 |
by Callum Booth on (#6MSPP)
Setapp Mobile makes every app available for one subscription. A subscription-based alternative to the Apple App Store with nag-free software. Continue reading...
|
The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2026-02-04 13:37 |
 |
by Sean Hollister on (#6MSPN)
Image: Lego 5,471 pieces and nearly three feet tall. Continue reading...
|
by Georgina Torbet on (#6MSM8)
Image: The Verge NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is already running over budget and behind schedule. But it may also be our best chance of finding extraterrestrial life. Continue reading...
 |
by Tom Warren on (#6MSAG)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Sony is appointing co-CEOs Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino to lead its PlayStation business from June 1st. Hermen Hulst, who currently serves as PlayStation studios chief, will be appointed as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment's (SIE) studio business group. Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of SIE's platform business group, and both will report up to Sony CFO and SIE chairman Hiroki Totoki.The unusual appointment of co-CEOs comes just months after former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan retired. Totoki had been serving as interim CEO of SIE and was working to find the successor for the SIE CEO role, but Sony has now decided it wants to split up responsibilities for leading its PlayStation business across platform and games. Both... Continue reading...
|
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6MS8S)
The Dyson WashG1 can wipe up wet messes. | Image: Dyson Dyson's newest device for dealing with dirt in your home is a mechanical mop. Unlike the British engineering company's flagship fans, hair dryers, and vacuums, the new Dyson WashG1 floor washing machine doesn't use precision-engineered fans or a fine-tuned Hyperdymium motor. Instead, the mop relies on mechanical agitation to clean up wet spills, picks up dirt and debris, and gives your hard floors a really good wash.The WashG1 wet floor cleaner - aka mop - costs $699.99 and is the company's first dedicated mopping device. The cordless, battery-powered mop is slated for release this fall, and you can sign up to be notified when the world's fanciest mop arrives on Dyson's site.While it's definitely fancy, this isn't a smart mop -... Continue reading...
by Mia Sato on (#6MS8T)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok is testing a more robust search results page, including using generative AI. The feature appears to be a new and is called search highlights."A snippet of AI results appear at the top of some search results pages, and clicking into the section opens a new page with the full response. In quick tests, I was able to find AI results for queries about recipes or topics like best laptops 2024." Screenshot: TikTok Clicking the result takes you to a full screen page. A page explaining the results says that the material is generated using ChatGPT, and that TikTok displays the content when [the algorithm] finds them relevant to your search." The feature appears to be limited so far: not all queries have AI... Continue reading...
by Gaby Del Valle on (#6MS6J)
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images When New York City Mayor Eric Adams was first introduced to a representative from Evolv, the AI gun detection company, he was given a list of places the scanners could be used, including hospitals, schools, Times Square, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. What seems to have persuaded Adams, according to emails obtained by Wired, was Evolv's disclosure of another major client: Disney.As I mentioned, Linda Reid, VP Security for Walt Disney World (Florida) has known us since 2014 and deployed many of our systems at the Parks and Disney Springs," Evolv co-founder Anil Chitkara wrote in an email to Adams' office on February 7th, 2022. They've had success screening for weapons with Evolv Express ... There may be some interesting parallels... Continue reading...
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6MS6K)
Image: Rozetked It's a day that ends in Y, so naturally, we're dealing with yet another Google Pixel hardware leak. This time, the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, and 9 Pro XL can be seen side by side in new images from Rozetked - a full five months before Google's typical October release timeframe.I have many questions about how and why these units are out in the world so early, but here we are. And I know a lot of you are no doubt eyeing that regular 9 Pro, which will finally put Google's very best camera chops into a normal-sized phone. Meanwhile, the 9 Pro XL looks a fair bit taller than Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max. Image: Rozetked Yep, that's an XL-sized phone. l'm a bit curious as to whether Google will still call this a camera bar"... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6MS6M)
Photo by Stacy Revere / Getty Images Roku will exclusively stream Major League Baseball Sunday Leadoff games starting with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox on May 19th. The games will air live on The Roku Channel - no subscription or sign-up required.To watch the games, you'll have to download The Roku Channel on your Roku device or TV. The app is also available on Amazon Fire devices, Samsung TVs, and Google TVs, as well as via The Roku Channel website. You'll be able to watch replays of the games up to six hours after they end.With free games available to anyone, MLB games on Roku will be widely accessible to fans," Noah Garden, the MLB's deputy commissioner of business and media, said in a statement. Roku will stream Sunday Leadoff games every week until... Continue reading...
|
by David Pierce on (#6MS6P)
Apple's latest high-end tablet is a marvel of hardware design still in need of the software and accessories to really make it sing. But wow is it fun to use. Continue reading...
 |
by David Pierce on (#6MS6N)
The iPad Air is an excellent iPad - and that's all. | Photo: David Pierce / The Verge The iPad Pro is a beast. The two-year-old iPad is more compelling than ever. So what is the Air even for anymore? Continue reading...
|
 |
by Lauren Feiner on (#6MS6Q)
Photo by Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images Independent presidential candidate and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suing Meta for allegedly violating the First Amendment and engaging in election interference" because it removed a video about him.The lawsuit is not likely to advance far, considering that the First Amendment bars the government - not companies - from censoring speech. Plus, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act effectively insulates online platforms from being sued for how they choose to remove or limit content on their sites.Keep in mind this is the same candidate who has claimed that part of his brain had been eaten years ago by a parasitic worm (he told The New York Times he's recovered from symptoms including memory loss related to the... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emilia David on (#6MS3F)
Photo by Noam Galai / Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative Melinda French Gates has stepped down from her position as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.French Gates, who will officially leave on June 7th, will continue her philanthropy elsewhere, to the tune of $12.5 billion. The money stems from an agreement with her ex-husband, Bill Gates, and does not come from the foundation's endowment. In her X post, she says she will focus on programs on behalf of women and families."This is not a decision I came to lightly," French Gates says. I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together, and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequalities around the world."French Gates and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates divorced in 2021. At the time, the two... Continue reading...
|
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6MS3G)
Apple and Google collaborated on the new Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers industry standard. | Image: Apple A new industry specification devised by Apple and Google to address the safety risks of Bluetooth tracking devices is now live. Apple announced this week it has implemented alerts for unknown third-party Bluetooth trackers in iOS 17.5, following Google starting to roll it out across Android devices running 6.0 and higher last December.The Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers (DULT) standard is a cross-platform initiative designed to prevent Bluetooth trackers like Apple AirTags from being misused to track people without their knowledge. The specification allows iOS and Android devices to detect and alert you when a tracker that conforms to the standard is traveling with you and its owner is not.Apple said in a press release that... Continue reading...
 |
by Ash Parrish on (#6MS3H)
Image: Square Enix Everybody's getting bitten by the multiplatform bug; now, it's Square Enix. In its earnings report released earlier today, the publisher shared plans to increase profits, stating that it will aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs."Right now, Square Enix's biggest games, like Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, have been restricted to the PlayStation, with PC releases for select titles including Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade following some time after console launch. However, smaller new releases, like the forthcoming Visions of Mana, are seeing simultaneous release on Xbox.The company wrote that it hopes bringing its major franchises, including its... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Kylie Robison on (#6MS3J)
Photo: Warner Bros. OpenAI is releasing a Her-inspired voice assistant feature that can read your facial expressions and translate spoken language in real time - and hopefully do it all without abandoning you like in the movie.During a livestream demonstration on Monday, OpenAI engineers and CTO Mira Murati gathered around a phone to show the new capabilities. They encouraged the assistant to be more expressive while making up a bedtime story, then abruptly requested it to switch to a robotic voice, before finally asking it to conclude the story with a singing voice. Later, they asked the assistant to look at what the phone's camera is seeing and have it respond to what's visible on-screen. The assistant was also able to be interrupted while speaking and... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Sean Hollister on (#6MS3K)
I thought opening the impossible door in Mario 64 was the coolest thing that'd happened to the Nintendo 64 in years, but Mr. Wiseguy's just-released N64 Recompiled blows me away. It's a tool that theoretically lets you turn any N64 game into a native PC port, the better to play and preserve N64 games - and to showcase its abilities, you can already download Windows and Linux-native apps for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask that seem to run incredibly well.It almost seems too good to be true: I just double-clicked an EXE file on my Windows laptop, told the app where to find a Majora's Mask ROM file, and was immediately playing a copy of the game that felt incredibly responsive to my every press on a 165Hz variable refresh rate screen,... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#6MS3M)
Image: Apple Even if subscribers are outside cellular or Wi-Fi range (or if there's a massive outage), Apple News Plus on iOS 17.5 can still supply them content now that it's added Offline Mode - this must've been farther down the list from Apple Maps, which added offline navigation last year in the iOS 17 update. Top Stories, Apple News Today audio briefings, magazines, narrated articles, and puzzles can automatically download to your iPhone or iPad, all optimized to maximize space on the devices.As promised, the latest updates across macOS, iPadOS, and other platforms also add another word game for News Plus subscribers called Quartiles, competing with The New York Times' growing library of games and even LinkedIn. The New Plus Puzzles section... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6MS0P)
Photo: Getty Images Cruise's autonomous vehicles are officially back on the road and driving autonomously for the first time since one of its driverless vehicles dragged a pedestrian over 20 feet in San Francisco.Cruise said last month that it would resume testing with manually driven vehicles focused on mapping and gathering road information - minor tasks for a company with as many autonomous miles as Cruise. But Cruise needs to show local officials that it is suitably apologetic for the pedestrian-dragging incident by going slow and talking a lot about safety and trust. The company is deploying its vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona, which has long been a hotbed for autonomous vehicle testing.Cruise needs to show local officials that it is suitably... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6MS0Q)
Denon Home smart speakers now support Apple's Siri voice assistant. | Image: Denon Way back in 2021, Ecobee's thermostats became the first non-Apple device to integrate Siri voice control into its hardware, following Apple's making the voice assistant available to third-party devices at WWDC that year. Fast-forward a few years, and there's finally another device with Siri on board: Denon smart speakers.While primarily known for its receivers, Denon's line of wireless whole-home audio and music-streaming smart speakers position it as a competitor to Sonos and Bose. Denon also happens to be owned by Masimo Consumer Audio, a division of Masimo, the company whose patent infringement case around its pulse oximetry tech is currently blocking some of the Apple Watch's health features.The hardware support for Siri on Denon... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Sheena Vasani on (#6MS0R)
Life360 owns Tile, which makes popular location trackers like the Tile Pro. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Tile is promising satellite connectivity for its Bluetooth trackers in a move that could boost the company as an independent alternative to its Big Tech rivals: Apple's Find My network and Google's newly revamped Find My Device network.Life360, the family locator and safety service company that bought Tile in 2021 announced a partnership with the satellite company Hubble Network as it introduces Find with Life360," a global location tracking network rival with an API that's open for use by other developers. They say that using Hubble's satellites, Tile trackers will eventually be able to find items on both Android and iPhone devices even outside the range of cellular connectivity.Hubble says it has two satellites operating already,... Continue reading...
|
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6MS0S)
The Vision Pro could be available in some international regions shortly after Apple's WWDC event next month. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple is reportedly preparing to launch its $3,499 Vision Pro outside of the US for the first time, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, with the mixed reality headset's international rollout expected to start shortly after the company's Worldwide Developers Conference early next month.On Monday, Gurman reported that Apple has flown hundreds of employees from its international stores" over to its offices in Cupertino, California, to show them how to demonstrate the device. Training sessions reportedly started last week, with courses taking up to four days to complete according to Gurman's sources.Apple staffers from Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and China are included in the training, but apparently, the... Continue reading...
 |
by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6MS0T)
The screen on the 2024 iPad Pro is a hair bigger, yet the tablet is somehow thinner and lighter than the prior model. | Photo: David Pierce / The Verge The newest iPad Pro and iPad Air models don't hit store shelves until Wednesday, May 15th, but we're already seeing preorder discounts on select colors ahead of the launch. The 11-inch iPad Air is down to $569.99 ($30 off) with Wi-Fi and 128GB of storage at Amazon, while the base 13-inch iPad Air is going for 769.99 ($30 off) at Amazon. Meanwhile, the 256GB 11-inch iPad Pro with the M4 chip / Wi-Fi is down to $949.99 ($50 off) at Amazon; you can also save $50 on all 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models at Best Buy if you're a My Best Buy Total or Plus member (which itself starts at $49.99 a year).We can't speak to their worth just yet, but the 2024 iPad Air and iPad Pro are likely to be safe bets. On paper, neither rock the boat so much... Continue reading...
|
by Wes Davis on (#6MS0V)
Screenshot: YouTube OpenAI is making a number of its previously subscription-only features available to free users of ChatGPT, with the biggest being the ability to create custom chatbots and browse its GPT Store, said CTO Mira Murati during the company's Spring update livestream today. The company also published today's updates in a blog on its website.The company opened its GPT Store to paid subscribers just four months ago on January 10th. The store lets users create their own chatbots, called GPTs, and share them. Some of the trending bots right now include an image-generating bot, a chatbot called Consensus that's geared toward helping with scientific research, and a logo-making bot.OpenAI said it would offer an engagement-based revenue sharing... Continue reading...
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6MS0W)
Image: OpenAI ChatGPT now has a desktop app - but it's only available on macOS for now. OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced the news during an event on Tuesday, where she also said that ChatGPT is getting a refreshed UI.In the demo shown by OpenAI, users could open the ChatGPT desktop app in a small window, alongside another program. They asked ChatGPT questions about what's on their screen - whether by typing or saying it. ChatGPT could then respond based on what it sees." Image: OpenAI OpenAI says users can ask ChatGPT a question by using the Option + Space keyboard shortcut, as well as take and discuss screenshots within the app. Both free and paid users will be able to access the new app, but it will only be available to... Continue reading...
|
by Kylie Robison on (#6MS0X)
Screenshot: OpenAI OpenAI announced the launch of GPT-4o, an iteration of its GPT-4 model that powers its hallmark product, ChatGPT. The latest update is much faster" and improves capabilities across text, vision, and audio," OpenAI CTO Mira Murati said in a livestream announcement on Monday. It'll be free for all users, and paid users will continue to have up to five times the capacity limits" of free users, Murati added.In a blog post from the company, OpenAI says GPT-4o's capabilities will be rolled out iteratively (with extended red team access starting today)," but its text and image capabilities will start to roll out today in ChatGPT.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted that the model is natively multimodal," which means the model could generate... Continue reading...
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6MRXD)
Photo: Meta Meta Quest headsets are ready to go on flights with you as Meta has announced a new Travel Mode. The company is rolling out the experimental feature to Quest 2 and 3 headsets running Quest software version 65 or later, allowing owners to use the headset in passthrough on a flight without windows drifting away from them.To try it, opt in under Settings > Experimental features. Then the new mode will live in the Quick settings panel, where you can toggle it from the Quest's universal menu. Travel Mode isn't without limitations - it's not designed to account for the motion of a car or train, for instance; Meta says support for other transportation methods is coming. Also, if a game or app requires an internet connection, your plane will... Continue reading...
|
by Umar Shakir on (#6MRXE)
The North American ID Buzz. | Photo: Volkswagen Volkswagen is one step closer to delivering the ID Buzz in the US, today revealing initial battery, powertrain, and trim options available when the all-electric microbus goes on sale later this year.To start, the automaker will offer a First Edition model that comes with exclusive wheels, badging, and extra unknown gifts." Alongside that, VW has a Pro S model that is rear-wheel drive only (282 horsepower) and a Pro S Plus that can option in all-wheel drive (335 horsepower) and comes with standard premium features like a heads-up display.While European customers have had fun going on road trips and camping for a year, Volkswagen has been slow to bring the retro-inspired microbus stateside. Last summer, the automaker confirmed the... Continue reading...
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6MRXF)
Image: Google Google's futuristic videoconferencing technology will soon become a reality. In an update on Monday, Google shared that it's working on integrating Project Starline with common videoconferencing setups like Google Meet and Zoom.Google first took the wraps off Project Starline during Google I/O in 2021. Its first iteration involved a 3D video chat booth where you see a projection of the person you're chatting with and they see a projection of you - almost like you're talking to each other in the same room.But Google later fit the technology into what looks like a large TV with a camera system mounted on the top, rather than an entire booth, making it more practical for offices and conference rooms. Image: Google N... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Tom Warren on (#6MRXG)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft is attempting to solve the hassle of coordinating with colleagues on when everyone will be in the office. It's a problem that emerged with the increase in hybrid and flexible work after the recent covid-19 pandemic, with workers spending less time in the office. Microsoft Places is an AI-powered app that goes into preview today and should help businesses that rely on Outlook and Microsoft Teams to better coordinate in-office time together.When employees get to the office, they don't want to be greeted by a sea of empty desks - they want face-time with their manager and the coworkers they collaborate with most frequently," says Microsoft's corporate vice president of AI at work, Jared Spataro, in a blog post. With Places, you... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6MRT0)
Illustration: The Verge Have you ever pasted text into your beautifully formatted Microsoft Word document, only for it to ruin everything? Well, the days of the should finally be over, as Microsoft Word will now merge the text's formatting with your document by default.Unlike the previous keep source formatting" default, the merge formatting" option preserves the original bold and underlined text, along with list and table structure. But it also changes the visual aspects of the text, such as font family, size, and color, to match the document you're working on. That should save you from messing up the formatting of your entire document when pasting in text from another source.You could previously choose the merge formatting" option from Word's pasting... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6MRT3)
Image: TCL 5,000 nits. That's the incredible peak brightness of TCL's latest flagship QM8 Mini LED TV, and there's no better example of how the company is hoping to stand out from competitors like Samsung, LG, Hisense, Sony, and others. That's just on a different level than what OLED can offer. Are we getting to a point where TVs are getting too bright? No such thing, right?Starting at $1,999.99 for a 65-inch size (and ranging up to an enormous 115-inch model), the QM8 contains thousands of dimming zones - up to over 5,000," to be specific. Combined with TCL's image processing, the company is confident that people will get an excellent viewing experience from this Mini LED set for significantly less than, say, a top-tier OLED would cost.G... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Allison Johnson on (#6MRT2)
You know, normal backyard nighttime stuff. Sometimes you travel thousands of miles from home to see something amazing. And every once in a while, that something appears right in your backyard.That's what happened on Friday. What's the aurora forecast for tonight?" I asked a friend who keeps up with those things. Amazing," he said. He wasn't lying. At 9:30PM, my husband and I went to the backyard to check the sky - nothing but hazy light pollution on the northern horizon. But just an hour later, the sky erupted.I didn't think twice about what camera to use to photograph the event since I already had my SIM card in the Pixel 8A - it had arrived a couple of days ago fresh off its announcement. I handed my husband the Pixel 8 Pro; he left his night mode-less iPhone XR in the... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Nilay Patel on (#6MRT1)
Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Adobe The tech and the consumers both might not be quite ready yet, but he's betting big on an AI future. Continue reading...
|
 |
by Umar Shakir on (#6MRT4)
Image: Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images US safety regulators are looking into two crashes involving Amazon's robotaxi company, Zoox. The Office of Defects Investigation, under the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, opened a preliminary evaluation into Zoox after two separate reports of the vehicles suddenly braking and causing motorcyclists to crash into their rear end.NHTSA confirms that the Zoox vehicles were operating in driverless mode without safety drivers when the incidents occurred. The vehicles involved in both crashes were Toyota Highlander SUVs, which Zoox uses for testing and data gathering. According to the Office of Defects Investigation, the investigation covers an estimated 500 vehicles.The crashes did not involve Zoox's unique toaster-looking... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6MR8W)
Image: John Deere The solar storms that have been wowing people with the Northern Lights across the United States the last two nights have also been disrupting GPS satellites, crippling some Midwest farmers' operations, reports 404 Media. The issues have forced many to stop planting just as a crucial planting deadline for corn farmers approaches.The storms reportedly knocked some GPS systems" offline temporarily, which messed with the accuracy of Real-Time Kinematic" (RTK) systems. Tractors from John Deere and other brands use RTK for centimeter-level positional accuracy" when carrying out farming work like crop-planting or fertilizing, 404 Media writes.The extremely compromised" systems caused drastic shifts in the field and even some heading... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6MR6Q)
Time for some Abe's Oddysee! | Screenshot: Gamma iPhone users without a penchant for jailbreaking can finally enjoy the blocky polygons and shifty textures of the original PlayStation with Gamma, a free PS1 emulator that hit the iOS App Store last night. Gamma comes courtesy of developer ZodTTD, which has been creating emulators for the iPhone since the earliest days of third-party iOS apps.The app has both iPhone and iPad versions with support for Bluetooth controllers and keyboards, as well as customizable on-screen controller skins. It uses Google Drive and Dropbox syncing for backing up your game files and save states (those are the snapshots you can save at any time and reload, a little like pausing your game - great for old-school games that don't let you save any time you... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6MR6R)
Despite its name, the Pocket 3 isn't exactly comfortable to stuff in tighter pockets. | Photo by Quentyn Kennemer / The Verge I can't think of anything permeating mainstream camera culture as aggressively as the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. The Fujifilm X100VI has stolen some of its thunder among film simulation enthusiasts, but DJI's still having somewhat of a cultural moment on YouTube, Instagram, and the troubled TikTok by spurring all sorts of creator glee.Of course, the camera buffs are all over it, but serious and casual creators from other genres have paused their usual programming to rave about how it transcends amateur vlogging pursuits, whether you're filming a wedding or self-shooting a scene for a Sundance-hopeful short film.Some of us at The Verge are excited, too: Vjeran liked it enough to call it his favorite gadget of 2023, and Sean just bought one... Continue reading...
|
by David Pierce on (#6MR6S)
Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge Not all video games need video. Over the years, games that exist only in audio have taken players into entirely new worlds in which there's nothing to see and still everything to do. These games have huge accessibility implications, allowing people who can't see to play an equally fun, equally immersive game with their other senses. And when all you have is sound, there's actually even more you can do to make your game great.On this episode of The Vergecast, we explore the history of audio-only games with Paul Bennun, who has been in this space longer than most. Years ago, Bennun and his team at Somethin' Else made a series of games called Papa Sangre that were among the most innovative and most popular games of their kind. He explains... Continue reading...
 |
by David Pierce on (#6MR50)
Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 37, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, send me links, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been writing about iPads and LinkedIn games, reading about auto shows and typewriters and treasure hunters, watching Everybody's in LA and Sugar, looking for reasons to buy Yeti's new French press even though I definitely don't need more coffee gear, following almost all of Jerry Saltz's favorite Instagram accounts, testing Capacities and Heptabase for all my note-taking needs and Plinky for all my link-saving, and playing a lot of Blind Drive.I also have for you a thoroughly impressive new iPad, a clever... Continue reading...
|
by Wes Davis on (#6MQY0)
Screenshot: Ghost of Tsushima Steam, Epic, and Green Man Gaming are reportedly canceling and refunding preorders of the PC port of Ghost of Tsushima for buyers who live in over 170 countries without PlayStation Network access, reports Eurogamer. That's despite the fact that arguably the most important part of the game would still be playable without PlayStation Network account linking. The news comes after Valve abruptly delisted the game in those countries yesterday.Ghost of Tsushima only requires PSN account linking for its Legends multiplayer mode, a requirement the single-player campaign is exempt from, the game's developer went out of its way to say in a recent post. Steam, Green Man Gaming, and Epic Games Store each had disclaimers noting the same thing. In... Continue reading...
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6MQW5)
Illustration: The Verge OpenAI has been showing some of its customers a new multimodal AI model that can both talk to you and recognize objects, according to a new report from The Information. Citing unnamed sources who've seen it, the outlet says this could be part of what the company plans to show on Monday.The new model reportedly offers faster, more accurate interpretation of images and audio than what its existing separate transcription and text-to-speech models can do. It would apparently be able to help customer service agents better understand the intonation of callers' voices or whether they're being sarcastic," and theoretically," the model can help students with math or translate real-world signs, writes The Information.The outlet's sources say... Continue reading...
|
by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6M6VH)
Illustration by Manon Louart for The Verge We found a collection of unique gift ideas that go beyond the flowers and chocolates that typically rule the day. Continue reading...
by Brandon Widder on (#6MQSJ)
iFixit's step-up toolkit has all sorts of bits and bobs, all of which slot nicely in the case and included fabric roll. | Image: iFixit The right-to-repair movement has logged some serious wins over the past several years, with states like California, New York, and Minnesota having recently passed laws that make it easier for consumers to repair their own devices. But being able to obtain parts and manuals is only part of the process - you also need the tools. Luckily, iFixit's Pro Tech Toolkit is on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and iFixit for $59.96 ($15 off), matching the lowest price we've seen on the versatile tool set.Chances are you know iFixit for its in-depth teardowns of various gadgets and gizmos, including iPhone 15 Pro Max, headsets like the Apple Vision Pro, and the confounding mess that is the Humane AI Pin (sorry not sorry). That said, the company also... Continue reading...
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6MQSK)
Image: Google Google is preparing to hold its annual Google I/O developer conference next week, and naturally, it will be all about AI. The company has made no secret of that. Since last year's I/O, it has debuted Gemini, its new, more powerful model meant to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT, and has been deep in testing new features for Search, Google Maps, and Android. Expect to hear a lot about that stuff this year.When Google I/O will happen and where you can watchGoogle I/O kicks off on Tuesday, May 14th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET with a keynote talk. You can catch that on Google's site or its YouTube channel, via the livestream link that's also embedded at the top of this page. (There's also a version with an American Sign Language interpreter.) Set a... Continue reading...
|
by Andrew Webster on (#6MQR5)
Image: SFB Games Even as modern horror games become unnervingly immersive, there's still a place for the particular mood of old-school survival horror. Through a combo of grimy visuals, cryptic puzzles, slow pacing, and clunky controls, PlayStation-era games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill were able to create a distinct kind of tension and terror. Crow Country is what would happen if that kind of game never went out of style. It has the look and feel of the classics but with just the right amount of modern flourish. It's a perfect bite of classic horror.Crow Country comes from indie studio SFB Games - led by brothers Tom and Adam Vian - which has so far managed to create quite the eclectic library of releases. There was the playful Switch launch... Continue reading...
 |
by Allison Johnson on (#6MQPY)
Google's annual developer conference kicks off on Tuesday. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The past few months have made one thing crystal clear: phones remain undefeated.The AI gadgets that were supposed to save us from our phones have arrived woefully underbaked - whatever illusions we might have held that the Humane AI pin or the Rabbit R1 were going to offer any kind of salve for the constant rug burn of dealing with our personal tech is gone. Hot Gadget Spring is over and developer season is upon us, starting with Google I/O this coming Tuesday.It also happens to be a pivotal time for Android. I/O comes on the heels of a major re-org that put the Android team together with Google's hardware team for the first time. The directive is clear: to run full speed ahead and put more AI in more things. Not preferring Google's... Continue reading...
|
by Victoria Song on (#6MQPX)
The Lily 2 is a small, unassuming tracker that suits casual users. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Its limitations made it fall short in daily life but ended up being a plus while trying to disconnect from the world. Continue reading...
by Umar Shakir on (#6MQFM)
That's a skinny XPS. | Image: Windows Report Want a look at Dell's new notebook lineup that's apparently powered by Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X Elite processors? Courtesy of Windows Report, these leaked images come ahead of Microsoft's May 20th event where new Surfaces (and other laptops) are expected to sport the same chips.They unsurprisingly look like laptops - albeit with overall slimmer profiles.The most interesting model is Dell's new XPS 13 9345, which seems to be a sleeker rebirth of the XPS 13 Plus from 2022. It's got the same touchy touch-bar on the top row and comes with only two USB-C ports for I/O. Image: Windows Report Dell XPS 9345 Image: Windows Report Dell Inspiron 14 7441 Plus There's also a leaked... Continue reading...
by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6MMJC)
The new iPad Air comes in two sizes, while the Pro model picks up an M4 chip and a more vibrant OLED panel. | Image: Apple At long last, Apple's newest iPad Pro and iPad Air are finally, officially real. Preorders opened May 7th, with the former tablet starting at $999 and the latter at $599. Both models come in 11- and 13-inch sizes and are set to arrive in stores on Wednesday, May 15th.One of the most notable changes in the Pro models is the switch from LCD-based displays to OLED, which could be the killer feature for creatives. But there's a lot more to like, such as the new M4 chip that is said to offer 50 percent faster CPU performance than the prior model's M2 chip, plus a new 10-core GPU that supports mesh shading and ray tracing. The new iPad Pro also gets a slight camera shakeup, as it now only features two rear cameras (it ditches the... Continue reading...