Lead Hacker

Image: Apple Apple says it’s working on a fix for an issue that’s causing some iPhone owners’ alarms to trigger silently. That’s according to the Today show’s segment this morning about the issue, which has been spreading on social media as users complain that their alarms aren’t waking them up. Vergecast producer Liam James told me he’s been having the same problem since Friday, with an alarm that he set “6 or 7 years ago” and hasn’t touched since. It’s not clear how widespread the problem is. If you’re going through it, though, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to check a couple of your settings. One is to make sure that the ringtone and alerts volume slider under Settings > Sound & Haptics is turned up. It can be easy to accidentally turn down your... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/30/24145296/apple-iphone-alarm-sounds-broken-ios-bug-fix-coming

Image: OnLeaks via Smartprix The Google Pixel 8A might not be getting that rumored price hike after all. Details shared with Smartprix by reliable leaker OnLeaks suggest that the base 128GB model will have the same $499 price as its predecessor. However, Google could bump the price of the Pixel 8A to $559 for a new 256GB storage option, according to Smartprix . The leak also suggests that the Pixel 8A will come with a larger 4,500mAh battery instead of the 4,385mAh option that came with the Pixel 7A. So far, Pixel 8A leaked details point to a G3 Tensor chip just like its more expensive siblings, along with a brighter 120Hz display than its predecessors, IP67 water resistance, and seven years of security upgrades . It’s also rumored to come with Google’s AI features... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/30/24145318/google-pixel-8a-price-leak-battery-details

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge GitHub wants Copilot, its code completion platform powered by GPT-4, present throughout the lifecycle of development, including the very beginning of a coding project. The company is announcing GitHub Copilot Workspace, a new service that aims to cut down the time engineers and developers spend reading through code and figuring out how to start on a new project. Workspace will only be available in technical preview for a waitlist of developers, but it will be integrated into the larger GitHub Copilot platform after it exits preview. GitHub wrote in a blog post that Copilot Workspace will be integrated into GitHub repositories or libraries. Developers can describe to Copilot Workspace, through prompts, what they want to do for the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/29/24144454/github-copilot-workspace-ai-coding-developer-preview-launch

Image: The Verge ID@Xbox has put together its own indie showcase to show off a host of indie games coming to console and PC. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/29/24144369/id-xbox-indie-showcase-april-2024

‘The world’s lightest city e-bike’ claim is worth a test, if not your $1,799. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24144163/fiido-air-carbon-fiber-e-bike-review-price-specs

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images The Financial Times has struck a deal with OpenAI to license its content and develop AI tools, the latest news organization to work with the AI company. The FT writes in a press release that ChatGPT users will see summaries, quotes, and links to its articles. Any prompt that returns information from the FT will be attributed to the publication. In return, OpenAI will work with the news organization to develop new AI products. The FT already uses OpenAI products, saying it is a customer of ChatGPT Enterprise. Last month, the FT released a generative AI search function on beta powered by Anthropic’s Claude large language model. Ask FT lets subscribers find information across the publication’s articles. Financial Times Group CEO John... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/29/24141869/financial-times-licensing-deal-openai-news

That’s too cold! | Image: Amazon I don’t know about you, but when I have a nasty case of the hot phone, I have to get rid of that heat this instant . Just kidding, I usually just put it down for a while or restart it when it’s being especially stubborn. But there are companies out there marketing a different solution: little stick-on phone-cooling fans that purport to draw all that heat away. And their product images are a little, uh, excessively icy. How did it come to this? What kicked off this arms race of increasingly frosty phones? I have to assume things started innocently enough, but these RGB-riddled things are pretty squarely aimed at gamers — I’d guess it didn’t take long for these product shots to snowball into the wildly unrealistic pictures on Amazon today. ... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/28/24143845/phone-cooler-fans-ice-graphics

Image: Marvel Studios I’ve been making more of an effort to keep up with movies lately and even managed the rare feat of seeing one in an actual movie theater. I saw Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare , which stars Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Elza González, Babs Olusanmokun, and others in what I interpreted as a goofy spaghetti western / spy / heist film. I suppose it’s also a war movie, being based (very loosely) on a true story about a collection of unstoppable guys set on an unsanctioned secret mission to destroy a German U-boat resupply ship during World War II. It doesn’t try to ruminate on the weight of the mission, which was to clear the way for American ships to cross the Atlantic and join the war effort. Ministry is... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/28/24143685/best-movie-trailers-week-april-21

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge I paid a lot of money for the privilege of getting an Apple Vision Pro brand-new in February. All-in, with optical inserts and taxes, I financed a little over $3,900 for the 256GB version of the headset. A day or so ago, I made a mistake that I’m sure many early adopters are familiar with: I looked up how much it’s been selling for on eBay. On Wednesday, a 1TB Vision Pro, complete with all the included gear, Apple’s fluffy $200 travel case, $500 AppleCare Plus, and claimed to have been “worn maybe about an hour” sold for $3,200 after 21 bids. The listed shipping estimate was $20.30. Brand new, that combination is $5,007.03 on Apple’s site for me. Another eBay listing, this one with my headset’s configuration (but sans optical inserts) w... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/27/24142810/apple-vision-pro-ebay-low-prices

Still one of the coolest shots in all of sci-fi, even in orange. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge Terminator 2: Judgment Day was — and is, for some — the standard-bearer for bombastic tentpole action films after it was released in 1991, but many of its fans have been less than enthusiastic about its Blu-ray releases. In recent years, though, people who love the movie have been restoring it using 35mm prints, and one of those efforts has been making the rounds over on X. Jon W., who frequently posts about movies and projects like these, compiled a few screenshots in a thread comparing the new version with other transfers. They didn’t credit the person working on this directly, but did post a screenshot of text from “the person who restored Terminator” — Googling some of it verbatim led me to Rob’s Nostalgia Projects . ... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/27/24142560/terminator-2-judgment-day-35mm-fan-restoration

The QuietComfort Ultra offer the best noise cancellation you can get in a pair of wireless earbuds, full stop. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge If the bar for noise-canceling earbuds seems high right now, that’s because Bose and Sony seem to raise it with every addition to their respective lineups. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are a great example of just how impressive ANC has become in the last few years, particularly in the earbuds space. And now, thanks to a $50 discount, you can pick them up at Amazon , Best Buy , and Walmart for $249. If noise cancellation is your top priority when selecting a pair of wireless earbuds, there’s no better choice than the Ultra. Bose’s latest earbuds do a terrific job masking the sounds of traffic, talking, and other noisy facets of everyday life, allowing you to soak in your playlists and podcasts without unwanted distractions. When you do w... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/27/24141775/bose-quietcomfort...

Art by Samar Haddad / Space Vacation A look at Samar Haddad’s bold homages, from sci-fi to comedy. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24141564/space-vacation-samar-haddad-art-prints-sci-fi-interview

The new sets include a Town Hall and Dodo Airlines airport. | Image: Lego Good news for those of us who love Animal Crossing and Legos. Starting August 1st, Lego is launching two new Animal Crossing sets and a minifig of one very special canine crooner. Lego teased the news on its X account , which shows K.K. Slider doing his thing and a brief glimpse of the two new sets. (Amusingly, Lego notes that the K.K. Slider minifigure does not actually move or sing. Bummer.) K.K. Slider is part of a fall-themed Town Hall set, which includes Isabelle and Audie. There’s also a small truck, snack stand, and some foliage to go along with K.K. Slider’s concert setup. The other set is of a Dodo Airlines airport, complete with a control tower, dock, and airplane. Granted, hordes of your turnip-hungry friends won’t be flying... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/26/24141487/lego-animal-crossing-kk-slider

For Fossil, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge When Fossil announced it was leaving the Android smartwatch space , I wasn’t surprised. The signs had been there for a while. What I didn’t expect was how sad it made me feel. Fossil’s smartwatches had never been the best. Their battery life was meh, health tracking could be iffy, and before Wear OS 3, the company was often let down by Google’s neglect. But now that Fossil has called it quits, it’s left a massive vacuum in the Wear OS ecosystem. Who, if anyone, can fill that void? Is there even a point when Google and Samsung dominate that space? It’s been a few months, and I’m still not sure there’s a real answer. Throughout Wear OS’s dark days — back when it was Android Wear, even — Fossil soldiered on. It continued to make... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24137096/fossil-wear-os-smartwatches-oneplus-mobvoi-garmin

Looking back on a decade of coverage. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23727238/net-neutrality-history-fcc-legislation

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images The Federal Communications Commission voted 3–2 to restore net neutrality rules , reversing a repeal ushered through during the Trump administration. Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) should not be able to discriminate against different kinds of content by blocking or throttling connection speeds or offering paid prioritization for different internet traffic. The FCC has sought to accomplish this by reclassifying ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act, giving the agency more regulatory authority over them. Democratic FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in remarks ahead of the vote that internet access went from a “nice to have, to need to have.” She added, “Broadband is now an... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/25/24140157/fcc-vote-restore-net-neutrality-rosenworcel-biden

Image: Wacom Wacom has thrown a tablet-shaped curveball at digital creatives waiting on Apple’s highly anticipated OLED iPads. The company introduced the Wacom Movink 13 on Wednesday, its own OLED-based offering that targets creatives in need of a highly portable display drawing tablet. Available now for $750 via the Wacom web store , the Movink features a full HD 13.3-inch Samsung OLED display that gives it several advantages over comparably midrange LED-based tablets. The most notable is the lack of a backlight — not only does that prevent light leakage and excess heat , according to Wacom (the latter being a familiar nuisance for display tablet users), but it also allows the tablet to be more compact. Wacom says the Movink is the “thinnest and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/25/24140168/wacom-movink-13-oled-drawing-tablet-price-announcement

Illustration: The Verge Reddit is updating its mobile app on iOS and Android to emphasize comments, the company said today. The handful of changes announced are aimed at “removing hurdles and reducing friction points,” the company wrote in a blog post. The changes are subtle but add up to comments becoming more of a focal point in the user experience. Comments will now load faster and open in an “instant” when users click on the comment icon of a post. Clicking the comments icon takes users straight to the top comment, essentially bypassing the original post. GIF: Reddit A “context bar” with the original post will be pinned to the top of the screen with the text, image, or video content compressed. Clicking on the thumbnail will take the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/24/24139196/reddit-app-update-instant-comments-loading

Just look at the abject horror on that kid’s face. | Image: Nissan Almost seven years ago, my partner and I took an ill-advised road trip for a wedding with our nearly one-month-old child. In those early days, our kid cried. A lot. Loudly. In the confines of an SUV, this meant a nightmare of constantly pulling over to try, desperately and often in vain, to quell the woes of this tiny fleshy sack full of our combined genetics that has no understanding of our world. That’s where things like the “intelligent puppet” Iruyo , a two-piece, fluffy animatronic toy with the claimed ability to recognize when a child is sleeping, ostensibly comes in. Iruyo was designed by Nissan in partnership with an ad agency and a retail baby product chain (so we’re already off to a great start) as part of a marketing campaign... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/24/24139097/nissan-iruyo-animatronic-baby-car-toy

Image: Amazon For production designer Howard Cummings, Fallout wasn’t just the name of his most recent project — it also became a verb. As he was working on Amazon’s live-action adaptation of the game series , Cummings and his team used the word Fallout as a shorthand to describe the particular retrofuturistic, post-apocalyptic style the franchise is known for. “Everything had to be Fallout -ed,” he tells The Verge . “For locations, I’d say: ‘How do I Fallout this grocery store?’” Initially, though, that wasn’t the plan. Going into the project, Cummings — who previously worked on shows like Westworld and Lovecraft Country — didn’t know all that much about the games and thought he might have to update the visual style to make it “slicker.” That changed... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24137217/fallout-amazon-prime-video-production-design-interview

There’s a new cat-eye frame called the Skyler. | Image: Meta Meta just announced a slew of new updates for its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg just dropped an Instagram reel showing off a new cat-eye frame style for the glasses and a video calling feature. You can also now connect the glasses with Apple Music, and last but not least, the multimodal AI assistant is live for everyone in the US and Canada. You can peep a pretty clear demo of the video calling feature from Zuckerberg’s reel. In it, he talks to Eva Chen, who runs fashion at Instagram, about the new Skyler frames and... chain lengths , of all things. The existing Wayfarer and Headliner models are also getting some new colors. The Headliner, which has rounder lenses, is also getting a low-bridge fit for folks who have... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/24138228/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses-wearables-ai-apple-music

Photo by Ulrik Pedersen / DeFodi Images via Getty Images It looks like Apple’s foray into streaming soccer could be getting even more ambitious. According to a report from The New York Times , Apple is close to a deal with FIFA — the sport’s global governing body — for worldwide rights for an expanded version of the Club World Cup that will take place in the US in 2025. The Times says that the deal could be worth upward of $1 billion and that an official announcement could happen sometime this month. If the deal goes through, it would mark Apple’s second major broadcast partnership in the sport. In 2022, the company signed a 10-year deal for streaming rights to Major League Soccer, which got a big boost a year later with Lionel Messi’s arrival in Miami . The deal with FIFA would be more notable,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/22/24137251/apple-streaming-fifa-club-world-cup-report

Image: Weta Workshop / Private Division One of the most famous pieces of literature in the world starts with, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” and now, technology has advanced to the point where we can be that hobbit with our own holes in the ground. Private Division and Weta Workshop have released the first official trailer for Tales of the Shire , a cozy, hobbit life sim where players can live out the fantasy of being one of Bilbo’s halfling neighbors. The premise of Tales of the Shire is extremely simple: make your hobbit hole the picture of comfort. Seems like there will be other activities like cooking for your neighbors, fishing, and exploring the greater world of The Shire — kinda like Stardew Valley meets The Hobbit . The trailer seemed to leak ahead of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24137113/tales-of-the-shire-trailer-private-division-weta-workshop

Doris Ríos is a Cabécar leader who has fought to reclaim Indigenous territory in Costa Rica. | Collage by Israel Vargas | Photos by Justine Calma These women took back their land in Costa Rica, and now they plan to reforest it. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/22/24133444/forest-restoration-indigenous-human-rights-costa-rica-earth-day

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is starting to improve the experience of downloading Windows store apps from the web. The software giant has built what it calls an “undocked version of the [Microsoft] Store” that works like a typical executable to install apps from the Microsoft Store. It should cut down on the complexity involved in finding Windows store apps on the web and installing them. Instead of launching the Microsoft Store and a mini window, now when you download apps from the web version of the Microsoft Store it will download a standalone installer instead. This means you don’t have to click install on the web, then allow Chrome or Edge to open the Microsoft Store, and finally hit install to actually install the app. A lightweight installer will be... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/22/24136942/microsoft-store-installers-web-download-windows

Embracer Group will house major properties like the Lord of The Rings under its new Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends company. | Image: Warner Bros. Swedish gaming conglomerate Embracer Group announced plans on Monday to split itself into three distinct games and entertainment companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. These will be separate, publicly listed companies, according to Embracer’, which says the move will allow “each entity to better focus on their respective core strategies and offer more differentiated and distinct equity stories for existing and new shareholders.” “This move towards three independent companies reinforces Embracer’s vision of backing entrepreneurs and creators with a long-term mindset,” says Lars Wingefors, co-founder and Embracer Group CEO, “allowing them to continue to deliver unforgettable experiences... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/22/24136934/embracer-gr...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A couple of weeks ago, I ran out of screen on the one external monitor my work-issued MacBook Air can run. So I switched to my five-year-old Windows desktop and plugged in another monitor. Love it. Productivity through the roof. But it means that I’m finally spending significant time in Windows 11, and gosh, is it janky. There are some things that Windows does very well compared to macOS and Linux. All the games are there, for one thing, and Windows runs on all sorts of hardware without a lot of fiddling. You do not have to spend a thousand dollars minimum on a non-upgradable machine to use it. You also generally do not have to download a bunch of drivers or spend six hours in the command line hand-assembling the goddamn operating... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/21/24063379/windows-11-ads-bing-edge-cruft

With a new ownership structure, Home Assistant is making big plans for the future. | The Verge How Home Assistant plans to transition from an enthusiast platform to a mainstream consumer product. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24135207/home-assistant-announces-open-home-foundation

Image: Netflix Netflix’s Rebel Moon films both feel like Zack Snyder trying to celebrate sci-fi classics by gently riffing on them in some of the least inspired ways possible. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24134948/netflix-zack-snyder-rebel-moon-2-review

Courtesy of IFC Films and Shudder Horror films live and die by their conceits. And sometimes, the best way to make a movie scary is to place it in an environment that’s not scary at all. Is there anything further from spooky than a brightly lit TV studio? The surprise box office darling Late Night with the Devil , which hit horror streamer Shudder this weekend (and might be more suited to home viewing), tries to make one of the most innocuous American broadcast traditions into a terror. David Dastmalchian, a character actor who you’ll recognize from the margins of half a dozen Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve movies, gets a rare star turn as Jack Delroy, the host of late-night talk show Night Owls . But in an era where Johnny Carson rules after-hours broadcast,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/20/24135658/late-night-with-the-devil-horror-movie-shudder

Image: Post News Post News, a Twitter alternative that emerged in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover, is shutting down. Noam Bardin, the platform’s founder and former CEO of Waze, writes that Post News “is not growing fast enough to become a real business or a significant platform.” The Andreessen Horowitz-backed platform launched in a closed beta in November 2022, but now it’s set to shutter “within the next few weeks.” It serves as a social platform that also offers users ad-free access to paywalled content from publishers such as Fortune , Business Insider , Wired , The Boston Globe , and others. All users have to do is pay a “few cents” per article instead of signing up for a subscription to each publication. Screenshot by Emma Roth / The... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24135011/twitter-alternative-post-news-shutdown

Friend or foe? The Jetsons’ Rosey the Robot has long been an inspiration for developing home robots. But should it be? | Image: Warner Bros. Television, Hanna-Barbera As a child of the 1980s, my perception of the smart home has been dominated by the idea that one day, we will all have Rosey the Robot-style robots roaming our homes — dusting the mantelpiece, preparing dinner, and unloading the dishwasher. (That last one is a must; we were smart enough to come up with a robot to wash our dishes; can’t we please come up with one that can also unload them?) However, after seeing Boston Dynamics’ latest droid, Atlas, unveiled this week, my childhood dreams are fast turning into a smart home nightmare. While The Jetsons ’ robot housekeeper had a steely charm, accentuated by its frilly apron, the closer we come to having humanoid robots in our home, the more terrifying it appears they will be. Not so much... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24134905/...

Image: Riley Testut The launch of the Delta emulator on iPhones is a big deal in a lot of ways . But for users, it’s also just really cool. Here’s an excellent piece of software that can emulate the NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, GBA, and Nintendo DS so that you can play classic games on a device that’s always in your pocket. Even better: even though there’s no Delta app for the Apple TV (yet), it’s still really easy to use it to play games on your television. This is because Delta supports AirPlay so that you can stream video and sound from your phone to another Apple device, like an Apple TV or computer. For Delta, this means that the game itself plays on the bigger screen while your phone becomes a touchscreen controller. Or, if you connect a Bluetooth... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24134871/delta-emulator-apple-tv-airplay

Photo by Ashok Kumar / TAS24 / Getty Images for TAS Rights Management TikTok has launched a new hub to promote Taylor Swift’s new album where you can earn in-app rewards for completing certain tasks, like following Swift’s account on the platform. The update comes just days after Swift’s music returned to TikTok as the app continues to feud with the singer’s record label, Universal Music Group (UMG). Image: TikTok You can access the hub by searching for The Tortured Poets Department ( TTPD ) and then clicking on the banner that appears at the top of the results. There, TikTok displays a list of “challenges” to complete, which will let you unlock a TTPD profile frame, among other rewards. TikTok will also give users the chance to show up in its “fan spotlight” on the hub by posting a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24134795/taylor-swift-ttpd-tiktok-hub-universal-music-group

Mark Zuckerberg announcing Meta’s AI assistant at Connect 2023. | Image: Meta Meta’s AI assistant is being put everywhere across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Meanwhile, the company’s next major AI model, Llama 3, has arrived. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/18/24133808/meta-ai-assistant-llama-3-chatgpt-openai-rival

Image: Sony At the premium end of home theater, Sony TVs are about as good as it gets — and have been for several years now. The company is lauded for its image processing and penchant for delivering fantastic picture quality in both its flagship sets and lower-cost options like the X90L. So there’s pressure that comes with every refresh of the lineup. But Sony’s not letting that stop it from taking some bold steps in 2024. This year, the company’s primary focus is on Mini LED. And more specifically, all eyes are on the top-of-the-line Bravia 9. There’s still an OLED in the new roster — that’s the Bravia 8 — and last year’s A95L QD-OLED is also sticking around. But Sony has spent years refining its own approach to packing thousands of LEDs into a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/17/24132829/sony-2024-bravia-9-8-7-3-mini-led-oled-tv

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Brandon Bell, Getty Images Truth Social, the media firm owned by Donald Trump, has announced plans to create a live TV streaming service focused on “news networks” and “religious channels,” along with “content that has been canceled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed.” The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) says it will launch the streaming service in three phases, with the first involving the rollout of the company’s content delivery network (CDN). A CDN, such as those operated by Cloudflare and Akamai, is a service websites use to help webpages load faster. TMTG says its CDN will operate “independent of Big Tech,” allowing the platform to avoid getting kicked from a third-party CDN for potential policy violations. Once that’s up and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/16/24131954/truth-social-live-tv-streaming-service-donald-trump

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing a $7 million fine against Cerebral, a mental telehealth firm that it says not only was careless with patients’ data but actively shared it with third parties for advertising purposes. The company and its CEO, Kyle Robertson, are also accused of lying to customers about how their data is shared and of having a misleading cancellation policy. The FTC notes that Cerebral shared the sensitive data “of nearly 3.2 million consumers” with third parties like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Snapchat through trackers on its website or apps — something the company admitted to last year . That apparently included details like home and email addresses, phone numbers, pharmacy and health insurance details, and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/16/24131881/ftc-fine-cerebral-telehealth

Image: Getty Images Parcast founder Max Cutler left Spotify last February as part of a wave of high-profile departures from its podcast vertical, and he’s now launching Pave Studios to create content across multiple formats. “Storytellers who successfully engage audiences and create fandoms through written, audio, and video content have led the charge in cultivating their robust communities into diverse businesses,” said Cutler. The company has two new brands to start, with OpenMind, which focuses on wellness, and the true crime-geared Crime House. Image: Pave Studios Spotify acquired the true crime and horror-focused studio Parcast in 2019 as part of a $1 billion investment in original podcasts. After the sale, Cutler went on to serve... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/16/24132017/pave-studios-max-cutler-spotify-parcast-podcasts

A sign warns of elevated fire danger in the Oakland Hill area of Oakland, California, on Thursday, October 29th, 2020. | Photo by Philip Pacheco / Bloomberg via Getty Images Hate to break it to you, baby — but if you were born in the US this year, climate change could wind up costing you around $500,000 over the course of your lifetime. That’s according to a new study commissioned by Consumer Reports and conducted by consulting firm ICF. The study counts up higher bills for climate-related calamities that drive up housing, food, and healthcare costs, for example. On top of that, there’s the prospect of higher taxes and lost income over the years in a warming world. While there’s a lot of uncertainty built into the study, it’s an attempt at breaking down all the big and little ways that climate change can affect daily life. Each stifling heatwave, flooded road, and downed power line costs consumers... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/16/24131880/baby-...

The second-gen AirPods, Apple’s most affordable earbuds, are on sale for just $89. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge If you know where to look, you can often score discounts on Apple’s ever-popular AirPods. Since Apple launched the third-gen AirPods at the end of 2021, we’ve seen the starting price of the second-gen, entry-level model slowly dip to under $100. And now that the second-gen AirPods Pro have been on the market for over a year, we’re also seeing their price fall more often, too. We’re even seeing great deals land on the newer updated AirPods Pro with USB-C . Here, we’ve curated the best deals currently available on each model, including the entry-level AirPods, the AirPods Pro, the third-gen AirPods, and the AirPods Max. The best AirPods (second-gen) deals In 2021, Apple lowered the list price of the second-gen AirPods — now the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/21302051/best-apple-airpods-deals

Sony’s flagship earbuds are smaller, lighter, and better-sounding than the last-gen model. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Whether you need some peace while working from home or plan on taking some summer travels, a good pair of wireless earbuds is crucial for preserving and protecting your sanity. My favorites have been from Sony’s flagship line. I started with Sony’s WF-1000XM4 before the dastard battery drain bug rendered them unusable . They were great otherwise, and I liked them so much that I took a chance on the WF-1000XM5 , which so far haven’t thrust the same thorns in my side. They retail for $299.95, but Amazon is selling them starting at $229.95 right now, which is only a few dollars shy of their all-time low. The XM5 are Sony’s latest flagship pair of noise-canceling earbuds. They’re comfortable and offer excellent sound quality, not to mention... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24130833/sony-wf-1000xm5-earbuds-apple-magic-key...

Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge The revamped Disney Plus app could soon feature always-on channels dedicated to Star Wars and Marvel shows, according to a report from The Information . The channels, which are reportedly similar to those on free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto or Tubi, could take away the choice when it comes to picking out what to watch next. In addition to Star Wars and Marvel series, Disney’s lineup of channels could feature stations that continuously stream Disney’s classic animated films or movies from Pixar, The Information reports. Even though viewers would need a Disney Plus subscription to tune in to the channels, they will likely still contain ads — just like traditional television. There still aren’t any details about when the new... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24131034/disney-plus-fast-channels-streaming

Image: EVgo Rivian is pushing a new software update that will give its customers better insight into which EV chargers to visit — and which to avoid. EV charging reliability remains a serious sore spot for a lot of owners of plug-in vehicles , leaving the companies selling the cars scrambling to boost their confidence. Rivian’s solution is to use their vehicle fleet to gather data about broken chargers, which then get downranked in the company’s software algorithm. “Our North Star is charging and trip planning in EVs should just work,” Wassym Bensaid, Rivian’s head of software, told The Verge . “You should not think about it.” “Our North Star is charging and trip planning in EVs should just work.” I had the chance to test out Rivian’s new software... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24130849/rivian-ev-charger-score-software-update

The layoffs follow the company’s first drop in year-over-year vehicle deliveries since 2020. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A few weeks after reporting its first year-over-year decline in vehicle deliveries since 2020, Tesla is now planning to lay off over ten percent of its global workforce, according to an internal company-wide email seen by Electrek . That works out to at least 14,000 of the 140,473 employees that Tesla reported in its latest annual earnings . It’s not clear which teams at Tesla will be impacted. “There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done,” said Elon Musk, in the email published by Electrek . “This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.” Today’s development is the latest in a string of bad news for the EV maker. The company reported a miss in delivery estimates ahead of its quarterly earnings... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24130735/tesla-layoffs-10-percent-workf...

Ikea’s Brännboll range is just the right mix of neutrals and bright colors to match most modern homes. | Image: Ikea Ikea is introducing a new range of gaming furniture that subverts the usual dark, edgy “gamer” aesthetic for designs that are more likely to blend in with your existing home decor. The company’s Brännboll collection is a lineup of 20 items, including a desk, chairs, accessories, and various storage solutions. Following the mostly-black ROG collaboration Ikea released back in 2021, which was similarly free from overly aggressive “gamer” flourishes , the new Brännboll collection instead focuses on the kind of designs that Ikea does best — simple and recognizably Scandinavian. Seating is the main focus. There’s an armchair that folds out into a lounging position, a rocking-style chair designed to swing with your body’s movement, and an... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24130721/ikea-brannboll-gaming-furniture-range-chair-inflatable-a...

Image: OnLeaks / 91Mobiles Google could be adding a feature very similar to Apple’s Emergency SOS feature to the Pixel 9 and the next Pixel Fold . That’s according to leaker Kamila Wojciechowska, who writes for Android Authority that the company would partner with T-Mobile to offer the feature but may add other providers later. Just like Apple’s system, Google’s SOS feature would reportedly present future Pixel owners with a series of questions to ascertain what’s happening, rather than let users thumb one out. A video in the Android Authority article features the animation Google will display to users to help them get the phone aligned with a satellite. According to Wojciechowska, these are some of the questions the feature will ask: What happened? [Are you/Are... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/14/24130379/google-pixel-9-emergency-satellite-sos-modem-apple-iphone

Blackmagic’s new Micro Color Panel lets you edit video on the go. | Image: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design announced its video editing software, DaVinci Resolve, was coming to the iPad back in 2022 , and although it supports multitouch input and the Apple Pencil, sometimes, nothing beats purpose-built hardware. On Friday, Blackmagic announced the $495 DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel , which it says will be available worldwide in May and is specifically designed for the iPad. At 14.33 inches by 7.18 inches, the Micro Color Panel is about the size of a computer keyboard. It has an iPad Pro mounting slot and connects either via Bluetooth or USB-C. Besides being smaller than Blackmagic’s other color panels, the Micro is also significantly cheaper (The next one up — the Mini Panel — is listed at over $2,000 on Blackmagic’s... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/14/24130227/blackmagic-design-davinci-resolve-micro-color-panel-ipad-pro

A screenshot from iGBA. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge I played Game Boy Advance games on my iPhone last night thanks to a new emulator called iGBA, which appears to be the first Game Boy Advance emulator on the App Store since Apple started allowing emulators worldwide. The only trouble is, it doesn’t look like iGBA is developer Mattia La Spina’s own work. Emulation developer and AltStore creator Riley Testut says it’s a rip-off of GBA4iOS, the predecessor to his Delta emulator that was originally made for iOS over a decade ago and that he recently resurrected for the Vision Pro , the source code for which he has published online . Here are some screenshots for comparison, starting with iGBA: Screenshots: Wes Davis / The Verge Screenshots from iGBA. ... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/14/24129981/game-boy-emulator-igba-iphone-ios-app-store-gba4ios-testut-knock-off

The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 34, 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 .) This week, I’ve been writing about the Humane AI Pin and the Aboard app , reading about the Com World War and why studios cancel already-made movies , watching Ripley and a deep dive into the Game Boy’s incredible sturdiness and power , listening to The Rest is History take on Martin Luther , and seeing if Amazon’s Echo Frames can replace my headphones. I also have for you an excellent new video game show, a new ebook reader worth a look, yet another doc about how bad tech is, a sweet new drone, and much more. I also... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24128766/fallout-show-dji-avata-2-fairbuds-installer-newsletter

Image: California Highway Patrol Los Angeles citizens can rest easy knowing that a criminal theft ring is no longer stalking the city’s retail stores to feed a Lego black market. That’s because the California Highway Patrol (CHP) announced this week that it had arrested four people it accused of swiping what police estimated was “approximately $300,000” worth of Lego sets. The four had allegedly burgled stores like Target, Home Depot, and Lowe’s of their Lego stock and sold them to black-market dealers who would then vend the stolen bricks at “seemingly legitimate businesses, swap meets, or online.” Police say they were booked on “charges related to Organized Retail Theft, Grand Theft, and Conspiracy to commit a crime.” Image: California Highway Patrol ... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/13/24129595/lego-crime-ring-arrested-los-angeles-300000-dollars