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by Emma Roth on (#6J5SK)
Image: Mozilla Apple's new rules in the European Union mean browsers like Firefox can finally use their own engines on iOS. Although this may seem like a welcome change, Mozilla spokesperson Damiano DeMonte tells The Verge it's extremely disappointed" with the way things turned out.We are still reviewing the technical details but are extremely disappointed with Apple's proposed plan to restrict the newly-announced BrowserEngineKit to EU-specific apps," DeMonte says. The effect of this would be to force an independent browser like Firefox to build and maintain two separate browser implementations - a burden Apple themselves will not have to bear."In iOS 17.4, Apple will no longer force browsers in the EU to use WebKit, the underlying engine that... Continue reading...
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-07-08 10:48 |
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6J5QG)
Is this what Gen Z really looks like? | Image: Getty Okay, Gen Z. Sit down, babes. It's time to talk.I have seen multiple reports that you are worried about whether you are aging like milk." (I guess this is a thing on TikTok, an app I am too old to care about.) Like, yes, I think it is extremely funny to tease you, but also, generally, I like you guys and am kind of worried about how neurotic you are making yourselves. It is - to borrow a phrase - time to stop, drop, and roll yourself back to sanity.Do you know how many times since my 40th birthday I have uttered the magic words: I am 40. I don't have to care about this"?I am not interested in the question of whether you are aging faster than millennials. I don't think you're scared of looking old. I think you're scared of being old.... Continue reading...
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by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6J5MW)
OnePlus' no-frills flagship stands tall against the competition. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge With the impending launch of Samsung's Galaxy S24 series, OnePlus surely hopes to hitch a ride on the buzz train as upgrade season begins. The newly announced OnePlus 12 arrives on February 6th, however, you can currently get a free storage upgrade if you place a preorder before then. Both Amazon and Best Buy are selling the 512GB model with 16GB of RAM in black or green for $799.99 ($100 off). You'll note that the price tag is identical to the price of the lower-end, 256GB model, so there's no good reason to pass up double the storage if you plan on buying OnePlus' latest Android phone at launch.We've already had some personal time with the OnePlus 12, and while it's not exactly blowing the competition away in any specific area, we... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6J5MY)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge Apple is finally opening up the iPhone to sideloading and alternative app stores - at least in the European Union. It's also allowing developers to use third-party payment processors in their apps. This is all part of Apple's efforts to comply with the EU's new Digital Markets Act (DMA), and at the surface, these changes make it seem like Apple is giving in to regulatory pressure.But some developers are already responding with criticism about Apple's new guidelines. Epic Games CEO (and part-time Apple critic) Tim Sweeney notably called out the changes as hot garbage," even as Epic announced it would be launching its own app store through them. That's because Apple's new business terms come with some pretty big disadvantages -... Continue reading...
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by Jacob Kastrenakes on (#6J5MZ)
Illustration: The Verge Apple is finally opening the iPhone to third-party app stores in the European Union, kicking off a potentially vibrant, unwieldy, and eclectic new era for its app ecosystem. At least, it might, depending on how developers respond to a hurdle that is at once tiny and immense: a 0.50 fee.Apple is introducing a new fee structure for apps that want to operate on these third-party stores. On the surface, it looks great: apps pay no cut of sales to Apple if they're distributed via a third-party store. And if a developer still wants to be distributed via Apple's App Store, too, the cut drops from the traditional 30 percent fee down to 17 percent. It's an even lower 10 percent fee for qualifying small business" apps, down from the original 15... Continue reading...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6J5N0)
For the past few years, Lionsgate has dominated the stylish, hyper-choreographed, bullet-hole-ridden action-thriller genre with a steady stream of John Wick movies as well as a spinoff series. But the first trailer for Universal and Blumhouse's Monkey Man from director Dev Patel makes it seem like a glorious challenge to viewers to understand how much bigger, wilder, and more visually inspired these kinds of movies can be.Set on the streets of modern-day Mumbai, Monkey Man tells the story of a man named Kid (Patel), an ex-con whose return to society is a brutal reminder of how India's caste system keeps poor, vulnerable people trapped in cycles of violence and systemic poverty. Kid has fond memories of an idyllic childhood being raised... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6J5HH)
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft revealed last week that it had discovered a nation-state attack on its corporate systems from the Russian state-sponsored hackers that were behind the SolarWinds attack. Hackers were able to access the email accounts of some members of Microsoft's senior leadership team - potentially spying on them for weeks or months.While Microsoft didn't provide many details on how the attackers gained access in its initial SEC disclosure late on Friday, the software maker has now published an initial analysis of how the hackers got past its security. It's also warning that the same hacking group, known as Nobelium or as the Midnight Blizzard" weather-themed moniker Microsoft refers to them, has been targeting other organizations.N... Continue reading...
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by Victoria Song on (#6J5HJ)
Putting the temperature sensor on the rear... was certainly a choice for body temperature scans. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Earlier this week, Google updated the Pixel 8 Pro to let its strange new temperature sensor finally take readings of human bodies. I regret to inform you that, having used it, it doesn't make this feature any less baffling.To measure body temperature, you have to sweep the phone's infrared temperature sensor over the side of your forehead, right above the temporal artery. So far, nothing super odd here. Just this month, I got to check out the Withings BeamO, a 4-in-1 multiscope that also has you scan the same kind of sensor over the same artery to measure your temperature. The difference is the BeamO was quite easy to use, while the Pixel 8 Pro was incredibly finicky. Screenshot: Richard Lawler / The Verge You've... Continue reading...
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by Sheena Vasani on (#68ZNW)
Twinkly's smart string lights can make any room look dreamy for less than $50. | Image: Twinkly If budget-friendly" and high-quality" sound like oxymorons to you, you're in for a surprise. As it turns out, you can buy many great gifts without completely draining your savings account, which makes it easy to pick up a present for your anniversary, a birthday party, or one of the many other gift-giving occasions strewn throughout the year.Finding the right gift can still be tough, though, even when there is a sea of inexpensive items for under $50 to choose from. That's why we've put together a selection of techy gift ideas, ranging from disposable cameras and wireless earbuds to home security gadgets. We've also highlighted an array of last-minute gifts that are more unique than your run-of-the-mill gift card - including game... Continue reading...
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by Justine Calma on (#6J5E0)
In this marshy coastal region between Texas and Louisiana, the proliferation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal projects, massive facilities that receive and liquefy gas from pipelines, then transfer the LNG to ships for export, unsettles residents, who consider the plants to be a threat to their coast. | Photo by FRANCOIS PICARD/AFP via Getty Images The Biden administration announced a pause on new gas export projects today, saying it needs to better assess each project's economic and environmental impact. The decision won't affect ongoing exports, just pending decisions on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to countries with which the US has no free trade agreement.During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America's energy security, and our environment," Biden said in a statement today. This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time."During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America's energy security, and our... Continue reading...
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by David Nield on (#6J5E1)
Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge I fully get why some people might be wary of letting other people see their location constantly, but for me, location sharing tools such as Find My and Google Maps have only had advantages. They mean not having dozens of back-and-forth texts about which bar everyone is currently at, for example, or not needing to text I'll be five minutes late" because everyone can see I'm en route. And while tracking the location of older teens probably won't happen without some intense negotiation, it can be handy to see when younger kids have made it to school or a friend's house.In other words, while you only want to do this with the people in your life you trust the most, you might find you come to rely on it more than you thought you would. And... Continue reading...
by Jon Porter on (#6J5E2)
It's thin and light enough to feel like a regular smartphone when folded. That's impressive. I just wish Honor's software were as svelte. Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6J5AZ)
Samsung's S24 Ultra as announced in the US earlier this month. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung's Galaxy S24 lineup has launched in China, and the company is tapping Chinese tech giant Baidu to power its Galaxy AI features, CNBC reports. There's no mention of Google, whose Gemini foundational models are powering Samsung's Galaxy AI features in Western markets. Instead, the Chinese launch focused on Baidu's Ernie, the chatbot that launched last August.The list of AI translation, summarization, and text formatting features on the Chinese version of the Galaxy S24 will be familiar to anyone who kept up with its US-based launch. There's also real-time call translation like we saw earlier this month, and the phones are even getting a version of Google's Circle to Search feature.Now featuring Ernie's understanding and... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6J58T)
Illustration: The Verge Google appears to be readying a version of its popular Chrome browser for Windows on Arm. X (formerly Twitter) user Pedro Justo spotted a native version of the browser for Windows 11 Arm-powered devices in the latest nightly builds of Chrome in the Canary channel.Google's release of a Chrome Canary version for Windows on Arm is a surprise, and we've reached out to the company to clarify when it plans to bring this to the stable channel. I have installed and tested the Canary version to verify it's an ARM64 version. Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge An ARM64 native version of Chrome on Windows 11. While Microsoft has long supported an Arm version of its Edge browser, also based on Chromium, Google has... Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6J58V)
Beloved US comedian George Carlin (pictured) passed away in 2008 at the age of 72. His estate is now fighting to protect his legacy from AI mimics. | Photo by Mark Junge/Getty Images George Carlin's estate has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Dudesy, the media company that used generative artificial intelligence to produce a fake hour-long comedy special that imitates the deceased star's voice and comedic style. The complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court on Thursday alleges that Carlin's copyrighted materials and likeness were used without permission or appropriate licenses, calling the special a piece of computer-generated click-bait which detracts from the value of Carlin's comedic works and harms his reputation."The AI-generated special, titled George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead, was released on the Dudesy podcast's YouTube channel on January 9th, where it remains live and has since racked up... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6J58W)
Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is adding touch controls to its Xbox apps for iOS and Android devices. The software maker started testing the touch controls in beta versions of the Xbox mobile apps this week, allowing Xbox owners to remotely control their consoles and play games on phones and tablets without a Bluetooth controller.The touch controls are identical to the ones found on Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming service, providing an on-screen overlay to let you remotely navigate around the Xbox UI and open up games and stream them all from your own console without needing to use a controller. Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge The Xbox touch controls work on any game. The touch controls are surprisingly good in a pinch,... Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6J56N)
Words in a transcript will light up as the episode progresses. | Image: Apple Apple's first-party Podcasts app is getting support for transcripts in the forthcoming iOS 17.4 update. The company says transcripts will be automatically generated by Apple's software, will appear for English, French, German, and Spanish-language podcasts shortly after they're uploaded, and will be viewable across over 170 countries and regions."The feature should make it far easier to find and skip to the point in a podcast you're most interested in. Transcripts can be searched for specific words and phrases which can be tapped to go directly to the corresponding point in the episode. You can also read along with a transcript as an episode plays, and watch each word be highlighted as it's said out loud. Per 9to5Mac, the feature is... Continue reading...
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by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6J4W5)
Even if you already own an Xbox, it wouldn't be the worst idea to buy one as a backup. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge We've seen the original Xbox Series S in white dip below the $249.99 mark over the past several months. But if you missed out on those opportunities, Dell presents another with a sale that brings Microsoft's entry-level gaming console down to $229.99. That's a $70 discount compared to its retail price. We've seen it as low as $199.99, but it's possible we won't see it that low again until the refresh becomes available, so you might consider just spending the extra $30 now.The Xbox Series S gets you most of the way as far as current-gen gaming consoles are concerned. It plays the same games as the Series X, but you're losing a disc drive, 4K resolution (it tops out at QHD but retains up to 120Hz variable refresh rates), and you're only... Continue reading...
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by Emilia David on (#6J4W6)
Illustration: The Verge In a blog post, OpenAI said the updated GPT-4 Turbo completes tasks like code generation more thoroughly than the previous preview model and is intended to reduce cases of laziness' where the model doesn't complete a task."The company, however, did not explain what it updated.Some ChatGPT users recently complained about the chatbot frequently refusing to complete prompted tasks and blamed the lack of updates to GPT-4. However, OpenAI's update is for GPT-4 Turbo, a version of the more widely available GPT-4 that was trained on information as recent as April 2023 and is only available in a preview. Those using GPT-4, which learned from data available prior to September 2021, may still experience the same laziness issues.OpenAI said... Continue reading...
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6J4W7)
Photo by Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images Cruise, the self-driving car subsidiary of General Motors, tried to send a 45-second video to regulators of an incident in which one of its driverless cars dragged a pedestrian 20 feet but was hampered by internet connectivity issues," according to a report compiled by a law firm investigating the incident.The law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, was hired by Cruise to determine whether its executives misled regulators in the aftermath of the October 2nd incident in which a hit-and-run driver struck a pedestrian, knocking her into the path of a driverless Cruise vehicle. Its conclusions were detailed in a nearly 200-page report that was released today.Cruise also disclosed for the first time that the incident was under... Continue reading...
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by Jacob Kastrenakes on (#6J4W8)
Fortnite in 2020, when it was banned on the App Store. | Screenshot: Fortnite Epic plans to launch the Epic Games Store on the iPhone this year in the European Union - and it's bringing Fortnite back to the platform along with it.The announcement comes after Apple shared how it will open up iOS in response to the EU's crackdown on Big Tech. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney described Apple's rules as hot garbage," but they are clearly not so hot as to keep Epic away altogether.Epic doesn't have a lot to share about its plans just yet. It says the store will launch later this year," and Fortnite will be available through it. Both will only be available in parts of Europe covered by the Digital Markets Act. Stay tuned for details as we figure out the regulatory timeline," it said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), adding... Continue reading...
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by Ash Parrish on (#6J4SV)
Image: Pocketpair You can all stop calling now - The Pokemon Company's lawyers are on the case. In a statement posted on the company's website, The Pokemon Company says it's aware of a game released in January 2024" and plans to take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokemon."It's no secret that the game referred to is Palworld, a surprise hit juggernaut that's slowly climbing up the Steam charts, well on its way to beating PUBG's all-time peak player count of 3.2 million. It's sold 8 million copies on Steam as of today, and its developer, Pocketpair, just released a roadmap laying out plans for the game's future.
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by Emma Roth on (#6J4SW)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, has a lot to say about the changes Apple made to its App Store in the European Union. In a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), Sweeney calls the update a new instance of Malicious Compliance" - or, in layman's terms, hot garbage."This afternoon, Apple announced it would allow sideloading, alternative app stores, and third-party browser engines on the iPhone with the rollout of iOS 17.4 this March. The company will also open up the App Store to game streaming services, and will finally allow developers to use alternative in-app payment options. Apple made the changes to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires large tech companies to follow a strict set of rules aimed at... Continue reading...
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by Emilia David on (#6J4SX)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opened an inquiry into the investments of Big Tech companies that provide cloud services to smaller AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.The FTC sent letters to Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI, requiring the companies to explain the impact these investments have on the competitive landscape of generative AI. The commission wants to scrutinize corporate partnerships and investments with AI providers to build a better internal understanding of these relationships and their impact on the competitive landscape."Google and Amazon invested in Anthropic, while Microsoft has a close financial relationship with OpenAI.The FTC wants information on the specific investment agreements... Continue reading...
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by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6J4PR)
This is the fastest AM4 processor you can upgrade to if you're not ready to buy into AM5. AMD made bank on its Ryzen chipsets on the strength of bored pandemic-era gamers who spent their stimulus checks on new PC builds. Ryzen CPUs offered arguably the best price-to-performance value back then, causing many to go all in on AM4-based systems. AMD has since switched to the next-generation AM5 platform, but there's still plenty of room on the upgrade path for those not interested in shelling out hundreds or thousands on newer hardware. Take the top-line Ryzen 9 5950X, for instance, which has never been cheaper than the $364.99 price currently showing at Amazon (18 percent off).The Ryzen 9 5950X is admittedly overkill for most people. It has 16 physical cores with 32 threads, 3.4GHz base and 4.9GHz boost clock speeds, a very... Continue reading...
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by Emilia David on (#6J4PS)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google Cloud's new partnership with AI model repository Hugging Face is letting developers build, train, and deploy AI models without needing to pay for a Google Cloud subscription. Now, outside developers using Hugging Face's platform will have cost-effective" access to Google's tensor processing units (TPU) and GPU supercomputers, which will include thousands of Nvidia's in-demand and export-restricted H100s.Hugging Face is one of the more popular AI model repositories, storing open-sourced foundation models like Meta's Llama 2 and Stability AI's Stable Diffusion. It also has many databases for model training.There are over 350,000 models hosted on the platform for developers to work with or upload their own models to Hugging... Continue reading...
by David Pierce on (#6J4PW)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge With iOS 17.4, Apple is making a number of huge changes to the way its mobile operating system works in order to comply with new regulations in the EU. One of them is an important product shift: for the first time, Apple is going to allow alternative browser engines to run on iOS - but only for users in the EU.Since the beginning of the App Store, Apple has allowed lots of browsers but only one browser engine: WebKit. WebKit is the technology that underpins Safari, but it's far from the only engine on the market. Google's Chrome is powered by an engine called Chromium, which is the dominant engine by a wide margin - Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera, and many other browsers also run on Chromium. Mozilla's Firefox runs on its own engine, called... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6J4PV)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge Starting today Apple is opening up its App Store to allow game streaming apps and services. This means that services like Xbox Cloud Streaming and GeForce Now, which previously were only accessible on iOS via a web browser, will be able to offer full-featured apps. Developers can now submit a single app with the capability to stream all of the games offered in their catalog," Apple wrote in a blog post. These changes apply worldwide," according to the company.In 2020, Apple appeared to have carved out a space for these cloud gaming services in the App Store. But that turned out not to be the case, as all games available through each service had to be submitted and reviewed as a standalone app. So the shift to allow one app with a... Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6J4PT)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge The iPhone's app ecosystem is about to go through its biggest shake-up since the App Store launched in 2008. Today, Apple announced how it plans to change the rules for developers releasing iOS software in the European Union in response to the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into force in March. The big news is that third-party app stores will be allowed on iOS for the first time, breaking the Apple App Store's position as the sole distributor of iPhone apps. The changes will arrive with iOS 17.4 in March.Here's how the new alternative app marketplaces," as Apple called them, will work. Users in the EU and on iOS 17.4 will be able to download a marketplace from that marketplace's website. In order to be used on an iPhone, those... Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6J4JJ)
Many of the posts circulating the offending images are still live. | Illustration: The Verge Sexually explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift have been circulating on X (formerly Twitter) over the last day in the latest example of the proliferation of AI-generated fake pornography and the challenge of stopping it from spreading.One of the most prominent examples on X attracted more than 45 million views, 24,000 reposts, and hundreds of thousands of likes and bookmarks before the verified user who shared the images had their account suspended for violating platform policy. The post was live on the platform for around 17 hours prior to its removal.But as users began to discuss the viral post, the images began to spread and were reposted across other accounts. Many still remain up, and a deluge of new graphic fakes have... Continue reading...
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by Emilia David on (#6J4JK)
Image: OpenAI When OpenAI announced other people could build their own custom versions of ChatGPT-style chatbots, I was initially only interested in a journalistic way. I knew this was an interesting commercial step for OpenAI, but the value of the store is still an open question. Why should I use most GPTs (as the bots are called), when I can usually call up an app that does the same thing? But I can't deny there's one incredibly useful bot that's changed a (small) part of my work life for the better. It's called What's Another Word For," and I made it myself.What's Another Word For" is a tool to help me find exactly that: another word for terms I overuse. Writing is about 60 percent looking for a synonym to avoid repeating phrases, and it's not... Continue reading...
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by Becca Farsace on (#6J4FD)
Hasselblad's latest digital camera is the 100-megapixel 907X & CFV 100C. The resurgence of film photography has shown me that casual photographers are looking for a different experience and a different photographic look from what our phones or traditional mirrorless cameras are offering. And no company can provide as different a camera experience as Hasselblad.Yesterday, the company announced its latest digital camera, the 907X & CFV 100C. It's a mirrorless, medium format camera with a 100-megapixel sensor, phase detection autofocus, and 1TB of internal storage. And although there isn't much new within it - it has the sensor of the Hasselblad X2D 100C put into the 907X body - it signals Hasselblad's continued commitment to a historically elegant way of capturing the world, one that is slow and thoughtful.S... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6J4FE)
Image: Blizzard Entertainment In 2022, Blizzard announced that it was making a survival game, which would've marked its first new property since Overwatch debuted in 2016. Now, as part of a recent round of layoffs at Microsoft, the game has been canceled.This morning, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees in its gaming divisions. The cuts primarily hit staff at Activision Blizzard - which Microsoft acquired in October for $68.7 billion - though some workers at its ZeniMax and Xbox divisions were impacted as well. (The announcement followed similar cuts at League of Legends developer Riot Games, which cut more than 500 jobs earlier this week, part of an ongoing trend of layoffs in the gaming industry.)Today's actions affect multiple teams within Blizzard, including... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6J4FF)
Photo by Hakan Nural / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Microsoft is laying off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox this week. While Microsoft is primarily laying off roles at Activision Blizzard, some Xbox and ZeniMax employees will also be impacted by the cuts.The cuts work out to roughly 8 percent of the overall Microsoft Gaming division that stands at around 22,000 employees in total. The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer that confirms the layoffs:
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6J4CK)
An employee assembles a fuel cell system in the module final assembly at GM and Honda's fuel cell joint venture in Brownstown, Michigan. | Image: Santa Fabio for General Motors General Motors and Honda announced that their joint venture company, FCSM, has begun production of hydrogen fuel cells that will eventually make their way into various product applications."Hydrogen fuel cells use compressed hydrogen as their fuel, releasing water vapor as its only emission. A number of automakers have recently seized on the technology for its advantages in the development of heavy-duty vehicles and mobile power generators - and as a way to further transition away from polluting gas-powered vehicles.Hydrogen fuel cells use compressed hydrogen as their fuel, releasing water vapor as its only emissionFCSM, which stands for Fuel Cell System Manufacturing," was established in 2017 as a joint venture between GM and... Continue reading...
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by Georgina Torbet on (#6J4CM)
A deep image from theDark Energy Survey. | Image: DES Collaboration / NOIRLab / NSF / AU Dark energy, a force responsible for the expansion of the universe, is mostly unknown. But this month, researchers released a new survey meant to unpack its mysteries. Continue reading...
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6J4CN)
Macan you dig it? | Image: Porsche The Macan is expected to go into production in the latter half of 2024. Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6J4CP)
Teens using supervised accounts will need parental permission to revert the changes. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta is introducing changes to Instagram and Facebook Messenger that aim to better protect minors from unwanted contact online, placing greater restrictions on who can message teens while giving parents more control over their children's security settings. Notably, the company announced that by default, teens under the age of 16 (or under 18 in some countries) will no longer be able to receive messages, or be added to group chats, by users they don't follow or aren't connected with on Instagram and Messenger.These new updates build upon a series of safeguards that Meta has introduced over the last year as it battles accusations that its algorithms helped turn Facebook and Instagram into a marketplace for predators in search of children.... Continue reading...
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6J3WJ)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Tesla reported earnings of $7.9 billion in net income on $25.2 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2023. The figures represent an increase in revenue, up from $24.3 billion the same time last year. The company added that its vehicle volume growth rate in 2024 may be notably lower" than it was in 2023 as it works to launch Tesla's next-gen vehicle.Responding to a question about its next-gen vehicles during the earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is targeting production towards the end of 2025" but warned of delays due to the complexities of the manufacturing process. We are focused on bringing the next generation platform to market as quickly as we can, with the plan to start production at Gigafactory... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6J3YR)
Image: Google A fresh" new color for the Pixel 8 series isn't the only thing Google is announcing today. The company is also detailing its latest feature drop, which brings the brand-new Circle to Search feature - first seen on Samsung's Galaxy S24 - to both the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. Google says Circle to Search will go live on January 31st, which just so happens to be the release date for Samsung's S24 lineup. With a long press of the home button or navigation bar, you'll be able to circle anything on your phone screen, and Google will serve up more information about the highlighted content.This feature drop also makes the built-in thermometer on the Pixel 8 Pro at least a little more useful: you can now use it to take your own (or someone else's)... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6J3YQ)
Google wasn't exactly subtle with its teases earlier this week, and now the company has confirmed that it's launching both the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro in a new mint green color. The latest color option is a bit muted compared to the bay" blue 8 Pro. But if you're a fan of the smaller regular Pixel 8, this is your first chance at a color beyond the very safe black, hazel, and rose gold options that have been available since the phone shipped back in October.For both phones, mint is only available with the base 128GB of storage. If you need more than that, you've gotta stick with the original colors. Google sent a sample of the 8 Pro over to me, and a pamphlet included in the package describes mint as inspired by the vibrant hue you'd find... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6J3YS)
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The PlayStation 5's latest update blocks players from using the Cronus Zen - a device cheaters use to get an unfair advantage in first-person shooters and other games - as spotted by Call of Duty news site CharlieIntel. A notice on the Cronus website warns players that the 24.01-08.60.00 update for the PS5 no longer allows the Cronus Zen to connect to the console.Although Cronus bills the device as a controller emulator," cheaters have been using it to perform all sorts of digital tweaks to their controllers, like reducing recoil and setting macros. Some players using a keyboard and mouse also employ the Cronus Zen to trick their console into thinking they're using a controller for the benefit of their aim and movement abilities. ... Continue reading...
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by Wes Davis on (#6J3YT)
Photo by Daniel Golson for The Verge City council members in Laguna Beach, California met last night prepared to approve a request (PDF) from Rivian to park six vehicles on the grass in a city park for a March 7th R2 launch." The company appears to be planning to officially announce its forthcoming electric SUV, the R2, which is supposed to be smaller and more affordable than its current lineup of EVs.A local community publication called Stu News Laguna reported yesterday that a small item on the city council's consent calendar showed that it was planning to approve the event in a single motion along with many other agenda items. The six vehicles Rivian wants to park are for informational purposes only," Stu News writes. Although the filing itself doesn't... Continue reading...
by Amrita Khalid on (#6J3WH)
Image: ESR A new car mount for your smartphone just launched that offers a rare combo: Qi2 wireless charging at high speeds - and at a reasonable price. The Qi2 car mount, from accessories maker ESR, offers 15W wireless charging to fast-charge your iPhone 15 and 15 Pro at its maximum capacity while you're en route.9to5Toys points out that with a launch price of $30.99, the new car mount is less costly than many other 15W MagSafe-compatible chargers on the market. For comparison, Apple's standard MagSafe Charger (not meant for in-car) is priced at $39. Many MagSafe car mounts (such as this one by Belkin or ESR's own car mount MagSafe charger that includes a fan) cost twice that amount.ESR's new car mount is Qi2-certified by the Wireless Power... Continue reading...
by Sheena Vasani on (#6J3WK)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge As predicted, Verizon has swooped in with a new streaming bundle deal - and now that Netflix has once again raised prices for some customers, this one might be worth a look.Right now, Verizon customers can get Netflix Premium and Starz together for $25.99 per month, the company announced. Even better, Verizon myPlan unlimited subscribers can get an extra $5 off using their additional myPlan Plus Play perk, which is a $15 Plus Play credit members can buy for $10 every month. The offer applies to both new and existing Netflix Premium subscribers as well as new Starz subscribers.Given Netflix Premium costs $22.99 per month (and, in all likelihood, will probably increase at some point this year) and Starz typically costs $9.99 a month,... Continue reading...
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by Wes Davis on (#6J3WM)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Samsung is making parts and repair guides available for a bunch more of its devices, including three sizes of this year's The Frame TV and both of its flagship foldable phones. The company says that for many of the TV and other display repairs, you'll only need simple tools like a screwdriver to make a fix happen.Samsung says DIYers will be able to replace parts related to picture, power, WiFi connection, [and] sound" for various display types. Users can also buy repair guides and parts for some of the company's 2023 soundbars. Samsung even says all it takes to do any of these repairs are common tools like a Phillips-head screwdriver." (From experience, I urge you to be careful popping the bezel off the TV. The TAB" connections from... Continue reading...
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by Verge Staff on (#6J3FC)
Image: Moft Every year, major phone manufacturers such as Apple, Google, and Samsung hold elaborate events meant to introduce and publicize their upcoming phones. Well, buying a new phone is all well and good, but things don't stop there. Once you've got the phone, you have to buy yourself a case (so you won't crack that shiny new device the first time you drop it on the sidewalk), some earbuds, a charging stand - all sorts of gadgets.The staff of The Verge is as prone to buying neat accessories for their phones as anyone, so we asked them what they were using to enhance their mobile tech. Here's what some of them answered.CasesA fabric back with rubber sidesNathan Edwards, senior reviews editorMy favorite iPhone case. It looks good for how... Continue reading...
by Emilia David on (#6J3WN)
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge The National Science Foundation (NSF) and 10 other agencies are partnering with artificial intelligence developers to fulfill part of President Joe Biden's executive order on AI, launching a pilot program the administration says will democratize access to research.The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) provides access to AI models, computing power, datasets, software, and training for US-based AI researchers, the NSF said in a statement. Researchers can apply for access to the NAIRR pilot through its website, and NAIRR plans to open a second call for research proposals in the spring of this year. If they're granted access, researchers can use expensive, processing-power-heavy services like Microsoft Azure or... Continue reading...
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6J3SE)
Dollars and sense? | Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge Great news for those of you already experiencing subscription fatigue: you can subscribe to buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Klarna for $7.99 a month.At first glance, this seemed pretty fucking weird to me. I mean, the entire point of Klarna is that you can essentially do layaway without paying any kind of interest; Klarna has partnered with a wide array of retailers - from Dolce & Gabbana to 1-800-Flowers.com to Macy's - to create this service. So what's the consumer value in the subscription?The subtext of the announcement is, Hey look, another revenue stream!"Well, let's say you shop at, I dunno, Target or Kroger or Safeway. These retailers aren't affiliated with Klarna, so if you try to use the service there, you have to pay a... Continue reading...
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by Brandon Widder on (#6J3SF)
Who says webcams can't be fun? | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge At this point, I think it's pretty safe to say that remote work is here to stay in at least some capacity, even if Meta, Apple, Google, and a host of other companies have rolled out more stringent WFH policies over the past year. Thankfully for those of us who work from home and still find ourselves knee-deep in Zoom calls, Insta360's Link is on sale at Amazon, B&H Photo, and direct from Insta360 for $249.99 ($50 off), which marks a new low on the auto-swiveling webcam.Although auto-framing is nothing new - Apple introduced its Center Stage feature with the iPad Pro in 2021 - Insta360 has taken a more novel approach to keeping you centered in the frame with its latest webcam. Whereas most digitally pan and zoom, the 0.5-inch Sony... Continue reading...
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