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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After making it available as a beta feature for a few weeks, Signal has rolled out support for usernames on its encrypted messaging service so anyone can add an optional username that will connect them to others without sharing their phone number.You can create a username by heading to your settings and selecting Profile." After you create a unique username, you can generate a QR code or link that points people to your username in the app. Other users can also connect with you by typing your username into the new chat bar and sending a message. As noted in Signal's FAQ page for usernames, you can change your username whenever you want, but other users will be able to claim your previous name. Signal first started testing usernames last... Continue reading...

The Verge Tidal seems to have decided that there just aren't enough people willing to pay upward of $20 per month for the highest-possible audio fidelity. So starting April 10th in the US, the company will combine its existing HiFi and HiFi Plus plans into a single subscription tier that will simply be called Tidal." And it'll cost the same $10.99 per month that the less expensive HiFi plan did.At a high level, it sounds like this new, much simpler subscription model will still include all the perks - high-res FLACs, Dolby Atmos mixes, etc. - that were previously only available on the Plus tier. Yes, that means a subscription service is actually getting cheaper for once if you were a HiFi Plus user. Hard to believe in this day and age, right?... Continue reading...

iPhone 15 users should now see more battery-related information under Battery Health settings. | Image: The Verge Apple's iOS 17.4 update is now available, introducing new emoji and a cryptographic security protocol for iMessage, alongside some major changes to the App Store and contactless payments for the iPhone platform in Europe. Apple is making several of these changes to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law that aims to make the digital economy fairer by removing unfair advantages that tech giants hold over businesses and end users.iOS 17.4 will allow third-party developers to offer alternative app marketplaces and app downloads to EU users from outside the iOS App Store. Developers wanting to take advantage of this will be required to go through Apple's approval process and pay Apple a Core Technology Fee" that charges 50... Continue reading...

Noomia Rapace in Constellation | Image: Apple From Netflix to Disney Plus to Max, here are details on the most anticipated films and TV shows coming home this year on streaming platforms. Continue reading...

A standout in a sea of same-looking budget phones. Budget phones tend to be pretty forgettable, but the Nothing Phone 2A isn't your average budget phone - that much is obvious just looking at it.The 2A is Nothing's third phone and its first attempt at a truly inexpensive device. And it's very budget-friendly: the Phone 2A goes on sale today starting at 319 (329) for a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. A 12GB / 256GB version will cost 349 (379). Preorders open today, and the phone will ship on March 12th. The 256GB variant will be sold in the US for $349, but there's a catch - it's only available through a developer program, and the phone doesn't fully support our networks. That's our loss because Nothing has created a device that really stands out from the crowd. ... Continue reading...

(C) 2024 Stellantis The electric Charger will come in two variants, but Dodge isn't ready to abandon the gas-gargling V8 quite yet. Continue reading...

RIP to an iconic shape. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge I had mixed feelings when Apple did away with the wedge in favor of a more traditional shape for the M2 MacBook Air. Did it feel a bit like sacrilege? Sure, but at least the wedge wasn't gone gone. There was still the M1 Air.Except now that the M3 Air is here, it's been discontinued. Now, it really is the end of the wedge era and I can't help but feel bereft.Logically speaking, losing the wedge shape doesn't affect how well the newer Airs work. I know because I have one: a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. It's thin, sleek, and the battery lasts forever. I didn't pay out the nose for it. These are the defining characteristics for the Air - wedge-less or not.But I also have an M1 MacBook Air that I use for work. Recently, jumping back and... Continue reading...

Amazon's apt-titled thermostat can learn your habits over time and supports Alexa. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge While the days are getting brighter, spring isn't set to arrive for another few weeks. Given we're still dealing with storms in sunny" Southern California, I'm going to venture a guess that it probably doesn't feel like winter's almost over where most of our readers live, either. Thankfully, Amazon's Smart Thermostat is on sale right now at Amazon for $59.99 ($20 off), its lowest price in nearly three months and the best deal we've seen outside of Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day.Amazon's budget-friendly smart thermostat offers an impressive set of features for the price. It's compatible with most 24-volt HVAC systems and adapts to your habits and preferences over time thanks to its support for Hunches, which lets you essentially... Continue reading...

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge There's one thing you can count on at Mobile World Congress: a whole mess of Android smartphones. This year's conference in Barcelona, Spain, delivered, with new devices from Xiaomi, Nothing, and others showing off the state of the art in the smartphone world.But there was something else brewing at this year's MWC: some new ideas about what a mobile device" might really mean. As generative AI changes the way we interact with technology, devices like the Humane AI Pin are starting to chart a path past the slab of glass in your pocket. Some of those slabs of glass are becoming more than just bundles of apps.MWC goers also saw a few new smartwatches, Samsung showed off its smart ring, and Lenovo asked the most important questions of all:... Continue reading...

Image: GM General Motors will release a fleet of medium-duty trucks that run on hydrogen fuel cells as part of a pilot project sponsored by the US Department of Energy. The goal is to prove out the capabilities of hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, as a viable alternative to diesel vehicles.We will design, engineer, and develop a fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell medium-duty trucks," said Jacob Lozier, project lead at GM, to demonstrate how the capability and strength of our fuel cells can help real-world fleet customers."The trucks' development will receive funds from DOE's SuperTruck program, which aims to reduce carbon emissions among heavy- and medium-duty vehicles. The total project will cost $65 million, with $26 million... Continue reading...

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a proposal to bar landlords from charging tenants in bulk for cable, internet, and satellite services, offering them more choice in the kinds of services they need.The agency is circulating a proposed rule to ban the practice of bulk billing," the White House announced in a press release ahead of President Joe Biden's meeting with his Competition Council on Tuesday. It's part of a broader effort to promote policies that will lower costs for Americans, as Biden is trying to appeal to voters focused on the economy as he seeks reelection later this year. That theme of lowering costs will resurface in Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge OpenAI's new Read Aloud feature for ChatGPT could come in handy when users are on the go by reading its responses in one of five voice options out loud to users. It is now available on both the web version of ChatGPT and the iOS and Android ChatGPT apps.Read Aloud can speak 37 languages but will auto-detect the language of the text it's reading, and the feature is available for both GPT-4 and GPT-3.5. It's an interesting example of what OpenAI can do with multimodal capabilities (the ability to read and respond through more than one medium) revealed soon after a competitor, Anthropic, added similar features to its AI models.ChatGPT launched a voice chat feature in September 2023 where users can directly ask the chatbot prompts without... Continue reading...

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge The holidays are over, a new year is here, and along with all the various upheavals that we are facing, most of us have to deal with our annual income taxes. (The usual quote about death and taxes goes here.)While we were able to wait until April 18th in 2023, this year, tax day is back to the traditional April 15th, which is a Monday. That is, unless you live in Maine or Massachusetts - then you have until Wednesday, April 17th, because of the Patriots' Day and Emancipation Day holidays.Despite the stress that many of us feel at the thought of tackling our yearly taxes, try not to worry - we're going to list some resources that are available so that you can prepare your taxes. As always, it might not be a bad idea to start working on... Continue reading...

The BackBone One might help you realize hidden savings by staving off carpal tunnel treatments. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge If you want to reliably hit headshots and combos on your smartphone, there's no substitute for a mobile gaming controller that adds proper physical controls. Our favorite for the task is still the Backbone One, and now through March 10th, you can save 30 percent on the original Lightning version in black, which is down to $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Target, and direct from Backbone. You can also pick up the PlayStation Edition, which comes in white and has button labels corresponding to Sony's controllers, for $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Target, and Backbone.The original Backbone One supports the iPhone 14 and older, Lightning-based models. (If you own an iPhone 15 variant, you'll need the Backbone One with USB-C, which isn't on... Continue reading...

Ikea is finally bringing Matter to its new smart home hub. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge Ikea's Dirigera hub, its new hub for controlling its line of connected devices, may soon get support for the Matter smart home standard. While promised when the hub was announced in May 2022, Matter for the Dirigera didn't materialize within a couple of months" of the product launching, as initially announced. It was then delayed again last November. But the company has now announced the rollout of Matter for the hub in beta.We are excited to unveil the first version of Matter support for the Dirigera hub, available now for beta users through the Ikea Home Smart app," David Granath, range manager at Ikea Home Smart told The Verge.The initial release transforms the Dirigera hub into a Matter bridge, allowing Zigbee devices to be... Continue reading...

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Soon, Google Pixel devices will be able to upload and view Ultra HDR pictures on Instagram. It's part of Google's March feature drop that rolls out to supported Pixel 7, Pixel 8, and Pixel Fold phones starting today, while a post in Google's support forum for Pixels says the update will roll out for US carriers starting next week.Samsung's Galaxy S24 was the first to support Ultra HDR photos on Instagram, allowing you to show off photos taken with the device's upgraded camera in full color and contrast. But now, Pixel owners will soon be able to do the same as well as capture and share 10-bit HDR videos to Instagram Reels.Next week's feature drop will also bring Circle to Search to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. This feature lets you l... Continue reading...

Alex Cranz, Jake Kastrenakes, and Kara Verlaney The Verge's editor-in-chief Nilay Patel announced several changes to the industry-leading tech publication's masthead today, starting with the promotion of Jake Kastrenakes to executive editor.Kastrenakes first joined The Verge as an intern in 2014 and has spent 10 years as a reporter and editor at the site, overseeing the news team, creators coverage, and the Hot Pod and Command Line newsletters. As executive editor Kastrenakes will be responsible for making sure The Verge's newsroom meets the highest standards of rigor and quality every single day.The Verge audience has incredibly high expectations of us and our work, and Jake has spent his career overdelivering on those expectations," says Patel. Jake has already been instrumental... Continue reading...

Image: Funcom If Dune: Part Two has left you, uh, thirsting for more of Frank Herbert's world, Dune: Awakening might just be the thing. First revealed in 2022, Awakening is a survival MMO from Funcom set on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis - and a brief new gameplay trailer gives a sense of just how harsh it can be.That includes the giant worms, which apparently can't be killed, but which you'll definitely want to avoid. There's also some ornithopter combat and what looks like fairly extensive base-building options. Of course, if you're trying to eke out a living on a planet like Arrakis, you'll want to make a nice getaway. The trailer doesn't get much into the pure survival element, but given this is Dune, you can bet you'll spend a lot of time... Continue reading...

The Verge Microsoft's multiyear deal with French AI company Mistral signaled that the company wants longevity in the space.The company invested 2 billion ($2.1 billion) into Mistral and announced it would bring Mistral's newest AI model, Mistral Large, to Azure. But the investment into Mistral, mainly a developer of open-source AI models, doesn't mean Microsoft lost faith in its first AI child, OpenAI. Instead, Microsoft is laying the groundwork to build Azure as a model garden and give itself a foothold in Europe.Arun Chandrasekaran, an analyst at Gartner, tells The Verge the deal emphasizes the managed services business of AI, one in which Azure can play a role.Even before the Mistral announcement, Microsoft has been talking about... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Anthropic, the AI company started by several former OpenAI employees, says the new Claude 3 family of AI models performs as well as or better than leading models from Google and OpenAI. Unlike earlier versions, Claude 3 is also multimodal, able to understand text and photo inputs.Anthropic says Claude 3 will answer more questions, understand longer instructions, and be more accurate. Claude 3 can understand more context, meaning it can process more information. There's Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 3 Sonnet, and Claude 3 Opus, with Opus being the largest and most intelligent model." Anthropic says Opus and Sonnet are now available on claude.ai and its API. Haiku will be released soon. All three models can be deployed on chatbots,... Continue reading...

Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are throwing out their $3.8 billion merger agreement. Both airlines agreed to terminate the deal, citing legal and regulatory approvals" that were unlikely to be met" by the merger's July 2024 deadline.A federal court blocked the deal in January over concerns that the merger would stifle competition in the airline industry. JetBlue and Spirit filed an appeal shortly after, and a court was set to hear the appeal in June. Now that the deal is off, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland calls the decision a victory for the Justice Department's work on behalf of American consumers," adding that the merger would've caused higher fares and fewer choices."

Photo illustration: The Verge / Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales On this special episode of Decoder, Complexly co-founder and YouTuber Hank Green turns the tables on Nilay Patel. Continue reading...