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Six times the slop. | Image: The Verge Google is expanding the capabilities of its Lyria 3 music-making AI, enabling it to create tracks up to three minutes long and from within multiple other Google Products. Until now, Lyria had been limited to 30-second clips. Lyria 3 Pro not only increases the maximum length sixfold, it also allows the user to prompt for specific elements like intros, choruses, and bridges for greater control over arrangements. Lyria 3 Pro works much like other popular music generation tools, such as Suno and Udio. Describe a mood, style, or instrumentation, and it spits out a track. It can also generate lyrics based on your prompt, or even a reference photo … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/900425/google-lyria-3-pro-ai-music

It’s not the phone I was hoping I’d pick, but at least it’s green! | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge It takes a week to switch phones. First, there's the technical process of moving eSIMs across devices, which takes either a few minutes (if you're switching from one Android phone to another) or two days, a half-dozen calls to Verizon, a verification text message sent to your mom, and approximately 11,000 restarts of your phone (if you're switching from iPhone to Android). Then comes a few hours of app downloading, settings tweaking, and personalization, because every phone has a bunch of unique ideas about everything. You can be up and running on a new phone in an afternoon, but by the time you've downloaded all your Kindle books, synced … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/899602/best-phone-android-ios-app-store

Android Automotive in a Volvo EX90 | Image: Volvo Google announced a new version of its Android Automotive open-source operating system for software-defined vehicles. Whereas previously Android Automotive operated exclusively in the car's infotainment system, Google is now expanding its "open infrastructure" to the non-safety parts of the car's internal computer system. As cars have swiftly become "computers on wheels," there is still a lot of fragmentation in the industry, with many car manufacturers using different, mismatched software modules from dozens of different suppliers. Google wants to solve this fragmentation problem by - what else? - becoming the de facto software provider fo … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/899034/google-android-automotive-os-software-defined-vehicle

The early 2020s were kind of a dark time if you were a fan of Rock Band . PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X owners didn’t get an improved, more feature-packed guitar controller until early 2024 when PDP launched the Riffmaster. While it launched for $129.99 and later rose to $149.99, you can now grab it for $99.99 at Amazon , Walmart , and Best Buy in the run-up to Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. The current deal price (which has only happened once before) applies to both the Xbox and PlayStation versions, as well as the newer Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions. PDP Riffmaster PDP’s Riffmaster is a wireless guitar accessory compatible with Rock Band 4 and Fortnite Festival. It has two sets of color-coded buttons you can press to hit notes as they appear on the screen, a built-in 3.5mm audio jack for connecting headphones, and an analog stick to help you easily navigate through each game’s menus. Where to Buy: $149.99 $99.99 at Amazon (PlayStation 5) $149.99 $99 at Amazon (Xbox...

Andy Weir on the set of Project Hail Mary. | Image: Amazon MGM Studios Andy Weir has done pretty well when it comes to adaptations. His first novel, The Martian , was turned into a movie in 2015 , and the Ridley Scott-directed picture earned more than $600 million at the box office. And Project Hail Mary just had a huge opening weekend that puts it on track to be one of the year's biggest movies. However, despite that success, Weir tells me that he does his best to keep the idea of an adaptation out of his mind when he starts a new novel. "I try not to think about it at all," he explains. The reason, according to Weir, is that the two mediums are just so different. That's something he's learned over the last dec … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/898918/project-hail-mary-andy-weir-writing-advice-interview

First came the AI beauty pageant. Then the AI music contests. Now, there is an award for AI Personality of the Year - perhaps the inevitable next step for the AI influencer economy as it transforms from quirky novelty into a serious and lucrative industry. The contest, a joint venture between generative AI studio OpenArt and AI-powered creator platform Fanvue, with backing from AI voice company ElevenLabs, opens on Monday and runs for a month. The organizers said it is intended to "celebrate the creative talent 'behind' AI Influencers" and recognize their growing commercial and cultural clout. Contestants will compete for a total prize f … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/898781/ai-personality-of-the-year-influencer-contest