The Verge

Eric Schmidt. | Photo By Lukas Schulze/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images Former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt has made headlines for saying that Google was blindsided by the early the rise of ChatGPT because its employees decided that working from home was more important than winning."The comment was made in front of Stanford students during a recent interview, video of which was removed from the university's YouTube channel after Schmidt's gaffe was widely picked up by the press. I managed to watch most of Schmidt's chat with Stanford's Erik Brynjolfsson before it was taken down, however, and something else he said stands out. (You can still read the full transcript here.)While talking about a future world in which AI agents can do complex tasks on behalf of humans, Schmidt says:

Google's bringing the party" back to the party line with emoji reactions for group calls. | Illustration: The Verge Google's Meet app is getting a few more features designed for calls. Meet, the videocalling app Google rolled Duo into a couple of years ago, is designed to handle both meetings and personal video calls. The update, which will roll out over the coming months, focuses on the personal side. It offers an updated UI and features like in-call messaging - things that have only been available in meetings until now.With this latest update, the call UI will look more like the meeting interface, with call controls becoming more readily available. In-call messaging is now supported so you can share links and rude comments, if you're so inclined, while you're muted. Emoji reactions will also be available in group calls, you'll be able to stack... Continue reading...

Image: AltStore AltStore PAL, a third-party iOS app store that's available in the EU, is dropping its annual 1.50 (plus tax) subscription after receiving a MegaGrant" from Fortnite developer Epic Games. AltStore originally charged the subscription to help cover Apple's Core Technology Fee (CTF), which is a fee third-party app marketplaces have to pay for each annual app install.Epic uses MegaGrants as a way to sponsor the development of exciting projects that may not otherwise have enough funding to fully realize," the company says. The grants are typically meant for smaller teams using Epic's technologies to bring bold, challenging, and insanely creative dreams to life," but in this case, Epic awarded the grant for innovation in app... Continue reading...

Detecting an offside violation can be difficult. | Photo by Dan Istitene / Getty Images The UK's top soccer league is switching up the tech it uses to detect offside violations on the football pitch. The Premier League has contracted with a company called Genius Sports, which will use dozens of iPhones combined with machine-learning models to help game officials make an offside call.Offside violations aren't always clear-cut, especially when players are grouped in a way that blocks officials and even multiple camera angles from seeing enough detail to accurately call them. That's where video assistant referee (VAR) systems usually come in, ostensibly filling in the gaps using cameras and machine learning.Soccer leagues have used VAR systems for years. FIFA, soccer's global league, started officially using machine... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Valve has started publicly testing sorting reviews in the Steam store based on how well they help players make purchase decisions about games.

The Roto VR Explorer chair can make VR feel more immersive by spinning in response to the user's head movements. | Image: Rotovrltd The Roto VR Explorer chair is designed to make VR experiences feel more immersive (and less nauseating) by pairing real-world movements with what's seen in a headset. By simply spinning a sitting user in place, it's able to do that in a much smaller footprint than other solutions like the Virtuix Omni treadmill or Disney's Holo Tile treadmill.It looks like an office chair, but the Roto VR Explorer is distinguished by an oversize wheeled base with an integrated electric motor that can spin a seated user at speeds of up to 21 revolutions per minute. The chair will automatically rotate left and right to match the head turns of a user wearing a Meta Quest headset, but instead of relying on movement data captured by the Quest, the Roto VR... Continue reading...

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple reportedly has a team of several hundred people" working on a new product that attaches an iPad-style display to a robotic arm that uses actuators to tilt up and down as well as spin 360 degrees, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.The tabletop device could reportedly serve multiple purposes, letting you control your smart home, attend video conferences, monitor home security, and more.Gurman has reported rumors of the company exploring home robotics more than once over the last several months and now says the project is proceeding with Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology, at the helm. Sources tell Bloomberg the company is aiming for a launch in 2026 or 2027 and that it may cost around $1,000.The... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Disney wants a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit at a Disney-affiliated restaurant based on terms of service for the entertainment giant's website and streaming video services. The company argues that a couple agreed to an arbitration clause when one of them bought tickets to Disney World - and in an even more distant connection, when signing up for Disney Plus years before.The lawsuit, filed in February, concerns a 42-year-old woman named Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died due to an allergic reaction that occurred after eating at one of the restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort's Disney Springs area in October 2023. As noted in the suit, Tangsuan and her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, allegedly chose the restaurant because it... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sonos has explored the possibility of rereleasing its previous mobile app for Android and iOS - a clear sign of what an ordeal the company's hurried redesign has become. The Verge can report that there have been discussions high up within Sonos about bringing back the prior version of the app, known as S2, as the company continues toiling away at improving the performance and addressing bugs with the overhauled design that rolled out in May to a flood of negative feedback. (The new Sonos app currently has a 1.3-star review average on Google Play.)Letting customers fall back to the older software could ease their frustrations and reduce at least some of the pressure on Sonos to rectify every issue with the new app. At least for now, the... Continue reading...

Image: 20th Century Studios Though Fede Alvarez's new Alien film is gorgeous, its questionable optics leave much to be desired. Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google recently introduced a new table formatting feature in Sheets that made it far easier to create self-contained, sortable blocks of cells inside a spreadsheet. But the company didn't stop there and seems to be rapidly updating the software with features that make it faster to set up, configure, and view data within a table.The latest update, which is rolling out in stages now, builds on its earlier addition of table formatting by adding intelligent suggestions" that show a +" button when you select data that could be turned into a table. Clicking the button then formats the data with things like alternating colors and sortable, filterable headers. The change expands on Google's table formatting feature from May, which made it... Continue reading...

Photo by Alex Broadway / Getty Images A team of computer scientists found that wireless gear-shifting systems in high-end bikes are vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks that could undermine popular races like the Tour de France.Wireless gear-shift systems are meant to give riders better control of their bikes, according to the University of California San Diego, whose researchers collaborated with those from Northeastern University on the study. But the modernization also introduces a new set of problems in the form of hacking vulnerabilities. Those weak points could be exploited to gain an unfair advantage, potentially causing crashes or injuries by manipulating gear shifts or jamming the shifting operation," the researchers wrote.The group specifically looked into bikes... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Sonos laid off approximately 100 employees this morning, a source familiar with the situation tells The Verge. Those affected - I'm told the marketing division took a significant hit - abruptly lost access to the company's internal network. Sonos is also in the process of winding down some of its customer support offices, including one in Amsterdam that will close later this year.Sonos reported a headcount of over 1,800 employees in October 2022. The company laid off 7 percent of workers the next year, in June 2023.These latest cuts come as Sonos continues to grapple with the fallout from its disastrous mobile app redesign. On Sonos' earnings call last week, CEO Patrick Spence stressed that fixing the app is the company's number one... Continue reading...

Halide lets you pick the image processing you want, including no processing at all. | Image: Lux Optics It's trickier than ever to know what a photo really is - and when AI and processing turn a photo into something else entirely. Google, Samsung, Apple, and others are making it easier than ever to tweak photos to your liking, combine several mediocre shots into one great one, or add or remove things - including yourself - in your photos. Many of these features are cool, but is the resulting file really even a photo?One of the iPhone's best camera apps is going completely the other way. Halide is getting an update today with a new feature called Process Zero," which takes all of the AI and processing out of photography and tries to turn your captures back into something like what you'd get out of a digital camera from a decade ago.H... Continue reading...

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are more expensive than their predecessor, but they continue to deliver a lot of impressive features (and colors). | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Earlier this week, we highlighted preorder details on the Pixel Watch 3 and Google's entire Pixel 9 lineup. However, if you've got your eyes on Google's forthcoming earbuds, rest assured there are also deals to be had on the Pixel Buds Pro 2. In fact, you can already preorder the $229 pair of earbuds at Amazon and Best Buy, both of which are offering them with a $30 gift card ahead of their launch on September 26th. Google is offering a similar deal, only in the form of store credit.We're still in the process of testing the wireless earbuds, but so far, they seem like a more capable version of the original Pixel Buds Pro. That's saying a lot, given the last-gen model remains our top choice for Pixel phone owners thanks to their... Continue reading...

The Walt Disney Corporation is probably not a fan. | Image: Tom Warren / Grok xAI's Grok chatbot now lets you create images from text prompts and publish them to X - and so far, the rollout seems as chaotic as everything else on Elon Musk's social network.Subscribers to X Premium, which grants access to Grok, have been posting everything from Barack Obama doing cocaine to Donald Trump with a pregnant woman who (vaguely) resembles Kamala Harris to Trump and Harris pointing guns. With US elections approaching and X already under scrutiny from regulators in Europe, it's a recipe for a new fight over the risks of generative AI.Grok will tell you it has guardrails if you ask it something like what are your limitations on image generation?" Among other things, it promised us:

A pop-up LED light on the Anker Solix C300 DC will save you from having to find a working flashlight during a power outage. | Image: Anker The new Anker Solix C300 DC includes a feature not seen on the company's portable power stations before: although it can only be charged using a solar panel or its bidirectional 140W USB-C ports, for the first time, users can recharge it using two of those USB-C ports at the same time, boosting charging speeds to up to 280W.Inside the Solix C300 DC is a 90,000mAh 288Wh lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery, offering a total power output of up to 300W. Anker is positioning the power station as one of its smallest portable options, making it ideal for carrying to the beach or a campsite, but at 6.18 pounds, you're definitely going to feel that weight hanging off your shoulder (with an optional strap) or inside a backpack. ... Continue reading...

Realme demonstrated its new 320W SuperSonic Charge technology at an event in Shenzhen. | Image: Realme Realme has once again taken the lead in the fast charging arms race with its new 320W SuperSonic Charge technology. The company demonstrated the tech by fully charging a smartphone with a 4,420mAh battery (which is a bit smaller than what's in the new Pixel 9 and 9 Pro) in four minutes and 30 seconds.The charging speeds are made possible by two key innovations announced during an event in Shenzhen, China. Realme managed to boost the power output of its existing 240W charger that debuted last year to 320W without increasing its size. The Pocket Cannon, as the upgraded charger is called, also now features two USB-C ports capable of delivering 150W to Realme's smartphones, and 65W to devices like laptops.

Image: AMD AMD launched its first Zen 5 desktop processors earlier this month, and tomorrow, it's about to release what looks like a disappointing flagship Ryzen 9 9950X CPU. Early reviews of the initial Zen 5 CPUs - the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X - revealed a lack of performance improvements and efficiencies, and now reviews of the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X are coming to the same conclusion.Hardware Unboxed has tested a variety of productivity workloads and games with the 9950X, and the results make the previous generation Ryzen 9 7950X chip look like a better value in most cases.Over a 13-game average running at 1080p with an RTX 4090, Hardware Unboxed found that the 9950X was just a single percent faster than the existing 7950X. AMD's new... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you read The Verge, then you probably know your tech, and so it's likely that you're sometimes asked to help troubleshoot computer issues by friends, family, and / or neighbors. It can be something as simple as just turning on the Wi-Fi or as complicated as having to update a BIOS. Whatever's wrong, it's much harder to sort out if you're not in the same room as the computer in question - and trying to work with someone over a phone call can be a lesson in frustration.To save you from an endless series of What's on-screen now?" and Which options can you see?" questions, you can set up a remote connection to the computer you're trying to troubleshoot so that you're virtually in front of it yourself.There are actually numerous ways... Continue reading...

Google's new 45W charger is available for preorder today, with shipping expected as early as next week. | Image: Google One device that didn't get a main stage reveal during yesterday's Made by Google event is the company's new 45W USB-C charger. That's not entirely surprising given the new Pixel 9 lineup, the Pixel Watch 3, and the Pixel Buds Pro 2 were overshadowed by Google's artificial intelligence efforts.The 45W charger replaces Google's 30W charger, which is no longer listed in the company's online store. It features a more rounded design than the 30W option and repositions the USB-C port to the underside of the charger instead of having it in line with the plug. That will make it easier to securely plug into a wall outlet but could cause some crowding on a power strip.The bump to 45W means that the new charger has more than enough power for the... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google's Tuesday event was ostensibly about Pixel hardware. Really, it was about AI.Google's Rick Osterloh made that clear from the moment he walked onstage, where his initial remarks focused a lot more on Google's artificial intelligence efforts than devices:

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Microsoft is making BitLocker device encryption a default feature in its next major update to Windows 11. If you clean install the 24H2 version that's rolling out in the coming months, device encryption will be enabled by default when you first sign in or set up a device with a Microsoft account or work / school account.Device encryption is designed to improve the security of Windows machines by automatically enabling BitLocker encryption on the Windows install drive and backing up the recovery key to a Microsoft account or Entra ID.In Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft is reducing the hardware requirements for automatic device encryption, opening it up to many more devices - including ones running the Home version of Windows 11.... Continue reading...

Image: xAI Elon Musk's AI company xAI has launched Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini: two new models of its Grok chatbot that offer upgraded performance and new image-generation capabilities. Grok's prompt-based image maker is powered by Black Forest Lab's Flux 1 AI model, and allows users to generate and publish images directly to the X social platform - with seemingly few guardrails in place to prevent abuse.xAI says that Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini are available in beta on X (where Grok access is currently limited to Premium and Premium Plus subscribers) and that both models will be available through the AI developer's enterprise API later this month.We are excited to release an early preview of Grok-2, a significant step forward from our previous model... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Spotify will begin showing in-app pricing information for iPhone users in the European Union starting today, following a yearslong legal battle against Apple. In an update to an old blog post, Spotify says that EU iPhone users will now see things like promotional offers and pricing information for each subscription tier - including how much a plan costs once a promotion ends.One thing that's missing is the ability to click a link to make those purchases from outside the Apple App Store. Spotify says it's opting into the music streaming services entitlement" that Apple introduced after being served a 1.84 billion (about $2 billion) EU antitrust fine in March for abusing its dominant position" in music streaming, rather than accepting... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge In between the reveal of new Pixel phones and AI features at its event today, Google snuck in a few burns targeted at Apple. Some were subtle - others far from it.While it's not uncommon for companies like Google to draw comparisons to competitors during big events like this, Google seemed to sprinkle references to Apple all throughout its showcase. Maybe that's because Google has become especially competitive in the AI industry, which Apple has only just barely begun to dip into.Here are all the moments of comparison that we caught during the event.Gemini is going far beyond English speakers" Image: Google Gemini is available globally in 45 different languages. When introducing Gemini, Sameer Samat, the... Continue reading...

Photo by Carolyn Fong for The Washington Post via Getty Images Upside Foods, a cultivated meat firm, sued Florida over its ban on lab-grown meat, arguing that the state's legislation prohibiting the sale of cultivated meat is unconstitutional.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ban into law in May, describing the legislation as a way of fighting back against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals."In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday, Upside Foods and the Institute of Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, allege that Florida's lab-grown meat ban is about protecting the state's cattle industry - and that the law is unconstitutional. The complaint claims SB 1084 violates the Supremacy and... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images A lawsuit that several artists filed against Stability AI, Midjourney, and other AI-related companies can proceed with some claims dismissed, a judge ruled yesterday.Many artists allege that popular generative AI services violated copyright law by training on a dataset that included their works and, in some cases, that users of these services can directly reproduce copies of the work. Last year, Judge William Orrick allowed a direct copyright infringement complaint against Stability, operator of the popular Stable Diffusion AI image generator. But he dismissed a variety of other claims and asked the artists' attorneys to amend them with more detail.In this more recent ruling, the revised arguments convinced the judge to approve an... Continue reading...

Jeff Bezos appearing in a 27-year-old report by the BBC on internet shopping. | Screenshot: YouTube Earlier this year, Amazon reported $143.3 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2024. But 27 years ago, the BBC wondered when predictions that the internet revolutionizing shopping would come true, speaking to local bakers, booksellers, and even Jeff Bezos to find out.The Money Programme report, which originally aired in November of 1997, was recently added to the BBC Archive YouTube Channel. In it, reporter Nils Blythe takes a simulated journey on the information superhighway - complete with wonderfully dated 90s-era blue screen effects and graphics - and speaks to retailers who had varying levels of success with online commerce at the time.Those included a small bakery in the UK that was enjoying several thousands of dollars... Continue reading...

The base Pixel 9 is one of four new models, starting at $799. | Image: Google At its most recent Made by Google event, the monopolistic search giant announced four new phones: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is more phones than Google has ever sold at once - especially when you throw in the midrange Pixel 8A from May - making the decision on which to get somewhat confusing.So, we thought it might be helpful to explain the key differences and similarities between the four new models and succinctly lay out all the finer specs for you to peruse. Hopefully, this will help you choose between the new Pixels, which are set to launch in waves on August 22nd and September 4th.The biggest differences between Pixel 9 phones: price and sizeWhat immediately separates most of the Pixel 9... Continue reading...

Image: Paramount Ahead of its upcoming merger with Skydance Media, Paramount is winding down its TV production studio as part of a larger restructuring effort that will put 15 percent of its current workforce out of jobs.In a memo sent to employees today and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount TV head Nicole Clemens and Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks announced that Paramount Global is shuttering the studio. Clemens, who joined Paramount in 2018 following former exec Amy Powell's sudden exit, is also set to leave the company, and all of Paramount's currently airing TV series and projects still in development will transition to CBS Studios.In the memo, Clemens and Cheeks insisted that while Paramount TV is coming to an end, our ethos will live... Continue reading...

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Apparently, turning the cliched enhance!" meme into reality wasn't as easy as Google might have initially expected. Today, the company confirmed in a blog post that Zoom Enhance is finally rolling out to the Pixel 8 Pro and will also be present on the Pixel 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold at launch.Google announced the AI-powered Zoom Enhance during last year's Made by Google event, but we've made it all the way to a new generation of phones, and only now is the software feature ready for release. When you pinch in, Zoom Enhance can intelligently sharpen and enhance the details of your images, so you can get closer than ever, even when you forget to zoom" is how Google's hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, explained the feature last... Continue reading...

Google's latest wearable is both bigger and brighter than its predecessors. | Image: Google Now that Google has officially announced the Pixel Watch 3 after a deluge of leaks and rumors, Android users have even more wearables to choose from. Google's latest smartwatch will arrive on September 10th and start at $349.99, with the last-gen Pixel Watch 2 hanging around for $249.99. Sadly, Google has dropped the original model from its lineup, though you can still buy it on sale from third-party retailers.With almost identical names and similar domed displays, it can be confusing to distinguish which watch is which - never mind which to buy. Yet, they're more different than they appear, with each wearable offering more features and capabilities than its predecessor. The new Pixel Watch 3 offers several advanced running features,... Continue reading...

The UI isn't flashy, but does it need to be? | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge A week ago, I was on a three-day roadtrip when all the audio cut out in my car. From podcasts to directions - even the turn signal wasn't click. My co-pilot struggled to find a solution via Google. It took me at least five minutes. Today it took Gemini Live, the just-keep-talking-to-it version of Google's voice assistant, about 15 seconds to come up with a solution that worked. Naturally the moment felt magical. In The Verge's first interaction with the assistant, rolling out today, it felt like the promised cleverness of digital assistants is finally being delivered.But then Gemini Live kept talking. And talking. The Verge team was packed in a glass booth, and as Gemini Live droned on a friendly Google employee encouraged me to go... Continue reading...

Who among us can resist the pull of a High Republic cruiser? | Image: Massive Entertainment Before every influencer began pedaling goods on TikTok, there was QVC. The well-known shopping network isn't one we often cover at The Verge, at least in terms of deals, but every so often, it rolls out a promo that's hard to pass up. Right now, for instance, QVC is offering new customers $30 off an order of $60 or more when they use promo code WELCOME30, letting first-time buyers save on a range of classic video games, new releases, and preorders.The current QVC promo applies to a laundry list of first- and third-party titles - assuming they meet the $60 threshold - which makes it a great opportunity to save on forthcoming releases that haven't been discounted yet. This includes Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft's upcoming open-world Star... Continue reading...

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is starting to test a new compact version of its Game Bar with Xbox Insiders today. Similar to the Xbox app on Windows PCs, the Game Bar is getting its own compact mode that is designed for smaller screens, Windows-powered handhelds, and even for when you're playing on a PC with a controller.With Compact Mode enabled, access to widgets and navigation is simplified to ensure you can get access to the content you want as easily as possible," explains Oliver Xu, senior product manager for Xbox Experiences. When using a controller, you can switch between widgets quickly with left and right bumpers (LB/RB)." Image: Microsoft You can easily quit games from the Game Bar using a controller. The home widget... Continue reading...

All of the updates from Google's Pixel 9 launch event. Continue reading...

The Pixel 9 Pro XL. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge Google just wrapped up its Made by Google hardware event, where we got an official look at the refreshed Pixel 9 lineup and updates across Google's other devices. Even though the Pixel event confirmed many of the leaks we've seen over the past several weeks, Google still shared some announcements we haven't heard about yet.Here's a roundup of all the exciting news from Google's Pixel 9 event.Google's Pixel 9 lineup gives you another Pro to choose from Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google's Pixel 9 lineup adds a smaller Pro option. Google has finally taken the wraps off its Pixel 9 lineup, which includes three slab phones and a folding phone. The regular lineup consists of a base Pixel 9 with a 6.3-inch... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google announced a new image generation app during its Pixel 9 event today. The company says the app, called Pixel Studio, will come preinstalled on every Pixel 9 device.Pixel Studio, much like Apple's forthcoming Image Playground app that's set to roll out on iOS 18 at some point after the operating system launches, lets you create an image from a prompt. Users can edit images after the fact, using the prompt box to add or subtract elements, and change the feel or style of the picture. During the onstage demo, a picture of a bonfire gradually changed into a beach hangout invite with the Golden Gate Bridge and fireworks in the background, made in a pixel art style and complete with invite details and stickers of the... Continue reading...