The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Roku is officially getting into original content. The set-top box maker announced Roku Originals, a new brand, in a press release today. Roku says it will debut over 75 original series and films this year on its free, ad-supported network, The Roku Channel. Quite a few of these original new shows will come from the Quibi library of content Roku got in a fire sale in January 2021.Earlier this year, Protocol spied a job listing that suggested Roku would be investing in original content beyond the Quibi stuff it now owns. Free, ad-supported content is still a relatively new but growing area in streaming. Peacock, Paramount Plus, and even Plex have all had some success wooing viewers with totally free stuff they can watch on their set-top... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge “Identity shapes what we want to share and what we want to broadcast, [so] it is part of our content,” says Yana Calou, PR director of Trans Lifeline. The nonprofit operates a peer support and crisis hotline and offers microgrants to trans and nonbinary recipients. More recently, it launched a streaming discovery tool called Peer2Peer that functions as a searchable directory. Broadcasters can tag themselves in categories like “trans,” “Black,” or “lesbian,” and viewers can search for the tags they want to see.With Twitch reluctant to allow identity-based tagging, marginalized viewers’ ability to find streamers and associated communities of people like them has been limited. But when a group of streamers approached Trans Lifeline about... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge At Best Buy, you can get a refurbished set of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro truly wireless earbuds for $110 today in the silver colorway. This model released just a few months ago alongside the Samsung Galaxy S21, and at most retailers they still sell for their original $200 price. The lowest price we’ve seen recently for a new set is $165, and that’s bound to happen again at some point. But if you’re all about saving money, this refurbished deal can’t be beat. The Galaxy Buds Pro provide the “best sound quality yet for Samsung earbuds,” according to audio expert and Verge reviewer Chris Welch.These come with a charging case, a USB cable, and three pairs of ear tips.Oculus is set to announce some VR games later today, April 21st, and... Continue reading…

All modern means of communication rely on glass, from the Gorilla Glass on our phones to the infotainment screens in our cars. Most of the time, the glass is right in front of us, but when it comes to the internet — whether it’s 5G, Starlink satellites, or Wi-Fi — it’s easy to miss the 750,000 miles of fiber optic cables currently running under our oceans.These tiny strands of glass carry our photos, emails, and video chats from our phones to data centers to friends and family all across the world. It’s through these hair-thin strands of fiber that we are able to instantly communicate to almost anyone, anywhere, and it all relies on a 5,000-year-old technology: glass. Image: Alix Diaconis / The Verge A... Continue reading…

Apple’s new AirTag trackers are finally here after years of rumors. The $29 trackers work with Apple’s Find My network, utilizing both Bluetooth and UWB technology to help owners track anything from their keys to their bags.But the design of the new trackers is somewhat controversial: unlike most Bluetooth trackers, Apple’s iteration doesn’t include a built-in key ring loop. The subsequent debate has shattered the tranquility of The Verge’s newsroom over whether Apple’s somewhat Spartan design is brilliant or bogus. Well, at least between two of the most genteel Verge staffers, Jon Porter and Chaim Gartenberg. Image: Apple Artist’s rendering of an AirTag design featuring a keychain hole punch. Jon Porter,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The European Union has published a new framework to regulate the use of artificial intelligence across the bloc’s 27 member states. The proposal, which will take years to implement into law and will be subject to many tweaks and amendments during this time, nevertheless constitutes the most ambitious AI regulations seen globally to date.The regulations cover a wide range of applications, from software in self-driving cars to algorithms used to vet job candidates, and arrive at a time when countries around the world are struggling with the ethical ramifications of artificial intelligence. Similar to the EU’s data privacy law, GDPR, the regulation gives the bloc the ability to fine companies that infringe its rules up to 6 percent of... Continue reading…

iPad Pro 2021 | Image: Apple Apple has announced the next generation of its iPad Pro line. But most of the biggest changes for Apple’s flagship tablet are largely on the inside. The latest iPad Pros feature a new eight-core M1 processor; the same chip featured in the most recent model refreshes for the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and the newly announced iMac.Like last year, the iPad Pro comes in two sizes: 11 inches and 12.9 inches. The 12.9-inch model this year also includes a new Mini-LED screen, which Apple is branding as a “Liquid Retina XDR” display. The iPad Pro 2021 refreshes also include support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4, in addition to 5G connectivity. Both iPad Pros also feature a new 12-megapixel ultrawide camera that can automatically track... Continue reading…

Images: Cadillac Cadillac has announced that its first electric car, the Lyriq, will start at $59,990 before tax, license, and dealer fees. The luxury brand of General Motors also said the electric SUV will be available for reservations starting in September ahead of the start of production in the first quarter of 2022. The Lyriq SUV will officially go on sale shortly after that in the first half of the year.The Lyriq got a proper debut last August, but that was technically still just a show car. The photos Cadillac showed off Wednesday as it announced pricing are of the final production version. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t notice the difference; even Cadillac says that there have only been minor changes since then, like the addition of an extra... Continue reading…

image: Bandai Today, Bandai is announcing the Tamagotchi Pix: a combination of its classic Tamagotchi pet-rearing toy line with a new built-in camera for taking pictures with your digital pet.The Pix is shaped like a hatching egg, with the top part of the “broken shell” working as a shutter button. Using the camera, you can insert yourself (and friends) into photos with your Tamagotchi, with appropriately cute photo frames. We’ve reached out to Bandai for more information about the camera quality.Photos taken with the Pix are stored locally, and any photos you take will appear in a feed that documents your time with your pet. Bandai frames this as a sort of on-device social media, but because the Pix can’t connect to Wi-Fi and sharing photos is... Continue reading…

People demonstrate at the ‘Stop Asian Hate March and Rally’ in Koreatown on March 27, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. March 27 is the #StopAsianHate National Day of Action against anti-Asian violence. On March 16th, eight people were killed at three Atlanta-area spas, six of whom were Asian women, in an attack that sent fear through the Asian community amid a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. | Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images With new tools and new technology, groups like Project 1907 want to fix hate crime statistics Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The FBI says it used facial recognition technology to track down and arrest an individual suspected of taking part in the US Capitol riots earlier this year. The case, which was first reported by The Huffington Post, is notable for the FBI’s acknowledgement that it used facial recognition not just to confirm a suspect’s identity, but to discover it in the first place.According to an affidavit shared online by the Huffington Post, federal agents tracked down an individual named Stephen Chase Randolph using crowdsourced images from the riots (including those shared on Twitter by a group known as SeditionHunters). They searched these pictures on the web using “an open source facial recognition tool, known to provide reliable results,” and... Continue reading…

The new iPad Pro’s front-facing camera can digitally pan and tilt to track video conference participants. | Video: Apple Apple has confirmed that the digital pan and zoom feature of the new M1 iPad Pro’s front-facing camera can work with any video conferencing app, not just FaceTime. That opens the door for popular apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams to make remote work and e-learning blend more seamlessly into the realities of pandemic life — a hybrid lifestyle that’s likely to continue even after the outbreak subsides.Center Stage, as Apple brands it, keeps video conferencing participants properly framed even as they move about a room by combining machine learning with a fixed 12-megapixel sensor touting an ultra-wide 122‑degree field of view. We’ve seen similar tracking on the Portal TV, Echo Show 10, and even the Xbox Kinect accessory. But those are... Continue reading…

Images: Gogoro Gogoro is branching out of home country Taiwan in the biggest way yet, as it just announced a partnership with major two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotorCorp to bring its swappable battery and scooter tech to India. As part of the deal, Hero will build electric scooters based around Gogoro’s tech, and will also install Gogoro’s battery-swapping stations in cities throughout the country.Electric vehicles could help eat away at some of India’s pollution, and Tesla is even wading into the market. But building out charging infrastructure to handle passenger EVs is going to be a challenge for any company that wants to build a business there.It’s a different story for scooters, and especially the ones made by Gogoro, which was founded by a... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge A one-man Bunco Squad is poking holes in Apple’s App Store image Continue reading…

Leaked images appeared to show a new fitness-focused VR headset from HTC. HTC has downplayed leaked images that appeared to show a new fitness-focused VR headset built by the firm. Pictures and details of the HTC Vive Air leaked online earlier this week on a design award website but HTC now says the headset is “only a concept.”“It’s exciting to see our concept piece, the VIVE Air VR headset, win an iF Design Award,” the company said in a statement given to UploadVR. “While this is only a concept, the design language has elements and inspirations you’ll see elsewhere in our products. We’re not ones to rest on our laurels, so although it’s great to win this award, we have business to attend to — hopefully we’ll see you on 11/12 May at ViveCon.” The HTC Vive Air claimed to be made from... Continue reading…

The PI7 true wireless headphones. | Image: Bowers and Wilkins Bowers and Wilkins’ debut pair of noise cancelling true wireless earbuds, the PI7, fix one of the key annoyances with the form-factor — it’s usable with in-flight entertainment systems because the case doubles as an audio transmitter. Plug the case into an audio source using an included 3.5mm to USB-C cable and it will retransmit the audio wirelessly to the earbuds. Alongside it, Bowers and Wilkins has also announced the less expensive PI5 true wireless headphones, which also offer noise-cancellation.Bowers and Wilkins claims the PI7’s transmitting case is an industry first, and it’s certainly the first time we’ve heard of such a feature. In contrast, trying to use other popular true wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro with a plane’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram announced a new tool today that will allow users to automatically filter out direct message requests containing offensive words, phrases, and emojis. The tool is targeted at celebrities and public figures who receive a large number of unwanted, harmful DMs.The update builds on Instagram’s work to combat hate speech on the platform. In February, the company said it would begin disabling the accounts of users who sent multiple harassing messages. In 2018, the company expanded its offensive comments filter to automatically block comments that attack a person’s appearance or character.The message requests filter can be toggled on or off in a new section of the app called “hidden words.” When it’s on, offensive messages will be... Continue reading…

Apple just announced an M1-powered update to the iPad Pro, and Logitech has followed up with a new keyboard and trackpad accessory for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models. The Combo Touch is a case with a Microsoft Surface-style kickstand and a detachable backlit keyboard with a trackpad. It connects over the iPad Pro’s Smart Connector.Logitech already released a similar Combo Touch keyboard for 10.2-inch and 10.5-inch iPads, as well as a related Folio Touch for the 11-inch iPad Pro and 10.9-inch iPad Air. The Folio Touch’s keyboard isn’t detachable and its trackpad is a little smaller than the new Combo Touch, but otherwise it’s a comparable product. This is the first time Logitech has offered a keyboard/trackpad option for... Continue reading…

After what feels like ages of rumors, speculation, and worry that I was getting way too obsessed with a Bluetooth item tracker that seemed similar to ones made by several other companies, AirTags are finally here. But before you preorder the Mentos-esque pucks, there’s something you should be aware of: if you want to engrave your AirTags, you can’t combine a horse and poop emoji in that order.That’s right, the emoji version of “horseshit” is a no-go when getting an engraving for Apple’s newest product. Here’s what happens when you try to make that your engraving of choice: Apple says no to “horseshit” in emoji form. Curiously, poop and then horse (“shit horse”) is totally fine, though. Apple has... Continue reading…

Tim Cook, the mild-mannered Apple CEO, probably didn’t have to lift more than a finger to launch a new line of iPad Pros with the company’s Arm-based M1 chip.Tim Apple, on the other hand? He’s the kind of daring superspy who can pull off a high-security heist, slicing through plate glass, rappelling down buildings, and dodging lasers, all with a trusty grappling hook at his side — as you’ll see in the video above. Also, he’s apparently able to unsocket a soldered-down chip, perhaps the most impressive trick of all — except perhaps for the one where he gave Donald Trump a “new” factory and the “first” Mac Pro off its assembly line. Not bad for a 60-year-old, even one who’s in charge of the most profitable company in the... Continue reading…

Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images The simmering issue of how Tesla deals with customer complaints in China came to a boil this week as police detained a woman after she protested at Tesla’s booth at the Auto Shanghai 2021 trade show. The woman was dragged off the show floor after jumping on top of a Tesla Model 3, where she shouted about a brake issue the company has been criticized for with its China-made cars. Tesla has since said it will conduct a self-inspection of its service and operations in China.The woman, who police referred to only by her surname “Zhang,” according to Reuters, was detained for “disrupting public order.” She has protested before about the brake issue, after she was involved in a crash. She is reportedly being held for five days.

One of the new Magic Mouse colors. | Image: Apple Apple revealed a redesigned iMac and Magic Keyboard at its “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday, but didn’t, for some reason, decide to change the Magic Mouse 2’s infamous charging solution. While the mouse will come in new colors to match the new iMacs, Apple confirmed to The Verge that its charging port is still on the bottom — meaning that five and a half years after its introduction, Apple still seems to think that the best way to charge the mouse is by flipping it over (rendering it useless) and plugging in a Lightning cable.The Magic Mouse’s charging situation has long been a bit of a joke — my former colleague Nick Statt equated it to looking like “a beetle with its legs in the air” all the way back in December 2015, and frankly, I’m... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The M1-powered Mac Mini can now be configured to included 10-gigabit networking, an option that the computer was notably missing compared to its Intel-powered counterpart (via 9to5Mac). The update to the 2020 computer seems to have come during Apple’s store update that came with the bigger product announcements today, including a new iMac and iPad Pros. Adding the faster networking will add $100 to the price of the computer — the same price as if you were to add 10Gbps to the Intel version.When Apple added the 10Gbps port as an option to the Mac Mini in 2018, it was welcomed by those running home and professional servers, as well as anyone who needed fast network access from a cheaper Mac (like video professionals using network-attached... Continue reading…

Photo by Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe may soon be home to two new queens. Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Olivia Colman was negotiating a role in Marvel’s Secret Invasion Disney Plus series, and today, Variety reports that Emilia Clarke is in talks to do the same.Secret Invasion is expected to be the television adaptation of the comics storyline of the same name that’s focused on a hostile takeover of Earth led by a shape-shifting alien race you may already know and love from Captain Marvel: the Skrulls. Few details have been revealed since the project was first announced, but we do know the show will feature the return of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as the friendly Skrull Talos, who was last seen i... Continue reading…

Image: Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus launched on November 1st, 2019, but odds are that you (along with almost two-thirds of other Apple TV Plus customers) aren’t actually paying for it, thanks to Apple’s lengthy free trials. But Apple may have finally found the carrot to convince people to actually shell out their hard-earned cash for another streaming service: the upcoming second season of sleeper hit Ted Lasso, which is set to debut on TV Plus on July 23rd — just after Apple’s free subscriptions for its earliest customers end on July 1st.It’s no secret that Apple TV Plus has a paying subscriber problem: as of January, research firm MoffettNathanson noted that approximately 62 percent of TV Plus subscribers are enjoying Apple’s free ride. The free trials for... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple refreshed its Apple TV 4K streaming box today with upgraded specs and, perhaps most importantly, a redesigned, simpler Siri remote. When the new device ships in late May, it’ll cost the same price as before: $179 for a 32GB unit or $199 for 64GB. (Sidenote: I’ve yet to meet anyone who has needed the higher storage option on any Apple TV.)But along with the new Apple TV 4K and improved remote — you can buy it standalone — it turns out Apple is keeping the ancient 2015 Apple TV HD around. And for some reason, it still costs the same $149. I just... I don’t get it.How was this not the moment to slash the price to something more reasonable? Something closer to competitive?The price discrepancy between Apple TV 4K and 4K streamers... Continue reading…

An image from the Netflix series Bridgerton. | Image: Netflix Netflix is seeing a slowdown in new subscriptions as the company puts out fewer shows following a year of delayed productions. The company now has 208 million paid subscribers across the globe, up from 204 million last quarter. That’s not much to complain about, but it’s a substantial slowdown compared to the rapid growth Netflix saw during the same time period in 2020 when it added four times as many new subscribers.It’s also fewer subscribers than Netflix had hoped to add. The company believed it would hit 210 million subscribers by the end of the first quarter, but it came in 2 million short. The results were reported in Netflix’s Q1 2021 earnings release. Its stock fell around 10 percent in after-hours trading following the results,... Continue reading…

Photo by Curtis Waltz After more than three years of grandiose promises and missed deadlines, Foxconn and Wisconsin have agreed to amend their contract to reflect the reality of a much-diminished project. Under the amendment, which was approved by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) today, the company will receive vastly smaller tax subsidies in exchange for greater flexibility about what business it ultimately pursues in the state.Foxconn had originally promised to build an enormous LCD factory employing 13,000 workers and costing $10 billion. With the amendment, it now says it will employ a total of 1,454 people and invest $672 million. In return, the tax subsidies the company is eligible for have been slashed, from $2.85 billion to $80... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple has been quietly sticking special locator beacon chips into some of its new iPhones that’ll let you unlock your car and find lost items through walls — the latter thanks to the $29 AirTags announced today — but sadly, you won’t find that chip in the new M1-based iPad Pros or the long-awaited new Siri remote for the Apple TV.Apple confirmed to us that the U1 locator chip, which uses pulses of ultra-wideband (UWB) radio to broadcast its precise location, won’t appear in the Siri remote. We’re waiting on final bulletproof confirmation about the iPad Pros, but it also doesn’t appear in their product page, spec sheet, or press release. Last year’s iPad Pros didn’t include a U1 chip, either.Is Apple expecting us to stick AirTags to... Continue reading…

iOS 14.5 will enable use of AirTag trackers to help locate tagged items using Apple’s Find My feature. | Image: Apple In a press release for Apple’s new Tile-like AirTag tracker, the company has revealed that iOS 14.5 will officially arrive “starting next week” — as spotted by Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern. AirTags go on sale April 30th and will only work with devices running iOS 14.5 or higher. Likewise, watchOS 7.4 and macOS 11.3 will also launch next week, as they support new Apple Podcast feature updates.Apple first launched the 14.5 beta to the public earlier this year in February alongside watchOS 7.4 beta (no word on whether that’s arriving soon, too). Along with AirTag support, it will implement Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency requirement, which mandates that developers ask for permission to track users for ad targeting. The feature... Continue reading…

Xbox Game Streaming running on an iPhone. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft has started inviting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to test its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service on iPhones and iPads today. The service works through web browsers, allowing it to also run on PCs and Macs on Edge, Chrome, or Safari. We’ve managed to get an early look at this beta and see how Xbox Cloud Gaming works on an iPhone or iPad.The web interface for xCloud (yes, we’re going to keep calling it xCloud) is very simple to use. It scales across devices like the iPhone, iPad, or even a large monitor attached to a PC to provide quick access to games. Microsoft has even included a search interface, which is something that’s strangely missing on rival service Google Stadia.

Image: Polaroid The Polaroid Go, Polaroid’s new $99.99 instant camera seems tiny. In design and functionality, it’s almost like a condensed version of the Polaroid Now launched last year. But it has a few add-ons like a selfie mirror and a longer-lasting battery for the trendier, on-the-go, social media-savvy crowd who are the champions of instant film cameras these days.The Go is 2.4 inches tall, 3.3 inches wide, and 4.1 inches long. Smaller than a breadbox, or the Now, which is over an inch larger in nearly every direction. Along with the mirror and Polaroid’s claims of an improved 750mAh battery, it also has standard features like a self timer (good for group shots), flash, and the ability to do easy double exposures with just a button click. ... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Monday, I had a chance to talk with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the company’s plans to build new audio products over the next few months. The occasion for our interview was the opening of Sidechannel, a Discord server I launched over the weekend with some fellow independent journalists. We didn’t know what to expect when we opened the doors, but more than 2,500 people filed in over the first day, and many of them joined us for a lively conversation about Facebook’s rapidly evolving attitudes toward creators.If you missed the conversation, you can find the audio here on Soundcloud. (Skip to 1:10 to get past my welcome message to Sidechannel members.) There’s also a very rough automated transcript up on Otter, if you like your... Continue reading…

Apple has finally excised its much-maligned Apple TV remote with a new iteration that ditches the confusing touchpad for some good old-fashioned buttons. But you won’t need to shell out for Apple’s updated Apple TV 4K to get one. Apple is selling the new remote separately for $59, and customers will be able to use it with any tvOS-based Apple TV.That means even if you own the first-generation Apple TV 4K or the original fourth-generation Apple TV from 2015 that debuted the Siri remote, you’ll be able to upgrade to the new and improved clicker.This is great news for anyone who still has an older model since the original Siri remote is terrible, and Apple’s newly refreshed Apple TV 4K models are still on the extremely high end of the... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple just wrapped up its “Spring Loaded” event, announcing new iPads, iMacs, and more. It was jam-packed with news from the company.If you want to read about what was announced as it happened, check out our live blog with commentary from Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, and Chaim Gartenberg. But if you just want the news, read on. Image: Apple Apple’s new iPad Pro. Apple’s new iPad Pros have the company’s M1 chip Apple unveiled its newest iPad Pro tablets, and they’re equipped with the same Apple-designed M1 chip in the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini (and the new iMac, also announced today). The 12.9-inch model has an upgraded display that uses 10,000 Mini LEDs, and Apple calls it the Liquid Retina XDR... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Discord is ending talks to sell itself to Microsoft or other companies, The Wall Street Journal reports. The popular online chat app was reportedly in talks to sell to Microsoft in March for a price that valued Discord at over $10 billion.Discord was reportedly in talks with at least three other companies besides Microsoft. Other past potential suitors included both Amazon and Epic Games, according to Bloomberg. But even with the big-name options, Discord has reportedly decided to stay independent and consider a potential public listing to build on its success. Discord has around 140 million monthly users and earned about $130 million in revenue in 2020 but still isn’t profitable, according to the WSJ.Microsoft’s interest in Discord... Continue reading…

Jeff Kaplan, the most public face of Blizzard’s team shooter Overwatch, has left the company.In a letter posted today, Kaplan said “it was truly the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience. I want to express my deep appreciation to everyone at Blizzard who supported our games, our game teams, and our players. But I want to say a special thanks to the wonderful game developers that shared in the journey of creation with me.” It’s not clear where Kaplan is headed, but his tenure at Blizzard lasted 19 years.“It was truly the honor of a lifetime.”It’s also unclear what this might mean for Overwatch. The game is in a strange place at the moment, with a sequel in the work that i... Continue reading…

Apple Right on schedule, Apple has launched the next generation of its iPad Pro. As was the case with the recent MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, Apple’s improvements to the iPad Pro are largely on the inside.The device has a new eight-core M1 processor, the same chip that powers the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. Apple claims this will deliver “a big jump in performance” over the previous generation. The graphics performance is over 1,500 times faster, per the company. The chip brings a number of new features, including a “next-generation 16-core Apple Neural engine” and an advanced image signal processor. Apple also says you can expect up to 10 hours of battery life from Wi-Fi models and nine hours from Wi-Fi + Cellular models. ... Continue reading…

The redesigned iMac will be available in seven colors. | Image: Apple Apple introduced a redesigned iMac today with a slimmer display, an Apple Silicon chip, and a case with bright, bold colors that throws back to the classic colorful all-in-one iMacs. Apple said the new iMac was designed from the ground up for the M1 chip.The new iMac has a 24-inch, 4.5K display with narrower borders around the top and sides. It still has a large chin on the bottom, but the rear of the display is now flat instead of curved — Apple says the volume has been reduced by over 50 percent. The screen also has Apple’s True Tone tech for automatically adjusting the color temperature.Apple is also promising a much-needed update to the iMac’s camera and mics so that you’ll look better on video calls. It now has a 1080p resolution... Continue reading…

Image: Apple TV Plus Apple’s event today was full of hardware and new products, but the company also took some time to have fun by unveiling a new trailer for Ted Lasso’s second season. The show — which stars Jason Sudeikis as a perpetually positive football coach who takes on a gig helming an English soccer team — has been one of the breakout hits on Apple TV Plus, the company’s fledgling streaming service.

The Apple TV remote is one of the weakest parts of the company’s set-top box, and Apple is, at last, addressing it today. The company just unveiled a redesigned Siri remote alongside its new Apple TV 4K. You’ll get the new remote with the new $179 4K set-top box, or it’s available separately for $59. As well as being compatible with the new Apple TV 4K, it also works with the 2017 model and Apple TV HD. Apple will also sell the remote bundled with the Apple TV HD for $149.The new Siri remote has an iPod-style scroll wheel, a five-way click pad, touch controls, a mute button, and a power button that can turn your TV on and off. Meanwhile, the Siri button is now on the side of the remote, and Apple says that the voice assistant now works... Continue reading…

The new Apple TV 4K with redesigned remote | Image: Apple Apple has just announced a new Apple TV streaming box, replacing the Apple TV 4K that came out in 2017. The new model retains the name of the prior model but comes with a more powerful A12 Bionic chip that lets it play HDR video at higher frame rates. It’s also powerful enough to support 60fps Dolby Vision playback over AirPlay from a compatible iPhone.The old Apple TV 4K, which has been Apple’s flagship set-top box for four years, supports 4K streaming as well as HDR, including Dolby Vision. It also supports Dolby Atmos sound codecs. But it doesn’t support 120Hz refresh rates, which might be important should you ever want to play serious games on an Apple TV. It also has the most notoriously bad remote control.Fortunately, Apple has... Continue reading…

Apple is officially launching a Tile-like item tracker that will work with the company’s software and services. Dubbed AirTag, the small circular tag will allow you to track items within Apple’s “Find My” app on iOS. Much like Tile, Apple’s AirTags will be useful for tracking items like keys or wallets, and you’ll be provided with notifications when you’re separated from your item.Details about AirTags first appeared in copies of the iOS 13 beta nearly two years ago, and the AirTags name was also spotted in iOS 13.2. Apple accidentally confirmed the AirTags name in a deleted support video last year, too. Following the rumors, it has taken Apple a considerable amount of time to make AirTags a reality.First rumored in 2019Apple will... Continue reading…

A monumental change is coming to Apple Podcasts’ business: the company is launching subscriptions within the Apple Podcasts app. During its spring event today, the company announced that people will be able to subscribe to content from the app for extra perks, like ad-free and bonus content, as well as early access. It’ll launch in 170 regions and countries next month.Initial partners include Pushkin Industries, QCODE, and NPR. It appears that content creators will have to pay Apple $19.99 per year in order to offer subscriptions.Apple has mostly, up until now, focused its podcast efforts on creating RSS-based companion shows for its TV Plus and Books content. This move suggests the company sees an opportunity for subscriptions,... Continue reading…

The US Federal Trade Commission has warned companies against using biased artificial intelligence, saying they may break consumer protection laws. A new blog post notes that AI tools can reflect “troubling” racial and gender biases. If those tools are applied in areas like housing or employment, falsely advertised as unbiased, or trained on data that is gathered deceptively, the agency says it could intervene.“In a rush to embrace new technology, be careful not to overpromise what your algorithm can deliver,” writes FTC attorney Elisa Jillson — particularly when promising decisions that don’t reflect racial or gender bias. “The result may be deception, discrimination — and an FTC law enforcement action.”As Protocol points out, FTC... Continue reading…

iPads? AirTags? AirPods? There could be a lot on tap today Continue reading…

New Outlook settings for meetings. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is updating Outlook to give companies the option to automatically start or end all meetings early to ensure employees have a break between back-to-backs. New settings in Outlook are rolling out to help reduce the digital overload of working remotely.Companies can set their own scheduling defaults, and they’re fully customizable. That means you could have five minutes blocked off before or after a 30-minute meeting, or 10-15 minutes after hourlong meetings. Individuals can also set their own scheduling defaults, but the company-wide option is the significant change here.Calendar software like Outlook has defaulted to on-the-hour meetings for decades, often inadvertently promoting the idea of back-to-back meetings with default... Continue reading…

Photo: Jake Chessum / Vulture https://www.vulture.com/article/mads-mikkelsen-in-conversation.html Continue reading…

This is the Smart Monitor M5 | Samsung If you aren’t sure whether a TV or computer monitor will suit your needs better, why not get a display that’s a little of both? Samsung’s 32-inch 1080p Smart Monitor M5 looks like a monitor with its small bezels and stand, but it has access to TV streaming apps, including Netflix, YouTube, Apple TV, and more without the need for extra hardware. The reason I’m sharing this info today is because it’s $50 off at Amazon, down to $230 (via 9to5Toys).You can find a larger 4K TV for this price, but the M5 has a few other features up its sleeve that might appeal to you. It can be mounted to your wall or a monitor arm, its remote supports Google Assistant and Alexa, and it’s even AirPlay 2-compatible. This model has two HDMI ports, two USB-A 2.0... Continue reading…

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Microsoft is reportedly working on a big overhaul to its app store for Windows. Windows Central reports that the software maker plans to release an updated store later this year that will be far more open to all types of apps and games. This could pave the way for developers to be able to submit any Windows application to the store, including browsers like Chrome or Firefox, and even allow third-party commerce platforms in apps.That’s a big shift for the app store on Windows if Microsoft delivers this rumored overhaul later this year. Currently, the Windows store (or Microsoft Store as Microsoft calls it) requires developers to package their win32 apps as an MSIX and use Microsoft’s own update mechanisms and commerce platforms.... Continue reading…