The Verge
The unsettling scourge of obituary spam
Illustration by Erik Carter
In the wake of death, AI-generated obituaries litter search results, turning even private individuals into clickbait.
The VergeThe VergeMicrosoft is working on its own DLSS-like upscaler for Windows 11
Photo by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Microsoft appears to be readying its own DLSS-like AI upscaling feature for PC games. X user PhantomOcean3 discovered the feature inside the latest test versions of Windows 11 over the weekend, with Microsoft describing its automatic super resolution as a way to “use AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details.”
That sounds a lot like Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, which uses AI to upscale games and improve frame rates and image quality. AMD and Intel also offer their own variants, with FSR and XeSS both growing in popularity in recent PC game releases.
Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge
A new AI super resolution feature has been discovered in Windows 11 test...
The VergeClimate change is erasing previous gains in air quality — fires are mostly to blame
New York City shrouded in wildfire smoke on Wednesday, June 7th, 2023. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Air quality in the US is projected to backslide in the coming decades, landing back where it was in the mid-2000s as a result of climate change, according to a new report. The report comes with an online tool for users to zoom in on individual properties to see what kind of air quality residents might experience there in the future. It paints a picture of a changing landscape for regulators, who are going to have to adapt to evolving threats.
“Air quality really highlights how the changing climate is being felt by individuals.”
A hotter planet sets the stage for more wildfire smoke and supercharges the chemical reactions that lead to smog. That means the game is changing when it comes to how to prevent pollution in the future. After...
The VergeThe first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer is one big joke about Marvel’s past
It’s going to take something special to get people as hyped for Marvel’s movies as they used to be, and the first trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine— the studio’s first R-rated cape flick — makes it seem like it has just the thing.
In the new trailer, it’s unclear how much time has passed for Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and his partner Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) since the end of Deadpool 2, or even if they’re exactly the same versions of those characters who appeared in that film. But when armored troops from Loki’s Time Variance Authority show up looking for Deadpool, he isn’t exactly surprised to see them or to be whisked away through a portal.
Though Deadpool takes a moment to talk directly to the camera about the Disney of it all, TVA...
The VergeThe latest iOS beta makes it easier to use Apple Cash
Now you can turn your Apple Cash card into a Visa card. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge
The iOS 17.4 beta lets iPhone users generate a virtual card number for Apple Cash, reports 9to5Mac, citing user reports on Reddit in the last couple of weeks. With a virtual card number, iPhone users can pay with Apple Cash even when Apple Pay isn’t available, removing one of the big limitations of Apple’s built-in Venmo-like service.
I’m seeing the option in the 17.4 beta as well, but as 9to5Mac notes, its possible it hasn’t been rolled out to every beta user. It’s easy to check if you have it, though. Simply open the Wallet app, tap on your Apple Cash card, and look for a message below your balance invites you to set up a virtual card number — doing so is a simple, two-step procedure.
Screenshots: Wes Davis / The...
The VergeA crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco
Firefighters attempt to put out the Waymo car. | Image: FriscoLive415
A person jumped on the hood of a Waymo driverless taxi and smashed its windshield in San Francisco’s Chinatown last night around 9PM PT, generating applause before a crowd formed around the car and covered it in spray paint, breaking its windows, and ultimately set it on fire. The fire department arrived minutes later, according to a report in The Autopian, but by then flames had already fully engulfed the car.
At the moment, no outlets seem to have reported a motive for the attack. Waymo representative Sandy Karp told The Verge via email that the fully autonomous car “was not transporting any riders” when it was attacked and fireworks were tossed inside the car, sparking the flames. Officer Rueca of San Francisco’s police department...
The VergeThe hottest new(ish) thing in social networks
Illustration: William Joel / The Verge
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 25, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith (which is awesome) and Argylle (which is not), reading about the tech vs. media wars, AI-created fake IDs, and multibillion-dollar arenas, debating canceling Amazon Prime, and trying out Crouton for managing recipes and grocery lists.
I also have for you Google’s new AI tools, a new-ish social network, a better take on Google Docs, a new weather app worth checking out, and a bunch more. Let’s dig in.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What...
The VergeStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace will hit theaters again in May
Image: LucasFilm / Disney
Pod races, trade negotiations, and Darth Maul will be on the big screen once more when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comes back to theaters on May 3rd, 2024. The return is meant to celebrate the 1999 movie’s 25th anniversary, reports Empire.
The return to theaters comes during a renaissance for this part of the long-running franchise. In the last few years, Disney has given the prequel era the nod with series like Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobiand The Bad Batch. Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the second and third movies, told Empire in an interview that his experience with Star Wars has been “a very heartwarming one,” and that the response to them today “feels like vindication for the work we did.”
Disney and...
The VergeTesla’s iPhone app gets better digital car key support with ultra wideband
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Tesla app now supports ultra wideband (UWB) in the 2024.2.3 version of the app for iPhones. Spotted by Not a Tesla App, it promises more reliable and secure use of phones as digital keys than Bluetooth does because UWB’s precision tracking lets the car know exactly where the key is, which also helps protect against replay spoofing attacks.
The article says this even comes down to knowing which user is on the driver’s side of the car in the event that two people who have phone keys for the car are getting into it. It’s the same type of precision tracking that lets you accurately locate Apple’s AirTags even when the thing they’re attached to is lost in the cushions of your couch.
The change isn’t available for Android users yet, but...
The VergeHalo star Pablo Schreiber is excited for a darker season 2
Photo: Adrienn Szabo / Paramount Plus
From the first trailer alone, I could tell Halo season 2 would go in a different direction than the first. Where season 1 was bogged down in strange storytelling choices that didn’t leave much room for its characters — namely, the Spartans — to do what they do best — namely, kick Covenant ass — season 2 feels more in line with what a Halo show should be about.
According to Pablo Schreiber, the difference mostly comes down to tone. “The biggest place where we succeed on a level that we didn’t quite reach in season 1 is that I think the tone of this season feels darker,” he said in an interview with The Verge.
Schreiber, who plays Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, thinks the action has gotten better, too — I agree — and attributes these...
The VergeGoogle One hits 100 million subscribers
Illustration: The Verge
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced Friday that his company has logged 100 million subscriptions to Google One, its all-in-one subscription service that opens up additional storage for free services like Gmail, Drive, and Photos, as well as access to more features.
Hitting the milestone highlights the company’s efforts to move people away from its free plans, such as discontinuing unlimited Google Drive storage for photos. Google’s YouTube Premium service took nine years to get there, but it, too, recently hit 100 million subscribers, thanks to ad removal and extra features like music or high-quality streaming (and at the same time as YouTube made changes to crackdown on ad blockers).
We just crossed 100M Google One subscribers!...
The VergeHere are 22 last-minute gifts you can still grab ahead of Valentine’s Day
Sony’s adorable SRS-XB100 speaker is a pint-sized gift with plenty going for it (including a built-in strap). | Image: Sony
It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas, and now we’re shifting through scores of Super Bowl TV deals ahead of the big game. Valentine’s Day is also nearly here, though there’s no need to panic (yet) if you haven’t found the perfect gift for your significant other. After all, the deals team at The Verge has your back.
We published our Valentine’s Day gift guide a few weeks ago, but as the holiday draws closer, we’re aware that not all of our recommendations will arrive in time. That’s why we’ve put together a list of a few gifts that will. Some, like Apple’s latest AirPods Pro with USB-C, are discounted highlights culled straight from our gift guide, while picks like the Google Pixel Watch 2 are entirely new...
The VergeHow to check which apps are using the most data on an iPhone
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge
You’ve no doubt allowed dozens (or even hundreds) of apps to live on your smartphone, and it’s important that you know what these apps are up to. Part of that is keeping tabs on how much communicating each app is doing with the outside world. We’ve previously written about how to check data usage on an Android device, and here, we’re going to focus on iPhones.
There are a couple of reasons to watch how much data your phone is using. First, while unlimited data plans are much more widespread than they used to be, bear in mind that these plans often apply speed restrictions when you go over a certain point every month. And if you’re using a limited plan and apps go over your data allowance while you’re away from Wi-Fi, it could start...
The VergeTikTok’s attempt to stall DMA antitrust rules rejected by EU court
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
TikTok’s attempt to stall the EU from designating it as a “gatekeeper” — companies with platforms powerful enough that they must follow strict Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust rules — has been rejected by a court. Bloomberg reports that the EU’s General Court has dismissed owner ByteDance’s request for an interim measure that would effectively would buy TikTok some more time to implement the regulations, finding that the company “failed to demonstrate the urgency” required.
Although TikTok is appealing the EU’s gatekeeper designation, the bloc still hasn’t reached a final decision yet on the appeal. ByteDance asked for an interim measure in December so it wouldn’t have to comply with the regulations before the EU decided the outcome...
The VergeApple argues against right-to-repair bill that would reduce its control
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
Apple might’ve backed a right-to-repair bill in California, but it was spotted lobbying against a new bill in Oregon that tries to ban the practice known as parts pairing. Cybersecurity expert Tarah Wheeler posted footage from and testified during a hearing about the state’s proposed right-to-repair bill, where testimony showed the company doesn’t want to give up full control of the repair process, as reported earlier by 404 Media. John Perry, Apple’s senior manager for the secure design team, said that Apple uses parts pairing to “make repair easier” while ensuring the device and its data “remains secure.”
The bill in question, SB 1596, would require companies to provide the documentation, tools, and parts both customers and...
The VergeLego’s next limited-edition sets could include an Elven Castle and this Sushi Restaurant
The Sushi Restaurant, by Brickproject. | Image via Bricklink Designer Program
On Wednesday, Lego sold 30,000 copies of a Lego castle designed by a fan — the Mountain Fortress — earning him half a million dollars for his work. For a while, the company’s website was flattened under the load, and my Verge story about these fan-designed sets was pretty popular, too.
So I suspect you might also be interested in a future wave of limited-edition, fan-designed Lego sets — and the chance to vote on them yourself!
Today marks one week before voting wraps in the Lego BrickLink Designer Program Series 4, where many incredible ideas are currently vying for the chance to become an actual product packaged, sold, and shipped by The Lego Group.
And while Lego will have the final say, it wants to know which sets you prefer. Here...
The VergeRelease dates and trailers for the biggest streaming movies and TV shows in 2024
Noomia Rapace in Constellation | Image: Apple
From Netflix to Disney Plus to Max, here are details on the most anticipated films and TV shows coming home this year on streaming platforms.
The VergeSamsung Galaxy Watch cleared for sleep apnea detection
Image: Samsung
The FDA has authorized a sleep apnea detection feature for the Samsung Galaxy Watch, clearing the way for a software update to the Samsung Health Monitor app in the third quarter of this year that will enable the feature for US users. South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety gave its nod of approval last fall for using wearable devices to detect breathing interruptions that are commonly associated with the sleep disorder, and the update will roll out there first.
Although doctors warn that smartwatches are unreliable tools for sleep apnea detection and other health disorders, that hasn’t stopped major wearables makers like Apple, Fitbit, Withings, and others from trying to enter the space.
In December, Bloomberg reported that...
The VergePeacock will stream the Chinese adaptation of The Three-Body Problem
Image: Peacock
Another adaptation of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem will be streaming for English audiences. While Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is set to premiere on March 21st, today, Peacock announced that it has acquired rights to the original Chinese adaptation, dubbed simply Three-Body. And it’s coming very soon — the series premieres on February 10th.
Three-Body was produced by Tencent and originally premiered in China last year, and the Peacock version will be available in the original Chinese with English subtitles. Given that they’re adaptations, 3 Body Problem and Three-Body will follow the same story, but the Chinese adaptation appears to be much more expansive; it spans 30 episodes in total, compared to eight episodes for the Netflix...
The VergeInstagram and Threads will stop recommending political content
The update will allow users to see less political content in their recommended feeds. | Illustration: The Verge
It’ll soon be easier to avoid seeing political content across Instagram and Threads unless users explicitly choose to have it recommended to them. In a blog post published on Friday, Meta announced that it’s expanding an existing Reels policy that limits political content from people you’re not following (including posts about social issues) from appearing in recommended feeds to more broadly cover the company’s Threads and Instagram platforms.
“Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it,“ said Instagram head Adam Mosseri, announcing on Threads that the changes will be applied over the next few weeks. Facebook is also expected to roll out...
The VergeThese $349 smart glasses have ‘AI superpowers’ and a comical charging nose
Image: Brilliant Labs
There’s a new pair of smart spectacles in town — and this time, it’s the $349 Frame glasses said to give you multimodal “AI superpowers.” The open-source eyewear comes from a startup called Brilliant Labs, which touts Frame as a way to get AI translations, web search, and visual analysis right in front of your eyes.
As shown in a video posted by Brilliant Labs, you can use your voice to ask the glasses to do things like identify a landmark you’re looking at, search the web for a particular pair of sneakers you’re seeing, or even look up nutrition information for the food you’re about to eat. The information appears as an overlay that shows up directly on the lens.
Frame comes in three colors you can preorder now: black, gray, and clear....
The VergeNetflix, Amazon, and Paramount wanted Coyote vs. Acme but Warner Bros. Discovery refused
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Last fall, Warner Bros. Discovery seemed willing to entertain the idea of letting another studio release director Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme after initially announcing its plans to Batgirl(read: cancel in exchange for tax write-offs) the nearly completed film in early November. But according to a new report, the studio rejected multiple offers that could have led to the embattled project finally seeing the light of day, and the final decisions were made by executives who had not actually seen the finished movie.
According to TheWrap, Amazon, Netflix, and Paramount were more than interested in securing the rights to debut Coyote vs. Acme for themselvesafter Warner Bros. changed stances and gave the filmmakers behind the live-action /...
The VergeGoogle’s Gemini assistant is a fantastic and frustrating glimpse of the AI future
Gemini has all the conversational grace of a page of search results. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
I don’t know how to say this, but sometimes the emotional labor of opening another app on my phone and typing in some text is just too much.
I need to gather details about an Airbnb reservation from two different confirmation emails and send them to my friends. Or I want to figure out when to leave this coffee shop to get home by a certain time via bus. These aren’t hard things to do, but they require enough tapping around different apps or tabbing between screens that I start to think, you know what? I don’t really need to send that email yet. I’ll just wing it and hope for the best with the bus schedule.
These are the jobs I would like AI to take from me. AI, including Google’s new Gemini assistant, isn’t quite up to it yet. But...
The VergeThe best Super Bowl TV deals to upgrade your setup before kickoff
You can score a big TV at a big discount ahead of the big game, and most of them can hit your doorstep by Sunday. | Image: LG
February is a star-studded month, with the Grammys, Oscar noms, and America’s biggest sporting event taking center stage. This year, the Super Bowl will play out on February 11th between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. Whether you’re hosting a party for the big game or simply want to equip a spare room in your home with a new 4K set, the days leading up to the Super Bowl remain one of the best opportunities of the year to add a new TV to your wall for cheap.
You could just trek to your local big-box retailer and pick out the biggest, cheapest TV you can find, but the selection can be dizzying, and many of those sets aren’t worth the trouble (even if they only cost a couple hundred dollars). To help you make sense of...
The VergeThe Verge’s 2024 Valentine’s Day gift guide
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images
We’re here to help you save time with an assortment of unique gifts that are sweeter than any candy bar.
The VergeMicrosoft hints at the future of AI in Windows with a smarter Copilot
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Microsoft has started hinting at how it will further integrate AI features into Windows 11 ahead of a big update to the OS that focuses on AI. The software giant started testing a “new experience” for Copilot in Windows this week, which includes an animated Copilot in the taskbar that appears when you copy text or images.
“The Copilot icon will change appearance and animate to indicate that Copilot can help,” explains Microsoft in a blog post. “When you hover your mouse over the Copilot icon, it will provide a menu of actions that you can take, such as summarizing or explaining the copied text.”
I’ve tested the experience in the latest Windows 11 Canary builds, and it works well for text, summarizing anything you copy. While the icon...
The VergeWhy can’t I buy a refillable version of my favorite pen in the US?
What if the holy grail could be... even holier? | Screenshot from the Pilot Pen website
Last night I discovered there’s a refillable version of my favorite pen available outside the US and I am heartbroken. Why can’t I have nice things?
I have been writing with the Pilot Precise V5 and the Pilot Precise V7 for at least the last 25 years, possibly longer. They’re great pens! (I have also been assured by Alex Cranz that pens counts as gadgets. They are, at minimum, technology, albeit old technology.) Anyway, the Pilot Precise pens are available at most drugstores, cheap; I usually buy them by the dozen. They are very smooth, even on bad paper — I don’t have to press on them to write.
That last part is crucial. See, there are days when I take extensive handwritten notes — many courtrooms do not allow electronic devices — and...
The VergeThis Anker charging station can power up to eight devices and is on sale for $60
Anker’s space-saving magnetic charging stand is available at an all-time low. | Image: Anker
Owning a gazillion gadgets is fun and all, but owning a gazillion chargers is a nuisance. Thankfully, Anker’s orb-like 637 Magnetic Charging Station (MagGo) functions as both a magnetic charging stand and an 8-in-1 power strip — one that’s currently on sale for an all-time low. Right now, the top-notch magnetic charger is available in white at Amazon and Anker (with code WSTD1GK4FM1G) for $59.99 ($40 off) or from the latter retailer in black for $10 more.
In addition to acting as a sturdy phone stand, Anker’s unique gadget features a magnetic Qi charger that supplies MagSafe-equipped iPhones with up to 7.5W of power. It also features two USB-C ports and four USB-A ports that output up to 65W of power combined, which is enough to charge...
The VergeDisney’s big bets on sports, streaming, and Fortnite
Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Disney, in an effort to work in a complicated new media era, is partnering with its competitors in the hopes of creating a single destination where viewers can watch everything they want.
You’re shouting “Hulu!” at your screen, right? Well, Disney’s back at it again, launching a sports-specific streaming hub later this year that will combine all the channels and games of ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros.
On this episode of The Vergecast, we dig into why these companies need to band together, why sports still rule TV, and why it took so long to get the one-stop sports shop fans have been looking for for years. Then we get into the other Disney news, including the company’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic...
The VergeRing is raising the price of its cheapest subscription plan by 25 percent
The price to record visitors at your Ring video doorbell is about to go up. | Image: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
In what is fast becoming a trend, another security camera company is raising the price of its subscription plan. According to a Ring support article, starting March 11th, 2024, it will cost $4.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly to subscribe to the Ring Protect Basic plan, an increase of $1 a month or $10 a year.
The Basic is Ring’s cheapest plan and gives you access to cloud storage of recorded videos from one camera or video doorbell. If you subscribe, you’ll see the bump on your next renewal date after March 11th unless you cancel before then.
Just last month, Arlo increased its single-camera subscription price to $7.99 monthly from $4.99. Google Nest’s cheapest plan went up to $8 a month from $6 late last year, but that covers all cameras...