The Verge

Image: Aspyr I have been waiting for Tomb Raider I-III Remastered for 21 years. That's when I first played the second entry in the series, it having been a gift" from my mother's boyfriend who gave me both his PlayStation and a handful of games - sans jewel cases - for no other reason than wanting to free up some space in his closet. I played it ceaselessly, enamored with the game's action and puzzles and the fact it was the first game I ever owned that starred a woman. But after reconnecting with the Tomb Raider II portion of Aspyr's remaster, I'm left asking: what in the natural hell was 15-year-old Ash thinking?Playing Tomb Raider II on the Switch - it's also available on Xbox, PC, and Playstation - was an exercise in self-flagellation, with the... Continue reading...

SVG images and text descriptions fed into Keyframer are automatically converted into animation code. | Image: Apple Researchers at Apple have unveiled Keyframer, a prototype generative AI animation tool that enables users to add motion to 2D images by describing how they should be animated.In a research paper published on February 8th, Apple said that large language models (LLMs) are underexplored" in animation despite the potential they've shown across other creative mediums like writing and image generation. The LLM-powered Keyframer tool is being pitched as one example of how the technology could be applied.Utilizing OpenAI's GPT4 as its base model, Keyframer can take Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) files - an illustration format that can be resized without interfering with quality - and generate CSS code to animate the image based on a text... Continue reading...

Image: Google Chatbots occupy a tricky space for users - they have to be a search engine, a creation tool, and an assistant all at once. That's especially true for a chatbot coming from Google, which is increasingly counting on AI to supplement its search engine, its voice assistant, and just about every productivity tool in its arsenal.Right now, the ultimate version of Google's AI is Gemini Advanced, which launched last week for users willing to pay $20 per month for the privilege - the same price OpenAI charges for its upgraded ChatGPT Plus. So I plunked down $20 and decided to see how Gemini Advanced stood up to the rival service.The older Gemini was already pretty good. It could summarize Shakespeare, give tea recommendations, and create a... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Apple appears to be turning off the ability to use web apps right from the iPhone's homescreen in the European Union. Support for progressive web apps appeared to be broken inside in the EU during the first two betas of iOS 17.4, but today developer Maximiliano Firtman said in a post on X that web apps are still turned off in the third beta, which arrived yesterday. At this point, it's a feature disabled on purpose," Firtman wrote.Now, instead of opening in a full-screen window, web apps open in your web browser, making them act more like shortcuts. Developers Mysk found that when you select a web app for the first time, it will trigger a pop-up that asks to open the app in your default web browser. Once the app opens, the browser's... Continue reading...

Image: Slack Slack is launching a suite of built-in AI features that serve up summaries of threads and channel recaps, while also allowing you to ask questions about what's been going on at work. The workplace management platform first started testing Slack AI last year, but now it's rolling out as a paid add-on for Slack Enterprise users.In case you've fallen behind on a particular thread someone has tagged you in, you can use Slack AI to get a full summary of the conversation, as well as who has said what. There's also a way to get a recap of the chatter that has been going on in channels. Image: Slack You can receive summaries of unread messages or messages from within a particular timeframe. You can select the star... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Microsoft and OpenAI are revealing today that hackers are already using large language models like ChatGPT to refine and improve their existing cyberattacks. In newly published research, Microsoft and OpenAI have detected attempts by Russian, North Korean, Iranian, and Chinese-backed groups using tools like ChatGPT for research into targets, to improve scripts, and to help build social engineering techniques.Cybercrime groups, nation-state threat actors, and other adversaries are exploring and testing different AI technologies as they emerge, in an attempt to understand potential value to their operations and the security controls they may need to circumvent," says Microsoft in a blog post today.The Strontium group, linked to Russian... Continue reading...

Photo by Patrick Smith / Getty Images This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.I hope all you East Coasters had a cozy nor'easter. By the time the snow stopped this morning and I tried to take my baby outside for some winter frolicking, it had already turned to slush. He doesn't know the difference, but I am bummed!Today, we're looking at layoffs at SiriusXM, a new podcast deal for Meghan Markle, and how the Swift Effect" made Travis Kelce's podcast a top 10 hit. But first, one more programming announcement for Hot Pod Summit!SiriusXM and The Trade Desk are coming to Hot Pod SummitOne thing we keep hearing from readers and Hot Pod Summit attendees is a desire to understand what on earth is going on with... Continue reading...

Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Walmart is eyeing a $2 billion deal to buy the TV maker Vizio, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The deal would put the retail chain in a better position to compete with the affordable smart TVs from Roku and Amazon than its existing Onn house brand. It would also give Walmart access to the breadth of customer data collected by Vizio's smart TV platform and the revenue stream created by serving up personalized ads and taking a cut of subscription fees.After years of putting its Roku operating system on other TVs, Roku finally launched its own line of smart TVs last year and is ramping up its efforts with plans to release more expensive Mini LED TVs this spring. Meanwhile, Amazon is steadily building out its lineup of... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge A California court has partially dismissed a copyright case against OpenAI brought by several authors, including comedian Sarah Silverman, who allege OpenAI's ChatGPT is pirating their work.The case against OpenAI combines complaints filed by Silverman, Christopher Golden, Richard Kadrey, Paul Tremblay, and Mona Awad. (Awad left the suit in August.) It made six claims: direct copyright infringement; vicarious infringement; violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by removing copyright management information; unfair competition; negligence; and unjust enrichment. OpenAI asked to dismiss all counts but the first and main complaint: direct copyright infringement.The court ruled yesterday on OpenAI's request to dismiss all... Continue reading...

The endangered Steppe Eagle is one of the migratory species that has become even more threatened in the past 30 years, according to a new UN report. | Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images More than one in five migratory species officially deemed in need of international protection are now in danger of extinction. That's according to the most comprehensive report of their populations yet, released as a United Nations wildlife conservation conference kicks off this week in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.Human activity is pushing these species to the brink. But that also means there are concrete steps people can take to safeguard their futures. The first-of-its-kind stocktake of the world's migratory species isn't all doom and gloom - there are some success stories sprinkled in there. It just goes to show that it's not too late to act; it just has to be fast because the clock is ticking for many of the billions of animals that... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Talking to an AI chatbot can feel a bit like Groundhog Day after a while, as you tell it for the umpteenth time how you like your emails formatted and which of those fun things to do this weekend" you've already done six times. OpenAI is trying to fix that and personalize its own bot in a big way. It's rolling out memory" for ChatGPT, which will allow the bot to remember information about you and your conversations over time.Memory works in one of two ways. You can tell ChatGPT to remember something specific about you: you always write code in Javascript, your boss's name is Anna, your kid is allergic to sweet potatoes. Or ChatGPT can simply try to pick up those details over time, storing information about you as you ask questions and... Continue reading...

Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Nearly two years after it first debuted, Panic has caught up on preorders for its adorable Playdate handheld. The company says that it has shipped more than 70,000 of the tiny yellow gadgets - up from 50,000 last April - and that there is now a limited number" in stock to purchase right now on Panic's site. (The news comes just a day after Analogue announced a similar milestone for its Pocket handheld.)Going forward, Panic will notify the public when Playdates are in-stock and ready to ship," the company explains. Customers will still be able to place an order for a Playdate when it is out of stock, but will be notified that their order won't ship until Panic has a new batch of Playdates ready to ship." Speaking to The Verge, Greg... Continue reading...

Image: Apple Apple TV Plus has some more aliens on the way. The streaming service has confirmed that its sci-fi drama Invasion will be getting a third season, after wrapping up season 2 in October. There aren't many details about the new season - including when it might start streaming - but production is set to begin sometime in February.In a statement, series creator Simon Kinberg said, This new season will continue to build on the scale, stakes and propulsion of the Invasion, while keeping our characters front and center, bringing them together in ways that will hopefully surprise and most importantly move our audience, who have been so incredibly supportive and inspiring since day one."Invasion originally premiered in 2021; after a slow start,... Continue reading...

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge Passkeys: how do they work? No, like, seriously. It's clear that the industry is increasingly betting on passkeys as a replacement for passwords, a way to use the internet that is both more secure and more user-friendly. But for all that upside, it's not always clear how we, the normal human users, are supposed to use passkeys. You're telling me it's just a thing... that lives on my phone? What if I lose my phone? What if you steal my phone?On this episode of The Vergecast, we bring in an expert: Anna Pobletts, the head of passwordless (best title ever?) at 1Password. She has been working on all things post-password for a long time and has seen every use case you can think of. She's convinced that passkeys are the future but also has... Continue reading...

Roborock's entry-level robot vacuum comes with dual rubber brushes, which are far better at removing pet hair from rugs than single brushes. Our furry friends are adorable, perfect little angels in every way except for one: they can leave one hell of a mess. Thankfully, the Roborock Q5 Pro is available from Amazon and Roborock starting at $319.97 ($110 off), which is an all-time on the excellent midrange robot vacuum.Thanks to a pair of dual rubber roller brushes and 5,200 Pa of suction power, the Q5 Pro sucks up pet hair and dirt from carpets impressively well - so well, in fact, we named it our top robovac pick for families with pets. Although it can't empty itself or scrub your floors, its removable mopping pad does come in handy when the dog walks in with wet, muddy paws. The robot vacuum also features a massive 770ml bin with big wheels that enable it to easily climb... Continue reading...

Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images Even though New York City schools shut down ahead of the heavy snowfall expected to blanket the area for most of Tuesday, the city is still requiring kids to attend remotely. The only problem is: schools couldn't actually get the remote learning system working.At 8:22AM ET, the NYC Public Schools account on X said that it's currently experiencing issues with services that require IBM authentication to login." The issue is preventing students from logging into Google Classroom so they can attend class remotely, according to local news station PIX11.

Otter's AI Chat in Channels. | Image: Otter AI Otter, the automated transcription service, is rolling out a new AI feature that lets groups ask a chatbot questions about what happened in their past meetings. It takes information from all the meetings that group members were in and answers prompts like, What did we decide on yesterday?"The feature is called AI Chat in Channels," and it basically opens up Otter's AI chats to a group instead of the single-user experience they are now. Channels, which can be found within the Otter platform, function a lot like Slack chats. They let people talk with frequent collaborators and share transcripts with each other.Most generative AI chat features - the kinds that trawl through a user's agenda or emails - are normally only available in... Continue reading...

I've got a long way to get to Mordor, but an imaginary destination can be more fun than metrics. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge In mid-November, my nagging calf strain became a full-blown injury. Techtember and Techtober kicked my butt. My grandma died. Also, my lease was running out and I had about two weeks to find somewhere to live. These are the perfect conditions for a fitness slump.Slumps happen to everyone. But I still beat myself up pretty hard. I review wearables and fitness tech for a living, but that doesn't make me immune to the toxic aspects of fitness culture. Didn't my failure to perform, even during difficult times, make me a fraud? With each run, I found myself chasing a past version of myself who was thinner, faster, and stronger. Logically, I knew better, but it was depressing. On Christmas, I was cleaning out my old apartment by myself,... Continue reading...

Image: Nvidia Nvidia is releasing an early version of Chat with RTX today, a demo app that lets you run a personal AI chatbot on your PC. You can feed it YouTube videos and your own documents to create summaries and get relevant answers based on your own data. It all runs locally on a PC, and all you need is an RTX 30- or 40-series GPU with at least 8GB of VRAM.I've been briefly testing out Chat with RTX over the past day, and although the app is a little rough around the edges, I can already see this being a valuable part of data research for journalists or anyone who needs to analyze a collection of documents.Chat with RTX can handle YouTube videos, so you simply input a URL, and it lets you search transcripts for specific mentions or summarize an... Continue reading...

The Halcyon is a sleek roadster with a lot of interesting things to say about Chrysler's future | (C) 2024 Stellantis Chrysler, on the cusp of turning 100 next year, used to make a variety of models but is now a brand mostly known for its Pacifica minivans. But today, the company is attempting to make a bold statement about its future by introducing a concept car that is about as far from a minivan as you can get.The Chrysler Halcyon concept is a stunning, high-tech roadster with an electric powertrain and fully autonomous capabilities. And while the automaker doesn't have any immediate plans to put it into production, the Halcyon is intended to demonstrate that the minivan company is doing more than just sitting around and thinking about, well, minivans. Image: (C) 2024 Stellantis We want Chrysler to be advanced, for sure,"... Continue reading...

Superlist is for tasks - and all the other stuff that comes with them. | Image: Superlist If you're a lover of to-do list apps, there's a good chance you miss Wunderlist. A decade ago - when apps that were both useful and delightful were even harder to come by - Wunderlist was both full of useful features and whimsical in a way few apps manage. The app had nice animations, beautiful backgrounds, worked across platforms, and offered all kinds of organizational features. It was The Verge's favorite to-do list app.Then, long story short, Microsoft bought it in 2015, morphed it into Microsoft To Do (a very good and much less delightful tasks app), and killed Wunderlist forever. But a group of the folks who made Wunderlist in the first place, led by co-founder Christian Reber, set out to bring its spirit back to life.Three years... Continue reading...

Nothing's last phone, the Phone 2. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Nothing has announced a March 5th launch date for its upcoming Phone 2A in a new video posted today, and has confirmed that it'll be available in the US as part of a Developer Program" rather than a widespread, official release. No specs, images, or pricing of the device were revealed - for that we'll have to wait for the full announcement next month when we'll also get full details of Nothing's developer program. The event will take place at 11:30AM GMT (6:30AM ET), the company confirmed on X.The Developer Program sounds like a similar release approach to the one Nothing took with its original Phone 1, which came to the US as part of a Beta Membership" that saw interested customers pay $299 to test" the phone. In contrast, last... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In an email sent to users Monday evening, Peloton revealed that starting February 27th, it will start transitioning Apple Watch users from GymKit to Peloton One-Tap tracking.GymKit integration was once marketed by Peloton as an exclusive perk of its more expensive Bike Plus, but it's become less of a draw in recent years. The company launched an Apple Watch integration in 2022 that brought Apple Watch calorie and heart-rate tracking to any Peloton machine, similar to many other fitness apps.As a result, if you linked your Peloton to an Apple Watch more recently, you may not even notice the change. The company has been directing users to only use GymKit if they haven't installed the latest software updates on their machines. ... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has confirmed it's not a mistake - your Amazon Prime Video subscription no longer includes Dolby Vision HDR or Dolby Atmos surround sound. That's on top of the ads that Amazon injected into the service on January 29th. Now, when you pay $2.99 a month to remove those ads, you can get Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos back as well.That's the word from 4KFilme, which discovered that their smart TVs from Sony, LG, and Samsung were now displaying content in HDR10 with Dolby Digital 5.1 as opposed to the higher fidelity options they'd enjoyed previously.Amazon spokesperson Katie Barker confirms to The Verge that it's a deliberate move: Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos capabilities are only available on the ad free option, on relevant... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Apple's response to Beeper Mini - the app that briefly brought iMessage to Android. During the State of the Net Conference on Monday, Carr said the FCC should look into whether Apple's move complies with the FCC's Part 14 rules" about accommodating users with disabilities.Beeper Mini launched last year, allowing Android users to gain access to iMessage features, including blue message bubbles and the ability to send high-quality photos and videos. However, Apple quickly blocked Beeper Mini users and continued to shut down attempts to make the app work, leading its developers to eventually just give up.

Collins spacesuit during the test | Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace, a private company hired to create spacesuits for use outside the International Space Station (ISS), has tested its suit aboard a commercial microgravity flight, passing a milestone that lets engineers move forward toward critical design review.NASA outsourced the design of new spacesuits in 2022 after spending 15 years trying to develop new suits on its own. Collins Aerospace said the suit is lighter and has less volume than the enhanced" Extravehicular Mobility Units that current NASA astronauts use. It can be modified when missions change and fit a much wider range of body types far more easily than the older suits that are based on designs that are decades old.During the test, the plane executed... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Were you aware that the .af" domain extension is administered by Afghanistan's government? That's a truth that the queer.af" Mastodon instance is now reckoning with as the Taliban, which has controlled the country since 2021, has shut down the domain, according to 404 Media. And it may not be alone, given reports that other .af domains have abruptly gone dark, too.Erin Shepherd, the administrator of the instance and key ActivityPub developer, told the outlet they were already planning to shut things down" instead of renewing in April, but that the early termination was a surprise. An email from the Afghanistan Ministry of Communications and IT that Shepherd posted said that the queer.af domain had been suspended and that websites or... Continue reading...

Image: Microsoft With rumors of some Xbox games coming to PS5 and Switch, Microsoft gets ready to lay out its vision for the future of Xbox. Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Threads is rolling out a new test in the US that shows a list of popular topics that other users are discussing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a post on Threads. The list will appear on the search page and in the For You feed, allowing you to browse through posts about a particular topic.In addition to testing a way to save posts, Meta recently said it will add controls to limit political content recommendations on Threads.Instagram head Adam Mosseri says Threads uses machine learning AI systems to determine what goes on the list. It takes into account how many people are talking about a certain topic, as well as how many people have interacted with posts about it. Image: Meta Top topics should hopefully... Continue reading...

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge The US government has committed $42 million to further the development of the 5G Open RAN (O-RAN) standard that would allow wireless providers to mix and match cellular hardware and software, opening up a bigger market for third-party equipment that's cheaper and interoperable. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grant would establish a Dallas O-RAN testing center to prove the standard's viability as a way to head off Huawei's steady cruise toward a global cellular network hardware monopoly.Verizon global network and technology president Joe Russo promoted the funding as a way to achieve faster innovation in an open environment." To achieve the standard's goals, AT&T vice president of RAN technology R... Continue reading...