Posts

I let Gemini in Google Maps plan my day and it went surprisingly well

Image
Take me to the tacos, Gemini. You may be familiar with Gemini as the thing that's in every Google service you use - whether you want it or not. While it's been a constant, sometimes unwelcome presence in Gmail for at least the past year, it's a relatively new addition to Maps . And you know what? It's kind of great. To put it to the test, I had Gemini plan a day-long itinerary for me around the city. After an hour or so of having Gemini find stuff for me - playgrounds near the new light rail extension, kid-friendly restaurants with vehicle themes, you get the gist - I was impressed. Some of the suggestions were obvious, but I also bookmarked a handful of spots not on m … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/p6mH3lh

Is the Slate Truck too minimal for its own good?

Image
The first thing you notice about the Slate Truck is its size. It's small, surprisingly so. In a country where trucks often come with their own zip code, Slate's pickup is refreshingly puny, measuring 174.6 inches long, 70.6 inches wide, and 69.3 inches tall, with a curb weight of approximately 3,602 pounds (1,634kg). As a reference point, it's nearly the same size as Marty McFly's 1985 Toyota SR5 from Back to the Future . But inside, that diminutive feeling disappears, as I found myself with ample amounts of head- and legroom. As a relatively tallish guy (over 6 feet) who often feels cramped in most vehicles, I couldn't believe the amount o … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/IfcaiGj

How the Amazon Echo learned to talk — and listen

Image
A photo of a black speaker, the Amazon Echo, on a gray background. | Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Jeff Bezos badly wanted a voice computer. He had been saying so publicly since the very early days of Amazon, telling anyone who would listen about why voice might make it easier and more natural to interact with technology. (And to buy stuff from Jeff Bezos.) But when a team at Amazon set out to actually make the voice computer a reality, they encountered a seemingly endless series of hard problems. Eventually, though, they created two products, the Echo speaker and the Alexa voice assistant, that would help bring a new kind of computer to millions of people. On this episode of Version History , we tell the story of the Echo's development i … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/4AD06kZ

Grammarly’s sloppelganger saga

Image
This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the ups and downs of AI, follow Stevie Bonifield . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Most people probably know Grammarly for its browser extension that suggests how to spruce up your emails, but over the past few years, it's been eyeing bigger ambitions. In October, the company formerly known as Grammarly made a public pivot to rebrand as an AI company called Superhuman . The new name was adopted from Superhuman Mail, an AI email platform that Grammarly acquired i … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/lNM5Wzp

Anthropic essentially bans OpenClaw from Claude by making subscribers pay extra

Image
Using OpenClaw with Claude AI is about to get a lot more expensive, thanks to Anthropic's new policy changes. Beginning April 4th at 3PM ET, users will "no longer be able to use your Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw," according to an email sent to users on Friday evening. Instead, if users want to use OpenClaw with Claude, they'll have to use a "pay-as-you-go option" that will be billed separate from their Claude subscription. With OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger now employed by OpenAI , Anthropic may also be encouraging subscribers to use more of its own tools, like Claude Cowork, instead . Steinber … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/xXuwyMh

OpenAI’s AGI boss is taking a leave of absence

Image
OpenAI is undergoing another round of C-suite changes, according to an internal memo viewed by The Verge . Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of AGI deployment - who was until recently the company's CEO of Applications - says in the memo that she will be stepping away on medical leave "for the next several weeks" due to a neuroimmune condition. While she's out, OpenAI president Greg Brockman will be in charge of product, including leading OpenAI's super app efforts. On the business side, CSO Jason Kwon, CFO Sarah Friar, and CRO Denise Dresser will take charge. OpenAI's CMO, Kate Rouch, has also decided to step down in order to focus on her health, … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/76AlweD

Lenovo Legion Go 2 suddenly costs $650 more as RAMageddon lays waste to gaming hardware

Image
The Legion Go 2’s mouse mode, unique among Windows handhelds. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Remember when we thought the Legion Go 2 was expensive at $1,099 and up? Those were the days - Best Buy is now listing Lenovo's handheld for $1,499 with a Ryzen Z2 or $1,999 with a Z2 Extreme . The latter originally cost $1,349, so that's a $650 jump in just six months. And yes, that means Lenovo's flagship may now cost twice as much as a $999 Microsoft/Asus Xbox Ally X with the same AMD chip, as much as a far more powerful GPD Win 5 with AMD Strix Halo cost last year. But the way things are going, it's probably only a matter of time till Microsoft's handheld Xbox hikes its price too. (For now, Asus rep Anthony Spence tells me there's "no pr … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/Ki7E5ux