by Monica Chin on (#6BH8C)
I spent a day on a $279, bright blue, cow-spotted 14-inch laptop, and I’m seriously impressed by how much it has to offer. Continue reading…
The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
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| Updated | 2025-07-05 07:32 |
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by Brandon Widder on (#6BGNT)
Apple’s latest pair of wireless earbuds offer improved sound and more features without sacrificing the great ease of use for which AirPods are known. Happy Saturday, dear readers! In case you weren’t already aware, Mother’s Day is next weekend, which means you have about a week or so to pick up a gift if you were planning on doing so. We’ve assembled a wide array of picks in our Mother’s Day gift guide, but, if want a quick suggestion, Apple’s third-gen AirPods are on sale once again at Amazon and Best Buy for $149.99, nearly matching their best price to date.In many ways, Apple’s latest pair of earbuds are tailor-made for iPhone users. The third-gen earbuds feature automatic device switching, head-tracking spatial audio, and deeper Find My integration than the prior model, helping you to better pinpoint their location if you happen to lose them. They also sound better than the... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#6BGNV)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A race to reserve usernames is kicking off on Discord.Starting in the next couple of weeks, millions of Discord users will be forced to say goodbye to their old four-digit-appended names. Discord is requiring everyone to take up a new common platform-wide handle. For Discord, it’s a move toward mainstream social network conventions. For some users, though, it’s a change to the basics of what Discord is — a shift that’s as much about culture as technology.Discord has historically handled usernames with a numeric suffix system. Instead of requiring a completely unique handle, it allowed duplicate names by adding a four-digit code known as a “discriminator” — think TheVerge#1234. But earlier this week, it announced it was changing course... Continue reading…
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6BGNX)
Image: Bluesky Bluesky, the chaotic, invite-only “errors and asses” platform, told its users today there’s a new rule: no heads of state. I’m guessing the posters are too feral to be trusted.In some sense, this is understandable. The thing is still in beta. The team is tiny, and actively juggling moderation while trying to ship features. I’m not sure who got invited, but something prompted today’s announcement. An official skeet. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is already there, as is Sen. Brian Schatz and Sen. Ron Wyden. There are celebrities there, as well — CNN’s Jake Tapper, filmmaker Rian Johnson, model Chrissy Teigen, and filmmaker Lilly Wachowski. But the more high-profile members that join, the more moderation challenges the... Continue reading…
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by Barbara Krasnoff on (#6BGNY)
Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge Passwords have always been a necessary evil, giving you the choice of either using one that is too simple (so you can easily remember it) or one obscure enough to be secure but complicated enough to require a password manager.Until now, the best way to keep your accounts secure was to partner a password with two-factor authorization (2FA). But now, Google is offering another choice: using a passkey — a secure credential tied to the PIN or biometric authentication your device already uses. The passkey only exists on your device, not in the cloud, making it even safer.Want to give it a try? Here’s how.What are the hardware / software requirements?Currently, you can create a passkey on any compatible hardware, including laptops /... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6BGNZ)
Image: Yahoo Marissa Mayer says Yahoo should’ve bought Netflix or Hulu, not Tumblr, during her time as CEO.“We looked at a transformative acquisition, and we bought Tumblr,” Mayer said in an interview with Tech Brew. “At the same time, we were also considering whether it was possible to buy Hulu or, ironically, Netflix. And I think Netflix was $4 billion and Hulu was at $1.3 billion at the time. And either of those, with hindsight being 20/20, would have been a better acquisition.”Yahoo paid $1.1 billion for Tumblr in 2013 but struggled to make sense of the platform among its other media efforts. The company started bringing ads to Tumblr and pushed employees to meet unrealistic sales goals. In 2016, Yahoo wrote down Tumblr’s value by $230 million.... Continue reading…
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6BG2E)
The proprietary connector on Xbox Series X / S consoles is convenient but at a price. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge The pricey Seagate Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X / S have finally received a much-needed price cut. The official Xbox Twitter account announced that the current selection of 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB memory cards from Seagate are now available at a lower price of $89.99, $149.99, and $279.99, respectively. This effectively takes the recent discounted sale prices of the cards and turns them into actual price cuts, which should be soon reflected at all retailers carrying them.The recent frequency of discounts on the Seagate cards and now this price cut happen to come after a leak indicated cheaper storage is on its way from Western Digital. Isn’t it amazing what a small threat of competition can do?
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6BFYQ)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Three years after the emergence of a novel coronavirus brought the world to a standstill, the World Health Organization announced that covid-19 no longer represents a global health emergency.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said in a tweet that the organization’s covid emergency committee recommended “an end to the public health emergency of international concern” and that he accepted.“With great hope I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” Ghebreyesus added.The virus, which emerged from China and quickly spread to practically every country in the world, was first declared a public health emergency by WHO on January 30th, 2020. The organization was slow to recommend travel or trade restrictions,... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6BFW1)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Gmail is getting more persistent advertisements that have started popping up in the middle of some users’ inboxes, as first reported by 9to5Google. Several screenshots posted to Twitter show promotional messages mixed in with actual emails on Gmail’s desktop site, and users aren’t very happy about it.While Gmail has long placed ads at the very top of the Promotions and Social inboxes, it never dared to stick them in between messages. The new placement makes it even more confusing to distinguish between actual emails and ads, even if the promotions have the little green “Ad” icon placed next to them. It’s not clear if this is some kind of test or a gradual rollout. (I’m not seeing ads scattered within any of my inboxes just yet.)
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by Tom Warren on (#6BFW2)
The new backgrounds in Microsoft Teams. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is refreshing the backgrounds available in Microsoft Teams and adding in new animated versions. It’s the biggest update to the virtual backgrounds in Teams since the original collection launched in 2020, with new options to replace the messy room behind you with an idyllic scene.Initially, these will be a large collection of new still images followed by some animated versions in June. Microsoft is sharing some details on the new still background imagery today, but it looks like we’ll have to wait until next month to see how these animated backgrounds compare to the ones that have been available on rival Zoom for years.“Featuring all-new images, the reimagined visual library for Teams has been thoughtfully designed to... Continue reading…
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by Makena Kelly on (#6BFW3)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge This week, lawmakers and regulators made a fresh push to strengthen privacy and safety protections for children online, introducing a flood of bills and enforcement proposals with varying amounts of support from their colleagues, civil liberties groups, and tech trade associations alike. The burst of action comes on the heels of an ongoing youth mental health crisis that seemingly all stakeholders want to resolve, but many fear these proposals could create new problems for children and members of marginalized communities online.The largely bipartisan bills were filed in quick succession. Last Wednesday, a group of senators introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, which would establish a nationwide age verification pilot... Continue reading…
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6BFSX)
The Pixel Watch has Fitbit exercise software built in since Google owns Fitbit. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Next week, Google will try to impress us all with new product announcements at its I/O 2023 conference, and it’s already jumped the gun by teasing the Pixel Fold, but for now, the best thing in Google hardware you can actually buy is a sick deal on the Pixel Watch. Right now, you can get the sleek Pixel Watch for its lowest price of $289.99 ($60 off) at Wellbots when you use promo code GWATCHVERGE at checkout.Google’s Pixel Watch may be a first-generation product that’s likely to have a follow-up in the fall, but it’s a very good smartwatch for Android users. The Pixel Watch has a unique, circular domed display that leans more minimalist than others — with some clean lines and a 41mm dial that should nicely fit most wrists. Looks aside,... Continue reading…
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by Allison Johnson on (#6BFSZ)
Apple’s Live Activities and always-on display are a showcase for what our phones could be. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The always-on display, Live Activities, and Dynamic Island tease a frictionless future where we spend less time in apps. Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#6BFSY)
Rebecca Ferguson in Silo. | Image: Apple The latest sci-fi series on Apple TV Plus is more than just another post-apocalyptic drama. Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#6BFQP)
The touchscreen offers quick access to earbud settings along with extras like timers and even a flashlight. It’s not a super compelling addition right now, but this is only the beginning of what’s sure to become a trend. Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6BFNV)
There’s currently no release date, but garage door controls are available to try in the Google Home public preview. | Illustration: The Verge Controls for smart garage doors are coming to the Google Home app. The feature has already started to roll out to some users, with one Reddit user (spotted by 9to5Google) posting an image of the large pill-shaped open / close toggle controls that have silently appeared on the app. Image: u/MickotheNestPro The design mirrors Google Home’s usual pill-shaped toggle. We should note that this feature has only landed on the preview Google Home app so far and doesn’t have an official release yet. Google is currently in the process of overhauling its Home app to prepare for Matter and has been testing the updated version since October last year. Given Google’s I/O event is just around the corner, we might get some... Continue reading…
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by Patrick George on (#6BFNW)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After years of multibillion-dollar investments, “just around the corner” promises of robotaxis, and predictions that today’s children might never need to learn to drive, 2022 ended with a hard wake-up call for the autonomous car industry.High-profile crashes made headlines instead of big technological leaps. Major companies raised the white flag and retreated from the effort. And the demise of respected tech leader Argo AI left investors and industry officials alike wondering if they can’t do it, who can?But even with a newfound understanding that driverless cars are years or even decades away, automakers and tech companies alike are still aiming for that goal. And big investments in driverless technology are being made, proving that... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6BFNX)
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The deadline to claim the titles included in the PlayStation Plus Collection is fast approaching, meaning you’ve got until May 9th to claim the dozen-plus PS4 classics that are included as part of a PlayStation Plus subscription. Eurogamer notes that the list currently includes some absolute cracking games like Bloodborne, God of War, Ratchet and Clank, The Last Guardian, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.Sony launched the collection alongside the PlayStation 5 console back in 2020, allowing owners of its new console to catch up on some of the biggest games of the previous generation. It was a neat incentive to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, and a reminder of the wealth of PS4 titles available to play via backwards compatibility in the... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6BFKZ)
AMD’s AI-capable MI300 data center APU is set to arrive sometime later this year. | Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images Microsoft has allegedly teamed up with AMD to help bolster the chipmaker’s expansion into artificial intelligence processors. According to a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft is providing engineering resources to support AMD’s developments as the two companies join forces to compete against Nvidia, which controls an estimated 80 percent market share in the AI processor market.In turn, Bloomberg’s sources also claim that AMD is helping Microsoft to develop its own in-house AI chips, codenamed Athena. Several hundred employees from Microsoft’s silicon division are reportedly working on the project and the company has apparently already sunk around $2 billion into its development. Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw has, however, denied that... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6BFJB)
ChatGPT isn’t out of the EU’s data privacy woods just yet. | Illustration: The Verge The European Union’s fight with ChatGPT is a glance into what’s to come for AI services. Continue reading…
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by Brandon Widder on (#5AADW)
Like Amazon’s Echo speakers, its various smart displays come in a range of sizes. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon’s current Echo lineup offers a broad selection of smart speakers and displays that can fit just about anywhere in your home. Whether you want to place a voice assistant in your living room, replace the bulletin board in your office, or pick up a touchscreen-enabled device to showcase recipes in the kitchen, there's an Echo device for just about every occasion and use case.Regardless of why you might want one, there’s always a way to save on Echo devices, from the last-gen Dot to the wall-mounted Echo Show 15. Even when they’re selling at full price, for instance, Amazon offers a 25 percent discount when you trade in select devices, meaning there are still other ways to save money when none of the models are on sale.Below,... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#6BF4H)
A rendering of what a large “direct ocean capture” plant from Captura could look like. | Image: Caltech An audacious new effort to pull carbon dioxide out of the Pacific Ocean as a way to fight climate change is being backed by fossil fuel giants and Big Tech. But the nascent technology, called “direct ocean capture” (DOC), still has a long way to go to prove that it works — and that it won’t cause any new problems.Caltech researchers founded the startup Captura, which just announced a new project today. Captura was founded in 2021 and won a $1 million award from Elon Musk’s XPrize competition the following year. Now, with funding from the US’s biggest gas utility, Captura’s setting up its biggest pilot project yet at the Port of Los Angeles.The idea is that filtering CO2 out of seawater will allow oceans to soak up more of the... Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#6BF2P)
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Apple surpassed Wall Street expectations and said it had reached an all-time high in services revenue and set a new March quarter record for iPhone revenue in a report on its second quarter earnings on Thursday. The numbers show continued demand for the iPhone 14 lineup even as substantial upgrades (including USB-C connectivity) approach this fall. But Apple’s other divisions, including Mac and iPad, were down year over year.“We are pleased to report an all-time record in services and a March quarter record for iPhone despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, and to have our installed base of active devices reach an all-time high,” CEO Tim Cook said in the company’s earnings release. He told CNBC in an interview that, unlike... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6BF10)
This is the company that Pluto TV’s co-founder is reportedly working on. | Image: Telly The co-founder of Pluto TV, Ilya Pozin, wants to give away free ad-supported TVs — yes, you read that right. That’s according to a report from Janko Roettgers in his Lowpass newsletter, who says the free television set will come with a second, built-in screen dedicated solely to ads and a soundbar.Instead of profiting from TV sales, Roettgers reports Pozin’s new company, called Teevee Corporation, would make money off of the ads that appear on TV’s secondary screen. The idea isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds, as Vizio, for example, already makes far more money from ads and commissions than it does from selling TVs.Sources tell Roettgers that the built-in screen would be about the same height as a smartphone and stretch across the... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6BEZ0)
Slack GPT will eventually provide conversation summaries with a single click. | Image: Slack With Slack GPT, natively integrated AI features are being developed for Slack that could help boost productivity without disrupting how users already interact with the platform. Some examples include directing the tone and length of messages composed directly in Slack and even attending Huddles on your behalf, summarizing them along with any unread messages you may have missed.Introduced at the Salesforce World Tour event on Thursday, Slack GPT is a new generative AI experience that has three main focus points: the aforementioned natively integrated AI features, customizable automated workflows, and a dedicated Einstein GPT app for Slack. It’s going to be a while before any of these features are available to everyday Slack users, but... Continue reading…
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by David Nield on (#6BEZ2)
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge One of the reasons to choose an Android phone over an iPhone is the flexibility you get in terms of customization — and there’s really no better example of that than third-party Android launchers.If you’ve never come across the term before, a launcher revamps the homescreen of your Android phone. We’re not just talking about a different wallpaper: launchers give you control over icons, colors, menus, and just about every screen handled by the Android operating system. These tools let you manage everything from the number of shortcuts on the homescreen to the way your notifications work; they also give you much more control over how your phone’s interface looks.Say, for example, you want oversized app drawer icons or icons that are all... Continue reading…
by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6BEZ3)
Concept art of the Going Merry. | Image: Netflix While we haven’t even seen any footage from Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece yet, earlier this year, the streamer announced that it intended for the series to debut sometime in 2023. That could still happen, but a new update from Eiichiro Oda makes it sound like there’s a chance we might be waiting a little longer than expected, which is a bit tricky considering that Netflix’s One Piece doesn’t even have a firm premiere date yet.In a lengthy update shared to Netflix’s Geeked Twitter account today, Oda opened up about what it’s been like working with Tomorrow Studios and Netflix on One Piece and how, even though everyone involved in the new series “understand each of the characters,” they also “come from very... Continue reading…
by Monica Chin on (#6BEZ4)
Are you a Platinum person or a Graphite person? | Image: Dell Dell has refreshed what might be its boldest and funkiest laptop, the XPS 13 Plus. The new model looks quite similar to the product released last year; the flat keyboard, LED function row, and invisible haptic touchpad remain. But inside, the new model is powered by Intel’s 13th Gen Core processors — specifically, from what I can see on Dell’s website, the Core i7-1360P.Honestly, the processor is probably what most needed changing. The XPS 13 Plus I reviewed in 2022 was a nice-looking, well-built machine with a great screen, but it was hot and loud with subpar battery life. Those are big issues for a thin and light laptop, but they’re also issues that a better processor could potentially fix. Image: Dell You... Continue reading…
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by Richard Lawler on (#6AX9F)
Illustration: The Verge From the Pixel 7A to the rumored Pixel foldable, here’s what we’re expecting out of Google’s hardware division in May and beyond. Continue reading…
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by Richard Lawler on (#6BET4)
Google Pixel Fold | Image: Google The rumors are true: next week, Google will introduce its first foldable phone, the Pixel Fold, during the Google I/O 2023 event.Google hasn’t revealed any specs for the device, but a brief teaser video shows off a full-size outer display on a phone that opens up similarly to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices. The camera bar on the back is similar to other Pixel devices but doesn’t stick out as prominently, reflecting what we’ve seen in leaked marketing materials and even a hands-on video.CNBC reported in April that the Pixel Fold would be a 5.8-inch phone that folds out into a 7.6-inch tablet. It’ll reportedly include a Google Tensor G2 processor, weigh 10 ounces, and have “the most durable hinge on a foldable,” along with a price... Continue reading…
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by Monica Chin on (#6BET5)
Image: Asus The 2023 model of Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14 is now available for purchase. The release, first announced in January, brings a 504-zone Mini LED screen, Nvidia’s Advanced Optimus feature, and AMD’s Zen 4 CPU architecture to the bestselling gaming line.The new G14 can be purchased at Best Buy or on Asus’ website for a purported starting price of $1,429.99. I’m not seeing a model for this price available on Asus’ store, however, but I have found several models currently selling at Best Buy. It appears that the $1,429.99 model includes an Nvidia RTX 4050, a Ryzen 7 7735HS, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and 512GB of storage. I’m not going to recommend most people buy that model (the combination of the low-powered RTX 4050 and limited storage is not great... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6BET6)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Hulu is adding a few new channels to its live TV lineup. That includes the local PBS stations that are available across the country, PBS Kids, and the Magnolia Network.Hulu says local PBS channels and PBS Kids will start streaming on its Live TV subscription in “the coming months,” which includes shows like American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, and Nature. While PBS first brought its local channels to YouTube TV in 2019 and later started airing them on DirecTV Stream, the broadcasting company also offers local stations available to stream from its website.Meanwhile, the Magnolia Network, a home-improvement-focused channel, will join Hulu’s live TV lineup on May 25th. This channel airs shows like Fixer Upper, Beach Cottage... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6BEQD)
Image: Meta WhatsApp is officially announcing and rolling out a series of new features designed to improve the messaging app’s polls and give you more options when it comes to captions. It says these options are rolling out globally now and will be available to “everyone” in the coming weeks.First up, polls, a feature WhatsApp originally launched last year. Currently, polls are multiple-choice by default. That’s great for when you’re asking people to list all the dates they’re free (which is what I mainly see them used for) but less so when you want everyone to pick just one option each. So now there’s an “Allow multiple answers” toggle when creating a poll for this purpose.Other neat additions to the polls feature includes a new search option to... Continue reading…
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6BEQF)
Even the big-boy Lego UCS Millennium Falcon is on sale. Though it’s still expensive. And massive. And massively expensive. | Image: Wicked Brick According to the calendar, it’s Star Wars Day. You know, the day that just happens to sound like you’re telling someone “May the Force be with you” if you don’t say the date like a normal person and just call it May 4th. But since this has become a small bedrock of a nerd holiday, that means there are often various promotions and deals to take advantage of. Of course, not all of them are good deals (some are downright scruffy-looking), but we’re collecting some worthwhile ones here — ranging from video games and somewhat-relevant tech stuff to a whole bunch of officially licensed Lego.May the deals be with you.One of the hottest deals for Star Wars Day is on the buzzy new action-adventure game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, revisiting... Continue reading…
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by Shannon Liao on (#6BEQE)
AI was a hot topic at the 2023 Game Developers Conference. | Image: GDC The early days of AI in game development have been full of questions and murky answers. Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#6BEQG)
Going beyond “What’s the weather like?” | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Amazon is looking to add new AI chatbot technology to Alexa, reports Insider based on leaked documents. The voice assistant needs reanimation in a world now seemingly infatuated with generative AI like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.One example in the document describes Alexa generating a bedtime story after an eight-year-old asks it to tell a story about a “cat and a moon.” And in true ChatGPT-style, it makes up a whole story about “Mittens, the first cat to ever go to the moon.” It also describes the use of an Echo Show camera that sees the child holding an Olaf toy, so it incorporates the character into the story.Disney is just one of several partnership opportunities that Amazon is imagining alongside Lego and others.Amazon... Continue reading…
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6BEQH)
Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s mostly unreliable tunnel digging venture, has won the approval to expand its “Vegas Loop” system to — wait for it — 69 stations. Nice? Not really.The tunnel system is Musk’s supposedly futuristic idea to alleviate road traffic by shifting some of that bumper-to-bumper traffic underground. The expansion, approved by the Clark County Commissioners, allows The Boring Company to construct 25 miles of additional tunnels for a total of 65 miles and 18 additional stations.The original vision for the Vegas Loop was 51 stations and 29 miles of tunnels — so this represents a pretty big vote of confidence in Musk’s idea of an underground network of Teslas whizzing through tunnels that are only slightly larger... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#6BEQJ)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Xbox that’s had fans questioning the state of Microsoft’s console gaming business. First, there was news of a 30 percent drop in Xbox hardware revenue, followed by the CMA’s decision to block Microsoft’s giant $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, and topped off by Redfall launching earlier this week to a very lukewarm reception.When you combine all of this with a quiet year of Xbox releases in 2022, Xbox fans are wondering when Microsoft is going to deliver a slew of triple-A games like we saw with the Xbox 360 generation.“We’re not in the business of out console-ing Sony or out console-ing Nintendo,” says Xbox chief Phil Spencer in an interview with Kinda Funny Games. Spencer said s... Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#6BEMT)
It’s got a rower and a treadmill, guys. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Peloton isn’t keen on the fact people mostly think of it as that bike company, which is why CEO Barry McCarthy says the company will “relaunch its brand” later this month so that more people are aware that it does other things, too. Part of that is relaunching the Peloton app with a new tiered subscription structure.There’s no information on the pricing just yet, but on today’s Q3 2023 earnings call, CFO Liz Coddington said the “app tiers will have different amounts of content variances” depending on the price. Only users who have bought Peloton hardware and pay for All-Access membership will get everything Peloton has to offer.McCarthy also noted on the call that unaided awareness for the Row is at 4 percent, while the Guide, its... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#6BEMV)
Case-Mate’s translucent and colorful USB-C chargers start at just $15.40 today. | Image: Case-Mate If you’re hunting for a graduation gift that’s both playful and practical, Case-Mate’s Fuel USB-C Charger is a good option. The portable charger delivers 30 watts of power so your giftee can quickly power up their smartphone, tablet, or even Nintendo Switch. It does that while looking good to boot, boasting a unique translucent body reminiscent of old iMacs available in a variety of fun colors. Best of all, starting at just $15.40 ($14.59 off) in lime green at Amazon, it’s affordable, so you can buy Mom one, too, for Mother’s Day — or just for yourself. We won’t judge!If you were thinking about buying Google’s latest Pixel 7 only because the Pixel 7 Pro costs $300 more, you might want to think again. Right now, they’re a lot closer in... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6BEJB)
Image: Apple Apple Arcade is getting 20 new games, and that includes the exclusive launch of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle roguelike.The game, called TMNT Splintered Fate, is a top-down co-op roguelike that has Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael fighting their way through enemies as they search for Master Splinter, who’s gone missing. You can team up with friends or go it alone as you traverse New York City while enlisting help from other characters like April, Metalhead, Casey Jones, and more along the way.
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6BEJC)
While Paramount and Hasbro’s live-action Transformers movies have always been fanservice-focused visual triumphs, they’ve been consistently held back by the studio’s erroneous belief that people line up for these things wanting to see regular human people become friends with robots. Though that has never and will never be the case, one detail from the latest trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts — which features at least two human protagonists — suggests that Paramount’s been thinking about how to address this issue. And their solution’s a wild one.Human / Cybertronian partnerships were a big part of the Transformers franchise long before Michael Bay got his hands on it, and Shia LaBeouf’s character Sam Witwitcky in Bay’s first... Continue reading…
by Jon Porter on (#6BEG3)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Uber is announcing a new integration with Alexa today that’ll allow you to track your Uber Eats orders via Amazon’s voice assistant in the US. Amazon says the feature will provide updates about the status of an order from when it’s being prepared right through to when Uber’s driver arrives with your food. You have the option of having Alexa proactively announce each stage of the order process or light up its notification light so you can ask for the update yourself.Now if you’re thinking “Hang on, I thought you’d been able to do this for years?” then I don’t blame you! Uber announced support for hailing a ride via Alexa way back in 2016 (we even made a Verge video about it at the time), and last year, it added the ability to order Uber... Continue reading…
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by David Pierce on (#6BEG2)
Mozilla is jumping on the Mastodon train but taking a very different approach. | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images If you want to be a member of Mozilla.Social, Mozilla’s new Mastodon instance, you’re not allowed to harass other users. You’re also not allowed to use derogatory language about gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, age, ability, or any other “physical, social or cultural attributes or classifications.” You can’t spread misinformation and disinformation, either. Or impersonate someone. Some of these are normal policies, some are unusually heavy-handed, and they’re all hard to litigate. But Mozilla’s stance is pretty simple and extremely unusual in the social media universe: if it’s debatable, it’s gone.“We’re not going to advertise that we’re some kind of neutral platform,” says Steve Teixeira, Mozilla’s chief product officer. He says... Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#6BEG1)
A new UI is coming to town when the Galaxy Watch 6 launches later this year. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge It’s been relatively quiet on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 rumor front, but we finally have some idea of what to expect. Today, Samsung announced that the watch will launch with One UI 5 Watch, a new version of the skin it runs over Google’s Wear OS 3 platform. The update will include several refinements to existing features like sleep tracking and emergency SOS while also introducing personalized heart rate zones.It’s been a little over a year since Samsung first rehauled its sleep tracking features, which have generally lagged behind the competition. In the forthcoming update, Samsung says users will now see a more prominent sleep score, and that it’ll be viewable on the wrist. Those who participate in its chronotype-based Sleep... Continue reading…
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6BEDP)
Some of the 27 mental health apps tested by Mozilla last year have improved. Most, however, have not. | Image: Mozilla / *Privacy Not Included. An investigation into mental health apps has revealed that many of the most popular services are failing to protect the privacy and security of their users. Following up on a report from last year’s Privacy Not Included guide, researchers at Mozilla found that apps designed for sensitive issues like therapy and mental health conditions are still collecting large amounts of personal data under questionable or deceptive privacy policies.The team re-reviewed 27 of the mental health, meditation, and prayer apps featured in the previous year’s study, including Calm, Youper, and Headspace, in addition to five new apps requested by the public. Of those 32 total apps, 22 were slapped with a “privacy not included” warning label, something... Continue reading…
by Jon Porter on (#6BEDQ)
The Motorola Edge 40 in blue. | Image: Motorola Exactly one month after announcing the Edge 40 Pro, Motorola is introducing a more affordable, non-Pro variant called the Motorola Edge 40. It’s available from today in Europe for €599.99 (£529.99, around $664), €300 less than the €899.99 (around $995) Edge 40 Pro. Motorola’s press release doesn’t mention a US release for the Edge 40, but given the Edge 40 Pro was announced for the US market just two days ago as the Motorola Edge Plus (2023) it feels like there’s a chance of its non-Pro sibling following a similar path.As you’d expect, the Edge 40 features slightly downgraded specs across the board compared to the Pro. Its 1080p OLED screen is slightly smaller at 6.55 inches versus 6.67 inches, and it’s also got a lower 144Hz refresh... Continue reading…
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6BEDR)
Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Waymo is dramatically expanding its robotaxi service areas in Phoenix and San Francisco as it seeks to gain new customers, generate more revenue, and make a convincing argument that self-driving cars are more than just an expensive fad.In Phoenix, the company’s autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will now cover a total of 180 square miles, or roughly twice the size of its current map and four times the size of the area that the company served when it first launched its ride-hailing operation in 2020.Waymo’s two distinct service areas, Downtown Phoenix and the East Valley communities of Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler, will be connected for the first time. And the company’s robotaxis will also now serve the town of Scottsdale, known... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#6BEA3)
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is testing new updates to its Photos app for Windows 11, including a Spot Fix tool for fixing up blemishes in photographs and a new slideshow feature. Windows 11 testers in the Canary and Dev Channels can get access to these new features immediately and they should be available to all Windows 11 users in the coming months.The new slideshow experience lets you view your photos in a slideshow format with the usual animations and transitions and cheesy soundtracks. “This was a top feature request we received from the community since launching the new Photos app in Windows 11 last Fall,” says Yvonne Hsieh, a principal product manager for Windows Photos. Image: Microsoft The new slideshow feature in Photos... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6BEA4)
Recent unofficial renders of what the Galaxy Z Flip 5 could look like. | Image: OnLeaks / MediaPeanut Ice Universe, an anonymous Twitter account with a good track record of leaking details about unannounced smartphones, says Samsung’s upcoming Z Flip 5 will have a 3.4-inch cover screen with a resolution of 720 x 748. This isn’t the first time Ice has predicted that 3.4-inch secondary display, but it’s the first time we’ve seen a specific resolution listed. It’s a big increase over the 1.9-inch 260 x 512 cover display on the Z Flip 4.The leak comes a few short days after OnLeaks and MediaPeanut published a series of unofficial renders of the upcoming handset based on leaked specs, while also claiming the phone will have a 3.4-inch cover display. Meanwhile, OnLeaks expects the size of the internal display to remain unchanged at 6.7... Continue reading…