its ur expert

Image: James Bareham / The Verge A federal judge has blocked a Texas law that would require age verification and health warnings for pornographic websites, calling it unconstitutional and poorly defined. In a preliminary injunction decision released today , Judge David Ezra ruled in favor of the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade association. The ruling prevents Texas from enforcing HB 1181, one of multiple state-level bills that would require age verification for accessing adult content online. Ezra, a Ronald Reagan-appointed district judge, said HB 1181 had numerous problems that could limit internet users and adult content creators’ First Amendment rights. “The restriction is constitutionally problematic because it deters adults’ access to legal sexually... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6X2Y9e4

Image: Larian Studios It brings me no joy to say this, but I can’t play Baldur’s Gate 3 for the foreseeable future. Is it because my plate of games is full and will remain so for the next eight years? That’s true, but it’s not the reason. Or is it because the game has taken over my life such that I ignore my personal and professional responsibilities? Also true — but still not the reason. It’s bugs . Bugs in a huge game like Baldur’s Gate 3 aren’t uncommon, and more often than not, they’re tolerable nuisances. My bug encounter rate in Act 1 and 2 was negligible, just minor graphical issues, texture pop-ins, and noticeable delays between when an NPC stops talking and my dialogue choices appear. Ignorable. But in Act 3, I’ve encountered an apparent bug so... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/GzZOEJt

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Pragyan rover does the twist on the Moon. | Image: ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is riding on the high of its Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission’s successful landing, sharing more of it with the world by posting a new video of the lander’s imager observing the rover as it rotates on the no-longer-Super-Blue Moon’s surface. India’s space agency is trying to research the Moon’s history on the south pole, where the Chandrayaan-3 probe successfully landed last week . The post describes the rover as a child “playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama” in a video captured on August 29th. Chandamama is a term of endearment toward the Moon in Hindi and other regional languages and is also used in nursery rhymes. (My mom used to sing this to me as a lullaby.) Chandrayaan-3 Mission: T... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/JBGHmZj

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is working on a feature that will allow Xbox owners to automatically upload their screenshots and clips to OneDrive. Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings can now test this new feature, which also allows you to upload your existing clip and screenshot collection to OneDrive. A new wizard will help Xbox owners walk through the process of syncing clips to OneDrive, including the option to upload existing ones. You don’t have to upload your entire existing collection, and you can choose the ones you want individually. Microsoft does warn that if you have a lot of clips, then the upload process could take a couple of days as it runs in the background. Switching on automatic uploads for future clips and screenshots... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/O1FmIXA

You’ll find no upward-firing full-range drivers on the Soundbar Mini. | Image: Sennheiser Sennheiser’s new Ambeo Soundbar Mini is the German audio brand’s third and most affordable soundbar. At $799 (€799 / £699), it’s still an expensive AV accessory, but in the context of the company’s original $2,499.95 Ambeo Soundbar Max and $1,499.95 Ambeo Soundbar Plus, the Mini’s asking price almost looks almost entry-level in comparison (almost). The Ambeo Soundbar Mini maintains many of the core specs of Sennheiser’s previous soundbars. It still supports a range of 3D surround sound formats like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 360 Reality Audio, and MPEG-H, it can still be paired with an utterly excessive four Sennheiser Ambeo Subs, and it still supports a full array of streaming options like Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Chromecast built-in, and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/XUun6sr

Starz often picks up canceled shows like HBO Max’s Minx . | Image: HBO Max Starz has lowered its annual subscription price from $74.99 a year to $69.99, Cord Cutters first reported and TechCrunch later confirmed . Starz emailed its subscribers the news on August 29th, explaining existing members will see the change in price on their next bill. It’s not clear why Starz, which is home to TV shows like Outlander , The Serpent Queen , and Minx , made the move, but it’s a welcome one. Alison Hoffman, president of domestic networks at Starz, only told TechCrunch via email that “as one of the few streaming networks that is profitable, we are always looking for ways to drive success for the business while providing great value to our customers.” “Our annual plan subscribers are some of our most valuable customers, so we... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/nXSETfN

Image: Google Google has rolled out a new SafeSearch feature that automatically blurs explicit (meaning violent, sexual, etc.) images in its results. This will occur for all users by default — including those who don’t have SafeSearch enabled. This setting was first announced back in February but was scheduled to roll out globally this month. The announcement is part of a larger Google Search initiative to, as the company puts it, “help you stay in control of your personal information, privacy, and online safety.” The company also recently announced updates to its “results about you” dashboard, which make it easier to request the removal of your own personal information or explicit imagery from search results. It’s also making it easier for families... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/jVWgqDS

Image: Activision First-person shooters like Call of Duty are somewhat infamous for the toxicity of their lobbies and voice chats. Surveys have dubbed the franchise’s fan base the most negative in all of gaming; a feud between two players once resulted in the summoning of a SWAT team . Activision has been trying to crack down on this behavior for years, and part of the solution might involve artificial intelligence. Activision has partnered with a company called Modulate to bring “in-game voice chat moderation” to their titles. The new moderation system, using an AI technology called ToxMod, will work to identify behaviors like hate speech, discrimination, and harassment in real time. ToxMod’s initial beta rollout in North America begins today. It’s active... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/CFhfHik

The Steam Deck’s biggest weakness is battery life — and yet somehow, every challenger has failed to raise that bar. The Ayaneo 2 showed us that AMD’s Ryzen 6800U wasn’t ready to compete; the Asus ROG Ally revealed that AMD’s Z1 Extreme couldn’t pull ahead if Asus insisted on matching the Steam Deck’s 40 watt-hour battery pack. But Ayaneo may have an answer: it’s stuffing a 75 watt-hour pack into a larger, heavier handheld called the Ayaneo Kun that — it now claims — can last nearly three and a quarter hours at 15W TDP. That’s nearly double the battery and runtime you’d expect from a Steam Deck at that wattage, though it appears it wasn’t captured while playing a game, exactly . Image: Ayaneo Ayaneo Kun battery... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/hOvpNIo

The Team Coco Radio logo. | Image: Team Coco This is Hot Pod , The Verge’ s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more. It’s only Tuesday, and it’s already been a packed week for podcast news. Shortly before hitting publish on this issue of Hot Pod , I got the news that just about every late-night talk show host in America is teaming up with Spotify to launch a limited podcast series about the Hollywood strike. The five hosts: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, have all had their shows on pause since May due to the Writers Guild strike. Strike Force Five will launch on Spotify and other platforms on August 30th, and the plan is for the limited series to run for at least 12 episodes. Notably, the proceeds from the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6I4NQig

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Verizon will offer a new $90 monthly cellphone plan called Unlimited Ultimate, announced in an update to the May blog post that announced its myPlan lineup. It offers 60GB of mobile hotspot data (double what you get with the $80 Unlimited Plus plan), 10GB of unthrottled international data, and includes access to the company’s 5G Ultra Wideband network that's a mix of the company’s C-band wireless signal and its faster mmWave 5G. T-Mobile similarly just introduced an expensive new "unlimited" data plan to its Go5G line with the $100 per month Go5G Next plan to complement its C-band spectrum. It offers slightly less hotspot data at 50GB but comes with Netflix Basic and Apple TV Plus and the option to upgrade your phone on a yearly... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/1ipo4lq

Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The US government just helped dismantle a massive network of computers infected with one of the world’s most notorious pieces of malware. According to the FBI , a multinational effort led by the US took down Qakbot, a malware that made its way into over 700,000 computers around the globe. Hackers typically target victims with Qakbot by sending them spam emails containing malicious attachments or links. As soon as a victim downloads the attachment or clicks the link, Qakbot infects their computer, which then becomes part of a botnet — or a network of infected computers controlled remotely by hackers. From there, bad actors can install additional malware on their victims’ devices, such as ransomware. Today, #FBI Director Christopher Wray... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/T40LocZ

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple is planning to launch a pair of “updated” AirPods with USB-C during its iPhone 15 event in September, according to a report from Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman . Rumors have been circulating for months about the possibility of Apple introducing AirPods with a USB-C-compatible charging case, but we haven’t heard anything this definite until now. However, we still don’t know whether the AirPods Pro will get the USB-C charging case, too, and Gurman doesn’t specify. In 2022, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple would introduce AirPods with a USB-C charging case sometime this year. It’s also not clear whether Apple will make any significant changes to the AirPods themselves aside from the new case. Kuo said earlier this year that... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Plxpcb8

Image: Edie Leong for The Washington Post via Getty Images Tesla is in trouble with the federal government. Again . A newly discovered version of Autopilot that allows drivers to operate the advanced driver-assist feature without applying any torque to the steering wheel — a long sought-after feature by Tesla drivers and one used by several other automakers as well — has caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In a July 26th letter ( first reported by Bloomberg ), NHTSA ordered Tesla to respond to a list of questions about the feature or face an escalating series of fines. The company was ordered to respond by August 25th; it’s unclear whether Tesla complied. NHTSA ordered Tesla to respond to a list of questions about the feature or face an escalating series... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/MERiyWj

Panic / The Verge Today, Panic put on its very first game publisher showcase . The showcase was short but very sweet, featuring some of the most interesting and innovative indie games coming to PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch. Here are all the highlights, including a surprise announcement from the makers of Untitled Goose Game . Arco Arco comes from an international team of developers, artists, and storytellers. It’s a tactical action game that pits regular people against an all-powerful corporate gang. In the reveal trailer, the diverse landscapes exude so much ecological detail rendered in pixel graphics, and the combat seems like a real-time action game. Arco is due on Steam in 2024. Thank Goodness You’re Here Thank Goodness You’re Here , or TGYH for... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/W0f7sxw

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images When Elon Musk livestreamed a drive through Palo Alto, California on Friday afternoon, he was holding his phone — which is plainly and clearly illegal under California law . But the Palo Alto Police Department won’t be issuing a fine, it tells The Verge , because police didn’t witness the crime themselves. “Had an officer observed the driver with the phone in their hand, they could have issued the driver an infraction ticket for violating California’s handsfree law,” writes Palo Alto PD Captain James Reifschneider. “As no officer witnessed it happening in person at the time of occurrence, though, no ticket is forthcoming,” he told me via email. There’s no question that Musk was in control of the vehicle: he was forced to stop his “Full... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/WCTy4bA

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is once again flirting with a $35 minimum for non-Prime subscribers to qualify for free shipping. It’s currently testing the increased minimum order amount, which has been set at $25 since 2017 . The price actually started at $25 before Amazon raised it to $35 in 2013 , then raised it again to $49 in 2016 , when it began lowering it to $35 and, later, $25 . (Yes, it’s all very confusing.) Amazon’s ongoing roller-coaster ride of pricing naturally pushes people toward its $139 per-year Prime membership — where you don’t have to worry about minimum order amounts on items that qualify for free two-day shipping (or faster). CNBC’s reporting indicates that the minimum order hike hasn’t yet rolled out to all non-Prime accounts, and a quick... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/eGodCs8

Poe is now available on the web, iOS, Android, and the Mac. | Image: The Verge Poe, the AI chatbot platform created by Quora, has added a slew of updates, including a Mac app, the ability to have multiple simultaneous conversations with the same AI bot, access to Meta’s Llama 2 model, and more. It’s also planning an enterprise tier so that companies can manage the platform for their employees, according to an email that was recently sent to Poe users. As my colleague David Pierce wrote in April , Poe’s ambition is to be the web browser for AI chatbots. Adam D’Angelo, the CEO of Poe’s parent company Quora, also sits on the board of OpenAI and thinks that the number of AI bots will keep increasing. Poe wants to be the one place where you can find them all. “I think there’s going to be this massive ecosystem similar... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ac1H6RG

Illustration: The Verge What if you could have a conversation with your notes? That question has consumed a corner of the internet recently , as companies like Dropbox , Box, Notion , and others have built generative AI tools that let you interact with and create new things from the data you already have in their systems. Google’s version of this is called NotebookLM . It’s an AI-powered research tool that is meant to help you organize and interact with your own notes. (Google originally announced it earlier this year as Project Tailwind but quickly changed the name .) Right now, it’s really just a prototype, but a small team inside the company has been trying to figure out what an AI notebook might look like. Ultimately, if NotebookLM sticks around, it’ll probably... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/WvsYfxm

A Pixel Fold. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google appears to be working on a satellite SOS feature for Google Messages that would let users text emergency services from remote areas without a conventional cell signal. As spotted by developer Neïl Rahmouni , early code in the Google Messages app shows work on an integration with Garmin and its emergency Garmin Response service. Google also appears to have started work on a UI for messaging emergency responders. Garmin’s emergency service uses the Iridium satellite network, which Iridium says is capable of delivering a signal “anywhere on Earth.” There is a big catch, though, when it comes to using satellite SOS services from Garmin: it requires a $15 per month subscription on Garmin’s own devices. So while this would be a great... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/taNpU5C

mobile news

Image: Dolby Dolby Atmos is about to get a whole lot more adaptable. Today, Dolby is announcing Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, which it describes as “a new feature that seamlessly pairs together a TV’s sound system with accessory wireless speakers to deliver a more extensive and immersive Dolby Atmos sound experience.” Since it factors your TV speakers into the equation, FlexConnect doesn’t necessarily require a soundbar at the center of everything. TCL will become the first TV manufacturer to offer FlexConnect with its upcoming 2024 TV lineup, and it also plans to release a line of wireless speakers optimized to support the feature. Dolby says that FlexConnect “intelligently optimizes the sound for any room layout and speaker setup, offering the freedom... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/s0yP3dU

My 2021 iPad Pro 11-inch. | Image: Wes Davis / The Verge As the third tier of Apple’s connected personal computing devices, the iPad sits in an awkward place in 2023. It’s a supremely capable product, there’s no doubt about that. It’s powerful and responsive; most of the models have beautiful screens; and its interface is friendly. But it’s also incomplete and insistent on doing things the Apple-prescribed way. And even as it dominates the tablet landscape, sales of iPads have withered since 2020 , as Mark Gurman noted in Bloomberg today. In short: it needs more. To be clear, I like my 2021 iPad Pro a lot. It’s a nice device for reading and solid for watching TV in bed. It’s also indispensable for following recipes while I’m cooking. But when Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad in 2010, saying... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/IeKxTvq

Honestly, I’d keep this grip attached at all times just for the wrist strap. Camera grips are back, baby. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/0Cb3VIU

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 3, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. Thanks to everyone who sent stuff in this week — we’re starting to get the hang of how this all works, and I really hope it’s fun and useful! I know I’ve already downloaded a terrifying number of new apps thanks to y’all. Only one housekeeping thing today: Installer now has an RSS feed ! You can add this link to any RSS reader, and it should work (let me know if you run into issues). Also, Installer ’s new homepage has every edition ever — all two of them so far. We’re still working on some cool new ways you can subscribe and contribute to Installer , but hopefully, we’ve got all the basics covered now. This week, I’ve been watching season 3... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/bIsOCe7

The Falcon-9 launches NASA’s Crew-7 mission into space. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center this morning at 3:27AM ET, NASA announced today. The rocket pushed four astronauts on NASA’s Crew-7 mission into orbit before a scheduled Sunday morning dock with the International Space Station (ISS). The mission brings astronauts from four countries to the ISS — Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furakawa, and Konstantin Borisov, a Russian cosmonaut. When the Dragon spacecraft — named Endurance — autonomously docks with the ISS, it will bring the station’s crew number up to 11 for a few days until board the capsule and return to Earth in a few days. “Aboard station,” says NASA... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/cREtkMP

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A federal judge in California’s eastern district has dismissed the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) lawsuit against Google over the company’s alleged “discriminatory” spam filtering, according to The Washington Post . The suit complained Google intentionally sent RNC political emails to Gmail users’ spam folders , and the RNC sought restitution for “donations it allegedly lost as a result” of those lost emails. The RNC cited a North Carolina State University study that found Gmail was more likely to mark emails from Republican campaigns as spam. One of the study’s authors spoke to the Post in May last year, saying its findings had been misrepresented. Muhammad Shahzad noted that it only tested default email settings — in tests on... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/tjm1le2

Linus Sebastian discusses changes coming to Linus Tech Tips. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge Linus Media Group (LMG) founder Linus Sebastian explained LMG’s HR policies and how it will improve accuracy and ethics in a video posted to YouTube last night . Following a 10-day pause to evaluate its processes, Sebastian said the company held meetings with team members to “dig through every misstep” and identify “communication and ... teamwork challenges” that resulted in accusations of LMG’s quality issues. He added that the company will no longer insist on uploading videos daily and will slow down to verify its content is accurate. Sebastian did not directly address sexual harassment allegations recently levied by a former employee, Madison Reeve. Sebastian detailed changes to its HR structure over the year, including hiring... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/xPLtVi9

It may not feature person detection like the new model, but the third-gen Blink Outdoor is still a good security camera.for the price. | Image: Amazon As we enter the last week of August, it’s time to prepare for a jam-packed fall gadget season. Many companies, including Apple , will likely release new gadgets. Shopping events like Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days and Black Friday are set to take place, and of course, we can’t forget the holidays. Altogether, it amounts to a very busy season, particularly for the mail carriers who’ll be delivering all your purchases – and for the porch pirates, who’ll try to steal all of them. If you want to keep your packages secure, the third-gen Blink Outdoor security camera with the Sync Module 2 included is on sale starting at $49.99 ($50 off) from Amazon and Best Buy . The last-gen budget-friendly camera will help you keep tabs on your goods even... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/G1cYRDl

But has it? | Photo by Fabian Sommer / Picture Alliance via Getty Images A year ago at Berlin’s IFA tech trade show (think European CES), Verge reporter Jon Porter witnessed a Google Nest Hub control an Apple HomeKit smart plug. This “ lightbulb moment for the smart home ” was the first public demonstration of Matter . The new smart home standard is designed to fix the biggest issue facing tech in our homes: interoperability, and witnessing two fierce competitors in the space working together was exciting. Twelve months later, on the eve of IFA 2023 , we’re still waiting for that lightbulb to turn on across the industry. The smart home remains fragmented. Despite being developed by the biggest names in the industry — Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, and more — Matter has yet to deliver on its main promise. You... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/rHxcZ0P

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta’s Messenger Lite app for Android is being shut down in September, as reported by 9to5Google . The app launched as a more, well, lightweight way to talk to people on the company’s Messenger platform (former Verge staffer Vlad Savov was a fan ), but you won’t be able to use it after September 18th. When you open the app, you’ll apparently see a prompt that pushes you toward the main Messenger app, 9to5Google says. The app also isn’t available to download on Google Play if you haven’t downloaded it before. Meta confirmed the closure in a statement to TechCrunch . “Starting August 21, people using the Messenger Lite app for Android will be directed to Messenger or FB Lite to send and receive messages on Messenger,” a Meta spokesperson... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/oaRj4Hy

Illustration: The Verge Google is making some changes to ads transparency and its data that’s available for researchers to comply with Europe’s Digital Services Act, according to a blog post published Thursday . Regarding ads transparency, the company says that it will be “expanding” its Ads Transparency Center to “meet specific DSA provisions and providing additional information on targeting for ads served in the European Union,” Google’s Laurie Richardson and Jennifer Flannery O’Connor write in the post. The center, which Google launched earlier this year , is a searchable repository that lets you find out more about the ads you see on Google’s platforms. For researchers, the two execs say that Google is “expanding data access for researchers” who might be... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/OhztK2o

Citizen is temporarily suspending sales of its CZ Smart watch. | Image: Citizen Citizen is temporarily suspending sales of its second-gen CZ Smart watch due to a “technical issue.” The Wear OS watch, which launched in May, had a feature based on tech from IBM’s Watson and NASA to track a person’s alertness. It appears the decision stems from negative experiences from reviewers. Michael Fisher — better known as MrMobile on YouTube — noted that Citizen said it would suspend sales after he had reached out to the company about the watch’s many issues. That was corroborated by a Wired story , in which reviewer Julian Chokkattu also detailed several bugs, like laggy screens, bad battery life, inaccurate tracking, and watchfaces that can’t even tell the correct time. Good move. My review of the CZ Smart 2.1 would have... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/7FuwRxz

Imagine this but not outside. | Image: Google Google and Taito have added a new “indoor mode” to their Space Invaders AR game, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday . In this new mode for Space Invaders: World Defense , the game autopilots your ship through a pregenerated world so you can focus on using your thumb to shoot the aliens. The new indoor mode was kind of fun for the few minutes I messed around with it. The game has a charming wireframe-y vibe, and mashing the screen to blast the Space Invaders was satisfying. I’m not a huge fan of waving my phone around outside to play a game, so I appreciate that this indoor mode is an option. Indoor mode unlocked! SPACE INVADERS: #WorldDefense has a new Indoor mode, so now you can play wherever you are! Take the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/KrBeMp3

Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmetsa. | Image: Monarch Tractor Praveen Penmetsa is bringing the AI craze to farms. His company, Monarch Tractor, makes an electric tractor powered by an Nvidia AI platform that allows the vehicle to drive itself through farm fields and work autonomously. The first machines rolled out of the company’s Livermore, California headquarters last year. Now, Monarch Tractor is scaling up production in partnership with a Foxconn plant in Ohio, and Penmetsa is coming to the Code Conference to talk about it. He’ll chat with The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel about making AI accessible, building in the US, and broader concerns around tractor repairability as their technology becomes all the more advanced. Penmetsa joins a host of other tech and business leaders who’ll be... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/b9GBuYO

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge A test version of Google Chrome on iOS now lets you put the address bar on the bottom of the screen, as spotted by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser . It’s a nice change that lets you move the address bar closer to your thumb — though notably, it comes two years after Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of Safari by default with iOS 15 . Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge The new Chrome feature was available for me through the version of the app you can get via TestFlight . There are two ways to change the location of the address bar. The easiest is pressing and holding on the bar, which brings up an option to switch its position. You can also change the bar’s location from Chrome’s settings. (A colleague in the UK... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/9bAIO5e

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Roughly three months after joining Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft among the world’s trillion-dollar companies — on the back of the AI boom — Nvidia is now making far more money than it’s ever made before. The company raked in $13.5 billion in revenue since May, it revealed in its Q2 2024 earnings , with the unprecedented demand for its generative AI chips blowing past any difficulty it might have had selling desktop and laptop GPUs into a shrinking PC industry . Data center accounted for a record $10.32 billion of that revenue, more than doubling in just one quarter, and Nvidia made $6.188 billion in profit as a result — up 843 percent year over year. And while gaming is more than a billion dollars short of pandemic highs, it was... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/muMtY3J

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Not that long ago, a friend sent me a preview of a book that she was about to have published and asked me to read it. I was delighted — but unfortunately, the copy she sent was formatted as a PDF. And since I usually read books and other documents using my phone, I knew already that this was a recipe for eyestrain. I spent a frustrating three days squinting at my screen until somebody reminded me that you can email a PDF to your Amazon account in a way that will convert the file so that it is formatted for easy reading on a Kindle or the Kindle app. I tried it, and it worked like a charm, making the document much easier to read. If you ever find yourself faced with the same problem, here’s how to convert a PDF so it can be easily read... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/03AyrUV

Both studies show that it’s possible to decode brain signals into speech at a rate of about 60–70 words per minute. | Image: Stanford Two separate studies published today in Nature indicate that, in the future, brain-to-computer interfaces (BCI) could help restore communication for people who can’t speak due to severe paralysis. In both studies, researchers used brain implants that could pick up brain signals, which were then translated into sentences on a screen using algorithms. While this isn’t a new concept, the exciting thing is that both research teams were able to do this much faster and more accurately than existing technologies. In the study from Stanford , researchers implanted electrodes into the brain of a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in two areas associated with speech. The BCI was designed to detect brain activity when the patient was... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/KGgz0x7

Here are the best cheap Chromebooks and laptops you can buy. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales You can get a good laptop on a budget; you just have to know which one to pick. Here are what we recommend for those looking to spend anywhere from $300 to $800 on a new laptop for school, work, or play. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/T6JRHcz

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Tornado Cash developers Roman Semenov and Roman Storm have been charged with three conspiracy counts in an indictment unsealed today. Storm has been arrested and Semenov remains at large, according to a statement from the Southern District of New York . Tornado Cash is a so-called “mixer,” a privacy service meant to obscure the trail of ownership for cryptocurrency that passes through it. The mixer “knowingly violated” US sanctions and “laundered more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds,” according to a statement from US Attorney Damian Williams. “While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes.” T... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Gbx08Kf

Photo Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Bad news: flagship phones cost a small fortune these days. Good news: we can help you pick the right one and get the most for your money. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/7AxekKF

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft Paint could be the next Windows app to get the AI treatment. According to a report from Windows Central , Microsoft is exploring ways to bring AI-powered features to the app in Windows 11, which could include the ability to generate a canvas based on a text prompt. Sources tell Windows Central that the AI feature will be powered by the same technology behind Bing’s Image Creator , a tool that spits out an image based on your description. You can see how the integration might look in what appears to be an internal mock-up posted by Windows Central . The image shows a “Magic Paint” button, along with a sidebar that lets you enter a description of an image for it to generate. It seems like you can then transfer that image to your... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/pqwQMto

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is surprise launching Age of Empires IV on Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One consoles and Xbox Game Pass today. The latest game was announced for Xbox consoles last year with a 2023 promise, and Xbox Cloud Gaming players will also be able to stream Age of Empires IV. Age of Empires IV originally launched in late 2021 on PC, and Microsoft added the title to its PC Game Pass service. Microsoft has added a tutorial to the console port of Age of Empires IV, which helps players get used to the controller layout. There’s also optional cross-play multiplayer support between PC and Xbox players and full keyboard and mouse support. Real-time strategy (RTS) games aren’t an obvious fit for consoles and controller play, but Microsoft released... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/q9sZjpJ

The Verge A report from Fortune claims that X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, has tested stripping headlines from articles shared on the site . Posts would only include the lead image and the URL, unless the person or publisher posting the link adds their own text, per materials the outlet viewed. The image would still serve as a link to the article, but there's no word on a timetable to roll it out or confirmation that it will ship at all. “It’s something Elon wants,” a source is quoted as saying, “They were running it by advertisers, who didn’t like it, but it’s happening.” (if this text was not here, all you would see is this image with no context, no headline, no description — but it would be a clickable article) p... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/aRJvrex

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) is opening a query on Ford’s response to a recall last year that affected almost 49,000 Mustang Mach-E vehicles, as reported by Automotive News . The June 2022 recall was issued due to a malfunction involving overheating of the electric SUV’s high-voltage contactors, which, at worst, can make the EV suddenly lose power on the road, increasing the risk of a crash. Occurances would often follow high-speed battery charging or repeated fast acceleration sessions. Ford issued an over-the-air (OTA) software update to respond to the recall, which was designed to reduce power if the contactors got too hot — in hopes of preventing sudden power loss and possible damage to the contacts.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/AmOF5qr

Image: Amazon Amazon is updating its recently launched Fire TV Channels app. The free, ad-supported streaming platform has a new sidebar that lets you navigate through different categories of content along with a new slate of shows. Fire TV Channels first launched in May with a lineup of free shows, live news, music videos, and sports from over 400 different providers, such as ABC News, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, America’s Test Kitchen, Martha Stewart, and others. But now, Amazon says the app will also include content from Variety , Rolling Stone , The Hollywood Reporter , Billboard, TV Line, Funny or Die, GameSpot, Honest Trailer, and more. Meanwhile, the new app’s sidebar lets you sift through all the different types of content available on the platform,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/5PWwxlG

Martinet at the launch of Super Mario Galaxy . | Photo by Stephen Kelly - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for 27 years, will no longer be voicing the iconic character, according to a tweet from Nintendo . Martinet took on the role with 1996’s Super Mario 64 and has voiced the character in numerous games since, including both mainline Mario releases like Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Galaxy as well as countless spinoffs. “Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this new transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games,” Nintendo’s statement reads. “It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him.” We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/G5sQryE

Leviton’s new Decora Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug-in Switch is the first to work with Matter. | Image: Leviton Smart lighting manufacturer Leviton has a new outdoor smart plug that’s the first to work with Matter. The Decora Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug-in Switch costs $54.99 and is available now at Amazon and The Home Depot. Part of Leviton’s Decora Smart Wi-Fi lighting and load control line , it’s the company’s fifth product to support Matter, following adding Matter support to two of its in-wall switches and smart plugs last month. The outdoor smart plug works over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, has on / off functionality (there’s no dimming), and a built-in light sensor for automating any lights you plug into it to turn on at night and off during the day. This is a neat feature you won’t find on a lot of smart plugs and means you don’t need to use any app or... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23837585/leviton-matter-outdoor-smart-plug

Image: Samsung Almost two years after its initial announcement in October 2021 , Samsung says the first game to support the HDR10 Plus Gaming standard is nearing release. That game is The First Descendant , a free-to-play third-person shooter from Nexon which is running an open beta starting September 19th. Samsung’s announcement doesn’t specify which platforms the game will support HDR10 Plus Gaming on, but we’re assuming it’s PC rather than consoles given neither Sony nor Microsoft have announced support for this latest HDR format on their platforms. On PC, Nvidia announced it was adding support for HDR10 Plus Gaming to its RTX and 16-series graphics cards in November 2022 . HDR calibration without the sliders The big advantage being advertised for... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/iZ653vR

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The US Department of Agriculture announced nearly $700 million in funding Monday to expand high-speed broadband access in rural communities across the country. The USDA’s ReConnect Program is providing $667 million in grants and loans for broadband projects in 22 states and the Marshall Islands in areas that lack access to speeds of at least 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up. Recipients of this funding will be required to build out infrastructure capable of providing upload and download speeds of 100Mbps, surpassing the Federal Communications Commission’s current speed minimums of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up. “The reality is, we have faced some challenging times in rural places” “The reality is, we have faced some challenging times in rural... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/NMvmqan