Microsoft Authenticator drops support for Apple Watch

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft Authenticator is ending support for the Apple Watch. Unfortunately, this means you’ll no longer be able to conveniently log in to your connected accounts using just the wearable, as reported earlier by MacRumors.

While the app’s 6.7.3 iOS update states that it “removes Microsoft Authenticator from Apple Watch,” it also notes that you can still mirror any Microsoft Authenticator notifications you receive on your iPhone to your Apple Watch.

Microsoft first introduced Authenticator for the Apple Watch in 2018, and it’s proven useful for anyone looking to streamline their multi-factor authentication (MFA) sign-ins. Instead of having to open the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone to verify your identity, you could instead...

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Fox’s Super Bowl LVII ads won’t include any crypto companies

Photo by Dylan Buell / Getty Images

Last year, Super Bowl LVI was effectively the crypto bowl for companies like FTX, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and others. Now, with only a week to go until the Eagles versus Chiefs matchup, Sports Business Journal reports that while FTX and other crypto businesses bought Super Bowl LVII ad spots from Fox, they’ve all backed out.

As LA faced off with Cincinnati for the NFL’s championship trophy, big-name celebrities like Matt Damon and LeBron James greeted TV viewers and attempted to convince them all to join the movement and invest in crypto. At the time, Bitcoin was valued at over $42,197.52 — but even after a rally in recent weeks, its price is down to $23,013.87.

Coinbase ran a “Less talk, more Bitcoin” ad that crashed its servers because...

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FTC won’t appeal court decision permitting Meta to buy Within

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission will not appeal a recent federal court order allowing Meta to purchase VR startup Within, an agency official told reporters on Monday.

The FTC sued to stop Meta’s acquisition of Within, the company behind the popular fitness app Supernatural, last July. The agency argued that the purchase would expand Meta’s dominance in the VR market, pointing to the Oculus maker’s previous 2019 merger with the company behind Beat Saber. Meta fought the suit but later agreed to delay closing the deal until January 31st.

Shortly after the court greenlit the impending merger on Friday, Meta spokesperson Stephen Peters told The Verge the company is looking “forward to closing the transaction soon.” Meta declined to comment on...

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Twitch is making it much easier to catch up on chat

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Twitch is rolling out a new chat history feature that should make it a lot easier to catch up on what’s been going on in a streamer’s chat.

When you jump into a stream, you’ll be able to see either the last 50 messages or the last hour of what’s been said in chat, depending on which option has fewer messages. That may sound like a potentially large gulf between options, but I think it serves both large and small streams well.

For many larger streams, chat flies at a mile a minute, with discussions happening and changing at a rapid rate. Fifty messages is probably enough to get you up to speed ahead of chat moving on to something else. Smaller streams may have just a few dedicated chatters that may not post enough to hit that 50-message...

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Amazon’s Luna game streaming service has lost a lot of games recently

Image: The Verge

Luna, Amazon’s cloud game streaming service, is set to lose 53 games this month, including titles like Bridge Constructor Portal, No More Heroes, and classics like Pong and Missile Command, according to 9to5Google. It’s just the latest mass removal from the service.

Amazon previously told 9to5Google that its goal for Luna “has always been to keep our selection as fresh as possible and to offer a wide array of high-quality, immersive games for our customers” and that it’s “refreshing” the service’s content with that in mind.

It does seem like the number of games on Luna can fluctuate a lot — it also dropped over 40 games in December, according to Cloud Dosage.

Currently, the Luna Plus subscription offers around 200 games, though the...

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Here’s why Meta is shutting down Echo VR

Image: Meta

Last week, Meta announced that it would be shutting down the widely praised VR game Echo VR in August_._ Since then, Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth has shared some further details about the shutdown, and former Meta consulting CTO John Carmack has weighed in about the decision.

In an Instagram AMA, Bosworth said that Echo VR’s playerbase, while “loyal as all get out,” had fallen into the “low ten thousands,” as transcribed by UploadVR. “Unfortunately, keeping things alive takes work,” Bosworth said. “This is not like a return on investment money standpoint; it’s just those resources could be put to other uses that I think will be useful to the now tens of millions of people who are in VR.” He also said Meta has some “regulatory...

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Matter products are coming — here’s everything that’s been announced

The Verge

All the Matter-compatible devices you can buy now, plus what’s coming soon to the new Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung-backed smart home standard.

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Exclusive: Sonos’ next speakers will be called the Era 300 and Era 100

A 3D product rendering of the upcoming Sonos speaker, codenamed Optimo 2, as created by The Verge | Product render by Alex Castro / The Verge

Sonos is preparing a new generation of smart speakers, known as the Era 300 and Era 100, that will debut in the coming months, The Verge has learned. The speakers, which The Verge previously detailed under the codename Optimo, will be pitted against Apple’s $299 HomePod and other smart home speakers from Google and Amazon. The flagship Era 300 is designed to showcase spatial audio music tracks and Dolby Atmos content. Both speakers have a completely new design compared to existing Sonos products.

The Verge can exclusively report the consumer-facing names as Sonos finalizes plans for the Era 300 and 100. As further evidence of the new Sonos product family, a document from Sanus, a manufacturer of TV mounts and speaker accessories,...

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Overwatch 2’s season 3 changes make Mercy weaker

Overwatch 2 | Image: Blizzard

Other than a new map, a dating sim, and a tie-in with One Punch Man, Blizzard is also touching up practically every aspect of Overwatch 2 with the introduction of the game’s third season. A blog post provided an overview of the big changes players will see when the game is updated tomorrow, February 7th, but now the patch notes have all the details.

Major changes include a health reduction for tank characters during non-role queue modes, the return of the Workshop Editor, and an update to the game’s ping system so you can tell your allies if an ability like Immortality Field or Resurrection is on cooldown and for how long and allows players to choose any Ping to place on their Ping wheel menu. It’s a small change, but it should make it...

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Google announces ChatGPT rival Bard, with wider availability in ‘coming weeks’

We don’t know a lot about Google’s ChatGPT rival, but it’s called Bard and will be available to the public in the coming weeks | Image: Google

It’s official: Google is working on a ChatGPT competitor named Bard.

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced the project in a blog post today, describing the tool as an “experimental conversational AI service” that will answer users’ queries and take part in conversations. The software will be available to a group of “trusted testers” today, says Pichai, before becoming “more widely available to the public in the coming weeks.”

It’s not clear exactly what capabilities Bard will have, but it seems the chatbot will be just as free ranging as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. A screenshot encourages users to ask Bard practical queries, like how to plan a baby shower or what kind of meals could be made from a list of ingredients for lunch.

Writes Pichai:...

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AMC is about to make paying for theater seats more like booking an airline ticket

Nicole Kidman in AMC’s “We Make Movies Better” ad. | Image: AMC Theatres

Starting pretty soon, some tickets at AMC locations are going to be getting cheaper and more expensive depending on where you sit as the movie theater chain introduces a new tiered pricing scheme called Sightline.

Today, AMC announced its plans to roll out Sightline at AMC, a new pricing structure that will split auditorium seats into three differently priced tiers in theaters across the country beginning this Friday. In a statement about the new program, Eliot Hamlisch, AMC’s chief marketing officer, described Sightline as an effort to get consumers thinking about buying movie tickets the same way they might events at “many other entertainment venues.” Hamlisch also said that the new pricing structure is meant to give people who have...

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Introducing the Overwatch 2 dating sim

Image: Blizzard

A long whispered prayer has finally been answered: Overwatch 2 is getting a dating sim. Stealthily announced as a part of Overwatch 2’s season 3 battle pass, starting on February 13th, players can go to https://www.Loverwatch.gg to play a text-based dating sim in which they can choose to pursue either Genji or Mercy with the help of a Cupid-ified Hanzo. Check out the season 3 trailer below.

It sounds like players will choose a hero and go through the criminally short 30-minute game to woo either the ninja or the angel. The Overwatch 2 developers were swift to mark in big, bold letters that anything contained within the dating sim was not canon. But when has anything as inconsequential as canon stopped the Overwatch shipping community? I...

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Sony answers your burning PSVR2 questions in an extensive new FAQ

We’re just a couple weeks away from the launch of the new headset. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony has posted an extensive FAQ about the PlayStation VR2 ahead of the imminent launch of the next-generation virtual reality headset. Though a lot of the questions cover what we already know, the FAQ page includes a handful of interesting tidbits about what you can expect from the headset when it launches on February 22nd.

Personally, I was most happy to see Sony confirm that there are more than 100 games in development for the platform. The headset will have an impressive launch window lineup that includes games like Tetris Effect, Rez Infinite, and, after a free update available on launch day, Gran Turismo 7, but now we know for certain that there will be a lot of games to look forward to down the line. The folks at Resetera c...

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Getty Images sues AI art generator Stable Diffusion in the US for copyright infringement

An illustration from Getty Images’ lawsuit, showing an original photograph and a similar image (complete with Getty Images watermark) generated by Stable Diffusion. | Image: Getty Images

Getty Images has filed a lawsuit in the US against Stability AI, creators of open-source AI art generator Stable Diffusion, escalating its legal battle against the firm.

The stock photography company is accusing Stability AI of “brazen infringement of Getty Images’ intellectual property on a staggering scale.” It claims that Stability AI copied more than 12 million images from its database “without permission ... or compensation ... as part of its efforts to build a competing business,” and that the startup has infringed on both the company’s copyright and trademark protections.

The lawsuit is the latest volley in the ongoing legal struggle between the creators of AI art generators and rights-holders. AI art tools require illustrations,...

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The NYT and Canadian experts say Twitter is not doing enough to curb child exploitation

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a report from The New York Times, child sexual abuse imagery (CSAM) still persists on Twitter, despite Elon Musk stating that cracking down on child exploitation content is “priority #1” for the company.

While working with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which helped match abusive images to its CSAM database, the Times says it uncovered content across Twitter that was previously flagged as exploitative, as well as accounts saying they could sell more.

During its search, the Times says it found images containing 10 child abuse victims in 150 instances “across multiple accounts” on Twitter. Meanwhile, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection had similarly disturbing results, uncovering 260 of the “most explicit...

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Fitbit’s service is down, so your smartwatch can’t track your steps right now

Image: Fitbit

No, it’s not you — Fitbit is currently experiencing a major outage.

According to Downdetector, the outage started at about 8AM ET, with most reports indicating the problem was with the Fitbit mobile app. However, some users are also reporting issues with the Fitbit website.

The main problem appears to be that users can’t sync their data, set up devices, or view updates. Essentially, anything related to using the Fitbit app appears to be borked. Other users on Twitter have said that uninstalling and reinstalling the app effectively locks them out, as the app will not let them log in or re-pair their devices.

We're aware of an issue affecting some Fitbit services and are working hard to resolve it. Thank you for your patience!

— Fitbit...

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The Apple Watch Series 8 is $70 off in all configurations

It’s hard to beat the Apple Watch for versatility and value if you own an iPhone and you can get one on sale. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

I don’t know if there’s something in the water or if it’s all somehow linked to the buildup to the Super Bowl, but man, there are a lot of deals going on right now.

Starting off with arguably the best one on offer today, all configurations of the Apple Watch Series 8 are discounted by $70 at multiple retailers. The base 41mm model with GPS is selling for $329 at Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. And the larger 45mm version is equally discounted, making it $359 at Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. Both sizes have the standard aluminum case and come in four colors (midnight, starlight, white, and red).

The Series 8 is not the most exciting upgrade over the Series 7 from 2021. But in addition to its table stakes of iPhone-accompanying features,...

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Nothing, Forever, the Seinfeld AI show, has been temporarily banned from Twitch

Image: Nothing, Forever / Twitch

Transphobia ruins everything, from your favorite wizarding franchise to, now, your favorite AI show about nothing. Nothing, Forever, the 24/7/365 AI-generated Seinfeld spoof that has exploded in popularity on Twitch, is going dark for two weeks, as the channel’s been hit with a suspension. As reported by Vice, the suspension stems from Larry (totally not Jerry), making transphobic remarks in his standup routine, wondering aloud if trans people are mentally ill and are ruining the fabric of society.

In a statement to The Verge, Skyler Hartle, co-creator of Nothing, Forever, wrote, “We are embarrassed, and this doesn’t reflect our values or opinions at all. This was the result of a mistake on our side that resulted in a technical issue.”

I...

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Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro have returned to their best price yet

The latest pair of Apple’s water-resistant AirPods Pro are $199 ($50) at multiple retailers. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge

Good news if you were contemplating gifting Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro as a Valentine’s Day present: they’ve returned to their lowest price yet. Regularly $249.99, the popular buds are available for around $199 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.

If you’re unfamiliar with Apple’s latest pair of premium earbuds, here’s a brief summary: they offer significantly better noise cancellation and improved sound quality alongside a few new unique perks over their predecessor. Volume is much easier to adjust now that you can turn it up or down by simply swiping the stem, for example, while the new extra-small fourth ear tip should more securely fit smaller ears. Apple even improved the included MagSafe charging case, adding a new lanyard loop and...

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Which M2 Mac is right for you?

The M2 chip comes in five Apple Devices | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple makes a lot of Macs with M2 chips. There’s the regular M2, which you can get in a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro — but be careful of calling that the M2 Pro for short because there’s also a processor called the M2 Pro, which you can also get in a MacBook, but you can also get that MacBook Pro with this other chip called the M2 Max. If you’re confused, you’re not alone. There are many different chips and many different Mac computers currently up for grabs.

The Verge is here to help. In this video, we walk you through the M2 Macs that Apple currently sells. Chris Welch (our resident Mac Mini expert) discusses the latest Mac Mini models, senior video producer Becca Farsace talks about her experiences editing on the M2 Pro and M2 Max...

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Dell to layoff 6,650 employees as demand for PCs plummets

The layoffs will reduce the number of global Dell employees to its lowest point in six years. | Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Computer manufacturer Dell is set to cut about 6,650 jobs representing 5 percent of its global workforce, according to a report from Bloomberg. Announced in a memo on Monday, Dell Co-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said that the company’s previous cost-cutting measures, such as a pause on hiring and limitations on travel, have proved insufficient, and that the company is experiencing market conditions that “continue to erode with an uncertain future.”

The layoffs were announced in the face of falling demand for PCs and laptops. Following a surge in PC sales during the global covid pandemic, most major computing manufacturers are now seeing a sharp drop in demand. Industry analyst IDC reported a 37 percent decline in Dell’s computer...

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Rivian is working on an e-bike

Would you buy a Rivian e-bike? | Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge

Electric automaker Rivian is developing an electric bike, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg. CEO RJ Scaringe apparently told staff about the e-bike effort during a company meeting on Friday, noting that a small team is currently working on it.

Bloomberg says it’s unclear if Scaringe was talking about a battery-assisted bicycle (aka an e-bike) or an electric motorcycle. However, Scaringe has teased an entry into micromobility in the past and the company has patents for e-bike designs and components.

Despite all the hype behind EVs, electric bikes have actually outsold electric and plug-in hybrid cars in this US since 2021. And in Europe, e-bike sales are on track to overtake the number of all cars sold, electric or not. That’s a...

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Monday’s top tech news: an ultra year for tech?

Last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple is reportedly thinking about introducing a higher tier iPhone this year

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Elon Musk says bots with ‘good content’ can use Twitter’s API for free

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Elon Musk says Twitter will let bots providing “good content” access the Twitter API for free. As noted in a post on Twitter, Musk announced that the platform will enable a “light, write-only” API for eligible bots — a partial reversal of his policy that puts API access behind a paywall.

After shutting down third-party clients, like Tweetbot and Twitterrific, Twitter announced last week that developers will need to sign up for a “paid basic tier” to access Twitter’s API starting on February 9th. At the time, Musk justified the move by saying that the free API is “being abused” by bot scammers and spammers, adding that an around $100 per month subscription “with ID verification” can “clean things up greatly.”

Responding to feedback,...

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Apple could introduce a pricier iPhone ‘Ultra’ in 2024

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple’s exploring the possibility of launching a more expensive iPhone “Ultra” above the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models, according to Apple tracker Mark Gurman. The high-end device could arrive as soon as 2024 with the iPhone 16 lineup.

Last September, Gurman predicted that an “Ultra” model could replace the Pro Max branding with this year’s iPhone 15, but his latest theory suggests that Apple wants to establish a more powerful — and more expensive — tier of iPhones. That means the device could have an even higher price tag than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which starts at $1,099.

During Apple’s earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t rule out the possibility of a future price increase on iPhones. He instead indicated that customers...

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Samsung’s SmartThings Station is a smart home hub worth plugging in

The newest SmartThings hub can also charge your smartphone and find your keys — plus it’s a Matter controller and Thread border router. But there’s no support for Z-Wave, and too many features are only for Galaxy phones.

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Tesla bumps up Model Y price after EV tax credit adjustment

The Model Y just got more expensive. | Image: Getty Images

Tesla raised the price of its Model Y electric vehicle (EV) just hours after the US Treasury Department adjusted its EV tax credit rules, as first reported by Bloomberg. While the Tesla Model Y Long Range now costs $1,500 more at $54,990, the Model Y Performance went up by $1,000 to $57,990, excluding shipping fees.

On Friday, the Treasury Department updated the way it classifies vehicles that qualify for its $7,500 EV tax credit as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The change should allow more vehicles — including the Model Y — to qualify for the credit, as it no longer puts certain SUV crossovers in the same category as sedans.

Previously, some models of the Model Y, alongside the Cadillac Lyriq, weren’t eligible for the EV...

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Spotify’s founder helped develop an AI-powered body health scanner

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek (left) and Neko Health co-founder Hjalmar Nilsonne (right). | Image: Neko Health

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is getting into the healthcare industry. A post shared on LinkedIn names Ek as the co-founder of a startup, called Neko Health, which specializes in providing body scans powered by artificial intelligence (AI), as reported earlier by European news outlets Sifter and Tech.eu.

“After four years of intense research and product development, we are officially launching Neko Health today,” the post reads. “The company was founded by Hjalmar Nilsonne and Daniel Ek with the vision to create a healthcare system that can help people stay healthy through preventive measures and early detection.”

According to a translated version of Neko Health’s website, the Swedish company’s non-invasive full-body scanner can detect and...

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Meta wins fight to buy VR startup Within

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

A California judge is allowing Meta to close its acquisition of virtual reality fitness startup Within despite an ongoing antitrust case by the Federal Trade Commission, according to an unsealed ruling. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the court denied the FTC’s request to block the deal but with a one-week delay that will give the FTC time to appeal. The orders were posted on Tuesday, and a status hearing on the case is set for February 7th.

The FTC sued in July of 2022 to stop Meta’s acquisition of Within, which makes the popular VR app Supernatural. The agency argued that Meta’s purchase would expand its dominance in the consumer VR market, where Meta has staked many of its resources in recent years. The commission highlighted...

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Samsung’s colorful Galaxy Chromebook 2 is on sale for its best price to date

The midrange Galaxy Chromebook 2 packs plenty of bang for just $499. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Happy Saturday, readers! During its Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung introduced a new line of Galaxy Book3 laptops with better displays and Intel’s 13th Gen Core processors. However, if you don’t need an ultraportable laptop or a high-end machine squarely aimed at the MacBook Pro 16, Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook 2 is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy in its fiery, “fiesta red” colorway for $499 ($200 off), its lowest price to date.

The midrange Chromebook 2 certainly isn’t the most powerful Chromebook you can get — blame it on the 10th Gen Intel Core i3-10110U processor — but it should suffice for everyday work use and multitasking, especially with the machine’s 8GB of RAM. Moreover, it touts decent battery life (when compared to the o...

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