The Verge

Image: Amazon Amazon is testing a new Prime Video feature that recommends groups of content using AI rather than traditional algorithms. If you're part of the test, you'll see new AI Topics" tailored to your interests, like mind-bending sci-fi," fantasy quests," or thrilling character journeys."Each category will have shows, movies, and linear channels that match these AI-generated labels. You can also continue refining recommendations further by selecting topics related to the category you're looking at, which Amazon says allows you to discover more content without hitting a dead end." Image: Amazon Streaming services like Netflix have long used machine learning algorithms to spit out recommendations based on viewing history. But with this announcement, it seems like Prime Video is putting an extra AI spin on things - which isn't very surprising given the hype surrounding the tech and Amazon's own efforts to portray itself as an AI leader. For now, Amazon says AI Topics are rolling out to select" living room devices in the US, such as the Fire TV.Last month, Prime Video also rolled out AI recaps you can use to summarize TV seasons, entire episodes, and even portions of episodes.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you've been contemplating signing up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate so you can play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, you might want to head on over to Woot. Now until 1:59AM ET on December 13th, the retailer is offering a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $28.99 (about $31 off) with promo code GAMEPASS. Only customers making their first purchase on Woot are eligible, though; everyone else will have to pay $33.99 to redeem the digital code.Woot's current promo is a terrific deal considering a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will normally run you $19.99. After you finish playing the new Indiana Jones game, you can play dozens of other downloadable titles for both Xbox and PC, including new releases like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and older titles like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Starfield, Diablo IV, Halo Infinite, and Hi-Fi Rush. Subscribers can even stream select non-Game Pass titles they own via their TV, smartphone, tablet, and PC through a web browser. This includes Baldur's Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, Balatro, and more.In addition to granting access to a wide range of games - including EA Play titles - an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription lets you take advantage of exclusive deals, online multiplayer, and other perks, some of which aren't available on the cheaper Game Pass tiers.Other deals and discounts of note

Illustration: The Verge Meta's Threads is getting another feature seemingly inspired by Bluesky: curated groups of accounts that you can follow all at once. They basically sound like Meta's take on Bluesky's handy starter packs.Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced Thursday that Meta is starting to test the feature, and he said that you'll see the collections when signing up for Threads and within the For You feed." A handful" of Threads community leaders" curated and shared the current collections.People will be able to find collections built around topics like basketball, style and fashion, food, books, pop culture, and more," Meta spokesperson Alec Booker tells The Verge. We'll iterate on this feature based on learnings from the test, and hope to expand the functionality to more people soon." Image: Meta Image: Meta Meta has upped the pace of Threads feature updates after users really started flocking to Bluesky last month - Threads introduced its own take on custom feeds just five days after announcing the feature in testing, for example.While I personally think Bluesky is the heir apparent to Twitter, Threads is still significantly larger. Meta saw 35 million Threads signups in November, but Bluesky user growth has seemingly slowed to a crawl: as I write this, Bluesky is on the cusp of surpassing 25 million users, a five million user jump from nearly a month ago.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Gemini's integration into Google Drive is getting a little more useful. In addition to summarizing documents or answering questions about a project, the AI assistant can now generate summaries of everything inside a folder.With the feature, you can open a folder and select the new Summarize this folder" button at the top of the page. Gemini will then give you a breakdown of the folder's contents. As noted by Google, you can use Gemini to find specific files inside a folder, or ask questions about it, like What is the theme of this folder?"You can also drag and drop a folder into the Gemini sidebar, as well as right-click on a folder and choose Ask Gemini." GIF: Google For now, Google says Gemini can only provide information about text documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations. However, when 9to5Google tested the tool, it found that Gemini could identify images in a folder, too.Google first brought Gemini to the sidebar in Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides in June. Gemini's folder summary feature is rolling out now to Google One AI Premium subscribers, along with Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, and Education Premium users.

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Nearly half of US teens are almost constantly" online, though the platforms they spend their time on vary significantly, according to a new Pew survey.Despite some variety in their overall online habits, virtually all teenagers use YouTube. Of the 1,391 teenagers polled by the Pew Research Center, 90 percent said they use the site, a slight decrease from 95 percent in 2022. And 73 percent of them go on YouTube every day, making it by far the most popular platform for teenage users. The second-most popular app is TikTok, which 63 percent of teens say they use. Pew Research Center Almost all teenagers polled by Pew use YouTube, but very few are on Threads. But there's a gender divide, especially among teenagers who say they almost constantly" use either app: 19 percent of girls say they use TikTok that often, while the same share of boys are constantly on YouTube.And even this extremely online demographic isn't using all websites equally. Just 6 percent of teenagers polled said they use Threads, Meta's microblogging app, and only 32 percent use Facebook - down from 71 percent a decade ago. The only Meta product a majority of teenagers use is Instagram, whose popularity has increased since 2014.There seems to be a preference for image- and video-based platforms among the teenagers polled: X and Reddit were also much less popular, with 17 percent and 14 percent of teens saying they use them, respectively. And teens' X usage has declined significantly over the past decade: a decade ago, when it was still called Twitter, 33 percent of US teens used it. But teens' use of some image-based apps - including Snapchat - is on the decline as well. In fact, the only app that has experienced a rise in popularity is WhatsApp, which is now used by 23 percent of teenagers.

Image: Microsoft I honestly thought I'd hate Microsoft's controversial Recall feature and immediately disable it, but after using it for the past couple of weeks, I've been both creeped out and impressed with what it's capable of.Recall, a Windows 11 feature that takes snapshots of mostly everything you see on your screen, quickly became a controversy earlier this year after Microsoft announced it. Privacy advocates immediately started warning about potential issues with Recall without even using it, and security researchers found big holes in a prerelease version of the feature. Microsoft delayed Recall multiple times to give the company more time to address the security issues, and it's now in testing for Windows Insiders ahead of a broader rollout next year.The first thing I noticed about Recall is that the initial setup experience is very clunky and feels unfinished. You launch the app, and it redirects you to Windows Update, where AI models will start downloading and installing. Once you've installed a trio of these, it looks like the install process is complete - but then Windows Update will find another component of Recall to install. After fiddling around for 10 minutes, Recall will... Read the full story at The Verge.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge iOS 18 introduces more customization and the first rollout of Apple Intelligence. Apple has released iOS 18 - plus iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and other new updates - bringing several key updates to how the company's devices operate and setting the stage for generative AI features.The most discussed feature of iOS 18 is the Apple Intelligence suite. With the release of iOS 18.2 on December 11th, features that are available now include generating images in Image Playground, creating custom Genmoji" emoji, and ChatGPT integration. Other features of Apple Intelligence, including writing tools such as the ability to rewrite your text in different styles, trickled out to customers starting in October.There are major non-AI changes to consider too, like the ability to change your default apps or test your hearing with AirPods.Meanwhille, iPadOS 18 now has a calculator app and can solve math equations in notes, watchOS is keeping an eye out for sleep apnea, and now your iPhone can even message Androids with RCS.Read on for all the news about Apple's latest set of operating system updates.

The Supernote A5 X2 Manta is more expensive than the Remarkable 2, but will potentially last longer with upgradeable components. | Image: Supernote Supernote has announced its new A5 X2 Manta E Ink tablet that could be a potential alternative to the reMarkable 2 for those wanting a larger screen and a device that can be easily upgraded and repaired. It's available now for $459, something of a jump from the $379 reMarkable 2. The latter also includes a stylus, while the Supernote A5 X2 requires you to provide your own - or spend at least another $59 to buy one of the company's pens (which, according to Supernote, don't need charging and are fitted with ceramic tips that won't wear down).On the other hand, the new tablet is very fixable. A panel on the back of the Supernote A5 X2 can be removed without tools, giving quick access to some of the tablet's internal components. This includes its 3,600mAh battery, which can be replaced when it loses capacity or stops charging, and the A5 X2's motherboard, potentially allowing for performance improvements or new features down the road without having to replace the entire device. There's also a microSD slot that can use a memory card to expand the A5 X2's storage from 32GB up to 2TB. Image: Supernote You don't even need to reach for a screwdriver to open the A5 X2's back panel. The 10.7-inch 300 ppi E Ink screen on the Supernote A5 X2 is larger and has more resolution than the reMarkable 2's 10.3-inch 266 ppi panel, but like the four-year-old reMarkable, the A5 X2 skips screen lighting for what the company calls an improved writing experience and a true paper look in natural light." That could be a tough sell when alternatives like the Amazon Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Elipsa 2E can be easily used in the dark. Even reMarkable now offers an E Ink tablet with an illuminated screen.Powered by a 1.8GHz RK3566 quad-core processor, the Supernote A5 X2 runs a custom Android 11-based OS called Chauvet that supports features like two-finger gestures and offline handwriting recognition that can convert your notes to editable text. The tablet also has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, allowing documents to be synced through cloud-based services like Dropbox or Google Drive, or to be transferred directly to other devices wirelessly using an accompanying mobile app. For extra security, you can even plug a flash drive into the A5 X2's USB-C charging port and transfer files manually. Image: Supernote A loop for holding a stylus to the side of the tablet can be removed for those wanting a cleaner look. Other features include touch-sensitive strips on the bezels on either side of the screen that can be used to scroll long document and a fabric loop for storing a stylus that can also be removed entirely.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games' annual holiday sale is now live, and like previous years, the company is also going to be offering a bunch of free games you can claim during the sale. Over the course of this sale, the store will have 16 free games, according to a blog post.Epic isn't spilling the beans about which games will be on offer, teasing only that you'll be able to claim some absolutely amazing titles." But in pervious years, Epic has given away big games like Destiny 2: Legacy Collection and Control, so fingers crossed that Epic has some good holiday surprises up its sleeve.For paid deals, there are some good games to sift through, like 35 percent off Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Star Wars: Outlaws. During the holiday sale, Epic is also giving users 10 percent back on their purchases as part of the Epic Rewards program, which is a boost from the usual 5 percent.The sale ends at 11AM ET on January 9th, 2025.

A worker handles wafers at the GCL Technology production plant in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. GCL Technology is one of the world's largest makers of polysilicon, a key material in solar panels. | Photo: Getty Images Tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon, and certain tungsten products from China are going to rise dramatically come January 1st, 2025, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. That means higher price tags on key materials needed to make solar panels at a time when solar is the fastest growing source of electricity in the US.Polysilicon is used to make solar wafers, which are the semiconductors in solar panels. Tungsten - the same material in old-school incandescent lightbulbs - has many uses in electronics because of its high melting point. The metal is also part of supply chains for the aerospace, automotive, defense, medical, and oil and gas industries.That means higher price tags on key materials needed to make solar panels at a time when solar is the fastest growing source of electricity in the USIt's the latest instance of the Biden administration hiking up tariffs on goods from China - which dominates solar manufacturing - as part of its plan to build up domestic supply chains for clean energy.Solar products from the Xinjiang region in particular also face accusations of forced labor and human rights abuses. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) also said that the decision to raise tariffs follows an investigation into cyber theft and economic espionage by China.The tariff increases announced today will further blunt the harmful policies and practices by the People's Republic of China," ambassador Katherine Tai said in a statement. These actions will complement the domestic investments made under the Biden-Harris Administration to promote a clean energy economy, while increasing the resilience of critical supply chains."Starting next year, tariffs on polysilicon and solar wafers will double from 25 to 50 percent. Tariffs on certain tungsten products will go from zero to 25 percent. Chinese companies produce more than 75 percent of the world's polysilicon. Considering all the manufacturing stages for solar panels, which includes polysilicon and wafers, China holds more than 80 percent of global capacity.American manufacturers welcomed the changes. These trade measures will begin to counter the pervasive Chinese government subsidies in solar manufacturing. It is a step in the right direction," Mike Carr, executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition, said in an emailed statement.To be sure, Chinese policies aimed at boosting solar manufacturing have led to economies of scale that have allowed prices for solar panels to plummet around the world. Chinese companies also make much more affordable electric vehicles than US manufacturers. EVs from China have been similarly subject to soaring tariffs during the Biden administration to 100 percent from 25 percent this year. In May, Biden also announced that tariffs on battery parts and lithium-ion batteries would rise to 25 percent from 7.5 percent. In addition, he increased the tarifff rate on solar cells from 25 percent to 50 percent. And by 2025, the rate on semiconductors from China will double to 50 percent.President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to hike tariffs on imported goods from China even more than his predecessor, which is expected to increase prices on everything from cars to electronics.

XR stands for extended reality," which you should get used to explaining to lots of people. | Image: Google Google is taking another run at making headsets work. The company just announced Android XR, a new operating system designed specifically for what Google calls extended reality" devices like headsets and glasses. It's working with Samsung and lots of other hardware manufacturers to develop those headsets and glasses, is making the new version of Android available to developers now, and hopes to start shipping XR stuff next year.We don't yet have a ton of details on exactly how Android XR will work or how it might differ from the Android on your phone. (The Verge's Victoria Song got to try a few demos and prototypes - make sure you read her story.) Google is making immersive XR versions of apps like Maps, Photos, and YouTube and says it's developing a version of Chrome that lets you do multiwindow multitasking in your browser. It will also support existing phone and tablet apps from the Play Store, much in the same way Apple supports iPad apps in the Vision Pro.Google's Gemini AI, of course, is at the very center of the whole experience. Google has been trying to crack headsets for more than a decade - there was Glass and Cardboard and Daydream, all of which had good ideas but none of which turned into much - and the company thinks AI is the key to making the user experience work. We believe a digital assistant integrated with your XR experience is the killer app for the form factor, like what email or texting was for the smartphone," said Sameer Samat, who oversees the Android ecosystem at Google, in a press briefing ahead of the launch. As Gemini becomes more multimodal, too, able to both capture and create audio and video, glasses and headsets suddenly make much more sense. Image: Google This is the kind of AR interface you'll get with Android XR. The choice of the term XR" for the OS is maybe the most interesting part. There are a million terms and acronyms for this space: there's virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, extended reality, and others, all of which mean different but overlapping things. XR is probably the broadest of the terms, which seems to be why Google picked it. When we say extended reality or XR," Samat said, we're really talking about a whole spectrum of experiences, from virtual reality to augmented reality and everything in between."Google imagines headsets that can seamlessly transition from virtual worlds to real ones - again like the Vision Pro - and smart glasses that are more of an always-on companion. It's also interested in audio-only devices like the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. Some things might be standalone; others might be more like an accessory to your phone. We'll see if Google ends up building its own XR hardware, but it's clearly trying to support a huge spectrum of devices.Android XR is still in its early stages, and most developers are only now going to start getting the software and hardware they need to build for the new OS. But Google's trying to move quickly next year: a device it's building with Samsung, codenamed Moohan, is apparently slated to ship next year. Android XR is, in some ways, a culmination of bets Google has been making in AI, the broader Android ecosystem, and the wearable future of technology. All of those bets are about to get the real test: whether anyone actually puts them on.

Google didn't let me take my own photos, but this is strikingly similar to the demo I saw with my own eyes. | Image: Google I demoed Google's new Android XR platform, Samsung's Project Moohan, and prototype smart glasses. I felt as close to Tony Stark in a controlled demo as I'll ever be. It's an ordinary Tuesday. I'm wearing what look like ordinary glasses in a room surrounded by Google and Samsung representatives. One of them steps out in front of me and starts speaking in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. Hovering in mid-air, I can see her words being translated into English subtitles. Reading them, I can see she's describing what I'm seeing in real time.I mumble an expletive. Everyone laughs.This is my first experience with Android XR - a new mixed reality OS designed for headsets and smart glasses, like the prototypes I'm wearing. It's Google's big bet to power a new generation of augmented reality devices that embody all our wildest dreams of what smart glasses can be.Google is no stranger to augmented reality. Google Glass crashed and burned with the public more than 10 years ago before being repurposed for enterprise users and eventually discontinued. But things are different now. Apple has the Vision Pro. Meta has the Ray-Ban smart glasses, and their AI features have garnered positive buzz. That's why Google is jumping back into the fray with Android XR.Google wants everyone to know the time is finally right for XR, and it's pointing to Gemini as its north star. Adding Gemini enables multimodal AI and natural language - things it says will make interactions with your environment richer. In a demo, Google had me prompt Gemini to name the title of a yellow book sitting behind me on a shelf. I'd briefly glanced at it earlier but hadn't taken a photo. Gemini took a second, and then offered up an answer. I whipped around to check - it was correct.On top of that, the platform will work with any mobile and tablet app from the Play Store out of the box. Today's launch is aimed at developers so they can start building out experiences. The average person won't be able to buy anything running Android XR right now, but in 2025, Samsung will be launching its long-rumored XR headset. Dubbed Project Moohan (Korean for infinity), the headset will be the first consumer product to ship with Android XR. Technically, it's running the same software as the glasses I tried, but Project Moohan will also be capable of VR and immersive content - stuff that wouldn't be suited to a pair of smart glasses. It's essentially a showcase for everything that could be possible. Hence why Google is going with XR - a catch-all term that stands for extended reality" and encompasses AR, VR, and mixed reality. Image: Google, Samsung Project Moohan felt like a mix between a Meta Quest 3 and Vision Pro headset. Samsung's headset feels like a mix between a Meta Quest 3 and the Vision Pro. Unlike either, the light seal is optional so you can choose to let the world bleed in. It's lightweight and doesn't pinch my face too tightly. My ponytail easily slots through the top, and later, I'm thankful that I don't have to redo my hair. At first, the resolution doesn't feel quite as sharp as the Vision Pro - until the headset automatically calibrates to my pupillary distance.It's at this point when I start feeling deja vu. I'm walked through pinching to select items and how to tap the side to bring up the app launcher. There's an eye calibration process that feels awfully similar to the Vision Pro's. If I want, I can retreat into an immersive mode to watch YouTube and Google TV on a distant mountain. I can open apps, resize them, and place them at various points around the room. I've done this all before. This just happens to be Google-flavored.I want to ask: how do you expect to stand out?I don't get the chance to before I'm told: Gemini.For the skeptic, it's easy to scoff at the idea that Gemini, of all things, is what's going to crack the augmented reality puzzle. Generative AI is having a moment right now, but not always in a positive way. Outside of conferences filled with tech evangelists, AI is often viewed with derision and suspicion. But inside the Project Moohan headset or wearing a pair of prototype smart glasses? I can catch a glimpse of why Google and Samsung believe Gemini is the killer app for XR.For me, it's the fact that I don't have to be specific when I ask for things. Usually, I get flustered talking to AI assistants because I have to remember the wake word, clearly phrase my request, and sometimes even specify my preferred app.One thing I'm really confident about, something that's not just different from before, is that Gemini is really that great," says Kihwan Kim, EVP at Samsung Electronics, who nods furiously in agreement when I mention this. To Kim, it's the ability to fluidly speak to Gemini and the fact that it understands a person's individual context that opens dozens of different options for the way each person interacts with XR. That's why I clearly see that this headset will give more insight about what [XR] should be."I was shocked at how well my translation demos went, which were in the same spirit as the video here.In the Moohan headset, I can say, Take me to JYP Entertainment in Seoul," and it will automatically open Google Maps and show me that building. If my windows get cluttered, I can ask it to reorganize them. I don't have to lift a finger. While wearing the prototype glasses, I watch and listen as Gemini summarizes a long, rambling text message to the main point: can you buy lemon, ginger, and olive oil from the store? I was able to naturally switch from speaking in English to asking in Japanese what the weather is in New York - and get the answer in spoken and written Japanese.It's not just interactions with Gemini that linger in my mind, either. It's also how experiences can be built on top of them. I asked Gemini how to get somewhere and saw turn-by-turn text directions. When I looked down, the text morphed into a zoomable map of my surroundings. It's very easy to imagine myself using something like that in real life.But as cool as all that is, headsets can be a hard sell to the average person. Personally, I'm more enamored with the glasses demo, but those have no concrete timeline. (Google made the prototypes, but it's focusing on working with other partners to bring hardware to market.) There are still cultural cues that have to be established with either form factor. Outside of Gemini, there has to be a robust ecosystem of apps and experiences for the average person, not just early adopters.The headset demos felt more familiar, though Circle to Search was unique to Android XR.It's not going to be a singular product. It's Android," says Shahram Izadi, Google's VP of AR and XR, noting that Google has a three-pronged strategy for Android XR: laying the groundwork with devs is one element; Gemini's conversational experience is another; and the third is the idea that no one device is the future of XR. Headsets, for example, may just be episodic" devices you use for entertainment. Glasses could supplement phones and smartwatches for discreet notifications and looking up information.The way I see it, these devices don't replace one another. You'll use these devices throughout your day, and if there's consistency with Gemini and generative AI experiences across these form factors, people will get more comfortable with wearing computers on their faces. That's the on ramp to get to more immersive devices," says Izadi.Listening to Kim and Izadi talk, I want to believe. But I'm also acutely aware that all of my experiences were tightly controlled. I wasn't given free rein to try and break things. I couldn't take photos of the headset or glasses. At every point, I was carefully guided through preapproved demos that Google and Samsung were reasonably sure would work. I - and every other consumer - can't fully believe until we can play with these things without guardrails.But even knowing that, I can't deny that, for an hour, I felt like Tony Stark with Gemini as my Jarvis. For better or worse, this example has molded so much of our expectations for how XR and AI assistants should work. I've tried dozens of headsets and smart glasses that promised to make what I see in the movies real - and utterly failed. For the first time, I experienced something relatively close.

Image: Cath Virginia, Adobe Stock The Indian storytelling app gives its audience an unending stream of audio stories about lucky individuals who become rich. It might as well be an allegory for its own creator economy. Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge Hyundai and Kia will integrate Google Maps data into their current vehicle infotainment platforms ahead of a switchover to the Android Automotive operating system, the automakers announced today.Hyundai, Kia, and the luxury nameplate Genesis will use Google Maps Platform's Places API to inject 250 million points of interest into the existing navigation software. Kia will be the first to get the new data integration in North America, with subsequent expansions" to other Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis models globally. Hyundai says the changes are part of an ongoing Google partnership that accelerates their development of what the automaker calls software-defined vehicles," or SDV.We asked Hyundai if current models on the road will get Google Maps data through a software update and will update this story when we get a response. The current navigation app for the companies primarily uses points of interest data from digital mapping company TomTom. Tesla is also one of several automakers that has its own navigation software on a closed OS but uses Places API for mapping data.However, Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis will soon follow the industry-wide trend of moving to Google's Android... Read the full story at The Verge.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge I maintain that YouTube TV is the very best of the streaming TV services, but good grief is it getting expensive. Today YouTube announced the service's latest price hike, which brings the monthly subscription to $82.99. The change is effective immediately for new customers and will be reflected starting January 13th for most existing customers." As usual, the company attributes this increase to the rising cost of content and the investments we make in the quality of our service."$82.99 is the same price as Disney's Hulu + Live TV bundle.YouTube TV last raised its subscription cost to $72.99 in March 2023. Before that, it was $64.99. The days when the service ran only $50 now feel like a lifetime ago. Some of you who got in early might even remember it costing a mere $35 per month.But since then, YouTube has routinely found itself in carriage disputes with Disney, NBCUniversal, and other content owners, and those renegotiated agreements have led YouTube TV's price to climb higher and higher. The YouTube TV of today is much different than it used to be; there are more channels, yes, but the service has also shed a number of regional sports networks.The company is quick to note that none of the service's core benefits are changing. The base subscription still includes over 100 channels, cloud DVR with unlimited storage, up to six user accounts per household, and the flexibility of three concurrent streams. But YouTube TV still charges extra for 4K streaming, which seems harder to rationalize after this $10 price bump.Customers are predictably none too pleased about the news and are weighing whether a service that now costs more than double its original price is still worth it.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge In an announcement today, Chatbot service Character.AI says it will soon be launching parental controls for teenage users, and it described safety measures it's taken in the past few months, including a separate large language model (LLM) for users under 18. The announcement comes after press scrutiny and two lawsuits that claim it contributed to self-harm and suicide.In a press release, Character.AI said that, over the past month, it's developed two separate versions of its model: one for adults and one for teens. The teen LLM is designed to place more conservative" limits on how bots can respond, particularly when it comes to romantic content." This includes more aggressively blocking output that could be sensitive or suggestive," but also attempting to better detect and block user prompts that are meant to elicit inappropriate content. If the system detects language referencing suicide or self-harm," a pop-up will direct users to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a change that was previously reported by The New York Times.Minors will also be prevented from editing bots' responses - an option that lets users rewrite conversations to add content Character.AI might otherwise block.Beyond these changes, Character.AI says it's in the process" of adding features that address concerns about addiction and confusion over whether the bots are human, complaints made in the lawsuits. A notification will appear when users have spent an hour-long session with the bots, and an old disclaimer that everything characters say is made up" is being replaced with more detailed language. For bots that include descriptions like therapist" or doctor," an additional note will warn that they can't offer professional advice. Character.AI Narrator: it was not a licensed CBT therapist. When I visited Character.AI, I found that every bot now included a small note reading This is an A.I. chatbot and not a real person. Treat everything it says as fiction. What is said should not be relied upon as fact or advice." When I visited a bot named Therapist" (tagline: I'm a licensed CBT therapist"), a yellow box with a warning signal told me that this is not a real person or licensed professional. Nothing said here is a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment."The parental control options are coming in the first quarter of next year, Character.AI says, and they'll tell parents how much time a child is spending on Character.AI and which bots they interact with most frequently. All the changes are being made in collaboration with several teen online safety experts," including the organization ConnectSafely.Character.AI, founded by ex-Googlers who have since returned to Google, lets visitors interact with bots built on a custom-trained LLM and customized by users. These range from chatbot life coaches to simulations of fictional characters, many of which are popular among teens. The site allows users who identify themselves as age 13 and over to create an account.But the lawsuits allege that while some interactions with Character.AI are harmless, at least some underage users become compulsively attached to the bots, whose conversations can veer into sexualized conversations or topics like self-harm. They've castigated Character.AI for not directing users to mental health resources when they discuss self-harm or suicide.We recognize that our approach to safety must evolve alongside the technology that drives our product - creating a platform where creativity and exploration can thrive without compromising safety," says the Character.AI press release. This suite of changes is part of our long-term commitment to continuously improve our policies and our product."

Apple's new Share Item Location is already integrated into the latest version of United Airlines' mobile app. | Image: United Airlines Following the official release of Apple's new Share Item Location feature with iOS 18.2 yesterday, United Airlines has announced it has integrated it into its mobile app. Passengers finding themselves at their destination without their luggage can now file a delayed baggage report through United's app along with a Share Item Location link that will potentially expedite a reunion.Passengers will need to ensure the United mobile app is up to date, but once a report has been submitted with a Share Item Location link connected to an AirTag or a tracker that's compatible with Apple's Find My network, customer service agents will be able to determine its current or last known location using an interactive map, according to United Airlines. Having access to the Find My network data for a missing bag will allow the airline to more quickly find delayed bags and reunite them with customers." Image: United Airlines Sharing a lost bag's location through United's mobile app will potentially expedite its return. You don't actually need the app to take advantage of the new integration. After filing a delayed baggage report either in person at an airport, over the phone, or through United's website, passengers will receive an automatic text notification with information to track misplaced luggage and add a Share Item Location link for their AirTag or Find My network accessory."Once a passenger is reunited with a missing bag its shared location will be disabled automatically. The location sharing can also be manually stopped by the passenger at any time, and for added security and privacy the link will automatically expire after seven days - hopefully long after the luggage is located and returned.Apple says that Air Canada has also integrated the feature, and in the coming months more than 15 airlines will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags."

Plant identification - now powered by ChatGPT. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge I was about to okay my friend's restaurant suggestion for lunch - an Indian place on 2nd - when Apple Intelligence swooped in with another idea. How about The Ritz?" appeared above the keyboard as a suggested response, highlighted in that telltale AI rainbow glow. The other suggested response, Sounds good!" was much more reasonable. But ignoring both, I typed out my affirmative answer, hopped on my bike, and headed to downtown Seattle, where there are, to my knowledge, zero Ritzes.Suggested replies aren't new in iOS 18.2, but they're a piece of the Apple Intelligence feature set that's falling into place with this week's public release of 18.2. Those suggestions I got while planning lunch kind of sum up my whole experience with Apple's AI up 'til now: occasionally helpful, sometimes way off base, and often good for a laugh. But once the novelty wears off, it's easily ignored - just like the AI feature sets on every other so-called AI smartphone I've used this year.Apple had to get something out the door for its built for Apple Intelligence" iPhonesApple took its time getting here. The first set of AI features dropped with iOS 18.1 at the end of October, including... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Epic Games A year ago, Epic kicked off a bold plan to turn Fortnite into a broader ecosystem for all kinds of games. And that plan was led by the launch of Lego Fortnite, a Minecraft-style survival game that sits alongside the likes of battle royale and the music-themed Fortnite Festival inside of Fortnite. Now, Epic is pushing into another new direction with the launch of Brick Life, a Lego-themed city where players can live virtual lives, much like in Grand Theft Auto roleplaying servers.The ongoing goal, according to Devin Winterbottom, Epic's executive vice president of game development, is to keep expanding in ways that make people rethink what Fortnite actually is. The worst outcome for us is that everything looks like battle royale," Winterbottom says. That's not what we want to do."For Brick Life, that takes the form of a family-friendly nonviolent space where players can explore and socialize inside of a Lego city. It launches today as part of a broader rebranding of Lego Fortnite; now, those two words refer to a hub that houses all of the Lego experiences in the game, while the survival title has been renamed Lego Fortnite Odyssey. In between those two major releases, Lego... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Archer Electric aviation startup Archer Aviation signed an exclusive deal with Palmer Luckey's defense contractor, Anduril Industries, to jointly develop next-generation aircraft for the military. Archer also announced a new funding round of $450 million to help propel its defense ambitions.The first product will be a hybrid propulsion vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that will serve as the basis for the companies' bid for a contract with the US Department of Defense. Archer is also formalizing its efforts to be an aircraft supplier to the military through the creation of a new internal division called Archer Defense.While Archer has been racing to finalize the government certification process that it will need to get the necessary government approvals for its electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft, it's also getting more deeply involved with the military-industrial complex. The San Jose, California-based company also recently delivered one of its Midnight eVTOL aircraft to the US Air Force as part of its evaluation program. Other advanced aviation companies have made similar moves.The first product will be a hybrid propulsion vertical takeoff and landing aircraftArcher also announced it will be the recipient of a fresh capital round, with $430 million coming from preexisting investors such as Stellantis and United Airlines as well as new funders like Wellington Management and Abu Dhabi investment holding company 2PointZero, a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates' largest listed entity, IHC. Archer says it has raised a total of $2 billion to date.Archer came out of stealth in spring 2020 after having poached key talent from Wisk (formerly Kitty Hawk) and Airbus' Vahana project. (Wisk later sued for alleged trade secret theft, which was finally settled last year.) The company has a $1 billion order from United Airlines for its aircraft and a deal to mass-produce its eVTOL craft with global automaker Stellantis. Alongside Archer, other eVTOL companies hope to eventually win full Federal Aviation Administration approval. That got a boost recently when the agency published highly anticipated final regulations for eVTOL vehicles that it says will chart the path for the air travel of the future." Archer praised the FAA for providing clear direction on what is required for the safe operation of eVTOL aircraft in the U.S."Air taxis, sometimes misidentified by the mainstream media as flying cars," are essentially helicopters without the noisy, polluting gas motors (though they certainly have their own unique noise profile). In addition to Archer, companies like Joby Aviation, Volocopter, and Beta Technologies have claimed they are on the cusp of launching services that will eventually scale up nationwide. But others have floundered; German company Lilium recently said that two of its subsidiaries were insolvent and could cease operations.Meanwhile, Anduril is a military technology company, founded by Oculus creator Luckey, that makes surveillance and reconnaissance tech as well as military drones. The company recently teamed up with OpenAI to integrate the ChatGPT maker's software into Anduril's counterdrone systems.

The Pokemon Company If you've been playing Pokemon TCG Pocket since launch, you've probably already collected most of the cards from the game's first expansion. But a new set is about to debut in just a few days.Today, The Pokemon Company announced that Mythical Island, a new expansion set featuring the pokemon Mew, is coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket on December 17th. A trailer for the expansion reveals a handful of new Pokemon cards coming to the game for the first time like Purrloin, Serperior, and Marshadow. Previously, the only way to obtain a Mew card was by collecting cards featuring each of the 150 original pokemon from the Kantonian Pokedex, but it should be much easier to snag the new Mew EX card simply by ripping a few packs.The Pokemon Company also announced that TCG Pocket has exceeded 60 million iOS and Android downloads since the game launched at the end of October. The ability to actually trade cards with other people hasn't come to the game just yet, but it's going to be very useful given that there's a bunch of fresh cards on the way.

Image: Voicemod Voicemod has released a hardware solution that enables its popular soundboard and voice-changing desktop software to work on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch consoles. The Voicemod Key dongle is now available in the US after initially being teased in July, with Voicemod planning to launch it in additional countries soon."Universal voice changers have previously been limited to desktop PCs and Macs, with software limitations preventing Voicemod from building an app for consoles. The Voicemod Key serves as a workaround - it sports a USB-C connection that plugs into a tablet or smartphone (including older iPhones thanks to an included lightning adapter), and two audio jacks that connect to your console and a wired gaming headset. The Voicemod mobile app can then be used to access the platform's soundboard and real-time voice-changing features in console chats. Image: Voicemod Here's an example of how the setup works - it's worth noting that Voicemod Key will only work with wired headsets. The Voicemod Key is supported on iOS 16 and Android 8.1 or higher. Availability is restricted to paid Voicemod subscribers, and the Key price will depend on your... Read the full story at The Verge.

Illustration: The Verge Valve is testing an option in the new Steam client beta that will force games by default to only download updates when you launch them.Currently, Steam by default decides what game updates to download based on a few different things. As explained by Valve:

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Sonos will soon encourage employees on its various product teams who live near its US office locations to come in for at least two days per week, The Verge has learned. That's a notable break from the company's history, throughout which Sonos has enthusiastically supported fully remote and hybrid work. Job listings at Sonos routinely state that it's about impact, not location." Glassdoor reviews have long backed this up, with employees reporting no pressure to come into the office.But that lax stance is set to change slightly as Sonos continues its effort to right the ship following this year's app mishap and stay on track with upcoming products. It's adopting a stricter policy that will call for product employees within proximity of Santa Barbara, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco to regularly be present at those offices. The Santa Barbara location is where Sonos is headquartered. The company also currently operates international offices in Paris and the NetherlandsFlexibility has been a core tenet of how Sonos has operated since our founding. Flexibility is not going away, but like many companies, we are evaluating the impact that in-person collaboration has on the... Read the full story at The Verge.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is rolling out two new updates to its unknown tracker alerts feature that should make it easier for Android device owners to detect unfamiliar trackers, the company announced on Wednesday. Introduced in July 2023, the safety feature automatically sends notifications if an unwanted Bluetooth tracker is traveling with you.The first update lets Android phone owners temporarily stop sending location updates to the Find My Device network if an unknown compatible tracker is detected. Google will pause these updates for up to 24 hours, so your location will no longer be visible to whoever could be monitoring your location via the tag.Second, anybody who receives an unknown tracker alert will be able to locate the unwanted Find My Device-compatible tracker using the Find Nearby" feature. Once you've found it, Google will also offer instructions for how to physically disable the tag.Over the years, Bluetooth trackers have been increasingly misused. Domestic abusers and stalkers have, for example, used it to keep tabs on victims, with one class action lawsuit claiming AirTag stalking had contributed to multiple murders." In response, Apple and Google have made various efforts to combat stalking, including an announcement earlier this year indicating support for a new industry specification, Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers, that works on both iOS and Android.

Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images The NewsGuild of New York announced Wednesday that it has reached a tentative deal with The New York Times on behalf of the Times Tech Guild. The tentative three-year contract would be the first for the guild, which was initially formed in 2021.The tentative deal follows a strike that kicked off the day before the US presidential election in November and lasted for just over a week. During the strike, the guild asked people not to play NYT games like Wordle and Connections and made a page dedicated to strike-themed versions of games to play instead. In its press release, the NewsGuild says that the site saw more than a half million page views and more than 320,000 active users."The guild will vote to ratify the contract on December 19th. Here are some of the highlights of the contract, from the NewsGuild's press release:

Image: Apple Apple is bringing layered recordings to the Voice Memos app on the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. With the new feature, you can record vocals while listening to an instrumental track out loud in iOS 18.2.Even though the microphone will technically pick up the instrumentals, Apple says the iPhone 16's A18 Pro chip allows it to isolate vocals with advanced processing and machine learning," letting Voice Memos create a separate track with just your voice. From there, you can mix the two layers, as well as edit or listen to them separately.Apple first announced this feature with the launch of the iPhone 16 Pro in September. On a support page, Apple notes that you can still listen to multitrack recordings on any device with iOS 18.2, but they won't work with devices running anything earlier. You'll have to separate the tracks for them to work on a device with an older version of Apple's operating systems.The addition of layered recordings should make Voice Memos even more useful to musicians and creators, especially since they sync to Voice Memos on Mac and iPad, letting you drop them into Logic Pro for editing.

Image: Roku Roku City, the purple-tinted cityscape screensaver that debuted in 2018, might look a little sharper and more detailed the next time you see it scrolling by. This week, Roku is increasing the screensaver's resolution to 1080p; it was still stuck at 720p until now - despite running on millions of 4K Roku TVs and 4K-capable streaming players. That's blasphemous, if you ask me, so it's nice to see some progress.The surprisingly popular, fictional skyline is also being updated with an expanded color palette" and more activity and Easter eggs that you'll spot if looking closely. Apparently there's a train station in there somewhere, so the denizens of Roku City have gained a mass transit system. Billboards will now feature a new star button that allows viewers to learn about things like original Roku content, Roku Zones, and more." (If I had to guess, the more" at the end there is probably referring to ads and sponsored content.)It took six years for us to reach full HD. So if this cadence stays on track, maybe we'll all be experiencing Roku City in native 4K by 2030.

Illustrations by Alex Castro / The Verge For millennia, the Arctic tundra has helped stabilize global temperatures by storing carbon in the frozen ground. Wildfires have changed that, according to the latest Arctic Report Card released yesterday at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference.Fires, intensified by climate change, release carbon trapped in soil and plants. More frequent infernos have now transformed the tundra into a net source of carbon dioxide emissions. It's a dramatic shift for the Arctic, and one that will make the planet even hotter.Climate change is not bringing about a new normal. Instead, climate change is bringing ongoing and rapid change," Twila Moon, lead editor of the Arctic Report Card and deputy lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said at the conference yesterday.Climate change is not bringing about a new normal."The Arctic's permafrost, which stays frozen year-round, has kept planet-heating carbon sequestered for thousands of years. Northern permafrost has been estimated to hold about twice as much carbon as there is in the atmosphere. Tundra describes the Arctic's tree-less plains, where shrubs, grasses, and mosses grow and take in carbon dioxide through... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme is currently dealing with a cybersecurity breach that has brought down parts of its online donut ordering service in the US. The company has been working to resolve the issue for over a week now after detecting unauthorized access to its systems on November 29th.In a filing issued to the SEC on Wednesday, Krispy Kreme says it was notified regarding unauthorized activity on a portion of its information technology systems" and pulled in leading cybersecurity experts" for remediation.The event took down Krispy Kreme's consumer online ordering operations but it has not affected its commercial distribution business. However, the company says there's a material impact" on its business operations and that there will be significant financial implications stemming from the incident due to cybersecurity experts' and advisers' fees. Otherwise, Krispy Kreme says it has cybersecurity insurance and it does not expect long-term material impact on its results of operations and financial condition."Krispy Kreme did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cause of the cybersecurity incident. As speculated in a report by Bleeping Computer, the timeline may suggest the company is negotiating with possible threat actors so as not to leak internal data.

My favorite dynamic wallpaper floating in the desert. | Screenshot: Mac Virtual Display Since its release, I've mostly used Apple's Vision Pro like a movie theater. The VR headset is an amazing way to watch Dune - but beyond that, it hasn't really lived up to its potential as a general-purpose computing device.Today, that's finally starting to change. With the update to visionOS 2.2, Apple is seriously upgrading the headset's ability to work with a Mac. It's probably the closest thing the Vision Pro has to a killer app.The Vision Pro has been able to mirror the screen of a Mac since day one, but I found the original Mac Virtual Display feature limiting. Text was sharp at low resolutions, but the screen was cramped. I could get more space at higher resolutions, but the text was too small and blurry to read. Yes, I can blow it up to the size of a bus to make things readable, except then, I'm craning my head around way too much to see everything. My normal three-monitor setup lets me see the most important stuff with slight movements, but that just hasn't been possible before now. Screenshot: Mac Virtual Display options The Vision Pro now has three Mac Virtual Display options. In visionOS 2.2, the standard Mac display is now curved, and it seems sharper. It's not Retina-sharp at the highest resolutions, but I no longer have to make it gigantic to get legible text. The default virtual display becomes one of three options - Standard, Wide, and Ultrawide - once your Mac is updated to macOS 15.2, which lets it take over foveated rendering from the Vision Pro. Those two extra modes instantly made the virtual display viable for me, giving me the space I'm accustomed to in my three-monitor life.You can crank the resolution in Ultrawide all the way up to 10240 x 2880 if you'd like, but the sweet spot for me has been the Wide display's maximum 6720 x 2880 resolution, which lets me see everything I need to without constantly rotating my Vision Pro-laden head. It ends up feeling more like a real monitor and not some fantasy display that evokes Weird Al Yankovic's song Frank's 2000" TV." GIF: Mac Virtual Display in Ultrawide So much room for activities! This has made it much easier for me to relocate to another room in my house, or even outside if I wanted. I wouldn't take it to a coffee shop for a number of reasons (do I leave it behind when I go to the restroom or wear the Vision Pro in there like a maniac?), but I'd absolutely bring it on a work trip. Apple has also made it so that the audio is sent through the headset instead of your computer's speakers, as it did before.The widescreen options came in handy recently, when I strained my back in a way that made it painful to sit upright. I hate doing work on a laptop, but reclining in bed with the Vision Pro on was suddenly a real option for me.There are quirks, though. Switching between the display modes can be sluggish, and your Mac doesn't always remember what resolution you set, so if you switch from Wide to Ultrawide and back, you might find all your windows piled on top of each other. And the Keyboard Awareness feature, which shows your keyboard even if you have one of Apple's immersive environments fully turned on, works great with my Magic Keyboard but doesn't reliably show the mechanical one I prefer.Still, those are minor issues. The expanded virtual display is a critical upgrade, and if it's not in killer app territory, it's at least right next door to it. It still doesn't help the Vision Pro with its biggest issues, like that our bodies are all different and not everyone will find it comfortable to use for long stretches of time. And it doesn't make Apple's headset any less expensive.But it does help that my Vision Pro is now more than a personal movie theater. Now, it's a gigantic, high-res curved display with perfect viewing angles, too. That makes the price feel a little closer to right.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft has started testing some improvements to its Phone Link app for iPhone users. Windows Insiders can now try out a new way to share a file from an iPhone to a PC and vice versa, making the experience a little more like file sharing with an Android device.Windows Insiders can download the latest Phone Link app update, version 1.24112.89.0 or higher, and it will include a new setup dialog to enable sharing files between iPhones and PCs. The sharing works by using the share sheet on iOS to send files to the Link to Windows" app, which then lets you select a Windows device to share the file with.On a Windows PC you can also share local files by right clicking on a file and selecting share and then my phone" to get a file from your PC to your iPhone. Image: Microsoft The new file sharing dialog for iPhone users. Microsoft has been gradually improving its Phone Link app for both iOS and Android in recent years, but the iOS version is still very limited thanks to Apple's OS restrictions. Last year Microsoft did manage to update Phone Link with the ability to send and receive messages via iMessage. Even this integration is limited though, only supporting sending and receiving messages to single contacts and not groups (via iMessage).You still can't use the Phone Link app to mirror phone apps onto your PC like you can with Android, and you have to have the app open for messages to be sent over iMessage as Microsoft is using a Bluetooth and system notifications workaround to read send messages.The latest file sharing update is live now for Windows Insiders and should start rolling out to all Phone Link users in the coming months.

Image: The Verge Microsoft is going to let Xbox Insiders who also subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate test the ability to stream some Xbox games they already own to their Xbox starting today. The feature could be useful if you want to jump into a game without having to install the whole thing; given how big game file sizes can be nowadays, streaming a game via the cloud might be a faster way to play or save you from hitting a data cap.Microsoft has published a list of games that support the feature on its website. There are some great games on the list, including Animal Well, Balatro, Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Price of Persia: The Lost Crown.You'll be able to stream games on Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One consoles, Microsoft says, and the feature is set to come out of testing next year. The company started letting Xbox players stream select games they own on TVs and browsers last month.

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge Nvidia must face an investor lawsuit claiming it misled shareholders about the impact of the cryptocurrency market on its sales after the Supreme Court dismissed the company's appeal.The court said it had improvidently granted" Nvidia's petition, meaning it decided it shouldn't have taken it up in the first place. That means the case will have to continue on in the lower courts. During oral arguments last month, some justices seemed skeptical about whether it was appropriate for them to weigh in on the case, wondering if it was more of a dispute over facts than a legal question, according to Reuters.The case stems from a pair of 2018 investor lawsuits claiming Nvidia recklessly misled investors about how closely tied its revenue growth was to cryptocurrency performance. Investors alleged that Nvidia and its top executives made materially false claims downplaying the impact of the volatile cryptocurrency market on its revenue growth, and exaggerating its ability to adapt its changes. An appeals court had allowed at least a portion of the consolidated case to move forward.In a separate case in 2022, Nvidia settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $5.5 million over claims it obscured how its success was linked to the volatile cryptocurrency market. The company did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.Nvidia is facing increased legal scrutiny alongside its business success. The company is reportedly facing antitrust investigations from both Chinese authorities and the US Department of Justice.We would have preferred a decision on the merits affirming the trial court's dismissal of the case, but we are fully prepared to continue our defense," Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo says in a statement. Consistent and predictable standards in securities litigation are essential to protecting shareholders and ensuring a strong economy, and we remain committed to supporting them."

Image: The Verge Microsoft is updating the Xbox app on Windows today with hundreds of PC games that weren't previously available and a new home experience. It's part of a broader effort to make the Xbox app the place to find PC games, regardless of whether they're part of PC Game Pass or not.Earlier this summer, we began working with partners to bring all PC games with Xbox features into the Xbox app," explains Chris Charla, general manager of content curation and programs at Xbox. We're super excited to see what Xbox games come to Windows PC from game creators in the future and to welcome nearly 400 titles that previously weren't discoverable or purchasable in the Xbox app." Image: Microsoft The new Xbox app homescreen. The 400 new games include titles from Japanese studios like Kemco and Kairosoft, alongside games like The Invincible by Double 11. More than 100 of these new titles are also Xbox Play Anywhere, so if you buy the Xbox console version then you can play the Xbox PC version too. Universal Xbox ownership, as well as universal cloud saves on Xbox, and cross-play between Xbox versions on console and PC (and other platforms, at the developer's discretion) are awesome features players love," says Charla.What's not immediately clear from Microsoft's blog post is exactly what bring all PC games with Xbox features into the Xbox app," means. Microsoft has been trying to tempt game developers over to its Windows-based store in recent years, even lowing its cut from 30 percent to just 12 percent to try and shake up PC gaming.Despite these efforts, there are plenty of PC games that have cross-play between the Xbox and PC version of the game but aren't part of the Microsoft Store currently or the Xbox app. Microsoft now appears to be working to bring even more of these games into the Xbox app, and it will be interesting to see whether the company makes the bold move of listing Steam, Epic Games Store, or itch.io games in the Xbox app soon, too. Microsoft says it will have more to share about its Xbox app plans at the game developers conference in March.Microsoft is also rolling out a new home UI for the Xbox app on Windows today. The home UI now includes featured content from PC Game Pass and the Microsoft Store, alongside collections of deals and discounts. Microsoft has also added a jump back in" section that lets you quickly get back into recent games just like you can on an Xbox console.

It should be simple to stream live TV at home.But depending on the sport, you might be signing up (and paying handsomely) for a lot of different services just to keep up.There are the rare leagues, like Major League Soccer, that can be watched on a single channel. (In the US, every match can be viewed live on Apple TV Plus.) But keeping up with most sports resembles, say, tennis, where the rights for its four major tournaments are scattered across several different platforms.And in general, as the large streaming platforms go toe-to-toe with the legacy broadcast companies transitioning to digital, the much-sought-after rights have positioned leagues to make a lot of money. The adverse effect for viewers is that many professional sports are now available exclusively" in many different places.Basically, watching sports has never been easier. And it's also never been harder.The high cost of NFL streaming optionsIn the US, you can stream the majority of live NFL games through Sunday Ticket, a full season of which costs $349, plus you'll need to be subscribed to YouTube TV at $72.99 a month. For six months of football ($437.94), from week one to Super Bowl Sunday, that brings... Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images The Onion's acquisition of InfoWars isn't happening - at least for now. In a ruling on Tuesday, a Texas bankruptcy judge rejected The Onion's purchase of the conspiracy-ridden website founded by Alex Jones, according to a report from The New York Times.Last month, The Onion announced that it had purchased InfoWars during a bankruptcy auction of Jones' assets. It had the support of the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who successfully sued Jones for more than $1 billion for spreading false claims. However, Judge Christopher Lopez halted the sale shortly after the auction.As reported by The Times, Lopez disagreed with the sealed bidding process used to sell Jones' assets, saying that the auction didn't maximize" the amount of money Jones' creditors could've gotten from the sale of InfoWars. It seemed doomed almost from the moment they decided to go to a sealed bid," Judge Lopez said when handing down his decision, according to The Times. Nobody knows what anybody else is bidding."