The Verge

A Mustang Mach-E running Ford's hands-free software. | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an official investigation into Ford's BlueCruise advanced driver-assistance software after it's been linked to multiple fatalities while in use. It includes two 2024 incidents that the National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating - one in San Antonio and another in Philadelphia.The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation notes that the Ford vehicles involved in the fatal crashes hit stationary objects including vehicles stopped in a driving lane on the highway. Ford's BlueCruise enables hands-free driving on pre-mapped highway roads and uses cameras to both watch drivers and keep its vehicles in the lane. The system was introduced in 2021 in vehicles... Continue reading...

iOS, Safari, and the App Store were already designated as Gatekeeper services under the DMA in September 2023. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Following an almost eight-month investigation into whether Apple's iPadOS holds enough market power to warrant stricter regulation, the European Commission has now designated the iPad operating system as a Gatekeeper service under its flagship Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules.The Commission concluded that iPadOS constitutes an important gateway for business users to reach end users, and that Apple enjoys an entrenched and durable position with respect to iPadOS," reads a statement published by the Commission on Monday. Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance with the DMA obligations as applied to iPadOS."Under the DMA, which came into force on March 7th, iPadOS will now have to comply with a broad range of rules that allow... Continue reading...

That's too cold! | Image: Amazon I don't know about you, but when I have a nasty case of the hot phone, I have to get rid of that heat this instant. Just kidding, I usually just put it down for a while or restart it when it's being especially stubborn. But there are companies out there marketing a different solution: little stick-on phone-cooling fans that purport to draw all that heat away. And their product images are a little, uh, excessively icy.How did it come to this? What kicked off this arms race of increasingly frosty phones? I have to assume things started innocently enough, but these RGB-riddled things are pretty squarely aimed at gamers - I'd guess it didn't take long for these product shots to snowball into the wildly unrealistic pictures on Amazon today.... Continue reading...

Delta is about to get better on the iPad. | Image: Riley Testut The Delta emulator made a huge splash when it hit the Apple App Store earlier this month, quickly rocketing to the top spot in Apple's free apps, where it remains today. Now, developer Riley Testut says an iPad-specific version is near completion," and will be released with Delta version 1.6. Testut says the app is already available for his Patreon supporters through the regular AltStore," which I take to mean the non-EU-specific one, rather than the Apple-approved AltStore PAL.Of course, the iOS version already works on the iPad (and the Vision Pro, where I've been playing Metroid Prime Hunters). But a native version would let it take advantage of the full iPad screen real estate for better skins, including one that turns your tablet... Continue reading...

Image: Bethesda Game Studios A sampling of the four modern games in the series for those jumping in after the Amazon show. Continue reading...

The QuietComfort Ultra offer the best noise cancellation you can get in a pair of wireless earbuds, full stop. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge If the bar for noise-canceling earbuds seems high right now, that's because Bose and Sony seem to raise it with every addition to their respective lineups. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are a great example of just how impressive ANC has become in the last few years, particularly in the earbuds space. And now, thanks to a $50 discount, you can pick them up at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart for $249.If noise cancellation is your top priority when selecting a pair of wireless earbuds, there's no better choice than the Ultra. Bose's latest earbuds do a terrific job masking the sounds of traffic, talking, and other noisy facets of everyday life, allowing you to soak in your playlists and podcasts without unwanted distractions. When you do w... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Overnight, many people reported on social media that they were inexplicably logged out of their Apple IDs and then required to reset their passwords when they tried to sign in again, and nobody seems to know why. Some reported needing to enter their iPhone passcode to connect to iCloud again, while others with Stolen Device Protection enabled said they had to wait an hour before being able to log in.Apple's System Status webpage shows no current issues with any of its services, so it's not clear if this was a widespread issue. That said, 9to5Mac reports that even a few of its staff members were also affected by the issue. At least one Forbes contributor apparently experienced the issue as well. The outlet saw no indication that this... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge FTC lawyers submitted a filing on Thursday that claims Amazon's top execs used Signal's disappearing messages feature to destroy evidence relevant to the agency's massive antitrust lawsuit. (You remember the one? The FTC accused Amazon of creating a secret Project Nessie" pricing algorithm that may have generated more than $1 billion in extra profits.)Now, The Washington Post (which is owned by Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos) reports that Amazon is just one of several companies recently accused of turning to encrypted messaging apps like Signal that can permanently erase messages automatically.You may recall the government making similar arguments about Sam Bankman-Fried's use of Signal during his trial for fraud and how... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google has spent the past year dealing with two of the biggest threats in its 25-year history: the rise of generative AI and the growing drumbeat of regulation. AI, in particular, has shaken the company to its core: it's made big search changes, realigned the Search, Android, and hardware teams around AI, and launched its own Gemini AI model to capitalize on the opportunity.Google execs cut projects and laid off employees to refocus, and yesterday, it announced its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion share buyback alongside its Q1 2024 earnings.Investors, at least, are eating it up: Google parent company Alphabet has finally officially hit and maintained a $2 trillion market cap for a whole day of trading after briefly touching $2... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Think about everything you do across Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, and everything else Google owns, and you get some idea of how much data you're giving up to the company each day. For most of us, it's... a lot.Whether or not you think the data collection and targeted advertising is a worthwhile trade for the free apps you get in return, Google does at least provide a comprehensive online dashboard you can use to see some of what's being gathered.You can use it to delete everything Google has already collected, stop it from collecting anything in the future, or automatically delete your data after a set period (like three months). You can also use these features to clear the records if you're planning to delete your Google... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google is testing its AI listening skills with a feature that lets people speak into their phones and practice English with a conversational AI bot. Google first rolled out the speaking practice experience in October 2023. Originally, the feature only provided feedback on spoken sentences. Now, users can practice having ongoing conversations in the language they're learning.TechCrunch reports that the feature is currently available for Search Labs users in Argentina, Colombia, India, Mexico, Venezuela, and Indonesia. Search Labs is Google's sandbox for potential new Search features; however, the feature may also pop up based on translating to or from English with Google on an Android device.For now, the feedback and conversation... Continue reading...

Photo by Carmen Mandato / Getty Images Tupac Shakur's lawyers warned Drake that they would take him to court if he did not take down his Taylor Made" diss track featuring AI-altered vocals made to sound like the late rapper. And it seems like the message was received loud and clear.Following Tupac's lawyers giving Drake 24 hours to pull Taylor Made" or risk being sued, the Canadian rapper has apparently chosen the former option and removed the song from his X profile. Drake first posted Taylor Made" on April 19th as the latest response in his ongoing beef with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose fondness for Snoop Dogg and Tupac is thought to be the reason Drake used recreations of their voices in his song.Because Taylor Made" was never officially released on any... Continue reading...

Art by Samar Haddad / Space Vacation A look at Samar Haddad's bold homages, from sci-fi to comedy. Continue reading...

Image: Android Headlines We've already seen a bunch of images revealing what Google's Pixel 8A might look like, but now, leaked marketing materials shared by Android Headlines give us an even better picture of what we can expect. The promotional images suggest that the budget-friendly Pixel 8A will come with seven years of security updates.But the materials don't indicate whether the phone will come with seven years of Android OS upgrades, something its flagship Pixel 8 and 8 Pro have. Still, the seven years makes a big difference from Google's previous policy for Pixel phones, which only provided five years of security updates and three years of Android OS upgrades. Image: Android Headlines There isn't a mention of Android OS upgrades.... Continue reading...

The first time I used the Light Phone 2's GPS, I drove to Los Angeles for a date. I ended up parked in a red zone, hyperventilating to the rhythm of my hazard lights. All I did was get lost, and yet, I was seconds away from puking all over myself. (I didn't, thank goodness.) I should have picked a lower-stakes event to test-drive the navigation feature, but I assumed it would work as well as Google Maps. I was wrong.The Light Phone's GPS was awful a year ago. It often thought I was on a surface street instead of the adjacent freeway, or vice versa, so it would incorrectly tell me to keep going or take an exit that didn't exist and not register my actual location until a few minutes later - if it registered that at all. It also took... Continue reading...

Crashes involving post-fix Tesla vehicles have prompted the NHTSA to look into how effective the Autopilot updates were. | Photo by Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance via Getty Images Tesla can add yet another investigation into its Autopilot feature to what's already piling up to be a pretty bad year for the company.On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed it was opening a new probe to assess whether the recall fix Tesla implemented for over 2 million cars back in December actually did enough to address safety concerns surrounding its Autopilot driver assistance system.That recall was prompted by a previous investigation NHTSA raised in 2021 that reviewed hundreds of collisions and 13 fatalities allegedly involving Tesla's Autopilot feature. NHTSA has now closed that same probe following Tesla's recall notice, finding that the name Autopilot" may lead drivers to believe that... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Shein, one of the most popular online shopping platforms, will be required to comply with strict regulations under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission announced today.The fast-fashion company reported having more than 45 million average monthly users in the EU, earning it the designation of a very large online platform" (VLOP). The label applies to the biggest tech companies like Amazon, AliExpress, Meta, and TikTok and requires them to comply with rules around content moderation and user privacy and safety. In February, the European Commission handed down more general rules that apply to all platforms except the smallest.The European Commission specifically noted new requirements for Shein around illegal... Continue reading...

Illustration by Diana Young Consumers are already putting AI tools to use for both productivity and creativity. But what's next? Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Last year, on a perfect spring day that also happened to be my birthday, I took a car trip to a beautiful area of New York state. It was a lovely day. The new foliage was just coming out and flocks of migrating birds were flying overhead - just the right day for a bunch of photos and good memories.Unfortunately, my reason for traveling upstate wasn't for the flora and fauna, but to attend the funeral of my best friend. I took lots of photos on that day: of other friends who attended the service, of the river paths and local parks that my best friend and I used to walk together, and of the home she used to share with her parents, now empty. I took all of those photos because I knew it was probably the last time that I would visit that... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge A physical education teacher and former athletic director of a Baltimore County high school has been arrested and charged with using an AI voice cloning service to frame the school's principal.The Baltimore Banner reports that Baltimore County police believe a recording that circulated on social media in January with purported audio of Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert making racist and antisemitic comments was fake. Experts told The Baltimore Banner and police that the recording, which briefly resulted in Eiswert's suspension, has a flat tone, unusually clean background sounds, and lack of consistent breathing sounds or pauses."Baltimore County police traced the recording to Dazhon Darien, a former athletic director at... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge The reminders you've jotted down in Google Keep will soon show up in Tasks. Google says the long-requested integration is coming over the next year, allowing you to see, edit, and complete your Keep reminders across Tasks, Calendar, and Assistant.The change will make Tasks the central hub for all to-dos and reminders, hopefully making them far easier to manage. It's something my colleague David Pierce suggested when talking about Google's upgraded Keep app last year, saying, Now, Google, make Keep reminders show up in Tasks. It's right there!" Image: Google Even though Tasks doesn't support location-based reminders like Keep does, Google states (referring to Keep) that you can still add time or location-based... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.This is the second quarter in a row that Microsoft is including its additional revenue from its Activision Blizzard acquisition that briefly pushed gaming to be Microsoft's third-largest business. This time around, gaming is back into fourth place behind Windows thanks to stronger than expected Windows OEM revenue this quarter.Despite a strong quarter for Microsoft with Office revenue and Microsoft Cloud revenue up 23 percent year over year, Microsoft's overall gaming revenues are only up thanks to... Continue reading...

The Q6 isn't known for top-tier gaming specs and ultra-deep black levels, but it offers a lot of TV for just $450. | Image: TCL Here at The Verge, we spend a lot of time reporting on pristine, high-end TV sets - including the latest panels from Sony, LG, and Samsung. That said, not everyone is in the market for a picture-perfect OLED panel or one purpose-built to reduce glare. Thankfully, TCL's 65-inch Q6 QLED is a more economical option, one you can grab at Amazon and Best Buy today for $449.99 ($250 off), its lowest price to date.Despite being TCL's entry-level Q Class panel, the Q6 offers a lot for its budget-friendly price tag. The quantum dot-enabled 4K panel is bright and color-accurate, with solid black levels and vivid color that should shine no matter what you're watching. It features Google's terrific TV interface and built-in Chromecast functionality... Continue reading...

Photo by Joe Scarnici / Getty Images Blizzard has announced it will not hold BlizzCon, the publisher's annual fan convention, this year. After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024," Blizzard wrote on its website.Instead of BlizzCon, Blizzard wrote that it would be holding other, smaller events throughout the year and mentioned participating in other trade shows, such as Gamescom. Additionally, 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of World of Warcraft, with Blizzard stating that it's planning multiple, global, in-person events" as well as sharing updates for WoW's 10th expansion, The War Within, and Diablo IV's first expansion, Vessel of Hatred.Despite this year's cancellation, Blizzard says the event... Continue reading...