Windows 11’s Vision Pro-like remote desktop is now widely available on Quest 3
Microsoft has officially released its Windows 11 remote desktop feature across Meta’s Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets. The feature can beam multiple high-resolution monitors to your Quest headset, while also allowing you to try an immersive ultrawide mode, similar to what you can do on Apple’s Vision Pro. Microsoft first launched its virtual desktop […]
Canva’s new ‘Creative Operating System’ is actually a marketing workspace
Canva is introducing new digital marketing and video-editing tools, built around what the company is calling a “world-first” design-focused AI model. These launches are part of an overhaul to the design platforms Visual Suite workplace products, which Canva describes as a “Creative Operating System” for marketing teams. To be clear, this isn’t an operating system […]
The discounted SwitchBot Bot can add smarts to your monitor and coffee maker for just $24 
You don’t necessarily have to buy a bunch of pricey new smart devices to enjoy the convenience of a smart home. The SwitchBot Bot offers an easy, affordable way to bring smart control to many of the regular gadgets you already own, and right now it’s available for just $23.99 ($6 off) from SwitchBot with […]
Amazon has reportedly canceled its LOTR MMO
This week, as part of its big layoffs, an Amazon exec said that the company is halting a “significant” amount of its work on MMOs, and the changes appear to have led to the Lord of the Rings MMO the company was working on with Embracer being canceled. “This morning I was part of the […]
These are my favorite Switch 2 accessories
The Switch 2 can be enjoyed right out of the box, but it’s even better with the right accessories. Some of these add-ons are more crucial than others, especially if you’re deciding what to buy early on. For example, a case and a screen protector can keep your console safe from scuffs, scratches, and drops, […]
Affinity’s new design platform combines everything into one app
After acquiring Serif last year, Canva is now relaunching its Adobe-rivalling Affinity creative suite as a new all-in-one app for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layouts. Unlike Affinity’s previous Designer, Photo, and Publisher software, which were a one-time $70 purchase, Canva’s announcement stresses that the new Affinity app is “free forever” and won’t require […]
Another shuttered nuclear power plant is getting new life, thanks to Big Tech
Google announced plans to revive a nuclear power plant that shut down in 2020, as it looks to secure enough electricity for its AI data centers. The company announced a 25-year agreement with NextEra Energy to eventually purchase electricity from the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a 615MW nuclear plant in Iowa, when it starts operating […]
DJI’s Neo 2 selfie drone adds obstacle avoidance and gesture controls
DJI has announced a follow-up to the Neo selfie drone it launched last September for $199. Although the original was priced for mass adoption, it lacked several useful features that the new DJI Neo 2 is adding, including gesture controls and the ability to actively avoid obstacles instead of just relying on a design that […]
Docker Compose vulnerability opens door to host-level writes – patch pronto

Windows Desktop installer also fixed after DLL hijack flaw rated 8.8 severity

Docker Compose users are being strongly urged to upgrade their versions of the orchestration tool after a researcher uncovered a flaw that could allow attackers to stage path traversal attacks.…

Pinterest’s new AI shopping assistant helps you pick a fit
Move over Andy Sachs, Pinterest is launching an AI-enabled shopping assistant that aims to suggest your next look. Beginning on Thursday, and over the coming weeks and months, Pinterest users will be able to talk to the visual platform about what they’re shopping or searching for. The Pinterest Assistant will come back with personalized recommendations […]
Liam Hemsworth isn’t the problem with The Witcher’s fourth season
Let's just get this out of the way: Liam Hemsworth actually makes for a pretty solid Geralt of Rivia. Hemsworth assumes the mantle in the fourth season of Netflix's The Witcher, picking up from Henry Cavill. And while it can be distracting at first, especially since Cavill inhabited the role so well, it only took […]
AI browsers are a cybersecurity time bomb
Web browsers are getting awfully chatty. They got even chattier last week after OpenAI and Microsoft kicked the AI browser race into high gear with ChatGPT Atlas and a "Copilot Mode" for Edge. They can answer questions, summarize pages, and even take actions on your behalf. The experience is far from seamless yet, but it […]
Trump and Xi ease trade tensions, but Nvidia still can't sell Blackwell in China

US President did discuss chip exports with his counterpart, but made no breakthroughs

Talks between US President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea yielded a modest thaw, with the two agreeing to trim tariffs and pause new rare-earth export curbs. But whether Nvidia can sell its latest GPUs to China remains an open question.…

US government shutdown clouds an otherwise sunny ServiceNow forecast

Enterprise software giant lifts guidance but adds 'prudence' as federal contracts stall

ServiceNow has built some "prudence" into its earnings guidance due to the ongoing US government shutdown.…

Threads is giving you more control over your replies
Threads is launching two new tools today designed to give users more control over replies on their posts so they can keep conversations civil, respectful, or on-topic. Reply approvals will require more legwork and attention, but it allows Threads users to monitor and individually select which replies will appear publicly on their posts before anyone […]
President Trump’s ballroom design might not be AI — but it’s still a mess
When President Donald Trump revealed the physical model of the sprawling ballroom that will replace the now-demolished East Wing of the White House, something just seemed off. The model, small enough to fit on a table, is supposed to be a representation of the design that the Trump administration had previously teased in renderings. But […]
Samsung’s internet browser is headed to PC
Samsung is bringing its mobile web browser to bigger screens. It’s launching a beta version of its Samsung Internet on PC with support for cross-device syncing, which should make it easier to access all your browsing data if you’ve never switched to a different default browser on your Samsung device. The desktop browser is only […]
Inside YouTube’s transformation on your TV
This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. The YouTube app on your TV is about to undergo some massive changes, to the point where you might confuse it with Netflix, or any other paid streaming service, at […]
KDE tidies up Plasma 6.5 with 60-odd fixes and smoother setup for OEMs

Big release with a lot of new features – and a few inevitable glitches

The KDE Plasma 6.5 graphical shell arrived last week for Unix-like operating systems, and now 6.5.1 is here for the more cautious. The team's squashed over 60 bugs – and they're by no means all new.…

Logitech’s wireless vertical mouse has never been cheaper at $50
If your wrist or forearm aches every time you use your computer, the chances are good that you’d benefit from using a vertical mouse, like the Logitech Lift wireless mouse. This ergonomically-friendly device has been marked down to its cheapest-ever price today at Amazon, where it’s selling for $49.99 (originally $79.99) in black or white […]
Invisible npm malware pulls a disappearing act – then nicks your tokens

PhantomRaven slipped over a hundred credential-stealing packages into npm

A new supply chain attack dubbed PhantomRaven has flooded the npm registry with malicious packages that steal credentials, tokens, and secrets during installation. The packages appear safe when first downloaded, making them particularly difficult for security apps to identify.…

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a big Switch 2 upgrade in January
Nintendo is updating Animal Crossing: New Horizons with new features for the Switch 2. The upgraded game will arrive on January 15th, 2026, offering 4K visuals on TV, mouse controls, and an in-game megaphone that uses the Switch 2’s built-in microphone. It will cost $64.99 but will also be available as an upgrade pack for […]
How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet
Hello, and welcome to Decoder. This is Sarah Jeong, features editor at The Verge. I’m standing in for Nilay for one final Thursday episode here as he settles back into full-time hosting duties.  Today, we’ve got a fun one. I’m talking to Cory Doctorow, prolific author, internet activist, and arguably one of the fiercest tech […]
Italian tech company promises to make America Online great again

Dial-up dinosaur finds yet another corporate home as Yahoo waves goodbye

Bending Spoons, an Italian tech biz, is buying AOL from Yahoo, funded by a $2.8 billion debt financing package that will also bankroll future acquisitions.…

Figma’s new app lets you combine multiple AI models and editing tools
Figma has acquired Weavy, a creative platform that allows users to link AI models and editing tools together, and use them simultaneously in a single canvas. The platform will now live under its new parent company as “Figma Weave,” according to Figma’s announcement, adding an image and video editing tool to Figma’s growing design ecosystem. […]
Universal partners with AI startup Udio after settling copyright suit
Universal Music Group says it has made “industry-first strategic agreements” to “settle copyright infringement litigation” with AI startup Udio and license music for a new AI-powered music platform. The move is one of several anticipated licensing deals expected to land in the next few weeks as the sector grapples with how to handle AI.  The […]
Bugonia is a galaxy brained masterpiece
We live in an age where it has become infinitely easier for people to lead lives that are wholly divorced from any semblance of reality. Conspiracy theories run rampant, science denial is en vogue, and there is a vast media ecosystem filled with charlatans encouraging others to "do their own research" instead of believing well-educated […]
WhatsApp can now use passkeys to secure your backups
WhatsApp is introducing a passwordless way to instantly secure your chat backups. The messaging platform is launching passkey-encrypted backups for iOS and Android, allowing users to quickly encrypt their stored message history using their face, fingerprint, or device screen lock code. The update is rolling out “gradually over the coming weeks and months,” according to […]
Canonical CEO says no to IPO in current volatile market

'We should be a public company,' Shuttleworth tells The Reg, just not 'with our trousers around our ankles'

Interview  An initial public offering is a matter of when, not if, for Canonical founder and CEO Mark Shuttleworth, though interested stock owners shouldn't expect a prospectus anytime soon.…

Equinix revealed as occupant of £3.9B UK datacenter campus

Investment will fund 250 MW, three-facility campus near London as AI and cloud demand surge

Equinix will occupy a massive datacenter campus near London's M25, investing £3.9 billion ($5.1 billion) in the 85-acre (0.34 square kilometers) Hertfordshire plot close to South Mimms services.…

OpenAI adds reusable ‘characters’ and video stitching to Sora
OpenAI’s Sora app will now let you turn almost anything into a reusable avatar for its AI-generated videos. These “character cameos” are one of several new features that have been added to the Sora 2 video generator, alongside clip stitching and leaderboards that showcase the app’s most popular videos and cameos. Character cameos were teased […]
Cyberpunks mess with Canada's water, energy, and farm systems

Infosec agency warns hacktivists broke into critical infrastructure systems to tamper with controls

Hacktivists have breached Canadian critical infrastructure systems to meddle with controls that could have led to dangerous conditions, marking the latest in a string of real-world intrusions driven by online activists rather than spies.…

Azure's bad night fuels fresh calls for cloud diversification in Europe

Time to put eggs in more than one basket?

As Azure staggers back to its feet following an hours-long outage last night, British and European businesses are questioning their reliance on Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.…

Trump says US will restart nuclear weapons testing 
President Donald Trump says he has instructed the Pentagon to immediately start testing nuclear weapons, citing a need to match “other countries [sic] testing programs.” Trump’s post on Truth Social included very few details on the nature of the tests, but says the “process will begin immediately.” It’s not clear whether Trump is referring to explosive […]
Postcode Lottery's lucky dip turns into data slip as players draw each other's info

Biz says 'technical error' caused short-lived leak affecting small number of users

A major UK lottery organization says it has resolved a technical error that exposed customer data to other users.…

France jacks into the Matrix for state messaging – and pays too

Governments eye comms alternatives as sovereignty worries mount

Comment  Decentralized communications network Matrix is hoping to be the beneficiary as European public and private sector organizations ponder alternatives to the messaging status quo.…

There's mushroom for improvement in fungal computing

Ohio State boffins coax shiitake and button varieties into behaving like memristors

US boffins claim early tests indicate edible mushrooms can function as organic memory devices, though significant challenges remain before the lab experiment can be turned into something practical.…

Hands on with Ursa, a new keycap option for Topre keyboards
Your Happy Hacking Keyboard can finally get fresh caps. While regular keyboards have an embarrassment of keycap options, Topre boards like the HHKB or Realforce R3 don't. They've more or less been relegated to OEM-profile PBT keycaps with dye-sublimated legends, in light grey, charcoal, white, or (recently) a few more colorful options. Something as basic […]
Lost your Meta Neural Band? A new one will cost $199
When you buy the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display, you aren’t just getting a pair of smart glasses: you’re also getting Meta’s Neural Band, a small wristband that you use to control what’s on the glasses’ display. It’s an essential part of the product. But, if by some unfortunate circumstance, you need to buy a replacement […]
DNS downing clouds is boring: IBM Cloud is experiencing a quantum computer outage

We’re guessing that turning it off and on again won’t help given qubits can be on and off at the same time

IBM has one-upped AWS and Microsoft by reporting an outage in one of its cloudy quantum computers.…

Samsung picks fights with Google and Qualcomm

Brings its largely unloved browser to PCs and promises to make its Exynos SoCs more competitive

Samsung has signaled it intends to take on Google and Qualcomm.…

AI is making Google and Meta even stronger and richer

So they’re increasing spending on infrastructure to keep it that way

When generative AI exploded into public view in late 2022, plenty of pundits predicted it would be bad news for the likes of Google and Meta as nimble AI-powered rivals found new ways to capture netizens’ attention and monetize it.…

Major telecom supplier compromised by unnamed nation-state attackers

Snoops remained undetected for nearly 10 months

Nation-state snoops broke into Ribbon Communications – an outfit that provides software and networking gear to Verizon, CenturyLink, and the US Defense Department – last December, remained hidden for about nine months, and stole files belonging to three customers, according to the US telecommunications firm.…

Microsoft gives Windows 11 a fresh Start - here’s how to get it

The new Start has a more convenient layout that saves you a click

Four years after the debut of Windows 11, Microsoft has finally fixed one of the biggest problems with its Start menu: The need to click the “All” button to view a complete list of all of your apps. A new Start menu, which gives you three different ways to view all installed programs without that extra click, is slowly rolling out to users.…

Microsoft says it’s recovering after Azure outage took down 365, Xbox, and Starbucks
Microsoft Azure, the company’s cloud computing service, has experienced an outage just one week after issues with AWS took out swaths of the internet. The issues impacted Microsoft’s services that run on Azure, including Microsoft 365, Xbox, and even Minecraft. Other companies, like Capital One, Alaska Airlines, and Starbucks, also had outages that were linked […]
Microsoft seemingly just revealed that OpenAI lost $11.5B last quarter

Satya has also delivered Sam most of the cash he promised

Microsoft reported earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 on Wednesday after market close and buried in its financial filings were a couple of passages suggesting that OpenAI suffered a net loss of $11.5 billion during the quarter.…

Rode has a better way to connect your tiny wireless mics to your digital camera
Last November, Rode launched its Wireless Micro microphone system that paired two tiny lavalier mics with a small receiver that connected to your phone’s charging port. Rode later gave that product a free upgrade, sending out another receiver that let the mics connect to digital cameras, too. Now, the company is launching an updated version […]
Microsoft Azure challenges AWS for downtime crown

Azure Front Door service outage disrupts airlines and other online services

Microsoft Azure has been experiencing a global outage since around 1600 UTC, or 0900 PDT on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.…

'Keep Android Open' movement fights back against Google sideloading restrictions

Petition seeks to rally community opposition and alert regulators

Starting next year, Google plans to require all apps installed on certified Android devices, including sideloading, to come from developers it has verified. Many Android developers see the move as a power grab and have started a movement to "Keep Android Open."…

Meta repents again to Republicans in hearing over moderation, while Google stands its ground
At a Senate hearing Wednesday on government censorship of tech platforms, a Meta executive expressed regret to Republican lawmakers for failing to speak out more against the Biden administration's requests that it remove health and election misinformation, including satire. Google, meanwhile, held firm in its stance, saying that evaluating - and often rejecting - government […]
Trump administration charges influencer and congressional candidate over ICE protests
Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old Palestinian American and Democratic candidate for Congress in the 9th District of Illinois, has been indicted by the Department of Justice on charges connected to protests outside an ICE facility. The indictment alleges that Abughazaleh and a handful of other protesters conspired on the morning of September 26th to prevent an […]
Mark Zuckerberg is excited to add more AI content to all your social feeds
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is getting ready to dump even more AI-generated posts into your social feeds. During an earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said the company will “add yet another huge corpus of content” to its recommendations system as AI “makes it easier to create and remix” work that gets shared online. “Social media […]
Xbox sales continue to tank
Xbox sales have been tanking for a while now — and the story hasn’t gotten any brighter. Microsoft just released its Q1 2026 earnings and Xbox hardware revenue was down 29 percent year-over-year. Last quarter, it was down 22 percent. Down 29 percent in the first two quarters of 2025, down 42 percent in Q4 of […]
The best laptops you can get
Buying the right laptop can be stressful. It’s likely one of the bigger tech purchases you’ll make, and there are a ludicrous number of models, sizes, form factors, and configurations to pick from. We review and test a wide swath of them here at The Verge, and we’re constantly considering what’s the best and who […]
How one mountain town hopes AI can help it fight wildfires
A popular ski resort town in Colorado is adopting a new AI Smart City Solution from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to help it better detect wildfires, as well as update a range of other city services. Vail is expanding its firefighting toolbox as hotter, more arid weather with climate change raises wildfire risk in the […]
The government shutdown is delaying new gadgets
Tech products that are packaged and ready for sale aren't launching in the US as planned right now, thanks to the government shutdown. Earlier this month, Leica delayed its M EV1 camera due to holdups on approval from the partially shuttered Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The WiiM Sound audiophile speaker, currently shipping in international markets, […]
The best iPhones
If you’ve been holding off on getting a new iPhone, now’s the perfect time to size up your options. Apple recently launched its 2025 iPhone lineup, which includes the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and a brand-new model, the ultra-thin iPhone Air. These new phones offer a number of new features over their […]
Ubuntu Unity hanging by a thread as wunderkind maintainer gets busy with life

Team begs for help as teenage dev who revived Canonical’s old Unity desktop prioritizes studies

The Ubuntu Unity project is in trouble because its maintainer, a Linux whiz kid, has had less time to work on it due to his studies. Now other team members are appealing to the wider Ubuntu community for help. …

Bending Spoons is buying AOL for some reason
AOL will soon have a new owner. Bending Spoons, the Italian software company that has bought up a range of other digital businesses like Evernote, MeetUp, WeTransfer, and soon Vimeo, announced plans to purchase AOL from Yahoo after securing a $2.8 billion debt financing package. Over the past couple of decades, AOL has been passed […]
This security hole can crash billions of Chromium browsers, and Google hasn't patched it yet

Edge, Atlas, Brave among those affected

Exclusive  A critical, currently unpatched bug in Chromium's Blink rendering engine can be abused to crash many Chromium-based browsers within seconds, causing a denial-of-service condition – and, in some tests, freezing the host system.…

This magnetic controller brings Game Boy-style controls to your smartphone
Abxylute, a company known for its Android-based handhelds, has announced a new compact mobile controller for smartphones. Unlike controllers from companies like Backbone and 8BitDo that use an expanding mechanism to clamp onto phones, Abxylute’s smaller and lighter M4 Snap-On controller uses a Q-shaped mount to magnetically attach to mobile devices that are compatible with […]
AWS Stargate-smashing Rainier AI megacluster is up and running

Half a million Trainium2 chips now running Anthropic workloads, with half a million more waiting in the wings

Never mind Sam Altman's Stargate, which is just beginning to open its portal to distant AI-fueled worlds: Amazon's competing mountain of AI compute power is already up and running. …

The Outer Worlds 2’s satire has a Microsoft-shaped problem
Almost immediately in The Outer Worlds 2, the player receives news of a corporate shake-up: Auntie Cleo and Spacer's Choice, two of the in-game retail brands, have merged to form Auntie's Choice. Less a chain of stores and more a feudal power, Auntie's Choice manages its employees - serfs, really - with the cruelty of […]
Anker’s fast 2-in-1 USB-C cable is less than $20 right now
The thing about carrying multiple devices is you usually end up hauling a nest of cables along with them. Now imagine trimming your kit down to a single, versatile cord that can provide power to your smartphone and laptop simultaneously. That’s where Anker’s 140W 2-in-1 USB-C to USB-C Cable comes in, and right now you […]
Flight simulator fans revive a classic Boeing 747 cockpit

Think a custom Yoke is cool? Check this out...

How far would you take your flight simulation hobby? Perhaps some extra screens? Maybe some custom controllers? Or would you go as far as to revive a scrapped Boeing 747 cockpit to satisfy your simulation needs?…

Halo on PlayStation might be what Xbox needs to survive
Halo coming to PlayStation is one of those events that, five years ago, would have been the tell that "something is not right here" in a show about time travel or alternate universes. Looking at the state of Xbox with its layoffs, game cancellations, price hikes, studio closures, and a soft release schedule light on […]
EY exposes 4TB+ SQL database to open internet for who knows how long

The Big Four biz’s big fat fail exposed a boatload of secrets online

A Dutch cybersecurity outfit says its lead researcher recently stumbled upon a 4TB+ SQL Server backup file belonging to EY exposed to the web, effectively leaking the accounting and consulting megacorp's secrets.…

LG’s G5 65-inch OLED 4K TV is the most affordable it’s ever been
If you want one of the best home theater experiences LG can provide, the 65-inch LG G5 OLED is down to a new record low price. Regularly $3,399.99, you can buy the TV for around $1,996.99 at Amazon and directly from LG. Other configurations are also on sale, with the 77-inch going for around $3,456.99 […]
Chrome is about to show even more safety warnings
You’re going to start seeing more warnings in Chrome when accessing insecure sites. Starting next October, Chrome will soon warn users when they visit a public website without an encrypted HTTPS connection. Chrome already issues a “Your connection is not private” message when you visit pages that have an HTTPS connection that’s misconfigured. But this […]
Tesla’s Cybercab may have a steering wheel after all
Tesla’s Cybercab isn’t scheduled to go into production until 2026, but when it does, it may end up stuck with a vestige of the automotive past: a steering wheel. To be sure, we still use steering wheels. But the Tesla Cybercab was meant to be the first vehicle of the new future, and there’s nothing […]
Smile! Uncle Sam wants to scan your face on the way in – and out

Noncitizens, prepare to have your mugshot stored for up to 75 years

Planning to visit the United States in the near future? If so, get ready to have your picture taken – and stored for decades – upon both entry and exit under a new Customs and Border Protection rule.…

India to dethrone US for dev numbers as AI reshapes coding, says GitHub

TypeScript was ranked top programming language

The Indian software developer community will outgrow the US's by 2030, GitHub's Octoverse 2025 report shows. However, today, the United States remains in the lead.…

Older Google Pixel phones can’t precisely locate UWB trackers
Google introduced support for the ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless protocol with the Pixel 6 Pro in 2021. But if you’ve been struggling to get your Pixel phone to precisely locate one of the few Android-compatible trackers that support UWB, it’s because that feature is only enabled on the Pro models of the Pixel 8 and above, […]
Nvidia is officially a $5 trillion company
Nvidia has become the world’s first $5 trillion company. Shares soared by up to 5 percent to over $211 around 9:30AM ET on Wednesday morning, according to Bloomberg, marking the latest milestone for a company that only just hit the $4 trillion mark in July. Nvidia shares have been on the rise as the company […]
Dame Emma Thompson gives the 'AI revolution' both barrels

Oscar-winning author and performer would prefer Copilot did not offer her writing assistance

Dame Emma Thompson's expletive-laden takedown of AI writing assistants may strike a chord with frustrated users everywhere.…

Nvidia pitches Omniverse DSX as model for gigawatt-scale AI factories

GPU giant teams with partners to create digital twin blueprint for next-gen datacenters

Nvidia unveiled Omniverse DSX at its GTC event in Washington DC — a blueprint for designing and operating gigawatt-scale AI datacenters using digital twin technology.…

Google Gemini for Home is rolling out in the US — here’s how to get early access
Google smart home users in the US can now get an early taste of the new Gemini for Home assistant, which began rolling out in early access on Tuesday. It’s slated to replace the current Google Assistant on Nest devices, marking one of the most significant updates yet to Google’s smart home ecosystem. It runs […]
Nothing Phone 3A Lite strips the Glyph Lights down to the bare minimum
After Nothing’s recent flagship Phone 3 ditched its trademark Glyph Lights in favor of a dot matrix display, the new Phone 3A Lite brings them back — but only one of them. The affordable  phone launches today in the UK and Europe, but won’t get a release in the US. The 3A Lite features just […]
Amazon’s Echo Studio is smaller but mightier
The majority of Amazon smart speakers lean more into the "smart" than the "speaker," except for the Echo Studio. That device, which arrived in November 2019, was an imposing, sound-quality-first speaker that delivered Alexa functionality alongside impressive sound for a $200 device. But that was nearly six years ago - an eternity in tech product […]
The Echo Dot Max is Amazon’s biggest little speaker yet
I love the Echo Dot Max. It's an excellent speaker, a good listener, and comes in purple - which is just fun. It's got new, easier-to-use controls and more smart home sensors and radios than earlier models. It's also one of the first devices designed for Alexa Plus. And while the AI-powered assistant isn't mandatory […]
TikTok can use AI to turn your long video into short ones
TikTok announced three new features at its US Creator Summit yesterday. They include an update to revenue sharing for creators that offer subscriptions plus tools that can help with both the early planning stages of a video, and the process of editing longer clips into multiple shorter ones. Smart Split is an AI-powered editing tool […]
AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay

Bosses banking on automation? 55% will regret those job cuts

Many organizations rushing to cut staff in the name of AI efficiency are expected to quietly rehire those roles — often "offshore or at lower salary."…

Apple’s OLED transition could come with a more expensive iPad Mini
Apple is planning to incorporate OLED displays across more of its devices, including the MacBook Air, iPad Mini, and iPad Air, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The company added an OLED display to the iPad Pro last year and the upgraded M5 model released this month, offering improved brightness, better contrast, and […]
OpenAI has an AGI problem — and Microsoft just made it worse
OpenAI is ending October with a new for-profit structure, a new deal with Microsoft, and an entirely new level of pressure to achieve artificial general intelligence. The generally accepted definition of AGI is an artificial intelligence system that equals or surpasses human cognitive ability. But even as it's become a goalpost for the entire AI […]
Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman
AI writing aid Grammarly is now part of Superhuman, alongside Coda, Superhuman Mail, and a new AI assistant called Superhuman Go. The new Superhuman suite, including all those tools, will be available starting today for everyone with a paid Grammarly Pro subscription. Superhuman Go will be available to subscribers for no extra cost through February […]
Character.AI is banning minors from AI character chats
Character.AI is gradually shutting down chats for people under 18 and rolling out new ways to figure out if users are adults. The company announced Wednesday that under-18 users will be immediately limited to two hours of "open-ended chats" with its AI characters, and that limit will shrink to a complete ban from chats by […]
YouTube will let you opt out of AI upscaling on low-res videos
YouTube has announced several new features that aim to improve the viewing experience on TV screens, including an instant shopping tool and visual upgrades for low-resolution videos. Specifically, YouTube says it will start automatically upscaling videos uploaded below 1080p, using AI to bump them to HD resolution, and plans to support upscaling to 4K “in […]
The CAPITAL LETTERS trick that helped merge Windows 95 into NT

Keeping track of checks, 1990s style

The early versions of Windows NT were the last hurrah for the Windows 3.1-esque Program Manager. But getting the Windows 95 shell into the codebase occasionally required using CAPITAL LETTERS.…

Uber will challenge Waymo’s robotaxi dominance in San Francisco
Uber has picked the first city for the launch of its new robotaxi service with Lucid and Nuro. No surprise, it’s San Francisco. The companies have already begun on-road testing after the delivery of their first vehicle, a Lucid Gravity SUV modified with Nuro’s self-driving software. But they will still need to obtain the driverless […]
Marketing giant Dentsu warns staff after Merkle data raid

Emails confirm payroll and bank details lifted in cyberattack on US subsidiary

Global marketing giant Dentsu is writing to current and former staff after a cyberattack on a subsidiary led to bank, payroll, and other sensitive data being stolen.…

UK politicians to draft outage blueprint after AWS calamity

60% of government services rely on Amazon, Google, or Microsoft's clouds

The UK government will publish a plan for handling future cloud outages after last week's AWS failure knocked out several departments.…

Grokipedia is racist, transphobic, and loves Elon Musk
On Monday, a new online “encyclopedia” sputtered to life. Grokipedia is the brainchild of Elon Musk and his startup xAI, and the billionaire is promoting it as a supposedly less woke and less biased version of Wikipedia. Musk’s goal? “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” In both format and style, Grokipedia […]
Cameo sues OpenAI over Sora’s ‘cameos’
Cameo is suing OpenAI over Sora 2’s “cameo” feature, accusing the ChatGPT maker of using the name to compete directly with its personalized celebrity video service. The trademark infringement lawsuit filed in a California federal court on Tuesday alleges that OpenAI’s usage of cameo is “highly likely to dilute and tarnish” Cameo’s branding by confusing […]
Why is Bill Gates tone policing on climate change? 
Bill Gates wants us all to be more upbeat about climate change. He argues that we've made great progress on the problem, aided in large part by technological advances. So it's time to focus more on improving people's lives, particularly by fighting hunger and disease, he writes in a memo published Tuesday. Of course, he […]
Apple’s Vision Pro with M5 is better than the first, but still awfully lonely
Apple's Vision Pro remains the best VR headset by a mile, and there are many moments when it feels magical to use. I love staring at 3D photos, watching movies on huge screens, and working across a bunch of floating windows. But I noticed something weird after I wrote my first review in 2024: I […]
Sole trader dispatched almost 1M spam texts to hard-up Brits, says watchdog

ICO fined Bharat Singh Chand £200,000 after receiving 19,138 complaints

Britain's data watchdog has fined a sole trader £200,000 for nearly a million spam texts targeting people in debt – almost 20 pence per message.…

Say it with me: Windows is the problem with Windows handhelds
It's been nearly two weeks since Microsoft, a multi-trillion dollar company, shipped a $600 handheld "Xbox" that can't be relied on to sleep, wake, or hold a charge while asleep in my tests. Neither Microsoft nor Asus would admit there's a problem with the white Xbox Ally or offer a timeline to fix it after […]
Bolt Graphics unveils Zeus GPU built on RISC-V and path tracing tech

Onboard cores use a Linux stack based on Ubuntu

Ubuntu Summit  One of the more unexpected talks at last week's Ubuntu Summit 25.10 in London was by Antonio Salvemini of Bolt Graphics, who introduced the company's forthcoming range of Zeus graphics accelerator hardware. These are very unlike any conventional GPUs – or indeed anything else.…

UK government on the lookout for bargain-priced CTO

Dangles £100K for someone to fix £23B tech mess

The UK government is on the hunt for a new CTO after incumbent David Knott announced his departure, citing family reasons.…

Zen Internet loses unfair dismissal appeal case with former CEO

Judges agree broadband biz didn't follow its own procedures when booting boss

UK ISP Zen Internet has lost an appeal against a ruling that it unfairly dismissed former CEO Paul Stobart.…

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