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The LG MyView Smart Monitor. | Image: LG LG will show off a new series of 32-inch 4K computer monitor / TV hybrids called the ‘MyView’ at CES this year. The company announced they’ll come “in a variety of colors, including essence white, mild beige, cotton pink and cotton green.” They’ll be offered in three variants at two price levels — $599.99 and $499.99, and LG says it will announce availability in the US “at a later date.” The specs and design language of LG’s new smart LED displays are very similar to the Samsung M8. They both come in multiple colors and have a whiff of modern iMac design, though with more adjustable stands (both support tweaks to height, tilt, and rotation). Each can be used as a smart TV with the included remote and all of the new MyView monitors will... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/31/24020920/lg-myview-4k-smart-monitor-display-tv-webos

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… source https://www.theverge.com/23979444/apple-arcade-best-games-2023-iphone-ipad

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/31/24019265/best-apps-games-movies-shows-2023

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 unknown 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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/30/24019922/lg-cinebeam-qube-4k-uhd-projector-webos

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/30/24019780/vizio-settlement-effective-refresh-rate-class-action-lawsuit

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/29/24019288/microsoft-copilot-app-available-iphone-ipad-ai

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/29/24019067/michael-cohen-former-trump-lawyer-google-bard-ai

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Nvidia is launching a graphics card specifically for China to comply with US export controls. In a product page on the Chinese version of Nvidia’s website, the chipmaker introduces the RTX 4090D: a GPU that’s less powerful than the flagship RTX 4090 it sells elsewhere. The RTX 4090D has fewer CUDA cores than its RTX 4090 counterpart , topping out at 14,592 as opposed to 16,384. It also has a slightly lower power draw at 425W instead of 450W. Although most of the other specs remain the same between the two versions of the chips, the RTX 4090D is still around “5% slower in gaming and creating,” a Nvidia spokesperson tells Reuters . Image: Nvidia China Nvidia launched the GPU after the US tightened export restrictions on... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/29/24018799/nvidia-4090d-china-slower-us-sanctions

Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 brings a faster chip, better speakers, and the most important update of all: widgets. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Happy Friday, folks! Well, now that Christmas is officially behind us, the deals are quickly drying up. Nonetheless, there are still a few deals worth busting out those newly minted gift cards for. Amazon’s latest Echo Show 8 has dropped to a new low, for example, while the Tile Mate has returned to its best price to date. There’s also a bunch of other stuff on sale right now, including a terrific pair of noise-canceling earbuds and OnePlus’ first mechanical keyboard , so let’s begin. First off, Amazon has apparently decided to save some of its best deals for after the holiday season, or at least until after Christmas. Right now, the third-gen Echo Show 8 is on sale at Amazon for Prime members for $89.99 ($60 off). That’s a new all-time... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/29/24017751/amazon-e...

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/28/24016560/...

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Apple has resumed selling the latest Apple Watches on its website after a federal appeals court paused a sales and import ban . The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are now once again available on Apple’s website , a day after some physical Apple stores began selling the watches on December 27th. Apple previously told The Verge that the watches should be available widely in its physical stores by Saturday. The US International Trade Commission issued the ban after finding that Apple had violated patents from medical device maker Masimo around a blood oxygen saturation feature included in the Series 9 and Ultra 2. Apple pulled both models from shelves and its website last week, ahead of the ban officially starting on December 26th. Apple is... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/28/24017640/apple-watch-import-ban-online-website-sales-resume

Kahhori, one of What If...?’s new characters. | 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… source https://www.theverge.com/24015321/marvel-what-if-season-2-kahhori-captain-carter

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… source https://www.theverge.com/22927750/bookmarks-pocket-firefox-instapaper-raindrop

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple has won a temporary pause of the Apple Watch ban that went into effect on Tuesday. A federal appeals court ordered a halt on the import and sales bans today, after Apple requested that they be paused at least until US Customs can determine if changes it’s making to the Apple Watch would be enough to avoid the patent dispute that led to the ban. Customs is expected to issue its decision on January 12th. The court’s order means that Apple can resume selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the moment. Both watches were pulled from its website last week and off of store shelves this week, as the ban went into effect. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would resume sales. Apple... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/27/24016464/apple-watch-itc-ban-paused

The Verge / Photo courtesy of Disney Disney Plus is a service built primarily around the company’s core brands of Marvel, Star Wars , and Disney — and that hasn’t changed much this year. 2023’s new releases were still dominated by superheroes and Jedi, but there were some Na’vi and Time Lords thrown in for good measure. In fact, this year the service’s offerings were particularly solid for sci-fi fans, with stories spanning quite a few galaxies and timelines. If you’re new to Disney Plus, here are a few movies and shows to stream first. Loki Since its first season , filled with branching timelines and retrofuturistic tech , Loki has carved out its own distinct space within the MCU while still connecting to (and influencing) the broader multiverse. It’s something you can enjoy... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23979424/disney-plus-best-shows-movies-streaming-2023

Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft over claims the companies built their AI models by “copying and using millions” of the publication’s articles and now “directly compete” with the outlet’s content. 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.” Meanwhile, the lawsuit states the release of AI models trained on the Times ’ content has proven... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/27/24016212/new-york-times-openai-microsoft-lawsuit-copyright-infringement

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/26/24015595/amazon-prime-video-ads-coming-january-29

Image: Apple Apple has filed an appeal to the International Trade Commission’s decision to ban U.S. sales of Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 models, court records show. Additionally, the company is requesting an emergency stay on the ban for at least two weeks until a decision is made on redesigned versions of the banned models. “We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible,” Apple said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday. Apple did not immediately respond to The Verge ’s request for comment. The models, which Apple says are their most popular, were banned after the ITC found that Apple... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/26/24015238/apple-watch-ban-response-store-appeal-stay-court

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… source https://www.theverge.com/23999770/paramount-plus-best-shows-2023

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/26/24012382/apple-import-ban-watch-series-9-ultra-2

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/25/23999612/xbox-games-game-pass-2023-best-roundup

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… source https://www.theverge.com/23642026/best-digital-gift-ideas-o...

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… source https://www.theverge.com/23965702/hulu-best-shows-2023-streaming

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/23/24013357/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-stop-sale-software-problems

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… source https://www.theverge.com/24009254/apple-watch-itc-ban-patent-dispute

With superb ANC and dynamic, rich sound, Bose’s latest pair of earbuds are a bonafide hit. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Happy Saturday, dear readers! It’s been an extremely quiet week on the deals front, with the most notable discounts we’ve seen landing on Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air , GOTY contender Baldur’s Gate 3 , and Belkin’s 3-in-1 MagSafe charger . Luckily, despite the lack of new deals, there are some solid holiday discounts still hanging around. For instance, you can still snag the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds on sale at Amazon , Best Buy , and Target starting at $249 ($50 off), which remains the best price we’ve seen on the wireless earbuds since they made their debut earlier in the fall. They’re not all that different from last year’s QC Earbuds II in fit and finish, yet they add a new immersive audio component and improved fins that allow for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/23/24011716/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-...

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… source https://www.theverge.com/22399419/apple-macbook-air-pro-mac-mini-ima...

Image: Humane Humane announced Friday that the AI Pin, its splashy AI-powered wearable, will start shipping in March 2024. People who placed priority orders will get their devices first, and Humane says it will ship orders based on the date of purchase, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) . While Humane didn’t share a specific date for when orders would start shipping, the March timeframe is more specific than the early 2024 timeframe the company provided in November . We are thrilled to announce that Ai Pin will start shipping in March 2024. All of us here at Humane can’t wait for you to experience your Ai Pin, the world’s first wearable computer powered by Ai. We’re incredibly grateful for the enthusiasm and support, especially from our… p... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/22/24012429/humane-ai-pin-shipping-march

Diablo IV, Diablo IV, Diablo IV. | Image: Blizzard Entertainment If your holiday plans involve chillaxing and binging on a ton of video games, we have some great news for you. Now through January 4th at 1PM ET, thousands of great titles are on sale as part of Steam’s annual winter sale , including many of our favorites from the past year . The ongoing promo offers a great chance to catch up on newer titles, including demon-slaying action RPG Diablo IV ($28 off), the terrific remake of Dead Space ($36 off), and Mortal Kombat 1 ($35 off). Other titles that aren’t as discounted but still well worth a look include GOTY contender Baldur’s Gate 3 ($6 off), Cocoon ($5 off), and the delightfully charming deep sea exploration game, Dave the Diver ($4 off). There are plenty of older titles on sale, too, just in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/22/24009370/steam-winter-sale-diablo-iv-elgato-stream-deck-mini-xl-deal

Image: Insomniac Games Insomniac Games has released a statement few days after a ransomware attack exposed millions of files including sensitive employee information, confidential business information, and assets for in-development games. “We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our team,” the statement posted on X read . “We have focused inwardly for several days to support each other.” An update regarding Insomniac and Marvel's #WolverinePS5 . pic.twitter.com/CMkCCoZwwj — Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) December 22, 2023 The hack was perpetrated by the Rhysida hacker group, who ransomed the data for $2 million in Bitcoin. When the ransom was not paid, hackers disseminated... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/22/24012215/insomniac-wolverine-leak-hack-ransomware

Image: The Verge Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. And today, we’re bringing you a special episode where we’re just going to talk about one very big problem: Twitter. 2023 will go down as the year that Elon Musk killed Twitter . First, he did it in a big way by buying the company, firing most of the employees, and destabilizing the platform; then, he did it in a small but important and symbolic way by renaming the company X and trying to make a full break with what came before. So now that the story of the company named Twitter is officially over, it felt important to stop and ask: what was Twitter anyway, and why were so many powerful people obsessed with it for so long? Here at The Verge, we don’t often look back; we’re a site... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24010916/twitter-x-donald-trump-elon-musk-marty-baron-zoe-schiffer-decoder-interview

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Beeper is throwing in the towel in its fight to bring iMessage to Android — mostly. Although it just announced yet another fix to let Android users send iMessages from its messaging apps, Beeper announced that it’s going to stop finding workarounds and instead focus on its “long-term goal of building the best chat app on earth.” “Each time that Beeper Mini goes ‘down’ or is made to be unreliable due to interference by Apple, Beeper’s credibility takes a hit. It’s unsustainable,” Beeper writes. “As much as we want to fight for what we believe is a fantastic product that really should exist, the truth is that we can’t win a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company on earth.” What started as a simple app download in Beeper Mini has b... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/21/24010952/beeper-android-imessage-android-shut-down

Image: SiriusXM SiriusXM is getting sued by the state of New York for making it too difficult for subscribers to cancel their plans. The suit claims that customers who want to cancel are required to chat over the phone or online with an agent who bombards them with questions and offers. “Sirius deliberately wastes its subscribers’ time even though it has the ability to process cancellations with the click of a button,” the suit reads. Attorney General Letitia James’ office claims that SiriusXM’s own data reveals that it takes subscribers an average of 11.5 minutes to cancel by phone, and 30 minutes to cancel online. The suit is seeking damages for affected customers, as well as a $5,000 penalty to the state of New York for each violation. “Having to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/21/24010975/siriusxm-lawsuit-new-york-tish-james-cancel

It’s hard to beat the MacBook Air for value and performance when it comes to larger laptops for productivity. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Apple MacBook Air 15 has been frequently discounted since it first came out last summer, but the large yet thin laptop has once again reached a new low price. You can get the base configuration of the 15-inch MacBook Air with an M2 chip (eight-core CPU / 10-core GPU), 256GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM for just $999 ($300 off) at Best Buy or Amazon . Best Buy has all four colors, and any of them should arrive before December 25th, while Amazon only has the deal on the starlight color, arriving after the holiday. While the MacBook Pros have already moved on to Apple’s M3-generation chips, the M2 MacBook Air is no slouch. It’s more than capable for everyday productivity for schoolwork needs or work-work demands. Much like the smaller 13-inch... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/21/24009412/apple-macbook-a...

Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images For years, Waymo has been claiming that its driverless vehicles have the potential to be safer than humans. Now the company says it has the data to back it up. Waymo analyzed 7.13 million fully driverless miles in three cities — Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco — and compared the data to human driving benchmarks to determine whether its cars were involved in fewer injuring-causing and police-reported crashes. And it was the first time the company studied miles from fully driverless operations only, rather than a mix of autonomous and human-monitored driving. Waymo analyzed 7.1 million fully driverless miles in three cities The conclusion? Waymo’s driverless cars were 6.7 times less likely than human drivers to be involved a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/20/24006712/waymo-driverless-million-mile-safety-compare-human

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images A popular training dataset for AI image generation contained links to child abuse imagery, Stanford’s Internet Observatory found , potentially allowing AI models to create harmful content. LAION-5B, a dataset used by Stable Diffusion creator Stability AI and Google’s Imagen image generators, included at least 1,679 illegal images scraped from social media posts and popular adult websites. The researchers began combing through the LAION dataset in September 2023 to investigate how much, if any, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was present. They looked through hashes or the image’s identifiers. These were sent to CSAM detection platforms like PhotoDNA and verified by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. The dataset does not keep... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/20/24009418/generative-ai-image-laion-csam-google-stability-stanford

Microsoft’s obelisk keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Microsoft’s top-tier Xbox console keeps getting cheaper. It seemed like a big deal when the Xbox Series X fell to $350 just a couple of weeks ago, but now Best Buy is selling it through one of its limited in-app “drop” sales for a new low of $339.99 ($160 off). To take advantage of the deal, you’ll need a free Best Buy account and the retailer’s app . If the direct links here don’t take you right to the listing within Best Buy’s app to buy the Series X at the discounted price, then look toward the bottom strip of icons in the app and click the Drops icon in the middle. (It depicts a downward arrow.) The deal is available today only until 6PM ET / 3PM PT or when inventory runs out. Best Buy has a live inventory tracker, which hasn’t ticked... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/19/24007889/microsoft-xbox-series-x-console-best-buy-drop-deal-sale

Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado, on Monday, December 18th, 2023. Pictured is a young female brought to the state from Oregon. | Image: Colorado Parks and Wildlife Five gray wolves have a new home in Colorado; state wildlife officials released them yesterday in a spectacular show of efforts to conserve the endangered species. Colorado Parks and Wildlife experts swung crate doors open one by one to let the wolves run free onto public land. Some wolves hesitated for a moment, seemingly taking stock of their new surroundings, while others quickly bolted into the tall dry grass against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. It was a moment conservations have worked toward for years, overcoming much of the stigma that brought wolves to the brink of extinction in the first place. Residents voted to reintroduce the species in Colorado back in 2020, setting the state on a path to release its first new... Continue reading… ...

Image: Netflix The idea of the world ending usually channels excess: humanity running wild because, well, what does it matter anymore? And there’s some of that in Carol & the End of the World , a new animated series on Netflix. But mostly it’s a story about a quiet forty-something woman who uses the impending destruction of the Earth as a chance for self-reflection and discovery. While everyone else is base jumping and traveling the world, Carol slowly finds joy in the mundanity of everyday life. The show is strange yet comforting — and might just be an ideally meditative way to end the year. Created by Dan Guterman ( Community , Rick & Morty ), Carol & the End of the World is centered on Carol (Martha Kelly) who is about the most unassuming person... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24006568/carol-and-the-end-of-world-review-netflix

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/18/24006119/acura-zdx-reservation-ev-price-specs-performance

He’s not a spaceman, he’s a... business, man. | Laura Normand / The Verge I was about halfway through Lex Fridman’s interview with Jeff Bezos, which is longer than Citizen Kane , when I realized what Bezos was up to: this is a warning shot across SpaceX’s bow. “Blue Origin needs to be much faster,” Bezos said . “It’s one of the reasons I left my role as the CEO of Amazon a couple of years ago. I wanted to come in — Blue Origin needs me right now.” The goal, he said, was to make it clear that Blue Origin, his rocket company, needed to speed things up. Bezos also demonstrated that he understands how shade works: “When I was the CEO of Amazon, my point of view on this is, ‘If I’m the CEO of a publicly traded company, it’s going to get my full attention.’” He didn’t say “Tesla” and didn’t have to. Anyone who watches... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24001656/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-space-blue-origin-rivalry

Travel website Expedia wants to get people to start their travel search on its site with AI instead of using an external search engine. Expedia already uses AI for some customer service features and to help property owners describe their homes and hotels. The company hopes in the future that AI will help it recommend travel destinations to customers based on previous trips and bring more direct traffic to its site. It’s a long-term plan to shift the balance of power on the web — albeit one that’s still in its earliest stages for the company. Rajesh Naidu, chief architect and head of data management at Expedia, says the goal is to get users started on their trips in one place. Expedia hopes to produce recommendations trained with its... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/18/24003416/expedia-travel-generative-ai-personalized-model

Flipboard has been experimenting with fediverse integration for months now. | Image: Flipboard Flipboard is taking its biggest step yet into the fediverse. The company announced on Monday that it is beginning to switch its user accounts to ActivityPub , which means that everyone curating stuff on Flipboard is now doing so in a way that apps like Mastodon can see and interact with. Right now, only 25 accounts (including The Verge ’s) have been federated with ActivityPub, but by March Flipboard says it plans to allow anyone on the platform to open their account to the fediverse and allow any Flipboard user to follow any fediverse account from within the Flipboard app. At that point, Flipboard will essentially be an ActivityPub-based platform like Mastodon or Pixelfed but with an interface designed for reading articles instead of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/18/24006062/flipboard-fediverse-mastodon-activitypub-profiles-social

A dog passes a pile of destroyed items that were removed from a once flooded home as residents begin the recovery process from Hurricane Harvey August 31, 2017 in Houston, Texas. | Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images More than 16 million people in the contiguous US — roughly 5 percent of the population — live in a place with heightening flood risk and a shrinking population, according to new research. It makes the case that “climate abandonment areas” are becoming a more prevalent phenomenon in the US as people avoid places particularly vulnerable to climate-related disasters. What’s a climate abandonment area? It’s a census block where flood risk has grown high enough to start pushing people to leave. Many of these areas lie along the Texas Gulf Coast, coastal Florida, and the mid-Atlantic. But it’s by no means confined to these regions, which can get hit repeatedly by storms during the Atlantic hurricane season. Climate abandonment areas are... Con...

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… source https://www.theverge.com/24001741/may-mobility-driverless-service-microtransit-robotaxi

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/17/24005428/blue-origin-launch-december-18-livestream

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/17/24004950/peloton-plus-app-third-party-treadmill-support-subscriber-only

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… source https://www.theverge.com/24003500/epic-v-google-loss-apple-win-fortnite-trial-monopoly

The two women are the stars of one of the most watches shows on Netflix this year. | Image Amanda Matlovich/Netflix Stop me if you’ve heard this one. You’re at a holiday gathering and some very offline family member starts chatting about the show Yellowstone . Pretty soon after a very online family member looks up in confusion and asks either what the show is or why they keep hearing about it when no one they know seems to watch it. But maybe it’s not Yellowstone . Maybe its La Reina Del Sur , or The Glory , or maybe its Ginny & Georgia . What those three shows all have in common is they’re three of the most watched shows on Netflix between January and June 2023, and if you haven’t heard of them it’s probably because you’re part of the increasing gulf between the shows people talk about online and the ones everyone is actually watching. These new Netflix... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24003126/netflix-viewing-data-ginny-georgia-witcher

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… source https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003080/google-stadia-controllers-bluetooth-deadline-extended