The Verge

The Boox Tab Ultra is a new $599.99 E Ink tablet from Onyx that pairs a 16-megapixel rear camera with a 10.3-inch paper-link display. It’s an odd combination. Tablets already have a bit of a rough reputation when it comes to photography, and E Ink displays aren’t exactly known for their color accuracy or high refresh rates — two features that are pretty important when it comes to taking good photos. So what’s going on here?The truth is a lot more sensible than it initially seems. Onyx is pitching the Boox Tab Ultra as a device for professional and business usage, where it thinks a rear camera might be helpful for scanning documents with support for OCR. “Turn on the rear camera to take a picture of your document and convert it to text... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft has been unifying its OneNote and OneNote for Windows 10 apps into a single app over the past year, and now there’s only one version of OneNote in the Windows store. The great OneNote merge, as I call it, has seen some features from the UWP OneNote for Windows 10 app arrive in the traditional OneNote desktop app, alongside a visual refresh, too.Now, Microsoft wants to make sure you download the correct version of OneNote moving forward. “OneNote for Windows 10 will no longer be available in the Microsoft Store,” explains the OneNote team in a blog post. “It will continue to work, but it will not get new feature updates and will reach end-of-support in October 2025.” If you still need to download the OneNote UWP version to a... Continue reading…

Jay Y. Lee speaking in May this year. | Photo by Kim Min-Hee - Pool/Getty Images Samsung Electronics has appointed Lee Jae-yong — who is known in the West as Jay Y. Lee — as its executive chairman, giving the grandson of the company’s founder formal control, the South Korean tech giant announced today. The announcement came on the same day that Samsung announced a series of disappointing earnings results, as profits fell 23 percent compared to the previous quarter.According to Samsung’s official announcement justifying the appointment, “the Board cited the current uncertain global business environment and the pressing need for stronger accountability and business stability in approving the recommendation.” Samsung is currently battling a slump in demand for several of its key businesses including memory chips,... Continue reading…

Other unspecified categories of apps have also been paused. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has “paused ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages” after developers and commentators criticized the types of advertisements showing up in the iPhone’s App Store, according to a statement from spokesperson Trevor Kincaid.On Tuesday, Apple announced that companies could advertise their apps on the store pages for other apps, putting their icon in the “you might also like” section. Almost immediately, developers started showing examples of ads for gambling apps being recommended under their apps.Twitter is also full of screenshots of very inappropriate ad placements: one Twitter user shows a slot machine app being advertised alongside gambling addiction recovery apps, and there are examples of... Continue reading…

Image: Getty Images Toward the end of Meta’s earnings call on Wednesday discussing the company’s results for Q3 2022, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a moment to address his metaverse doubters.“Look, I get that a lot of people might disagree with this investment, but from what I can tell, I think this is going to be a very important thing,” he said. “People will look back a decade from now and talk about the importance of the work being done here.”“People will look back a decade from now and talk about the importance of the work being done here”The problem is that a decade is a long time from now. And as Zuckerberg experienced on today’s earnings call, he is losing faithful supporters quickly. “I think kind of summing up how investors are feeling right now is... Continue reading…

“For me, building a metaverse that looks like a meeting room... I just find that’s not where I want to spend most of my time.” | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s CEO of gaming, is the latest tech exec to take a shot at Meta’s vision of the metaverse. When asked his definition of the metaverse, Spencer described it as “a poorly built video game” at the WSJ Tech Live conference today, as seen at about the 1:12 mark of this video (embedded above).Meta rebranded from Facebook last year as a testament to its focus on the metaverse, which it believes will become a place where you not only socialize with friends but also do serious work with colleagues. It seems as if Spencer doesn’t necessarily agree with the work aspect of the metaverse, at least in one form. “Video game creators have an amazing ability to build compelling worlds that we want to go spend time in,” he said at... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla is facing a criminal probe over its claims about its driver assist technology, according to Reuters. The US Department of Justice launched an investigation late last year following more than a dozen crashes, some of which were fatal, involving the company’s Autopilot feature.Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been promising actual driverless cars are coming since 2016 — a promise he has yet to deliver. He’s gone from saying that Tesla will have 1 million robotaxis on the road by the end of the year to 1 million people in the FSD beta program, which are wildly different things.The US Department of Justice launched an investigation late last year following more than a dozen crashesTesla vehicles today come standard with a driver-assist... Continue reading…

Drew Anthony Smith Argo AI, the self-driving startup backed by Ford and Volkswagen, is shutting down, The Verge has learned. Employees were notified during an all-hands meeting on Wednesday. (The news was first reported by TechCrunch.)The company, which was founded by veterans of Google and Uber’s self-driving car projects, has lost the financial support of Ford and VW, a source said. And according to TechCrunch, the company’s resources will be absorbed by both automakers. Argo is estimated to have around 2,000 employees, though it did announce a round of layoffs earlier this year.“The decision has been made that Argo AI will not continue on its mission as a company”“In coordination with our shareholders, the decision has been made that Argo AI will not... Continue reading…

Samar Haddad / The Verge When it’s used well, spatial audio can lend extra immersion and depth to music, movies, and TV shows. Apple has offered the feature across its iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and Beats products since 2020 for videos, and last year, the company brought spatial audio to Apple Music. Spatial audio is intended to make content sound more multidimensional compared to traditional stereo and leave you feeling like sound is coming at you from all directions.With the release of iOS 16, Apple rolled out a new tool for making the experience even better: personalized spatial audio. This process calibrates the sound profile based on your own specific ears and head, which can enhance the 360-degree sensation and lead to more convincing instrument and... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has revealed that the company’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service is already profitable. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, Spencer also revealed that Xbox Game Pass is around 15 percent of Microsoft’s overall Xbox content and services revenue.Spencer says he now expects Xbox Game Pass to stay at around 10–15 percent of Microsoft’s Xbox content and services revenue and that “it’s profitable for us.”“Game Pass as an overall part of our content and services revenue is probably 15 percent,” says Spencer. “I don’t think it gets bigger than that. I think the overall revenue grows so 15 percent of a bigger number, but we don’t have this future where I think 50–70 percent of our... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A British hacker who brought the entire nation of Liberia offline more than seven years ago was arraigned before a US federal court today, facing new charges of access device fraud and money laundering conspiracy.The hacker, Daniel Kaye, has been accused of operating a dark web marketplace called The Real Deal for stolen login information for social media and bank accounts, US government devices, and a variety of illicit goods like drugs and unlawful hacking tools. The Real Deal allowed third-party vendors to set up online stores and purchasers to rate sellers based on their authenticity.“This case is an example of our persistent determination to work with our international partners to hold criminals accountable no matter how... Continue reading…

If you have a Wear OS 3 app, you can download the Peloton app from the Play Store. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge While Peloton has long supported the Apple Watch, Wear OS users were left in the cold. Not anymore. The Peloton app is now available for download in the Play Store for Wear OS 3 smartwatches.The app, which was first spotted by 9to5Google, doesn’t actually do much, though. I downloaded the app onto my Pixel Watch and started a walking workout in The Verge office. I was able to view my heart rate while meandering through cubicles, as well as which heart rate zone I was in. After I ended the workout, I was then able to view a workout summary detailing calories burned, average heart rate, “best” heart rate, and my Strive Score, a heart rate-based metric that Peloton uses to gauge effort. That’s about it.Also, while Peloton added Apple... Continue reading…

Image: CD Projekt Red The Witcher series is returning to its roots. CD Projekt Red announced that one of the many new Witcher projects it’s working on, which includes a brand-new trilogy, is actually a remake of the first game.Dubbed with the codename “Canis Majoris” — which is in line with CD Projekt Red’s astronomy-based naming convention and also means “big dog,” which is a hilarious and accurate way to describe Geralt of Rivia — The Witcher remake is being rebuilt from the ground up utilizing Unreal Engine 5.“The Witcher is where it all started for us, for CD Projekt Red,” said studio head Adam Badowski in the announcement. “It was the first game we made, ever, and it was a big moment for us then. Going back to this place and remaking the game for the... Continue reading…

The Pixel Watch’s bands are easy to swap once you get the hang of it. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge The Google Pixel Watch is a nice lookin’ smartwatch that borrows a lot of design cues from the Apple Watch. That includes its proprietary strap mount, where you can slide bands in and out to suit your personal aesthetic. According to Google, it’s meant to mimic the way a camera lens snaps into place. The reality is that it’s over-engineered and not intuitive at a glance.This isn’t a huge issue if you plan on sticking with the band it came with. But if you want to regularly change up the look, you’ve got to master the strap mechanism. The good news is that once you master it, it’s actually quite simple to swap bands. So simple you might feel a little silly afterward for struggling. (Though, if you do struggle, you’re in good company.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple just launched new ad placements on the App Store, and developers aren’t happy with the types of ads surfacing beneath their apps. As spotted by MacRumors, several app developers have pointed out that ads for gambling have started appearing in the “You Might Also Like” sections beneath their App Store listings, which is just one of the new places Apple has started sticking ads.Developer Simon B. Støvring posted a screenshot of an ad for an online casino app appearing beneath his text editor Runestone. Støvring says he visited the page for his app 10 times and noticed that ads for gambling apps showed up on three visits. Marco Arment, the developer of the podcast app Overcast, said on Twitter he’s “really not OK with” the gambling... Continue reading…

The Nothing Ear Stick earbuds and their cylindrical charging case. | Image: Nothing A little over a year after Nothing announced its debut pair of true wireless earbuds, the Nothing Ear 1, it’s following them up with the Nothing Ear Stick. The new earbuds are less of a successor and more of a stripped-down alternative, with a couple of absent features and a lower price tag. They are to the Ear 1 what Apple’s AirPods are to its AirPods Pro. The Nothing Ear Stick will be widely available starting November 4th, when they’ll cost $99. As of today, the Ear 1 earbuds cost $149, and they will remain on sale alongside the Ear Stick in Nothing’s lineup.The big features the Ear Stick buds are missing compared to the Ear 1 are active noise cancellation (ANC) and the silicon ear tips that create an airtight-feeling seal in your... Continue reading…

Laura Normand / The Verge Microsoft looks to the future of redefining personal computers once again Continue reading…

The Samsung Galaxy S22 family is expected to recieve the update by the end of October 2022, with additional Samsung devices to follow. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge A One UI 5.0 release schedule has reportedly appeared on the Korean-language version of Samsung’s Members App. It gives us a good indication of when the stable version of the Android 13-based update could arrive for Samsung’s lineup of Galaxy phones and tablets in South Korea and, eventually, the US and Europe.As reported by Sammobile, the One UI 5.0 update will be landing on most high-end Samsung phones and tablets by November 2022. Mid-range Galaxy devices and some older flagship models will soon follow, getting the update in either December 2022 or January 2023. It’s expected that additional eligible Samsung devices will get the update around Q1 and Q2 of 2023.Some of Samsung’s latest flagships have already received the update,... Continue reading…

A spread of Hinge’s existing profile features. | Image: Hinge Match Group dating app Hinge is rolling out a new verification feature next month that will allow users to prove who they say they are by filming a short video selfie, Wired reports. The optional feature will prompt users to record a short clip, which Match Group will then compare against the photos posted on their profiles using a combination of machine learning tools and human moderation. If a user passes the test, their profile gets a “Verified” badge, providing an additional assurance to would-be daters.The launch of the feature comes as the amount of money lost as part of so-called “romance scams” is soaring. In February, the FTC reported that people lost a record $547 million to these scams in 2021, an increase of 80 percent... Continue reading…

A person experiencing homelessness sleeps in the sun during a heatwave in Portland, Oregon, on Monday, June 28th, 2021. | Maranie Staab/Bloomberg via Getty Images We can clearly see how big of a toll heat takes on health and employment around the world, thanks to a comprehensive new climate report from The Lancet medical journal. More people are dying during brutal heat spells. Scorching temperatures are also causing people to lose work.As our planet runs a fever, hotter summers raise the risk of heat illness and chip away at people’s livelihoods. Some groups of people are more vulnerable because of their age, employment, and housing, as well as a legacy of discriminatory policies that have stacked the cards against them.Heat-related deaths globally rose 68 percent in the period between 2017 and 2021 compared to 2000–2004 among people older than 65, according to the Lancet report published... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge More than 20 million people have streamed games using Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday during the company’s first-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings call. That’s double the 10 million figure Microsoft shared earlier this year, just before Epic Games and Microsoft partnered up to bring Fortnite to Xbox Cloud Gaming.It’s clear that partnership has boosted Xbox Cloud Gaming, particularly because it’s the only game that’s available free via the service and doesn’t require an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.Cloud gaming numbers are still extremely rareWhile Xbox Cloud Gaming is growing, it’s not clear how other streaming services are fairing in comparison. Google never broke out Stadia numbers before it... Continue reading…

James Gunn speaks onstage at the Marvel Cinematic Universe Mega-Panel during 2022 Comic-Con International in 2022. | Image: Daniel Knighton / Getty Images After months of searching for a new leader to head up its answer to Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery has chosen director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran to lead its recently formed DC Studios division.Though it at one point seemed as though Warner Bros. Discovery was eyeing Dan Lin to head up DC Studios, company CEO David Zaslav announced today that it ultimately decided on Gunn and Safran, who will serve as both co-chairs and co-CEOS of the division while overseeing all of its various film and television projects. In a statement about the surprising move, Zaslav expressed confidence in Gunn and Safran’s “singular and complementary talents” and excitement at the idea of them shaping the future of WBD’s various superhero... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Earlier this summer, Google’s parent company Alphabet made it clear that it was trying to get into fighting form as its profits slipped. The company’s earnings report, released on Tuesday, however, shows that it still appears to be on the same path of growing revenue but shrinking profits.This quarter, the company reports that it earned around $69 billion and made $13.9 billion in profit. That’s compared to its exceptional Q3 2021, when it brought in $65.1 billion in revenue, netting $18.9 billion and making for a fifth straight quarter of record-breaking profits. As another point of comparison, the company earned almost $69.7 billion last quarter, with profits of around $16 billion.

Alex Castro / The Verge It’s a new financial year for Microsoft, and the Windows and Xbox maker has just posted the first quarter of its 2023 financial results today. Microsoft made $50.1 billion in revenue and a net income of $17.6 billion during Q1. Revenue is up 11 percent but net income has decreased by 14 percent — meaning profits are down at Microsoft this quarter.While there were signs of PC declines earlier this year, it’s clear this quarter that the PC is very much in decline, and that has impacted Microsoft’s Windows results. PC shipments experienced another big decline in the recent quarter — 15 percent, according to IDC. Geopolitical tensions, inflation, and continued supply chain challenges are all contributing to PC sales issues, alongside softer... Continue reading…

Just cover my desk in buttons, y’all. The Mountain Everest Max is an absolutely massive keyboard that looks like it shakes down 60 percent keyboards for their lunch money. Now, this maximalist keyboard is getting even bigger with the addition of a pair of new peripherals. Mountain is giving you the option of adding an additional 12 buttons to your desk setup with its new MacroPad and DisplayPad.The MacroPad is exactly what it says on the tin, giving you 12 new buttons that you can bind to individual functions or program macros through Mountain’s Basecamp software. Just like Mountain’s keyboards, the MacroPad features hot-swappable switches and addressable RGB lighting. Image: Mountain The Mountain MacroPad, for when 104 keys isn’t enough The... Continue reading…

Image: World’s Edge / Xbox Game Studios It’s time to get your “wololo” on the go go go. To accompany today’s Age of Empires 25th anniversary broadcast (man, a lot of games are turning 25 this year) World’s Edge and Xbox Game Studios announced Age of Empires is going from PC to iOS and Android.This is the latest attempt by Microsoft to break into the mobile gaming market, and it’s already got a leg up with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, which is slated to complete in 2023. Age of Empires has been brought to mobile before, but this seems to be the most faithful adaption of the game yet. In 2015, Age of Empires: Castle Siege, a tower defense game, and Age of Empires: World Domination, a real-time strategy game, both arrived on mobile. Both games were short-lived,... Continue reading…

You’ll be able to store a lot more stuff in your Workspace account. | Illustration: The Verge Google is about to give Workspace Individual subscribers a whole lot more storage. Soon, every account will be upgraded from 15GB to 1TB of storage, the company announced on Tuesday, meaning people on that tier will be able to store a lot more than before.Google launched Workspace Individual in July 2021 as a way for one-person businesses to use some of the company’s more premium Workspace perks without having to pay for higher-priced options designed for larger enterprises. While this increased storage will make it easier to store more documents and assets, it also means individuals might have a lot more stuff to move if they ever want to take things from Google to another platform. That could make it harder to switch, which is... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft announced during a 25th-anniversary celebration of Age of Empires that the latest game, Age of Empires IV, is coming to consoles next year. It will launch on day one on Xbox Game Pass, and it will be playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming for those who prefer to play on portable devices. The game launched in late 2021 for PC, and it has been available since then for PC Game Pass subscribers, but this is a great opportunity for console gamers to check it out.In case you missed out on the PC release or you’ve just been waiting patiently for news on this port, my colleague Mitchell Clark has some fun coverage from last year on the impressive lengths that Microsoft and World’s Edge (the studio focused on Age of Empires) went to give... Continue reading…