Apple Watches with blood oxygen tech are banned again

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In the latest twist in Apple’s ongoing patent battle with Masimo, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has denied extending an interim stay on the Apple Watch ban. That means Apple will once again have to stop selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 devices that have the technology enabled starting at 5PM ET on January 18th.

This is an obvious setback for Apple, which has been scrambling to find a way to circumvent the International Trade Commission’s import ban. A letter from Masimo earlier this week revealed US Customs and Border Protection has approved a measure to remove the blood oxygen feature from relevant Apple Watches.

Doing so would purportedly allow Apple to resume selling the devices, but Apple has yet to...

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Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra might fend off scratches just as well as drops

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

The cover glass on our smartphones has grown durable enough to withstand more than a few drops nowadays. Whether you’re talking about Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus or the iPhone’s “ceramic shield,” displays have gotten pretty tough. But one common complaint remains: phone screens are still all too easy to scratch. Sometimes, it feels like it’s even easier to scratch a premium phone than it used to be. Screen protectors are still a booming business, after all.

But today marks some promising news. During Samsung’s Unpacked event, Corning announced a new kind of cover glass called Corning Gorilla Armor that it claims makes big strides on several fronts. It’s debuting on the brand-new Galaxy 24 Ultra. First, and as to be expected, the...

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Suck carbon out of the atmosphere and desalinate seawater at the same time? This startup is trying.

A mockup of an industrial plant layout for a facility that would desalinate seawater and take carbon dioxide out of the air. | Image courtesy of Capture6

A startup developing technology to take planet-heating carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere just signed a deal with a state-owned water utility in South Korea to build a pilot project that combines the new climate tech with seawater desalination.

The first-of-its kind collaboration is intended to clean up some of the pollution from a giant hub for petrochemical production nearby, on top of supplying fresh water to heavy industries in the area.

Depending on how you look at it, partnerships like this could be an innovative way to minimize the environmental damage from very dirty business, or a way to keep fossil fuels flowing when the world needs cleaner alternatives. Either way, it’s an example of how the fossil fuel industry is cozying...

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YouTube is the latest part of Google to be hit with layoffs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

YouTube is cutting an unspecified number of jobs on the business side of the house, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The news was announced internally on Wednesday by chief business officer Mary Ellen Coe, who oversees thousands of people working in areas like business operations, partnerships, and advertising.

Job cuts have been hitting different parts of Google since last week, when over 1,000 people were laid off. Shortly after that, hundreds more were impacted in Google’s advertising division. Like those previous cuts, YouTube employees who are impacted will have a short window of time to find another role inside the company before accepting a severance package.

Developing...

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Samsung is making a smart ring

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Samsung just announced that it’s working on a smart ring. The ring, called the Galaxy Ring, was teased at the very end of today’s Unpacked showcase, and the company briefly described it as a “powerful and accessible” health and wellness device.

Outside of a brief video showing off what the Galaxy Ring looks like, Samsung didn’t share much more about the ring. The company didn’t say when the device is coming out or what it might cost, for example.

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But it’s perhaps not too surprising that Samsung is jumping into the... ring... given that this already seems to be the year of the smart ring, if CES is anything to go by. And there was a...

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Tesla’s Cybertruck is having trouble living up to the hype

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

During the Cybertruck event last year, Elon Musk showed off a pretty impressive demo that pitted its 6,600-lb EV pickup against a Porsche 911 on a quarter-mile drag strip. The Cybertruck came out on top — with the twist that it was towing a Porche 911, too.

Tesla claims the $99,990 tri-motor “Cyberbeast” went from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 2.6 seconds and completed the quarter-mile race in less than 11 seconds. But was that really the case? In a video posted last week, YouTuber Engineering Explained calls out Musk for pedaling what appears to be exaggerations about the Cybertruck’s capabilities.

For one, channel owner Jason Fenske says the Cybertruck doesn’t actually complete the full quarter-mile race in the demo — instead,...

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This E Ink climate sensor cuts the cloud and adds Matter

Image: Shelly

European smart home device manufacturer Shelly has a new version of its temperature and humidity sensor, plus an even smaller smart relay switch. Shelly’s H&T Gen3 adds an enhanced e-paper display and doubles the responsiveness and efficiency of the previous version thanks to 8MB on-device memory. It's also Matter-upgradable, making interoperability easier, and Shelly says if you upgrade the device to the new smart home standard, it will keep all its features.

Shelly’s devices are smarter than your average smart devices. They work over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but each device can also act as a Wi-Fi network extender or a Bluetooth gateway for more reliable local connections. There’s no hub required, and devices can work locally or connect to...

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CNN’s big plan to save itself is to be everywhere your phone is

With their powers combined... | Photo by Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Cable, like broadcast TV, is on the decline. People are increasingly getting their news from social media and digital media (hello), which means the big cable news channels are seeing declines in viewership and subsequent declines in ad dollars. Now, a memo from CNN CEO Mark Thompson outlines some of the early plans to try to save CNN from cable — and grow its presence on the phone.

As noted by The Wall Street Journal, which has seen the memo, the first step will be combining CNN’s myriad news-gathering groups into one team. CNN, in its current structure, has a TV-focused operation, a streaming one, and a digital one. They communicate, but they’re separate organizations with separate leaders and goals. Thompson will combine them and then...

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The next iOS update will make it harder to break into your iPhone

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Apple is expected to include a new security feature in iOS 17.3 next week called Stolen Device Protection that will make it far harder for would-be phone thieves to hijack your Apple ID and any financial information stored on the device. Right now, your lock screen passcode is enough to access or change sensitive personal and financial data, but with the update, thieves would need to use Face ID or Touch ID, and may have to wait an hour, to make certain changes. While Apple hasn’t announced specifically when this feature will come, it’s been testing it in the 17.3 beta since December.

The new security feature addresses a key vulnerability exposed by a February 2023 Wall Street Journal report: By memorizing an iPhone’s lock screen...

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The Galaxy S24 Ultra is smarter, pricier, and just as big as ever

The big phone is back.

Ever wish you could have the most phone? For several years running, Samsung’s S-series Ultra hasbeen that device, and the company is going just as big with the Ultra for 2024. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is here with a new titanium finish, lots of AI tools, and a higher starting price: $1,299, up from an already high $1,199.

One of the most immediately noticeable new features of the Ultra is how it’s built. This year’s model has a titanium frame — like Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro — which Samsung saysallows for better durability. Unlike Apple, Samsung hasn’t used the material in an attempt to make the phone lighter; titanium is heavier than aluminum, but it’s more durable so you can use less of it. In this case, Samsung has just gone for the...

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Google’s Circle to Search is a dead-simple way to find what you’re looking for

Circle a fake plant and find it on sale at Walmart, just like that. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

It’s hard to think of a more self-explanatory feature than Circle to Search: it does exactly what it sounds like it does. You circle something on your phone screen, tap a button, and voila! A page full of Google search results telling you about the thing you circled. Easy, right? The new feature is launching on five phones to start — the three members of Samsung’s brand-new Galaxy S24 series, as well as Google’s Pixel 8 and 8 Pro — before it comes to other “select, premium” Android phones.

Well, maybe it does need a little explaining. If the feature sounds familiar, you might be thinking of Google Lens, which is similar. But instead of opening up the Google app, you can use Circle to Search anywhere on your device. Just long-press the...

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Samsung’s S24 and S24 Plus put new AI smarts in a polished package

The Galaxy S24 Plus (left) and the S24 (right).

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus don’t have the bigger screen or 5x telephoto camera of the more expensive Galaxy S24 Ultra, nor do they have its stylus. But in a year when “Galaxy AI” is almost all Samsung wants to talk about, it feels like those differences will matter a little less than usual when these phones start shipping on January 31st.

Yes, Samsung’s suite of new AI-infused features is here, and perhaps the single most important thing to know about Samsung’s new S24 lineup is that these are the same whether you opt for the $799.99 Galaxy S24, the $999.99 Galaxy S24 Plus, or the $1,299.99 Galaxy S24 Ultra. In the US, the phones are all using Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processors, meaning the performance of the on-device AI features...

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This solid budget robovac is more than half off

Amazon is taking $290 off of the Yeedi Vac 2 Pro robot vacuum. | Image: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

From an AI-powered robot vacuum that can suck up milk to a robovac with an actual arm, we saw some pretty cool (and downright weird) gadgets launch during CES last week. But unless you have nearly two grand just lying around to spend, those fancy features don’t come cheap. Luckily, there are significantly more affordable options on the market like the Yeedi Vac 2 Pro,which is down to just $159.99 ($290 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon.

If all you need is a decent robot vacuum that’ll clean your floors well enough, this top-notch budget robovac nails the essentials. It doesn’t come with the kind of advanced obstacle avoidance tech found in the longer-lasting Roomba j7, but it does avoid most obstacles over an inch tall....

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Google Search, Chrome, and Android are all changing thanks to EU antitrust law

Illustration: The Verge

Google is testing changes to some of its most important services including Search, the Chrome browser, and its Android operating system ahead of the European Union’s tough new antitrust rules coming into force in March, the company has announced. The changes come as a result of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a sweeping piece of legislation under which Google has been designated as a “gatekeeper” and given new rules for how it can operate important “core platform services.”

On Android, it’s introducing a new browser choice screen during initial device setup, similar to what it already offers to let users pick between different search engines. (This search engine choice screen’s roots lie in a €4.3 billion fine from the EU over...

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Ira Glass is coming to Hot Pod Summit

This is Hot Pod_,_ The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.

We’ve got some podcast news to cover today, but first, I am very excited to finally share what we have in store for Hot Pod Summit. The invite-only event is just over a month away, and I can’t wait to see everyone there. Without further ado…

Ira Glass is coming to Hot Pod Summit

My favorite part of Hot Pod Summit is bringing podcast leaders together to talk frankly about the challenges and possibilities shaping the industry. It’s been a year of dramatic change, so we thought it best to bring in someone who has been there from the very beginning. Who better than the man who kicked off the podcast revolution?

I will be talking to Ira...

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Notion’s new calendar app is designed to keep your meetings organized

Notion Calendar is just Cron, reskinned and deeply integrated with Notion. | Image: Notion

Notion users have been asking for an integrated calendar system for years. Now, Notion is delivering: it’s launching Notion Calendar, a standalone app that integrates with all of your databases and notes in Notion. It’s yet another way Notion is attempting to be the only app your company needs to do pretty much everything.

If you’ve ever used Cron, the calendar app Notion acquired in 2022 and has been operating ever since, you basically already know the deal with Notion Calendar. It’s just a redesigned, Notion-ified version of the app. Cron was always a fast, simple, nice-looking calendar with some clever features like Calendly-style booking tools and a command bar you can use for quickly setting up recurring meetings and the like. One...

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AI models that don’t violate copyright are getting a new certification label

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

As much of the potential legislation around AI requires reviews of models, groups have begun offering certification programs to AI companies to show how their work doesn’t violate copyright.

Bloomberg reported Fairly Trained — founded by former Stability AI vice president for audio Ed Newton-Rex — adds a label to companies that prove they asked for permission to use copyrighted training data. Newton-Rex started Fairly Trained after he quit Stability AI in November, citing generative AI was “exploiting creators.”

Its first accreditation, which it calls the Licensed Model certification, will be awarded to companies that license protected data to train its models. Fairly Trained claims it will not issue the certification to developers that...

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Music streaming platforms must pay artists more, says EU

The European Parliament has made its case — now, it’s up to the European Commission to decide whether to initiate legislation proceedings. | Image: The Verge

The EU has proposed sweeping changes within the music streaming industry to promote smaller artists and make sure underpaid performers are being fairly compensated.

A resolution to address concerns regarding inadequate streaming royalties for artists and biased recommendation algorithms was adopted by members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday, highlighting that no existing EU rules currently apply to music streaming services, despite being the most popular way to consume audio.

The proposition was made to ensure European musical works are accessible and avoid being overshadowed by the “overwhelming amount” of content being continually added to streaming platforms like Spotify. MEPs also called for outdated “pre-digital”...

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Amazon’s latest Fire TVs can now use AI to generate custom art backgrounds

Image: Amazon

Back at its fall hardware event, Amazon announced that AI artwork generation would be coming to its Fire TV Omni QLED televisions and the second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max. And now, the feature has begun rolling out to those products in the US, giving owners a way to create a custom background using an Alexa voice prompt. You can say something like “Alexa, create a background of a medieval castle on Mars,” and you’ll see the image gradually created in front of you.

The AI Art feature is powered by Alexa and a fine-tuned Titan Image Generator model, according to Amazon. If you’ve used AI image creation tools before, this should feel familiar: Amazon will create up to four unique images for each prompt. You can also apply any number of...

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Alphabet’s Wing unveils larger drones for heavier packages

Image: Wing

If drone delivery is going to go mainstream, it’s going to need bigger aircraft that can handle more stuff. Today, Alphabet’s Wing unveiled the first in a new lineup of larger drones with more payload capacity.

Wing’s flagship drone is designed to handle payloads of up to 2.5 pounds. The new drone can handle up to five pounds without sacrificing range. The company says that it has enough battery power to complete 12 miles round trip while cruising at up to 65mph.

“It’s always been our vision to implement a multimodal drone delivery model, in the same way that ground delivery uses different vehicle sizes for different orders,” Wing CEO Adam Woodworth said in a blog post.

“It’s always been our vision to implement a multimodal drone...

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How to watch Samsung’s Galaxy S24 event

Samsung promoting Unpacked at The Sphere. | Image: Samsung

It’s almost time for Samsung’s winter Unpacked event, where we’ll see the launch of the Galaxy S24 lineup and some splashy new AI features to go along with them. The event will cap off months of leaks of the new devices — plus some teases directly from Samsung itself.

Just before Thanksgiving last year, Samsung announced a new mobile AI experience it’s calling Galaxy AI, which it said was scheduled to debut in early 2024. We should get the lowdown on Galaxy AI at this year’s event. The company is also rumored to be partnering with Google on some AI features, too.

We’ve rounded up everything else you need to know about this year’s Unpacked below:

When is Samsung Galaxy Unpacked?

Samsung will hold Galaxy Unpacked on January 17th, 2024, at...

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Apple’s App Store policies now let US developers link to outside payments

Illustration: The Verge

Apple has updated its App Store policies to spell out how developers can link to outside payment platforms, as reported by 9to5Mac. Developers will still owe Apple a cut if they use an outside payment platform. Apple will take a 27 percent cut (as opposed to the 30 percent in many cases) or 12 percent if a developer is part of the App Store Small Business Program, according to a support page about external purchase links.

Section 3.1.1(a) of the App Store Review Guidelines lays down more of the new rules for developers who want to link to alternative payment methods, like how they have to apply for an “entitlement” to enable them. Developers also can’t exclusively receive payments from outside Apple’s walled garden; they’ll also have...

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Samsung’s Galaxy S24 preorder still comes with a $50 credit — for one more day

The Galaxy S24 is likely launching tomorrow, and you still have time to already secure a decent bonus for pre-ordering one. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S24 series tomorrow, January 17th. If you’ve caught up on our coverage of all the rumored changes and know you’ll be upgrading upon release, you might as well reserve one. There’s no payment due today for doing so, and you’ll be rewarded with a $50 credit that’s usable toward other devices or accessories at the time of purchase.

Today is your last chance to take advantage of this deal, and there are no guarantees that we’ll see any other Galaxy S24 preorder incentives outside of Samsung’s traditional trade-in offers. You’ll only need to provide your name and email address to receive a unique link to place your order after the event.

Samsung will also offer separate instant credits worth $25,...

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Substack’s moderation battle: all the latest news

Illustration by The Verge

The publishing platform’s response to Nazi content is driving away some well-known writers.

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The AI phones are coming

The era of AI on our phones is upon us, and it’s Samsung’s turn to show us a vision for the future. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung is announcing new phones this week, and they’re going to be the most AI phones that ever AI’ed. That’s not a guess, although it would be an easy one coming off the heels of “Put a ChatGPT on it” CES 2024. No, Samsung is telling us in the loudest ways possible — including putting it on the Sphere, which is the 2024 equivalent of shouting it from the rooftops. But what exactly does AI on a phone look like? So far, it has amounted to a handful of tech demos. This week’s Galaxy Unpacked event is an opportunity to show us the potential of AI on a mobile device. And unlike a washing machine with ChatGPT preinstalled, AI could be really useful on our phones.

AI showed up in a big way in 2023, but as a tool on our mobile devices, it’s...

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Awesome Games Done Quick’s adorable dog speedrun was just the start

Photo: JSR_

Though Awesome Games Done Quick will go on for the rest of the week, the charity speedrunning event may have already peaked with a run performed by Peanut Butter... a Shiba Inu.

Using a custom-made controller and spurred by commands and treats, Peanut Butter button-pressed his way into our hearts and the speedrunning history books with his run of Gyromite in the first-ever speedrun done by a dog. Gyromite is a game where the player guides a sleepwalking scientist through his lab by pressing buttons to raise or lower colored pillars in the scientist’s way. To successfully complete a level, players must not get squished by releasing a pillar too soon and avoid monsters called “smicks” that can kill the player in one hit.

For the run,...

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How the EU’s DMA is changing Big Tech: all of the news and updates

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The broad legislation is already forcing some major shifts in the tech industry.

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Here’s what you need to know about preordering the Apple Vision Pro

Apple’s mixed-reality headset lets users switch between virtual and augmented reality using a physical dial. | Image: Apple

After first introducing the Vision Pro during last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple recently revealed that the forthcoming headset will be available starting February 2nd. If you can’t wait to get your hands on it, however, you can preorder it from US Apple Store locations and online for $3,499 starting at 8AM ET on January 19th.

If you plan on placing your order as soon preorders later this week, it’s a good idea to read up on everything you need to know ahead of time. To make doing so a little easier, we’ve rounded up all the info you’ll need to place a preorder below, including a few details regarding the upcoming headset, the various accessories it comes packaged with, and more. We’ll also be updating this post when...

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A new kind of climate denial has taken over on YouTube

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Climate change disinformation on YouTube has morphed into a misleading new narrative, according to a report published today. With compounding disasters making it harder to deny that climate change is happening, creators spreading disinformation have pivoted to content that targets clean energy.

In the past, content that falsely claimed that climate change was either not happening or not a result of humans burning fossil fuels dominated disinformation channels. That’s not the case anymore, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Instead, the most common lies about climate change now have to do with denying the benefits of clean energy, attacking policies meant to slash planet-heating pollution...

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Apple Vision Pro hands-on, again, for the first time

It’s impossible to look cool in a VR headset, even if it’s the $3,499 Vision Pro. | Image: Apple

I know what I saw, but I’m still trying to figure out where this headset fits in real life.

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