Owen Wilson channels his inner Bob Ross in the first trailer for Paint

Owen Wilson in Paint. | Image: IFC Films

First, Daniel Radcliffe took on the role of Weird Al. Now, Owen Wilson is doing the same for Bob Ross — kind of. The first trailer for Paint shows Wilson playing a very Bob Ross-like character, right down to the large hair and calming asides. But the movie is technically about a fictionalized version of Ross, named Carl Nargle. The film follows Nargle’s rise to become the No. 1 cable access painter in Vermont before being faced with a young rival who threatens his place.

Paint looks, naturally, goofy as hell. It channels a lot of the same ridiculous energy as Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, but it’s a bit less manic, as is befitting the calming paintings of happy little trees. The movie is helmed by director Brit McAdams, and in addition...

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Microsoft Edge is getting Adobe’s freemium PDF viewer

Illustration: The Verge

Microsoft Edge’s new PDF viewer is powered by Adobe, and it won’t let you forget that. In an announcement on its website, Microsoft says it’s replacing Edge’s existing PDF viewer with one from Adobe Acrobat, which includes some “advanced” features that are available if you’re willing to pay for them.

Microsoft markets the integration as a way to give users “a unique PDF experience” with “higher fidelity for more accurate colors and graphics, improved performance, strong security for PDF handling, and greater accessibility.” While Microsoft says that these basic features will stay free and that it won’t lose any existing functionality, documents will still display “an unobtrusive Adobe brand mark.”

Image: Microsoft ...

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WiiM’s Mini and Pro are the Chromecast Audio’s true successors

All I wanted was affordable multiroom audio. Instead, I got an ordeal. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

About a year or so ago, I decided to network all my speakers together to be able to do multiroom audio. I gave myself a set of simple parameters. Namely:

• It must be able to work with my own speakers.
• It must be able to work synchronized in multiple rooms.
• It should be relatively affordable.
• It should be easy for house guests to understand.
• It should not lock me exclusively into a proprietary system.
• It should allow me to listen to a podcast or music in multiple rooms from my phone.
• It should (ideally) allow me to stream music from my NAS.

It turns out that this very specific combination of parameters is a recipe for going mad, but one that led me to a little company called WiiM, which makes a perfect little device that just works, is...

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Renewable energy forecast to dominate global power sector growth by 2025

A windmill and the smoke from the Doel Nuclear power plant are seen from Antwerp harbor on February 7th, 2023, in Antwerp, Belgium. | Image: Thierry Monasse / Getty Images

Nearly all of the world’s new electricity supply over the next few years will come from renewable and nuclear energy, pushing out fossil fuels and curbing climate pollution from electricity, according to a new analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“We are close to a tipping point”

Carbon pollution-free sources of energy are expected to meet more than 90 percent of new electricity demand globally through 2025. Most of that will come from renewables, including solar, wind, and hydropower. Nuclear energy is also seeing a modest resurgence, bolstering the agency’s bullishness on carbon-free power.

Those gains should loosen fossil fuel’s grip on electricity generation. After peaking in 2022, carbon dioxide emissions from the...

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Google starts testing Android 14 with even better support for foldables

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is showing off some of its plans for Android 14 in the OS’s first developer preview, which is available today. While it doesn’t tell us much about the consumer features we’ll be getting later this year, it does show Google has continued to focus on foldables, tablets, and other large-screen devices, as well as user customization.

Google’s blog post announcing the preview says that Android 14 “builds on the work done in Android 12L and 13 to support tablets and foldable form factors” and lists several tools that developers can use to make sure their apps run “everywhere Android runs.” The company is also updating and adding to its documentation about designing apps for large screens and foldables.

This focus isn’t a surprise at...

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Amazon’s latest Fire TV Cube is a square deal of $15 off

The Fire TV Cube (2022) retains its tiny obelisk-like boxy form factor. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Ready for some deals to get you over the hump? The latest version of Amazon’s Fire TV Cube is selling for $124.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. That saves you $15 on Amazon’s highest-end streaming device, which sports speedy performance, hands-free voice control using Amazon Alexa, and Wi-Fi 6E for less network congestion if you have a lot of devices in your home (and a 6E-capable router).

The Fire TV Cube is kind of like buying an Echo smart speaker and a Fire TV streamer in one package, a decent value when you consider what you might spend on those separately. Just be aware that it’s an Amazon device, which means plenty of on-screen ads for Amazon content — and even some non-Amazon ads on the screensaver. Woof. Read our review.

T...

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Chrome’s new update is the first version you can’t run on Windows 7

Windows devices will need to run Windows 10 or later to continue receiving future Chrome releases. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

If you’re currently using Google Chrome on an old or outdated PC, then you might want to consider upgrading your hardware. With the public release of Chrome 110 on February 7th, the browser will no longer support Windows 7 or Windows 8 / 8.1 and the lesser-used Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2. This follows Microsoft’s decision to definitively end security updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8 / 8.1 on January 10th earlier this year.

Chrome 110 patches some known cybersecurity issues and includes a few new features, such as customizable network error pages and the option to use biometric authentication on supported computers to autofill stored passwords. The release of Chrome 110 also marks the beginning of Chrome’s new...

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The making of surprise hit Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush. | Image: Tango Gameworks

Director John Johanas explains how the rhythm action game was inspired by everything from Radiohead to the Dreamcast.

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How to watch the February 2023 Nintendo Direct

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The first Nintendo Direct of the year is almost upon us — and it sounds like it might be a big one. While Nintendo hasn’t provided any real details, the company did say to expect “roughly 40 minutes of information” about games coming out in the first half of 2023.

It’s important to note that this year is shaping up to be a big one for Nintendo. The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes out in April, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is coming to the Switch in May, and next week will see Super Nintendo World open up at Universal Studios Hollywood. We could get updates on all of those, and there’s also a possibility we’ll hear about Pikmin 4 or the long-dormant Advance Wars reboot. If we’re really lucky, maybe there’ll even be some kind of...

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MSI Titan GT77 HX review: Intel’s most powerful laptop chip, tested

The Core i9-13980HX is the most powerful CPU Intel has ever made, and it earns its stripes here.

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Warner Bros. Discovery is backtracking on its plan to shut down Discovery Plus

Image: Warner Bros. Discovery

Just a few weeks ago, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav claimed that things were going so well over at the company that it was expediting its plan to merge HBO Max and DIscovery Plus into a not-so-secret third thing with an unimaginative name. Now, though, those plans are changing for reasons that Warner Bros. Discovery probably should have seen coming.

The Wall Street Journal reports that while Warner Bros. Discovery is still launching a new service called Max, it now plans to keep a version of just Discovery Plus running in an effort not to lose many of the platform’s current 20 million subscribers who might not be willing to sign up for Max and its higher price point when it launches sometime this spring.

While “most” of...

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Tesla’s ‘Master Plan 3’ is coming March 1st, Elon Musk says

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Elon Musk will present his third “Master Plan” during Tesla’s Investor Day event on March 1st, the CEO announced on Twitter last night. The plan will outline “the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth,” he said, adding that “the future is bright!”

Musk has been teasing the third iteration of Tesla’s strategic vision for nearly a year. Unlike the first “Master Plan” and the cheekily titled “Master Plan, Part Deux,” this version will include updates regarding Musk’s other two companies, SpaceX and The Boring Company, he said in a March 2022 tweet.

“Main Tesla subjects will be scaling to extreme size, which is needed to shift humanity away from fossil fuels, and AI,” Musk wrote. “But I will also Include sections about SpaceX,...

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Google shows off new AI search features, but a ChatGPT rival is still weeks away

Google demoed new generative AI features that summarize search results but didn’t say when they’d be available. | Image: Google

Google demoed its latest advances in AI search at a live event in Paris on Wednesday — but the features pale in comparison to Microsoft’s announcement yesterday of the “new Bing,” which the company has demoed extensively to the press and offered limited public access to.

In perhaps the most interesting demo, Google showed off how it will use generative AI in the future to summarize information from the web. In the demo, the company showed a search for the question “what are the best constellations to look for while stargazing?” with an AI-generated response highlighting a few key options and how to spot them.

“New generative AI features will help us organize complex information and multiple viewpoints right in search results,” said...

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The best TVs to buy for the Super Bowl

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

The Super Bowl comes at a point on the calendar when last year’s TVs are all being heavily discounted and this year’s models — only recently announced at CES — are about to start shipping if they haven’t already. We’ve got you covered on the deals front, but here, I’m going to list off some great TVs that earn our recommendation regardless of whether they’re on sale.

You’ll be satisfied with any of these picks for many years after Super Bowl LVII, but the thrill of victory is that much sweeter when you’re watching your team win on a shiny new TV. And if your Chiefs or Eagles come out on the losing side, at least you’ll have a nice consolation prize.

The best TV for the brightest picture

Image: Hisense ...

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Google Maps’ Immersive View is now available across five cities

The new Immersive View will be rolled out to Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice in the coming months. | Image: Google

Immersive View is now rolling out for Google Maps in five global cities after the feature was first introduced across hundreds of notable landmarks last year. It combines billions of Street View and aerial images, allowing users to scope out neighborhoods as if they’re flying overhead and then drop down to street level for a closer look at areas of interest. The experience essentially resembles Google Earth but with Street View’s freedom to explore in more detail.

Immersive View was first announced in May 2021 and expanded in September last year to cover 250 global landmarks, including Tokyo Tower and the Acropolis of Athens. Today, the feature is rolling out to cover London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Tokyo, with the...

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Google is still drip-feeding AI into search, Maps, and Translate

Illustration: The Verge

Google announced a bunch of AI-enabled search, Maps, and Translate updates as part of its Google presents: Live from Paris event on Wednesday.

While it showed off a brief demo of “Bard,” the ChatGPT-rivaling AI chatbot-style search powered by its LaMDA technology, most of the features focused on features we've already seen, like “visual search” implementations that expand Google Lens, a more immersive version of Google Maps, and a Google Translate that is better at understanding context.

In the coming months, we’re introducing a ✨major update ✨ to help you search what’s on your mobile screen.

You’ll soon be able to use Lens through Assistant to search what you see in photos or videos across websites and apps on Android. #...

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Google is adding some new features for EVs with built-in Google Maps

The Volvo EX90 is an electric vehicle that includes Google Maps built-in. | Image: Volvo

Along with other AI-powered search upgrades, Google announced a slate of new Google Maps features for owners of electric vehicles that have the company’s navigation tool built-in. The aim is to improve the experience of finding the right EV charging station and to plan trips when charging might be necessary.

Before we get to the new features, a fair warning: only a handful of EVs come with Google Maps built-in, including vehicles from Polestar, Volvo, certain General Motors vehicles, and Renault. (Honda and Ford electric vehicles with Google built-in are coming soon.) EV owners who use Google Maps on their mobile device, or through Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, will not be able to use these new features.

For EV owners with Google Maps...

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Microsoft’s Activision acquisition in peril after UK regulator warns of harm to gamers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) already expressed concerns about Microsoft’s plans to acquire Activision Blizzard last year, but it now says the deal could harm UK gamers. The CMA has published provisional findings in its investigation into the Microsoft and Activision deal and found that it “could result in higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation for UK gamers.” The CMA has offered up possible remedies that include Microsoft being forced to sell off Activision Blizzard’s business associated with Call of Duty.

The CMA makes it clear that it’s mainly concerned about two things: cloud gaming and game exclusivity. “The evidence available to the CMA currently indicates that Microsoft would find it commercially...

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Wednesday’s top tech news: after Microsoft’s AI blowout, it’s Google’s turn

Illustration: The Verge

And Biden calls for Big Tech regulation in his State of the Union.

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Biden rallies against Big Tech in State of the Union address

Photo by Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images

President Joe Biden threw his support behind tougher rules regulating Silicon Valley during his Second State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

The president attempted to rally bipartisan support to finally resolve a number of long-standing privacy, safety, and competition issues facing the tech industry. Over the more than hourlong address, Biden called on Congress to pass new rules protecting user data privacy and boosting competition in the tech industry.

“Pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement”

“Pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement and prevent big online platforms from giving their own products an unfair advantage,” Biden said. “It’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big...

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Microsoft thinks AI can beat Google at search — CEO Satya Nadella explains why

Satya Nadella CEO Microsoft | Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

I’m coming to you from Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, where just a few hours ago, Microsoft announced that the next version of the Bing search engine would be powered by OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT. There’s also a new version of the Edge web browser with OpenAI chat tech in a window that can help you browse and understand web pages.

The in-depth presentation showed how OpenAI running in Bing and Edge could radically increase your productivity. They demo’d it making a travel itinerary, posting to LinkedIn, and rewriting code to work in a different programming language.

After the presentation, I was able to get some time with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella has been very bullish on AI. He’s previously talked about AI as...

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How to watch Google’s Live from Paris search and AI event

Illustration: The Verge

Google, the company ubiquitous to online web searches, is set to reveal news on how it’ll use AI to help find what you’re looking for in a more “natural and intuitive” way. Google’s been using AI and machine learning models to achieve things like removing unwanted objects in your photos with Magic Eraser and building step-by-step directions in Google Maps’ Street View. And more experimentally, Google used AI to let you generate images from text and figure out scribbly doctors’ notes.

Google just announced this week it’s working on a conversational AI system called Bard, which is powered by its internal LaMDA AI model. Now, based on its many years of researching AI, Google sounds like it’s ready to take on AI systems like DALL-E and, more...

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Tinder’s incognito mode hides your profile from people you don’t like

Illustration: The Verge

Tinder now allows you to browse through profiles while staying hidden — but you’ll have to pay for it. In a post on Tinder’s newsroom, the dating app announced a new incognito mode that you can use to swipe through profiles without showing up in their recommendations feed unless you “like” them (via TechCrunch).

Currently, Tinder’s algorithm surfaces your profile in other members’ recommendations, whether you swipe right or left on them. Incognito mode, on the other hand, will hide your profile from other users unless you’ve expressed interest, which should help ensure you’re profile’s viewed by the people you want to see it.

The downside is that you can only access the new feature if you pay for Tinder Plus, Gold, and Platinum, which...

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The best fitness trackers to buy right now

Photo illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

From simple fitness bands to rugged sports watches to rings, these are the best trackers you can get.

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Raphael Saadiq wants Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’s music to move you

Devil Dinosaur and Moon Girl dancing together. | Disney

‘When I watched cartoons as a kid, there was a lot of serious orchestration. A lot of funk, a lot of R&B, and a lot of soul — all kinds of different styles of music. I wanted that for Moon Girl, too.’

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Here are the best iPad deals right now

Select iPad models go on sale quite regularly. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

While the best iPad deals come around during major sales events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day, you can still find plenty of great discounts at all times of the year if you know where to look. Whether you’re after the high-end iPad Pro or the most affordable entry-level iPad, there’s likely a sale going on somewhere you may be interested in.

Of course, it’s difficult to know exactly where you can find the most notable deals unless you’re scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that’s often what our deal hunters at The Verge are doing each and every day, so let us help you out. Below, we’ve listed the best deals you can get on each iPad model that is currently available, including the latest ones...

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WhatsApp adds new status features, hoping you’ll use them

Illustration: The Verge

Meta is adding several new features to WhatsApp status, which lets you post disappearing pictures and other media. Once the features roll out over the coming weeks, you’ll be able to react to people’s posts with an emoji, limit who can see your status, and post voice messages.

According to an announcement post, the status emoji reactions work similar to how they do on Instagram; when you swipe up on the post, you get the option to choose from one of eight emoji. (The options are , , , , , , , and .)

While a WhatsApp blog post calls emoji reactions the No. 1 requested feature after it launched the ability to react to messages last year, I personally feel like the Private Audience Selector is the most useful addition announced today....

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The irresistible draw of the rewatch podcast

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Hey, everybody! Nice to be back, though I do miss the sunshine and sick waves (that I did not ride) of Hawaii. I also, quite literally, ate too much tuna. It was worth it. Thanks to Jake for covering on a particularly busy week.

Anyway, on to the news: Google alters its podcast search, Crooked Media forms a union, and Disney Channel stars are back en masse for rewatch pods.

Google is sunsetting its podcast carousel

“Podcast carousel” may sound like some technodystopian theme park ride, but it’s actually that featured bar of podcast episodes you get when you search for a show. When you click on episodes, they direct automatically to the Google Podcast player. It’s a pretty intuitive functionality, so it is curious that Google has...

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Here are the best Kindle deals right now

The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is on sale starting at just $104.99 as part of Amazon’s ongoing Valentine’s Day sale. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge

When it comes to finding a device to use to read your ebooks, you have a few options to choose from. You can always buy a tablet or use your phone, but those devices are multipurpose and can be used for a ton of things, like surfing the web or doom-scrolling on Twitter. If you are looking for something to strictly read books, e-readers, while niche, are designed to store all of your books in a virtual library with limited functionality.

Amazon, one of the pioneers of the e-reader, has dominated the space for years with its ever-expanding Kindle lineup, which consists of several unique models with their own pros and cons. The bulk of the devices function as simple ebook readers; however, with the Kindle Scribe, Amazon looks to be moving...

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The new Microsoft Bing will sometimes misrepresent the info it finds

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Search engines are about to change in a very important way: when you type in a query and get an official-looking answer, it might be wrong — because an AI chatbot created it.

Today, Microsoft announced a new version of its Bing search engine that will provide “complete answers” to your questions by tapping into the power of ChatGPT. You can already try some canned sample searches and sign up for more.

But though Microsoft is taking many precautions compared to its 2016 failure with Tay — a chatbot that Twitter taught to be racist and misogynist in less than a day — the company’s still proactively warning that some of the new Bing’s results might be bad.

Here are a couple key passages from Microsoft’s new Bing FAQ:

Bing tries to keep...

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