch movies together. It's hard to describe what the world looks like in there to curious friends. Even if I'm standing next to you, even if there's a ghostly projection of my eyes on the front display - there's a barrier between me and you.Unless you also have a Vision Pro headset and have enabled Spatial Personas.Apple debuted Spatial Personas last week. It unleashes your uncanny digital avatar from the FaceTime window and into any SharePlay-enabled app as well as your virtual space. Call me intrigued. Loneliness was a con of the Vision Pro that reviewer after reviewer pointed out. Would this help that? I called up our weekend editor, Wes Davis, who... Continue reading...
The Fitbit Charge 5 is a steal at 50 percent off
It wasn't our favorite fitness tracker at $150, but the Fitbit Charge 5 is a looker at $75. | Image: Fitbit With nearly a third of 2024 behind us now, you might think it's out of season to talk about resolutions and fitness goals. But for me, the renewal of the Earth's vegetation and the prospect of pool parties encourages me to get out and move after a cold, muggy winter. If the same is true for you, a fitness tracker can be a great motivator that can help you chart your progress. Thankfully, Walmart is currently selling the Fitbit Charge 5 starting at just $75, which is 50 percent off and easily one of the best prices we've ever seen.We weren't big fans of some of Fitbit's design choices for the last-gen Charge 5. The biggest offender was its lack of a physical navigation button, which made using the finicky touch-based user interface more... Continue reading...
Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft says it's starting to test ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11. The software maker will use the Recommended section of the Start menu, which usually shows file recommendations, to suggest apps from the Microsoft Store.This will appear only for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the US and will not apply to commercial devices (devices managed by organizations)," says Microsoft in a blog post.The app promotions can be disabled in the Settings section of Windows 11, but it appears that Microsoft will enable these by default. Microsoft is seeking feedback on the changes, so it's possible the company could decide to ditch these ads in development builds of Windows 11 if there's enough feedback that suggests they're... Continue reading...
House votes to reauthorize FISA, without the warrant requirement amendment
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images After three failed attempts and a heated floor debate, the House voted on Friday to reauthorize a controversial program that lets US intelligence agencies spy on foreign communications without a warrant. The bill ultimately passed 273-147.Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is scheduled by statute to expire on April 19th, though the FISA court recently granted a government request that would have authorized the program for another year without congressional approval.The battle over the amendments to the bill revealed some unexpected alliances in the House over privacy issues. A bipartisan coalition of progressives and members of the far-right Freedom Caucus rallied together behind an amendment to impose a warrant... Continue reading...
Spotify’s lossless audio could finally arrive as part of ‘Music Pro’ add-on
Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Could lossless streaming on Spotify actually be happening this time? We've been through so many twists and turns with this saga already, but there's new cause for hope. Code snippets in recent builds of Spotify for Android yet again tease the possibility of the company's long-delayed lossless audio coming in the near future.After originally being known three years ago as Spotify HiFi" and then rumored to be part of a more expensive Supremium" subscription tier, it seems like Spotify has again pivoted on strategy. The code samples indicate that lossless audio will be included in an optional Music Pro" add-on that will also include the DJ remix features that my colleague Jess Weatherbed covered earlier today. Those will let Spotify... Continue reading...
Here’s 16 pages of what Epic wants after winning its Google app store lawsuit
Photo illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Philip Pacheco, Getty Images Do you think a judge will make Google allow an Android version of the Epic Games Store to live inside its own Google Play Store, let the Epic Games Store have access to every app inside Google Play, and let Android users begin sideloading apps with a single tap? Because Epic's asking for those and a whole lot more in the aftermath of Epic v. Google.On December 11th, Epic won a surprise victory against Google in federal court. A jury unanimously decided that Google had turned its Google Play app store and Google Play Billing service into an illegal monopoly. But what did Epic win? That's yet to be decided by Judge James Donato, and today, we're finally learning precisely what Epic believes it should get.As you'll see in the 16-page... Continue reading...
Oh no, I started playing Fallout Shelter again
Well, hello there, Ghoul. | Image: Bethesda Softworks The new Amazon adaptation of Fallout is excellent, nailing the goofy yet grim vibe of the series, all while telling a new story. It's so good, in fact, that after the eight episodes were over, I was left with a strong urge to head back into the wasteland. But where to start? An open-world RPG like Fallout 4 felt like too much of a commitment (even with a next-gen update on the way), so I turned to something simpler: the mobile strategy game Fallout Shelter. And now I can't seem to stop.Now, to be clear, Fallout Shelter isn't a new game. It launched in 2015, and while it started as a mobile release, it's been subsequently ported to PC and consoles. It's a bit like a city-builder, just one that takes place mostly underground. You're the... Continue reading...
Roku hit with second major breach of 2024, this time affecting 576,000 users
Image: The Verge Roku says it found another cyberattack on Friday that affected 576,000 users. This is the second breach to affect the company since March.Roku says the attackers used the login information of account holders, a technique called credential stuffing, to gain access to the streaming service and the payment methods of some users. The hackers were then able to use partial credit card numbers from about 400 cases" to make unauthorized purchases for subscriptions to streaming services and Roku devices. But the company said the hackers did not get sensitive information like full credit card numbers and addresses.The hackers used a method called credential stuffing, in which malicious actors take stolen usernames and passwords and try these... Continue reading...
Google’s Pixel 8A leaks in all colors — including a bold green
Image: Android Headlines We're a month out from Google I/O, where the company will likely announce its new Pixel 8A phone. At this point, there have already been plenty of renders and even some real-world shots. And now, courtesy of Android Headlines, it appears official marketing images of the device have leaked.If accurate, they show that Google plans to offer the Pixel 8A in four colors: black, porcelain, blue, and a very vibrant green. It's certainly more saturated than the subdued mint" that Google added to the Pixel 8 color choices earlier this year.Like its predecessor, the phone is rumored to have a 6.1-inch display, though it's not yet clear whether it'll top out at 90Hz or 120Hz. The 8A still has thicker bezels than the flagship Pixel 8 and 8 Pro -... Continue reading...
America’s roads and bridges to get $830 million for a climate makeover
A 20-foot chunk of Newport, Rhode Island's beloved Cliff Walk broke off and dove into the depths of the ocean in a significant landslide and partial collapse, pictured on March 4th, 2022. | Photo by Jonathan Wiggs / The Boston Globe via Getty Images The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is doling out nearly $830 million in grants to 80 different projects aimed at strengthening US infrastructure against climate change.The funding will fan out over 39 states and territories to projects ranging from refurbishing aging bridges to expanding emergency evacuation routes. The grants are the first of their kind," according to USDOT, which is partnering with state, local, and tribal governments thanks to funding made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.Climate change is intensifying risks to the nation's transportation infrastructure. The number of billion-dollar weather disasters reached a record high last year. And even slow-moving calamities like rising seas are... Continue reading...
Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets
Google is piloting removing links to California news websites for a small percentage of users. | Illustration: The Verge Google says it will start removing links to California news websites in a short term test for a small percentage of California users." The move is in response to the pending California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), which would require Google to pay a fee for linking Californians to news articles.If passed, CJPA may result in significant changes to the services we can offer Californians and the traffic we can provide to California publishers," Jaffer Zaidi, Google VP of global news partnerships, wrote in a blog post announcing the decision. The testing process involves removing links to California news websites, potentially covered by CJPA, to measure the impact of the legislation on our product experience."Zaidi adds that... Continue reading...
The best instant cameras you can buy right now
Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge We found the best cameras for your budget and needs. Continue reading...
Ford’s hands-free BlueCruise comes under scrutiny after fatal crash
Photo by Sean O'Kane / The Verge The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident involving Ford's hands-free driver-assist system after a Mustang Mach-E driver crashed into another vehicle in Texas, killing the occupant. A second fatal crash involving a Mach-E took place in Philadelphia, although it's not known whether the driver-assist system played a role. Both crashes involved Mach-Es crashing into stationary vehicles.The first incident took place at 9:50PM on February 24th outside of San Antonio, Texas. According to a preliminary report from NTSB, the 44-year-old driver of the Mustang Mach-E was traveling eastbound on Interstate 10 when he rear-ended a stationary Honda CRV. The 56-year-old Honda driver was killed in the crash.Based on data... Continue reading...
4TB SD cards are arriving in 2025 for your cameras and laptops
Image: Western Digital It wasn't that long ago when we were impressed by a 400GB microSD card, but now, Western Digital is showing off a full-size SD card with 10 times the storage capacity. The new SanDisk Extreme Pro 4TB SD card is designed for cameras and laptops, and it's the first time we've seen this storage size on an SD card.While Western Digital is previewing its four-terabyte SD card at the NAB Show this week, it won't actually be available until 2025. AnandTech notes that the card uses the Ultra High Speed-I (UHS-I) interface, which supports up to 104MB/s data transfers in the UHS104 (SDR104) mode. It also has minimal sequential write speeds of 30MB/s, enough for 8K video recording.The SD Association first announced its Secure Digital Ultra... Continue reading...
China is planning to ‘rip and replace’ Intel and AMD chips
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge China has plans to force foreign-made chips out of its telecom systems, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The country's officials reportedly told its telecom providers to replace foreign chips, such as those made by Intel and AMD, by 2027.Under the order from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, telecom providers will have to check their networks for any foreign-made chips and then create a timeline for their removal. This change will mainly affect Intel and AMD, sources tell the WSJ, as the two California-based companies provide the bulk" of the processors included in China's networking equipment.The move echoes the US government's efforts to rip and replace" cellular equipment made by the... Continue reading...
Inside the quest to finish Super Mario Maker’s disappearing levels
Image: Nintendo In 2015, Nintendo released Super Mario Maker for the Wii U, a game that allowed players to make and share their own 2D Mario levels. In 2021, the company ended the ability to upload courses, the game having been eclipsed by its sequel on the Switch. But in January 2024, Nintendo announced an end to all online services for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games on April 8th. For Super Mario Maker, that meant the millions of player-made levels would be unceremoniously shuttered.Or at least, it would have been unceremonious, if it weren't for a group called Team 0%. The group had been trying to beat every uncleared level in the game for years, which was made easier once they had a fixed target in 2021. When the announcement came that the Wii U's... Continue reading...
A popular open-source content delivery network went down for hours
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Unpkg, a content delivery network (CDN) that powers more than 4 billion requests per day, went down for several hours on Friday morning. The outage broke the thousands of websites that use the open-source CDN, leaving developers scrambling for a fix.The outage appeared to have started around 4AM ET, with sites returning a 520 error from Cloudflare, which powers Unpkg. Many developers affected by the outage switched to jsDelivr, another open-source CDN for GitHub and the package manager npm, in order to keep their sites online. Unpkg started coming back online at around 9AM ET. That's when Fly.io - the service that Unpkg's origin server uses to provide auto-scaling infrastructure - announced that it deployed a fix" to recover affected... Continue reading...
The good, the bad, and the Humane Pin
Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge Seven. Hundred. Dollars. After a year of asking questions about this much-hyped AI wearable, the Humane AI Pin is here, and, well, we still have lots of questions. We're also still trying to figure out how it all works - and where it goes from here.On this episode of The Vergecast, we dive deep into our review of the AI Pin and try to figure out what went wrong with this device and whether there's a real future for it or any other AI-powered gadget. The trouble, we discover, is that these devices are stacking new technology on top of new technology, and until it all works perfectly, none of it will work very well. Also, did we mention the AI Pin is seven hundred dollars?After that, we talk about the growing rift between OpenAI and... Continue reading...
Spotify is developing a remix feature to rival sped-up TikTok tunes
The tools could open new revenue streams for artists who otherwise wouldn't see money from unauthorized remixes. | Cath Virginia / The Verge Spotify is working on some seemingly TikTok-inspired remixing features in its latest attempt to capitalize on the social media platform's explosive popularity. According to the Wall Street Journal, Spotify is developing tools that would allow paid subscribers to speed up, mash-up, and otherwise edit" tracks from their favorite artists, which could then be saved for repeat listening.One use case for the tools is to allow Spotify users to adjust the speed of the songs they listen to. These music modifications are already popular with teens and young adults on TikTok, with content analysis firm Pex finding that 38 percent of songs on the platform had their speeds or pitches modified in 2023, compared to 25 percent the year prior.A... Continue reading...
The Google One VPN service is heading to the Google graveyard
The service will be shut down on an unspecified date later this year. | Image: Google Google is shutting down its VPN by Google One service, according to a vague customer email seen by Android Authority, less than four years after it was rolled out in October 2020. The email doesn't specify when this will happen, only that the VPN service will be discontinued later this year."Subscription prices for Google One's VPN start at $1.99, with availability on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows. The company told 9to5Google that it is killing the service because people simply weren't using it." Perhaps its customers were simply spoilt for choice, given this is actually one of three VPN services provided by Google alongside the VPN offerings still available via Google Fi, and Pixel devices from the Pixel 7 on up.VPN by Google One... Continue reading...
X’s Premium users can no longer hide their blue checks
Illustration: The Verge X giveth, and now X taketh away. The platform is eliminating the ability for Premium users to hide their blue checkmarks, according to a notification received by multiple users on Thursday. X made displaying the blue check optional last summer, and it's unclear exactly why the platform plans to remove the feature - or when.
Discord is nuking Nintendo Switch emulator devs and their entire servers
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images, The Verge Discord has shut down the Discord servers for the Nintendo Switch emulators Suyu and Sudachi and has completely disabled their lead developers' accounts - and the company isn't answering our questions about why it went that far. Both Suyu and Sudachi began as forks of Yuzu, the emulator that Nintendo sued out of existence on March 4th.Discord responds to and complies with all legal and valid Digital Millennium Copyright Act requests. In this instance, there was also a court ordered injunction for the takedown of these materials, and we took action in a manner consistent with the court order," reads part of a statement from Discord director of product communications Kellyn Slone to The Verge.The developers of Suyu and Sudachi only... Continue reading...
Dbrand’s brash social media schtick just cost the company $10,000
Image: Dbrand Dbrand, the phone case company known for its sassy attitude toward users and tech companies, gave $10,000 to a customer as an apology after it made a racist comment about their last name.On Tuesday, Dbrand reposted a complaint from a customer, Bhuwan Chitransh, who said that the skin they purchased for their MacBook changed color after just two months. Dbrand replied with a crude message that rhymed the customer's name with rash." Chitransh later responded, saying Dbrand's post reflects its racist perspective toward Indian customers.The following day, the company said that it had made a huge fumble." Dbrand said it apologized to Chitransh and offered him $10,000 as a gesture of goodwill." However, Dbrand didn't delete the original... Continue reading...
Showtime’s streaming service will finally shutter later this month
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Following Paramount's move to add Showtime programming to certain Paramount Plus streaming plans, the Showtime standalone streaming platform is coming to an end.Variety reports that Showtime streaming subscribers have begun receiving notices that they will no longer be able to access the platform after April 30th. Going forward, subscribers will have to sign up for the $11.99 per month Paramount Plus with Showtime plan. Paramount Global announced its intentions to shutter the Showtime platform last year after also rebranding the traditional Showtime network as "Paramount Plus with Showtime."Though this whole renaming process has been awkward, Paramount's following through on its plan to fully subsume the Showtime brand. And while... Continue reading...
Apple renews Monarch for season 2 and has plans for more Godzilla spinoffs
Image: Apple Apple announced some Godzilla-sized updates for its streaming service. First up, the spinoff series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which premiered on Apple TV Plus last year, has been renewed for a second season. There aren't any details on what the new season will entail or when it'll start streaming, but showrunners and co-creators Chris Black and Matt Fraction will be returning.On top of that, Apple says that it has signed a deal with Legendary for even more projects based in its monsterverse," which will include multiple spinoff series." It's not clear yet what those series might be, but here's hoping we get a deep dive into the Shobijin. The news comes just a few weeks after the latest feature in the franchise, Godzilla x Kong: The... Continue reading...
An NPR editor accuses the network of institutional bias
Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry.Hi, everyone - I'm starting off today with some big news to share: next week will be my last at Hot Pod and The Verge. Before coming here, all I wanted was to cover the podcasting industry, and I still can't believe I managed to get a job doing just that. Even when the news was bad (which, let's be real, was often), I was buoyed by the passion and innovation of this community. It's been a real privilege getting to know so many of you.I'll have a few more stories coming out before I leave as well as some final thoughts on the state of the industry. My colleague Jake Kastrenakes has a note below with more information about the newsletter moving forward.As... Continue reading...
Civil War is an arresting journalism film lacking a real thesis
Image: A24 Director Alex Garland's new dystopian thriller seems like it has something to say about American society, but it doesn't have the guts to articulate a cohesive, thoughtful point. Continue reading...
Find the best AI-powered app to transcribe your audio
Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Transcription apps - apps that record and make text transcriptions of the conversation - have been an extremely useful way of keeping records for many of us. This doesn't only pertain to journalists, who, of course, often keep records of their interviews. When you are caring for a family member who is ill, for example, having a recorded and transcribed record of a conversation with the doctor can be very useful. And when you're dealing with the insurance company rep afterward - well, 'nuff said.There are two types of transcription services available online today: one that uses an AI engine and the other that uses human transcribers. The latter is usually much more accurate but is also considerably more expensive. As a result, most... Continue reading...
Dyson’s AR app shows you where you’ve vacuumed
Dyson wants to make cleaning fun again, but I was already having fun letting the robots do it. | Image: Dyson Dyson has developed a new feature that uses your smartphone's augmented reality sensors to virtually paint over areas you've vacuumed, so you can see if you've missed a spot.The feature, called CleanTrace, uses the lidar scanner found on Pro or Pro Max iPhones 12 and newer and requires you to attach your phone to the vacuum. For now, the $1,000 Gen5detect is the only dust sucker in Dyson's ranks that will accept the smartphone clamp, which will be sold separately. We're not yet sure how much it'll cost. Dyson is planning to add the feature to its mobile app as a free update when it launches this June.CleanTrace exists because consumers are haphazard and inefficient - regularly overing the same areas multiple times and missing other... Continue reading...
Android 15’s first beta release is out
The countdown to Google I/O starts now. | Image: The Verge / Android Android 15's first public beta is available to download now, provided you have a Pixel phone and a bit of a sense of adventure. It's the first consumer-facing release after two developer previews, and while we have a good idea of what to expect from Google's next mobile OS version, we'll certainly hear more at the company's annual developer conference soon enough.The blog post highlighting updates in today's release covers some pretty pedestrian stuff. Apps will scale edge to edge by default and will draw behind translucent system bars on the top and bottom of the screen, rather than around them. There's OS-level support for app archiving and unarchiving so third-party app stores can take advantage of this feature. Android 15 will also... Continue reading...
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