Vision Pro cover glass repairs will set you back $799 without AppleCare Plus

Apple’s Vision Pro headset. | Image: Apple

The Apple Vision Pro headset’s sticker price of $3,499 is nothing to sneeze at. But if you choose not to pay the additional $24.99 per month or $499 for two years of AppleCare Plus coverage, be sure to handle your new headset with kid gloves. For users without a coverage plan, repairing a cracked cover glass will cost $799, according to Apple’s updated support page for the Vision Pro.

If you are covered under AppleCare Plus, repairing either a cracked cover glass or other accidental damage will cost $299. At these rates, paying for two years of AppleCare Plus and the reduced cover glass repair fee costs a combined $798 — an entire $1 less than the repair costs without the service plan.

The terms and conditions (pdf) explain the...

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Microsoft ‘senior leadership’ emails accessed by Russian SolarWinds hackers

Illustration: The Verge

Microsoft is revealing today that it has discovered a nation-state attack on its corporate systems from the same Russian state-sponsored group of hackers that were responsible for the sophisticated SolarWinds attack. Microsoft says the hackers, known as Nobelium, were able to access email accounts of some members of its senior leadership team late last year.

“Beginning in late November 2023, the threat actor used a password spray attack to compromise a legacy non-production test tenant account and gain a foothold, and then used the account’s permissions to access a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of our senior leadership team and employees in our cybersecurity, legal, and other functions,...

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Samsung’s smart ring might signal the start of a new wearable era

It’s a big thing for a tech heavyweight like Samsung to invest in a more niche wearable device. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Smartwatches have long reigned supreme in the wearable world. Smart rings have hovered around the periphery, but earlier this week, Samsung ended its Unpacked event with a tease of the Galaxy Ring. To me, that reads like the company is itching to shake up the wearable world order.

That might sound hyperbolic given that all Samsung did was play a flashy reel of a sparkly ring with a few visible sensors on the inside of the band. Few details were given onstage. But in an email, Samsung spokesperson Amber Reaver told me that the ring is meant to “empower more people to manage their health with a comprehensive yet simplified approach to everyday wellness at home.” Part of that is having consistent and accurate tracking data over a lengthy...

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Samsung’s fancy new Galaxy AI features might not be free forever

Galaxy AI: free, for now.

Galaxy AI has arrived, as Samsung has declared in the loudest way possible, but the company left one small detail out of its presentation earlier this week: it might come at a cost. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, S24 Plus, and S24 all include a smorgasbord of new AI features — everything from translating phone conversations to removing objects from photos. They’ll even be coming to many older phones, too. But as spotted by Android Central, the fine print on Samsung’s website reveals that they might not be free forever. And that might be a tough sell.

The footnote at the bottom of the Galaxy S24 Ultra product page is vague, but clearly leaves a door open for Samsung to charge later: “Galaxy AI features will be provided for free until the...

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Jeep’s all-electric Wagoneer S to go on sale in the US in fall 2024

Jeep’s all-electric Wagoneer S to hit US dealerships in the fall. | Image: Jeep

Jeep’s first all-electric vehicle for the US, the midsize Wagoneer S, will be available for purchase this fall, according to a press release.

The vehicle’s specifications are similar to when Jeep first teased the Wagoneer S in 2022: 600hp, a zero to 60mph time of about 3.5 seconds, and a grille lit by LEDs. But as Car and Driver notes, Jeep owner Stellantis has yet to confirm whether the Wagoneer S includes the 400-mile target range the company announced when it first showed off the vehicle. The Verge has reached out to Stellantis for comment.

The all-electric 2025 Jeep Recon is also slated to go on sale sometime in 2024, according to Jeep’s website. Unlike the more modern-looking Wagoneer S, the Recon evokes the old-school era of...

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is still chasing billions to build AI chips

Image: OpenAI

A new report from Bloomberg says that once-again CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman’s efforts to raise billions for an AI chip venture are aimed at using that cash to develop a “network of factories” for fabrication that would stretch around the globe and involve working with unnamed “top chip manufacturers.”

A major cost and limitation for running AI models is having enough chips to handle the computations behind bots like ChatGPT or DALL-E that answer prompts and generate images. Nvidia’s value rose above $1 trillion for the first time last year, partly due to a virtual monopoly it has as GPT-4, Gemini, Llama 2, and other models depend heavily on its popular H100 GPUs.

Accordingly, the race to manufacture more high-powered chips to run complex...

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This PlayStation RPG is the game the GDQ tech team hates the most

Image: Square Enix

Making sure an event as large as Games Done Quick (GDQ) runs smoothly is a monumental task. There are lots of technical moving parts, from video equipment, to lighting, sound, and stream overlays, to donation trackers that have to be kept running 24 hours a day for a week straight. The tech team also has to consider the individual needs of over 100 runners playing on consoles that range in age and complexity from the NES to the PlayStation 5.

With all of that going on, I wondered which game out of the thousands that have been run at GDQ throughout its 10-plus-year history the tech team hates the most, and the answer surprised me.

It’s the PSX SquareSoft (remember them??) RPG Chrono Cross.

After speaking with GDQ’s director of technology,...

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Here are the best Kindle deals right now

Amazon’s note-taking Kindle Scribe is on sale as a part of a bundle. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / 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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Govee’s Matter-ready LED light strip can brighten your home for just $40

Govee’s full-color light strip features tunable LEDs and the ability to sync with your music. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Let’s face it, January can be a bleak month. The holidays are over, and all that’s left are dark, cold days, which is enough to bring anybody’s spirits down. Thankfully, Govee’s Matter-ready LED Strip Light M1 is on sale to brighten up your day. Right now, you can buy the light strip for just $39.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, which matches its all-time low price. You can also buy it for $5 more directly from Govee.

If you miss seeing colorful holiday lights everywhere, then you’ll love Govee’s 6.56-foot (2m) light strip. The bright, tunable LEDs are capable of jazzing up your home with a wide range of vibrant colors and effects, making it almost feel as if it’s Christmas all over again. What’s even cooler is that the lights also flash and...

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The Verge is not interested in interviewing you about crypto — but scammers are

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If you get a message from someone at The Verge asking to schedule an interview about cryptocurrency, don’t do it. There’s a phishing scam going around that attempts to trick users into clicking on a fake Calendly link to “schedule” phony interviews in order to steal Discord credentials for a wallet-draining scam.

We recently discovered that a bad actor has been impersonating Verge science reporter Justine Calma to carry out this scam. Justine recently changed her handle on X (formerly Twitter) from @justcalma to @justinecalmajourno. The scammer hijacked her old handle @justcalma — which was still present on her Verge profile at the time — and leveraged her identity when messaging users about a fake interview.

Screenshot...

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Gotta go fast: all the awesome stuff at AGDQ 2024

Photo: Wes “Fish” Chan / Games Done Quick

Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 has already raised over $1 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

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Google teases a new Pixel 8 color for release next week

Image: Google

Google might be about to expand the color options for its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Today the Pixel team’s social media channels began posting teases for a new mint green color that will be available next Thursday, January 25th. The messaging isn’t exactly subtle. This hue will apparently be exclusive to the Google Store and Google Fi, so carriers and retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are unlikely to offer it.

01000110 01110010 01100101 01110011 01101000 00100000 01111001 01100101 01100001 01110010 00101100 00100000 01100110 01110010 01100101 01110011 01101000 00100000 01100100 01110010 01101111 01110000 00101110 00100000 https://t.co/1nhhiCtNCe pic.twitter.com/CyOeJ9Czvd

— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) January 19, 2024

The binary...

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Here’s how much the Vision Pro’s accessories cost

That travel case is $199. | Image: Apple

Now that Apple Vision Pro preorders are open, there’s a lot more we know about how much accessories will cost, configurations, and other details. And as you might expect, fully kitting out a Vision Pro will make quite the dent in your wallet.

For starters, the base model of the Vision Pro with 256GB of storage starts at $3,499. Getting 512GB bumps up the cost to $3,699, and 1TB will cost $3,899. All that moola will get you the Apple Vision Pro headset with a light seal, a light seal cushion, and a solo knit band. Also in the box are a dual loop band, a cover, a battery, an extra light seal cushion, Apple’s polishing cloth, and a 30W USB-C power adaptor and charging cable.

However, if you want to add Apple Care Plus, that’ll be an extra...

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Everything we know about Apple’s Vision Pro headset

Illustration: Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Apple’s long-rumored virtual and augmented reality headset Vision Pro headset launches in February. Here’s a timeline of all the details that have emerged about the device over the years and what we know so far.

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How to file and pay your 2023 taxes online

Samar Haddad / The Verge

The holidays are over, a new year is here, and along with all the various upheavals that we are facing, most of us have to deal with our annual income taxes. (The usual quote about death and taxes goes here.)

While we were able to wait until April 18th in 2023, this year tax day is back to the traditional April 15th, which is a Monday. That is, unless you live in Maine or Massachusetts — then you have until Wednesday, April 17th, because of the Patriots’ Day and Emancipation Day holidays.

Despite the stress that many of us feel at the thought of tackling our yearly taxes, try not to worry — we’re going to list some resources that are available so that you can prepare your taxes. As always, it might not be a bad idea to start working on...

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How the smart home is finally getting out of your phone and into your home

Controlling your smart home on your TV — something Samsung’s new SmartThing’s Map View lets you do more intuitively — could make it simpler for everyone in the home to use smart devices. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

From map views and smart TVs to smart buttons and generative AI, controlling your smart home is getting simpler and smarter — and less dependent on your smartphone.

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Apple offers to open iPhone NFC payments to third-party providers after EU investigation

Illustration: The Verge

Apple will let third-party mobile wallet and payment providers access the iPhone’s NFC capabilities in concessions meant to address a European Commission antitrust investigation, the regulator announced today. The Commission is now seeking feedback on the commitments, which would end Apple Pay and Apple Wallet’s exclusive access to the iPhone’s NFC payment features. It’s the latest development in the nearly four year-old investigation.

The proposed commitments come a little over one and a half years after the Commission formally accused Apple of using its iOS policies to restrict competition in the mobile payments market in violation of EU law. “The Commission takes issue with the decision by Apple to prevent mobile wallets app...

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X expands audio and video calling to Android

Users can disable the feature within their account settings, and restrict who can contact them when it’s enabled. | Illustration: The Verge

X (formerly Twitter) is now rolling out its audio and video calling capabilities to Android users following their iOS launch last October. Users may need to update the app to see the feature, according to X developer Enrique Barragan, who also says that any user can receive calls, but only X Premium subscribers can place them.

It’s unclear how long the rollout will take to reach all Android users, though we’ve confirmed that at least one of The Verge’s Android devices is showing the feature after the X app was updated. X Premium subscriptions start at $3 per month for the “Basic” tier, but it isn’t clear from X’s Help Centre which tier the outbound video and audio calling perk is locked behind.

Image: X

There are...

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The iPhone 16 could come with a new camera button, another report claims

Last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which introduced the Action Button. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Another report, this time from The Information, claims that Apple is testing a new camera-focused button for inclusion on this year’s iPhone release, presumably called the iPhone 16. According to the publication’s sources, the button could be located on the lower right side of the device, placing it under your index finger when taking photos and videos in landscape.

Rumors of a new camera button have been around since at least September, when MacRumors reported on the in-development feature. But while MacRumors reported that the button would be capacitive, and therefore simulate a press with a vibration, The Information says it’ll be mechanical like a traditional button, but with extra capacitive features that make it both touch- and...

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Leia is building a 3D empire on the back of the worst phone we’ve ever reviewed

Leia co-founder and CEO David Fattal, with his Red Hydrogen smartphone.

A 200-person startup named after Star Wars’ Princess Leia may have quietly cornered the market on glasses-free 2D to 3D screens — after clawing its way back from one of the biggest gadget flops of the past decade.

Remember the Red Hydrogen, the 3D phone that crashed and burned so hard its founder decided it was time to retire? Leia is the company that designed its “holographic” screen, and the company has been relatively quiet since that experience. Walking into its private hotel room suite at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, my expectations were not particularly high!

So you can imagine my surprise to find five tables full of Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo and MSI products and prototypes, plus a brand-new 3D OLED phone — each featuring a eye-popping...

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Plex is about to launch a store for movies and TV shows

Image: Plex

Plex, known for its media server software and as a place to watch ad-supported content, is going to launch a store for to buy and rent movies and TV shows in early February, executives told Lowpass’ Janko Roettgers.

“Most studios” are lined up for the store’s launch, and there are “plans to complete the catalog soon after,” Roettgers says. The store will also integrate with Plex features like its watchlists for movies. Roettgers points out that that Plex has announced plans in both 2020 and 2023 to launch a movie / TV store — hopefully Plex is truly ready to do so this time.

The new store will mark a major addition for Plex, especially following the company’s layoff of 20 percent of its staff in June 2023. At the time, the company’s CEO...

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Inside Meta’s big AI reorg

Mark Zuckerberg.

Aside from Meta’s new focus on building artificial general intelligence, the biggest news inside the company this week is CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to move its AI research team, FAIR, to sit in its product organization.

Going forward, Joelle Pineau, the VP who leads FAIR, and Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist, will report to Meta’s chief product officer, Chris Cox. They previously reported to CTO Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth, who leads the Reality Labs division.

“With this change, we elevate the importance of AI research as an essential ingredient to the long-term success of the company and our products,” Cox wrote in an internal note to employees on Wednesday that I obtained. “Alongside the major infrastructure investments Mark mentioned...

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OpenAI partners with Arizona State University to use ChatGPT in classrooms

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Arizona State University (ASU) and OpenAI announced a partnership to bring ChatGPT into ASU’s classrooms.

In a press release, ASU stated that it wants to focus on “three key areas of concentration” where it can use ChatGPT Enterprise, like “enhancing student success, forging new avenues for innovative research, and streamlining organizational processes.”

ASU deputy chief information officer Kyle Bowen told The Verge,“Our faculty and staff were already using ChatGPT, and after the launch of ChatGPT Enterprise, which for us addressed a lot of the security concerns we had, we believed it made sense to connect with OpenAI.” He added that ASU faculty members, some of whom have expertise in AI, will help guide the usage of generative AI on...

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TikTok can generate AI songs, but it probably shouldn’t

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

TikTok has launched many songs that have gone viral over the years, but now it’s testing a feature that lets more people exercise their songwriting skills… with some help from AI.

AI Song generates songs from text prompts with help from the large language model Bloom. Users can write out lyrics on the text field when making a post. TikTok will then recommend AI Song to add sounds to the post, and they can toggle the song’s genre.

The Verge reached out to TikTok for comment. The feature was first spotted last week.

AI Song doesn’t seem to be available to everyone yet, but some TikTok users have already begun experimenting with it. The results so far are not great. Many are out of tune despite the availability of auto-tuning vocals. Take...

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You won’t be able to use the YouTube app on Vision Pro

Nilay Patel

Just like Netflix, YouTube also isn’t building a native app for the Vision Pro. Its iPad app won’t support the $3,499 headset, either, as YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby tells The Verge, “YouTube users will be able to use YouTube in Safari on the Vision Pro.”

Those aren’t the only major services that won’t have dedicated apps on the Vision Pro. A source familiar with the situation tells Bloomberg that Spotify isn’t planning to create a new app for the Vision Pro and “doesn’t expect to enable its iPad app to run on the device,” potentially forcing users to access Spotify in a web browser.

Spotify spokesperson Grey Munford tells The Verge that the company can’t confirm this report and that Spotify has “made no announcement concerning...

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The Rabbit R1 will receive live info from Perplexity’s AI ‘answer engine’

Rabbit

CES 2024 darling Rabbit has announced a partnership with Perplexity that will link the “conversational AI-powered answer engine” to the R1, a $199 Teenage Engineering-designed AI gadget that’s already sold through 50,000 preorders. Unlike LLMs that can only reference data up to a certain date in the past, what they’re pitching for the R1 is a built-in search engine with “live up to date answers without any knowledge cutoff.”

According to Perplexity co-founder Aravind Srinivas, who announced the deal in a live Spaces broadcast with Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu, the first 100,000 Rabbit R1 purchases will also come with one year of its Perplexity Pro subscription. The plan includes access to newer LLMs like GPT-4 and normally costs $20 per month.

I...

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How to file for a tax extension

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

When it comes to filing and paying your federal and state taxes for 2023, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that if you live in Maine or Massachusetts, you have until Wednesday, April 17th, because of the Patriots’ Day and Emancipation Day holidays.

The bad news is: whether you have to file by April 15th or April 17th, you still have to file.

If you won’t be able to file your taxes by then — because of a family emergency, a large work project, or simple procrastination — what do you do? Well, one thing you don’t do is panic. You can file for an extension, and it won’t take long.

If you’re an individual (and let’s assume you are), you can file for an extension easily online by filling out Form 4868 using the IRS’s Free File...

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Here’s our first look at Bethesda’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Image: Microsoft Game Studios

A few years after it was first announced, we finally have a glimpse at the Indiana Jones game from Bethesda studio and Wolfenstein developer MachineGames. It’s called Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and the gameplay reveal was shown during Microsoft’s Developer Direct event. It’s an action-adventure game that takes place in both first and third person, depending on the scenario, and it’s set between the films Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with Bethesda boss Todd Howard serving as executive producer. It doesn’t have a release date, but Microsoft says it’s coming later in 2024 to Xbox and PC.

And yes, there’s a lot of whip-based action.

Indy's got hands | #IndianaJones #DeveloperDirect p...

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Vision Pro apps: the good, the bad, and the ‘I Am Rich’

Image: Apple

Apple’s new platform is going to have some new — and maybe weird — apps.

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The stainless steel Apple Watch Series 8 with LTE is $175 off and still has blood oxygen sensors

This premium model originally debuted for $699, and now it’s cheaper than a base model Series 9. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If you’re shopping for a new Apple Watch, you shouldn’t take action without considering this opportunity to slap a cellular-equipped Series 8 onto your wrist for a substantial discount. You can pick up the 41mm Apple Watch Series 8 in graphite stainless steel for $314.99 at Best Buy, which is about $175 off today’s going price and more than half off the original MSRP. You’ll get that price whether you go for the small / medium or medium / large sport band. The Series 8 in all styles is increasingly hard to find brand new, so this is a rare clearance sale.

The Apple Watch Series 8 is a previous-generation smartwatch, but no less useful than the newest model. You’re only missing out on the latest S9 processor, precision finding (only...

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