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Google Podcasts was a simple but good podcasts app - and now it's gone. | Image: Google Google Podcasts is dead. It has been dying for months, since Google announced last fall that it was killing its dedicated podcast app in order to focus all its podcasting efforts on YouTube Music. This is a bad idea and a big downgrade, and I'd be more mad if only I were more surprised.The Podcasts app is just the latest product to go through a process I've come to call The Google Cycle. It always goes the same way: the company launches a new service with grandiose language about how this fits its mission of organizing and making accessible the world's information, quickly updates it with a couple of neat features, immediately seems to forget it exists, eventually launches a competitor out of some other part of the company, obviously... Continue reading...

As per this still from an Anchorage Daily News video, Aurora is already hard at work spooking the local animals. | Image: Anchorage Daily News The Alaskan government has a new four-legged friend keeping migratory birds and other animals away from the runways at Fairbanks International Airport: a dog-like Boston Dynamics robot dubbed Aurora." The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities posted its new hire" on Instagram last month, saying that the robot will be trialed to enhance and augment airport safety" by trying to prevent hazardous encounters between planes and wildlife.While addressing the Alaska House and Senate transportation committees on March 19th, robot handler Ryan Marlow said the agency opted to trial Aurora after plans to spray repellents like grape juice from flying drones were judged too risky. According to Marlow, Aurora will be put to... Continue reading...

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge There are fewer things more ubiquitous in technology than QWERTY keyboards. If you type anywhere, you almost certainly type the QWERTY way. But why? It turns out that by almost any objective measure, the keyboards we use are decidedly unoptimized. Commonly used keys are too hard to reach; your fingers have to move side to side too much; it requires way too much movement overall. There are a million theories about why QWERTY was invented - the most common one holds that its creator wanted to make sure old typewriter mechanisms didn't crash into each other as you whacked the keys - but almost everyone agrees, it's not the best way. And yet, after decades of using it, hardly anybody wants to switch.On this episode of The Vergecast, we have... Continue reading...

The Artifact app will be gone soon - but the Yahoo News app might start to be more like it. | Image: Artifact Instagram's co-founders built a powerful and useful tool for recommending news to readers - but could never quite get it to scale. Yahoo has hundreds of millions of readers - but could use a dose of tech-forward cool to separate it from all the internet's other news aggregators. And so, the two sides are joining forces: Yahoo is acquiring Artifact, the companies announced on Tuesday.The two sides declined to share the cost of the acquisition, but both made clear Yahoo is acquiring Artifact's tech rather than its team. Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom, Artifact's co-founders, will be special advisors" for Yahoo but won't be joining the company. Artifact's remaining five employees have either gotten other jobs or are planning to take some... Continue reading...

The record was broken during a 15-hour stream on April 1st. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Game developer Jason Thor Hall, better known by the moniker Pirate Software, has set a new Twitch Hype Train world record, with his channel reaching level 106 on April 1st. Once the Hype Train was initiated, it took Hall roughly three hours to beat his previous level 55 world record from December, with viewers contributing 54,380 gifted subs (alongside regular subscriptions) and 8,225,386 Bits - likely earning Hall a healthy six-figure sum in the process.Hype Trains, a feature that Twitched launched in 2020, are a limited-time event triggered when a channel receives an uptick in Bits or subscriptions, pushing past a streamer-designated threshold. While we won't know the official figure paid by Hall's community, it's sure to be... Continue reading...

Are you there, Bixby? | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Bixby's not dead yet, apparently. A Samsung executive tells CNBC that the company is working so hard" to equip its voice assistant with AI features, suggesting that the company sees the likes of Gemini as competition - not a replacement.That's good to know, because some of us were starting to wonder. Earlier this year as Samsung announced a boatload of new generative AI features for its flagship phones, its voice assistant was scarcely mentioned. Samsung and Google also made a big deal about the Galaxy S24 phones using Gemini Nano - Google's on-device AI model. It wouldn't have been a stretch to see Samsung replace Bixby with Google's Gemini-powered assistant, but apparently, that's not the plan.Samsung's Won-joon Choi, executive... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge You can't really blame Meta's executives for wanting to limit the amount of political yelling on Instagram and Threads. That stuff can get pretty toxic. As a result, both of Meta's social networks now limit what Meta terms political content" from people you are not following.However, if you are a Threads or Instagram user and you want to be exposed to posts likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large" (which is how Meta describes it), you can still do it by opting in to political content. The only thing that may be a little confusing is that you have to opt in within the Instagram app - even if you are mainly using Threads.Here's how:

Photo: Waffle House (Flickr) Get ready for the next battle... at the Waffle House. For a while now, Tekken fans on social media have been pestering Katsuhiro Harada, longtime Tekken producer, to add a Waffle House battle stage. All the posts seemingly got to Harada, who finally asked, Why?" The resulting thread on X was a neat bit of American / Japanese cultural exchange in which fans explained the deep lore of the Waffle House franchise and why it'd make for a fitting addition to the King of the Iron Fist Tournament.Waffle House is a breakfast diner known for being always full and always open; it's the place you go at 2AM when you're drunk and hungry. And because it remains open rain or shine or worse, feeding families and the inebriated alike, it's developed a bit... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google agreed to destroy or de-identify billions of records of web browsing data collected when users were in its private browsing Incognito mode," according to a proposed class action settlement filed Monday.The proposed settlement in Brown v. Google will also mandate greater disclosure from the company about how it collects information in Incognito mode and put limits on future data collection. If approved by a California federal judge, the settlement could apply to 136 million Google users. The 2020 lawsuit was brought by Google account holders who accused the company of illegally tracking their behavior through the private browsing feature.The proposal is valued at $5 billion, according to Monday's court filing, calculated by... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge OpenAI will no longer require an account to use ChatGPT, the company's free AI platform. However, this only applies to ChatGPT, as other OpenAI products, like DALL-E 3, cost money to access and will still require an account for access. We're rolling this out gradually, with the aim to make AI accessible to anyone curious about its capabilities," OpenAI said in a blog post.Ever since ChatGPT first rolled out at the end of 2022, interested users have had to sign up for an OpenAI account. The chatbot proved popular and made ChatGPT one of the fastest-growing services ever. The company then added paid subscriptions to access products like DALL-E 3 and more advanced models. Users will need an account to save and review chat history, share... Continue reading...

Photo illustration: The Verge / Photo by Intuit Mailchimp Intuit purchased Mailchimp in 2021, and less than a year later, co-founder Ben Chestnut was out. Here's how new CEO Rania Succar is moving forward. Continue reading...

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 32, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy weekend, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been writing about AI search engines and the future of Disney Plus, reading about Anne Hathaway and Andrew Huberman and Jonathan Kanter, talking productivity apps with the WVFRM crew, continuing to watch every how they made Dune" video I can get my hands on, listening to the Black Box podcast, and learning what The Format is and how to apply it to every aspect of my life.I also have for you a bunch of new things to watch this weekend, a new AI voice notes app, a delightful new-old keyboard, an app for... Continue reading...

The original PlayStation 5. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony will use a new PS5 Pro Enhanced" label to tell players which games take advantage of the console's new abilities, according to documents seen by InsiderGaming yesterday. The outlet writes that to get the label, a game would have to offer a PS5 Pro graphics mode, which includes PSSR for 4K upscaling, constant 60fps framerate, and added or improved ray-tracing. It would reportedly also indicate higher resolution for both fixed and variable refresh rate games.The site says that the internally-named Trinity Enhanced" label would be akin to the PS4 Pro Enhanced" label from the last PlayStation generation (or the X|S" label that denotes games with improvements like better load times or higher framerates). It also told players when a... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge AT&T has acknowledged that a data leak making the rounds online contains information from more than 7.6 million current customers and 65 million former customers. The company has reset the security passcodes of active customers affected, and says that leaked information "may have included full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, AT&T account number and passcode."AT&T is reaching out to affected customers via email or letter" to let them know what data was included and what it's doing for customers in response.The company's acknowledgment that the leaked data is real - the first reports of the leak emerged in 2021 - only came after TechCrunch notified AT&T of the vulnerability... Continue reading...

Amazon won't let you engrave your AirTags with an adorable unicorn picture, but it will sell them to you starting at $24.99. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Happy Saturday, folks! When Apple launched AirTags in 2021, it was a big moment for item trackers. Tile still dominated the landscape back then, however, thanks to Apple's ultra wideband (UWB) chip and their ability to tap into Apple's vast Find My network, they quickly became the go-to pick for iPhone owners. They've often gone on sale for around $80 in the time since, however, right now you can snag a four-pack at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $74.99 ($24), an all-time low.In addition to their ultra-precise tracking capabilities, which allow you to locate them even when you're not in their immediate vicinity, Apple's AirTags have a few other things going for them. The handy trackers pack an IP67 rating - meaning they're sealed... Continue reading...

Image: Atari Now that the miniature game console trend has already covered most of the biggest devices from Nintendo, Sega, and Sony, we're starting to enter more niche territory. The Atari 400 Mini isn't a rerelease of the company's most recognizable console (that'd be the 2600). And it isn't full of household names. But that's also part of what makes it so interesting - the little gadget is a cute, playful way to explore a very specific and formative niche of video game history.Like its contemporaries, the 400 Mini is a shrunken-down version of the original. That means a small box in a very 1970s shade of beige plastic, with a keyboard and cartridge slot that are purely ornamental. I appreciate just how retro this thing looks; even the included... Continue reading...

The company that usually specializes in premium OLED TVs has produced something refreshingly out of the ordinary. And I already hope it gets a sequel. Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge OpenAI is offering limited access to a text-to-voice generation platform it developed called Voice Engine, which can create a synthetic voice based on a 15-second clip of someone's voice. The AI-generated voice can read out text prompts on command in the same language as the speaker or in a number of other languages. These small scale deployments are helping to inform our approach, safeguards, and thinking about how Voice Engine could be used for good across various industries," OpenAI said in its blog post.Companies with access include the education technology company Age of Learning, visual storytelling platform HeyGen, frontline health software maker Dimagi, AI communication app creator Livox, and health system Lifespan.In these... Continue reading...

Photo by Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images For years now, civil engineers have understood that bridges have a problem: many of them are not designed to withstand a blow from the kinds of cargo ships that routinely pass through their waters. Those concerns came to a head on Tuesday with the devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. It's the kind of failure engineers have been trying to prevent for decades - and even now, they're not sure if the available solutions are enough.We don't design for the deadly force that is generated by such an impact - millions of pounds," Atorod Azizinamini, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Florida International University, tells The Verge. The collapse has really nothing to do with the type... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Robert Robb allegedly convinced several crypto investors to send him $1.5 million to build a too-good-to-be-true crypto trading bot, according to an FBI affidavit viewed by 404 Media and CourtWatch.Robb allegedly sent a message reading, Poof, YOU'RE A MILLIONAIRE" to one Telegram group, accompanied by this image of a purple fairy wearing a mushroom cap. The message promised recipients they could strike it rich if they used Robb's MEV bot and invested in the cryptocurrency $RAT and the ironically named token NoRugz. Image: FBI affidavit, Case No. 1:24-MJ-100 A screenshot of a Telegram message allegedly sent by Robert Robb to prospective investors. It says Robb asked crypto investors over Telegram and other... Continue reading...

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung is raising the price of its Care Plus device protection plans - but, in exchange, it's throwing in unlimited battery repair. In an email spotted by Sammobile, Samsung tells customers that Care Plus and the more expensive Care Plus Theft and Loss plan will increase in price by $2.The new pricing goes into effect on May 1st, 2024, which is when Samsung plans on rolling out a new unlimited battery repair option for eligible devices." To qualify for a battery repair, Samsung says the phone must have a charging capacity below 79 percent and no additional damage." The Verge reached out to Samsung for more information on which devices are eligible for unlimited battery repairs, as well as whether it will be completely free, but... Continue reading...

Philips Hue's latest smart string lights offer plenty of preset scenes and a wide variety of vibrant colors. | Image: Philips Hue Philips Hue lights set the mood in a way other types of home decor can't, but sadly, they can be pricey. Thankfully, Amazon and Woot have both kicked off a Philips Hue sale, making many bulbs, dimmers, light strips, and other accessories a little more affordable for a limited time. Amazon is also currently taking 20 percent off when you buy two or more items featured on this page, while Woot is slashing prices on a handful of both new and refurbished items. That includes a three-bulb kit with a smart button and Hue Bridge for $67.99 ($32 off).However, the real star of the show here is the Philips Hue Festavia string lights deal at Amazon, which drops the 65-foot smart lights to $175.99 ($44 off) when you clip the on-page coupon for an... Continue reading...

It's pretty fast, too. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge The Shazam app for Wear OS just got a neat update: it can now work independently of your Android phone.The update, which was spotted by 9to5Google, basically removes the need for the wrist app to confer with the app on your phone. You don't even need the app downloaded on your Android for it to work. I downloaded it directly onto the OnePlus Watch 2 that I'm testing without doing so on the Pixel 8 Pro it's paired to. It still works! And quickly at that. It was able to correctly identify some bangers on my K-pop playlist within a second or two. (To be fair, there wasn't any background noise in my office. Your mileage may vary in a coffee shop.)Another neat update is that if your watch is offline, the app will save a clip of the song... Continue reading...

The Cross Bronx Expressway, a notorious stretch of highway in New York City that is often choked with traffic and contributes to pollution and poor air quality on November 16, 2021 in New York City. | Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the toughest US standards yet for greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles like big rigs and buses. The rules apply to model year 2027 to 2032 heavy-duty vehicles and are meant to slash emissions from a major source of the pollution causing climate change.Heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for a quarter of the nation's transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA says its new standards will avoid a billion tons of those emissions by 2055, which would be like eliminating the pollution from 13 million tanker trucks' worth of gasoline.On behalf of everyone who breathes, thank you."Transportation makes up the biggest chunk of the country's carbon footprint and has... Continue reading...

I've never seen a performance quite like that." | Collage by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Victor J. Blue, Bloomberg, Getty Images It's his nature.' Continue reading...

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple is suing a former employee for leaking confidential information, including unknown details about Apple's Journal app, the development of the VisionOS headset, and more, to journalists and employees of other companies. The lawsuit, filed ten days ago in California state court (24CV433319, pdf), says Andrew Aude also leaked regulatory compliance strategies, employee headcounts, and other product hardware characteristics.As reported previously by MacRumors, in at least one message, the company says Aude claimed he leaked information so he could kill" products and features with which he took issue."Apple referenced many of the communications in the lawsuit:

Getty Algorithms might help hotels illegally collude on prices, even if no humans from those businesses actually talk to each other about them, according to US antitrust enforcers.The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission jointly submitted a statement of interest in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, a case brought before the US District Court of New Jersey. The class action case was brought by New Jersey residents who rented rooms in Atlantic City hotels and alleged that several of those hotels engaged in an illegal price-fixing conspiracy through the use of a common pricing algorithm.The plaintiffs are trying to show that the hotels violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits conspiracy in restraint of... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Sarah Bird, Microsoft's chief product officer of responsible AI, tells The Verge in an interview that her team has designed several new safety features that will be easy to use for Azure customers who aren't hiring groups of red teamers to test the AI services they built. Microsoft says these LLM-powered tools can detect potential vulnerabilities, monitor for hallucinations that are plausible yet unsupported," and block malicious prompts in real time for Azure AI customers working with any model hosted on the platform.We know that customers don't all have deep expertise in prompt injection attacks or hateful content, so the evaluation system generates the prompts needed to simulate these types of attacks. Customers can then get a... Continue reading...