The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube has announced a set of new features for YouTube Shorts, some of which are available now, like a new text-to-speech video narration that lets you add an artificial voiceover. On TikTok, those are the sometimes startlingly robotic voices that you hear a lot on videos with something to promote.The process for adding them is a lot like TikTok's, in fact: after you create some text, you'll tap a new add voice" icon that, in Shorts, sits in the upper-left corner of the screen and pick the voice you want. YouTube only offers four voices to choose from at the moment, whereas TikTok has... quite a few more. Image: YouTube A look at YouTube Shorts' new caption tool. YouTube says it's also rolling out... Continue reading...

DeepMind found preliminary evidence" that Gemini enables its robots to plan how to undertake complex tasks from simple instructions. | Image: Google DeepMind Google is training its robots with Gemini AI so they can get better at navigation and completing tasks. The DeepMind robotics team explained in a new research paper how using Gemini 1.5 Pro's long context window - which dictates how much information an AI model can process - allows users to more easily interact with its RT-2 robots using natural language instructions.This works by filming a video tour of a designated area, such as a home or office space, with researchers using Gemini 1.5 Pro to make the robot watch" the video to learn about the environment. The robot can then undertake commands based on what it has observed using verbal and / or image outputs - such as guiding users to a power outlet after being shown a phone and asked... Continue reading...

280 Earth's pilot carbon removal facility in The Dalles, Oregon. | Image: 280 Earth Data centers are a growing climate problem, especially as all the energy needed to train AI models inflates tech companies' carbon footprints. A startup that spun out of Google's moonshot factory" X says its technology can provide a potential solution. It can pull carbon dioxide out of the air, run partially on servers' waste heat, and even generate water to help cool a data center more efficiently.The company, 280 Earth, just signed a $40 million agreement to capture carbon dioxide emissions for some big names through an initiative called Frontier that Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, and McKinsey launched in 2022 to support emerging carbon removal tech. The buyers include Frontier's founding members as well as Autodesk, H&M Group,... Continue reading...

It took Aryan Kapoor three years to land a model rocket vertically. | Screenshot: YouTube Joe Barnard (or BPS.Space) and Aryan Kapoor are two model rocket enthusiasts who've spent years working to advance the hobby with innovative ways to precisely steer model rockets and land them vertically instead of just watching them parachute back to Earth after a launch. Despite many failures and setbacks, they've each succeeded in recreating SpaceX's Falcon 9 landing capabilities at a much, much smaller scale and without billions of dollars of funding.Barnard, who studied music production in college - not aerospace engineering - spent seven years designing, building, and perfecting various custom components, including a custom thrust vectoring mechanism for model rocket engines.Relying on a pair of servo motors that are geared down... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge As Sonos continues chipping away at fixing bugs and improving the performance of its poorly received mobile app redesign, the company also remains focused on several new hardware products. Among them is an ultrapremium soundbar that will serve as a successor to the current Sonos Arc - and likely at a higher price. Codenamed Lasso, the device is currently in limited beta testing, and today, I can share the first images of it.The exterior of the Lasso soundbar bears a strong resemblance to the Arc, which Sonos introduced over four years ago. But inside, the components and speaker drivers have been completely overhauled and redesigned, and that's expected to result in a cost upwards of $1,200. Sonos aims to ship Lasso later this year,... Continue reading...

The Killers marked England's victory against The Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals with a bright(side) bang. | Image: The Killers The Killers assisted UK fans in celebrating England's Euro 2024 semifinal victory yesterday by pausing their gig at London's O2 Arena to project the final moments of the game behind the band. Viral videos across X and Instagram captured the elation that followed as confetti showered the crowd during a rousing rendition of Mr. Brightside" - and now they're being taken offline by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).According to an Instagram takedown notice seen by The Verge, UEFA says the removed videos include content that infringes their copyright." Many of the impacted videos being pulled, such as a clip posted by photographer Bella Falk, contained mere seconds of the live match and are transformative" enough to fall... Continue reading...

Stellantis' idled Belvidere Assembly Plantis one of the factories that will have new life as an EV facility thanks to $334 million in grant money. | Image: Getty The Biden administration announced $1.7 billion to convert endangered or shuttered plants into electric vehicle manufacturing facilities.Eleven auto factories across eight states that are currently closed or at risk of closing will receive the funding in order to retrofit their operations for EV manufacturing, administration officials said in a call with reporters. The types of goods these factories will produce run the gamut from parts for electric motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries, and electric SUVs," the White House says.Building a clean energy economy can and should be a win-win for union autoworkers and automakers," President Joe Biden said in a statement. This investment... Continue reading...

The Starlink Mini can be powered by a portable USB battery. | Image: SpaceX SpaceX's Starlink Mini dish - which Elon Musk says will change the world" - is now available to anyone in the US. The diminutive internet-from-space kit neatly integrates the dish and Wi-Fi router into a weatherproof package that's significantly smaller and uses less power than previous Starlink kits. The laptop-sized all-in-one dish can even be powered directly by a USB-PD power bank capable of 100W (20V/5A) - though it's high constant power draw means most batteries won't last more than an hour or two.Initially, Starlink Mini was only available as an add-on for current Residential subscribers in the US. Now, just a few weeks since launch, it's available to a wide spectrum of vanlifers and digital nomads who want to stay connected no... Continue reading...

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images A judge overseeing Redbox owner Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment's bankruptcy case granted a request Wednesday to convert it from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to Lowpass' Janko Roettgers and The Wall Street Journal. The company's lawyers said Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment will lay off its remaining 1,000 employees and liquidate the businesses, including streaming operations and the 24,000 or so disc kiosks that have rented out DVDs, Blu-rays, and videogames for years.According to Roettgers, Judge Thomas Horan said, There is no means to continue to pay employees, pay any bills, otherwise finance this case. It is hopelessly insolvent... Given the fact that there may also be at least the possibility of... Continue reading...

The Delta emulator app now provides native iPadOS support. | Image: Riley Testut The Delta iOS app has released a new update that introduces the retro gaming emulator's redesigned logo, alongside native iPad support that allows users to play multiple games simultaneously. Users in the EU can download the update immediately via AltStore PAL, but everyone else will have to wait for App Store approval of Delta 1.6 - Apple rejected the current version according to a screenshot shared by Delta developer Riley Testut.The app was technically available on iPad before today, but the lack of full support forced it to run as a letterboxed iPhone app, which impacted the emulator's touch controls and prevented games from using the full iPad screen.The new Delta 1.6 update rectifies those issues and enables the app to make full... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon's carbon emissions decreased slightly in 2023 after the company ramped up renewable energy purchases and cut down on pollution from construction, hardware, and equipment, according to its latest sustainability report.Back in 2019, Amazon pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Despite that goal, its carbon emissions actually ballooned soon after - climbing from around 51 million metric tons of CO2 in 2019 to more than 71 million metric tons in 2021. Now it seems that the company's carbon footprint has shrunk a bit over the past couple years, decreasing 3 percent in 2023 to just under 69 million metric tons of CO2.To put it in context, Amazon's carbon footprint last year was roughly equivalent to the annual CO2... Continue reading...

Google's service lets you order your photos to go. | Illustration: The Verge Apple and Google are offering a new, nearly painless way to copy files from Google Photos to iCloud. As spotted by 9to5Mac, Google is adding iCloud support to its data transfer tool over the next week, making it possible to move your photo library directly to Apple's service - no download necessary. It's part of a bigger data portability initiative supported by a handful of big tech companies and complements the iCloud-to-Google-Photos service Apple rolled out in 2021.The service is pretty straightforward: photos and videos are sent directly to iCloud, so there's no need to download anything. You can send your whole library at once or specify which albums you want transferred. Google has a list on its support page of the file types you... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Microsoft has reached a settlement with an industry group backed by European cloud infrastructure providers, quelling an antitrust battle that could have embroiled it for years and resulted in fines. But if Microsoft doesn't hold up its end of the bargain in the next nine months, the group has promised to revive its antitrust complaint with the European Commission.The group, Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE), agreed to withdraw its 2022 complaint to the European Commission, where it accused Microsoft of irreparably damaging the European cloud ecosystem and depriving European customers of choice in their cloud deployments." It argued at the time that Microsoft's licensing terms exacerbate the harms and introduce... Continue reading...

Image: Ford Ford's classic Capri coupe is returning as a four-door electric vehicle with a profile resembling other chunky-looking electric crossovers like the Polestar 2.Ford Europe design director Amko Leenarts says the look follows an imagined evolution of the Capri since production ended in 1986, as inspired by the rising popularity of SUVs.This beefier Capri follows Ford's other modern takes on classic nameplates, including the Mustang, which became an electric SUV, and the Maverick, which ended up as a pickup truck.It will come in rear-wheel and all-wheel-drive extended-range configurations and a premium" trim option for each. Ford is promising a maximum range of 627km (about 390 miles) on a single charge for the extended-range RWD... Continue reading...

CNN's first subscription offering will arrive later this year. | Photo by Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images CNN is cutting jobs and restructuring its news operations as part of ongoing efforts by the company to boost its digital offerings and be less dependent on its cable news channel.The changes, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter from a memo sent to staff on Wednesday by CNN CEO Mark Thompson, include layoffs of around a hundred" staffers, representing less than 3 percent of the company's workforce of more than 3,500 employees. The cuts follow layoffs in 2022, including jobs lost when the network's streaming service, CNN Plus, was shut down less than a month after launching.Today's memo also outlined Thompson's plans to merge CNN's TV news and digital news teams into a single Global News organization" that will reduce duplicated... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Bose is updating its two most recent pairs of earbuds, the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and the Ultra Open Earbuds, to add support for multipoint Bluetooth. A new software update rolling out to both products will enable them to pair with two devices at the same time for easier multitasking.The update, which will take a couple weeks to reach all customers, also includes a few bug fixes that are specific to Bose's rather unique Ultra Open Earbuds. Among them are optimizations to voice pickup, overall connectivity, and a few other improvements.Multipoint has become a fairly common feature for premium wireless earbuds (AirPods notwithstanding), so I noted its absence as a downside in the reviews of both earbuds. Now the QC Ultra Earbuds... Continue reading...

Image: Amazon Amazon's Prime Day is less than a week away, and alongside early deals on its smart home devices, Amazon has started selling the days-old Echo Spot for $44.99 ($35 off), exclusively for Prime members.Like its predecessor, the new Spot is a combination smart speaker and alarm clock, but it drops the camera that nobody liked putting in their bedroom. It also now borrows its design from the Echo Pop, which Amazon claims should give it better sound quality. And being an Echo speaker, it of course supports Alexa voice commands to set your alarm for the morning, call up a weather forecast, or have news updates read to you. And if having a microphone in your bedroom still feels creepy, the top of the Spot has a dedicated button to turn it... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge In addition to three new wearables (the Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch 7, and Watch Ultra) and a new pair of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung has unpacked details on its two newest foldable smartphones: the Galaxy Z Fold 6 ($1,899.99) and Galaxy Z Flip 6 ($1,099.99). Both bring minimal improvements over their predecessors yet start $100 higher than previous releases. Preorders start today, and the devices will begin shipping on July 24th.The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 most notably add the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is Qualcomm's latest flagship chipset. It has a dedicated neural processing unit for the growing list of Galaxy AI and Google Gemini features present in Android 14 and One UI 6. Samsung refined their outward design with a flatter... Continue reading...

Image: Napleton Aurora Imports Hyundai pressured its dealers to artificially inflate" its electric vehicle sales figures, instituting a system in which dealers who played ball" were rewarded while those who refused were punished," a new lawsuit alleges.The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Chicago by Napleton Aurora Imports in Illinois and affiliated franchises, says that Hyundai has issued numerous press releases touting the fake" numbers that purport to show year-over-year growth in EV sales.Dealers who declined to participate in the alleged ruse were put at a competitive disadvantage, including being forced to push unpopular vehicles or denied wholesale price discounts for customers.That is a false narrative."Hyundai has emphasized... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Samsung launched the Galaxy Ring, a Galaxy Watch Ultra, new Z Fold and Z Flip phones, and more. Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images Here's what the SCOTUS decision might mean for everything from kids online safety laws to the TikTok ban.' Continue reading...

The ZV-E10 II looks a whole lot like its 2021 predecessor. Trickle-down economics may be garbage, but Sony remains a steadfast believer when it comes to the tech in its cameras. The new ZV-E10 II continues Sony's trend of bringing small, iterative changes down from its pricier cameras to more affordable models. Only it's never without some tradeoffs.The ZV-E10 II is the APS-C mirrorless system camera follow-up to the original ZV-E10 of 2021, now with a bigger battery, a 26-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, and improved 4K video. It will also cost $999 for the body or $1,099 in a bundle with Sony's new PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II lens when it launches in early August - right around the price of a flagship phone like the iPhone 15 Pro Max. But, of course, even the best iPhone camera has a... Continue reading...

Hot foldable summer is in full swing, y'all. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge If you had any remaining hopes, despite leak upon leak, that Samsung's foldables would get a major update this year, then I hate to be the bearer of bad news. They're a little more durable, a little lighter, and come with a handful of tiny upgrades. Even so, both models got a boost of a certain kind: higher prices, with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 now starting at $1,899 and the Z Flip 6 at $1,099.Both phones use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset specially tuned for Samsung, and like the S24 series, they both include seven years of OS and security update support. They're both a little bit sturdier, claiming better resistance to drops thanks to improvements to the hinge design and materials. The inner flexible glass is also more durable, and both... Continue reading...

It sure is squircle. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge It's the Apple Watch Ultra, but for Android. Oh, and the Galaxy Watch 7 is here, too. Continue reading...

Alongside its latest folding phones and wearables, Samsung is introducing the new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3. As leaks (and early sales) confirmed, the company has moved away from the subtle in-ear design of past generations to a stemmed look that gives these an AirPods-esque look and feel - especially in white. Both earbuds also come in a gunmetal gray finish that, combined with the angular blade" design, makes me think of Tesla's Cybertruck. But there's no denying the overall similarities to Apple's massively popular AirPods.Samsung's press release says the switch was the direct result of a variety of collected statistical data" that showed a stem form factor produces better comfort and in-ear stability. So, here we are.... Continue reading...

It costs $399.99, there's no subscription, and it's generally available starting on July 24th. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge The hardware is solid. The ideas are intriguing. So long as it holds up in testing, Samsung could have a winner. Continue reading...

Image: Apple The Music Dance Experience" is on its way back. Apple just released the first teaser trailer for the much-anticipated second season of Severance, along with the news that the show won't be returning until 2025. The first episode will start streaming on Apple TV Plus on January 17th and last 10 episodes.The short teaser doesn't reveal much about what to expect in the new season, but according to Apple, Mark (Adam Scott) and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe."A day before the trailer dropped, Apple released an appropriately cryptic teaser:

NSEU officials said 6,500 Samsung workers participated in the initial three-day walkout - and now it's rallying more of its members. | Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics in South Korea have indefinitely extended the first-ever strike at the company in a push for better pay and benefits. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) rallied its over 30,000 members on Wednesday after the company's leadership showed no indication of holding talks with the union following a three-day walkout.As reported by Reuters, the NSEU is demanding a 3.5 percent increase in base salary, an extra day off to mark the union's foundation day, and a fairer bonus system between executives and lower-ranking workers. Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips, announced an estimated 15x increase in operating profits for its latest quarter, following a spike in semiconductor... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google has made it a little easier for those at more risk of targeted online attacks to enroll in its Advanced Protection Program for Google accounts. Now users can set it up with a single passkey - using the built-in biometric authentication of a Pixel phone or iPhone - instead of the two physical security keys the company previously required.The Advanced Protection Program is aimed not at normal users but people like those working on political campaigns or journalists with sensitive information to protect. When it launched, the company required two physical security keys to activate it, and one of those keys plus a password to log in after that.Google changed the feature in 2023 to allow users to sign in with just a passkey - a... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Microsoft has dropped its seat as an observer on the board of OpenAI, less than eight months after securing the non-voting seat. Apple was reportedly planning to join OpenAI's nonprofit board, but now the Financial Times reports that Apple will no longer join the board.OpenAI confirmed that Microsoft has given up its seat in a statement to The Verge, following reports from Axios and the Financial Times that Microsoft's deputy general counsel Keith Dolliver wrote a letter to OpenAI late on Tuesday.We're grateful to Microsoft for voicing confidence in the Board and the direction of the company, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership," says OpenAI spokesperson Steve Sharpe. Under the leadership of CFO Sarah Friar,... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram isn't going to focus on longform video because it might undermine" the platform's core identity to connect people with friends," Instagram boss Adam Mosseri says in a video. Yes, you can technically post Instagram videos to your feed that are as long as one hour, and yes, Instagram did try to push for longer videos with IGTV before shutting the app down! But now, shortform is where it's at, Mosseri argues.Mosseri says that Instagram's two main jobs are to help you connect with friends and to help you explore interests usually through shortform video." He says that those two jobs are symbiotic" because you might send a video that you like to a friend who might also like it.

Image: The Verge Microsoft is planning to hike its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate pricing again in September, alongside launching a new standard" subscription that doesn't include day-one access to first-party Xbox games. The Xbox maker has started emailing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers warning of a price increase to $19.99 a month that starts on September 12th, a $3 increase over the current $16.99 a month pricing.PC Game Pass subscribers will also see a price hike in September, with the service moving from $9.99 to $11.99 per month and maintaining access to day-one titles. If you're outside the US and wondering how the price increases affect your own subscription, Microsoft has a full list of all the worldwide price changes here.The price increases... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images A judge has tossed nearly all of the claims a group of developers brought against GitHub, Microsoft, and OpenAI in a copyright lawsuit filed in 2022, as reported earlier by The Register. In a court order unsealed last week, a California judge left only two claims standing: one that accuses the companies of an open-source license violation and another that alleges breach of contract.The original lawsuit made 22 claims against the trio, accusing them of violating copyright laws by allowing the AI-powered GitHub Copilot coding assistant to train on developers' work. Microsoft, the owner of GitHub, uses OpenAI's technology to power the tool. All three companies asked the court to throw out the lawsuit in January, but Judge Jon Tigar denied... Continue reading...

A broken cellphone with a rechargeable battery lies in a collection container for hazardous materials at a waste sorting facility. | Photo by Jens Buttner / picture alliance via Getty Images Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in everyday gadgets, electric vehicles, and to store renewable energy could be a growing source of the forever chemicals" that pollute soil and waterways, new research suggests.Forever chemicals" encompass thousands of different kinds of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). For decades, they've been used to make products more resistant to water, stains, and heat. More recently, a particular subclass of PFAS called bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides (bis-FASIs) has been used as electrolytes and binders in lithium-ion batteries.Those bis-FASIs are now showing up in soil, sediment, water, and snow surrounding manufacturing facilities, according to research published yesterday in the journal N... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it seized two domain names and more than 900 social media accounts it claims were part of an AI-enhanced" Russian bot farm. Many of the accounts were designed to look like they belonged to Americans and posted content about the Russia-Ukraine war, including videos in which Russian President Vladimir Putin justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Justice Department claims that an employee of RT - Russia's state media outlet - was behind the bot farm. RT's leadership signed off on a plan to use the bot farm to distribute information on a wide-scale basis," amplifying the publication's reach on social media," an FBI agent alleged in an affidavit. To set up the bot farm, the employee... Continue reading...

The game is an oldie but goodie, especially with multiple people playing. | Screenshot: Nintendo If you have a sudden or anticipated need for Joy-Con replacements or additional controllers to supplement the pair that came with your Nintendo Switch, the ongoing Walmart Deals event is where you want to be. Until July 11th, the retailer is selling the red and blue Joy-Con bundled with a copy of Super Mario Party for $69 ($31 off). The Joy-Con controllers retail for about that much on their own, and the game is usually around $40 to $50 when it's on sale, so the game is effectively free.Super Mario Party for Switch (the 11th in its long history, though there's a newer title in Mario Party Superstars) offers four-player fun with 80 different minigames, from racing and sports to puzzlers and gladiator-style rumbles. There's a mix of new... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Mark Matlock, a political candidate for the right-wing Reform UK party, clarified in The Independent that he is a real person, not an AI bot, as some suspected.Perhaps it was the glossy, hyper-smooth skin in a campaign image or the fact that Matlock had apparently missed events like the election count - but earlier this week, a thread on X questioned whether Matlock existed at all. We might be on the verge of a HUGE SCANDAL," the post read.