The Verge

Image: The Verge Apple's iMessage is not being designated as a core platform service" under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Commission announced today. The decision means the service won't be hit with tough new obligations, including a requirement to offer interoperability with other messaging services. The Commission also opted against designating Microsoft's Edge browser, Bing search engine, and advertising business as core platform services.Following a thorough assessment of all arguments, taking into account input by relevant stakeholders, and after hearing the Digital Markets Advisory Committee, the Commission found that iMessage, Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising do not qualify as gatekeeper services," the EU's... Continue reading...

Lyft is expanding Women Plus Connect, an in-app feature that matches women and nonbinary drivers with women and nonbinary riders, to all US cities. The rideshare service initially launched the initiative in five cities last fall, with the goal of both improving safety and recruiting more female and nonbinary users. Over 2.4 million riders have activated Women Plus Connect since its rollout, according to Lyft's press materials.Drivers aren't required to participate in Women Plus Connect if they don't want to, and if no nearby passengers matching the profile are available, the app will match with a male passenger. Nearly half of Lyft's eligible pool of drivers in the eight cities have opted to use the feature.Female and nonbinary... Continue reading...

Image: NFL A crane shot slowly sweeps down toward a massive, billowing rose-red cape attached to someone playing an equally red grand piano. As the camera closes in on the figure, you realize it's Alicia Keys, playing the descending triplets that begin If I Ain't Got You," one of her earliest and biggest hits. Her voice, as smooth as ever, eases in with a shortened version of the hums that begin the original recording, then she starts belting out the chorus lyrics... and her voice cracks immediately.That's how Keys' surprising (and brief) cameo during Usher's Super Bowl 2024 performance kicked off if you were watching live. But those who didn't watch wouldn't know it now without reading social posts about it or news stories like this AV Club one,... Continue reading...

Google's first foldable is intriguing, but it was hard to recommend before today's discount. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge When it first launched, we felt the Google Pixel Fold was a little too expensive ($1,800, whew) compared to other foldables at the time, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and its sequel, which had the same starting cost. If you've been waiting for a price drop to experience Google's infantile take on the form factor, however, today is the day to unfold your wallet. Right now, you can buy an unlocked Pixel Fold with 256GB of storage for $1,399 ($400 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store, which matches the lowest price we've seen.We love the Fold's potential and we're elated to know Google now has a firm stake in building fold-friendly features into Android's core. We're hoping that will eventually convince third-party developers... Continue reading...

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures From Dune 2 in February to Sonic 3 in December, and everything else in between. Continue reading...

[AC/DC voice] Back in Slack. | Cath Virginia / The Verge | Assets courtesy of iOS and Getty Images A decade later, it's clear that Slack changed work culture, even at companies that don't use it. Continue reading...

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge General Motors released final pricing and range details about the upcoming Chevy Equinox EV, which will be available for ordering later this year. For years, the automaker has been positioning the Equinox as its great equalizer, affordably priced and with enough range to be everyone's first EV. And now we have the numbers to see whether those promises hold true.The single-motor, front-wheel drive 1LT model of the Equinox EV, which will be the first one available to customers, will start at $34,995 and get an EPA-estimated range of 319 miles. Sure, that's more than the around $30,000" that GM had long promised would be the Equinox's starting price.that's more than the around $30,000" that GM had long promisedBut it also doesn't... Continue reading...

Photo illustration: The Verge | Photo DOJ The assistant attorney general says the resonance these issues have is something that I've never witnessed in my lifetime." Continue reading...

Illustration by Erik Carter I was recently sitting in a hot tub with a friend - a glaciologist who studies how quickly the southern ice is sliding into the sea - when she mentioned that she had recently planned her honeymoon using ChatGPT. Our fellow bathers burst into laughter. You'd done it, too?" This, apparently, is the present state of get-togethers among friends in their early 30s: six people and three AI-assisted honeymoons between them.My friend is a pro at arranging helicopters and snow cat brigades to remote wedges of ice. But she was overloaded with decisions about charger plates and floral arrangements, and had put the task of arranging a 12-day trip to Tasmania on her husband-to-be. A statistician, he was using ChatGPT to answer questions at work,... Continue reading...

Illustration by Erik Carter In the wake of death, AI-generated obituaries litter search results, turning even private individuals into clickbait. Continue reading...

New York City shrouded in wildfire smoke on Wednesday, June 7th, 2023. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Air quality in the US is projected to backslide in the coming decades, landing back where it was in the mid-2000s as a result of climate change, according to a new report. The report comes with an online tool for users to zoom in on individual properties to see what kind of air quality residents might experience there in the future. It paints a picture of a changing landscape for regulators, who are going to have to adapt to evolving threats.Air quality really highlights how the changing climate is being felt by individuals."A hotter planet sets the stage for more wildfire smoke and supercharges the chemical reactions that lead to smog. That means the game is changing when it comes to how to prevent pollution in the future. After... Continue reading...

It's going to take something special to get people as hyped for Marvel's movies as they used to be, and the first trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine - the studio's first R-rated cape flick - makes it seem like it has just the thing.In the new trailer, it's unclear how much time has passed for Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and his partner Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) since the end of Deadpool 2, or even if they're exactly the same versions of those characters who appeared in that film. But when armored troops from Loki's Time Variance Authority show up looking for Deadpool, he isn't exactly surprised to see them or to be whisked away through a portal.Though Deadpool takes a moment to talk directly to the camera about the Disney of it all, TVA... Continue reading...

Firefighters attempt to put out the Waymo car. | Image: FriscoLive415 A person jumped on the hood of a Waymo driverless taxi and smashed its windshield in San Francisco's Chinatown last night around 9PM PT, generating applause before a crowd formed around the car and covered it in spray paint, breaking its windows, and ultimately set it on fire. The fire department arrived minutes later, according to a report in The Autopian, but by then flames had already fully engulfed the car.At the moment, no outlets seem to have reported a motive for the attack. Waymo representative Sandy Karp told The Verge via email that the fully autonomous car was not transporting any riders" when it was attacked and fireworks were tossed inside the car, sparking the flames. Public Information Officer Robert Rueca of San... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Tesla app now supports ultra wideband (UWB) in the 2024.2.3 version of the app for iPhones. Spotted by Not a Tesla App, it promises more reliable and secure use of phones as digital keys than Bluetooth does because UWB's precision tracking lets the car know exactly where the key is, which also helps protect against replay spoofing attacks.The article says this even comes down to knowing which user is on the driver's side of the car in the event that two people who have phone keys for the car are getting into it. It's the same type of precision tracking that lets you accurately locate Apple's AirTags even when the thing they're attached to is lost in the cushions of your couch.The change isn't available for Android users yet, but... Continue reading...

Sony's adorable SRS-XB100 speaker is a pint-sized gift with plenty going for it (including a built-in strap). | Image: Sony It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas, and now we're shifting through scores of Super Bowl TV deals ahead of the big game. Valentine's Day is also nearly here, though there's no need to panic (yet) if you haven't found the perfect gift for your significant other. After all, the deals team at The Verge has your back.We published our Valentine's Day gift guide a few weeks ago, but as the holiday draws closer, we're aware that not all of our recommendations will arrive in time. That's why we've put together a list of a few gifts that will. Some, like Apple's latest AirPods Pro with USB-C, are discounted highlights culled straight from our gift guide, while picks like the Google Pixel Watch 2 are entirely new... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge You've no doubt allowed dozens (or even hundreds) of apps to live on your smartphone, and it's important that you know what these apps are up to. Part of that is keeping tabs on how much communicating each app is doing with the outside world. We've previously written about how to check data usage on an Android device, and here, we're going to focus on iPhones.There are a couple of reasons to watch how much data your phone is using. First, while unlimited data plans are much more widespread than they used to be, bear in mind that these plans often apply speed restrictions when you go over a certain point every month. And if you're using a limited plan and apps go over your data allowance while you're away from Wi-Fi, it could start... Continue reading...

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok's attempt to stall the EU from designating it as a gatekeeper" - companies with platforms powerful enough that they must follow strict Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust rules - has been rejected by a court. Bloomberg reports that the EU's General Court has dismissed owner ByteDance's request for an interim measure that would effectively would buy TikTok some more time to implement the regulations, finding that the company failed to demonstrate the urgency" required.Although TikTok is appealing the EU's gatekeeper designation, the bloc still hasn't reached a final decision yet on the appeal. ByteDance asked for an interim measure in December so it wouldn't have to comply with the regulations before the EU decided the outcome... Continue reading...

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple might've backed a right-to-repair bill in California, but it was spotted lobbying against a new bill in Oregon that tries to ban the practice known as parts pairing. Cybersecurity expert Tarah Wheeler posted footage from and testified during a hearing about the state's proposed right-to-repair bill, where testimony showed the company doesn't want to give up full control of the repair process, as reported earlier by 404 Media. John Perry, Apple's senior manager for the secure design team, said that Apple uses parts pairing to make repair easier" while ensuring the device and its data remains secure."The bill in question, SB 1596, would require companies to provide the documentation, tools, and parts both customers and... Continue reading...

Image: Samsung The FDA has authorized a sleep apnea detection feature for the Samsung Galaxy Watch, clearing the way for a software update to the Samsung Health Monitor app in the third quarter of this year that will enable the feature for US users. South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety gave its nod of approval last fall for using wearable devices to detect breathing interruptions that are commonly associated with the sleep disorder, and the update will roll out there first.Although doctors warn that smartwatches are unreliable tools for sleep apnea detection and other health disorders, that hasn't stopped major wearables makers like Apple, Fitbit, Withings, and others from trying to enter the space.In December, Bloomberg reported that... Continue reading...

Image: Warner Bros. Discovery Last fall, Warner Bros. Discovery seemed willing to entertain the idea of letting another studio release director Dave Green's Coyote vs. Acme after initially announcing its plans to Batgirl (read: cancel in exchange for tax write-offs) the nearly completed film in early November. But according to a new report, the studio rejected multiple offers that could have led to the embattled project finally seeing the light of day, and the final decisions were made by executives who had not actually seen the finished movie.According to TheWrap, Amazon, Netflix, and Paramount were more than interested in securing the rights to debut Coyote vs. Acme for themselves after Warner Bros. changed stances and gave the filmmakers behind the live-action /... Continue reading...