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The Verge / Image courtesy of Sunblink Apple Arcade remains one of the best deals in gaming — even after getting a price bump . Since launch, the service has steadily grown with a mix of original mobile releases and App Store classics, none of which are burdened with the ads or in-app purchases that so often plague smartphone games. 2023 was a particularly strong year for new additions, with everything from daily word games for the Wordle -obsessed to cozy adventures to relax with. If you just picked up a new Apple device, or are using the subscription service for the very first time, here are some great places to start. Knotwords Zach Gage and Jack Schlesinger have partnered on a number of great mobile puzzle games — including Good Sudoku and SpellTower , both of which are... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/m5Sqf1E

Illustration: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 19, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) It’s the last Installer of the year, so we’re going to do something a little different! We’re going to talk about all our favorite things of 2023. Some ground rules / disclaimers: this list is not exhaustive, not everything in here is new this year it’s just new to us, this is not an Official List of Every Single Good Thing That Exists, and most importantly, if there’s something missing that you find outrageous and unacceptable you know where to find me: installer@theverge.com and (203) 570-8663 on all the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/kNe1mrC

The LG Qube is so tiny, so boxy, so handle-y. | Image: LG LG announced the CineBeam Qube (model HU710PB ) laser projector yesterday: It’s got a minimalist look and stature, weighing 3.28 pounds and measuring 135mm square on one side and just 80mm wide at the front. (For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro is just shy of 147mm tall.) It also has an unspecified number of HDMI eARC and USB-C ports, and a 3W built-in mono speaker. Impressively, LG says it can project an up-to-120-inch image at full 4K resolution with a pretty standard 1.2 throw ratio. Oh, and it has a handle! There are some apparent drawbacks to this itty bitty projector. For starters, it pushes out a relatively dim 500 ANSI lumens (compared to 2200 ANSI lumens of the larger Xgimi Horizon Pro we reviewed two years ago). That means that,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/iGHnWI3

A lawsuit alleged that Vizio’s claims about refresh rates can be misleading. | Image: Vizio If you bought a Vizio TV in California after April 30th, 2014, Vizio may owe you some money. The company has agreed to pay out $3 million after a 2018 class action lawsuit alleged that its marketing of 120Hz and 240Hz “effective” refresh rates was “false and deceptive.” Vizio denies that it did anything wrong, according to the agreement . The deadline for filing claims is March 30th next year, and requires some sort of evidence of ownership, including proof of purchase or the serial number, to qualify. In addition to paying out for verified claims, Vizio would “stop the advertising practices” and “provide enhanced services and a limited one-year warranty to all Settlement Class Members,” according to details from the website set up for... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/emlYUjw

The Verge / Photos via Getty Images Layoffs are an unfortunate reality of any industry , but the scope and scale of video game layoffs in 2023 are far beyond a typical year. More than any specific video game or piece of news, layoffs defined the past 12 months. Companies large and small have felt their impact. Unofficial figures estimate 9,000 workers have been affected, and at the heart of it all are corporations that valued growth at all costs — including people. In September, Epic Games laid off 830 employees . In a statement, CEO Tim Sweeney wrote , “We’ve been spending way more money than we earn. [...] I had long been optimistic that we could power through this transition without layoffs, but in retrospect I see that this was unrealistic.” Some of that spending was on... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6rkETl4

Image: Microsoft Just days after introducing a Copilot app on Android, Microsoft has rolled out an app for its AI chatbot on iOS and iPadOS. Both versions of the app are now available to download from the Apple App Store . The app gives you access to Microsoft Copilot ( formerly Bing Chat ) and works similarly to OpenAI’s ChatGPT mobile app. In addition to letting you ask questions, draft emails, and summarize text, you can also create images through an integration with the text-to-image generator DALL-E3 . Image: Microsoft And, unlike the free version of ChatGPT which runs GPT-3.5, Copilot lets you access GPT-4 , the latest large language model (LLM) from OpenAI, without having to pay for a subscription. With Microsoft’s rebrand of Bing... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/dSTpa6K

Image: Getty Michael Cohen, the former lawyer for Donald Trump, admitted to citing fake, AI-generated court cases in a legal document that wound up in front of a federal judge, as reported earlier by The New York Times . A filing unsealed on Friday says Cohen used Google’s Bard to perform research after mistaking it for “a super-charged search engine” rather than an AI chatbot. The document in question was a motion that asked a federal judge to shorten the length of Cohen’s three-year probation, which he’s now facing following prison time and a guilty plea to tax evasion and other charges. But after reviewing the letter brief, US District Judge Jesse Furman wrote in a filing that “none of these cases exist” and asked Cohen’s lawyer, David Schwartz, to... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/IyCO1LU

Image: The Verge A recent discussion among friends wondered if anyone really used ringtones anymore. The idea was that most people (those who still use their phones to hold verbal conversations) either go with whatever ringtone their phone comes with or just use vibrations. Once upon a time, ringtones were a thing. You could use them for amusement. (My favorite was a bored voice that said, “Ring. Ring. Ring.”) You could use them to know who was calling without having to look at the phone (so you knew when to pick up and when to let it go to voicemail). Now, maybe, not so much. Still, Google recently added a bunch of new ringtones to its Pixel phones , so presumably, some of us are still playing around with these sounds. In case you count yourself in... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/YN4yn6i

The OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro shares a lot in common with the Keychron Q1 Pro, rendering it a great alternative when it’s on sale. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge As OnePlus continues to expand its reach outside of China and India, it’s doing so with more than just phones. Take the OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro , for instance, which is on sale from OnePlus right now in the Winter Bonfire configuration with double-shot PBT keycaps and tactile switches for $179 ($40 off) or in the Summer Breeze config with lighter “marble-mallow” keycaps and linear switches for $199 ($40 off). In many ways, OnePlus’ debut mechanical keyboard acts as a redesigned Keychron Q1 Pro — our current pick for the best premium Bluetooth keyboard — with a few added tweaks. The wireless, 75 percent board features an adjustable kickstand, for one, along with cylindrical keycaps that give it a quieter, more modern feel than the Q1 Pro.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/H8b4EhZ

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge You can once again buy the latest Apple Watches straight from Apple. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 will be available again in some physical Apple stores starting today, with wider availability expected by Saturday. Online sales will resume tomorrow by 3PM ET, Apple spokesperson Nikki Rothberg told The Verge . The restarting of sales comes hours after a federal appeals court paused a sales and import ban that covered both devices. Apple was banned from selling both products in the US after the US International Trade Commission found that the company had violated patents from the medical device maker Masimo. The appeals court said that Apple could continue selling its watches temporarily, while the company waited to hear back on... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/AbkEH79

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge When it comes to apps that I’ve used for over a year or so — such as the Chrome browser —I can be very boring. I get into the habit of using the app in a particular way, and after that, when interesting new features pop up, I’ll often put them aside to try out “some other time.” After all, if the app’s working for me as it is, why bother? The problem is, I should bother — because sometimes those features can be very useful. For example, when I started using and saving tab groups in Chrome , it became much easier to find the tabs associated with a project, and to group them under a single tab temporarily when I didn’t need them. (Not that Chrome is the only browser that groups tabs these days; Safari and Edge , among other browsers, have... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/GyIYdKN

Marvel Studios What If’s second season is at its best when it’s exploring the edges of Marvel’s established cinematic canon. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/82Hfdn9

Screenshot: Barbara Krasnoff / The Verge It’s hard to keep up with all the interesting, important, or just plain fun things you come across on the web. You may come across something you just don’t have time to read right now or want to save because it will come in handy later. But as most of us have discovered, creating a bookmark on a browser for each article and site that we want to read later can result in a huge bookmarky mess. Years ago, I started getting the better of this issue by signing in to Pocket, a popular and long-standing app that allows you to save a bookmarked article to a separate server and then retrieve it to read at your leisure using either a computer or a mobile device. Pocket has been around since 2007. Originally called Read It Later, it started life as... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/bdmPN4f

Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, claiming the two companies built their AI models by “copying and using millions” of the publication’s articles and now “directly compete” with its content as a result. As outlined in the lawsuit , the Times alleges OpenAI and Microsoft’s large language models (LLMs), which power ChatGPT and Copilot, “can generate output that recites Times content verbatim, closely summarizes it, and mimics its expressive style.” This “undermine[s] and damage[s]” the Times ’ relationship with readers, the outlet alleges, while also depriving it of “subscription, licensing, advertising, and affiliate revenue.” The complaint also argues that these AI models “threaten high-quality... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/WFqBxJP

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Earlier this year, Amazon announced plans to start incorporating ads into movies and TV shows streamed from its Prime Video service, and now the company has revealed a specific date when you’ll start seeing them: it’s January 29th. “This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time,” the company said in an email to customers about the pending shift to “limited advertisements.” “We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership,” the company wrote. Customers have the option of paying an additional $2.99 per month to keep... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/gL2XTDi

The Verge / Image courtesy of Nintendo It’s been a fantastic year for the Nintendo Switch. We got new Super Mario games, some great remasters, ports of a few games that previously blew up on PC, and, of course, an absolutely massive sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . Even though the Nintendo Switch’s successor is likely just around the corner, there’s no shortage of great games to play on the Switch you might already own. Nintendo can take all the time it needs to launch its next console; whenever that comes out, I’ll probably still be working through quests in Tears of the Kingdom . Here are some of the best Nintendo Switch games from 2023. Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot Camp Image: Nintendo Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot Camp packages up the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/gbFosNv

The Verge / Photo courtesy of Paramount Plus and IMDB I am a Paramount Plus apologist. I know — going by subscription numbers alone — that I have to be because people do not subscribe to the streaming service at the same rate as Netflix or Amazon Prime, but I spend more time in the Paramount Plus app than the other two. It’s got older shows like Star Trek , Frasier , and Avatar: The Last Airbender , and newer splashy shows like... everything Taylor Sheridan produces and Frasier . It has a whole mess of football (American) and football (the rest of the world), and while bigger brands like Netflix are only now experimenting with live TV, Paramount Plus has been doing it from the get-go and doing it really well. It is, I think, my desert island streaming service. A lot of new shows aired on the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/bKc3PNW

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple can no longer sell the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 in the US after President Joe Biden’s administration declined to veto the ban today. Apple pulled both devices from its website on December 21st and from its store shelves after December 24th. A statement ( via CNBC ) from the Office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the agency “decided not to reverse the ITC’s [International Trade Commission] determination” after “careful consideration.” The ITC issued the ban after finding that Apple infringed on blood oxygen saturation technology patented by a company called Masimo. It also ordered Apple to stop selling any previously-imported devices with the infringed-upon tech. While Apple attempted to block the decision while... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/AcHnk1u

The Verge / Photo courtesy of Bethesda Game Studios Xbox Game Pass might have had a rather slow 2022, but its value has really paid off in 2023. There are more than 400 games to choose from, and I’ve honestly struggled to pick just 10 to recommend this year. For a monthly subscription fee of between $10.99 and $16.99, you get to play a wide range of games like Starfield , Sea of Stars , Tunic , and Inside . If you’ve just got an Xbox, here’s a list of 10 great Xbox Game Pass games that are well worth your time over the holidays. Pentiment Pentiment is a manuscript murder mystery set in the 16th century. In Pentiment, you play as Andreas Maler, a painter working on illustrated manuscripts in an abbey in Bavaria. The game plays out like a visual novel, where you’ll make decisions throughout... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fesKH2G

A Disney Plus subscription provides access to the full catalog of Star Wars , including recent series like Ahsoka . | Image: Suzanne Tenner / Lucasfilm Ltd. Yes, Christmas is tomorrow — and yes, we know you have yet to buy a gift. We understand that life gets busy, though, and sometimes it feels like the holidays creep up on you out of nowhere. But before you spiral into a full-blown panic attack, take a deep breath. Luckily for you, the internet is filled with a treasure trove of gift cards, subscriptions, and other great digital gifts you can buy as late as Christmas Day itself. To help make your life a little easier, we’ve curated a list of some of the best digital gifts we’ve either used ourselves or gifted to our friends and family. We’ve organized the list by interests, too, so you can find the perfect present whether your loved one is into the arts, exercise, or something else... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/9j7wMUC

It does one thing well, and yet there are other multi-use devices that are arguably better, but dammit sometimes I’m lazy. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/baqZHKu

The Verge / Photo Courtesy of IMDB and Hulu Hulu got a big price hike this year , but it’s getting increasingly harder to cancel (at least for me) thanks to the overwhelming number of shows and movies to watch on the Disney-owned service. While those of us in the US can currently access Hulu separately from Disney Plus, things are about to change very soon. Disney is planning to launch a combined Hulu and Disney Plus app for users who subscribe to both services, and it’s set to come out next year after some initial testing. Keep in mind that this won’t change the content available on either service, just how you access it. For now, though, here are some of the best shows released on Hulu this year. Only Murders in the Building (Season 3) Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/VZTr8dD

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS in Galaxy Gray Metallic | Image: GM Our automotive editor was scheduled to test a Blazer EV soon , but it looks like that will have to wait — GM has paused sales of its brand-new Chevy Blazer EV following reports of significant issues. In a statement provided to The Verge, Chevrolet communications executive director Chad Lyons said, “Our team is working quickly to roll out a fix, and owners will be contacted with further information on how to schedule their update.” Chevrolet vice president Scott Bell said, “We’re aware that a limited number of customers have experienced software-related quality issues with their Blazer EV. Customer satisfaction is our priority and as such, we will take a brief pause on new deliveries.” Edmunds reports that two months after purchasing a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/iDX2HuT

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple is banning new sales of the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US due to a patent dispute — here’s all the latest news. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Zhf6S7J

Warner Bros. Because of its predictable story, and despite its occasionally gorgeous visuals, James Wan’s Aquaman sequel feels like the embodiment of everything that went wrong with the DC Extended Universe. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/vTnjdeA

Illustration: The Verge A Wisconsin family has agreed to sell 407 acres of their land, which includes a local pumpkin farm attraction, to Microsoft — for a total of $76 million, reported the Milwaukee Business Journal . The local government initially offered the Creuziger family in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin about a third of that sum in 2017 as a part of an agreement with the Foxconn Technology Group. But the family refused, opting to hold out for a better offer. “The family wishes the village and Microsoft well, and they would appreciate people respecting their privacy,” the family’s attorney David Barnes told the Business Journal . The land, which also includes the Land of the Giants pumpkin farm and a nine-acre corn maze, neigbhors another 641 acres of land... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/52z4HuB

Apple’s pair of M2 MacBook Airs are some of our top choices among all laptops, and both are discounted. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple sells MacBooks equipped with its own M-series chips in a wide range of sizes and price points. The offerings start with the 13-inch MacBook Air from 2020 at $999 and go all the way up to the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro starting at $2,499. But finding a deal on a current Mac with an M1, M2, or even the new M3 chip — as well as the higher-end M3 Pro and M3 Max — is actually not that difficult. While Macs may not experience perpetual discounts, it’s not uncommon to see various current models discounted by as much as $400. Alternatively, purchasing refurbished options directly from Apple is another way to save money without as much waiting for the changing winds of deals to blow your way. Apple’s refurbished store provides a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/8CGj4wd

Cars, trucks, SUVs, and other vehicles drive in traffic on the 405 freeway through the Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles, California, on August 25th, 2022. | Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images The US saw record gains in fuel efficiency last year, but it still falls short of what’s needed to meet fast-approaching deadlines. Thanks to their love of large vehicles, American automakers have fallen behind their competitors when it comes to getting more miles per gallon of gas. Real-world fuel economy in model year 2022 rose slightly to 26 miles per gallon, according to the EPA’s latest Automotive Trends Report . That’s a 0.6mpg increase from the year before, which is apparently “more than double the annual rate of improvement in fuel economy” over the past nine years, according to the EPA. But while the agency celebrates the incremental improvement, there’s still a long way to go to reach the fuel efficiency standards the US has set... Continue reading… from The Verge -...

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images On the surface, electric scooter pioneer Bird filing for bankruptcy would seem to be a nail in the coffin for shared micromobility — that nebulous term often used to describe rentable electric bikes and scooters in cities. After a number of mergers and some bad financial management, the OG scooter company is going belly up. That can’t bode well for the future of scooters in general, right? But actually, shared electric mobility is doing just fine. Sure, the margins are tight and profitability is still rare, but shared scooter and bike companies are becoming more integral to city life in ways we never thought possible. The only thing that’s dead is the zero-interest rate-influenced era of unhinged investments and wildly skewed valuations... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/VLBCKPq

Image: Apple Apple’s June announcement that it would launch the Vision Pro headset “early next year” could be very early. As Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman reports , things are lining up for the device to launch by February. He says we shouldn’t expect another launch event — which is understandable for a $3,499 device that will probably have a limited supply — but bringing this to market is a major undertaking that means preparing Apple Store employees to guide new users, adjust fitting, and deal with prescription lens options. Launching the first new Apple hardware platform in years includes new software with visionOS, and Gurman is already pointing to its next version, which should arrive later in 2024 along with the usual Mac and iPhone software updates.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ujbe8Sw

Belkin’s 3-in-1 charging stand makes for a great StandBy companion, regardless of whether you own an Apple Watch. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge The Qi2-based chargers are certainly coming , but if you can’t wait for them to land next year, Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe is on sale now at Amazon in black for a new low of $110.99 ($39 off) or in white for just $9 more . To this day, Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro remains our favorite MagSafe 3-in-1 stand for home use . The triple charging solution offers true 15W MagSafe charging speeds, the ability to fast-charge newer Apple Watch models starting with the Series 7, and support for iOS 17’s new StandBy mode , which gives you an easy way to turn your phone into a clock, calendar, or a nifty photo frame for your desk. It’s also outfitted with a 5W charging pad on the bottom, so you can juice a pair of wireless... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/g7xPGfi ...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The UK Supreme Court ruled that AI cannot get patents, declaring it cannot be named as an inventor of new products because the law considers only humans or companies to be creators. The court unanimously denied a petition from Stephen Thaler, founder of the AI system DABUS, to name his AI as an inventor. The UK’s decision aligns with a similar decision made against Thaler in the US: he previously lost an appeal with the US Patent and Trademark Office, which also denied his petition to claim AI as an inventor. The US Supreme Court declined to hear the case . In the UK, Thaler wanted to register DABUS as the inventor of a food container and a flashing light beacon back in 2019, but the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) rejected the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/9FS1NXJ

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be part of Samsung’s self-repair program. | Image: Samsung The Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 will join the entire S23 series, the Galaxy Tab S9 series, and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro series in Samsung’s self-repair program this month. A partnership with iFixit , the repair program initially only supported S20, S21, and Tab S7 devices. At the start of 2023, the S22 line and some Galaxy Pro books were added, and now, the entire flagship S23 and foldable lines are joining the fix-it-yourself family. The Galaxy foldables are not listed on iFixit’s page yet, so we don’t know what the prices will be. But as the Google Pixel Fold costs around $900 for a parts kit to repair the large inner screen through its partnership with iFixit , I’m guessing it's not cheap. The full list of Samsung devices you can... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/hBslxjF

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The best from Apple, Bose, Samsung, Sony, Beats, Google, and more Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/nwYJVDL

Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge Blue Origin’s 24th mission was a success. After its New Shepard rocket took off from West Texas on Tuesday morning, the booster and crew capsule safely separated mid-flight, with both landing back on Earth. Liftoff occurs around 29:42 in the livestream and from there, you can see New Shepard propel to a maximum altitude of about 66 miles, allowing the uncrewed capsule to spend a short time in space. The reusable booster lands upright at 36:56 following the brief trip, and the capsule comes parachuting down after. While Blue Origin originally planned on a December 18th flight, the Jeff Bezos-owned space tourism company scrubbed the launch due to cold temperatures and “ground issues” its teams had to troubleshoot. The NS-24 mission carried... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/C91M0J2

Trevor Milton, the founder and former CEO of electric truck company Nikola, was sentenced to four years in prison after a jury found him guilty of misleading investors about the company’s technology. Milton was also ordered to pay a $1 million fine. Federal prosecutor said Milton had lied about Nikola’s capabilities, including an assertion that it had built its own electric truck, the Nikola One, from the “ground up.” They also accused him of staging a video that purportedly showed its Nikola One semi driving under its own power when it was actually rolling down a hill . During the sentencing hearing, Milton made several bizarre statements. He claimed that his resignation from Nikola was not a result of the fraud allegations but because... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/PLwbusM

Image: Acura Acura’s first fully electric vehicle is now available for customers to reserve, with the first deliveries scheduled for early 2024. The 2024 Acura ZDX starts at $60,000 and will come in several trims, including the base-model A-Spec, with single-motor rear-wheel drive. A more expensive Type S dual-motor powertrain with 500 horsepower starts at $70,000. Acura previously said that the ZDX will get up to 325 miles of estimated range and have an operating system powered by Google. The 2024 Acura ZDX starts at $60,000 and will come in several trims The ZDX will start customer deliveries around the same time as the 2024 Honda Prologue. Like the Prologue, the ZDX will be the product of the three-year partnership between Honda and General... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/OwjphWX

Image: May Mobility You probably haven’t heard of autonomous vehicle operator May Mobility because the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company is exceptionally good at avoiding the types of headlines generated by other AV companies. In its six years in operation, there haven’t been any injuries, crashes, blocked intersections, or mass layoffs. While there have been some struggles, the company has proven to be an outlier among AV operators by continuing to raise money while others have seen their funding dry up . And now, May Mobility is ready to go fully driverless, a milestone that has the company taking stock of its successes — and looking ahead to the future. “The most capital-efficient AV company that the world has ever seen” “It’s not robotaxis,” May... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/QgTf83S

Blue Origin will stream the launch on its site. | Screenshot: The Verge Space tourism company Blue Origin has set its sights on a New Shepard launch window that starts tomorrow at 9:30AM ET, its first attempt since the rocket booster failed during its September 2022 launch. The company says its New Shepard rocket will launch from its Launch Site One in West Texas. Blue Origin will livestream the launch on its website 20 minutes before the countdown. This will be the 24th launch of the reusable New Shepard rocket, and will carry 33 science payloads. Most of its launches have been uncrewed, but as Engadget noted , six of them have had human beings on board, including William Shatner . Last year, Blue Origin’s uncrewed NS-23 launch failed , prompting a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation. The FAA... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ZvoA6Yd

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Peloton is opening up its app to third-party treadmills for running, walking, or Tread Bootcamp classes. Pelo Buddy spotted a new support page on Peloton’s site announcing that the app can now record and display metrics on any treadmill that uses Bluetooth FTMS. The offer is only open to subscribers of the company’s most expensive subscription workout plan , Peloton App Plus. To pair, you’ll start a Tread class in the Peloton app, then tap the “Connect a Bluetooth Device” option. Pick your treadmill from the list, and a green check mark lets you know when it’s connected. Peloton says users can check their incline, speed, pace, and distance via the app during a class session. After the class is over, the app will also show estimated... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/SNLRX4U

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Congress has extended Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for a few more months to April 2024. According to The New York Times , the program was included in the $886 billion National Defence Authorization Act, which passed the House by a vote of 310 to 118, with support from the majority of both parties, on December 14th. FISA was due to expire on December 31st, 2023. Senator Ron Wyden wrote in a press release on December 8th that the vote to reauthorize FISA was inserted into the NDAA “without a vote or debate” before the Senate authorized and passed it to the House. Now, the vote has headed to the desk of President Biden, who has called for it to be reauthorized. Section 702 empowers US intelligence agencies... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/PFc13my

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple announced a pilot program called “contingent pricing for subscriptions” yesterday that will let App Store developers automatically offer discounted subscriptions for users of other apps. Developers, the company says, will be able to base this on subscriptions “from one developer or two different developers,” which lets them not only to entice customers they already have to their other apps, but also compete by offering deals to their competitors’ subscribers. There’s a slight catch here: According to 9to5Mac , the discount is only good while the customer’s other subscription is active. So if someone tries an app because it offered a deal and decides to cancel the other subscription, they’ll go back to the normal price. Apple also... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Foi3Jkb

Image: Epic Games Apple rules the iPhone’s App Store with an iron fist — sideloading outside it is not allowed. Google lets anyone install any app on an Android phone. But guess which one of these two companies has an illegal monopoly, according to the courts? As you probably already know, Google is the one that lost its fight against Epic Games this week . It’s a fight that Apple previously (mostly) won in a similar trial in 2021 , beating claims that it had violated antitrust laws by charging mandatory in-app transaction fees and kicking Epic’s game Fortnite off the App Store. Google tried a similar move, but in its case, a jury found it had maintained an unlawful monopoly with the Play store; a judge is scheduled to consider remedies next month. L... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/OdXYeZc

Photo Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge The world can be an expensive place. Fortunately, we’ve assembled 30-odd gifts that are designed to keep your holiday spending (mostly) in check. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/eHQ46yw

Image: Microsoft Microsoft’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are now available to download for free on Meta’s Quest VR headsets, as reported by Android Central . They appear to be the web versions of the apps, so while there’s a lot that’s very familiar about them, after giving the apps a whirl from inside a Quest 3, I can tell you that the virtual office experience still has a few quirks. The first hurdle is logging in. While you don’t need a paid Microsoft 365 account, when I opened up Word, I had to log in by typing my long Microsoft account password. (The option to log in with a security key failed when I tried it; the other choices were to log in with a GitHub account or a company account.) Since I don’t have a Bluetooth keyboard lying around, that meant... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/eycPCNz

Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge If you haven’t enabled Bluetooth on your Stadia controller yet, you don’t need to rush. Google has extended the deadline for when its controllers will no longer work wirelessly from the end of this year to December 31st, 2024, as shown on its website ( via @wario64 ). After Google announced the discontinuation of its Stadia cloud gaming service last year, the company said it would let its controllers live on as wireless Bluetooth gamepads compatible with PCs, Macs, phones, and other systems. It also rolled out a special web-based tool in January that you can use to activate Bluetooth on your Stadia controller. Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge Google previously gave users until December 31st, 2023 to complete the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/eT14EdR

Photo: Netflix No thank you for waking me up. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/CKnhdgB

Image: Google Google is releasing a tool to help users diagnose problems with their Pixel phones. Users can launch the app by entering #*#7287#*# on the dial pad, allowing them to check whether their phone is working correctly before or after a repair. There are a bunch of diagnostic tools available within the app. While users can run a full diagnostic test to detect issues across the entire device, there are also options to run individual tests for physical defects and problems affecting the phone’s display, sensors, and connectivity. The new tool is available on all Pixel phones in English. Image: Google Aside from the diagnostics app, Google is introducing redesigned repair manuals the company says are “easier for technicians... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/gEuebaW

A screenshot of Neko Atsume Purrfect. Sure, Meta’s Quest VR headsets have games like Beat Saber, a VR Assassin’s Creed game , and access to the entire Xbox Cloud Gaming library , but starting today, you can play Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector , a VR take on the classic cat-focused mobile game Neko Atsume . The game is adorable. The cats have that same cartoony and slightly vacant look that makes them so endearing in the mobile game, and they get up to plenty of shenanigans. But because you’re playing in VR, you’ll also be able to do things like “pet” the cats and pick them up using your controllers. I was given early access to the game ahead of today’s launch, and I’ve messed around with it for about 30 minutes. Like with the phone version of Neko Atsume , Purrfect is not a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ciO7S6I

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple will require law enforcement to obtain a court order before the company hands over details of customers’ push notifications from now on. As Reuters reports , Apple quietly updated its guidelines for law enforcement page on Monday with language specifying that search warrants and court orders are now required for it to give up “The Apple ID associated with” an Apple Push Notification Service token. The new policy follows revelations that both Apple and Google have been providing details about the notifications to governments. Apps can “push” notifications to your phone so that you receive alerts, like a text message or incoming email, even when the app itself isn’t open. But the process involves potentially sensitive information... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/scI1SDH

Illustration: The Verge Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads that the platform is beginning to test making Threads posts available on Mastodon and other ActivityPub-supporting services . Zuckerberg wrote that making Threads work with the interoperable standard “will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people.” Joining the fediverse — the decentralized world of social media that includes Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other services that all interoperate through ActivityPub — has been on the Threads team’s to-do list since the very beginning. Instagram head Adam Mosseri told The Verge in July that he believed decentralizing the platform was key to making it relevant to a new generation of creators. “I think we might... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/5uMtFb6