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by Umar Shakir on (#6TKC1)
Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge Google is set to launch its Android Automotive app conversion program this February that helps developers convert their Android apps to in-vehicle screens.As reported by Android Authority, the Car ready mobile apps program" guides Android developers to make slight changes to apps so they can be available in vehicles with Google Play Store in the dash.To start, Google is specifically looking for streaming entertainment, gaming, and browser apps, and they need compatibility with x86 processors since many cars aren't using Arm chips.However, a compatibility mode option can also get many apps working in Android Automotive even without following all the guidelines. Google had said it would create an easier path for in-car app approval last May during its I/O 2024 developer conference.There's already a growing number of Google Play Store apps in some Android Automotive vehicles such as the Lincoln Nautilus that we reviewed in September. It has games such as Angry Birds, streaming apps like Max and Crunchy Roll, and meeting apps like WebEx that ran similarly to their Android tablet version counterparts.However, the selection is still slim overall, with primarily car-relevant apps like Waze and A Better Route Planner making the list. Come February, expect a lot more apps to trickle into the dash.
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
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| Updated | 2025-04-06 08:32 |
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by Emma Roth on (#6TKC2)
Image: Blue Origin Following a scrubbed launch attempt and weather-related delays, Blue Origin will once again try to send its New Glenn rocket into space for the first time. During the attempt, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company aims to reach orbit, helping to further its goals of shuttling Project Kuiper satellites, equipment, and eventually humans into space.Here's what you need to know about when and how to watch New Glenn's long-awaited inaugural launch.What is New Glenn?New Glenn is the 320-foot-tall rocket that Blue Origin initially announced in 2016. Though Blue Origin planned to launch New Glenn by 2020, the project was beset by delays due to issues with engine development and other technical setbacks.The rocket has a reusable first stage powered by the company's BE-4 engines, which run on liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen. Shortly after launch, the first stage is supposed to detach and autonomously land upright on a sea-based platform, where Blue Origin can then retrieve it and reuse it for future missions.Following separation, New Glenn's upper stage should fire up its BE-3U engines - a less powerful engine that uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen - as it attempts to propel itself into space with its payload. The upper stage is capable of delivering 45 metric tons of cargo into low Earth orbit.For this uncrewed launch, New Glenn will house the Blue Ring Pathfinder, a payload consisting of a communications array, a power system, and a flight computer. This will let Blue Origin test its Blue Ring spacecraft, which will eventually support missions with refueling, hosting, data relay, and cloud computing capabilities. Image: Blue Origin New Glenn's first stage uses BE-4 engines, while its upper stage has less powerful BE-3U engines. Earlier this week, Blue Origin scrubbed New Glenn's launch due to a vehicle subsystem issue." A successful first launch could make Blue Origin a serious rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX. Along with competing for government contracts, both commercial space companies are also working to build out internet satellite constellations, with SpaceX regularly sending Starlink satellites into space and Blue Origin on tap to support Amazon's Project Kuiper initiative.When will Blue Origin launch New Glenn?Blue Origin's next launch attempt will take place at Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday, January 16th. The three-hour launch window opens at 1AM ET (10PM PT).How to watch New Glenn's launchYou can watch a livestream of New Glenn's launch from Blue Origin's website, its X account, and its YouTube channel. We'll embed a livestream here when it becomes available.
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by Chris Welch on (#6TK8Y)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge This week is quickly becoming a sea change moment for Sonos as the company looks to undo the damage done to its reputation since last May. It all began on Monday with the departure of CEO Patrick Spence, who was replaced by board member Tom Conrad. Then came news that chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin would also be leaving the company - another indication that Sonos is serious about correcting course and taking accountability for its new app woes.In a third shakeup within the company's leadership ranks, I can report that chief commercial officer Deirdre Findlay also plans to leave Sonos in the coming weeks. The company's corporate governance page says Findlay oversees all marketing, revenue, and customer experience organizations at Sonos. She is responsible for integrated brand strategy, geographic expansion strategies, and all go to market execution."By now, there's no arguing that Sonos' go-to-market strategy for its rebuilt mobile app was deeply flawed and rushed. Before he lost his job, Spence eventually conceded that the company should've taken a far more cautious approach and offered the new software as a beta release while keeping the previous, more stable... Read the full story at The Verge.
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6TK8W)
Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images Sean Duffy, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Transportation, said he would allow safety investigations into Tesla's advanced driving technology to proceed, possibly setting himself up for a clash with a top supporter of the president-elect.Duffy, a former Republican congressman, lobbyist, and Fox News personality, made the comments during his confirmation hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked whether he could maintain objectivity in investigating Tesla, which is headed by Trump donor and supporter Elon Musk.Yes, I commit to this committee and to you that I will let NHTSA do their investigation," he said. I think I also mentioned to you that a lot of the players in these spaces, I haven't met any of them."Yes, I commit to this committee and to you that I will let NHTSA do their investigation"Duffy's comments follow months of reporting about Musk's unprecedented influence over Trump's transition, in which the Tesla CEO has sat in on meetings with potential nominees, vetted new hires, and volunteered to co-lead a committee to oversee massive spending cuts. Trump is also reportedly weighing policy decisions that would favor Musk's business, such as eliminating a crash reporting rule for partial and fully autonomous vehicles.During the Biden administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched several investigations into the safety of Tesla's automated driving technology. One the largest probes resulted in a December 2023 recall of more than 2 million Tesla vehicles to install better safeguards for the company's Autopilot driver assist feature. NHTSA launched another investigation into the adequacy of the recall.Duffy didn't say anything more about stepping into a role that could put him at odds with Musk. But he did comment on the needs for national legislation to better regulate the safe rollout of autonomous vehicles. He said:
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by Jay Peters on (#6TK8X)
Image: Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft will soon let you get in-person repairs for Xbox Series X / S consoles at uBreakiFix stores, the company announced today.Microsoft already offers in-person Xbox repairs at Microsoft retail stores, but uBreakiFix will be the the first Xbox Authorized Service Provider," according to the announcement. You'll be able to get Xbox repairs at uBreakiFix's nearly 700 participating store locations across the US" starting January 20th, Microsoft says. (The company notes that you should check with your local uBreakiFix store to make sure they are participating in the Xbox repairability program.)In the announcement, Microsoft says that it's expanding its repairability program for the white Xbox Series S, the white Xbox Series X digital edition, and special edition Xbox Series X Galaxy Black" model. We've asked Microsoft if the black Xbox Series X with a disc drive and the black Xbox Series S qualify for uBreakiFix repairs as well.If you're looking to repair your Xbox yourself, sourcing parts for that recently got a bit easier after iFixit started offering genuine Xbox parts and step-by-step repair guides in December. iFixit offers parts and guides for repairing Surface devices, too.In its announcement today, Microsoft also says that packaging for the white Xbox Series S, the white Xbox Series X digital edition, and Xbox Series X Galaxy Black" model are now fully paper and fiber-based, eliminating all single-use plastics."
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6TK60)
Image: The Verge Will the last device leaving the Nest app please turn out the lights? The day finally arrived; Google has announced it's transitioning the Nest Protect smoke and CO alarm to the Google Home app. This means you'll be able to get alerts and notifications for your alarm directly through Google Home, as well as hush alarms, according to a blog post from Google. This means you no longer need the Nest app for any device, but you can still use it - for now, at least.The Nest Protect was the last device that could only be accessed and controlled from the Nest app, following Google's efforts over the last couple of years to fully port its Nest cameras and other devices to the Home app. With this move, Google will finally be able to sunset the Nest app, although the company has said it will keep it in maintenance mode indefinitely. Image: Google Home Screenshots of the Nest Protect in the Google Home app showing safety checkups, the status of all your Protects, and a view of the heads-up notification page. The new function for the Nest Protect is coming to Google Home users in Public Preview on Android this week and to iOS soon." According to Google, it will enable the following features:
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by Andrew Webster on (#6TK61)
Image: Apple Much of Severance - the sci-fi workplace thriller on Apple TV Plus - takes place in a brightly lit office, with characters huddled over strange computers where they do work they're told is both mysterious and important. In the show, that work looks a bit like an alternate reality take on Minesweeper, except the characters are attempting to find numbers that feel scary," even though they don't know what that really means - and the cast is largely going through the same experience.The computers on the show are functional, so when Mark and Helly are moving pixelated numbers around on a screen, that's something the performers are doing on set. When you see us, we really are refining numbers," Adam Scott, who plays Mark and serves as a producer on the show, tells The Verge. There is actually a way to do it."The computers are the brainchild of prop master Cath Miller and production designer Jeremy Hindle. The office-dwelling characters in Severance have undergone a procedure that separates their work selves from their life outside, effectively creating two people, one of whom exists only within the basement offices of Lumon Industries. As Hindle told me back in 2022, this allowed the team to design the computers with playfulness in mind. We kept thinking, If you're experimenting with these people, what would you put in front of them?'" Hindle told me. Imagine how fun it would be to sit at this thing, as opposed to if I put a laptop in front of them. It's like a child's device." Image: Apple A lonely Lumon computer on the severed floor. Image: Marion Curtis / StarPix for Apple TV Plus Zach Cherry and Britt Lower using a Lumon computer at an installation at Grand Central Station in New York. For Scott, using the devices - which pair a vintage-yet-touchscreen monitor with a keyboard that has a built-in trackball - was a nostalgic experience. They remind me of the old Apple IIe [computers] I grew up using that my brother and my dad had," he explains. But even though the terminals look familiar, they're just different enough to make them feel almost surreal - a perfect fit for Severance. They also have their own interface, and their own keyboard and trackball, but the buttons are in an odd place ergonomically," Scott adds. So it's tricky to use. But I feel like me and [costars Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, and John Turturro] have all figured out how to use it."These people have no idea what they're doing."Scott says that the functionality of the computers is a big help for his performance, noting that, often, when actors interact with a gadget, there's nothing really there onscreen. But on Severance, each actor is able to actually refine these numbers and come up with your own strategies and apply your own meaning to it."That meaning is important because, well, nobody knows what's really going down in Lumon's basement. They sit there clicking around a computer without understanding the importance of their work (at this point in the story, viewers don't know the importance, either). So for the actors, actually using the computers and being just as clueless as their characters helps them better inhabit the role.These people have no idea what they're doing," says Scott. They just know that they need to refine numbers by feeling sort of when they get scary. Getting to actually do that when we're on camera is really important and really helps a lot."Severance season 2 hits Apple TV Plus on January 17th.
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by Chris Welch on (#6TK62)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Streaming TV services keep getting more expensive, and those subscription costs will only continue to rise in 2025 and beyond. Amid all these price hikes, the best we can hope for is that the companies behind them will continue to add new features to ease the sting of paying more. Sling TV is trying to do just that with its cloud DVR, which has removed its previous recording limits and is now unlimited."Unlimited DVR (previously called DVR Plus) will allow customers to record as much content as they want, with recordings saved for up to nine months," the company wrote in a press release today. That endless recording freedom still requires an extra $5 each month, however; YouTube TV includes an unlimited cloud DVR in its base subscription - but that subscription costs quite a bit more. Either way, unlimited is certainly better than the 200-hour limit that Sling's Premium DVR had before.Here's what the newly enhanced DVR gets you:
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by Mia Sato on (#6TK63)
Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage Drake's ongoing legal battle with his label, Universal Music Group, has escalated. The artist filed a lawsuit in federal court today, accusing UMG of harming his reputation and endangering him for profit. The suit stems from the diss track Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar, another UMG artist. Drake's legal complaint also again accuses UMG of using bots on Spotify and other streaming platforms, and payola to make the song more popular.On May 4, 2024, UMG approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him," the complaint reads. Even though UMG enriched itself and its shareholders by exploiting Drake's music for years, and knew that the salacious allegations against Drake were false, UMG chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists." Image: Aubrey Drake Graham vs. UMG Recordings Drake accuses UMG of using bots to drive up listens and views, and paying for promotion on social media. The lawsuit details a shooting at Drake's (real name: Aubrey Graham) home just a few days after the song was released, during which a security guard was injured. Multiple break-ins occurred in the following days, which the lawsuit says were caused by UMG's actions.Why would UMG pit two of its own artists against each other? Drake's team has a theory:
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by Mia Sato on (#6TK64)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Like the wildfire conditions in Los Angeles County, my For You page on TikTok turned overnight.I woke up last week to a phone screen filled with ravenous flames and video after video of razed homes, businesses, and other structures. Influencers broke from their regular cadence of content to film themselves packing up a suitcase for evacuation; nameless accounts shared footage from streets I didn't recognize, showcasing the devastation; freshly created profiles asked for help locating their lost pets. Scrolling on TikTok feels like trying to keep track of 1,000 live feeds at once, each urgent and horrifying in its own way.What all of this amounts to is a different question entirely. Even as there's no escaping disaster content, the clips, comments, check-ins, and footage are not actually very helpful. Our feeds are awash with both too much and not enough information. Though it's not yet clear how these fires started, scientists say that climate change will only continue to exacerbate wildfires going forward. Current weather conditions - including a severe lack of rainfall this year in Los Angeles - have created a tinderbox in the region.Questions like Where are the shelters?" Should I evacuate?" and Where can I get a mask and other supplies?" are left unanswered in favor of frightening first-person reports. And who can blame Los Angeles-area residents? That's what you're supposed to do on TikTok. What they can't do is share a link to mutual aid resources or to a news story about vital, up-to-date evacuation information. They can scroll endlessly on the algorithmic For You page, but they can't sort content to display the most recent updates first. TikTok is simply not built to disseminate potentially lifesaving breaking news alerts. Instead, it's filled with endless clips of news crews interviewing people who have lost everything.The wildfire content machine echoes a similar phenomenon from just a few months ago, when October's Hurricane Milton tore through Florida, killing dozens and causing billions of dollars in damages. Some of the most visible and viral content from the storm came from influencers and other content creators who stayed behind to vlog their way through the event, racking millions of views. So far, there's not the same risk-taking-for-viral-content dynamic at play with the fires in Southern California, but the overall experience is not that different: a random infotainment feed where a video of a person losing nearly every earthly possession is followed directly by someone testing a new makeup product. Media critic Matt Pearce put it best: TikTok was largely indifferent to whether I live or die."Instagram seemed slightly more useful, but only, I suspect, if you follow people who post relevant content. In times of crisis - during the Black Lives Matter uprisings of 2020 or the ongoing bombardment of Gaza - Instagram Stories has become something of a bulletin board for resharing infographics and resources. Linking to relevant announcements and news stories is really only possible through Stories, but at least you can. Instagram search, on the other hand, is a chaotic mixture of user-generated infographics, grainy pictures of the fires that have been screenshotted and reuploaded multiple times, and distasteful selfies from bodybuilders wishing LA well.It should go without saying that depraved conspiracy theories once again spread on X, including from billionaire owner Elon Musk and other right-wing influencers who falsely claimed DEI initiatives were responsible for the fires. Twitter, once functioning like a breaking news feed, is now overrun with crypto spam and Nazi sympathizers. Meanwhile, smaller, more specialized apps like Watch Duty, a nonprofit wildfire monitoring platform, have filled gaps. On Bluesky, an X competitor, users have the option to pin feeds based on trending topics, creating a custom landing page for LA fire content.We are in for more, not fewer, extreme weather events like storms and heatwaves, and it's worth asking ourselves whether we are prepared to do this all over again. Platform decay is all the more apparent in times of emergency, when users are forced to wade through astronomical amounts of garbage: video content that scares but doesn't help us, news websites with so many pop-up ads it feels illegal, or ramblings from tech elites who are looking for someone to blame rather than a way to help. By my estimations, our feeds will return to regularly scheduled programming in five or so business days, and the devastation from these fires will get lost in a sea of comedy skits and PR unboxings. Until, of course, the next one.
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by Justine Calma on (#6TK65)
Four John Deere combines harvest wheat in tandem near the farm shop and maintenance yard near Pullman, Palouse Region, Washington, USA. | Photo: Getty Images John Deere's unfair" practices raised repair costs for farmers and kept them from being able to make repairs on tractors and other equipment they own, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges in a new lawsuit.The FTC and attorneys general for Illinois and Minnesota filed suit today in a long-running fight for the right to repair - a battle that's become more heated as Deere increasingly incorporated software into farm equipment. The complaint accuses John Deere of decades" of unlawful practices that forced farmers to turn to the company's own network of authorized dealers for repairs.Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating for farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release today. The FTC's action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice-lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays, and promoting fair competition for independent repair shops."Deere produced the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs" on its equipment, according to the FTC. It says the tool was only made available to the company's dealers, which charged higher prices than independent shops. That unlawfully gave Deere monopoly power" for certain repair services, the FTC alleges.Deere says it supports customers' right to repair equipment. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in January 2023 that was supposed to make its software, tools, and documentation available so that farmers and independent shops can make their own repairs.We have and remain committed to enabling customers to repair the products that they buy," John Deere CTO Jahmy Hindman said in a 2021 Decoder interview.Developing...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6TK66)
Disney Plus / Marvel Though Daredevil: Born Again hit a few production snags that delayed its Disney Plus debut, Marvel has finally released the series' first trailer ahead of its premiere in March.When last we saw Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), he was getting into squabbles out in Oklahoma, but Daredevil: Born Again's new trailer sends him back to New York City where Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) just so happens to be running for mayor. Fisk seems to be running a strong campaign that has many people convinced he has a plan to make the city a safer place. But Murdock doesn't need his super senses to sniff out that there's something rotten at the core of Fisk's political ambitions.Along with brief shots of Murdock's buds Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), the trailer also spotlights the MCU's new takes on Hector Ayala / White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes) and Muse (Muse's actor has yet to be officially revealed), a supervillain first introduced in Charles Soule's 2016 Daredevil comics run. The sheer amount of bone crunching and blood oozing in the trailer makes it seem like Marvel is, at least aesthetically, trying to go for some of the grittiness that made Netflix's Daredevil series feel so distinct from the rest of the MCU. We'll find out for sure when it premieres on March 4th.
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by Emma Roth on (#6TK2G)
An animated version of Novak Djokovic. | Image: Australian Open The Australian Open might look a little different this year if you're livestreaming it on YouTube. That's because the tournament has put an animated overlay on some of its matches to avoid broadcast licensing conflicts, making players look an awful lot like Wii Sports characters, as reported earlier by The Guardian.The animated players follow all the same movements as their real-life counterparts as they travel across a cartoon-ish court, while the whap" of the ball, chatter from the crowd, and commentary all remain authentic. But the animations aren't perfect, as the players' sneakers seem to clip into the court at some points, while Naomi Osaka's animated tank top looked like it was ripped during her match against Caroline Garcia. Screenshot: The Verge Naomi Osaka's tank top didn't look quite right. With the animated livestreams, the Australian Open can air its games on YouTube without conflicting with the broadcasting agreements it sold to networks and streaming services around the world, according to The Guardian.The technology, which the Australian Open first introduced last year, uses 12 cameras to process the silhouette of the human in real time, and stitch that together across 29 points in the skeleton," Machar Reid, the director of innovation at Tennis Australia, the organization behind the tournament, told The Guardian. It's not as seamless as it could be - we don't have fingers - but in time you can begin to imagine a world where that comes."Based on the information from the sensors, the Australian Open's systems can then create an animated version of the live events with a two-minute delay.We've seen other broadcasters and sports leagues experiment with creating alternate telecasts of games as well. During the Super Bowl LVIII, CBS Sports partnered with Nickelodeon to add Spongebob Squarepants and slime animations to the big game, while the NFL aired an animated football game featuring The Simpsons last year.
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6TK2H)
Image: Honda Honda announced that its first original electric vehicle - that is, an EV built on its own platform and not one based on another automaker's tech, like the Honda Prologue - will be the Acura RSX, due out in 2026.The Acura RSX, shown above still in camouflage, is based on the Performance concept that was introduced last year. It will be the first EV to be built on Honda's new vehicle platform and will debut the proprietary, in-house-developed Asimo operating system that was announced during CES earlier this month.Honda's two battery-electric vehicles in the US, the Honda Prologue and the Acura ZDX, are both based on General Motors' Ultium vehicle platform. The Prologue, in particular, has been an early success for Honda, outselling its sister vehicles, the Chevy Blazer and Equinox EVs.But now Honda is ready to start working on its own tech. The RSX will also be the first EV to be built at Honda's new factory in Ohio, where production is expected to kick off in late 2025. The $4.4 billion plant is a joint venture between Honda and LG Chem, the Korean battery company.Honda is resurrecting the RSX badge that it first used in the early 2000s as its performance brand's version of the Honda Integra. This follows Honda's decision to also bring back the Prelude as a sporty, two-door hybrid.In RSX, we turn to an Acura nameplate that communicates fun to drive performance, a great name for a sporty SUV with a coupe silhouette for our first original Acura EV," said Lance Woelfer, VP of automobile sales at American Honda Motor Co.The RSX will also be the first vehicle from Honda to feature its in-house-developed Asimo OS. At CES, Honda said that Asimo would be the company's first effort at designing a software-defined vehicle, in which updatable software controls the vehicle's core functions. The OS was named after Honda's Asimo humanoid robot, which was retired in 2018. Asimo will also underpin the automaker's new Honda Zero vehicles, with the first being the Honda 0 SUV.So it works out that Acura is once again, sort of the tip of the spear for electrification and our digital future," said Jessica Fini, Honda's assistant VP for communications.
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by Wes Davis on (#6TK2J)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images TikTok will shut down entirely in the US on Sunday without intervention from the US Supreme Court, unnamed sources have told Reuters. That would go beyond the ban's requirement for app stores to stop offering downloads of the app, but not immediately halt use of it.If TikTok shuts down, it will show users a pop-up message pointing them to a website with information about the ban, according to the outlet's sources. The company will also reportedly let users download all of their data.On Friday last week, a lawyer for TikTok said during a Supreme Court hearing that the app will go dark" if the court doesn't pause the ban. The court's decision on the matter could come as soon as today, and a shutdown is one of the possible outcomes for TikTok, whose executives recently told employees were planning for various scenarios," as we reported yesterday.
by Tom Warren on (#6TK2N)
Image: The Verge Microsoft is relaunching its free Copilot for businesses as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat today, complete with the ability to use AI agents. Copilot Chat is Microsoft's latest attempt to get people used to using AI at work and relying on it enough to tempt them into paying $30 per month to get the full Microsoft 365 Copilot.It's free and secure AI chat that's GPT-powered," explains Jared Spataro, Microsoft's chief marketing officer of AI at work, in an interview with The Verge. You can upload files so it's very comparable to the competition, in fact we think even at this level it bests the competition." Spataro wouldn't name the competition, but it's clearly ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Image: Microsoft The Copilot Chat interface. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is essentially a rebranding of what was once Bing Chat Enterprise before Microsoft rebranded it to just Copilot. It crucially now includes access to Copilot AI agents right within the chat interface - which was previously only available in the full Microsoft 365 Copilot experience - requiring a $30 per user per month subscription. These agents are designed to work like virtual colleagues and can do things like monitor email inboxes or automate a series of tasks.You'll be able to create and use agents using Copilot Studio, use agents that rely on web data, and even use agents grounded on work data through the Microsoft graph. The usage of agents with Copilot Chat will be priced through the Copilot Studio meter in Azure or through a pay-as-you-go option.The first question people ask me is am I writing you a blank check?'" says Spataro, but Microsoft has built controls for how people pay for AI agent access. The way you can control the spinning of the meters is paying in different ways. One way is pay-as-you-go, that is essentially an open account or tab that you're burning down, but the other way to do it is through consumption packs, and when the pack runs out you're done." Image: Microsoft Copilot Chat versus Microsoft 365 Copilot. The pricing and consumption rates are a little complicated, though. Microsoft measures agent usage in messages, so classic answers that don't hit large language models are priced as one message, whereas generative answers cost two messages and anything accessing the Microsoft Graph (including files stored in SharePoint) will cost 30 messages.A message is equivalent to 1 cent, so you can essentially convert it over to 1 cent, 2 cents, and 30 cents," explains Spataro. It spins an Azure meter and it burns down a customer's MACC (Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment)."Microsoft provides some example cost calculations for businesses that might be tempted to use AI agents through Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat:
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by David Pierce on (#6TK2M)
Image: The Verge If you wanted to use all of Google's AI features inside Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Meet, and the rest of the Workspace suite, you previously needed to pony up another $20 per user per month for the Gemini Business plan. As of Tuesday, it's free. Google is bringing all its AI features to its Workspace app at no extra cost as it continues to race Microsoft, OpenAI, and others to build the AI-powered office suite of the future.There is a catch, though: as it makes this change, Google is increasing the price of all Workspace plans. Jerry Dischler, Google's president of cloud applications, tells me companies will pay roughly $2 more per month per user for the AI-enabled Workspace than they were paying before. (The numbers aren't exact, because companies have complicated and varying contracts, but the base subscription price was $12 a month and now it will be $14.)Workspace AI includes things like email summaries in Gmail, generated designs for spreadsheets and videos, an automated note-taker for meetings, the powerful NotebookLM research assistant, and writing tools across apps. It also comes with access to the Gemini bot itself, which is maybe Google's single most powerful AI tool; the bot can do standard chatbot thing but can also help you find information, search across all your stuff, and more.Dischler points out that Google is the most vertically integrated AI product out there right now, but that only matters if people are using the whole system. Now, everyone can. Most of the time, when we talk to companies who are using AI, their big impediment is cost reasons," he says. That's why they go in so gingerly. Like, wow, this is a lot of money, and let's prove the value.' All right, now you get the AI. You have the value." He says the various app roadmaps are already changing, too, and that new features will begin to ship quickly.Google's not the only company walking back its AI up-charge: Microsoft announced in November that its own Copilot Pro AI features, which had also previously been a $20 monthly upgrade, would become part of the standard Microsoft 365 subscription. So far, that's only for the Personal and Family subscriptions, and only in a few places. But these companies all understand that this is their moment to teach people new ways to use their products and win new customers in the process. They're betting that the cost of rolling out all these AI features to everyone will be worth it in the long run.
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by Dominic Preston on (#6TJZB)
The Honor Magic 7 Pro ships in blue, black, and a shadowy grey. | Image: Honor Honor's flagship Magic 7 Pro launches in the UK and Europe today, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite and protected by top-tier water-resistance. It also features a high resolution 200 megapixel telephoto camera.Arriving a week after the OnePlus 13 and a week before we expect to meet Samsung's Galaxy S25 phones, the Magic 7 Pro is among the first phones to release outside of China with Qualcomm's new chipset inside. That makes it one of the most powerful phones on the market, especially with 12GB of RAM. It also features a sizable 5,270mAh battery built around a silicon-carbon chemistry, allowing it to pack more energy into a smaller space that keeps the Magic 7 Pro's thickness below 9mm.Much like the new OnePlus phone - and, unexpectedly, Motorola's $299.99 Moto G Power, which launched in the US yesterday - the Magic 7 Pro is both IP68 and IP69-rated. That means that in addition to the usual protection from dust and submersion in water, it should survive exposure to steam and high-pressure water jets - ideal if you regularly use your phone in a jacuzzi, probably overkill for the rest of us. Image: Honor Yup, it's thin, Also unusual is the phone's 200 megapixel 3x periscopic camera. We've seen megapixel counts as high as this before, but mostly on main cameras, not zoom lenses - with the exception of Vivo's X100 Ultra and X200 Pro. It's bolstered by an AI Super Zoom feature that kicks in at 30x zoom for added clarity, with this and a few other camera AI modes using a combination of on-device and cloud-based large language models to fine-tune images.There's even more AI than that, since it ships with Android 15 and Google's Gemini AI app, which Honor has bolstered with its own AI-powered takes on translation and notes apps.The Magic 7 Pro launched in China last November, but this is its first appearance outside of the country. Honor is one of several Chinese smartphone manufacturers that saw growth in global market share in 2024, thanks in part to last year's flagship Magic 6 series and the Magic V3, still the thinnest foldable phone available. Image: Honor Honor Magic 7 Lite. For its European launch the Pro is joined by the Magic 7 Lite, a midrange handset that uses the comparatively sluggish Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chip and arrives still running Android 14. The selling point of that phone is its enormous 6,600mAh battery, which Honor claims will run for three days. There's no sign of the regular Magic 7, which launched alongside the Pro in China.The Magic 7 Pro is available to order now from honor.com starting at 1,099.99 / 1,299 (about $1,340), with major retailers and local carriers set to stock it too. The Magic 7 Lite is much cheaper at 399.99 / 369, and also available now.
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6TJZC)
The landers have a long journey ahead of them. | Image: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday morning carrying two private lunar landers into orbit in support of NASA's future Artemis landing crews. The Blue Ghost and Resilience landers, built by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace and Japan's iSpace aerospace firms respectively, aim to provide data on the Moon's environment and test technologies that will help to one day return astronauts to the lunar surface.The SpaceX launch and private lander contracts are the latest to fall under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative - the first phase of the Artemis moon exploration program that's set to launch its first crewed mission in April 2026. Following the Falcon 9's first stage successfully separating and touching down back on Earth after launch, Blue Ghost was delivered to a lunar transfer orbit by the rocket's second stage about 65 minutes after liftoff, with Resilience being deployed about 30 minutes later.
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by Tom Warren on (#6TJWT)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft says it will no longer support Office apps, known as Microsoft 365 apps, on Windows 10 later this year. The support cutoff coincides with Windows 10's end of support on October 14th, and will mean businesses and consumers that rely on Microsoft 365 apps will need to upgrade to Windows 11.Microsoft 365 Apps will no longer be supported after October 14, 2025, on Windows 10 devices," says Microsoft in a blog post. To use Microsoft 365 Applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11."While support will end for Office apps on Windows 10 in October, it doesn't mean the apps will suddenly stop working. Microsoft notes in a support document that was updated in December that the applications will continue to function as before" after Windows 10 support ends, but that there could be performance and reliability issues over time."Microsoft really wants people to stop using Windows 10 this year, and is calling 2025 the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh." The software maker declared at CES last week that refreshing an old Windows 10 PC will be more important than buying a new TV or phone this year.We believe that one of the most important pieces of technology people will look to refresh in 2025 isn't the refrigerator, the television or their mobile phone. It will be their Windows 10 PC, and they will move forward with Windows 11," said Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft.Windows 11 adoption is still lagging behind Windows 10, and millions of machines simply can't upgrade to the latest OS due to Microsoft's strict hardware requirements. Microsoft recently closed the door on Windows 11 supporting older hardware, noting that its Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 requirement for Windows 11 is non-negotiable." Microsoft is now trying to convince Windows 10 users to buy a new PC with full-screen prompts.While support for Windows 10 ends later this year, Microsoft is also offering Extended Security Updates to consumers for the first time ever. Consumers will be able to pay $30 for an extra year of updates, while businesses will be able to purchase up to three years of extended updates.
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6TJWV)
Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage Drake has withdrawn the petition he raised accusing Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) of illegally boosting Kendrick Lamars diss track Not Like Us." According to documents filed with the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday, the pre-action case is being discontinued with no financial cost to any of the parties involved.The petition, or pre-action case," isn't a full lawsuit - it refers to a stage of litigation that seeks information from each party and allows time for issues to be resolved before disputes are escalated to court.The legal petition filed by Drake (real name: Aubrey Graham) in November alleged that Spotify and UMG - the parent label that represents both him and Lamar - used bots," discounted licensing rates, and pay-to-play agreements to artificially inflate the streaming numbers for Lamar's song. The diss track, aimed at Drake, became a viral hit following a feud between the two artists last year that attracted significant attention.A second legal petition was also filed by Drake in November that accused UMG of funneling payments to iHeartRadio to promote Lamar's diss track. Drake's lawyers said that the song, which describes Drake as a certified pedophile," a predator," and someone who should be registered and placed on neighborhood watch," was defamatory, claiming that the damage to Drake's reputation should have prevented UMG from releasing it.While the initial pre-action case against Spotify and UMG is now resolved, the second petition against UMG and iHeartRadio is still active. Spotify had previously filed an opposition against the first petition and hasn't objected to Drake withdrawing the pre-action case. UMG - which hadn't filed an opposition - has reserved its position."
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by Tom Warren on (#6TJWW)
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft has quietly killed off its spoofed Google UI that it was using to trick Bing users into thinking they were using Google. Earlier this month you could search for Google" on Bing and get a page that looked a lot like Google, complete with a special search bar, an image resembling a Google Doodle, and even some small text under the search bar just like Google search.The misleading UI no longer appears on the Google search result of Bing this week, just days after it was originally discovered by posters on Reddit. Microsoft's spoofed Google UI even automatically scrolled down the page slightly to mask its own Bing search bar that appear at the top of search results, in a blatant attempt to trick Bing users into thinking they were on Google. Image: Tom Warren / The Verge The fake Google UI on Bing that has now been removed. Microsoft refused to comment on its fake Google UI, but Google was more than happy to offer up its opinion. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Microsoft spoofing the Google homepage is another tactic in its long history of tricks to confuse users & limit choice," said Google Chrome boss Parisa Tabriz in a post on X last week. New year; new low Microsoft."Microsoft has a habit of using a variety of tricks to convince people to keep using the defaults of Bing and Microsoft Edge in Windows, including modifying Chrome download sites and using malware-like popups to get people to ditch Google. Microsoft has even previously had to reverse pop-up ads inside Google Chrome to address unintended behavior."
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by Dominic Preston on (#6TJVJ)
Xiaomi was the fastest growing of the major manufacturers last year. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Worldwide smartphone sales grew in 2024 following two consecutive years of decline according to reports from Counterpoint, Canalys, and IDC. The bulk of the growth came from Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi and Vivo, though Apple and Samsung are still holding strong as the undisputed market leaders.Counterpoint reports a 4 percent growth in phone sales across 2024, with IDC and Canalys each reporting 6-7 percent increases in global shipments, though that's relative to a 2023 that saw the lowest sales figures for a decade. That growth is predicted to continue through 2025.2024 was a year of recovery and normalization after a difficult 2023," says Counterpoint research director Tarun Pathak. The market started showing signs of recovery from Q4 2023 and has now grown for five consecutive quarters."There's a little disagreement about who sits on top, with Counterpoint reporting that Samsung led by market share for the year, while IDC and Canalys each claim that Apple took the crown. All three agree that Xiaomi is sitting solid in third though, with a 12 percent increase in unit sales according to Counterpoint, making it the fastest growing of the major players. Counterpoint pegs Xiaomi at 14 percent market share for the year, catching up to Apple's 18 percent. Image: Counterpoint Counterpoint puts Samsung as the leader for 2024, despite slightly reduced market share. Oppo (including OnePlus), Vivo, and the Transsion group - which includes brands Tecno and Infinix - take up the next few spots, helped by strong sales in Asia and growth across Europe, Africa, and Latin America.Both Counterpoint and IDC attribute some of 2024's relatively bullish performance to the introduction of phones positioned as AI devices, with AI replacing foldable screens as the hot new thing.We have seen a decreased demand for foldables in the market, despite intensified promotions and marketing," says IDC research director Anthony Scarsella. Manufacturers are now prioritizing new AI advancements at the expense of foldables," with Counterpoint predicting that by 2028 nine out of ten smartphones above $250 will include generative AI.
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by Tom Warren on (#6TJVK)
Ralf Groene inside Microsoft's Surface hardware labs. | Image: Getty Microsoft's former head of design for Windows and devices has started a new role at Amazon this week. Ralf Groene was responsible for the design of Microsoft's Surface tablet, and worked closely with former Windows and Surface chief Panos Panay on a line of Surface devices over the past decade. The pair are now reunited at Amazon, working on devices again.Groene - who left Microsoft in April 2024, less than a year after Panay departed for Amazon - will lead design for Amazon's devices and services business. Groene left Microsoft shortly after the company named Pavan Davuluri as its new Windows and Surface chief.Groene, alongside Panay, was instrumental in the creation of the Surface line of products. The original Surface tablet started off life in Groene's sketchbook, with a set of doodles about kickstands that formed the basis of months of 3D-printed prototypes that were held together with string. Microsoft went on to launch the Surface RT tablet in 2012, and the Surface Pro has had a lasting effect on hybrid laptop designs over the past 10 years.Amazon's hiring of Groene comes just months after Xbox cofounder J Allard joined Panay's devices and services team to work on new ideas." Allard departed Microsoft in 2010, following his work on the company's canceled Courier tablet.Groene and Allard aren't the only notable recent former Microsoft hires for Amazon, though. Former Windows Cloud executive Aidan Marcuss also joined Amazon this week, leading the Fire TV, ads, and AppStore teams.
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by Richard Lawler on (#6TJNH)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has resulted in a federal lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that he broke securities laws with a late disclosure, and saved $150 million in the process.Before Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion, before he tried to back out of that deal, before he was forced to go through with it, and before he changed its name to X, he started by acquiring a substantial stake in the company but didn't reveal that fact until weeks later.The only problem, as the SEC pointed out then, is that by the time he disclosed that stake, it was outside the agency's required 10-day window. They claim that he should've filed his paperwork by March 24th, 2022, instead of when he actually did, on April 4th (and then again on April 5th). During that period, they say he purchased more than $500 million in shares of the company.However, with only a few days left before the Trump administration takes over and installs a new head of the SEC (along with Elon Musk reportedly snagging an office in the White House complex), it's unclear how far the lawsuit will go.The SEC claims Musk cost investors at least $150 million due to the late disclosure and that he harmed any investors who sold stock between March 25th, 2022, and April 1st, 2022. Its lawsuit is seeking the money Elon made as a result of holding off on the disclosure, as well as a civil penalty and other punishments.
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by Sean Hollister on (#6TJNJ)
Photo by Anna Barclay/Getty Images For over a decade, you couldn't easily fly a DJI drone over restricted areas in the United States. DJI's software would automatically stop you from flying over runways, power plants, public emergencies like wildfires, and the White House.But confusingly, amidst the greatest US outpouring of drone distrust in years, and an incident of a DJI drone operator hindering LA wildfire fighting efforts, DJI is getting rid of its strong geofence. DJI will no longer enforce No-Fly Zones," instead only offering a dismissible warning - meaning only common sense, empathy, and the fear of getting caught by authorities will prevent people from flying where they shouldn't.In a blog post, DJI characterizes this as placing control back in the hands of the drone operators." DJI suggests that technologies like Remote ID, which publicly broadcasts the location of a drone and their operator during flight, are providing authorities with the tools needed to enforce existing rules," DJI global policy head Adam Welsh tells The Verge.But it turns out the DJI drone that damaged a Super Scooper airplane fighting the Los Angeles wildfires was a sub-250-gram model that may not require Remote ID to operate, and the FBI expects it will have to work backwards through investigative means" to figure out who flew it there.DJI voluntarily created its geofencing feature, so it makes a certain degree of sense that the company would get rid of it now that the US government no longer seems to appreciate its help, is blocking some of its drone imports, calls DJI a Chinese Military Company," and has started the countdown clock on a de facto import ban.The FAA does not require geofencing from drone manufacturers," FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor confirms to The Verge.But former DJI head of global policy, Brendan Schulman, doesn't seem to think this is a move for the better. Here are a few choice phrases he's posted to X:
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by Lauren Feiner on (#6TJNK)
Laura Normand / The Verge Chinese officials are reportedly exploring a backup plan for TikTok after the Supreme Court appeared unlikely to save it from a US ban. With TikTok's legal options nearly exhausted, multiple news outlets are reporting that China is considering an option it previously said it wouldn't: letting ByteDance sell the app.The kicker? China is reportedly mulling having President-elect Donald Trump's favorite tech billionaire, Elon Musk, act either as broker or buyer in the arrangement. Reports from the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg - all citing unnamed sources - indicate that Chinese officials are at least discussing the option of a sale. TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes has called the reports pure fiction." The Chinese embassy in the US and Musk's existing social media company, X, did not respond to requests for comment.Plenty of people have expressed interest in buying TikTok at this point, from "Shark Tank" celebrity Kevin O'Leary to YouTuber Mr. Beast. The problem has not been a lack of buyers - though obvious ones like Meta and Google would likely be barred by antirust authorities - but reluctant sellers. The new reporting suggests that the Chinese... Read the full story at The Verge.
by Emma Roth on (#6TJKR)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Instead of wallowing in misery about potentially losing access to their favorite short-form video app, many TikTokers are flocking to RedNote, a Chinese social media platform also called Xiaohongshu. I've decided to spend some time on the platform myself, and it looks like so-called TikTok refugees" are excited about interacting with a community mainly comprised of Chinese-speaking users - and vice versa.Launched in 2013 as a shopping platform, RedNote has grown into one of China's most popular social apps featuring photos, videos, and written content. Now it's seeing another spike in users from another part of the globe, with more than 700,000 users joining RedNote in just two days, according to a report from Reuters. The number is still small, at just a fraction of the 150 million Americans TikTok reported were already using the app in early 2023.As noted by CNN, the name Xiaohongshu translates to little red book," which could be seen as a tongue-in-cheek reference to a red-covered book of quotations from the founding father of Communist China, Mao Zedong." Many US users seem to be using the Chinese platform out of spite of the US government's plan to ban TikTok - but in a deeply unserious way. Screenshot: The Verge Amongst all the Chinese-language posts depicting sleek fit checks, mouthwatering food videos, and memes I don't quite understand yet, is content from TikTok expats. Many joke about their sudden appearance on the app, with one user wondering what Chinese users might think after seeing an influx of US-based users and another showing their gradual transformation from a gun-wielding, Buc-ee's merch-wearing American into a Chinese-speaking RedNote user. Others are simply saying hello" to their new community - some of whom have written captions in what I'd assume is machine-translated Chinese.Even more interesting though, are all the RedNote users welcoming TikTokers with open arms. Several RedNote users are eager to introduce the app while also sharing some tips and tricks on how to navigate it. One creator says, now's the perfect time to dive into Chinese culture" through RedNote with the Chinese New Year coming up, adding that users on the platform are obsessed with Luigi, Trump, and Squid Game." Some even offer to teach their new community members Chinese.But many TikTokers are equally curious about RedNote users in China, too. Chinese friends, post pictures of your meal or snacks for today! Curious to see what you typically eat," one user writes. Another asks, I'm American. Do y'all like us? We know y'all not the enemy. Can we all be friends?"The trend is actually kind of wholesome, and I'm here for it, but I'm not confident it will actually last. If these apps grow in popularity, they could potentially face a ban, too. But the migration to RedNote is likely just a trend - and trends only last as long as it takes for another to replace it.
by Wes Davis on (#6TJKS)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Some YouTubers say Honey's practices are stealing money from them. PayPal's Honey browser extension has been lauded for years as an easy way to find coupons online. But some are calling it a scam" after a deep dive from YouTuber MegaLag, who accused Honey of stealing money from influencers."The video shines a light on Honey's use of last-click attribution, an approach to online shopping referrals that gives credit for a sale to the owner of the last affiliate cookie in line before checkout. As MegaLag's video tells it, Honey takes that credit by swapping its tracking cookie in for others' when you interact with it.The company has issued statements saying that it follows industry rules and practices" like last-click attribution. But creators who may have missed out on money because of it aren't happy. Some YouTube channels Legal Eagle and GamersNexus are now suing.Below, you'll find all our coverage of the controversy.
by Alex Heath on (#6TJKT)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok's executives are planning for various scenarios" ahead of the Supreme Court likely upholding a US ban of the app.In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, employees were told that the company is continuing to plan the way forward" ahead of the court's imminent decision, which is expected as soon as Wednesday, January 15th.We know it's unsettling to not know exactly what happens next," reads the memo, which notes that TikTok's offices will stay open regardless of what happens to the app over the next several days. The bill is not written in a way that impacts the entities through which you are employed, only the US user experience [of TikTok]," according to the memo.Inside TikTok, the mood is grim. One source describes the situation as definitely stressful," while another notes that even the employees who survived the first US ban attempt now seem rattled."The Chinese government, which has the final say on any sale of TikTok, is reportedly considering allowing Elon Musk to buy the app. Frank McCourt, a billionaire real estate and former owned of the LA Dodgers, has also floated a proposal to buy the app's US operations. Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary... Read the full story at The Verge.
by Emma Roth on (#6TJKV)
Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge A major copyright lawsuit against Meta has revealed a trove of internal communications about the company's plans to develop its open-source AI models, Llama, which include discussions about avoiding media coverage suggesting we have used a dataset we know to be pirated."The messages, which were part of a series of exhibits unsealed by a California court, suggest Meta used copyrighted data when training its AI systems and worked to conceal it - as it raced to beat rivals like OpenAI and Mistral. Portions of the messages were first revealed last week.In an October 2023 email to Meta AI researcher Hugo Touvron, Ahmad Al-Dahle, Meta's vice president of generative AI, wrote that the company's goal needs to be GPT4," referring to the large language model OpenAI announced in March of 2023. Meta had to learn how to build frontier and win this race," Al-Dahle added. Those plans apparently involved the book piracy site Library Genesis (LibGen) to train its AI systems.An undated email from Meta director of product Sony Theakanath, sent to VP of AI research Joelle Pineau, weighed whether to use LibGen internally only, for benchmarks included in a blog post, or to create a model trained on the site. In the email, Theakanath writes that GenAI has been approved to use LibGen for Llama3... with a number of agreed upon mitigations" after escalating it to MZ" - presumably Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. As noted in the email, Theakanath believed Libgen is essential to meet SOTA [state-of-the-art] numbers," adding it is known that OpenAI and Mistral are using the library for their models (through word of mouth)." Mistral and OpenAI haven't stated whether or not they use LibGen. (The Verge reached out to both for more information). Screenshot: The Verge Meta's Theakanath writes that LibGen is essential" to reaching SOTA numbers across all categories." The court documents stem from a class action lawsuit that author Richard Kadrey, comedian Sarah Silverman, and others filed against Meta, accusing it of using illegally obtained copyrighted content to train its AI models in violation of intellectual property laws. Meta, like other AI companies, has argued that using copyrighted material in training data should constitute legal fair use. The Verge reached out to Meta with a request for comment but didn't immediately hear back.Some of the mitigations" for using LibGen included stipulations that Meta must remove data clearly marked as pirated/stolen," while avoiding externally citing the use of any training data" from the site. Theakanath's email also said the company would need to red team" the company's models for bioweapons and CBRNE [Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives]" risks.The email also went over some of the policy risks" posed by the use of LibGen as well, including how regulators might respond to media coverage suggesting Meta's use of pirated content. This may undermine our negotiating position with regulators on these issues," the email said. An April 2023 conversation between Meta researcher Nikolay Bashlykov and AI team member David Esiobu also showed Bashlykov admitting he's not sure we can use meta's IPs to load through torrents [of] pirate content."Other internal documents show the measures Meta took to obscure the copyright information in LibGen's training data. A document titled observations on LibGen-SciMag" shows comments left by employees about how to improve the dataset. One suggestion is to remove more copyright headers and document identifiers," which includes any lines containing ISBN," Copyright," All rights reserved," or the copyright symbol. Other notes mention taking out more metadata to avoid potential legal complications," as well as considering whether to remove a paper's list of authors to reduce liability." Screenshot: The Verge The document discusses removing copyright headers and document identifiers." Last June, The New York Times reported on the frantic race inside Meta after ChatGPT's debut, revealing the company had hit a wall: it had used up almost every available English book, article, and poem it could find online. Desperate for more data, executives reportedly discussed buying Simon & Schuster outright and considered hiring contractors in Africa to summarize books without permission.In the report, some executives justified their approach by pointing to OpenAI's market precedent" of using copyrighted works, while others argued Google's 2015 court victory establishing its right to scan books could provide legal cover. The only thing holding us back from being as good as ChatGPT is literally just data volume," one executive said in a meeting, per The New York Times.It's been reported that frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic have hit a data wall, which means they don't have sufficient new data to train their large language models. Many leaders have denied this, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said plainly: There is no wall." OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever, who left the company last May to start a new frontier lab, has been more straightforward about the potential of a data wall. At a premier AI conference last month, Sutskever said: We've achieved peak data and there'll be no more. We have to deal with the data that we have. There's only one internet."This data scarcity has led to a whole lot of weird, new ways to get unique data. Bloomberg reported that frontier labs like OpenAI and Google have been paying digital content creators between $1 and $4 per minute for their unused video footage through a third-party in order to train LLMs (both of those companies have competing AI video-generation products).With companies like Meta and OpenAI hoping to grow their AI systems as fast as possible, things are bound to get a bit messy. Though a judge partially dismissed Kadrey and Silverman's class action lawsuit last year, the evidence outlined here could strengthen parts of their case as it moves forward in court.
by Wes Davis on (#6TJHZ)
Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Parallels has added support for x86 emulation in Parallels Desktop 20.2, product manager Mikhail Ushakov wrote in a blog post last week. The early technology preview" will let you emulate Intel-based hardware on an M1-or-greater Mac, a first for Parallels since Apple's Arm transition in 2020 - but don't expect stellar performance.Parallels says users will be able to:
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by Chris Welch on (#6TJJ0)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge A day after Sonos announced a CEO transition, the company is making more moves. Chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin will also be leaving his position. Some employees have told me that Bouvat-Merlin shares a significant amount of blame for the brand damage that Sonos has endured over the last year after deciding to release an overhauled mobile app well before it was ready for customers. There have been reports that top executives at the company ignored warnings from engineers and app testers that the new software wasn't up to par ahead of its May rollout. Those alarms didn't stop it from shipping.In an email to staff, interim CEO Tom Conrad - who himself has plenty of product experience - said the CPO position is now redundant" and that Bouvat-Merlin's job is being eliminated. I know this is a lot of change to absorb in two days and I want to thank you for being resilient," Conrad wrote.Max's tenure represents an iconic era for Sonos products, including the award-winning Sonos One, Beam, Move, Ace, Arc, and Arc Ultra, establishing Sonos as the world leader in home theater audio and setting the foundation for our next chapter," Conrad's email reads.Bouvat-Merlin will serve as an adviser to Conrad before fully exiting the company. These major changes within Sonos' ranks suggest that the company is taking its effort to win back trust and right the wrongs of its previous leadership quite seriously.Conrad's full email follows below:
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6TJJ1)
Netflix Though the fourth season of Netflix's live-action Witcher series still doesn't have a concrete release date, Netflix has finally announced when we'll see yet another animated take on Geralt of Rivia.Originally, Netflix intended for The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep to debut some time late last year, but the steamer revealed today that the movie is now set to premiere on February 11th. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's short story A Little Sacrifice" from Sword of Destiny, Sirens of the Deep tells the tale of how Geralt of Rivia (Doug Cockle) and Jaskier (Joey Batey) get caught up in an age-old conflict between humans and merpeople.In a new trailer for the movie, things seem simple enough to Geralt as he's first hired to put his special skills to good use. It makes sense that humans would want a witcher's help to deal with a deadly series of sea monster attacks. The gig's also easy money for Geralt and a solid way to keep his mind off Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra). There's something nefarious at the root of the interspecies war, though, and by the time Geralt realizes he might have gotten things wrong, he can only do but so much to stop the bloodshed.Compared to the live-action series, Sirens of the Deep looks like it's going for a more spectacular (in the sense that the action's big) depiction of Geralt's adventures. And while it might not connect directly to the events of Netflix's last animated Witcher movie or the live-action Witcher's fourth season, it should make the wait a little more bearable.
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by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6TJJ2)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Hackers in North Korea stole a total of $659 million in crypto across several heists in 2024, according to a joint statement issued today by the US, Japan, and South Korea. The report specified five such incidents, like the $235 million theft from the Indian crypto exchange WazirX that is being newly attributed to the Lazarus Group. That organization is estimated to have stolen billions across previous attacks over the last decade, including $625 million stolen from Axie Infinity in 2022.Of the 2024 incidents, Japan's DMM Bitcoin suffered the biggest loss, with $308 million stolen, ultimately resulting in the exchange's closure.
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by Umar Shakir on (#6TJFZ)
Image: Pixelfed Pixelfed, a decentralized and ad-free Instagram alternative, now has apps on iOS and Android, as reported by TechCrunch. The iOS app launched today, while the Android app launched on January 10th.The platform is seeing a surge in popularity following Meta's announcement last week that it would be drastically changing its content moderation policies; over the weekend, Pixelfed said that it's seeing unprecedented levels of traffic" to the pixelfed.social server and was working to increase resources.Pixelfed was also in the news this week because some users claimed that Meta randomly blocked links to the site they shared on Facebook. According to Engadget, Meta blocked the Pixelfed links by mistake and is now reinstating the posts.The creator of Pixelfed, Daniel Supernault, also launched a decentralized version of TikTok last October called Loops. With TikTok facing a ban in the US and the fallout from Meta's content moderation changes, Pixelfed and Loops offer other options for people to jump ship to.
by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6TJCX)
Stephanie Gonzaga / Boom! Studios Diamond Comics Distributors, one of the biggest companies involved in getting graphic novels into physical retailers for purchase, is filing for bankruptcy and scaling its business back as the industry braces itself for a new wave of economic challenges.In a letter sent to comics retailers and publishers today, Diamond president Chuck Parker announced that the company has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and plans to sell off its Alliance Game Distributors arm to Universal in order to protect the most vital aspects of our business."This decision was not made lightly, and I understand that this news may be as difficult to hear as it is for me to share," Parker explained. The Diamond leadership team and I have worked tirelessly to avoid this outcome but the financial challenges we face have left us with no other viable option."Founded in 1982 by Stephen A. Geppi (who still serves as CEO), Diamond became a heavyweight in the comics business by securing a number of exclusive distribution agreements with various publishing houses like DC, Marvel, and Image. For decades, Diamond - which also publishes its Previews magazine showcasing upcoming titles - was instrumental in bringing comics to market and played a huge role in determining a book's success because of how Previews influenced retailer orders.News about Diamond's bankruptcy comes weeks after the company suddenly shuttered its flagship fulfillment center in Plattsburgh, NY, which the company's VP of retailer services Chris Powell described as a necessary step to address longstanding operational issues that made its distribution process unsustainable.Ideally, changes would have been planned and tested while we continued to operate as we had been at Plattsburgh," Powell said. With that no longer an option, we must make changes and test them with live data and shipments while trying to minimize the impact on retailers."In recent years, many of Diamond's bigger name publishing partners have dropped them as the company failed to meet expected delivery deadlines to retailers, which left stores struggling to meet customer demand. Given the tough time Diamond has been having as of late, the announcement that it's filing for bankruptcy isn't entirely surprising. It sounds like the company's leadership very much wants to stay in the comics game as long as possible, but as it stands now, it seems like all Diamond can really do is to staunch the bleeding as much as it can.
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by Kylie Robison on (#6TJCY)
Illustration: The Verge OpenAI is launching a new beta feature in ChatGPT called Tasks that lets users schedule future actions and reminders.The feature, which is rolling out to Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers starting today, is an attempt to make the chatbot into something closer to a traditional digital assistant - think Google Assistant or Siri but with ChatGPT's more advanced language capabilities.Tasks works by letting users tell ChatGPT what they need and when they need it done. Want a daily weather report at 7AM? A reminder about your passport expiration? Or maybe just a knock-knock joke to tell your kids before bedtime? ChatGPT can now handle all of that through scheduled one-time or recurring tasks.To use the feature, subscribers need to select 4o with scheduled tasks" in ChatGPT's model picker. From there, it's as simple as typing out what you want ChatGPT to do and when you want it done. The system can also proactively suggest tasks based on your conversations, though users have to explicitly approve any suggestions before they're created. (Honestly, I feel like the suggestions have the potential to create annoying slop by accident).All tasks can be managed either directly in chat threads or through a new Tasks section (available only via the web) in the profile menu, so it's easy to modify or cancel any task you've set up. Upon completion of these tasks, notifications will alert users on web, desktop, and mobile. There's also a limit of 10 active tasks that can run simultaneously.OpenAI hasn't specified when (or if) the feature might come to free users, suggesting Tasks might remain a premium feature to help justify ChatGPT's subscription costs. The company has monthly $20 and $200 subscription tiers. {props.credit}
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6TJCZ)
For those moments when you don't have time to check your camera footage. | Image: Wyze Wyze's latest AI feature aims to reduce how often you need to manually check security footage by instead just describing what the camera has seen. The new Descriptive Alerts will send notifications that accurately summarize motion events" with more contextual detail than simply telling users that the camera has detected movement or an object, according to Wyze.An example alert provided by the company is a delivery driver wearing a blue hat leaves a package on the doorstep, then leaves. A green SUV is parked in the street." Rival smart home security companies like Ring, Google's Nest, and (to some extent) Arlo provide similar AI summarization features for their own cameras, but Wyze's video-to-text alerts seem to be the only service that specifies detail like color in its descriptions. Image: Wyze Here's an example showing the new alert alongside the footage that's being described. Wyze's Descriptive Alerts are available to Cam Unlimited Pro members - a new $19.99 per month (or $199.99 per year) subscription that bundles other features like facial recognition, searching videos using descriptive keywords, and simultaneously viewing live feeds from multiple Wyze cameras. The Cam Unlimited Pro subscription will also include 60 days of cloud storage, though Wyze says this won't be available until Spring 2025."Just remember, Wyze cameras have suffered from serious security and privacy issues in the past. Choose wisely.
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by Ash Parrish on (#6TJD0)
Image: Nintendo Though there were only a handful of Super Mario games showcased during Awesome Games Done Quick 2025, his brother Luigi was everywhere - and it's pretty clear why.In the gaming community, Mario's taller, greener brother is beloved in his own right, celebrated for his goofiness or memed because his genial nature apparently conceals something a bit darker. However, in light of the actions of Luigi Mangione, the man charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the gaming community's love for Luigi has taken on a different significance. That significance was on full display during AGDQ 2025 where his name popped up early and often.During the charity speedrunning marathon, there were frequent opportunities for viewers to have their donations fund bidding wars for things like the player completing a specific task during the run or for naming rights to a character. For example, during the Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee run, viewers could donate for the privilege of naming the trainer, and they picked Luigi. Throughout the marathon viewers submitted Luigi for almost every naming-based bid war, and it won quite often.Luigi was the character name in Fallout: New Vegas and Skyrim. He was the name for the warrior in Guantlet IV and it was the file name in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. And of the four named characters in Final Fantasy Legend 2, Lugi" was three of them (as the game only supports four-letter names). Overall, all of the bids for Luigi - not just those that ultimately won - earned over $18,000.Games Done Quick has a reputation for its inclusiveness and social consciousness - once cancelling a live event in Florida in 2023 over the state's Don't Say Gay" law and lax COVID-19 policies. So while it's impossible to know for sure whether or not the preponderance of Luigi was due to typical gamer memeing or if it represented some kind of tacit statement of support for Luigi Mangione's actions, it's probably easy to say it was a little bit of both.
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6TJD1)
Image: Daniel Golson The Biden administration finalized a new rule that would effectively ban all Chinese vehicles from the US under the auspices of blocking the sale or import" of connected vehicle software from countries of concern." The rule could have wide-ranging effects on big automakers, like Ford and GM, as well as smaller manufacturers like Polestar - and even companies that don't produce cars, like Waymo.The rule covers everything that connects a vehicle to the outside world, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, and satellite components. It also addresses concerns that technology like cameras, sensors, and onboard computers could be exploited by foreign adversaries to collect sensitive data about US citizens and infrastructure. And it would ban China from testing its self-driving cars on US soil.Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet," US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. It doesn't take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens. To address these national security concerns, the Commerce Department is taking targeted, proactive steps to keep [People's Republic of China] and Russian-manufactured technologies off American roads."A foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk"The rules for prohibited software go into effect for model year 2027 vehicles, while the ban on hardware from China waits until model year 2030 vehicles. According to Reuters, the rules were updated from the original proposal to exempt vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds, which would allow companies like BYD to continue to assemble electric buses in California.The new rule is the latest escalation in the ongoing trade restrictions put in place on Chinese-made vehicles, including components like computers and batteries. It comes at a time when China is churning out more cars then ever before, earning its status as the No. 1 auto exporter in the world. The rule also covers vehicles and components made by Russia.China's access to vehicle software presents a significant threat" to the US in that it would grant an adversary unfettered access" to critical tech systems and the user data that they collect, the White House said.As [the People's Republic of China] automakers aggressively seek to increase their presence in American and global automotive markets, through this final rule, President Biden is delivering on his commitment to secure critical American supply chains and protect our national security," the administration adds.The new rule is the latest escalation in the ongoing trade restrictions put in place on Chinese-made vehiclesThe auto industry sought to delay the rule by a year, effectively delivering it to the incoming Trump administration to enforce but was unsuccessful. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, and others, said in comments submitted last April that it supports the goal of the proposed rules but warned that the global automotive supply chain is one of the world's largest and most complex" and that parts could not be simply swapped out without disruptions.Other automakers were more explicit in their criticisms. Polestar, an electric vehicle manufacturer owned by Geely, said in October that the rule would effectively prohibit Polestar from selling its cars in the United States, including the cars it manufactures in South Carolina."Indeed, the White House states in its fact sheet that the rule prevents the import or sale of connected vehicles by entities who are owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the PRC or Russia - even if those vehicles were made in the United States."Meanwhile, Waymo, which is planning on using vehicles manufactured by Geely's Zeekr for its next-gen robotaxi, said that it takes precautions to ensure that the vehicles it purchases for its fleet arrive without any manufacturer-installed telematics systems. Still, the rule could significantly disrupt the Alphabet-owned company's plans to expand if the government decides to ban the import of the Zeekr vehicle under the new rule.Waymo filed comments in support of the rule last fall," Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher said in an email. We're reviewing the final rule, and appreciate the Department's prompt rulemaking."A spokesperson for Polestar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Update January 14th: Updated to include a comment from Waymo.
by Alex Heath on (#6TJD2)
Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta will soon lay off more low-performers" across the company, according to an internal memo from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that was shared by a source at the company.I've decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster," Zuckerberg says in the memo, which you can read in full below. We typically manage out people who aren't meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we're going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle - with the intention of backfilling these roles in 2025."While the exact number of job cuts is unclear, managers at Meta have been told that about 5 percent of employees will be let go starting February 10th. Bloomberg first reported on Zuckerberg's memo and the planned layoffs. Meta last laid off employees in October after cutting 21,000 workers between 2022 and 2023.Here's Zuckerberg's full memo to employees:
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by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6TJD3)
The Quest 3S doesn't look any less alien than the original Quest 3. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Meta Quest 3S VR headset is a great alternative to the Meta Quest 3. The base 128GB version of the Quest 3S starts at $299.99 at Amazon, which is $200 less than the Quest 3 yet delivers essentially the same mixed reality experience. And now, you can step up to the 256GB version of the Quest 3S for just $349 ($50 off) from Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy.Now through the end of April, your purchase includes a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow (one of the best VR games yet, if I say so myself) and three months of Meta Quest Plus. The service is normally $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and grants instant access to more than two dozen free games with new additions every month, plus exclusive discounts.Since the Quest 3S has the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor and Touch controllers as the base Quest 3, you'll have access to all of the same games and mixed reality features. But the displays are not as sharp: the Quest 3S has a lower per-eye resolution of 1832 x 1920 (compared to 2064 x 2208) with a narrower field of view. It also doesn't have a dedicated depth sensor to go along with its pair of triangular camera arrays, and it's a bit heavier than the Quest 3. That said, you do get some exclusive perks like a slightly longer 2.5-hour battery life and a dedicated button to switch between immersive and passthrough modes.Read our Meta Quest 3S review.More deals, discounts, and ways to save
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by Emma Roth on (#6TJ9B)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The FBI hacked about 4,200 computers across the US as part of an operation to find and delete PlugX, a malware used by state-backed hackers in China to steal information from victims, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.In an unsealed affidavit, the FBI says the China-based hacking group known by the monikers Mustang Panda" and Twill Typhoon" used PlugX to infect thousands of Windows computers in the US, Asia, and Europe since at least 2012. The malware, which infects computers through their USB ports, operates in the background while allowing hackers to remotely access and execute commands" on victims' computers.To do this, infected computers contact a command-and-control server run by the hackers, which has its IP address hard-coded into the malware. From there, hackers can remotely access users' files and obtain information about infected computers, such as their IP addresses. At least 45,000 IP addresses in the US have contacted the command-and-control server since September 2023, according to the FBI.The FBI used this very exploit to remove PlugX from infected computers. In collaboration with French law enforcement, which launched a PlugX deletion operation of its own, the FBI gained access to the command-and-control server and requested the IP addresses of infected computers. It then sent a native command to make PlugX delete the files it created on victims' computers, stop the PlugX application from running, and delete the malware after it's stopped.Last year, the FBI similarly dismantled a network of infected Quakbot computers by instructing devices to download software to uninstall the malware. The agency also remotely hacked hundreds of computers to protect them from the Hafnium hack in 2021.
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by Justine Calma on (#6TJ9C)
A CloudHQ data center under construction on Waxpool Road in Ashburn, Virginia, US, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. | Photo: Getty Images President Biden issued an executive order today aimed at speeding the development of AI data centers in the US.It directs the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) to lease federal sites to private companies building gigawatt-scale AI data centers and clean power facilities. It also tells federal agencies to prioritize" and speed up permitting of AI infrastructure. The measure could create categorial exclusions" to speed environmental review under the National Environmental Protection Act.Developing new AI tools is an increasingly energy-hungry endeavor. Nevertheless, the Biden administration seems to think it's worth the risk of further derailing US climate goals and putting additional pressure on already stressed power grids.Developing new AI tools is an increasingly energy-hungry endeavorWe will not let America be out-built when it comes to the technology that will define the future," Joe Biden said in a statement today.Prior to the announcement today - in response to reports that the White House was considering measures to fast track data center development - environmental and consumer advocacy groups as well as Democratic lawmakers had urged the White House to avoid exempting AI from typical permitting procedures and environmental standards.We urge you to reconsider any potential executive action that could lead to increased pollution and costs for consumers," says a letter sent by senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Peter Welch (D-VT) to the Biden administration on December 17th. We are the United States of America; there is no doubt that we can win the AI race while accelerating our decarbonization efforts," it reads.Electricity demand from data centers has tripled over the past decade, according to estimates published by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) on December 20th. It's likely to double or triple again by 2028, according to the report. Data centers used about 4.4 percent of US electricity in 2023, which could rise to as much as 12 percent by 2028.That rise in demand is the result of the tremendous compute power needed to train AI models. Utilities are already extending the lives of polluting coal and gas infrastructure to try to meet skyrocketing electricity demand. Customers also face rising electricity bills as a result.Developers building new AI data centers on federal land will be required to pay all costs of building and operating AI infrastructure so that this development does not raise electricity prices for consumers," according to the White House.That includes constructing the data center itself, as well as power facilities and transmission lines. Companies will be responsible for sourcing electricity that data centers use from new sources of clean" electricity. They'll also have to assess the security implications of AI models developed at federal sites and purchase an appropriate share" of American-made semiconductors.In the race to dominate AI, we can't lose sight of the very real race to stop the pollution that's warming our planet and harming our health," Johanna Neumann, a senior director at the Environment America Research & Policy Center, said in a December 19th statement.Neumann argued that the focus should be on making sure that new computing facilities are more efficient, and that they run on renewable electricity. Without those guardrails, AI's insatiable thirst for energy risks crashing America's efforts to get off dirty and dangerous fossil fuels," Neumann added.The government already leases federal lands for energy production, including fossil fuel exploration and renewable energy projects. Under the executive order, by February 28th, the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Energy are supposed to find at least three sites each to host new AI data centers on land that their departments manage.
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6TJ9D)
Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp is rolling out some new features and design improvements to help you become faster and more creative when messaging. Starting today, WhatsApp users can double-tap to react to messages in chats rather than tapping and holding, with their most-used emojis now being displayed in the scrolling pop-out menu instead of the generic selection that was previously provided.It's a similar quality-of-life feature that Discord provides: placing your favorite reactions within easy reach to prevent you from having to hunt through a massive wall of emojis. WhatsApp users can still easily access their other emoji options by clicking the plus symbol on the reaction bar. On the other hand, Meta's Messenger app still only displays the same five emojis as reactions for each message - I'd like to see this update carried over from WhatsApp in the future. Image: WhatsApp A few small, but welcome upgrades to personalize chats. The filters and virtual backgrounds that WhatsApp introduced for video calls last year are now coming to its messages, allowing users to edit shots using 30 different visual effects when they take a photo or video in chats. Sticker packs can now also be shared directly to chats, and users can turn their selfies into custom stickers by tapping on the sticker icon. The Sticker selfies feature is currently only available on Android, with iOS support coming soon," according to WhatsApp.
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by Wes Davis on (#6TJ9E)
Image: Netflix Popular YouTube toddler learning show Ms. Rachel is coming to Netflix. It will start with a four-episode season of curated compilation" videos on January 27th, the company announced today.Netflix says this first batch of research-backed" educational videos aimed at early child development will cover topics like learning to talk or read. Here's the list from Netflix's announcement:
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by Andrew Liszewski on (#6TJ9F)
The Multi-Drill incorporates three tools commonly used by DIYers. | Image: Dremel Dremel has announced a new multi-functional drill designed for DIYers working on smaller projects around their homes like attaching a TV mount to a wall. The Blueprint Multi-Drill can be used to drill holes or drive screws but also features an integrated stud sensor and a removable laser level.The Multi-Drill is available now through Dremel's online store for $99.99, but can also be found at retailers like Amazon and The Home Depot.Powered by a 12V brushless motor and an included rechargeable battery, the Multi-Drill has a top speed of 800 RPM and produces 175 inch-pounds of torque. For comparison, Amazon also sells a $100 18V Milwaukee drill (without a battery) with a top speed of 1,800 RPM and 500 inch-pounds of torque. You won't want to tackle building a shed or deck with Dremel's new tool, but it's powerful enough for lighter tasks like drilling into studs or driving screws while assembling Ikea furniture. Image: Dremel The Multi-Drill's integrated stud sensor detects the edges of hidden beams. The drill's knuckle guard includes an LED light targeted at the tip of its drill bit for extra illumination, as well as a stud sensor for finding the edges of a wooden beam hidden behind drywall. Its functionality is basic compared to dedicated stud sensors that can indicate the center of a beam and even warn when hidden electrical wires are detected. But this stud sensor will never be misplaced in the middle of a project.The Multi-Drill's integrated but removable leveling tool features two bubble levels ensuring it's properly positioned vertically and horizontally before projecting a level laser reference line. So as not to leave marks or holes behind when attached to a wall, Dremel's tiny laser level uses reusable mounting putty. It also features its own rechargeable battery that can be topped off with a standard USB-C cable.The multi-functional approach Dremel is taking here isn't going to appeal to professionals. The Multi-Drill is designed to give amateur renovators a basic set of tools and features for tackling smaller projects without the need for a toolbox to keep them all organized. In addition to a rechargeable battery and the laser level, Dremel also includes a set of nine driver bits of varying sizes and standards, plus three drill bits.
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by Lauren Feiner on (#6TJ6G)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images TikTok's luck might not run out just yet, if a new bill extending its January 19th deadline for a sale is approved by Congress.Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), announced on the Senate floor Monday that he plans to introduce the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act to give the company an extra 270 days to divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance to avoid facing a ban in the US. The bill notably wouldn't overturn Congress' initial bill, but it would give the company more time to make a deal, as its legal options dry out. The Supreme Court is expected to decide this week whether the initial law, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, violates the First Amendment, as applied to TikTok - but many court-watchers predict the ruling is unlikely to go in TikTok's favor.Markey voted to approve the initial law, which was included in a foreign aid package before the Senate. And in his remarks on the floor Monday, he acknowledged that TikTok has its problems." But, he said, a TikTok ban would impose serious consequences on millions of Americans who depend on the app for social connections and their economic livelihood. We cannot allow that to happen."The Senator filed an amicus brief in late December - alongside Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) - with the Supreme Court in support of TikTok and its creators, arguing the law does not stand up to First Amendment scrutiny. Its principal justification-preventing covert content manipulation by the Chinese government- reflects a desire to control the content on the TikTok platform and in any event could be achieved through a less restrictive alternative," they argued in the brief. And its secondary justification of protecting users' data from the Chinese government could not sustain the ban on its own and also overlooks that Congress did not consider whether less drastic mitigation measures could address those concerns."Even if Congress takes up the deadline extension, ByteDance will face the same decision it does now in less than a year: whether it can or wants to sell TikTok. While prospective buyers have expressed interest, it's still unclear if the Chinese government would be willing to sell it - although some recent reporting suggests they're at least considering the option.
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by Justine Calma on (#6TJ6H)
A general view of destroyed houses in a neighborhood that was destroyed by the Eaton Fire which remains without electricity or water on January 12, 2025 in Altadena, California. | Photo by David McNew/Getty Images As wildfires across Los Angeles continued to burn, some residents are already starting to point fingers at the local power utility as the culprit. Southern California Edison is facing multiple lawsuits alleging the company is responsible for the deadly Eaton fire that nearly leveled Altadena.While officials continue to investigate the cause of the fire, at least four suits allege that SCE failed to de-energize power lines, the Los Angeles Times reports. A lawyer for one of the plaintiffs said they filed suit early in an effort to preserve evidence.We have video, we have photographs, we have eyewitness accounts."Utilities have faced a string of lawsuits in recent years in the wake of devastating wildfires, typically over power lines sparking blazes. SCE alone has had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for at least seven previous blazes, according to NPR.We have video, we have photographs, we have eyewitness accounts, not just from our clients but other residents that were there and alleged to have seen sparking, to have seen arcing occurring on those lines that subsequently triggered a fire," Ali Moghaddas, an attorney representing an Altadena resident... Read the full story at The Verge.
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