 |
by Jon Porter on (#694T5)
The Fira de Barcelona convention center during last year’s Mobile World Congress. | Image: David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images In less than a week, some of the world’s biggest mobile players will be crowded into the Fira de Barcelona convention center, ready to show off their latest generation of mobile devices. In previous years, that’s meant everything from flagship smartphone announcements from Samsung and LG (RIP), smartwatches, and even the launch of the original HTC Vive.These days, however, things feel a little different. Despite the “World” in Mobile World Congress, MWC Barcelona feels increasingly focused on Europe. The global smartphone market has never been a cohesive whole, but the US and China feel more than ever like they’re diverging from everywhere else. And that’s left MWC in a weird spot.I mean, just look at what we’re expecting from Honor,... Continue reading…
|
The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-12-23 09:03 |
by Mia Sato on (#694P2)
Image: Snap Snapchat users will soon have a handful of new tools to make content that includes trending songs or sounds.First, the company is introducing a sound recommendation system for Lenses, its popular augmented reality (AR) filters. Users will be able to discover which sounds other people are using with the lens they’ve applied and add popular audio to their own photos or videos. The feature is now available to US users and rolling out globally.Snapchat is also adding a feature that automatically syncs uploaded photos and videos to the beat of songs when making a montage. Users can add anywhere from four to 20 photos and videos; the feature could be helpful when making content based on trending audio or challenges.Snap has been gradually... Continue reading…
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#694K6)
A reproduction of the cover page and the second page of Zarya of the Dawn, from the US Copyright Office’s letter. | Image: Zarya of the Dawn — Kris Kashtanova / Midjourney The US Copyright Office has reconsidered the copyright protection it granted last fall to Kristina Kashtanova for her comic book Zarya of the Dawn, reports Reuters. It featured pictures created by feeding text prompts to Midjourney, an artificial intelligence image generator.According to this letter (PDF) sent to her lawyer by Robert Kasunic, the associate Register of Copyrights, the US Copyright Office has decided that Kashtanova “is the author of the Work’s text as well as the selection, coordination, and arrangement of the Work’s written and visual elements.”The images themselves, however, “are not the product of human authorship,” and the registration originally granted for them has been canceled. To justify the decision, the... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Mitchell Clark on (#694J3)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you typically access your Hotmail or Outlook account using the Gmail app, there’s a reason you probably haven’t seen any new emails today: Google says it’s investigating an issue it’s having syncing with Microsoft’s servers. According to Google’s status page, the company has been working to figure out what’s wrong since around noon ET, and has been in touch with Microsoft about the problem.At first glance it seems like this partial outage would be a pretty niche issue — Outlook has its own app, who’s using the Gmail one? But for many Android phones the Gmail app is the default mail client, and it encourages you to add email address from any service, not just Google’s. If you’ve gone that route, it is worth noting that Outlook itself... Continue reading…
|
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#694J4)
Look at that beautiful crowbar. | Screenshot: Valve via game mod by sultim_t It’s time to dust off your trusty crowbar and see it in a new light, complete with colorful reflections. A PC mod of the original Half-Life from 1998 that adds realtime path-traced ray tracing to the game is now available, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. First teased by its creator sultim_t (Sultim Tsyrendashiev) over a year ago, the mod pack is now available to download on GitHub to install and play with the original Half-Life on Steam.While a proper remake of Half-Life already exists in the form of Black Mesa, let’s say this falls more in the “remaster” camp — much like sultim_t’s other projects, adding ray tracing to original Doom and Quake titles. The ray-traced Half-Life has elements that still look very late-90s, but greatly... Continue reading…
 |
by Jay Peters on (#694J5)
The Verge Valve has shared a schedule of when the big sales on Steam will take place in 2023, meaning you now have some advance notice about when you should get ready to open your wallet to snap up some great deals.As established last year, there will be a major sale every season, so look forward to big spring, summer, autumn, and winter deals. There will be a handful of themed sales and events, like Puzzle Fest, Visual Novel Fest, and SHMUP Fest, which all sound very promising. And Valve is also sharing details about the next two Next Fests, where you can try a bunch of free demos of upcoming games. (If you want an idea of what a Next Fest is like, you can check out the February Next Fest, which is happening now through February 28th.)Here’s... Continue reading…
|
by Mitchell Clark on (#694J6)
You can use Notion AI to generate text from scratch, and to re-write or summarize existing text. | Screenshot: Mitchell Clark / The Verge You can now try out the AI features of the Notion note-taking app, which are meant to help you write and refine text, summarize key points in existing notes, and generate task lists, according to an announcement from the company. Notion started testing its AI offering in November, but now it’s available to anyone with an account, and there’s no waitlist required.While the AI integrated into the app can write articles from whole cloth (I asked it to write a blog post about the Notion AI announcement, and it spat out 385 words, only some of which were accurate), the company is pitching it more as a “thought partner.” In its announcement post, the company says one of the features alpha testers used the most was asking it to improve text... Continue reading…
by Sean Hollister on (#694G5)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Nvidia just reported its fourth quarter and full-year earnings, and it’s not exactly rosy — at least compared to pandemic highs. Last year, Nvidia had record quarterly revenue of $7.64 billion, including $3 billion in pure profit. For Q4 of its fiscal 2023, the company forecast that it would see just $6 billion in quarterly revenue in today’s earnings results, and that’s just about where it landed: $6.05 billion in revenue, down 21 percent, of which $1.4 billion was profit, down 53 percent. For the full year, it raked in $26.92 billion, almost identical to last year, though profit was down 55 percent.Remember: in 2021, $5 billion in revenue a quarter was a new Nvidia record. Now it’s the status quo: the company says it’s expecting to... Continue reading…
 |
by Allison Johnson on (#694EP)
Apple’s Dynamic Island lacked third-party support at launch. That’s starting to change. | Image: Nilay Patel / The Verge Realme, a subbrand of Chinese phone maker Oppo, might be the first Android OEM to clone Apple’s Dynamic Island, a deleted tweet from a company executive and a leaked animation suggest. It comes at a time when Apple seems like it might prove that Dynamic Island is worth copying, as the mostly ornamental UI fixture is finally getting some real third-party support.This doesn’t come as a major surprise. As 9to5Google points out, Realme basically told everyone it wanted to clone Dynamic Island back in September. It appears that a feature called the “Mini Capsule” has been in the works since then. A photo in the removed tweet indeed shows a pill-shaped UI element at the top of the screen with Oppo’s SuperVOOC charging logo displayed. The... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#694BW)
Photo by Cooper Neill / Getty Images Netflix is getting into football. On Wednesday, the streaming giant announced a new sports docuseries, Quarterback, that will focus on three NFL quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs (who just collected his second Super Bowl win and second Super Bowl MVP award); Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings; and Marcus Mariota of the Atlanta Falcons. The series is set to debut this summer.“For the first time ever, the NFL allowed quarterbacks to be mic’d up for every single game of a season,” Netflix wrote in a post about the series. “The upcoming show will feature behind-the-scenes access to some of the biggest moments of the season, as Mahomes set an NFL record for total offense on his way to winning the league and Super... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Monica Chin on (#694BX)
Unlike the Blade 16, the 2023 Blade 15 keeps the same aspect ratio we’ve seen on Blades past. | Image: Razer Razer has launched a new Blade 15 model refreshed with Intel’s 13th Gen processors and Nvidia’s RTX 4000 GPUs.The company announced a 16-inch Razer Blade a few weeks ago, and some assumed that it would replace the 2022 Razer Blade 15. The Blade 16 threw a number of new features into the Blade 15’s formula — most notably, a 16:10 Mini LED dual-mode display.But the Blade 15 is a much more minor upgrade from last year’s Blade 15. While the chips are new, the 2023 Blade 15 keeps the same 16:9 aspect ratio as its direct predecessor, just in case you’re one of those old-fashioned people (sorry, I said what I said) who prefers a shorter and wider screen. It’s also the same size and weight as last year’s Blade 15, which means it’s noticeably... Continue reading…
|
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#694BY)
Image: Sean O’Kane / The Verge Tesla announced a new engineering headquarters in California, saying it would take over office space in Palo Alto formerly occupied by Hewlett Packard. Tesla CEO Elon Musk made the announcement Wednesday alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who called the announcement “another proof point of the renewable energy vibrancy that is California.”Tesla was founded in San Carlos, California in 2003 and has called the state home for most of its 20 years of existence. In October 2021, the company abruptly moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, in recognition of its new Gigafactory that was under construction in the state. Tesla also has Gigafactories in Nevada, Berlin, Buffalo, and Shanghai.Tesla was founded in San Carlos,... Continue reading…
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#694BZ)
Image: NBA Top Shot NBA Top Shot developer Dapper Labs and its CEO, Roham Gharegozlou, will face a lawsuit accusing the company of selling unregistered securities in the form of its “Moments,” which are non-fungible tokens for sports fans.Despite Dappers’ lawyer’s claims that “Basketball cards are not securities. Pokémon cards are not securities. Baseball cards are not securities. Common sense says so. The law says so. And, courts say so,” Judge Victor Marrero decided to let the case go forward.As he wrote in his decision (Friel v. Dapper Labs, Inc. et al., 1:21-cv-05837-VM):
|
 |
by Justine Calma on (#6947H)
Tinder bracket fungus / hoof fungus / horse’s hoof (Fomes fomentarius) on a fallen tree trunk in Belgium. | Photo: Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Here’s one more reason to love a good mushroom: one day, you might be able to make headphones, memory foam for shoes, or even aircraft exoskeletons with it. Researchers just assessed the engineering possibilities with one particularly impressive mushroom and found that it might be able to replace plastic in a whole bunch of different use cases.Using mushrooms instead of plastic could cut down on the mountains of waste humans create. Plastics made out of fossil fuels are actually really difficult to recycle and usually wind up cluttering landfills, landscapes, and waterways. Materials made with mushrooms, on the other hand, would be biodegradable and could be reused at the end of a product’s life to make more of the same stuff.The... Continue reading…
|
by Mitchell Clark on (#6947J)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge We’re now getting a look at Meta’s “Roll Call” feature that would let you “see what everyone is up to in a group chat” via their front and back cameras, thanks to screenshots posted by analyst Matt Navarra on Twitter. References to the feature, which is like a private version of BeReal, were spotted in Instagram last year, but now a more fleshed-out version of it has shown up in Messenger.The feature is “an internal prototype, and not testing externally,” according to Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney, but the screenshots do still give us an idea of how it could work should it ever make it to Messenger or other Meta apps. According to Navarra’s post, people in a Messenger group chat would get five minutes to respond to a roll call with... Continue reading…
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6947K)
Image: Artifact Instagram’s co-founders are throwing open the doors to their new personalized news app, Artifact. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger’s new app launched last month with a waitlist, but now anyone on iOS or Android can download Artifact to try it for themselves.Despite the pedigree of Artifact’s creators, it hasn’t revolutionized the way I consume news on my phone. There’s a home tab with a feed of articles Artifact thinks I will like, and while the feed generally has stuff that I’m interested in, the app’s algorithmic sorting means I’ll often be served days-old news that I don’t care about.A “Headlines” tab offers collections of articles sorted by topics, but I don’t tend to swipe to it much. The profile tab, however, might be more... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Daniel Golson on (#6947N)
Image: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz unveiled the 2024 E-Class’ interior, and while its cabin is not a radical departure in design from existing Benzes, the new E-Class is packed full of interesting and advanced features that will influence the rest of the lineup — like a selfie camera and built-in apps for TikTok and Zoom.One of the major upgrades in the 2024 E-Class is the Superscreen, which combines the large standard central touchscreen with a second display in front of the passenger. (Unlike the EQS’s Hyperscreen, the digital gauge cluster remains a standalone display.) It looks beautiful, with slim air vents that curve around the top of the screen and a row of touch-capacitive buttons sitting below the center display.The new E-Class is packed full of... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6947M)
Image: Mercedes-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz will add lidar sensors to “a broad range” of its vehicles by the middle of the decade, the company announced at an investor event in California on Wednesday. The laser sensors will help power the German automaker’s next-generation driver-assist system, which allows for hands-free unsupervised driving on certain highways.The lidar will be supplied by Luminar, a Florida-based company in which Mercedes owns a small investment stake. The German automaker has no plans to increase its stake in Luminar, though the lidar deal is said to be worth several billion dollars. (Mercedes owns less than 1 percent of the company.)The German automaker has no plans to increase its stake in LuminarMercedes is the latest automaker to commit... Continue reading…
|
by Andrew Webster on (#6947Q)
Super Nintendo World opens up at Universal Studios Hollywood. | Image: David Sprague / Universal Studios Hollywood With theme parks and a movie, the company is pushing outside of its traditional console gaming comfort zone. Continue reading…
by Monica Chin on (#69436)
This is a portable, powerful laptop with a battery life problem. Continue reading…
 |
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#69435)
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Multiroom music (MRM) is a big selling point of Amazon’s Echo smart speakers. For a fraction of the price of some whole-home wireless audio setups (using Amazon’s inexpensive Echo speakers, including the $50 Echo Dot or the $99 Echo), you can stream music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more throughout your house or on several speakers in one room for some seriously souped-up sound. Also, new features for controlling your music with the Alexa app now make it easier to manage your multiroom-audio setup.Alexa’s MRM works with audio from various services, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, and Tidal. And since you can play multiple streams in your house at once, you can listen to a podcast downstairs... Continue reading…
|
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#69437)
The organization behind Matter wants to create a data privacy specification for the smart home. | Image: CSA Do you wish you could see exactly what data your smart thermostat collects and how it uses that information? Would you like to know what your video doorbell knows about who visits your home and when? Are you interested in who can see that map of your bedroom your robot vacuum generated? Or would you at least like to be reassured that no one else knows these intimate details?Today, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the group behind Matter, announced the formation of a new Data Privacy Working Group. The group will develop a global “Alliance Data Privacy Specification” to certify the data privacy of smart devices and the services they use as well as provide information about how that data is used in a clear, digestible manner —... Continue reading…
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#69438)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has closed its $3.9 billion acquisition of membership-based healthcare provider One Medical, which was originally announced last summer. For the subscription (usually $199 annually but currently discounted to $144 per year), One Medical offers members an app, 24/7 access to on-demand telehealth services over video, and guaranteed same- or next-day appointments available through more than 125 offices.The FTC, which is reportedly considering leveling an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, has been investigating this deal as well as others (like iRobot) made by the company. FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar said to CNBC that the investigation into this acquisition is ongoing, and “The commission will continue to look at possible harms to... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Jess Weatherbed on (#693XM)
Microsoft is allowing its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to share account access with up to four other people. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is expanding the availability of its Friends & Family plan for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to six additional countries following its initial pilot in Ireland and Columbia last year. The Friends & Family plan is now also available in New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, Hungary, Israel, and Sweden and allows Xbox Game Pass members to share benefits with up to four other friends or family members.Each individual on a Friends & Family membership receives their own unique access to the entire Game Pass Ultimate library across Xbox and PC, EA Play, and other benefits like exclusive member discounts. Pricing for each new region will vary and has not been publicly disclosed by Microsoft. For context, though, the plan is currently available... Continue reading…
|
 |
by James Vincent on (#693XN)
Bing is now available as a contact in Skype. You can chat to it directly or add it to other conversations. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft evidently hasn’t been daunted by the often wild outbursts of its AI chatbot Bing and is launching the service on iOS and Android mobile apps today as well as integrating the bot into Skype and adding voice access.On mobile devices, Bing is now available on Microsoft’s Edge mobile browser and dedicated Bing app for those who have been accepted from the waitlist. The bot’s functionality is the same as on the web, which is to say that it’s somewhat muted compared to its startling debut. Voice control is also fine but a little slow, and Bing’s voice is unremarkable — female (of course) and vaguely robotic — not as convincing as recent AI voice clones.After the “new Bing” was launched two weeks ago, users quickly found the... Continue reading…
|
by Chris Welch on (#693XP)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge At this point, it’s fair to assume that something went wrong with Spotify HiFi. Two years ago today, during the company’s Stream On event, Spotify announced a new streaming tier that would let customers enjoy lossless, CD-quality audio from the leading subscription music service.Spotify felt the news was worthy of some star power and filmed a promotional video for HiFi with Billie Eilish and Finneas. It remains on the company’s YouTube page, and you can still read the blog post saying upgraded sound would arrive “later this year” — meaning by the end of 2021.And then it just... didn’t happen. Two years on, Spotify HiFi still hasn’t been released. The prolonged wait and lack of updates have become meme-worthy at this point. It’s a... Continue reading…
 |
by Jay Peters on (#693VR)
It’s like you’re actually in the ship. | Image: Hello Games No Man’s Sky is one of many titles you can play on the now-released PlayStation VR2, but the game’s virtual reality mode on all VR platforms is getting a big overhaul as part of the new 4.1 “Fractal” update, developer Hello Games announced Wednesday.One of the biggest changes with the Fractal update is that the game’s HUD and UI have been redesigned for VR. That means you’ll be able to look through your multitool’s options in a menu embedded in the multitool, for example, or look at your inventory on a wrist-mounted display.Of course, there are a handful of features that take advantage of the PS5 and the PSVR 2. You’ll see increased draw distances and denser foliage while exploring planets, and the game will use the PSVR 2’s headset... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Sheena Vasani on (#693VS)
Jabra’s Elite 3 wireless earbuds are on sale for $59.99 ($20 off) today. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge Cheap gadgets are often cheap because, well, they’re not the best in terms of quality. That’s not true of Jabra’s Elite 3, however, which are once again on sale for $59.99 ($20 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.As our favorite pair of wireless earbuds under $100, the Elite 3 sound terrific for the price and offer a few niceties typically reserved for more expensive earbuds. They include an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance, for instance, along with the ability to use either earbud independently. So long as you’re fine without multipoint Bluetooth support and active noise cancellation, they’re a good pair of buds that nail the basics and shouldn’t disappoint. Read our review.Gaming laptops are fun, but they’re not the most practical... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Sean Hollister on (#693SJ)
Ayaneo 2 review: this flashy competitor has the Steam Deck beat on specs, but you can’t play a spec sheet. Continue reading…
|
 |
by James Vincent on (#693SK)
Álvaro Bernis / The Verge Chinese regulators have reportedly told the country’s tech giants not to offer access to AI chatbot ChatGPT over fears the tool will give “uncensored replies” to politically sensitive questions.That’s according to a report from Nikkei Asia citing “people with direct knowledge of the matter.” Nikkei says Chinese regulators told tech firms Tencent and Ant Group (a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba) to not only restrict access to the US-developed ChatGPT, but to also report to officials before launching their own rival chatbots.Such a move would fit the Chinese government’s heavy-handed approach to censorship and quick regulatory responses to new tech. Last month, for example, the country introduced new rules regarding the... Continue reading…
|
by Umar Shakir on (#693SM)
Uber’s new app update includes support for Dynamic Island and Live Activities for iPhone 14 Pro and iOS 16. | Image: Uber Uber is launching a redesigned version of its app that introduces a homescreen that the company says makes hailing a ride and ordering takeout food a lot easier. Uber is also adding enhancements to the app that make use of the latest iPhone and iOS features. The update is rolling out now to “tens of millions” customers in 1,200 cities globally, the company said.The redesign and new features are the first in a series of updates, Uber’s head of product for rides, Jen You, states in a press release. “These improvements represent the biggest design changes to the Uber app in several years.” Image: Uber The new Uber app homescreen has tabs for rides and Eats delivery on top and a simplified space for suggestions. O... Continue reading…
 |
by James Vincent on (#693NY)
The feature is only available in Korean on select handsets, including the Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra (pictured). | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge AI voice clones are already being deployed in podcasts and video games, but how long until they can be harnessed directly by the general public? Probably sooner than you think, with Samsung today announcing a feature for its Bixby mobile assistant that lets users clone their voice to answer phone calls. The idea is that if someone calls you but you can’t answer aloud you can type out a response and it’ll be read in a simulacrum of your voice.Some caveats here: this feature is only currently available in Korean as the Bixby Custom Voice Creator app for a small number of Samsung handsets (the new Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra), which means we’ve been unable to test it ourselves. The voice quality might be abysmal and response time too... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#693NZ)
Image: Getty Plus yet more Twitter layoffs, and Nvidia partners with Microsoft as it fights to acquire Activision Blizzard. Continue reading…
|
 |
by Jess Weatherbed on (#693P0)
It’s early days, but WhatsApp’s 2 billion active users could be one hell of a market for independant writers. | Illustration: The Verge Would you be more likely to subscribe to a newsletter from your favorite creator if you could read it through a messaging app like WhatsApp? As noted by Wabetainfo, code in beta version 2.23.5.3 of WhatsApp Messenger for Android contains references to a new “Newsletter” feature that’s currently under development. The name could itself be a codename, but clues hidden within the code suggest that the one-to-many broadcast tool will be optional and self-contained within its own section of the WhatsApp Status tab, separate from encrypted group chats and messages.According to Wabetainfo’s findings, Newsletter will grant users full control over what they see — there’s no mention of ads (yet), nor is there any sign of algorithm-based... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Sean Hollister on (#693P1)
Today, Sony is officially launching its PlayStation VR2 headset. It costs $550, and you can read our PSVR 2 review right here. But there are a few key experiences that Sony didn’t distribute to reviewers ahead of time — like a day-one patch for Gran Turismo 7 that makes almost the entire racing game playable in virtual reality.I’m beginning to think that was a mistake, because GT7 is easily one of the best things I’ve tried in this headset, and I’m saying that having never played GT7 before. I’m certain a number of gearheads will buy a PlayStation VR2 for this game alone — and quite possibly a PS5, a steering wheel, and a set of pedals to go with it.The game starts exactly the way it does on a flat screen TV. You adjust your screen... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Jon Porter on (#693P2)
This could be Motorola’s next Razr. | Image: Evan Blass Upcoming foldable flip phones from Samsung and Motorola could have much larger cover displays than the current generation, if a series of leaks about the unannounced devices are to be believed.First there’s the Galaxy Z Flip 5, which Samsung is anticipated to announce this summer. Leaker Ice Universe, who’s been a reliable source of information on unannounced Samsung devices in the past, recently tweeted to “say for sure” that Samsung’s next flip phone will have a bigger external display than the Oppo Find N2 Flip. For reference, Oppo’s flip phone has a 3.26-inch cover display, which is already substantially larger than the Z Flip 4’s 1.9-inch display.
|
by Alex Heath on (#693AH)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images On November 21st, Elon Musk gathered Twitter’s remaining employees at its San Francisco headquarters to tell them that, after forcing out roughly two-thirds of the workforce in a matter of weeks, layoffs were over. He keeps laying people off anyway.Dozens of Twitter employees across sales and engineering departments were laid off last week, including one of Musk’s direct reports who was managing engineering for Twitter’s ads business, according to company sources and social media posts from affected employees seen by The Verge. This means Musk has done at least three rounds of layoffs since his promise to stop doing them in November. Meanwhile, he has given a directive internally to revamp how ads are targeted in Twitter’s main feed... Continue reading…
by Adi Robertson on (#693AJ)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge “We’re a court. We really don’t know about these things. These are not the nine greatest experts on the internet.”Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan made the wryly self-deprecating comment early in oral arguments for Gonzalez v. Google, a potential landmark case covering Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. The remark was a nod to many people’s worst fears about the case. Gonzalez could unwind core legal protections for the internet, and it will be decided by a court that’s shown an appetite for overturning legal precedent and reexamining long-standing speech law.But during a remarkably entertaining session of questions today, the court took an unexpectedly measured look at Section 230. The outcome in Gonzalez is far... Continue reading…
 |
by Chris Welch on (#693AK)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge As it nears the launch of two new smart speakers, Sonos appears to be taking another look at pricing across the company’s product portfolio — and raising them in some cases. The second-generation Beam, which was $449 just a week ago, is now shown as $499 on Sonos’ website and retailers, including Best Buy.The already-pricey Sub has also been bumped by $50 and now costs $799. Ouch. The Wayback Machine shows that it was still listed at $749 from Sonos as recently as February 15th.Sonos increased the prices of numerous products back in 2021, citing supply chain issues and consumer demand as factors behind the decision. At that time, the company said it is “always assessing market dynamics including demand, supply chain, component costs,... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Justine Calma on (#69376)
Demonstrators demand action from the Republican presidential candidates about the water crisis in Flint outside the historic Fox Theatre before the GOP presidential debate on March 3rd, 2016, in Detroit, Michigan. | Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images In the wake of disaster, maintaining close ties with friends and family is a crucial part of recovery. Those relationships might help keep people safe in the moment and even nurture better mental health long after the initial disaster, according to new research on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, that started in 2014.Sure, that might seem like common sense. But paying attention to how folks come together when things go horribly wrong is one way to get communities better help in future times of crisis. And it’s not just maintaining a social circle that matters — who’s in it and how close you are to them made a difference in Flint, according to a study recently published in the journal International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.... Continue reading…
|
by Ariel Shapiro on (#69377)
Nick Barclay / The Verge This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.So much for the holiday weekend — it’s a busy week already! We’ve got another major shake-up at Spotify and a bitter cancellation at WNYC. Plus, Hot Pod Summit is this Thursday! Let’s get into it.Max Cutler is leaving SpotifySpotify’s podcasting old guard is dwindling. Just as the dust was beginning to settle on Dawn Ostroff’s departure, Spotify’s podcast vertical takes another hit. Max Cutler, who has been with the company for almost four years and was instrumental in building its podcast business, told staffers on Tuesday that he will be leaving, as well.Cutler founded horror and true crime podcast studio Parcast before Spotify... Continue reading…
 |
by Mitchell Clark on (#69378)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is giving YouTube Music users the ability to create custom stations based on specific artists and to tune how the algorithm decides what songs it should play. The feature, which is called the “Radio Builder,” started rolling out on Tuesday and can be accessed by scrolling to the “Your music tuner” section of the YouTube Music homepage in the iOS or Android app.When building your custom station, you can select up to 30 artists and choose whether you want to only hear music from them or if you want it to pull in songs from similar musicians. You can also tell it to play songs that you’re familiar with, new-to-you songs, or a mix of the two and add filters, letting you tune the mix. For example, you could make a station that plays... Continue reading…
|
by Jay Peters on (#69379)
Image: Rovio If you want to get classic Angry Birds from Google Play — the version that costs just a buck and isn’t laden with microtransactions — you’d better get it quick. Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, a rebuilt version of the original mobile hit, will be delisted from Google’s app store on Thursday due to “the game’s impact on our wider games portfolio,” developer Rovio announced on Tuesday. Oddly, the App Store version will still be available, though Rovio’s plan is to change the game’s name to Red’s First Flight.My guess is that Rovio is delisting this remake of Angry Birds to push people toward its free-to-play games in the series that make money off microtransactions. As a $1 one-time purchase, the Rovio Classics version of the game likely... Continue reading…
by Sean Hollister on (#6933P)
An artistic representation of GeForce Now cloud gaming. | Image: Nvidia Microsoft is trying to convince the entire world that it should be allowed to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion — and it just bartered for Nvidia’s support, signing a 10-year contract that gives Nvidia the right to stream Xbox PC games over its GeForce Now cloud gaming subscription service.What does that mean for gamers like you and me? Well, I just got off the phone with Nvidia GeForce Now VP Phil Eisler, who gave me both a big-picture answer and the shorter-term practical details to go with it.Big picture, Eisler thinks this deal could finally break the cloud gaming “chicken-and-egg” cycle — providing enough games to attract enough gamers to convince publishers to provide more games, too.That’s because this deal isn’t just... Continue reading…
 |
by Victoria Song on (#6933Q)
The Apple Watch is facing two potential import bans over its EKG and pulse oximetry features. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Medical device maker AliveCor announced today that President Biden has upheld an International Trade Commission ruling that could result in a potential import ban on the Apple Watch over its EKG feature.“We applaud President Biden for upholding the ITC’s ruling and holding Apple accountable for infringing the patents that underpin our industry-leading EKG technology,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani said in a statement sent to The Verge.Back in December, the ITC issued a final determination that Apple had infringed on AliveCor’s wearable EKG tech. In the ruling, the ITC recommended a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order for Apple Watch models with EKG features. If enforced, that would mean that Apple would no longer be able... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Mitchell Clark on (#6933R)
Image: Starry Starry, an ISP that launched in 2016 with a focus on delivering home internet with wireless antennas instead of cables, has declared bankruptcy. In a press release, the company says that it intends to quickly restructure and that it’ll continue providing internet service in its “five core operating markets.” Those are Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and Washington, DC.The ISP has clearly been struggling over the past few months. In October 2022, it announced that it was laying off around 500 people, which amounted to about half of its staff. A few months later, Starry announced it was leaving Columbus, Ohio, in a bid to focus more on its five “core” markets. All the while, it was burning millions of dollars in cash, and its... Continue reading…
|
 |
by Tom Warren on (#6933S)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is hoping two gaming giants will help get its Activision Blizzard deal across the line with regulators in Europe. Continue reading…
|
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#6933T)
Image: The Verge Microsoft is already loosening restrictions it recently placed on interactions with the Bing AI chatbot and said it’s going to start testing another option that lets users choose the tone of the chat, with options for Precise (shorter, more focused answers), Creative (longer and more chatty), or Balanced for a bit of both.After repeated reports of strange behavior (like the time it split into multiple personalities and one of them offered us furry porn) and jailbreaks that did things like expose its secret rules, Microsoft set new rules last Friday that limited the number of interactions testers could have and how long they last. The limits cut down testers to five turns per session and a max of 50 per day.According to Microsoft,... Continue reading…
|
by Jay Peters on (#6933V)
I gotta work on my virtual WPM. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Hand tracking on Meta’s Quest VR headsets is about to get better. With the new v50 update, you’ll be able to “touch” things like menu buttons or virtual keyboards with just your hands, meaning it will be easier than before to use your hands for certain functions instead of relying on the Quest controllers or a pinch gesture.When Meta first rolled out hand tracking to its Quest headsets in late 2019, you had to pinch to “select” something, meaning you’d pinch to scroll through text or to click a button. But the new hand-tracking features will be available as an experimental setting Meta calls “Direct Touch.” “Direct Touch is a major improvement to our hand tracking technology, offering a more intuitive and engaging way to interact with... Continue reading…
 |
by Jay Peters on (#692Y6)
Vroom vroom in VR. | Image: Sony We’re just a day away from the Wednesday launch of Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset, and ahead of its release, the company is sharing details on Gran Turismo 7’s VR mode and on 10 new games that will be available within the device’s “launch window.”Let’s start first with Gran Turismo 7. As part of the game’s free 1.29 update, which is available now, the entire game except for two-player splitscreen will be supported by PSVR 2. “GT7 takes full advantage of PS VR2’s next-gen features — utilizing specially optimized HDR tone mapping, as well as foveated rendering from the eye-tracking feature (a technology that renders areas of the screen that the player is directly looking at in high definition), and dynamic 3D audio support, players will... Continue reading…
|