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Image: WhatsApp Four members of ABC's Modern Family cast have returned to their roles to star in a new commercial for WhatsApp. The ad is designed to promote WhatsApp to families that use a mix of iPhones and Android devices, so they can avoid green bubbles and the limitations of Apple's group chat MMS solution.If you're an iPhone user in the US you probably already avoid inviting Android friends into group chats, as it switches from iMessage to MMS and the regular Messages functionality like read receipts, encryption, and full resolution images are all disabled. WhatsApp hits on this directly in its commercial, with Julie Bowen (Claire Dunphy) explaining to Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell Pritchett) that blurry photos" and weird likes" are why he... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The onslaught of summer gaming news might finally be at an end - but not before Nintendo has its say. Following events from PlayStation and Xbox, along with Summer Game Fest and presentations focused on Ubisoft and EA games, Nintendo has announced its latest Direct presentation. It's slated to last around 40 minutes and will be focused on Nintendo Switch games coming in the second half of 2024," according to the company. (There won't be any news about the next Switch, however, Nintendo says.)As always with Nintendo, it's tough to predict what to expect, though it's possible we'll see a number of rereleases of classic games and, just maybe, finally get a glimpse of Metroid Prime 4. You'll definitely have to tune in to see what the... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge The Threads API is now available, meeting a promised launch by the end of June. The free API will allow developers to build unique integrations" into Threads, and potentially even result in third-party apps for Meta's competitor to what was previously known as Twitter.People can now publish posts via the API, fetch their own content, and leverage our reply management capabilities to set reply and quote controls, retrieve replies to their posts, hide, unhide or respond to specific replies," explains Jesse Chen, director of engineering at Threads.Chen says that insights into Threads posts are one of our top requested features for the API," so Meta is allowing developers to see the number of views, likes, replies, reposts, and... Continue reading...

Image: Parker Ortolani / The Verge The Tesla Cybertruck's gigantic windshield wiper isn't working for some people - and for others, it may be the reason they can't pick up their car. Users on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum have reported that Tesla has been delaying Cybertruck deliveries on short notice, and wiper issues are apparently to blame.Over the weekend, one forum user said Tesla told them the delivery pause was due to the wiper motor, while another said their delivery was pushed back because of the blade. A Reddit user said they were told their delay was due to a windshield wiper arm issue." And deliveries are still being held up, with forum users reporting Monday that Tesla informed them of delays. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge... Continue reading...

This Lego-built printer can save you the hassle of painstakingly creating your own Lego pixel art. | Screenshot: YouTube A devoted YouTuber has designed and built a Lego printer that can automate the process of assembling elaborate brick-built mosaics, similar to Lego's art sets like da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Hokusai's The Great Wave. But while the creation draws inspiration from another Lego printer called the Bricasso, it streamlines the process using AI.Although technically impressive when it debuted eight years ago, Jason Allemann's Bricasso required a complicated process where mosaic designs had to be manually created, printed on paper, and then scanned by the machine's camera. The YouTube channel Creative Mindstorms used some custom code and AI, so generating a Lego mosaic requires one simple input.With the Pixelbot 3000, users simply have to type in... Continue reading...

Image: Sleep Number Sleep Number has released an adjustable smart bed with sleep tracking that costs less than $1,000, the company announced in a press release on Monday. While still a lot of money for what essentially is a fancy air bed, it's still significantly cheaper than some comparable rivals.Take, for example, Sleep Number competitor Eight Sleep, which makes smart mattress covers. (We've previously listed the Pod 2 cover as one of our favorite sleep gadgets.) Eight Sleep's newer Pod 3 cover starts at $2,195 - and that's only for the smaller full-size version. The newest Pod 4 cover starts at $2,449. Meanwhile, the Sleep Number c1 smart bed starts at just $599 for a twin-size model, and you can buy a queen for $999.We've yet to review the Sleep... Continue reading...

That is one quirky-looking camera. | Image: Ricoh Imaging I used to lambaste the very idea of half-frame cameras when I was a college student obsessed with medium- and large-format film (who wants even less resolution than 35mm?), but electing to shoot film today is already a conscious decision to compromise quality for the sake of experience and style.Who needs resolution when you've got vibes? That's what Pentax seems to be saying with its new Pentax 17, a film camera that takes half-size pictures and looks about as timeless as an old beater you scored at some dude's estate sale. But the $499.95 Pentax 17 (launching later this month) is a totally new camera, one that, in 2024, takes the so-hot-right-now 35mm format and shoots smaller pictures for the sake of fun and making film photography... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile has been asked to stop advertising its Price Lock" policy for its 5G internet service just months after raising prices. On Monday, the National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that T-Mobile discontinue or modify the claim to explain how it differs from a price lock.'"The NAD is part of the nonprofit BBB National Programs that evaluates claims presented in the ads industry. AT&T brought the challenge against the Price Lock claim, which appeared in numerous advertisements in print, online, and TV. In each instance, the description below the Price Lock claim says, Get your last month of service on us if we ever raise your internet rate." The NAD argues that this disclosure contradicts the main message of the Price... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Apple is shutting down Apple Pay Later, its buy now, pay later service, the company confirmed to 9to5Mac. The service, which lets you take out pay later" loans that can be paid in four payments over six weeks, only launched fully in the US in October 2023. In its place, Apple says that users will be able to apply for installment loans" from credit cards, debit cards, and lenders when checking out with Apple Pay later this year.Here is Apple's full unsigned statement, which was given to 9to5Mac:

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge After a change to its privacy policy drew a lot of attention last week, Sonos has responded and insists it's still carefully protecting the personal data of its customers. The company removed a line - Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers" - from its US privacy statement earlier this month.But Sonos claims the reason wasn't scandalous; the company says it cut the sentence because it was overly broad and already could've been viewed as untrue depending on individual state privacy laws surrounding consumer data.Sonos uses several modern and industry-standard marketing tools, including third party service providers and social media platforms, to help us identify and display relevant ads and marketing... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson," has his next job. Following his departure from Microsoft last year, where he was a public face for the Xbox brand, Hryb will be joining Unity's Community team, he announced on Monday.At Microsoft, he, among other things, hosted the Official Xbox Podcast and posted about Xbox to his large following on X. On LinkedIn, he lists his new job title as Director of Community," and based on a LinkedIn post, it seems like he'll still be a brand ambassador in some form.Unity's mission of empowering creative and business success of creators around the world across games, apps, and experiences aligns with my lifelong passion for innovation and community building," Hryb wrote in the post. I am eager to collaborate... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Microsoft is losing another key Xbox executive at the end of the month. Xbox chief marketing officer Jerret West is leaving Microsoft to join Roblox as its new CMO and head of market expansion. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed the move in an internal memo to Xbox employees today, which was obtained by The Verge.West previously spent eight years at Microsoft on the Xbox marketing side, before departing in 2011 and then eventually spending seven years at Netflix as the head of marketing. West returned to Microsoft in late 2019, leading the marketing for the launch of the Xbox Series S / X consoles.West's team is responsible for developing marketing plans for games, hardware, and Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft is now shuffling... Continue reading...

The $130 Logitech MX Ink is compatible with both the Meta Quest 2 and 3, as well as future" headsets. | Image: Logitech Today, Logitech officially announced its MX Ink stylus, the company's first mixed reality accessory for the Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. The MX Ink will provide artists with a more natural alternative to the Quest's controllers for content creation that feels like using a pencil or a paintbrush.The tracking accuracy and low-latency performance of the Meta Quest's native controllers have helped position the headset as more than just a gaming or media consumption device, but the controllers, which can feel like holding and working with a can of spray paint, don't always offer the best interface for content creation. For many artists, a stylus is a preferable tool over a mouse or peripherals primarily designed for gaming, which is... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The US government is suing Adobe for allegedly hiding expensive fees and making it difficult to cancel a subscription. In the complaint filed on Monday, the Department of Justice claims Adobe has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms."The lawsuit alleges Adobe hides" the terms of its annual, paid monthly plan in the fine print and behind optional textboxes and hyperlinks." In doing so, the company fails to properly disclose the early termination fee incurred upon cancellation that can amount to hundreds of dollars," the complaint says.When customers do attempt to cancel, the DOJ alleges that Adobe requires them to go through an onerous... Continue reading...

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are compact and come in Samsung's excellent purple color (as well as the typical white and black). | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung's excellent Galaxy Buds 2 Pro wireless earbuds have fallen to a new low price, selling for just $119.99 ($110 off) at Woot. That's a screamer of a deal if I've ever seen one, as these flagship noise-canceling earbuds from Samsung are exceptionally light and comfy and sound great.Samsung includes some extra features for Galaxy phone owners to take advantage of, like 24-bit audio, spatial audio head tracking, and auto-switching among Samsung devices, but anyone can enjoy how good these compact buds sound. And at this price, you'd normally be shopping for a midrange earbud like the third-gen AirPods, not something in the Pro" tier with ANC. We've regularly seen the Buds 2 Pro fall as low as $160 (which is still a good value), but... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is testing a way for viewers to add community-sourced context to videos. The feature, called notes, will allow people to add bits of information to clarify things like whether a video is a parody or contains older footage presented as a current event.If a note is considered helpful, you might see it pop up in a small box beneath a video. YouTube says only a limited number" of eligible contributors can write notes for now, while third-party evaluators will rate the helpfulness of notes. YouTube will then use this feedback to train its note evaluation system over the coming weeks and months. Image: YouTube Notes rated as helpful will appear beneath a video. As the pilot progresses, YouTube will... Continue reading...

Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Tubi TV isn't just competing with Netflix for your time - it needs to beat TikTok, too. Continue reading...

Dr. Vivek Murthy hopes that introducing warning labels to social media platforms will help address mental health concerns among adolescents. | Photo by Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for Project Healthy Minds US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is urging Congress to introduce warning labels for social media platforms that regularly warn parents and adolescent users about the potential mental health harms associated with using them. The proposed warning labels, similar to those already introduced for tobacco and alcohol products, would aim to increase awareness and encourage social media users to change their behavior.The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency - and social media has emerged as an important contributor," Murthy said in a guest essay published by The New York Times. The surgeon general cited studies that found almost half of adolescents say social media gives them body image issues and that those who spend... Continue reading...

TikTok says the new tools are aimed at helping brands and creators develop global audiences. | The Verge TikTok is introducing some new generative AI tools that aim to help organizations and content creators grow their global audiences using customizable digital avatars and language dubbing features. Building on the Symphony generative AI ad suite unveiled last month, TikTok says these new tools are intended to break down language barriers in marketing and allow brands to add a human touch to their content" where real models or presenters wouldn't otherwise be used.The first of the new offerings is Symphony Digital Avatars, which are available in two varieties: stock or custom. Stock avatars are based on paid actors from a diverse range of backgrounds, nationalities, and languages. They are available for commercial use. Custom avatars,... Continue reading...

Nikon's new $2,500 Z6 III has the world's first partially stacked CMOS sensor. | Image: Becca Farsace / The Verge At the beginning of a recent photo walk with a Nikon representative, I was told it was only a matter of time before I became a birder." Because eventually, every photographer runs out of things to take photos of and is left with only one subject to master: birds. Which, because of advancements in camera technology, have become a much easier target. The Nikon Z6 III has an articulating back screen that is typical of hybrid photo / video cameras. It was on this same photo walk that I got a few hours with the new $2,500 Nikon Z6 III. And the big news in this camera is its 24.5-megapixel partially stacked CMOS sensor. This is the first camera ever to employ this technology. Instead of the circuit parts and pixel area... Continue reading...

Nikon's new $2,500 Z6 III has the world's first partially stacked CMOS sensor. | Becca Farsace / The Verge At the beginning of a recent photo walk with a Nikon representative, I was told it was only a matter of time before I became a birder". Because eventually every photographer runs out of things to take photos of and is left with only one subject to master: birds. Which, because of advancements in sensor technology, have become a much easier target. The Nikon Z6 III has an articulating back screen that is typical of hybrid photo / video cameras. It was on this same photo walk that I got a few hours with the new $2,500 Nikon Z6 III. And the big news in this camera is its 24.5-megapixel partially stacked CMOS sensor. This is the first camera, ever, to employ this technology. Instead of the circuit parts and pixel area... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google is rolling out a new option called Listen to this page" that can read a webpage out loud to you from within the Android Chrome browser. The feature comes with playback controls similar to those you'd find in music or podcast players, letting you pause, change the reading speed, scrub forward, or skip ahead or back by 10 seconds at a time.You can also change the voice it uses, as well as the language. The feature supports several, including English, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish, according to a Google help page about the feature. To see if you have it, head to a page with a lot of text, then tap the three dots menu and Listen to this page," which should appear just below the Translate option. S... Continue reading...

A McDonald's in Pittsburgh. | Photo: Paul Weaver / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images If your local McDonald's has been getting your order confidently wrong with an AI chatbot at the drive-thru, I have good news for you: The company is ending the program for now. The company told franchisees that it's winding down an AI drive-thru ordering partnership with IBM no later than July 26th, 2024," according to trade publication Restaurant Business.The company will reportedly remove the tech from the over 100 restaurants it's been testing the system in after partnering with IBM in 2021. It's not clear why the company is ending the IBM deal, though. It told Restaurant Business it was testing whether the voice ordering chatbot could speed up service and that the test left it confident that a voice-ordering solution for... Continue reading...

Image: Apple Siri may do more than make the edges of your iPhone a glowy rainbow when iOS 18 drops this fall. Apple Intelligence features won't be out until 2025 for anyone not testing them in beta this year, but reports suggest that Siri itself will still get natural language updates and other key features before the year is out.For instance, users will be able to type to Siri without diving into accessibility settings, and it will be more conversational, understanding you even when you trip over your words, according to Mark Gurman in today's Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Image: Apple Apple could offer instructions for how to do things in iOS this year. He also writes that Siri will have greater knowledge of... Continue reading...

Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 42, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been writing about Excel, reading about tin foil hats and the song Smooth," obsessing over Francis Ford Coppola's note-taking system, watching Anyone But You, Hit Man, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol because I had a bunch of plane rides, and debating buying Jabra headphones even though Jabra is quitting the headphone game.I also have for you a new minimalist phone, a book to read, a documentary to watch, a fun hack for your Rabbit R1, and much more. Let's get into it.(As always, the best... Continue reading...

Image: NASA Voyager 1, the farthest human-made craft from the Earth, is finally sending back data from all four of its scientific instruments, NASA said this week. That means the agency is once more receiving its readings on plasma waves, magnetic fields, and space-bound particles.Voyager 1 stopped sending back good data in November, and fixing it was fraught as engineers had to wait 45 hours to hear anything back. In April, the agency got it to start sending back health and status information, then science data from two of its instruments in May.Now, NASA says Voyager 1, which is over 15 billion miles from Earth, is conducting normal science operations" and the agency just needs to resync its timekeeping software and do some maintenance on a... Continue reading...

One of the affected Intel processors. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge For months, Intel's highest-end desktop gaming processors have had a strange tendency to occasionally make games crash - and despite what you might have seen earlier today, Intel says it doesn't have a final fix for its 13th and 14th Gen Intel Core i9 Raptor Lake" and Raptor Lake S" chips just yet.Contrary to recent media reports, Intel has not confirmed root cause and is continuing, with its partners, to investigate user reports regarding instability issues on unlocked Intel Core 13th and 14th generation (K/KF/KS) desktop processors," reads a statement via Intel spokesperson Thomas Hannaford.It continues: The microcode patch referenced in press reports fixes an eTVB bug discovered by Intel while investigating the instability... Continue reading...

Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Asus' reputation for customer support has been tarnished, and the company is now pledging a long list of concrete fixes to Gamers Nexus. Chief among them: if you've ever been denied a warranty repair or charged for a service that was unnecessary or should've been free, Asus wants to hear from you at a new email address. It claims those disputes will be processed by Asus' own staff rather than outsourced customer support agents.And, after failing to even acknowledge the ROG Ally handheld's SD card reader issues for over a year, the company will be finally be issuing a formal statement about the defect next week, Gamers Nexus is reporting.One month ago, GN revealed that Asus could in some instances charge customers for unwanted and... Continue reading...

I wonder what this 3D logo could mean... | Image: Yacht Club Games Shovel Knight might be bouncing into 3D. Developer Yacht Club Games just announced a new mainline game in the hit series that started as a retro-inspired 2D platformer, and the studio says this new game will launch Shovel Knight into an entirely new dimension of gaming," according to a blog post.If that wasn't enough of a clue about the move to 3D, the Yacht Club Games' Friday livestream celebrating the 10th anniversary of Shovel Knight featured an even more pointed hint: a 3D version of the Yacht Club Games logo.The studio is staying mum about many specifics - there's no release window - but did tease that the game will bring electrifying action, richer mechanics, and all the timeless charm you expect from a Shovel Knight title."W... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple and Meta could soon face charges from the European Commission for violating Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules. The Financial Times reported Friday that the Commission is planning to charge Apple, and Reuters reported later that Meta could be charged as well.The Commission is reported to be targeting Apple over its steering" rules that charge developers for pointing to third-party purchase options. Meta's charges will reportedly revolve around its ad-free subscription for Facebook and Instagram in the EU.The Commission will be issuing preliminary findings, according to Reuters, meaning that the companies can make changes to try and correct things before the Commission makes a final decision. Apple is set to be charged first, R... Continue reading...

With iOS 18, Apple Home users will finally be able to insist the smart home platform use their hardwired Apple TVs as the primary Home hub. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge While Apple barely mentioned its smart home platform during its WWDC 2024 keynote this week, Apple Home users can still rejoice over an update discovered in the first iOS 18 beta: they're getting the option to choose a Preferred Home Hub." This fixes the problem of your smart home deciding" to run over Wi-Fi through a HomePod when there's a perfectly good Apple TV using ethernet sitting right there.Eagle-eyed Redditors on the HomeKit subreddit spotted that, in the iOS 18 beta, there's a new option to select your preferred Home hub instead of relying on Apple's automatic selection, the current choice.HomeKit users took to the thread to express their joy at this move, saying, among other things, that This is the most important... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images I generally find Elon Musk useful, in that he makes it clear which things in America are actually hard boundaries (contract law, maybe copyright law) and which are merely conventions (most everything else). You can take ketamine, smoke weed, ask your subordinates to have your babies, and run your companies like your own personal fiefdom; if you are wealthy and powerful enough, no one can stop you.Musk is entwined with his companies in a particularly unusual way. In the case of Tesla, he is probably responsible for its survival in a dicey period following the 2008 financial crisis. His involvement and fame have allowed Tesla to save significant money on advertising. For this service, Tesla shareholders voted him a massive pay package in... Continue reading...