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by Tom Warren on (#6B14S)
Illustration: The Verge Google is updating its Bard AI chatbot to help developers write and debug code. Rivals like ChatGPT and Bing AI have supported code generation, but Google says it has been “one of the top requests” it has received since opening up access to Bard last month.Bard can now generate code, debug existing code, help explain lines of code, and even write functions for Google Sheets. “We’re launching these capabilities in more than 20 programming languages including C++, Go, Java, Javascript, Python and Typescript,” explains Paige Bailey, group product manager for Google Research, in a blog post.You can ask Bard to explain code snippets or explain code within GitHub repos similar to how Microsoft-owned GitHub is implementing a ChatGPT-like... Continue reading…
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-12-22 20:48 |
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6B14T)
Hannah Waddingham pictured performing onstage at the 2023 Olivier Awards. | Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for SOLT Hannah Waddingham, the Emmy-winning actor best known for her role as Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso, is set to host a musical holiday special on Apple TV Plus later this year. Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas will be recorded live in front of an audience at the London Coliseum and will feature Waddingham performing festive classics and musical numbers alongside a big band and some “special surprise guests.”Big holiday-themed releases have become something of a tradition for Apple in recent years. Last year saw the streamer release Spirited, a retelling of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol starring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. Home for Christmas is being produced by Done+Dusted and will be directed by BAFTA award winner... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#6B14V)
The Chromecast with Google TV (HD) is a good streaming device if you can get away with 1080p. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge If you’re looking for a Mother’s Day gift that’s cheap in price but not quality, today’s lead deal is a good one to consider. Right now, you can pick up the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) on sale for $19.99 ($10 off) from Best Buy, Google, and B&H Photo. That’s just $1 shy of the device’s all-time low.Google’s entry-level streaming device is the budget-friendly version of one of our favorite models, the Chromecast with Google TV (4K). Like its pricier sibling, it’s uniquely capable of curating recommendations across a variety of streaming services and provides an array of helpful info, including Rotten Tomatoes ratings. It can also play HDR videos, supports casting, and comes with the same Google Assistant-compatible voice remote as... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#6B134)
A resident holds a phone while walking on debris following Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, on October 2nd, 2022. | Image: Eva Marie Uzcategui / Bloomberg via Getty Images For years, Twitter has been a go-to for agencies that need to warn people during a rapidly changing crisis. The National Weather Service uses it to share hurricane and tornado alerts. Firefighting agencies tweet updates about where a blaze is headed. It’s supposed to give people a heads-up so that they can take precautions to keep themselves safe.Recently, though, agencies have started facing the real possibility of losing that resource. Twitter announced in February that it would restrict access to its previously open API, and over the past week, it’s cut off public service accounts for agencies such as the National Weather Service, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Bay Area Rapid Transit. The accounts were later... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#6B135)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft has released version 1.2 of its DirectStorage SDK and has a surprise addition that will help speed up old hard drives. While DirectStorage initially launched as a way to stream data from the latest speedy NVMe solid state drives to your GPU without a CPU slowing things down, Microsoft has heard from developers that improved support for legacy hard drives would also benefit games.Parts of DirectStorage have always worked on hard drives, but developers have had to use separate methods for NVMe devices and HDDs. That complicates the process of supporting an API that’s really designed for high-speed SSDs that aren’t always used by PC gamers to store and play games.With DirectStorage 1.2, developers can now use the same code on... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6B10W)
Last year’s iPhone 14. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple could offer its own journaling app with the next update to iOS, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal. The software, codenamed “Jurassic,” will attempt to tap into the apparent mental and physical benefits of logging your thoughts and activities on a regular basis. The WSJ reports that the app could be announced as early as Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June as a feature for iOS 17, the iPhone software update expected to be released this autumn.According to the WSJ, Apple’s ideas for the app include having it pull usage data from the user’s iPhone to make suggestions about what they might like to journal about. It might spot when someone’s daily activity has changed and suggest writing about specific... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6B10X)
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Computing storage manufacturer Seagate has agreed to pay a $300 million penalty imposed by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) for shipping over $1.1 billion worth of hard disk drives to Huawei, violating export control restrictions. An investigation by Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) determined that Seagate shipped 7.4 million hard drives to Huawei between August 2020 and September 2021 without obtaining an export license, despite a rule introduced in August 2020 that restricts sales to the Chinese company.The $300 million penalty is the largest fine ever imposed by the BIS that isn’t tied to a criminal case. The BIS says it’s more than double Seagate’s profits in selling the hard drives.Seagate became Huawei’s sole... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6B0XY)
Chaudhry wearing Humane’s device in his breast pocket, activating it with the press of a button. | Image: TED Humane, the startup founded by ex-Apple employees Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, has given a first live demo of its new device; a wearable gadget with a projected display and AI-powered features intended to act as a personal assistant.Chaudhri, who serves as Humane’s chairman and president, demoed the device onstage during a TED talk, a recording of which has been acquired by Inverse and others ahead of its expected public release on April 22nd.“It’s a new kind of wearable device and platform that’s built entirely from the ground up for artificial intelligence,” Chaudri says in comments transcribed by Inverse. “And it’s completely standalone. You don’t need a smartphone or any other device to pair with it.”Thanks to the... Continue reading…
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by Richard Lawler on (#6B0VP)
Image: The Verge Something to consider before sending a risky text via WhatsApp is that now, disappearing messages are a bit more optional. Mark Zuckerberg is announcing a new tweak to the service’s burn-after-reading feature, which allows the recipient to long-press a message and choose to keep it.WhatsApp describes the adjustment as a “sender superpower,” and assuming it all works as designed, it still keeps the sender in control of what ultimately happens to the message. That’s because the sender is sent a notification when a recipient tries to save a message, and the sender can then choose if it will disappear or be saved.According to the company’s blog post, this gives senders the ability to “veto” a recipient’s attempt to save a message.... Continue reading…
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by Sean Hollister on (#6B0MG)
Dota 2 has a 40-percent larger map. | Image: Valve Dota 2, one of the world’s most popular esports titles serving over 300,000 concurrent players on Steam as I write these words, has just dropped a massive update called New Frontiers that will likely change the free-to-play game forever. And the biggest difference by far is real estate: the game’s entire map is now 40 percent larger, letting you explore around the edges.“The core objective of the game remains the same,” assures Valve — “your lanes aren’t further away from each other, and everything you need to win is still in the center of the map.” Image: Valve A few of the new goodies. But Valve goes on to describe “meta-defining new features,” new locations, new Tormentor mini-bosses, vision-granting... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#6B0KE)
Image: Capcom Street Fighter 6 comes out in a little over a month, but if you want to get warmed up before the game’s full release, you can check out a new demo on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 right now. If you’re on Xbox Series X / S or PC, the demo will be available on April 26th.As part of the demo, you’ll be able to try out part of the game’s World Tour single-player mode, and build a custom avatar for World Tour that can be transferred to the full game at launch. (Well, as long you end up playing the full game on the same platform.)Capcom revealed the demo as part of Thursday’s Street Fighter 6 Showcase, which was chock-full of new details about the game. Here’s just a few:
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by Emma Roth on (#6B0JA)
Image: CNBC A new video obtained by CNBC gives us a first look at the fire that engulfed a set of Ford F-150 Lightnings in a Dearborn, Michigan, holding lot earlier this year. This heavily edited version of the video shows police arriving on the scene as smoke billows from a group of electric trucks tucked in the back of the lot.“Let’s hope it doesn’t blow up,” one police officer says during the video. “The smoke is clear as day.” In February, Ford suspended production the production of and recalled some of its Ford F-150 Lightnings after one of the vehicles caught fire while charging and spread to two neighboring trucks. Ford eventually traced the cause of the fire to a “rare” issue affecting the vehicle’s battery, which is made by South Korean... Continue reading…
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by Alex Heath on (#6B0GH)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has started getting rid of legacy blue checks for those who don’t pay up. Well, unless you’re LeBron James and a couple of other celebrities.The Verge has confirmed that an employee at Twitter recently emailed James, who has previously said he wouldn’t pay for verification, to “extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”We contacted James’ longtime media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, who confirmed that James hasn’t paid to be verified. However, after we first published this information, Musk said that he’s paying “a few” subscriptions “personally,” including for the accounts belonging to Stephen King and William Shatner.James has perhaps been the most famous hater of... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#6B0EJ)
Image: Blizzard Wouldya look at that, Diablo IV is getting one more beta before launch. During today’s D4 livestream event, the developers announced that they’ll be holding a third beta.
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by Jay Peters on (#6B0EK)
Image: PlayStation Sony is acquiring Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters to help build an “original AAA multiplayer game” for PlayStation 5 and PC, Sony announced on Thursday. Sony has been investing heavily in multiplayer games recently, acquiring Destiny maker Bungie and Jade Raymond-led Haven Interactive Studios last year, and it revealed in February 2022 that it’s planning to release more than 10 live service games before March 2026.We don’t know much about the new game just yet, but Sony’s head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, noted in a PlayStation blog post that “we continue to be impressed by the team’s ambitions to build a modern multiplayer game that connects players in new and innovative ways.” In a press release, he added, “I think... Continue reading…
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6B0EM)
Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge Looking for an electric vehicle that qualifies for the $7,500 tax credit? I hope you’re up on your IRS code. Continue reading…
by Ash Parrish on (#6B0CX)
Image: The Game Awards Geoff Keighley’s putting on a show. I don’t mean E3 killing Summer Game Fest but an actual music concert celebrating 10 years of The Game Awards. The announcement doesn’t include a Coachella-style lineup of acts like a typical concert announcement would; rather, it’s a listing of game music you’ll hear during the performance.There are 12 games that’ll be featured during the concert, including past game of the year winners like The Last of Us and a smattering of music from the most popular or most anticipated games to come, like Final Fantasy XVI and Starfield. You can also expect to hear the musical stylings of Hades, Elden Ring, and God of War, of course, but the concert also features music from gaming-adjacent media like the League of... Continue reading…
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by Allison Johnson on (#6B0AD)
Classic city-building with a fun, interactive twist. | Image: Codebrew Games Did you play SimCity on a floppy disk? Are you uncomfortable with the “theft” part of Grand Theft Auto but you love running around and playing mini-games? Did you quit checking Twitter and suddenly find yourself looking for things to do on your phone?Boy, do I have a game recommendation for you. I’d like to introduce you to my newest guilty pleasure: Pocket City 2.I’m actually not a big mobile gamer. And despite semi-regularly spending $7 on a single cup of coffee, I’m pretty stingy when it comes to paying for apps. But when I read the description of everything you could do in Pocket City 2, I couldn’t pay for it fast enough. I have not regretted this $5 purchase since.It’s a mobile city-building game of the classic SimCity genre:... Continue reading…
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by T.C. Sottek on (#6B0AE)
Chief Twit Elon Musk has chosen 4/20 as the date to purge the blue checkmarks. We’ll see what happens! Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6B0AF)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images Twitter has begun removing blue checkmarks en masse from legacy verified accounts, fulfilling one of owner Elon Musk’s long-stated plans for the social media network.The change is apparent on Twitter accounts for several Verge writers and other journalists like LA Times reporter Matt Pearce, with the verification logos occasionally disappearing and reappearing between page reloads. Image: Twitter Two different browser sessions, one Twitter profile.. Which one is the real Matt Pearce? Historically, the aim of Twitter’s verification system was to ensure that accounts from notable individuals and organizations who freely contributed content to the social media platform were actually being run by those... Continue reading…
by Emma Roth on (#6B0AG)
Image: Proton Proton, the company behind Proton Mail, has announced the launch of a new password manager: Proton Pass. While the service will eventually become free for everyone to use, it’s currently only available as a beta to Proton’s Lifetime and Visionary users for now.As is the case with Proton’s other products, Proton Pass uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) that’s supposed to keep your personal information away from prying eyes, including third parties and Proton itself. In addition to letting you store your usernames, passwords, and notes, you can also add any randomly generated email aliases that you can use as a replacement for your real address.
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6B0AH)
Michael Schumacher pictured in the pits of the Autodromo Nazionale circuit on September 10th, 2010. | Image: Fred Dufour / AFP via Getty Images The family of Formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher is preparing to take legal action against Die Aktuelle, a German tabloid magazine, for publishing an AI-generated “interview” with the star. The publication ran a front cover spread earlier this week promising an exclusive with Schumacher, accompanied by a tag referring to the piece as “the first interview” since the F1 star suffered a serious brain injury during a skiing accident in December 2013.“No meager, nebulous half-sentences from friends,” reads the translated text on the magazine cover. “But answers from him! By Michael Schumacher, 54!” A strapline calling the interview “deceptively real” is the only indication on the cover that the piece wasn’t authentic. Die Aktuelle,... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6B0AJ)
Image: Google DeepMind, the artificial intelligence company acquired by Alphabet in 2014, is merging with Google’s Brain team to form Google DeepMind. In a post shared by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, he says the combined groups will “significantly accelerate our progress in AI.”DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will serve as the CEO of Google DeepMind, where Pichai says he will “lead the development of our most capable and responsible general AI systems.” Meanwhile, Jeff Dean, Google’s former senior vice president of Google Research and Health who co-founded the Brain team, will take on the role of Google Research and Google DeepMind’s chief scientist.
by Umar Shakir on (#6B0AK)
Lucid Air black on black on black. | Image: Lucid Lucid is now delivering new Air electric sedans for customers who ordered them with the dark-trimmed “Stealth Appearance” package. The option was first made available to order last year, which includes changes on “up to 35 components” that give the Air black gloss and satin graphite accents. And when paired with infinite black paint, you can even get a nearly murdered-out look.The first Lucid Air deliveries with Stealth Appearance are happening at the automaker’s Costa Mesa service center in Orange County, California. Lucid states it will deliver more throughout the country in the coming weeks. Lucid’s Q1 2023 customer deliveries are up 290 percent year over year at 1,406, and that comes after lackluster production numbers from last... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#6B0AM)
Image: Disney Five Spider-Man movies, including the full Tobey Maguire-led trilogy, are coming to Disney Plus very soon, Disney announced on Thursday. Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and The Amazing Spider-Man all hit the streaming service tomorrow, April 21st. Spider-Man: Homecoming and a Spider-Man-adjacent movie, Venom, will be available on May 12th.It will be great to have these Spider-Man movies on Disney Plus. Since Sony Pictures owns the film rights to Spider-Man, the movies have so far been available on different streaming services, which was a huge pain, especially when the vast majority of Marvel movies are already on Disney Plus.You may have noticed that the list is missing a few Spider-Man movies, however. Still absent are The... Continue reading…
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by Brandon Widder on (#6B082)
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge When the original Apple Watch SE came out in 2020, it represented the sweet spot in Apple’s smartwatch lineup. It was faster than what was then Apple’s entry-level flagship, the Series 3, but also cheaper than the newest models. And while it’s certainly beginning to show its age, you can pick it up at Walmart in the 40mm GPS configuration for $149 ($130 off) or in the larger 44mm variant for $179 ($130 off).Apple’s smartwatch lineup has changed pretty substantially since 2020, especially with the introduction of the new Ultra model, but the first-gen Apple Watch SE can still make for a solid entry-level pick if you’ve never owned a smartwatch (or if you want something inexpensive to hand to the kid).The SE shares some features found... Continue reading…
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6B083)
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If a smoke alarm sounds and no one is around to hear it, how effective is it? Sound Recognition, which is a brand new feature on all Apple HomePod smart speakers, can help. Sound Recognition will send an alert to your phone when the speaker hears a smoke or CO alarm. You can then check in through the Home app and hear what’s going on wherever you are. The Sound Recognition alert opens two-way communication with your HomePod and your iPhone. This valuable safety feature is free and easy to enable. If you already own one or more HomePods, it’s a cheaper option than investing in smart smoke alarms, which will also send alerts when they go off but regularly cost three to four times more than non-connected alarms.The S... Continue reading…
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#66XR1)
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Apple’s new HomeKit architecture is a ground-up, under-the-hood rebuild of the company’s Apple Home smart home platform. Apple says it “will improve the performance and reliability of the accessories in your home.” First announced at WWDC, this new foundation for Apple’s smart home is part of the company’s support of the smart home standard Matter.Following a false start late last year, when the option to upgrade to the new architecture was released with iOS 16.2 but was quickly pulled following multiple user complaints, Apple is trying again. With iOS 16.4, which released this month, users can once again choose to enable the new Home architecture.However, upgrading is entirely optional. And if you use an iPad as your main Apple Home... Continue reading…
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by Sean Hollister on (#6B053)
Forspoken was supposed to be the next-gen technological gaming showcase, but EA’s Immortals of Aveum may have it beat in the “your PC need not apply” realm. Today, the company’s revealing the system requirements for Ascendant Studios’ “Call of Duty but with magic,” and they blow past anything a developer’s ever dared ask for.The minimum spec is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super or better or an AMD 5700 XT paired with a Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 7 3700X, 16GB of dual-channel RAM, and with an SSD “strongly recommended” to play the game. That’s at a mere 1080p resolution, low to medium spec.Based on the GPU requirements alone, it’s likely that under 9 percent of today’s gaming PCs will even qualify, based on the latest Steam hardware survey.... Continue reading…
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by Allison Johnson on (#6B054)
T-Mobile is adding a plan designed for frequent phone upgraders. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile has announced another rate plan today: Go5G Plus, which guarantees two-year device payment plans and that existing customers will get the same new phone promotions as new customers. It takes the place of Magenta Max as the carrier’s most expensive plan to the tune of $90 per month with autopay for a single line.The company is announcing the new plan and a couple of other promotions in an aggressive bid for new customers and is doing so on 4/20 because the company intends to “smoke the competition.” That’s some real “How do you do, fellow kids?” energy.Go5G Plus includes everything Magenta Max offers, like unlimited premium data, Netflix, and Apple TV Plus, and adds a few more things on top in addition to the phone upgrade... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#6B055)
Photo by Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for BuzzFeed Inc. BuzzFeed News, the Pulitzer Prize-winning news arm of BuzzFeed.com, is being shut down, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced to staff on Thursday. The shutdown is happening as part of a new wave of layoffs at the company that will reduce the company’s workforce by about 15 percent.“While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization,” Peretti wrote in a memo to staff the company shared with The Verge. Peretti said they would focus on HuffPost, which it acquired in 2020, as the company’s news brand because the publication is “profitable with a loyal direct front page audience.” Both HuffPost and BuzzFeed plan to open “a... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6B056)
Imgur founder Alan Schaaf at Web Summit 2018. | Photo by Diarmuid Greene /Web Summit via Getty Images Popular image hosting platform Imgur is done with hosting pornography. In a blog post published this week, the company says it has a new terms of service coming into effect on May 15th and that, as a result, it’ll be removing “nudity, pornography, & sexually explicit content” from its platform as well as “old, unused, and inactive content that is not tied to a user account.”“You will need to download/save any images that you wish to save if they no longer adhere to these Terms,” Imgur wrote in its blog post. “Most notably, this would include explicit/pornographic content.”The blog post doesn’t offer much detail about how Imgur is defining “old, unused, and inactive content.” Depending on the definition, this could cover a huge portion... Continue reading…
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by David Pierce on (#6B005)
Illustration by Hugo Herrera for The Verge The tech industry is abuzz about a new standard for social networking that is more open, more user-centric, and potentially more powerful than Twitter and Facebook. But we’ve been here before. Continue reading…
by Emma Roth on (#6B006)
Screenshot: SpaceX SpaceX’s integrated Starship spacecraft successfully took off from its launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday but didn’t manage to fully complete its test flight. The spacecraft spun out of control before bursting into a ball of flames about four minutes into its flight, cutting the test short.In a statement on Twitter, SpaceX said, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.” During today’s 90-minute test flight, Starship was supposed to reach an altitude of about 150 miles during a journey around the globe before splashing down into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. SpaceX scrubbed its first test flight attempt on April 17th due to a “frozen” pressurant valve.After the launch, Elon Musk tweeted... Continue reading…
by Andrew Webster on (#6B007)
Image: Toge Productions The original Coffee Talk was a game about, well, coffee and talking. Set in an alternate version of Seattle, one where harpies, elves, vampires, and werewolves were as common as humans, it put players in the role of a barista at a late-night cafe. You had regulars who would chat about their problems, ask for their favorite drinks, and you mostly listened and offered advice. The sequel — dubbed Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly — doesn’t change much. And that’s exactly what makes it so endearing.The second episode picks up a few years after the original (you’ll definitely want to play the first before the sequel) and takes place in the same coffee shop in the same perpetually raining version of Seattle. The game is structured as a series... Continue reading…
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6B008)
Image: Adobe Adobe is launching a new feature for its Illustrator graphic design software that allows users to quickly adjust the color scheme of vector-based images through generative AI. Users can upload their own Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) files to Illustrator’s Vector Recoloring tool to generate different colors and palette variations within seconds, either by typing out a text description or selecting from a list of sample prompts.Illustrator Vector Recoloring — which Adobe claims is the first-ever generative AI-powered vector recoloring tool to hit the market — is being introduced as the next phase of Adobe Firefly, a suite of creative generative AI models that the company recently released into public beta. The Vector Recoloring feature... Continue reading…
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by Sean Hollister on (#6AZX0)
Image: Acer For years, Acer’s definition of a “compact juggernaut” still took up 18 liters of space — and still looked like a traditional tower PC. But today, the company’s announcing a low-slung SFF gaming desktop that fits the most powerful PC gaming parts into an unusual 15.4-liter chassis.The Acer Predator Orion X doesn’t look like any desktop the company’s sold before, and not just because the company’s backing away from its “this literal alien will eat you” vibe in favor of something a little more Evangelion. It’s also because the PC has three distinct zones for each of its major component clusters, with items accessible by pulling those “Zone 02,” “Zone 03,” and “Zone 01” lever-latches you can see on the front. Image: Acer... Continue reading…
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by Alex Cranz on (#6AZX1)
It’s a bong. There are lasers. I could not be clearer about what this is. Continue reading…
by Andrew Webster on (#6ABPW)
Starfield. | Image: Bethesda Softworks E3 isn’t happening, but the news isn’t stopping. Continue reading…
by Andrew Webster on (#6AZX3)
Alone in the Dark. | Image: THQ Nordic Even without E3, the summer lineup of gaming livestreams continues to get packed. The latest company to announce an event is THQ Nordic, which will be airing a “digital showcase” on August 11th at 3PM ET. The company says the event will include news and brand-new announcements as well as details on upcoming games in its lineup such as Alone in the Dark, Outcast 2, and Trine 5. You’ll be able to check it out on YouTube, Twitch, and Steam.E3 is officially off the table this year, with the annual summer showcase canceled and its future looking murky. But already, a number of events have popped up to fill in the gap. In addition to THQ Nordic’s newly announced event, there’s Summer Game Fest on June 8th, a Microsoft showcase (including a... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6AZV2)
AUO’s 49-inch 360Hz 5K gaming monitor. | Image: AUO AU Optronics’ latest monitor panels include components that seemingly tick all the boxes for premium gaming displays. One is 49 inches corner to corner, has an ultrawide aspect ratio of 32:9, a “5K” resolution, and a refresh rate of 360Hz. It’s being shown off at the Touch Taiwan display trade show this week alongside a 540Hz panel that AUO claims is the highest refresh rate available on a gaming display.Although AUO isn’t a household name in the world of gaming monitors, TFTCentral notes that it’s one of the industry’s major panel suppliers alongside LG Display. Although you’re unlikely to be buying an AUO-branded display anytime soon, the company’s announcements matter because they represent the kinds of components that’ll be... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6AZV4)
Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta’s Oversight Board — an independent panel the social media giant selected to deliberate its content decisions — has published a report that supports content moderation actions taken by Meta at the height of the covid pandemic. The board is also recommending a number of changes to its misinformation policy while highlighting the company’s failure to assess the impact its social media platforms had on public health and human rights.Meta is being urged by the board to commission an impact assessment with a focus on how design features like Facebook’s News Feed recommendation algorithms can amplify dangerous health-related misinformation. This includes publicly releasing any prior research that the company has conducted into the matter.... Continue reading…
by Monica Chin on (#6AZV3)
Watching IMAX content, as one does. | Image: HP HP has revealed the details of this year’s additions to its midrange (and generally quite good value) Envy line. This year, the company is all in on webcams, fan blades, and... IMAX?Yeah, I’m not quite sure either. HP claims that its new HP Envy x360 15 (well, 15.6 inches, to be precise), available later this month for a starting price of $949.99, is the first “IMAX Enhanced certified PC.” IMAX Enhanced is a home theater certification program that’s been kicking around for a few years, but it’s generally applied to, like, TVs and projectors and stuff. Now, it’s on a laptop I guess! Image: HP See? IMAX. In the flesh. Similar to something like Intel’s Evo program, devices that want IMAX Enhanced certification... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6AW49)
Image: SpaceX SpaceX second attempt at the first test flight of its integrated Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster is happening Thursday morning. Known collectively as “Starship,” it’s the tallest rocket ever built, standing at 394 feet tall (120 meters) — about 90 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. It’s also the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the Super Heavy booster fitted with 33 of SpaceX’s powerful Raptor engines — the most engines ever featured in a first-stage rocket booster.Starship is integral to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s vision of eventually sending a crew of people to Mars. It supersedes the company’s Falcon 9 rocket — currently the world’s most frequently launched rocket — capable of carrying more cargo and a... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#6AZQX)
Image: Voicemod Voicemod, a popular voice changer and soundboard, is now available on macOS. Voicemod is widely used by streamers, gamers, and content creators to trigger sound effects through soundboards or for pitch-shifting and fun real-time voice changes.Voicemod on macOS is supported on both Intel- and Apple Silicon-powered Macs, and works by creating its own virtual microphone so you can use it in any application. There are more than 100 voice options or enhancements available, and the popular soundboard feature lets you play custom sounds over your microphone in games and during FaceTime or Zoom calls.“We are excited to be the first company to offer a real-time voice changer and soundboard app to macOS users,” says Jaime Bosch, CEO and... Continue reading…
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by James Vincent on (#6AZPJ)
Illustration: The Verge The next target for Google’s AI rush is the company’s advertising business, according to a report from The Financial Times.Citing a presentation shown to the company’s advertising customers, the FT says Google will augment its ad programs with generative AI this year. The presentation describes how customers will be able input content like text, image, and video into Google’s AI systems which will “remix” them to generate ads based on goals like audience and sales targets.The FT says the tools will likely be integrated into Google’s Performance Max program, which gives an overview of customers’ campaigns. Notably, Performance Max already uses machine learning to customize ad spend, but currently only makes strategic recommendations... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#6AZE1)
The AT Protocol’s @-symbol logo. | Image: Bluesky Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized Twitter alternative, now has an Android app. The launch follows the release of the service’s iOS app, which came out in late February. However, if you want to access the service at all, you’ll need to join the waitlist or get an invite code from a friend. Image: Bluesky I don’t have an Android phone, so I can’t vouch for the quality of the Android app. But I would recommend getting on the waitlist for the service — it’s my favorite Twitter clone yet. Right now, it’s a pretty small community of over 25,000 people, and it feels like everyone is really dedicated to maintaining a positive environment. It’s also a nice break from Twitter, which continues to get worse every... Continue reading…
by Alex Cranz on (#6AZE2)
Universal The Fast and Furious franchise is all about family, but it is also about enormous action set pieces that even make Tom Cruise say “neat,” and in the second trailer for Fast X, the 10th — 10th! — installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, Jason Momoa appears to blow up the Vatican.I don’t want to spoil things. It’s a trailer lasting two minutes and 36 seconds, and you should watch it yourself! But it’s a very wild method of exploding that I had not thought possible in a live-action film.And I really hope this isn’t one of those instances where the best bits are in the trailer because this trailer has left me so unreasonably hyped for Fast X that I’m going to need some truly outlandish stunts to top Jason Momoa blowing up the... Continue reading…
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6AZCM)
Image: Getty Tesla will have a delivery event for its long-delayed Cybertruck in the third quarter of 2023, Elon Musk said during an earnings call with investors Wednesday.After more than three years since its initial announcement, Cybertruck production is expected to start this summer — though Musk has said that volume production won’t begin until next year.“It takes time to get the manufacturing line going, and this is really a very radical product,” Musk said Wednesday. “It’s not made in the way that other cars are made.” Image: Tesla Asked for updated specs, such as range or unique features, Musk demurred, noting that those details would be revealed during the hand-off event.“One thing I am confident of saying is that... Continue reading…
by Jay Peters on (#6AZ7K)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter reiterated today that it’s going to remove legacy verified checkmarks Thursday, April 20th. Yes, that does mean Elon Musk’s Twitter intends to remove the last vestiges of what he once deemed the “lords & peasants system” on 4/20, ha ha.The thing is, I won’t believe Twitter until it actually happens. The company originally said that it would “begin” removing checkmarks on April 1st, but as far as I know, that hasn’t taken place. (Well, outside of Twitter removing The New York Times’ verified checkmark after the publication said it wouldn’t pay the reportedly high fees for organizational accounts, but it seems like Musk made sure that happened.)