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by Tom Warren on (#6GE3H)
Image: Chris Welch / The Verge Sonos is issuing a software update to its Arc and Beam (Gen 2) soundbars to fix a loud popping issue that has plagued the devices for years. The issue led to a number of Sonos customers having to disable Sonos Atmos on their hardware to avoid a startling loud bang and series of audio pops that occurred for some after playing Dolby Atmos content. The Verge reported on the issue earlier this year after discovering that Sonos owners had been complaining about the problem for nearly three years.We are pleased to share that our team has identified a fix for the popping sound on Arc and it will be shipped to all customers as part of a software release today," says Sonos in a statement posted to the company's support forums. You can hear the... Continue reading...
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-11-05 05:48 |
by Victoria Song on (#6GDZQ)
Google's fingerprints are all over this casual fitness tracker. Continue reading...
by Umar Shakir on (#6GDZS)
Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight from 2012. | Image: The Verge Barnes & Noble is sunsetting support for some of its oldest e-readers. It'll start by disabling the devices' services starting in April 2024; afterward, the company will disable access to the Barnes & Noble bookstore, removing the ability to buy new books on the devices beginning in June 2024. The news impacts the following devices: the 2011 Nook Simple Touch; the 2012 Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight (oh hey, we reviewed this); and the 2013 Nook GlowLight.In June 2024, Barnes & Noble will disable the ability to register the devices with a bn.com account and won't allow users to sign in with a Nook account. This effectively time-capsules otherwise functional e-readers and locks them with the current owner so they can't really hand them... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6GDZT)
Image: Nvidia Nvidia is rolling out a new update for GeForce Now that allows members to sync their Xbox accounts to the cloud gaming service. Syncing up an Xbox account will allow GeForce Now members to access any PC Game Pass titles on Nvidia's service, alongside their existing library of game purchases from the Microsoft Store.Nvidia has completed the work needed to make the Microsoft Store work with GeForce Now, following the first Xbox PC games arriving on the service earlier this year. Nvidia also started rolling out the ability to stream first-party Microsoft games like Deathloop and Grounded as well as third-party titles like No Man's Sky and Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord through a PC Game Pass subscription in August. Image:... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6GDZV)
Illustration by Will Joel / The Verge Apple has finally made its classical music app available for the iPad. Now, you can download Apple Music Classical, which is included with an Apple Music subscription, directly from the App Store.Apple first launched its long-awaited classical music app on the iPhone in March, offering a library full of recordings you can search through by composer, work, conductor, and more. The app comes out of Apple's 2021 acquisition of classical music streaming service Primephonic and allows you to listen to recordings with up to 192 kHz / 24-bit lossless audio. Image: Apple Apple Music Classical for the iPad comes with some optimizations for the larger display, including a full navigational sidebar that lets you quickly jump... Continue reading...
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by Abigail Bassett on (#6GDZW)
Illustration by Nico H. Brausch for The Verge The effort to climate-proof our housing is running into a mess of problems, including aging housing stock, out-of-date zoning laws, and NIMBY-ism. Can we build our way to a better future? Continue reading...
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6GDWH)
The deal is available across all PS5 consoles, including the recently announced PS5 Slim. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Apple and Sony have put together a promotional offer for PS5 owners that allows them to enjoy ad-free access to the Apple Music streaming service for up to six months. The offer is available for new and qualified returning" Apple Music customers until November 15th, 2024, and can be activated by simply downloading and signing into the Apple Music app on any PS5 model. After the initial six months is up, users in the US will be charged $10.99 per month - the standard price for an Individual Apple Music membership - to continue the service.PS5 owners who take up the offer aren't limited to just streaming Apple Music from their console. Once the six-month trial has started you can listen to tunes across any supported devices, including on... Continue reading...
by Emme Hall on (#6GDWJ)
Photos by Tim Sutton, Mayfield Media, courtesy of Rebelle Rally Sustainably charging electric vehicles and providing power to over 250 people for eight days in the middle of the desert is no easy task. Renewable Innovations has the answer. Continue reading...
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6GDWK)
It doesn't quite bring the products you've been imagining to life, but it'll find you a pretty close match. | Image: Google / The Verge Google's AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE) is behind a bunch of new shopping features that aim to help users find niche or otherwise unique products for a friend or themselves. These include using AI to generate gift ideas or fashion items you can then shop for. Google is also expanding virtual try-ons to men ahead of the holiday season.Starting today, users in the US who have already opted into SGE via Search Labs will be presented with a selection of suggested subcategories when searching for gift ideas, alongside links to helpful content to learn more about a product or gift category. For example - searching for great gifts for home cooks" will provide explorable subcategories like specialty tools, artisanal ingredients,... Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6GDWM)
SynthID works by converting audio into a visual spectogram and adding a visual watermark. | Image: Google Audio created using Google DeepMind's AI Lyria model, such as tracks made with YouTube's new audio generation features, will be watermarked with SynthID to let people identify their AI-generated origins after the fact. In a blog post, DeepMind said the watermark shouldn't be detectable by the human ear and doesn't compromise the listening experience," and added that it should still be detectable even if an audio track is compressed, sped up or down, or has extra noise added.Watermarking tools like SynthID are seen as an important safeguard against some of the harms of generative AI. President Joe Biden's executive order on artificial intelligence, for example, calls for a new set of government-led standards for watermarking... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6GDT1)
The new Windows App. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft has created a Windows App for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Windows, and web browsers. The app essentially takes the previous Windows 365 app and turns it into a central hub for streaming a copy of Windows from a remote PC, Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, and Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services.Microsoft supports multiple monitors through its Windows App, custom display resolutions and scaling, and device redirection for peripherals like webcams, storage devices, and printers. The preview version of the Windows App isn't currently available for Android, though. Image: Microsoft The Windows App acts as a hub to connect to remote and cloud PCs. The Windows App is also limited to... Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6GDT2)
Photo by: Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images Google is testing new generative AI features for YouTube that'll let people create music tracks using just a text prompt or a simple hummed tune. The first, Dream Track, already seeded to a few creators on the platform, is designed to auto-generate short 30-second music tracks in the style of famous artists. The feature can imitate nine different artists, who've chosen to collaborate with YouTube on its development. YouTube is also showing off new tools that can generate music tracks from a hum.The announcement comes as YouTube attempts to navigate the emerging norms and copyright rules around AI generated music, while also protecting its relationship with major music labels. The issue was brought into sharp relief when an AI-generated... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6GDT3)
Image: Epic Games Epic Games is adding a new voice reporting feature into Fortnite to help catch players who break the company's community rules.If the feature is on - if you're under 18, the feature is always on when using voice chats - the device you're playing the game on will securely capture the past five minutes of audio on a rolling basis," according to Epic's blog post. (Epic stresses that it does not store voice recordings on its servers unless you file a report.) Audio after five minutes is deleted.When you report a conversation, the voice chat audio captured from the last five minutes will be uploaded with the report and sent to Epic moderators for review," Epic says. (Reports are anonymous.) Then, the company says it will auto-delete clips... Continue reading...
by Amrita Khalid on (#6GDR6)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge It's a cliche at this point to say that podcasts (and, to a less publicized extent, audiobooks) have a discovery problem. To help fix that, Spotify announced it's using Google Cloud's AI tools to improve both content discovery and personalized recommendations for its audio offerings.With this latest move, Spotify is using Google Cloud's LLMs (large language models) to analyze the roughly 5 million podcasts and 350,000 audiobooks in its content library with a goal of trying to augment" the metadata, according to a press release. (The Verge has reached out to Spotify to clarify exactly what augment" means in this case). A podcast or audiobook's metadata includes information like the title, the name of the host or author, show notes,... Continue reading...
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by Umar Shakir on (#6GDJX)
The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has a soul patch. | Image: Hyundai Hyundai showed off its production performance-variant Ioniq 5 N" at the LA Auto Show this week, releasing final specifications of the electric crossover and announcing its availability at US dealerships in March 2024.As previously announced in July, this new version of the Ioniq 5 was built by Hyundai's performance tuning teams under its N sub-brand. The engineers behind the 2025 Ioniq 5 N used Hyundai's base E-GMP electric vehicle platform, adding motorsport tech learned from the automaker's rolling labs" experiment vehicles like the N Vision 74, RM20e, and the RN22e.Hyundai includes features for habitual motorheads like the N e-shift, which mimics the feeling of simulating an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission gas car, and the N... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6GDJY)
Illustration: The Verge Google is going to allow teens to use Bard beginning Thursday, though the AI chatbot will have some guardrails in place, according to a blog post from Google's Tulsee Doshi.Bard will be available for teens in most countries around the world" as long as they meet Google's minimum age requirement to be in charge of their own account, Doshi says. (For many countries, that age is 13; Google lists the exceptions in a support document.) To start, teens will only be able to use Bard in English, but Doshi says Google will add more languages over time."Google has a few safety measures to help teens understand how generative AI works and prevent them from seeing unsafe content.
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by Wes Davis on (#6GDH9)
Threads is adding trending topics and hashtags. | Image: Meta Mark Zuckerberg revealed Meta is testing a new tagging feature for Threads that's like hashtags, but not exactly. Yes, you'll use a hashtag to create or add to a topic's conversation, but instead of showing up as a hashtagged word, Threads converts it to a blue-text hyperlink. Australian users will get the first crack at it in the initial limited test" before it gets a wider release.Typing a #" into the post text field brings up a card with the topic you're tagging or other, similar ones. Underneath that, each of the topics comes with a count of posts about it, just like Instagram does.Those with Threads' new tagging feature can only add a single topic to a post at a time, which will probably limit anyone hoping to spam their... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6GDEQ)
Illustrator by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Communications Commission has approved a new set of rules aiming to prevent digital discrimination." It means the agency can hold telecom companies accountable for digitally discriminating against customers - or giving certain communities poorer service (or none at all) based on income level, race, or religion.The new rules come as part of the Biden Administration's 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which requires the FCC to develop and adopt anti-digital discrimination rules. Many of the communities that lack adequate access to broadband today are the same areas that suffer from longstanding patterns of residential segregation and economic disadvantage," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said following today's vote.... Continue reading...
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by Sheena Vasani on (#6GDER)
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is working on offering a better customer service experience powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 for its visually impaired users through a partnership with Be My Eyes, a company that helps visually impaired individuals tackle everyday tasks with the help of sighted volunteers.Microsoft is integrating a digital visual assistant tool Be My Eyes created - Be My AI - into its Microsoft Disability Answer Desk, allowing visually impaired Microsoft users to resolve technical issues or perform tasks like updating software without needing the assistance of a call center agent. After testing the tool earlier this year on Microsoft users, Be My Eyes said the tool resolved inquiries in four minutes on average, which is less than half the average... Continue reading...
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by Wes Davis on (#6GDES)
It's fine to say aspartame is safe - but not to obscure that you're being paid to do it. | Photo by Long Wei/VCG via Getty Images The first rule of sponsored content: You have to tell people it was paid for.Today, the Federal Trade Commission publicly admonished over a dozen health influencers for publishing videos on TikTok and Instagram about sugar and the artificial sweetener aspartame without disclosing that the posts were paid for by the American Beverage Association and The Canadian Sugar Institute.The FTC says this makes each of them potentially on the hook for fines over $50,000 if they continue posting without disclosures. Samuel Levine, who heads the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, called it irresponsible for any trade group to hire influencers to tout its members' product" without making sure content creators are clear about the deal. The FTC... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6GDET)
Illustration: The Verge Sonos is in a bit of a rough patch with its consumer hardware business. Demand isn't nearly on the same level that it was a few years ago, and CEO Patrick Spence has used the word challenging" more than once when discussing the company's last several financial quarters. Today's earnings, which saw revenue decrease by 5.5 percent year over year, are another example.While it was a challenging year in the categories in which we play, the strength of the Sonos brand and product portfolio enabled us to retain a strong market share position," Spence said in Sonos' press release.But Spence and the Sonos team predict big things ahead in 2024. Namely, some sort of significant new product is on the roadmap for later next year that Sonos... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6GDCF)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Adobe is working on a new audio tool designed to break apart different layers of sound within a single recording. The tool is called Project Sound Lift, and it can use AI to separate elements like applause from the sound of someone's voice.As shown in a demo sent to The Verge, all you have to do is import an audio file into the application, then choose which sound you want the tool to filter out. There are quite a few options to choose from, including applause, laughter, alarms, speech, crowds, traffic, typing, and more. Project Sound Lift will automatically detect each sound and spit out separate files containing the background noise and the track you want to prioritize, like someone's voice or the sound of an instrument.You can... Continue reading...
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by Umar Shakir on (#6GDCG)
The Bluetooth headphones feature is coming to just the new Model 3, at least for now. | Image: Tesla A Tesla software update is adding the ability to connect Bluetooth headphones so kids in the back seat can enjoy streaming movies and shows without disturbing their parents in the front. As Not a Tesla App notes, so far, the 2023.38.8 software update with the new feature for content viewed from Tesla's Theater app is rolling out only for the redesigned Model 3 that offers an infotainment screen for back seat passengers. The new vehicle launched in Europe in September but has not yet reached the US market. The latest Model S and Model X vehicles in the US do have rear screens, but we have not heard about the update becoming available for them yet.For now, those who own a redesigned Model 3 can connect up to two Bluetooth headphones by... Continue reading...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6GD9Y)
It was basically a foregone conclusion that Marvel's animated What If...? series would return to Disney Plus with even more stories from far far corners of Marvel's ever-expanding cinematic universe. But the show's new season 2 trailer also makes it seem like its next chapter is going to jack directly into the big multiverse moment that most of the studio's recent live-action films and series have become entangled in, which suggests some interesting things about the future.Though tinkering with people's lives in season 1 damn near led to reality falling apart, The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) is up to his old tricks in the new season 2 trailer. And he's once again keeping a close eye on unique variants of characters from films like Black... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6GD9Z)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Beginning in December, the Comixology app won't work anymore - you'll have to read your comics in Amazon's Kindle app instead. Amazon announced that the apps will merge on December 4th, meaning that, from that point on, you can continue to access your Comixology comics, graphic novels, and manga titles in the Kindle app," the company says in a support document.You will need to download any Comixology books you were reading into the Kindle app, but Amazon says that any progress in a book you read in Comixology will automatically sync over to Kindle. You can also continue to buy comics from Amazon's Comixology section on its store. But after December 4th, you won't be able to read comics in the Comixology app anymore.In an email,... Continue reading...
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by Jacob Kastrenakes on (#6GDA0)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta is challenging the European Commission's decision to regulate two of its services, Messenger and Marketplace, as gatekeepers under the bloc's tough new restrictions on tech platforms. The company filed an appeal over the two services today arguing that neither should qualify, Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro told The Verge.Reuters reported earlier Meta will not fight the European Commission's gatekeeper designation from being applied to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.Being designated as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act means that tech platforms have to abide by certain neutrality and openness rules. Messaging services like Meta's Messenger need to be made interoperable with other messaging services; sales platforms like... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6GDA1)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is changing a lot these days, especially when it comes to the ways in which we can share our content with others and segment different audiences. But today, the Meta-owned app is bringing the focus back to its creative tools - adding a handful of features including Instagram's first new filters in ages. And there are a ton of them: I count 25 new filter additions on iOS before you reach the ones that were present before.From subtle color edits to options for expressive styles, these updates make it easy for you to try various looks for your posts," Meta's blog post reads. As always, you can adjust the intensity of any filter with a slider. For the first time, some of these filters (like wide angle" and wavy") make... Continue reading...
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by Allison Johnson on (#6GDA2)
Honestly? Unlimited storage is tempting. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Verizon's cloud storage options are growing: today the company unveiled a new individual plan for its unlimited storage tier. It's an add-on available for existing Verizon subscribers and costs $13.99 per month. It is - I'll repeat - unlimited, so you can upload all the photos, videos, documents, PDFs, and PNGs that your heart desires, from your phone and your computer. That's an unusual offering when most other cloud storage services come with data caps, but this is a wireless carrier after all, so it's worth considering a couple of words of caution.Carriers, including Verizon, often have funny definitions of unlimited," and there are indeed a few limitations. Individual files can't exceed 10GB, and you can only upload 50GB per day.... Continue reading...
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by Nathan Edwards on (#6GD3M)
Okay, this is a MagSafe charger, not Qi2, but it's the same idea, and there's a skeleton for some reason. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Qi2 - the next version of the wireless charging standard, now with more magnets! - is more almost-here than ever. The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) announced today that the first Qi v2.0 devices are nearly through the certification process, with the first available in time for the holiday season" and more than 100 either in certification testing or waiting in line. The iPhone 15 series will be the first Qi2-certified phones.Qi is the open wireless charging standard that pretty much everyone uses. It's in Androids and iPhones, and MagSafe is built on top of it. Version 2.0 includes updates to the non-magnetic Qi standard, which we'll get to, but it also introduces Qi2.Qi2 promises faster, less finicky wireless charging using... Continue reading...
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by Richard Lawler on (#6GDA3)
Google Titan security keys (2023) | Image: Google The latest iteration of Google's Titan Security Key is here, ready to work alongside the new passwordless passkey technology that's rolled out with support from Apple, Microsoft, Google, and many others. Two new versions of the key are available in the Google Store starting today with either a USB-C connection ($35) or USB-A connection ($30), and - like the previous versions released in 2021 - both also have NFC to connect wirelessly to phones and other mobile devices.I've been using the USB-C version for a few days, and it works just as well as other keys I have, like the older Titan hardware and other FIDO2 keys from Yubico. Having NFC support on both versions is convenient so that you don't have to choose, especially since when... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6GD71)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube has officially rolled out its YouTube Premium-exclusive enhanced bitrate" 1080p resolution option on Android and TVs, the company announced on Wednesday. The improved video quality launched on iOS first earlier this year and became available on the web in August.I don't subscribe to Premium, so I can't vouch for whether the enhanced bitrate makes much of a difference. But YouTube says that the improved video quality is turned on automatically based on your connection and viewing settings," so if you pay for Premium and your videos now look a little bit nicer, that might be why.YouTube also detailed a few other improvements that are now available to Premium subscribers. You can now pick up videos where you left off when... Continue reading...
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by Ash Parrish on (#6GD72)
Image: Niantic Peridot, Niantic's original augmented reality pet game, will start using generative AI designed to make the game's cute technicolor aliens behave more like your cat.Here's how it works. Starting with today's update, Niantic's algorithm will analyze real-world objects captured in game with your phone's camera and then convert those objects into words to be parsed by a large language model (LLM) - in this case, a customized version of Meta's Llama 2 program.Additionally, each pet, called Dots, will have their personality profile - which is similar to the different natures of pokemon - also fed to the LLM. Peridot will then ask the LLM how a dot with its specific personality type would interact with the objects around it. Its answers... Continue reading...
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6GD73)
Image: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz cut the ribbon on its first EV fast-charging hub in the US, complete with a swanky waiting area and 400kW charging speeds courtesy of ChargePoint.The hub is located at the automaker's US-based headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, meaning most of the early users are likely to be Mercedes employees. But the company says that owners of non-Mercedes EVs are welcome to use the chargers as well.The charging station is the first of a proposed 2,000 hubs that Mercedes plans on installing worldwide as part of a $1 billion, multiyear plan. But the company isn't shouldering the whole cost itself; 50 percent will be covered by MN8 Energy, an offshoot of Goldman Sachs Asset Management focused on solar power and energy storage.The new... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6GD3E)
Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge iPhone 14 and 15 buyers won't need to pay for Apple's satellite-powered Emergency SOS safety feature anytime soon. This morning, the company announced that it's extending the free phase of Emergency SOS for an additional year for iPhone 14 owners. That means that the service will now lapse at the same time for both iPhone generations in November 2025.Emergency SOS makes it possible to reach emergency services via a satellite connection in areas where Wi-Fi or a regular cellular signal are unavailable. Apple says the feature has helped save lives around the world."From a man who was rescued after his car plummeted over a 400-foot cliff in Los Angeles, to lost hikers found in the Apennine Mountains in Italy, we continue to hear... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6GD3F)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft launched its big AI push earlier this year as part of its Bing search engine, integrating a ChatGPT-like interface directly into its search results. Now less than a year later, it's dropping the Bing Chat branding and moving to Microsoft Copilot, the new name for the chat interface you might have used in Bing, Microsoft Edge, and Windows 11.Microsoft initially talked up the Google search competition for its AI ambitions earlier this year, but it now looks like it has its sights set on ChatGPT instead. The Bing Chat rebranding comes just days after OpenAI revealed 100 million people are using ChatGPT on a weekly basis. Despite a close partnership worth billions, Microsoft and OpenAI continue to compete for the same customers... Continue reading...
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by Umar Shakir on (#6GD3G)
Unified Microsoft Defender dashboard with analytics and Sentinel on the sidebar. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is combining its Sentinel security analytics and Microsoft Defender XDR platforms into an industry first" unified security operations platform - with the company's Security Copilot chatbot stationed centrally for IT and security personnel to administer everything easily. During the company's enterprise-focused Ignite conference today, Microsoft is announcing expanded conversational AI abilities to better centrally manage its security platforms.Microsoft originally announced Security Copilot in March, demonstrating how its generative AI system can summarize all the alerts and data points that typically inundate security professionals. At the time, it had not been made available beyond a few customers" to test. Microsoft... Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6GD3J)
Illustration: The Verge Ignite is Microsoft's chance to show why AI matters to developers and IT professionals. Continue reading...
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by Ash Parrish on (#6GD3K)
Photo: Analogue Analogue seems obsessed with recreating the Game Boy family as faithfully as possible. For its latest endeavor, it's bringing the classic colorways of the Game Boy Advance and Pocket to the Analogue Pocket. These Classic Limited Edition Pockets have, according to the press release, been carefully color-matched" to resemble the colors of the Game Boys of old, offering blue, green, indigo, spice orange, pink, red, silver, and yellow.Just take a look at this. Don't you just feel somewhere between 10-15 years old again seeing that iconic indigo color? Photo: Analogue The Classic Limited Edition Pockets will go on sale on November 17th, retailing for $249.99. Expect them to start shipping a few days later on the 20th,... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6GD3N)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft is adding two new AI-powered features to Teams soon that will improve your voice and webcam. A new decorate your background" feature is coming to Microsoft Teams Premium in early 2024 and uses generative AI effects to clean up and replace clutter in the background when on a video call.While Microsoft Teams has long offered a variety of virtual backgrounds, this decoration feature will work in a real-world room, much like the augmented reality filters you find on Snapchat. It can even add plants, lights, and seasonal objects to the background behind you. We'll have to see how this functions in reality, but if it works as well as the GIF below, then it could be a good option to hide your messy background and avoid the... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6GD3H)
Image: Microsoft When I first used Microsoft Mesh, the company's mixed reality platform, I said it felt like the virtual future of Microsoft Teams meetings." Now, nearly three years later, Microsoft is making immersive 3D Teams meetings a reality. In January, Microsoft Mesh is being integrated into Teams to allow co-workers to meet together in a virtual space - no VR headset required.It's a big shift in Microsoft's original vision for Mesh - an entire platform built on top of Azure that Microsoft hoped developers would tap into - but then a lot has changed with Microsoft's VR / AR ambitions over the past few years. Microsoft's HoloLens boss, Alex Kipman, left the company last year following misconduct allegations. Six months later, Microsoft shut down... Continue reading...
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by Justine Calma on (#6GCZB)
Image: Amazon Because the world wasn't frightening enough already, companies can now buy a security robot from Amazon to patrol their businesses. Lucky for humans, this thing looks like it's just a step above a Roomba - it's giving Wall-E instead of Terminator.Amazon launched Astro for Business for customers in the US today, a robot for sale for $2,349.99. It roves around autonomously or via remote control. It's also equipped with an HD periscope camera with night vision and offers a 24/7 live view and two-way talk. Along with the robot, Amazon is also offering three different subscription services to help companies monitor their facilities.It's giving Wall-E instead of Terminator.For $99 a month, its Virtual Security Guard subscription allows... Continue reading...
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by Justine Calma on (#6GCZC)
Snapchat and NYX Professional Makeup launched a new AR filter and shopping tool called Beauty Bestie. | Image: Snapchat Snapchat just launched a new AR makeup filter that links to products that users can buy to recreate their looks in the real world. It's a partnership with cosmetics brand NYX Professional Makeup that they're calling Beauty Bestie.AR beauty filters are nothing new, but Snapchat and NYX have turned this filter into a marketing tool for products consumers would typically find in a local pharmacy. With struggling pharmacy chains shutting down a lot of locations lately, this is one way NYX might be able to nab more customers online.Snapchat and NYX have turned this filter into a marketing tool for products consumers would typically find in a local pharmacyUsers can find the filter by searching NYX Beauty Bestie" or visiting the makeup... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6GCZD)
Image: Nintendo Nintendo may have a conflicted relationship with its history, but if there's one thing the company loves, it's selling you classic games over and over again. I've honestly lost count of the number of platforms on which I own games like Super Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 3. That lack of attention from Nintendo is part of what makes Super Mario RPG such a curiosity - and its new remake on the Switch such a welcome sight.In 1996, Nintendo teamed up with Final Fantasy maker Square Enix (then known as Squaresoft) to craft a roleplaying game set in the Mushroom Kingdom. Not only was this seemingly strange combination a hit, but it also spurred two separate Mario RPG franchises. Mario RPG was both beloved and influential - and yet, there are... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6GCZE)
Image: Sharp Today, Sharp is announcing the first Roku TV that features an OLED display. Until this point, the program - launched back in 2014 - has exclusively produced sets with LCD panels from a slew of different TV manufacturers. But with its new Aquos OLEDs, Sharp is finally bucking that trend.Available in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes, these TVs support Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10, and feature four HDMI ports that all support variable refresh rate (VRR) for smooth 4K 120Hz gameplay. The Aquos OLED sets also include a 30-watt speaker system and full Dolby Atmos compatibility. Image: Sharp It's an OLED, so you can bet this is one thin TV. But as always with Roku TVs, the biggest hook is the easy-to-use software. You're... Continue reading...
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6GCZF)
Image: Google Google announced a slew of updates to Maps, including improved transit directions, emoji reactions, and collaborative lists.With transit directions, Google Maps will now recommend different routes depending on what you want, with options such as best route," fewer transfers," less walking," wheelchair accessible," or lowest cost." The app will also clearly display station entrances and exits so you don't accidentally get on the wrong train.It's the latest feature in Google Maps' ongoing effort to make itself more user-friendly for commuters and transit riders. In 2019, it added new transit crowdedness predictions, allowing customers to see how crowded their bus, train, or tube is likely to be before heading out on their commute.... Continue reading...
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by Justine Calma on (#6GCZG)
Illustration by Nico H. Brausch for The Verge For now, the window heat pump in apartment 1D sticks out like a sore thumb. Set between off-white lace curtains, it looks like a brand-new oven installed in a grandma's living room.The heat pump replaced a radiator - those rattling, hissing things that are hallmarks of most old buildings in New York City. And if the heat pump proves itself this winter, it could one day make its way into virtually every room in every home in the city's public housing system. And that could just be the start for the future of home heating.The prototype in this room at the Woodside Houses in Queens, New York, is already an engineering feat that New York state has funneled tens of millions of dollars into developing because nothing like it was on the... Continue reading...
by David Zipper on (#6GCZH)
Illustration by Nico H. Brausch for The Verge Robotaxi companies are eager to present themselves with a green halo.Climate change is the single biggest issue we face as a global community," Cruise declared in a blog post published on Earth Day 2022. Each of us has an opportunity to make an impact. Cruise knows the AV industry can -- and should -- help lead the charge." Its rival Waymo seems to agree. In a post this summer, the company stated, Cities where we operate gain another zero-emission transportation option, which could help them meet their climate goals."Sustainability is critical to the public pitch of robotaxi companies, which are under growing scrutiny after California regulators suspended Cruise's driverless permit last month due to safety concerns. But the idea... Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6GCX0)
Orders for the new Model 915 Cyberquad for Kids are expected to ship in late November. | Image: Tesla After being recalled last year for not meeting product safety standards, Tesla's $1,900 Cyberquad for Kids is once again available to purchase on the Tesla webstore in the US. The latest release of the Cybertruck-inspired ride-on toy - identified as Model 915 - is an updated version of the Model 914 Cyberquad for Kids that launched back in December 2021. Orders for the Model 915 are expected to begin shipping in late November.Like the Model 914, the new Model 915 Cyberquad for Kids was jointly created by Tesla and popular children's toy maker Radio Flyer, best known as the makers of the Little Red Wagon. The battery-powered Cyberquad for Kids has a 500W motor with a top speed of 10 mph (that parents can switch to 5 mph) and a max range... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6GCX1)
Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Microsoft is investigating Windows activation issues that appear to be linked to the company's recent move to block Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys from activating copies of Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you have an installation of Windows 10 / 11 that has been activated using the free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8, then there's a chance it might become deactivated if you swap some hardware components or even upgrade your BIOS version.I personally experienced this in late October on a copy of Windows 11 after swapping a motherboard in one of my test PCs and no longer being able to activate it using the digital key assigned to my Microsoft account. I had to purchase a new Windows 11 key instead.A Verge reader experienced the same issue and... Continue reading...
by Ariel Shapiro on (#6GCJY)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.Today we have a look at how YouTube's new AI rules will (and will not) affect podcasting, another late-night host ditching TV for audio, and a bunch of your recs on podcasts covering the Israel-Hamas war.What do YouTube's new AI rules mean for podcasts? Not much.This morning, YouTube released new terms regarding AI-generated content on its platform. As my Verge colleagues Mia Sato and Nilay Patel reported, the company is creating a two-tier system in the way it moderates such content: a strict set of rules for music and a looser, nearly unenforceable standard for everything else (including podcasts). For creators who make podcasts... Continue reading...