The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Two Netflix employees at the heart of the Dave Chappelle controversy have filed labor charges against the company, alleging the streaming giant retaliated against them for engaging in protected activity.B. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager, was fired while organizing a walkout related to Netflix’s support of Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, which has been widely condemned as transphobic. Terra Field, a trans software engineer, was suspended after posting a viral tweet thread about the issue.Netflix said it fired Pagels-Minor for allegedly leaking confidential information — a charge they have categorically denied. The company said Field was suspended for attending a director-level meeting she wasn’t supposed to, though... Continue reading…

The trackpad has to be removed to reveal two of the pull tabs | Image: iFixit Online tech repair guide and parts retailer iFixit has published its latest teardown for the new 2021 MacBook Pro and reveals at least one small win for reparability: the ability to replace the battery pack modules.The battery modules in the new MacBook Pros, much like many mobile devices, are now attached via adhesive strips with pull tabs. This makes it easier to remove them, as long as none of the tabs rip while pulling. The trackpad needs to also be carefully removed to reach the remaining pull tabs. Image: iFixit Batteries in MacBook Pros used to have their own frame or shell, which made them easier to install or remove via screws or locking tabs (although that takes more interior space). Starting in 2012,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft surpassed Apple’s market cap on Friday to become the world’s most valuable public company. The change follows Apple’s Thursday earnings, where the company posted strong results but revealed that it lost $6 billion to supply chain constraints. On Tuesday, Microsoft also shared positive earnings boosted by Office, Windows, and its cloud products.At Friday’s market close, Microsoft’s market cap was almost $2.49 trillion while Apple’s was about $2.46 trillion, according to CNBC. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has passed Apple; the Windows-maker surpassed Apple’s market cap in 2018 for the first time since 2010 and once again in July 2020. (Alphabet has also taken the crown from Apple, surpassing Apple’s market cap in 2016.)B... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge ‘It might well be unsolvable’ Continue reading…

Mastodon has sent former President Donald Trump’s company a formal notification that it’s breaking the rules by using Mastodon’s open-source code to build its social network, named Truth. This news comes from a blog post by Mastodon’s founder Eugen Rochko, but others have previously pointed out that the organization behind Truth, the Trump Media and Technology Group (or TMTG), was violating Mastodon’s software license by not providing the source code for the site built on top of it. Trump’s group has 30 days from when the letter was sent to comply with the license or stop using the software, or it could lose the right to do so.While Truth hasn’t officially launched yet, internet users discovered that a test version basically had the... Continue reading…

Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for five- to 11-year-olds, opening up the shots to a new age group and ending an anxious wait for families of children in that bracket.Children are less likely to have severe symptoms if they contract COVID-19, but they can still catch and spread the disease. Cases and deaths in children peaked in September, which was the worst month for that age group — there were over a million new cases in that group.The authorization makes vaccination available to 28 million new people in the US. Polling in September showed that around a third of parents say that they wanted to vaccinate their five- to 11-year-old children “right away” after authorization.The... Continue reading…

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called Facebook a “cancer to democracy” in a tweet on Thursday shortly after the company announced that it was changing its corporate name to Meta to better represent its focus on building the metaverse.“Meta as in “we are a cancer to democracy metastasizing into a global surveillance and propaganda machine for boosting authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society… for profit!” said Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday.

Swiping into new ideas | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Google’s Project Jacquard touch-sensitive fabric technology, first revealed at Google I/O in 2015, now has a way for interested third-party developers to integrate the tech with their own software via the new Jacquard SDK.Previously only a handful of companies signed up for Jacquard, including Levi’s, Samsonite, and Yves Saint Laurent. Now developers can use the SDK to integrate the Jacquard tag, connecting its sensors with their apps to communicate touch and motion data. Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Samsonite’s Konnect-i backpack is one of very few products to integrate the touch-sensitive fibers. Google’s ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) team announced its first partnership with Levi’s in... Continue reading…

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Don’t you love standards? I do, for the most part, particularly when they’re fixing things, and the new VESA Embedded DisplayPort 1.5 (or eDP 1.5 for short) looks likely to do that in future fancy-screened laptops. It’s promising more power savings with adaptive-sync screens, OLED panels, and displays that come with their own embedded memory for the battery saving Panel Self-Refresh (PSR) feature.eDP is the standard for cables and ribbons that connect your high-res screen to the rest of your laptop or tablet, and technically it’s supported all those things before — but they haven’t necessarily played nicely together. For example, I had to turn off PSR when I reviewed the OLED-equipped Dell XPS 15 in 2019 because the screen was... Continue reading…

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for BAFTA LA Amy Hennig, a former creative director at Naughty Dog who currently leads Skydance New Media, will be working on a new Marvel video game. Skydance describes the game, which is its first, as a “narrative-driven, blockbuster action-adventure game, featuring a completely original story and take on the Marvel Universe” but hasn’t said which superheroes will be featured in the game. The studio also hasn’t shared a release date (or even a release timeframe) and hasn’t said which platforms the game will be available on.Despite how little we actually know about the game, Hennig’s involvement in a story-driven Marvel project is an intriguing proposition. Hennig served as a writer and creative director for the first three Uncharted games, so... Continue reading…

If on a Winter’s Night Four Travelers. Indie developers are turning pixels into scares Continue reading…

There’s Someone Inside Your House. | Image: David Bukach / Netflix When Stephanie Perkins sat down to write her first horror novel, There’s Someone Inside Your House, she looked somewhere very specific for inspiration: slasher movies. “I loved those movies as a teenager, and they had a huge influence on me,” she says. “There actually aren’t a ton of slashers in novel form, and I learned while trying to write one that there’s a pretty good reason for that: it’s a really visual and auditory medium.”The book tells the story of a killer in a small Nebraska town who loves a gruesome murder and centers on high school student Makani, who recently moved from Hawaii for a fresh start after a tragic incident. The book has since been turned into a slasher movie itself, which debuted this month on Netflix. There’s... Continue reading…

Toyota released new details about its upcoming electric compact SUV, the BZ4X, which includes an optional solar roof and a steering yoke similar to the one featured in the latest version of the Tesla Model S.The steering yoke, which Toyota describes as having a “wing-shape,” employs a steer-by-wire system, where there is no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and tires. The yoke only needs to turn up to 150 degrees from side to side and the driver doesn’t ever need to remove their hands. This will eliminate the need to change grips when steering, which the company argues will make U-turns and other maneuvers easier.Toyota first revealed the BZ4X earlier this year at the Shanghai Auto Show, along with an electric vehicle... Continue reading…

The Witcher’s second season has gotten its official, full-length, real trailer today, giving the best look yet at the monsters, magic, and mayhem that await Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), Ciri (Freya Allan), and Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) when the show arrives on Netflix on December 17th.The new trailer teases a lot more about what to expect from the upcoming second season, including the upcoming war with the Nilfgaardian Empire, Ciri’s training to become a witcher, Geralt’s usual monster hunting, and the long-awaited return of everyone’s favorite bard, Jaskier (Joey Batey). It’s also the latest salvo in Netflix’s marketing bombardment for the show, which has so far included the teaser trailer, first look... Continue reading…

The new JioPhone Next is a collaboration between Google and Indian telecom Jio Platforms. | Jio Platforms Google and Indian telecom company Jio Platforms finally unveiled their budget smartphone for India on Friday, the JioPhone Next. The phone is designed as an affordable 4G device to serve “the unique needs of the Indian consumer,” Android India engineering lead Ram Papatla said in a blog post.India won’t be getting Google’s new Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, and those phones’ premium prices put them out of reach of many smartphone consumers in the country. But Google and Jio have designed this new device as a more affordable 4G option. It’s priced at 6499 Indian rupees, or $87, and is available at Jio Mart retailers in India or on Jio’s website. Google said users can also put a down payment of 1999 rupees and choose a payment plan through Jio.The... Continue reading…

Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images Cricket Wireless suddenly has several more options if you’re looking for access to 5G on a prepaid wireless plan. That’s because starting today, it will offer nationwide 5G access across all of its plans, which launched a year ago with support for only one device and only on its more expensive unlimited plans. Cricket Wireless also revealed it’s added 2 million customers in the last two years and is now serving some 12.4 million subscribers.The other big change for Cricket Wireless is removing an 8Mbps speed cap on its cheaper $30, $40, and $55 plans. How much bandwidth Cricket Wireless can reliably provide — using AT&T’s network — after the caps go away is something we’ll only find out as people try it out. Reading the fine print at... Continue reading…

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Microsoft has acquired Two Hat, a content moderation provider that’s helped keep harmful content off Xbox. Founded nearly 10 years ago by a former Disney Interactive security specialist, Two Hat uses AI to classify and filter billions of human interactions across messages, images, usernames, videos, and more. Microsoft has been working with Two Hat for the past few years to improve its Xbox communities, but the terms of the deal were not disclosed.“For the past few years, Microsoft and Two Hat have worked together to implement proactive moderation technology into gaming and non-gaming experiences to detect and remove harmful content before it ever reaches members of our communities,” explains Dave McCarthy, head of Xbox product... Continue reading…

You can pick up the second-gen Apple Pencil today at Verizon for $100 instead of $130. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The latest 11-inch iPad Pro with an M1 processor is more affordable than ever before today at Amazon. The retail giant is currently selling the Wi-Fi version with 1TB for $1,299 (the space gray color sadly costs $1,429). As noted in our review, we loved the 2021 iPad Pro’s blazing-fast M1 processor, its smaller form factor, and Apple’s Center Stage feature, which tracks you in the frame while on video calls to keep you centered. It compensates for the fact that Apple still puts its selfie cam at the top of the tablet instead of along its side bezel. Read our review.If you want a capable stylus that’s compatible with the latest iPad Pro, iPad Mini, or iPad Air, you can find the second-gen Apple Pencil for $100 instead of $130 at Amazon,... Continue reading…

Old snake hips, Mick Jagger, has met his robotic match. Boston Dynamics has released a tribute to The Rolling Stones’ iconic music video for their 1981 hit “Start Me Up,” with band members replaced by the company’s quadrupedal Spot robots.It is, as with most things Boston Dynamics, either:

The Arctis 7P Plus is available in white or black. | SteelSeries SteelSeries’ new Arctis 7 Plus and 7P Plus wireless headsets have two key improvements over their predecessors: better battery life, going up to 30 hours per charge from 24 hours with three hours of use from a 15-minute fast charge, and USB-C charging. Most other major headset makers have used that connector for years now, but SteelSeries has been oddly slow to adopt it, even though it has shipped its clever USB-C audio transmitter with select headsets since 2019. With previous SteelSeries wireless headsets, you always needed to make sure that an archaic Micro USB cable was never too far away. But not anymore with these new headsets.SteelSeries also touts that both headsets are compatible with the Oculus Quest 2, adding another platform... Continue reading…

Microsoft is updating its PowerToys for Windows with new UI changes for Windows 11, a universal video conference mute, and a find my mouse feature. The software maker has been gradually improving PowerToys ahead of the Windows 11 launch, with a settings interface to match the OS and now changes to its PowerRename feature that better match the Windows 11 design improvements.PowerRename, a feature to make it easier to rename files, no longer looks like it has a dialog box from the Windows 7 era. Microsoft has updated PowerRename with a far more modern interface, and easier to find options for renaming files in bulk.

LG + Prime Video + Filmmaker Mode. | Image: LG LG’s 2020 and 2021 4K and 8K TVs can now turn on Filmmaker Mode automatically when you’re watching content from Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, LG has announced. Filmmaker mode was launched in 2019 as a convenient way to turn off picture processing features like motion smoothing and image sharpening, which can create a horrid unnatural look often referred to as the “soap opera effect.”LG calls Prime Video’s ability to automatically trigger Filmmaker Mode an “industry first.” It delivers on a promise the company made when it first introduced the setting to its TVs back at CES 2020, when it said it would be offering an API to streaming apps to enable the mode automatically. Although it’s previously been possible to manually turn... Continue reading…

Parents take a lot of photos of their kids, but who wants to be constantly lingering on the fringes of family gatherings with their phone out? That’s the problem Canon’s new PowerShot PX is trying to solve. It’s essentially a home surveillance camera for happy memories. Stick it somewhere near you and it will automatically snap photos and videos, using built-in “subject recognition” to frame and select shots that you can browse later.It’s not exactly a new concept. Google promised similar functionality with its Clips camera in 2018 (though the company leaned more heavily than Canon on the promise of machine learning to select the right moment). But reactions were mixed, to say the least. Some thought Clips was creepy or invasive, while... Continue reading…

The Locked Folders feature was announced at this year’s Google I/O. | Image: Google Google is expanding several of its privacy and security features including Google Photos’ secure Locked Folder feature, the VPN offered alongside Google One, and the Pixel’s new centralized security hub. The plans were detailed in a blog post rounding up the company’s security initiatives.For starters, Google Photos’ Locked Folder feature, which currently lets Pixel owners hide sensitive photos and videos in a passcode- or biometric-protected folder, is coming to iOS “early next year.” The feature launched for the Pixel 3 and later in June, and in late September Google said it would be releasing for all Android phones “soon.” Now we have a timeframe for when Google Photos users on iOS will be able to protect sensitive images like nudes.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok is experimenting with a new tool that allows TikTok users to tip some creators directly on their profiles.According to a video of the tips feature shared this week by TikTok creator Jera Bean, who noticed the feature in-app and applied for approval, any money tipped to creators will go directly to that individual (meaning TikTok won’t take a cut).A screenshot of the application screen stated that in order to qualify for the feature, accounts must be in good standing on the platform, have at least 100,000 followers, meet an age requirement, and agree to TikTok’s tips terms. If creators meet these criteria, they can then apply for the tool — though it's unclear whether everyone who applies will be approved.

Image: Bloomberg In the first leaked images of Facebook’s smartwatch, it’s clear: there’s a notch, which is the kind of thing people love to make fun of, and what appears to be a front-facing camera. In the photo, the watch’s screen is off, but the beady little camera eye is clearly visible.The photo, which was first reported on by Bloomberg, was found inside the company’s app for its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses. The watch, referred to as “Milan” in the code, has a large display like the Apple Watch — but that smartwatch doesn’t have a camera. The picture today may not be a version that consumers ever see, according to Bloomberg. Still, it confirms earlier reporting about Facebook’s work.If this is the same watch as the one we reported on in June,... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook (which is now called Meta) knows a lot of virtual reality headset owners hate logging in with Facebook. Requiring Facebook logins created bad blood almost immediately and even accidentally locked some people out of their Quest VR hardware in late 2020. And at today’s Connect keynote, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted the restriction might be ending. But his comments raised more questions than they answered, and we still don’t know exactly what they mean.Zuckerberg mentioned the changes while talking about work applications for VR. Here’s what he said:

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales After what seems like an eternity of leaks, teases, and two reveals, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are finally on sale. But Google seems to be running very low on inventory, as the company now offers waitlists so you can be notified of when the phone will be available again.Right at the top of the Pixel 6 Pro page on the Google Store, there’s a now banner advertising the waitlist. “Due to high demand, some Pixel 6 Pro models may be out of stock or have long delivery times,” the company says. “Get notified when they’re back in stock, or check out other authorized retailers who may have them available.” The banner includes buttons to join the waitlist and see other retailers where you can try to get the phone instead. After clicking the buy... Continue reading…

There’s a hook for the wand, but it’s sold separately. | Hasbro You’ve always wanted your very own Ghostbusters Proton Pack. Your options have been: find a cheap toy, 3D print, sand and paint your own, pay for someone to do it for you, start with a premade kit, or painstakingly build something even more intricate from scratch.Here’s a sixth way that might be the easiest and most cost-effective yet: pay Hasbro $400 for this incredible-looking thing: Hasbro The pack at an angle, covered in lovely shiny bits. Tactical shoulder and belt straps plus what looks like a lumbar pad. Hasbro says the Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler’s Proton Pack is based on 3D scans of the actual movie prop from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and it’s complete with lights, sounds... Continue reading…

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, held a presentation today where it announced its rebranding and showed off what it imagines the future of computing will look like — but amid all the fluff, it actually had some interesting tech demos. The first showed off its life-like Codex avatars and an environment for them to exist in, which the company says was rendered in real-time and reacted to real-world objects. Mark Zuckerberg also talked about the company’s work with neural interfaces that let you control a computer just by moving your fingers.We’ll discuss the demos in just a moment, but it’s really worth seeing them for yourself. You can check them out on the Facebook keynote archive or on Reuters’ YouTube stream if you prefer... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple today posted strong earnings for its fourth fiscal 2021 quarter, reporting all-time highs for its services and Mac divisions. The company says it took in revenue of $83.4 billion, a year-over-year increase of 29 percent, and earnings per share of $1.24. That earnings number came in below Wall Street expectations of $84.85 billion.CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that supply chain constraints had a clear impact on financial results this quarter. “We had a very strong performance despite larger than expected supply constraints, which we estimate to be around $6 billion,” Cook said, attributing the supply issues to “the industry-wide chip shortages that have been talked about a lot and COVID-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon wants to avoid holiday shipping delays as much as you do. The company said today that it plans to spend “several billion dollars” to avoid problems during the holidays, which might extend from product delivery issues to keeping items in stock. The money will be spent on increased pay for workers, heightened shipping costs, and mitigating supply chain issues.“It’ll be expensive for us in the short term, but it’s the right prioritization for our customers and partners,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said today in the company’s third-quarter earnings release.The big spending comes as both a promise and a warning. Amazon’s earnings disappointed investors with a significant dip in quarterly profits from last year. That’s largely due to... Continue reading…

Vjeran Pavic/The Verge The company unveiled a new name and vision for the future in its keynote Continue reading…

Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images There’s good news in the latest version of the White House budget deal: the proposed federal tax credit for new electric bike purchases has survived the most recent round of Congressional bloodletting. Not only that, but it’s been restored to its former glory of 30 percent, after the House of Representatives slashed it to 15 percent.Still, it’s a hugely important proposal for a product that is still struggling to reach mass adoption. If the deal passes in its current form, e-bikes would become significantly cheaper for most Americans. In turn, that could mean a significant change in the transportation options for millions of people around the country.The legislation would offer Americans a refundable tax credit worth 30 percent of a... Continue reading…

A collage of Meta logos. | Image: Meta The company formerly known as Facebook just revealed its new name, Meta. And while that change brings a whole lot of questions, there’s one that many of us at The Verge have been pondering for about 30 minutes: how does the Meta name change the acronym used to refer to the biggest tech companies in one fell swoop?Before Thursday, FAANG — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google — was perhaps the most commonly used one. But that acronym already doesn’t quite work. Google is technically a part of Alphabet now, so there should be a third A. (FAAAN?) It’s missing Microsoft, which is just as mind-bogglingly huge as some of the other companies. And you could argue that Tesla should be part of the acronym conversation, especially now that... Continue reading…

Dropbox will finally be updating its Mac app to natively support Apple Silicon sometime in the first half of 2022, the company confirmed today. A previous forum thread saw Dropbox staffers claim that a native app would require “a bit more support before we share your suggestion with our team.”The months-old thread was resurfaced in a post by developer Mitchell Hashimoto on Twitter (spotted by MacRumors), sparking complaints from Dropbox users who were disappointed by the impression that the company would only develop the app if enough customers asked for it. While Dropbox technically does work with Apple Silicon hardware thanks to Apple’s Rosetta 2 software translation layer, it’s not as power or memory efficient as it could be if it... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is rebranding its hardware to match its new name. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth announced that the company is phasing out its Oculus branding, including on the Oculus Quest virtual reality headset. Starting in 2022, the Oculus Quest product line will be known as the Meta Quest, while the Oculus App will become the Meta Quest App. The Facebook Portal video device is also getting rebranded to “Meta Portal” sometime in the next few months.“When people buy our products, we want them to clearly understand that all of these devices come from Meta and ladder up to our metaverse vision,” Bosworth’s post reads. That means retiring the name Facebook took on when it acquired Oculus in 2014. “We all have a strong... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Facebook just announced that it will change its company name to Meta. The new name comes with a new logo, a blue M that looks kind of like a pretzel, and now that logo has replaced the iconic thumbs-up Like icon at the company’s global headquarters in Menlo Park.Here are two more images of it, taken by The Verge’s own Vjeran Pavic: Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge It did not take long before people began to pose for photos. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge A larger group. For comparison, here’s what the old sign looked like: Photo by Yalonda M James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images The new sign had been teased ahead of its official reveal. At one point,... Continue reading…

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images After months of negotiations, President Joe Biden released the latest version of his Build Back Better framework on Thursday, advancing the landmark proposal into what will likely be its final phase before approval. The plan’s original $3.5 trillion budget resolution now sits at $1.75 trillion, unveiling scaled-back initiatives to tackle climate change and other social services.In its latest budget proposal, the White House’s total investment in fighting climate change remains relatively the same, sitting at $550 billion. What’s changed the most is how those funds will be used: focusing on manufacturing, electric power, and transportation.The White House’s total investment in fighting climate change remains relatively the same,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter regularly tests new features ahead of their official rollout, but the company is creating a new way for some people to check out new features before everyone else. On Wednesday, Twitter announced that subscribers to its paid Twitter Blue service will get early access to some new features under a new Labs banner. If you’re familiar with YouTube’s Labs features for Premium subscribers, it sounds like a similar model.Features in Twitter’s program include pinned conversations on iOS, which lets you pin DM conversations to the top of the list, and the ability to post longer video uploads from a desktop computer. You can read more about Labs in a thread from the Twitter Blue account.

Illustration by Samar Haddad The company wants to move past the ‘confusion and awkwardness’ of sharing a name with its main app Continue reading…

Teenage Engineering Teenage Engineering, a design company that dabbles in everything from synthesizers to helping build the Playdate gaming handheld, has made its first computer case. It’s called Computer-1. It’s a bold orange case that’s made for mini-ITX-sized motherboards, which are reserved for small form factor builds. Like most of the company’s products, it’s not exactly affordable at $195. But that might not be an obstacle if you’re a sucker for a case that’s dripping in color and unique style.The Computer-1 case is made with powder-coated aluminum and has chrome handles, which makes it look a bit like Apple’s most recent Mac Pro desktop chassis. Though, unlike that computer, this case comes unassembled. It arrives in a flat pack, like most Ikea... Continue reading…

Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s new name will be “Meta.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday at the company’s Connect event that the company’s new name will be Meta. “We are a company that builds technology to connect,” Zuckerberg said. “Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”“To reflect who we are and what we hope to build,” he added. He said the name Facebook doesn’t fully encompass everything the company does now, and is still closely linked to one product. “But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.”Zuckerberg owns the Twitter handle @meta (whose tweets are protected as of this writing) and meta.com, which now redirects to a welcome page on Facebook that outlines the... Continue reading…

Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 to more PCs this week. After an initial launch to mostly new PCs earlier this month, Microsoft is gradually making the free Windows 11 upgrade available to more existing and eligible devices.“The availability of Windows 11 has been increased and we are leveraging our latest generation machine learning model to offer the upgrade to an expanded set of eligible devices,” says Microsoft. “We will continue to train our machine learning model throughout the phased rollout to deliver a smooth upgrade experience.” The Windows 11 upgrade prompt in Windows Update. If you’ve been waiting for the Windows 11 upgrade to appear in Windows Update, you might find the above prompt this week.... Continue reading…

Wyze is bringing more AI-powered smarts to its security cameras. | Image: Wyze Smart home company Wyze continues its tradition of making every small to medium-sized home appliance under the sun, announcing a slew of new products this week in honor of its fourth birthday.The most notable are a new smart wall switch, an interesting take on outdoor lighting, and revamped white smart bulbs that can match the sun throughout the day. But what really caught my eye is a new capability coming to its cameras. Using AI, Wyze’s smart security cameras will have the ability to alert a professional monitoring service when they detect a person. That’s one simple and cheap home security system.Wyze is known for its inexpensive smart home products, but what makes the company stand out is that it doesn’t skimp on the smarts to get... Continue reading…

A screenshot of the Project Cambria device Facebook is planning a high-end virtual and augmented reality headset codenamed “Project Cambria.” The device, which was teased briefly during Facebook’s Connect keynote, features cameras that pass high-resolution full-color video to the headset’s screens. It’s supposed to include cutting-edge features that Facebook can’t yet include in the Oculus Quest lineup, but there’s no price or exact release date yet — although Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it’s a “completely new” product that will sit at the “high end of the price spectrum,” and we’ll apparently see the device released next year.The device is focused on mixed reality applications and will include face and eye tracking, something Zuckerberg discussed earlier this year. It’s... Continue reading…

Image: Facebook Facebook has announced the Active Pack, a set of fitness-focused accessories for the Oculus Quest 2 that are designed to help turn the VR headset into a piece of gym equipment.Included in the Active Pack are a set of grips designed to keep the Touch controllers from flying out of your hands when you’re, for example, doing a boxing workout in Supernatural. There’s also an easy-to-clean face pad, so you don’t have to gunk up your normal foam one if you use your Quest 2 for both exercise and entertainment.The Active Pack will ship “next year,” according to Facebook. While Facebook is clearly making it for those who have been turning to VR for their workouts during the pandemic, it’s also easy to imagine this could be popular with... Continue reading…

Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz is the latest car company looking to bolster its audio systems with Dolby Atmos. The luxury vehicle company is planning to add support for the 3D sound standard through its optional Burmester stereo add-on for high-end models starting in summer 2022.Mercedes-Benz isn’t the first car company to offer Atmos; that honor goes to the Lucid Air electric sedan, which just started shipping and is the first car to support Dolby Atmos thanks to its 21 speaker “Surreal Sound” system.The cheapest S-Class with Atmos will start at $117,580But Mercedes-Benz’s implementation of Atmos looks to go even further, with a whopping 31 speakers scattered around the car (a list that includes six 3D speakers above passengers, four “near-ear”... Continue reading…

Facebook is announcing a new, “more social” home space for Oculus users. Called Horizon Home, it looks a lot like the virtual home that people already have in their virtual reality headsets. But users will be able to invite friends to hang out and watch videos or start multiplayer games together, and they’ll eventually be able to customize their space, although that’s “a little further out.” Horizon Home will launch in an Oculus update soon.Home joins Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms — as well as events app Horizon Venues, previously known as Venues — as part of Facebook’s “metaverse” hub. A video shows users getting pop-up messages inside VR games, as well as on their phones outside VR, then popping into the same virtual space. In... Continue reading…

Facebook Reality Labs Facebook is adding 2D apps from third-party developers to its Oculus Quest virtual reality platform. The new feature is aimed at giving people more tools to work in VR using the Progressive Web App (PWA) framework. It’s starting with Facebook, Instagram, collaboration app Smartsheet, and email client Spike, then adding Dropbox, Monday.com, Mural, My5, Pluto TV, and Slack in the future.Oculus has supported a 2D browser (which opens as a flat window in virtual space) for some time, and you could sideload 2D apps on the Quest, which runs a version of Android. Some Oculus apps also blur the line between VR and 2D apps: Horizon Workrooms, for instance, will support Zoom calls in the future. Facebook Messenger launched on Quest earlier this... Continue reading…