The Verge

EcoFlow is launching it Home Energy Management System at CES this week. | Image: EcoFlow Smart energy solutions company EcoFlow is debuting Oasis, its new AI-powered Home Energy Management System, at CES in Las Vegas this week. Designed to automate and simplify energy management, Oasis features an AI assistant that can answer and even act on complicated questions about your home's energy using natural language, such as How can I maximize my solar energy usage today?" The company also teased the upcoming launch of Ocean Pro, a new grid-tied whole-home solar battery solution for the US it plans to launch later this year.Energy management is a key use case for the smart home, but the infrastructure is expensive, and it can be complicated to set up and confusing to manage. With Oasis, EcoFlow is tackling at least two of those problems.Oasis works with EcoFlow's home power technology to manage your home's energy through real-time monitoring of your home's solar energy production, energy storage to EcoFlow batteries, and energy use from third-party appliances and systems you connect to it through the EcoFlow app. Image: EcoFlow Screenshots from the EcoFlow app, showing how Oasis provides an overview of your home's energy use. Peter Linghu, EcoFlow's director of product strategy and development, explained that Oasis uses predictive analytics and automations to do helpful things automatically, such as switch to backup power in the event of a power outage or charge up your batteries if there's a big storm coming. While these are features most home battery storage systems today offer, with Oasis, EcoFlow says it's adding a more capable software layer to provide more granular whole-home energy management.The EcoFlow Assistant, an AI chatbot in the app, can answer questions for you, such as How much energy did I use today?" But it can also suggest, create, and set up automations to manage energy use across your home. For example, you can ask it to set up the best power backup solution, and it will present options it can then implement (see video). Linghu says it does this by analyzing data such as past energy usage, local electric rates, home solar energy generation, and weather patterns.Oasis can also proactively offer suggestions, such as running your air conditioning or washing machine off stored energy rather than grid power when energy prices are high. Linghu says you can instruct Oasis to automate functions like this or choose to be notified about them and implement them yourself.The EcoFlow Assistant chatbot can set up automations for you based on weather and energy use, simplifying the process of programming your smart home.Intelligent management of your home's energy can save you energy and money without you having to run around turning off lights, fiddling with the thermostat, and unplugging the EV charger. But a big hurdle is finding a system that can talk to everything in your home and to existing infrastructure like solar panels. You also need an energy provider that offers time-of-use rates and demand response programs to get the most benefit. Additionally, many solutions today only work with proprietary equipment, making them better suited to new builds rather than retrofitting into your home. EcoFlow's approach is more open.Today, Oasis works with EcoFlow products such as its portable Delta 3 Plus and River 3 Plus solar generators and its whole-home backup solution. Currently, that includes the Smart Home Panel 2, which offers circuit-level management of electrical loads and can be connected to your existing electrical panel. It can also work with the portable Delta Pro Ultra as a battery backup system.The new EcoFlow Ocean Pro system that's coming to the US later this year will bring a higher-capacity grid-tied option for whole-home backup. EcoFlow hasn't provided many details but says it's similar to EcoFlow's PowerOcean system, which is available in Europe. It looks like it will be a direct competitor to popular products in this space, such as the Tesla Powerwall and Anker Solix.Oasis also works with third-party devices such as Ecobee and Nest thermostats, energy-monitoring products like smart plugs from Shelly and TP-Link, as well as any Matter-compatible device. While Matter is still in its early stages when it comes to energy management, high-energy use devices like appliances, heat pumps, solar panels, and EV charging equipment are now part of the Matter specification. So, there may soon be more products that can integrate directly with Oasis. All this helps bring more devices into the system to get a clear picture of your home's energy use.Several other companies are working on this type of home energy management solution. Schneider launched its Schneider Home system at CES last year; Savant Power, Anker Solix, and Generac also have interesting products in this space. The initial cost is still a major roadblock for many people, but if the complexity can be reduced through intelligent home energy management software, that feels like a big step in the right direction.

Image: Belkin Belkin has announced the Stage PowerGrip, a magnetic battery pack that doubles as a DSLR-style ergonomic grip for iPhone photography, a phone stand, and a spare wired charger for your other devices. It'll be available in May, with pricing info coming later on.The PowerGrip is an odd-looking accessory until you see it attached to a phone. It's clearly designed to evoke the look and feel of a traditional camera. It features Bluetooth pairing to enable the shutter button" on the top of the grip to let you take pictures with the iOS camera app.Besides that, the PowerGrip has a built-in retractable USB-C cable for charging other devices and a 10,000mAh battery. It offers wireless 7.5-watt charging for the attached iPhone, and a small LED screen on the front will show how much battery it has left. Belkin says it will come in powder blue, sandbox (a grayish sandy color), fresh yellow, black, and pepper (a nearly black dark gray).Belkin's take on this is similar to others you can find on Amazon, though mostly those are from brands with alphabet soup-style names. Apple sells one version of this concept called the ShiftCam ProGrip. Like Belkin's devce, it adds a physical shutter button to your phone and doubles as a charger, but it costs $149.95. Belkin hasn't announced pricing for the PowerGrip, but assuming it's cheaper, it could be well worth a look if you're into iPhone photography.

The Saros Z70 from Roborock is the first robot vacuum with an articulating arm that can clear clutter out of its way. | Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge Roborock has added an arm to its latest flagship robot vacuum. And this is no tiny appendage like the one the company debuted on its S8 MaxV Ultra at CES last year; it's an actual articulating robotic arm. The arm rises from the middle of Roborock's latest flagship bot - the Saros Z70 - and can extend out to pick up items such as socks and tissues while cleaning your floors. While it's mildly terrifying and currently extremely slow - I can certainly see the potential in a robot vacuum that can clean up ahead of itself.The Verge got a sneak peek at the Saros Z70 in action ahead of its launch at CES 2025 and can confirm the arm works as advertised, although, as mentioned, it's laboriously slow. During our demo, it took about a minute to pick up and move each sock in its path. It's also limited to socks, tissues, small towels, and sandals that weigh under 300 grams. Roborock says more items will be added over time but hasn't promised increased weight capability. No pricing has been released, but the company says the vacuum will ship by June 2025.The Verge saw this demo last month of the Saros Z70. Roborock says its capabilities have improved since then. We'll be checking it out at CES this week. Video by Owen Grove / The VergeThe Saros Z70's arm is the first-of-its-kind mass-produced foldable robotic arm with five axis," according to Roborock. Called the OmniGrip, it can unfold, extend, and twist horizontally and vertically to pick up items and move them out of the way. It includes a camera and LED light in the arm to see objects and has sensors that allow it to detect an object's weight and know its positioning - including if there's anything above it, so the arm doesn't hit anything when it raises.Roborock says that during its first cleaning run, the Z70 will detect and mark any objects it can lift. It then returns to deploy its arm, moving items to the area it has already cleaned and cleaning the areas those items were blocking. Finally, it can be programmed to go out a third time to pick up the items and put them away in a place you designate on the map in Roborock's app, such as near a closet or in a basket. Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge When not in use, the arm tucks into the robot's chassis. Yes, this whole process will take a long time. Yes, it would be quicker (and quieter) to pick up the socks yourself (assuming you're at home). But also, it's a robot that picks up your socks! We are truly living in the future.One intriguing feature Roborock says will come to the Saros Z70 via an OTA upgrade doesn't involve the arm. Instead, it leverages the robot's new navigation and obstacle recognition, called StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, to let you train the robot to recognize specific objects - say, a favorite teddy bear or your purse. According to Roborock, you'll be able to use its app to see where the robot last spotted that item, which could be handy for locating lost things.StarSight launched on the Qrevo Slim and uses 3D time-of-flight sensors, RGB cameras, and machine learning to navigate and identify obstacles. The AI-powered machine learning allows the Z70 to detect and navigate up to 108 preprogrammed objects, according to Roborock. It also uses a new laser-powered obstacle avoidance technology called VertiBeam, which Roborock says can more accurately clean around extended cables and irregularly shaped walls and furniture. Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge The Saros Z70 will pair with a new auto-empty dock. Other Saros Z70 features include an impressive 22,000Pa of suction power, a dual anti-tangle system for the robot's roller brushes, and dual spinning mops that can not only lift 2.2cm to avoid carpet but also automatically detach at the base station when mopping isn't necessary.The Saros Z70 is just under 8cm high, which should allow it to get under those low sofas, and has the AdaptLift chassis first seen on the Qrevo Curv. This helps the robot climb high room transitions and maneuver over high-pile carpets.The flagship robot pairs with Roborock's new Multifunctional Dock 4.0 to charge, auto-empty, refill and drain its water tanks, and maintain the mops with hot water washing and hot air drying; this model also introduces a 2.5-hour fast-charge feature. Image: Roborock The Saros 10R has most of the features of the Z70, just with fewer appendages. Realistically, as cool as the arm is, it's clearly more of a proof-of-concept product (although Roborock assures me it will ship this year). So, alongside the Saros Z70, Roborock debuted two other flagship robot vacuums at CES. The Saros 10R and the Saros 10 will ship on February 10th and cost $1,599.99 each. Both feature a similar slimline body and the same AdaptLift chassis as the Z70, and they can both automatically detach their mop pads when not needed.The main differences between the two are in mopping and navigation tech. The Saros 10R has the same StarSight 2.0 navigation and obstacle recognition tech, the same mopping tech, and the same dock as the Z70. However, it has slightly lower suction power (19,000Pa).By contrast, the Saros 10 is an upgrade to Roborock's current flagship model, the S8 MaxV Ultra (our top pick for the best robot vacuum). With 22,000Pa of suction power, it uses the lidar navigation found on most Roborocks but can retract its lidar tower to fit under low spaces, bringing it to the same height as the other two Saros models. Image: Roborock The S10 works with Roborock's RockDock Ultra 2.0, which features a new design and a tempered glass finish. Instead of the oscillating mops on the Z70 and the 10R, the Saros 10 has a new version of Roborock's excellent VibraRise mopping feature. This uses a flat mopping pad that vibrates 4,000 times a minute to simulate scrubbing and can now soak dry stains before attempting to remove them.The 10 also comes with an improved version of Roborock's Reactive AI Obstacle Avoidance (version 3.0) and gets the new VertiBeam cable avoidance tech. It has Roborock's new DuoDivide anti-tangle roller brush, first seen on the Qrevo Curv, and pairs with the company's new Ultra 2.0 Dock.Roborock says all three new models will be updated to support Matter 1.4, allowing the vacuums to work with any Matter-enabled smart home platform. It looks like Apple is bringing support with iOS 18.3, and Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings already support robot vacuums through Matter. Out of the box, the robots are compatible with Alexa, Siri Shortcuts, Google Home, and Roborock's own Hey Rocky voice assistant.

Image: PayPal Honey Devin Stone of the YouTube Channel Legal Eagle is suing PayPal over the affiliate link practices of its Honey extension that were detailed by fellow YouTuber MegaLag last month, he announced in a video published Friday.The proposed class action lawsuit was filed December 29th in California's Northern District Court by Stone's Eagle Team LLP and several other YouTubers' businesses. It accuses Honey of intentionally replacing creators' affiliate links with its own, even if it's not offering shoppers a benefit, depriving creators of money in the process.The complaint alleges that PayPal's practice violates California's Unfair Competition Law and constitutes interference between creators and their business partners. The plaintiffs are seeking to represent anyone who was part of an affiliate program and had their link redirected to Paypal as a result of the Honey browser extension." Class action status has not yet been certified by a court.Honey operates by offering to find coupon codes through its browser extension. The MegaLag video last month describes how when shoppers interact with its pop-up offers at checkout, it replaces existing affiliate cookies with its own in the background and gets credit for the sale, whether it actually found a coupon or not.The complaint lists other ways PayPal is allegedly claiming affiliate commissions. That includes offering users rewards through its Honey Gold Program and encouraging them to Get Rewarded with PayPal," which prompts them to check out using PayPal.We dispute the allegations in the lawsuits, and will defend against them vigorously," PayPal VP of corporate communications Josh Criscoe said in a statement emailed to The Verge. He added that Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution."The lawsuit acknowledges that last-click attribution is a standard practice that credits the most recent affiliate with a sale at checkout. The plaintiffs argue Honey is using that standard practice in a way that's deceitful and clandestine," luring users into clicking useless pop-ups that insert its code. We've reached out to PayPal for a statement on the lawsuit.Lawyers are asking the court to make PayPal pay damages to creators and to permanently forbid it from swapping its own affiliate attribution at checkout. They've set up a website inviting other creators to join the lawsuit.Here is Criscoe's full statement:

Image: Games Done Quick A new year means a new Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) speedrunning marathon for charity, and this year's event is just about to kick off. AGDQ starts today, January 5th, at 12PM ET, and is scheduled to end very early in the morning on January 12th. You can watch the event live on Games Done Quick's Twitch channel, and runs are typically uploaded to Games Done Quick's YouTube channel soon after they air.I've been perusing the schedule, and here's a few runs that I'm excited about:

The Verge United Airlines is accelerating its plan to add Starlink-enabled Wi-Fi to its planes, with the first commercial flights now expected to arrive this spring.Last year, United announced its intention to upgrade its in-flight Wi-Fi using SpaceX's Starlink satellites, with testing expected to start in the spring and the first equipped flights coming later in the year. Now the airline says it will start testing next month," followed by the first commercial flight on an Embraer E-175 aircraft - a narrow-body aircraft for regional flights that can fit up to 88 passengers - in the spring.On top of that, United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of 2025 and have its first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air before the end of this year. Ultimately, the airline expects to have its entire fleet of nearly 1,000 planes outfitted with Starlink Wi-Fi. Image: United Airlines United currently has four different Wi-Fi providers, according to travel site One Mile At A Time, with regional jets utilizing Intelsat (formerly Gogo) and most wide-body jets using Panasonic Wi-Fi. United also uses Viasat Wi-Fi on most of its 737 Max aircraft, some A319s, and A321neos. Viasat is the best of the bunch in terms of speeds and is commonly found on American and Delta flights.But while a number of international carriers have announced similar plans to add Starlink to their fleets, United is still alone among the major domestic carriers to adopt the SpaceX-owned technology. (JSX and Hawaiian have both said they plan on adding Starlink to their airplanes.)United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of 2025And while in-flight Wi-Fi remains slow and unreliable for most air travelers, we seem to quickly be approaching a tipping point on expectations for fast, free connectivity. Mobile device owners are growing accustomed to uninterrupted video streaming and other conveniences wherever they are - even while thousands of feet in the air.Starlink boasts download speeds of 40-220Mbps and upload speeds of 8-25Mbps per terminal, which United says can support streaming, gaming, and even videoconferencing. United says its Starlink-enabled Wi-Fi will be free to its MileagePlus loyalty customers (for which signups are also free).We have a lot planned for our MileagePlus members this year and adding Starlink to as many planes as we can - as quickly as we can - is at the center of it all," said Richard Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus, in a statement. It's not only going to revolutionize the experience of flying United, but it's also going to unlock tons of new partnerships and benefits for our members that otherwise wouldn't be possible."

Arlo's cloud storage subscriptions get another price hike. | Image: Arlo Arlo has once again increased the monthly subscription pricing for its smart home cameras' Arlo Secure cloud storage plan. The company now charges $9.99 per month (up from $7.99) to store a single camera's recordings and $19.99 a month (up from $17.99) for unlimited cameras. And instead of calling the cheaper plan Arlo Secure, both are now named Secure Plus.At $9.99 per month, the cheapest Secure plan is now more than three times the monthly $2.99 Arlo once charged to store video for a single camera in the cloud. The company bumped that to $4.99 in early 2023, then to $7.99 last year. With annual billing, the single-camera plan still works out to $7.99 per month, while the unlimited-camera one is effectively $17.99 per month when you pay for a year upfront. Screenshot: Arlo website Arlo's annual pricing is a little cheaper per-month. This latest round of price increases comes after Arlo announced a new set of AI-powered features in September. The features include letting users name specific people or vehicles the camera sees and get notifications about them, or to train its cameras to detect and notify them of events like a sprinkler turning on or garage door opening. The company has also doubled how many days of recordings it will store, from 30 to 60 days.Arlo has offered at least some users the ability to keep their old rate by switching to an annual plan, according to a screenshot posted to the Arlo subreddit.Users can still get free storage by using Arlo Base Stations and SmartHub devices that are compatible with their cameras. However, going that route also means missing out on certain subscription-only features that make smart cameras appealing, such as package detection.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge It's time for the biggest tech show of the year. CES 2025 officially kicks off next week, with most of the industry's biggest names gathering in Las Vegas to announce new products and demonstrate some of the most exciting tech they have coming throughout the year.CES is traditionally a show about TVs, laptops, and smart home tech. But it's increasingly become a big show for cars, wearables and health tech, and a whole lot more. This year, expect one abbreviation to show up a lot across every single category: AI. The AI hype cycle is rolling straight into 2025, and there's certain to be AI popping up on the next generation of TVs and cars, like it or not.The show officially starts on Tuesday, January 7th, but you can expect announcements to start coming out on Sunday and Monday ahead of the show floor opening and a day of press conferences.Here are the big beats we're expecting to see at the show.TVs Image: LG LG's wireless TV tech is expanding to its QNED models this year. I'm expecting two prevailing trends for TVs at CES 2025: screens will keep getting bigger, and AI features are going to be everywhere - to the point of being... Read the full story at The Verge.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency building is seen on August 21st, 2024, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Tierney L. Cross / Getty Images An alliance of grassroots environmental groups could lose $60 million in federal funding after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.The Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) was named one of the Environmental Protection Agency's grantmakers" more than a year ago, putting it in charge of distributing subgrants for locally led environmental projects. But out of 11 of the EPA's grantmakers, the CJA is the only one that has yet to receive any funding. The group has faced a barrage of attacks for publicly opposing the Israel-Hamas war, and some EPA staffers say the group has been singled out as a result.We have been deeply disappointed to witness EPA's current withholding of $60 million to the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), the only one of the eleven grantees that courageously spoke out against the environmental toll and human rights violations in Palestine," a group of anonymous EPA and Department of Energy employees wrote in an open letter in December.The money could disappear if it isn't dispersed before President-elect Donald Trump steps into officeThe money could disappear if it isn't dispersed before President-elect Donald Trump steps into office. Trump has said he would rescind unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act that set aside money for the grants. And if his second term is anything like his first, he's likely to gut the EPA and roll back environmental protections.With a deregulatory agenda at the national level, local efforts become even more crucial to safeguarding Americans' air, water, and climate. It's those kinds of grassroots initiatives that the EPA's grantmakers are supposed to support and what's at risk if the agency doesn't disburse the funds before it's too late.What this would do is further strip away funds that our communities have been counting on," says CJA executive director KD Chavez. We need people to be resourced so that at least on a local level they can do clean up projects, they can have air quality monitoring," Chavez says, citing examples of how the money might be used.Money for the EPA's Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program came from the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $369 billion for clean energy and climate action. The 11 grantmakers include universities and nonprofit organizations charged with doling out a total of $600 million to locally led environmental projects.That was supposed to make it easier for smaller grassroots groups to access funding, especially those living with the most pollution, which are often communities of color in the United States. The CJA includes around 100 organizations across the US, many of them rooted in communities of color like the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program and the Indigenous Environmental Network.The CJA, in particular, was chosen to distribute subgrants to EPA regions 8-10, which encompass most of the Western US. It's also the national grantmaker responsible for outreach to tribal communities. The CJA says it has already spent $1.6 million from its own operational budget to get the organizational infrastructure in place needed to allow community groups to apply for subgrants. It's supposed to receive $50 million for those subgrants, plus an additional $10 million for technical capacity.Why have we been singled out as anti-American?"As of January 3rd, only $461 million of the funding from the grantmaking program had been awarded, according to data on the EPA website, leaving the rest of the funds vulnerable to the incoming Trump administration.There are questions we have about the singling out of us as an organization. Why have we been singled out as anti-American? Is it because we're led by working class people, Black Indigenous, and people of color communities?" Chavez says.Over the past year, conservative media and some Republican lawmakers have accused the CJA of being radicals," antisemitic, and Anti-American" for its stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Even before the EPA announced its selection of 11 grantmakers, the CJA had released a statement in October 2023 calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to demand a ceasefire by Israel and Hamas.I was surprised to learn that $50 million has been designated for Climate Justice Alliance, a group which explicitly publishes a free Palestine' section on its website. On the website, there are dozens of antisemitic and alarming images," Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said to former EPA administrator Michael Regan when he testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in July of last year. (Regan stepped down from his post in December.)The CJA has published its ceasefire statement on its website. We call on Biden and the US Congress to support an immediate end to the violence by publicly demanding a ceasefire within the region. We stand firmly on the side of peace and support the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, decolonization and life," the statement says.At our core CJA has always been anti war and pro communities," Chavez says. We are just collateral damage in a war against regulations," they add.The group has also caught flak for its environmental advocacy. A letter from Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Buddy Carter (R-GA) to Regan last May accuses the CJA of supporting partisan, and in some cases extreme, environmental activism" including mass organization of climate alarmism protests" and the litigation of fossil fuel projects." The letter similarly castigates other grantmakers chosen by the EPA, but the CJA has faced more heat as protests in the US against the war in Gaza gained momentum.The letter published by EPA and DOE staffers last month (first reported on by The Intercept) urges the agencies to end their collaboration with Israel until there is a permanent ceasefire" and release all designated federal funds to Climate Justice Alliance." It says the funding is needed for Indigenous communities and other groups that have historically been left out" of environmental protections.According to Chavez, the EPA told the CJA in a meeting in September that it was under investigation by the agency's office of general counsel (OGC) without any explanation as to why. The group says the agency's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights then told the group to expect funding by January 6th - even though grantmakers were initially anticipated to be able to start doling out subgrants in the summer of 2024.The EPA didn't verify the CJA's claims or answer specific questions from The Verge about an investigation into the CJA. EPA continues to review the grant for the Climate Justice Alliance," EPA spokesperson Nick Conger said in an email to The Verge. EPA continues to work through its rigorous process to obligate the funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, including the Thriving Communities Grantmakers program." The agency is on track" to award more than 90 percent of the funding by the end of the Biden administration, Conger added.When The Verge asked the EPA last year how it chose grantmakers for the program, Regan said in a call with reporters that they each demonstrated a very strong governance structure that creates accountability" and that the agency selected the 11 knowing that they would be able to operationalize these resources in a way that the communities that need these resources the most would absolutely get them."

Image: Samsung Samsung and Google are ready to push a new standard, Eclipsa Audio. This format will enable 3D audio experiences on certain YouTube videos later this year, with support available across Samsung's 2025 lineup of TVs and soundbars. Over the years, Samsung notably hasn't supported Dolby Vision HDR for dynamic HDR metadata, choosing instead to promote its preferred alternative, HDR10 Plus. Now, it seems ready to make a similar competitive push for open-source 3D audio support.Eclipsa Audio could eventually serve as a free alternative to Dolby Atmos, the dominant 3D audio format that hardware makers like Samsung pay to license for TVs and other equipment. Samsung says that similar to Atmos, this audio format supports adjusting audio data such as the location and intensity of sounds, along with spatial reflections" to create a 3D experience.The two companies first announced a partnership to develop spatial audio technology in 2023, initially calling it Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF). At the time, Samsung spatial audio head WooHyun Nam said the format would provide a complete open-source framework for 3D audio, from creation to delivery and playback."The IAMF spec has also been adopted by the Alliance for Open Media, a group that has been pushing for royalty-free codec support since 2015 and counts companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix - along with Samsung and Google - among its members. If they also add support for this audio format, it could help it catch on, although it's already taken years for their AV1 video codec to see more use.Samsung and Google are also creating a certification program with the Telecommunications Technology Association to ensure consistent audio quality" across devices using the format, which also sounds similar to the way companies like Dolby and THX manage the labeling for their specs. We expect to hear more about Eclipsa Audio in the coming days, as CES 2025 kicks off next week.

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge As promised, I've got a special mailbag issue this week. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. Like last year, I picked a handful that hit some of the themes I plan to continue covering in 2025.On to your questions...I'm really concerned / worried / curious about the near-term future. Between now and 10 years from now, I think it is very clear AI will be replacing many job functions. What are we all going to do?The leaders at the AI labs say that, yes, there will be job loss, but that doesn't mean catastrophe. The optimistic take is that humans are creative and will invent new jobs, like they always have when technology changes things. At the moment, there's also a macro belief among the CEOs driving a lot of the spending on infrastructure for AI that its impact will be deflationary and lead to GDP growth.Job displacement will still be painful, of course. Sam Altman and others believe that some form of universal basic income will be necessary to offset the economic impacts of AGI. Altman has his other startup, Tools for Humanity, already scanning eyeballs and distributing cryptocurrency. But I think it's way too early to be seriously concerned. As Altman himself recently... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by STR / NurPhoto, Getty Images A screenshot that seems to suggest billionaire Elon Musk is cosplaying superfan Adrian Dittmann" - showing X account permissions beyond that of an ordinary user - is almost certainly fake, a source at X tells The Verge.The source, who claims no knowledge of Dittmann's identity, says an image posted to 4chan's /pol/ board doesn't reflect an actual interface available to people who work for X. The screenshot was posted by a user who identifies themselves as Adrian Dittmann, showing a post from Musk's X page. In that screenshot, the X interface includes non-standard links to an Admin Portal" and a Bans" page, hinting that the user has special privileges on the site. But the source says neither of these options exist for X employees logged into their accounts. In fact, X employees would see the same interface as other users, with the potential exception of new features currently being trialed for wide release.

Image: LMVPD A day after a Cybertruck exploded in the Trump Hotel valet area, law enforcement officials released more details on the progress of their investigation, including the coroner's confirmation that the driver was a US Army soldier named Matthew Livelsberger, who died by suicide of a self-inflicted gunshot just before the explosives in the truck's bed detonated.I'm comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately thereafter," said Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. I'm not giving it any other labels." McMahill also noted that police haven't investigated the suspect's phones or laptops yet, or identified a possible motive.Separately, the Denver Gazette reported on text messages Livelsberger sent after renting the truck on December 28th, with videos of the vehicle and boasts about its ungodly" speed. The New York Post cited an unnamed source saying he left his home in Colorado the day after Christmas after an argument with his wife. The Independent contacted Livelsberger's uncle, who described him to the paper as someone who loved the Army" and loved Trump." Image: LMVPD Camera footage of the Cybertruck before the explosion. During the briefing, law enforcement officials displayed surveillance video of the truck once it arrived in Las Vegas on the morning of January 1st and a map of its eight stops at Tesla charging stations over three days. They also said that people from Tesla were coming to assist in the investigation, including possibly recovering video from the truck's built-in cameras. Image: LVMPD While the sheriff said investigators had received information about the charging stops from Elon Musk, they are also looking to see who else may have been charging at the same time to possibly find video captured by those vehicles.Like the F-150 Lightning used hours earlier in an apparent act of terrorism by driving into a crowd in New Orleans, Livelsberger rented the 2024 Cybertruck via the Turo app.Turo said on Friday, We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone - including law enforcement." However, as an immediate next step while we wait for law enforcement to conclude their investigations, we're consulting with national security and counterterrorism experts to learn more about how we can get even better and play our part in helping prevent anything like this from happening ever again," writes CEO Andre Haddad.It has also been reported that both men spent time at the same military base and served in different areas of Afghanistan in 2009. However, the sheriff said that while they're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point," there's no evidence at this time of a connection between them or a link between the incidents.The truck was transported to the department's fleet services area for further inspection, and the investigators have reported finding the subject's iPhone, identification, and two firearms that had been purchased two days earlier. The explosive components found inside the truck consisted of consumer-grade fireworks, mortars, and aerial shells, as well as fuel enhancers and the kinds of explosive targets that can be purchased at sporting goods stores, according to Kenneth Cooper, the ATF assistant special agent in charge.

JMGO's N3 Ultra Max has a motorized gimbal, letting you remotely adjust where it projects. | Image: JMGO JMGO's N3 Ultra Max projector simplifies setup with a motorized gimbal that handles alignment automatically. Once positioned in a room, you can change where it's projecting using its motion-sensing wireless remote. The all-in-one projector will handle the rest of the fine-tuning, including focus, optical zoom, and keystone adjustments to ensure the image is level and perfectly aligned.Although the 4K N3 Ultra Max debuted in China late last year, JMGO is announcing a new version for the global market at CES that includes improved software, Google TV, and native Netflix support. The company expects it to be available globally, including in the US, sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025, but pricing details haven't been finalized yet. Image: JMGO The N3 Ultra Max can match the movements of its wireless remote. The N3 Ultra Max joins a growing line of gimbal-mounted projectors from JMGO but is one of the first from the company to feature motorized movements. To increase the projector's range of motion, JMGO relocated its two HDMI and other I/O ports to the gimbal's base. However, since the base rotates 360 degrees, there's still a risk of tangling or the projector's movements being limited if cables aren't long enough.In addition to automated movements, the projector uses a camera and 3D distance sensors to detect and avoid projecting over obstacles on a wall such as artwork or light switches. That will help eliminate visual distractions but could also result in a smaller image depending on how cluttered a wall is. Image: JMGO All of the projector's I/O ports have been moved to the gimbal's base so it can rotate without tangling cables. Using a triple laser system, the N3 Ultra Max outputs around 4,000 ISO lumens of brightness, but JMGO says the projector's performance hasn't been verified by a third party yet. That's enough brightness to project an image up to 180 inches in size, the company says, and it will potentially allow the projector to be used in the daytime in a room with ambient light with a smaller image size.

The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images A few months before the first Cybertrucks were delivered to customers, Tesla CEO Elon Musk got on a call with investors and said he wanted to temper expectations" about the polarizing vehicle.It's a great product, but financially, it will take, I don't know, a year to 18 months before it is a significant positive cash flow contributor," Musk said in the October 2023 call. But, ever the showman, Musk couldn't resist injecting some hype.The demand is off the charts," he said. We have over 1 million people who have reserved the car."But more than a year later, that demand appears to have dried up.Yesterday, Tesla reported its fourth quarter production and delivery numbers for 2024, giving us as close to a complete picture of the Cybertruck's first full year of sales as we're going to get. Tesla doesn't break out Cybertruck numbers specifically, instead lumping them in with its two older vehicles, the Model S and Model X, as other models."Tesla said it produced 94,105 vehicles in that category in 2024, of which 85,133 were delivered to customers. Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus, estimates that between 35,000-50,000 of those other models" sold over the course of the year were Cybertrucks.How you view the Cybertruck depends on what your expectations going in were," Roberts tells me. If you thought it was going to be a large volume vehicle, a la Ford F-150 competitor, it hasn't become a large volume competitor. But if you compare it to, say, a lifestyle pickup or the Ford F-150 Lightning, I think it's done pretty well."And yet, the Cybertruck did not meaningfully contribute to Tesla's growth in 2024, as evidenced by the fact that the company reported its first year-over-year sales decline in over a decade.The Cybertruck didn't meaningfully contribute to Tesla's growth in 2024Musk claimed that over 1 million people reserved a Cybertruck, and so far, that has not resulted in 1 million Cybertrucks on the road. To be sure, it's still early days for the angular EV, and it could still prove to be a success. But Tesla lowered the deposit reservation to $100, after initially asking for $1,000, which likely boosted reservations among people who probably weren't going to end up buying one.And then there was the rocky rollout: the viral videos of a Cybertruck getting stuck in snow or sand; the numerous recalls (seven since its launch in December 2023), including one related to a faulty accelerator pedal; and Musk's emergence as a stalwart supporter of Donald Trump and a purveyor of racist, rightwing conspiracies.Even still, the Cybertruck seemed to come out of the gate strong. It was America's best-selling electric truck in Q2 of 2024, the third-best-selling EV in the country in Q3, and the best-selling vehicle costing over $100,000 in the first half of the year.In July, it almost matched combined sales of all other electric trucks on the market, including the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer EV, and Chevy Silverado EV. But some analysts suggested that Tesla may have been filling a backlog of older orders at the time, which would suggest that the sales numbers weren't related to increased demand.But as the year went on, evidence emerged that the Cybertruck may have already passed its peak. There were anecdotal reports of Cybertrucks piling up on used car lots. Tesla Cybertruck factory workers in Austin were told to stay home for three days in December.It hasn't become a large volume competitor"Meanwhile, dozens of limited edition Foundation Series Cybertrucks, the first version of the truck to go on sale, were piling up in the automaker's inventory, leading Tesla to reportedly start buffing the badging off so they could be sold as regular models. And the price of a used Cybertruck keeps dropping: $104,300 on average on December 30th, down from $107,800 the month before, according to CarGurus.What's going on with used Cybertrucks and we can see the number of days those vehicles have been sitting on lots has been going up," Roberts says. And the average price of used Cybertrucks has been trending down."A brand-new Cybertruck is still very, very expensive: leasing starts at around $900 a month, while someone interested in buying an all-wheel drive base model would be expected to drop at least $90,000. Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge And while the Cybertruck just recently qualified for the federal EV tax credit of $7,500, that benefit is likely to be short-lived, as Trump is expected to kill the credit - with Musk's backing. Musk still has a few more months to make good on his claim from 2023 that the Cybertruck will be a significant cash flow contributor" within 18 months - but the outlook looks grim.Tesla could have followed up the enormously successful Model Y with an even more affordable EV, which is what a lot of analysts and investors were expecting. But instead, Musk introduced a highly polarizing, questionably made, lifestyle vehicle that will likely never sell as many units as its predecessors.Tesla has had a big volume hit, the Model Y is in the top five selling vehicles in the US," Roberts says. So they can get those big volume vehicles. The Cybertruck just hasn't been that. And it's going to face some headwinds in 2025 that could make it a challenge for it to get to that kind of volume status."

Image: Universal If you missed The Wild Robot in the madness of last year's holiday season, Universal's about to make it a little easier to catch the animated sci-fi adventure on both the big and small screens.The Wild Robot has been available to purchase physically on DVD / Blu-ray and on digital platforms like Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video for some time now. But today, Universal announced that, following the film's upcoming theatrical rerelease on January 17th, it will also be available to stream for Peacock subscribers starting on January 24th. The news comes after The Wild Robot's successful initial box office run that saw it rake in an impressive $324.3 million worldwide and secure a number of awards from various film critics groups.The theatrical rerelease feels a lot like Universal's way of priming the public to be thinking more about The Wild Robot as we march deeper into awards season, but it's also going to give folks more options to experience one of 2024's best films.

The Apple Fitness Plus integration in Strava is getting a revamp. | Image: Apple Apple Fitness Plus is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies just announced they're collaborating to revamp how Fitness Plus integrates with the popular fitness community, which includes more detailed workout summaries, Strava athletes appearing in Fitness Plus content, and a free three-month trial to the service for Strava subscribers.Starting today, you'll be able to see a thumbnail of the Fitness Plus workout and information like episode number, music genre, trainer, metrics, and achievements. While mostly a design update, this brings Fitness Plus more in line with other Strava integrations from services like Peloton and Ladder.Technically, Apple Watch users have been able to import their workouts into Strava from the get-go. However, that integration has been limited with bare-bones workout summaries. While you could see the activity type, calories burned, and basic heart rate metrics, there wasn't any information about the class or instructor. (As you can see from this screenshot, you'd be hard-pressed to know that my New Year's Day yoga workout was even a Fitness Plus class.)The Fitness Plus and Strava integration goes in both directions. For starters, new and existing Strava subscribers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia will get a free three-month trial of Fitness Plus regardless of whether they have an Apple Watch. (You do, however, need an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to access the service.) Popular Strava athletes will also feature as guests in Fitness Plus workouts. That includes a strength workout with runner Hellah Sidibe on January 13th and a treadmill workout with Kayla Jeter.So far, Apple has only offered free Fitness Plus trials with the purchase of a new Apple gadget. And while the service regularly features well-known athletes as guest hosts in its programming, it's never sourced those guests from a third-party fitness community.Sidibe, for example, may not be quite as famous as two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety (who recently hosted a Fitness Plus series). However, if you're into running and on social media, there's a good chance you're familiar with Sidibe's seven-year daily run streak and penchant for running with four smartwatches.Over the past 10 years, we've hugely admired what Strava has done to impact the fitness space, especially around community," says Jay Blahnik, Apple's vice president of fitness technologies, acknowledging that Apple doesn't often partake in this sort of collaboration.Blahnik says working with Strava also presents a new opportunity for Fitness Plus' reach. When the service first launched, there was an emphasis on making sure it was inclusive, motivating, and accessible for people of all levels. And in those early days, it often felt like Fitness Plus was like a fitness starter pack for the average person who might need a little encouragement - something The Verge pointed out in its initial review. That's not exactly the typical Strava user.They don't need us for motivation! They're already self motivated," says Blahnik. Instead, for seasoned athletes, Blahnik is pitching Fitness Plus as a supplemental resource for cross-training and discovering new activity types.Maybe they're taking up running for the first time, and they want to make sure that they don't get injured, and they need to do the yoga and the strength," adds Zipporah Allen, Strava's chief business officer.Both Allen and Blahnik also note that the collaboration isn't a one-and-done type of deal, hinting that the integration could evolve further down the road. While both demurred on providing specifics, Blahnik noted the companies have bold ambitions for what [they] might be able to do down the road in terms of sharing." (Asked if perhaps one day you could tap on a Fitness Plus class a Strava friend took and immediately be taken to that workout on your phone, Blahnik said they'd keep that in mind.)In the short term, it's a beneficial move for both companies. Strava recently angered users by changing the terms of its API for third-party apps, leaving some disgruntled users questioning the value of a Strava subscription. A free three-month trial to Apple Fitness Plus could appease some of those users. Strava has long been a de facto fitness data hub for dedicated athletes, giving Fitness Plus easy access to long-term athletes who aren't likely to quit their New Year's resolutions.

Image: The Verge / Shutterstock Anthropic has made a deal to settle parts of a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against the maker of the Claude AI model for allegedly distributing protected song lyrics. The agreement was signed off by US District Judge Eumi Lee on Thursday, requiring Anthropic to apply existing guardrails in the training of future AI models and to establish a procedure for music publishers to intervene when copyright infringement is suspected.In October 2023, several music publishers including Universal Music Group, ABKCO, Concord Music Group, and Greg Nelson Music filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthropic for allegedly training its AI system on lyrics from at least 500 protected songs. According to the complaint, when Claude was prompted for the lyrics to songs like Beyonce's Halo," Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk," and Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5, the chatbot provided responses that contain all or significant portions of those lyrics."While the music publishers acknowledged that platforms like Genius already distribute lyrics online, they noted that those sites pay a licensing fee to use the protected works. Anthropic intentionally removed or altered copyright management information" from the impacted songs when ingesting data found on those sites to train its AI models, according to the lawsuit filing.Under the agreement signed by Anthropic on Thursday, the AI company says it will maintain the guardrails it has already implemented that aim to prevent its AI models from infringing on copyrighted content. Anthropic will also apply its existing guardrails to any future AI systems it develops. Music publishers and Anthropic will work together in good faith" to resolve any instances where the guardrails are deemed ineffective, with the court ready to settle any disputes.Claude isn't designed to be used for copyright infringement, and we have numerous processes in place designed to prevent such infringement," Anthropic said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. Our decision to enter into this stipulation is consistent with those priorities. We continue to look forward to showing that, consistent with existing copyright law, using potentially copyrighted material in the training of generative AI models is a quintessential fair use."The music publishers behind the original complaint have requested a preliminary injunction to bar Anthropic from training future models on their protected song lyrics, with the court expected to issue a ruling in the coming months.

LG's lifestyle projectors look great when off, probably not so great when on. | Image: LG LG is coming to CES with two all-in-one lifestyle projectors" which means they're gong to look great when off, but not necessarily provide the best picture for the money when on. Both run on webOS with plenty of support for your favorite streaming apps.The PF600U is three devices in one, combing a simple full HD projector with a Bluetooth speaker and standing floor lamp. It weighs 16 pounds 8 ounces (7.5kg) and features two speakers of unknown spectitude, as well as an LED lamp capable of nine colors and five brightness levels. Image: LG That image is simulated so temper your expectations for the PF600U. The projector swivels on a 110-degree tilting head with an automatic screen adjustment function that should make it quick and easy to fine tune the projected image as you move the lamp around the room. Just note that it's only capable of producing 300 ANSI lumens of brightness which means that 1920 x 1080 image won't look very good unless viewed in blackout conditions. Image: LG I love how small the CineBeam S is because I hate giant TVs that make pretty living rooms look ugly. But this likely isn't bright enough to replace a TV for most people. The CineBeam S (model PU615U) is a remarkably small (4.3 x 6.3 x 6.3 inches / 110 x 160 x 160mm) ultra-short throw projector that can sit just inches from the wall - or better yet, an Ambient Light Rejection (ALR) screen - and still produce a giant 4K image from its laser (RGB) light source. It has integrated stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. And while it can produce a slightly brighter 500 ANSI lumen image, it's still going to look washed out if it has to fight with any ambient lighting in the room.LG isn't announcing anything useful like pricing or release dates or countries of availability. Presumably the company wants to keep everyone on their toes when these are demonstrated publicly for the first time in Las Vegas, starting next week.

Image: Nvidia It seems like Nvidia might be about to reveal its RTX 50 series GPUs, and now Nvidia itself is teasing that the new graphics cards are nearly here. As spotted by VideoCardz, a video for Nvidia's upcoming LAN party includes brief look at a shadowy PC that will be given as a prize, and if you brighten up the image, the GPU in the computer appears to be one that's a new design.See for yourself - I've included an image of the shadowed version at the top of this post, but here's our take at tweaking the image to reveal what's hidden: Image: Tom Warren / The Verge I'll admit I am not an expert in GPU designs, but VideoCardz says the design is unfamiliar" and that an RTX 5080 or 5070 Ti could be among possible candidates" of what's being shown.Leaks last month from Zotac and Acer indicated that Nvidia may reveal as many as five RTX 50 series GPUs very soon, including an RTX 5090, an RTX 5080, and an 5070 Ti. VideoCardz also reported today on a leak of an RTX 5080 from MSI featuring 16GB of GDDR7 memory.And Nvidia isn't being particularly secretive about the potentially imminent launch of the RTX 50-series GPUs. The LAN party, which runs from January 4th through 6th, is called the GeForce LAN 50", and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to deliver a CES keynote on January 6th at 9:30PM ET.

Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge Five electric vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis now qualify for the US's $7,500 EV tax credit, Electrek reports. The new models include popular vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover SUV and Kia EV9 three-row family hauler. Now, 25 EVs and plug-in hybrids across 10 brands qualify for the credit.The Biden Administration's EV tax credit rules mandate building vehicles in North America for eligibility and include additional requirements for sourcing battery components. In 2022, Hyundai and Kia threatened to take legal action against Biden's Inflation Reduction Act after it expanded the available credits but left the EVs they were building in Korea ineligible for them.Now that Hyundai has opened up a $7.6 billion EV manufacturing plant in Georgia to produce the NACS-equipped 2025 Ioniq 5 and the upcoming Ioniq 9 three-row SUV, its vehicles are eligible. Screenshot: The Verge Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis models have been added to the Federal Tax Credits list as of January 1st, 2025. However, Hyundai and Kia might lose the benefit if the upcoming Trump administration makes drastic changes. The President-elect vowed during his campaign to eliminate the EV incentives on day one," though American automakers have pleaded to let it live.But unless Congress votes to eliminate the program, Hyundai and Kia buyers could still get the incentive for the 2025 tax year or take advantage of it through a lease. The New York Times recently reported that Trump could try to take other actions without Congress by eliminating the credit for leases or taking down websites with information about the program.

Two cooling towers being rehabilitated for nuclear power generation under Microsoft at Crane Clean Energy Center, previously known as Three Mile Island, stand tall over the residential and farm lands to the east across the Susquehanna River, on Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, in Middletown, Pennsylvania. | Photos by Wesley Lapointe for The Washington Post via Getty Images The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages government buildings, just announced a major nuclear energy contract. The announcement comes on the heels of several big tech companies making a flurry of nuclear energy deals last year.The 10-year, $840 million contract is for 10 million megawatt-hours of electricity, which the GSA says is the equivalent of what's needed for more than 1 million homes annually. The agency awarded the contract to Constellation, which operates the nation's largest nuclear fleet, and recently announced an agreement with Microsoft to restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island. Nuclear energy makes up a significant portion of the GSA deal, about 4 million megawatt-hours, according to Constellation spokesperson Paul Adams.Silicon Valley is increasingly turning to nuclear energy to satiate rising electricity demand from AI data centers. The federal government is the nation's single largest energy consumer, making this contract a big boon to the nuclear industry.This agreement is another powerful example of how things have changed."Frustratingly ... nuclear energy was excluded from many corporate and government sustainable energy procurements. Not anymore. This agreement is another powerful example of how things have changed," Joe Dominguez, Constellation president and CEO, said in a press release. The United States government joins Microsoft and other entities to support continued investment in reliable nuclear energy that will allow Constellation to relicense and extend the lives of these critical assets."Constellation says it generates 10 percent of the nation's carbon pollution-free energy. A majority of its output is nuclear energy, but it also produces hydro, wind, and solar power. It also generates electricity from gas-fired power plants, although the company has set a goal of reaching 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040 compared to close to 90 percent today.Constellation and the GSA declined to answer questions about how much of the electricity included in the contract will come from each source aside from nuclear power plants. Altogether, it's the biggest energy procurement contract the GSA has signed in its history.This historic procurement locks in a cost-competitive, reliable supply of nuclear energy," GSA administrator Robin Carnahan said in a press release. We're demonstrating how the federal government can join major corporate clean energy buyers in spurring new nuclear energy capacity and ensuring a reliable, affordable supply of clean energy for everyone."The contract will allow Constellation to extend licenses for existing nuclear power plants as well as invest in new equipment and technology" that should result in 135 megawatts of additional capacity. The GSA agreed to purchase 2.4 million megawatt-hours of electricity from that added capacity over 10 years. Outside of GSA buildings, the deal also extends to 13 other agencies, including the departments of Veterans Affairs and Transportation as well as the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the National Park Service, the Social Security Administration, and the US Mint.The GSA is framing the contract as a way to lock in more affordable prices as data centers drive up electricity demand and increase competition for limited clean energy sources:

Image: Incase Incase, the brand that took over Microsoft's accessories line, has revealed a compact ergonomic keyboard designed by the company. With a price of $119.99, the wireless keyboard features a split, contoured design, a cushioned palm rest, and a dedicated Copilot button.The keyboard also comes with ultra-responsive" scissor keys with 1.3mm travel, meaning you won't have to press down very far when typing. You can connect up to three devices to the keyboard via Bluetooth, and it's powered by two AAA batteries that Incase says will last up to 36 months. Image: Incase After Microsoft discontinued its non-Surface line of mice, keyboards, and other PC accessories in 2023, Incase partnered with the tech giant to bring back its designs while using the same components and supply chain as Microsoft.Though this Incase ergonomic keyboard is nearly as expensive as the $129.99 Logitech Ergo K860, it's still much cheaper than higher-end ergonomic options, like the Nuio Flow and ZSA Voyager, both of which cost $365.Incase says it will release the keyboard in early 2025." The company has several other Microsoft-designed accessories planned as well, but it currently only has two mice and a Bluetooth keyboard available for purchase on its website.

Image: Sergey Kisselev (Behance) Microsoft has been working on dynamic animated wallpapers for Windows 11 for a few years, and now a former designer has revealed exactly what they look like. Sergey Kisselev, a former motion designer and 3D artist at Microsoft, has detailed his work on the dynamic animations for Windows 11 that were originally supposed to ship in 2023 but have likely been canceled now.Kisselev worked on Windows design elements and Microsoft's Fluent design system for more than eight years before departing to Amazon in 2022. In his post on Behance, Kisselev describes the dynamic wallpapers as part of the Windows Creative Direction Team's efforts to celebrate a new centered signature composition for Windows 11, highlighting its centered Start Menu and taskbar." The dynamic wallpapers were part of an effort that was explored for Microsoft's low-cost devices, primarily targeting educational users," according to Kisselev.Windows Central reports that these dynamic wallpapers were originally supposed to ship as part of the 23H2 update for Windows 11, but that never happened. Windows watcher Albacore says the dynamic wallpapers feature has been scrapped, and that unfinished parts of it shipped in both Windows 11 version 22H2 and 23H2, but were removed in the latest 24H2 update.These dynamic wallpapers look very similar to what Microsoft does with its Xbox dashboard, and the only way to currently get animated wallpapers in Windows is to install a third-party app like Wallpaper Engine. Microsoft used to support videos as wallpapers with its Windows DreamScene feature in Windows Vista, so it's surprising to see Microsoft do all of this design work to bring a similar dynamic wallpaper feature back and then never ship it.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple has added warning labels to AirTags and their boxes to comply with a law requiring the labels on products with button cell or coin batteries that could be ingested by children, according to a US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) press release.AirTags imported to the US after March 19th, 2024, which was when the law, known as Reese's Law," went into effect, did not have the required on-product and on-box warnings concerning the severe risk of injury from battery ingestion if these small batteries are not kept out of reach of children," the CPSC says.Now, the AirTag battery compartment has a warning symbol," and Apple has updated AirTags boxes to include required warning statements and symbols," per the CPSC. In the Find My app, Apple has also updated the instructions you see when you're prompted to change an AirTag battery so that they include a warning about the hazards of button and coin cell batteries."Apple launched AirTags in 2021 and is rumored to launch a new version this year.

Asus' upcoming mini PC has a Copilot button. | Image: Asus Ever since Microsoft first introduced its Arm-based Copilot Plus laptops in June, I've been wondering when we might see Copilot Plus features appear on desktop PCs. Six months on, it's clear we're about to see mini PCs that deliver the AI performance required for features like Recall, Click To Do, and AI-powered image generation and editing in Windows 11. These mini PCs might even help Microsoft compete with Apple's latest Mac Mini.Asus became the first PC manufacturer to announce a mini PC that's Copilot Plus capable in September. It then revealed the full specs of its upcoming NUC 14 Pro AI last month, ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that kicks off next week. Asus' mini PC even has a Copilot button on the front and is almost identical to the size of Apple's latest Mac Mini.The timing of Asus' spec drop came on the same day that Taiwanese company Geekom revealed three new mini PCs that it will showcase at CES. Geekom is releasing a mini PC with AMD's Strix Point CPUs inside and one with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processor, meaning both will be Copilot Plus compatible. The third model is powered by Intel's unannounced Arrow Lake-H laptop processors, which are... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Samsung Samsung is bringing the Galaxy Fit 3 to the US. The budget-friendly fitness tracker will cost $59.99 when it launches on January 9th, 2025.Samsung first released the Galaxy Fit 3 in several countries outside the US last February. The device comes equipped with a 1.6-inch display surrounded by an aluminum body and lasts up to 13 days on a single charge.The Galaxy Fit 3 has some of the same fitness-tracking features as the pricier Galaxy Watch 7, including the ability to monitor your sleep patterns, detect snoring, check blood oxygen levels, and measure your heart rate. It can also track over 100 types of workouts, with a case coming in gray, silver, or pink gold. Image: Samsung The Galaxy A16 5G has a 6.7-inch OLED display with an up to 90Hz refresh rate. Alongside the Galaxy Fit 3, Samsung is releasing the more affordable Galaxy A16 5G phone in the US on January 9th for $199.99. The device comes with a 6.7-inch FHD Plus OLED display with an up to 90Hz refresh rate. It also has an Exynos 1330 processor with a 50MP main camera sensor, 5MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP macro lens. The Galaxy A16 5G is available in gray, silver, and pink gold colors.

Dutch startup Legato is leading an effort to bring support for streaming speakers to Matter. | Image: Legato An effort to add Wi-Fi-powered speakers to the smart home standard is being led by a former Sonos executive looking to disrupt the smart speaker market. Read the full story at The Verge.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Telegram is trying to crack down on scams with a new feature that lets official third-party services assign verification icons to users and chats, the messaging service announced on Wednesday.This is separate from the verification process Telegram has for public figures and organizations. Instead of displaying a blue checkmark, accounts and chats verified by third-party services will have a unique icon appear to the left of their name. If you click on the profile of a third-party verified chat or account, you can see which service verified it and why. GIF: Telegram The profile of a verified account or chat might say something like, Verified by the Learning Standards Authority for quality language education." Telegram says only services with an official bot verified by Telegram can apply to become a third-party verifier, helping to prevent scams and reduce misinformation." X has a similar feature that lets verified organizations assign affiliation badges to related accounts.The update comes just months after French authorities arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov over claims he enabled illegal activity on the platform. Since then, Telegram has updated its privacy policy, disabled misused" features, and changed its tone surrounding moderation. Durov said Telegram reached profitability last year, with total revenue surpassing $1 billion.Along with this update, Telegram is also rolling out new search filters that should make it easier to find certain chats, the ability to scan QR codes using Telegram's in-app camera on iOS and Android, as well as a way to turn digital gifts into NFTs.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Tesla's production and delivery numbers for 2024 are out, and the numbers are pretty sobering.The premiere EV company in the US produced 1.77 million cars this year, a drop of about 4 percent compared to the previous year, and delivered 1.79 million vehicles this year, or about 1 percent less than 2023. Tesla also deployed 31.4 GWh in energy storage.That said, the company said it had a record" fourth quarter for deliveries, with 495,570 vehicles making their way to customers. Tesla also said it deployed 11 GWh of energy storage products, which it also said was a record. And it produced 459,445 vehicles, most of which were Model 3s and Ys.

Image: Samsung Just a few days after LG announced its CES 2025 lineup of monitors, Samsung is doing the same. The company just introduced several new models, and perhaps the most impressive among them is the Odyssey OLED G81SF. It's a 27-inch 4K monitor with a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz, 0.03ms response time, a glare-free display, and rear-core lighting with 52 color options. Samsung is also including a number of burn-in protection measures to ensure that the Odyssey G81SF's screen looks pristine for years to come. The G8 is likely to be using the latest and greatest OLED panel from Samsung Display.Next up is the Odyssey OLED G60SF - also a 27-inch OLED monitor - with a QHD resolution and an impressive 500Hz refresh rate that Samsung says effectively eliminates lag and motion blur for ultra-smooth gameplay during critical moments."In 2025, Samsung is also finally shipping the Odyssey 3D monitor it first teased at least year's CES. It lets you experience 3D visuals without any special glasses by using a lenticular lens on the front panel. Eye tracking monitors the movement of both eyes using a built-in stereo camera, while view mapping continuously adjusts the image to enhance depth perception," Samsung said in its press release. The Odyssey 3D only comes in a 27-inch 4K size; the larger 37-inch display mentioned last year has apparently been scrapped. The company says it offers a rapid 1ms gray-to-gray response time, and a 165Hz refresh rate." Image: Samsung Samsung's Smart Monitor series is making the switch to OLED. That does it for the gaming-focused monitors, but Samsung is also announcing two others that are more focused on everyday productivity. The SmartMonitor series is finally going OLED with the new Smart Monitor M9. And this year, Samsung is throwing in a ton of AI capabilities including AI Picture Optimizer. Like on its TVs, this feature analyzes input signals to determine the type of content being viewed - such as gaming, video, or productivity applications - and automatically adjust the display settings for the best visual experience." This also works for gaming and can detect the genre of what you're playing.AI Upscaling Pro can make lower-res content look crisper at the M9's 4K resolution, and the monitor has a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. That's a significant upgrade from the M8, which topped out at 60Hz. Samsung says moving to OLED also allows for a new ultra-slim" design for the Smart Monitor M9 that should take up considerably less desk space.The last monitor being announced (at least for today) is the new 37-inch ViewFinity S8. It's got a 16:9 aspect ratio, built-in KVM switch, 90W USB-C passthrough charging, and covers 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut. Peak brightness for this 4K LCD display tops out at 350 nits, which should be perfectly suitable for anything you'll be doing at a desk.Pricing and release dates are still to come, but The Verge will be in Las Vegas for CES 2025 in a matter of days. So you won't have to wait much longer for some first-hand impressions of Samsung's new monitors.

MSI's new 27-inch 4K OLED monitor. | Image: MSI 27-inch 4K OLED 240Hz monitors seem to be like buses: you wait ages for one and then three turn up at once. Asus, Samsung, and MSI are all announcing the industry's next-generation QD-OLED gaming monitors that offer the benefits of 4K OLED 240Hz panels at the smaller 27-inch size instead of 32 inches.All three appear to be using the same fourth generation QD-OLED panel from Samsung Display, which Asus says offers a longer lifespan over previous-gen OLEDs." Both the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM and the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED (who names these things?) include DisplayPort 2.1a (UHBR20), which offers 80Gbps of bandwidth to support 4K at 240Hz without the need for Display Stream Compression (DSC). Samsung's press release about its Odyssey OLED G8 (G81SF) doesn't mention DisplayPort 2.1a compatibility, but it's reasonable to assume it's part of the spec list. Image: Asus Asus' latest OLED monitor has a 26.5-inch viewable display. Image: Samsung Samsung's Odyssey G8 now comes in a 27-inch OLED 4K 240Hz variant. MSI and Asus' models both support DisplayHDR True Black 400, and Asus also supports Dolby Vision HDR. Both MSI and Asus are offering a three-year warranty that includes burn-in protection, but Samsung hasn't confirmed its warranty situation for its latest G8 model. Samsung also hasn't fully detailed the specs of its latest G8 OLED model, but it's reasonable to assume it will support DisplayHDR True Black 400 at the minimum.Interestingly, Asus' model only has a 26.5-inch viewable display, but both MSI and Samsung are marketing their monitors as 27-inch ones. With all three offering the 0.03ms response times of OLED, 240Hz refresh rates, and above 160PPI for improved text clarity, the choice will really come down to design, features, and pricing. Unfortunately, Samsung, Asus, and MSI haven't announced release dates or pricing yet.

Popeye's first appearance in E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre comic strip. | Image: King Features It's a new year, and that means more works are headed to the public domain. This year, thousands of copyrighted works created in 1929, including the earliest versions of Popeye and the Belgian comic book character Tintin, are now free to reuse and repurpose in the US.Duke Law School's Center for the Study of Public Domain has once again rounded up all the most iconic works that have been freed from the bounds of copyright, which also includes sound recordings from 1924. As pointed out by Duke Law School, 1929 was a particularly pivotal year for film, as it was the first with sound.These are just some of the works entering the public domain this year (you can view the full catalog here):