Microsoft updates Windows 11 with improved Copilot, Widgets, and more

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is starting to roll out a new update to Windows 11 that includes a whole host of improvements and new built-in features. Copilot in Windows 11 is getting more options to control your PC as part of this update, alongside a new Generative Erase option in Photos, Voice Shortcuts for accessibility, improved Snap layouts, changes to the Widgets system, and more.

While the Windows 11 update is available starting today, Microsoft says not all features will be enabled straight away. Copilot’s new options will start rolling out in late March, enabling new skills like being able to ask the AI chatbot to enable the battery saver mode or to launch accessibility features like Narrator or Magnifier. Copilot will also be able to show...

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Passing the Kids Online Safety Act just got more complicated

Image: The Verge

Just a couple of weeks after the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) surged with enough support to position it to clear the Senate, the path to new child protections on the internet suddenly looks more complex. Seeing the momentum, other lawmakers and outside groups sense it might be time to promote their own favored solutions, which could snarl KOSA’s Senate passage.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), for example, sees this as an opportune moment for his own Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, which would only allow teens under 18 to use social media with their parents’ consent. “I imagine there’s only going to be one moment for all of the tech bills,” Schatz told The Washington Post in a story published Thursday. “I imagine that all of these efforts...

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The golden age of DVDs isn’t over yet for anime fans

Collage by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Images courtesy of Discotek

Physical media might seem like it’s on its deathbed, but the anime DVD and Blu-ray industry couldn’t be more alive.

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As Gaza is bombarded, GoFundMe donations are stuck in limbo

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images

By the end of January, more than 25,000 Palestinians had been reported killed as a result of Israel’s military assault on Gaza. Just a handful of doctors remained at the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, where every day, 10 children lost one or both of their legs amid the Israeli military’s siege. A weeklong communications blackout — the longest since October 7th — cut off civilians from their families and journalists from the rest of the world.

A. wanted to help. With a small group of friends, they set up a GoFundMe campaign with a modest goal of $300. They hoped to donate that money to organizers sending eSIMs, a digital version of a SIM card connecting devices to mobile networks, to Gaza. In the months since October 7th,...

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El Niño expected to smash heat records in 2024

A man squats on cracked, dry ground. Dead, dry fish lay on the ground where a pond used to be. | Photo by Kevin Herbian/NurPhoto via Getty Images

There’s a 90 percent chance that global average surface temperatures will reach a record high for the year leading up to June 2024, according to new research published today in the journal Scientific Reports. Some places will be more sweltering than others, particularly in parts of Asia. The heat has cascading effects, like raising the risk of drought and wildfire.

A weather pattern known as El Niño is to blame. El Niño is part of a natural, cyclical phenomenon, but climate change heightens the stakes by raising baseline temperatures before El Niño swoops in to push the mercury up even higher.

“We have seen that this type of warming can cause a lot of troubles in the world, so we want to give people a heads up,” says Deliang Chen, one...

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Apple’s self-repair program now includes M3-powered Macs

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple has expanded its Self Service Repair program to include the MacBook Pro and iMac models powered by its M3 processor. That means users with the company’s latest Mac hardware can now access the tools, parts, and repair manuals they need to fix their devices from Apple’s self-repair website.

Additionally, Apple plans on making its remote diagnostic tool available to customers with M3 Macs starting next month. The tool, which Apple first introduced for M2 Macs and the iPhone 15 late last year, allows users to test devices to ensure “optimal part functionality and performance,” while also identifying any parts that might need repair.

Apple also says it’s streamlining the System Configuration process for “all Mac models.” The change will...

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How to modernize your retro game collection in a few convoluted steps

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

All you need are NFC stickers, a reader, a MiSTer, and a lot of patience to add a physical touch to ROMs.

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AI deepfakes are cheap, easy, and coming for the 2024 election

Image: The Verge

Our new Thursday episodes of Decoder are all about deep dives into big topics in the news, and this week, we’re continuing our miniseries on one of the biggest topics of all: generative AI.

Last week, we took a look at the wave of copyright lawsuits that might eventually grind this whole industry to a halt. Those are basically a coin flip — and the outcomes are off in the distance, as those cases wind their way through the legal system. A bigger problem right now is that AI systems are really good at making just believable enough fake images and audio — and with tools like OpenAI’s new Sora, maybe video soon, too.

And of course, it’s once again a presidential election year here in the US. So today, Verge policy editor Adi Robertson...

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Crypto firm Gemini to pay over $1 billion back to customers in settlement

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has promised to return $1.1 billion to customers as part of a settlement it reached with New York’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Gemini will also have to pay $37 million to the NYDFS “for significant failures that threatened the safety and soundness of the company.”

The NYDFS claims Gemini, which is owned by twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, had “compliance, management, and internal audit issues” when it came to managing its Earn program. Introduced in 2021, Gemini’s Earn program let customers loan their cryptocurrency to the crypto brokerage Genesis Global Capital while receiving interest.

Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris: “#Gemini failed to conduct due diligence on an unregulated...

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Subscription services are changing our relationship to gaming

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Vjeran Pavic and Getty Images

In countries like Argentina, where physical games are exorbitantly expensive, services like Game Pass present a more affordable — but flawed — alternative.

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TinyLetter, in memoriam

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images

In remembrance of the humblest newsletter service and its brief run nurturing great personal writing on the internet.

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Biden administration is investigating security threats from Chinese vehicles

Policymakers are concerned that Chinese vehicle companies like BYD could collect sensitive data from drivers in the US. | Photo by John Keeble / Getty Images

The US government is opening an investigation into the potential risks to national security posed by smart car technology produced in China and “other countries of concern.”

The US Commerce Department’s probe will focus on “connected vehicles” — a broad term that can be applied to any car with internet access — amid concerns that technology like cameras, sensors, and on-board computers could be exploited to collect sensitive data about US citizens and infrastructure.

During a call with reporters on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the investigation was being launched “before Chinese-manufactured vehicles become widespread” across the US.

“Imagine if there were thousands of Chinese vehicles on American roads that...

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Ford offers EV owners free Tesla Supercharger adapters until July

Let me adapt that for you. | Image: Ford

Starting today, people who own electric vehicles from Ford can reserve an adapter that will enable them to charge at Tesla’s vastly superior Supercharger network.

The company is the first to distribute adapters to customers, after announcing last year its plans to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector for its EVs. Other automakers soon followed Ford’s lead, leading to a massive shift toward Tesla’s standardized version of its proprietary charging system.

The adapter, which is manufactured by Tesla and allows EVs equipped with Combined Charging System (CCS 1) outlets to use Tesla’s Superchargers, typically retails for $230. But Ford is offering the first adapter to its EV customers free of charge — at least for...

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Microsoft is working with Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to improve upscaling support in PC games

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft has outlined a new Windows API designed to offer a seamless way for game developers to integrate super resolution AI-upscaling features from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. In a new blog post, program manager Joshua Tucker describes Microsoft’s new DirectSR API as the “missing link” between games and super resolution technologies, and says it should provide “a smoother, more efficient experience that scales across hardware.”

“This API enables multi-vendor SR [super resolution] through a common set of inputs and outputs, allowing a single code path to activate a variety of solutions including Nvidia DLSS Super Resolution, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, and Intel XeSS,” the post reads. The pitch seems to be that developers will be able...

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This ‘Amazon’s Choice’ video doorbell could let just about anyone spy on you

An “Aiwit” doorbell camera. There are many like it. | Image via Amazon

Does your video doorbell look anything like the one in the picture? Perhaps you bought it for cheap at Amazon, Temu, Shein, Sears, or Walmart? Does it use the Aiwit app?

Consumer Reports is reporting the security on these cameras is soincredibly lax, anybody could walk up to your house, take over your doorbell, and permanently get access to the still images it captures — even if you take control back.

The cameras are sold by a Chinese company called Eken under at least ten different brands, including Aiwit, Andoe, Eken, Fishbot, Gemee, Luckwolf, Rakeblue and Tuck. Consumer Reports says online marketplaces like Amazon sell thousands of them each month. Some of them have even carried the Amazon’s Choice badge, its dubious seal of...

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Now it’s the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s turn to leak in unofficial renders

Unofficial renders of what the Z Flip 6 could look like. | Image: OnLeaks / SmartPrix

Yesterday was the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, now it’s the Z Flip 6’s turn to have its alleged design leak in a series of unofficial renders from OnLeaks and SmartPrix ahead of its rumored July unveiling.

While the overall form-factor of the device is similar to last year’s Z Flip 5, including a 6.7-inch inner folding display and 3.4-inch cover screen, SmartPrix reports that its thickness could increase from 6.9mm to 7.4mm, prompting speculation about what the extra internal space could be used for. The front-running theory comes from a GalaxyClub report from last year, which said the Z Flip 6’s battery capacity could increase from 3,700mAh to 4,000mAh. It’s a move that could (hopefully) address the so-so battery life we experienced on the...

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X adds live video to Spaces instead of bringing back Periscope

Illustration: The Verge

Spaces, the live audio feature for X, is now letting hosts turn on their video during chat sessions. The platform formerly known as Twitter announced the news on Wednesday as owner / CTO Elon Musk reposted a walkthrough from a user named "Dogedesigner."

Spaces users will notice a new option to “enable video” when they first create a new Spaces session. Hosts can opt for either their phone’s front or back-facing cameras as well as either a landscape or vertical view of their video feed.

The Video Spaces are available on the iOS version of the X app, but we haven’t seen them available on Android or the web yet. Multiple users reported significant lag while trying out the feature so far.

BREAKING: Video Spaces are now live on

Here's how...

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Apple is turning William Gibson’s Neuromancer into a TV series

William Gibson. | Photo by Elisabetta A. Villa/WireImage

Another sci-fi adaptation is making its way to Apple TV Plus. The streamer announced that it’s adapting William Gibson’s seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer into a 10-episode series. Graham Roland (Lost, Jack Ryan) will serve as showrunner, while JD Dillard (Utopia) will direct the first episode. (Both will also be executive producers on the series.)

That’s about all we know right now. There are no details on when the series might start streaming or who will star. In a press release, Apple said that the show “will follow a damaged, top-rung super-hacker named Case who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high stakes crime with his partner Molly, a razor-girl assassin with mirrored eyes aiming to pull a heist on a corporate...

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Tubi’s new redesign wants to push you down the rabbit hole

Tubi’s new logo and signature shade of “turple.” | Image: Tubi

Tubi knows that people fire up its app just to see what happens to be streaming rather than to search for one specific thing, and the platform is trying to embrace that reality about itself in the form of a playful new brand identity.

Today, Tubi began rolling out a new look and feel for its login-free service that’s meant to emphasize how the streamer wants viewers falling down rabbit holes as they search through the thousands of films and series it has to offer. That was also the concept behind Tubi’s 2023 Super Bowl ad in which people were thrown down literal holes by anthropomorphic rabbits, and while the new branding is nowhere near as unsettling, chief marketing officer Nicole Parlapiano said in a press release that it’s meant to...

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Substack’s platform now has direct messages

Illustration by The Verge

Substack writers and readers can now send private one-on-one direct messages to others on the platform, the company announced today. The highly requested feature works similarly to DMs found on social networking apps like X and Instagram, though it is optional and can be disabled.

Just as you can from X or Facebook, users can initiate direct messages from a writer’s or reader’s profile page. You can also start a message via the website’s or app’s Chat tab. In addition, writers have the option to add a “Send a message” button on a post or note. Substack will then notify recipients via the app or email.

Only readers and writers you’re connected to can send messages directly to your inbox. Other messages will just land in a “Requests”...

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TikTok is removing even more songs as music rights battle drags on

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok is now taking down all the songs written or co-written by artists signed to Universal Music Group (UMG) as the platform’s battle over music rights drags on.

“We are in the process of carrying out Universal Music Group’s requirement to remove all songs that have been written (or co-written) by a songwriter signed to Universal Music Publishing Group, based on information they have provided,” TikTok writes in a statement on its website. “Their actions not only affect the songwriters and artists that they represent, but now also impact many artists and songwriters not signed to Universal.”

On Tuesday, Variety reported that TikTok was set to lose even more UMG songs, but it wasn’t clear how many would be affected. This will also impact...

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The Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet sue OpenAI and Microsoft

Illustration: The Verge

Three more news organizations havesued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement, including the removal of author, title, and other copyright information while training AI models.

The Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet filed separate lawsuits in the Southern District of New York. All three cases are being litigated bythe same law firm.

The publications said ChatGPT “at least some of the time” reproduces “verbatim or nearly verbatim copyright-protected works of journalism without providing author, title, copyright or terms of use information contained in those works.” According to the plaintiffs, if ChatGPT trained on material that included copyright information, the chatbot “would have learned to communicate that...

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Google’s 256GB Pixel Tablet is on sale for its best price yet

If you own a Pixel smartphone or smartwatch, the Pixel Tablet makes for a great trifecta. | Photo: Dan Seifert / The Verge

It’s easy to default to iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tabs when shopping for a new tablet, but believe it or not, there are other devices worth your consideration. Take the Google Pixel Tablet, for instance, which is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy in the 256GB configuration for $449 ($150 off) — a record low for the higher storage model. In fact, the current discount makes the larger model cheaper than the $499.99 base model.

The Pixel Tablet’s 11-inch 16:10 display isn’t as comfortable as a 4:3 device for reading or browsing, but it works great as a multimedia consumption device, especially when you attach it to the fabric-wrapped speaker dock that comes with the tablet. The bundled speaker dock sounds pretty good, and playback will...

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Dive into the world of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem

ED MILLER/NETFLIX

Check out all of The Verge’s coverage of Netflix’s upcoming 3 Body Problem series based on Cixin Liu’s epic sci-fi novel.

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New regulation could stop abusers from stalking via connected cars

Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel shared a new proposal Wednesday that would make it harder for domestic abuse survivors to be stalked through their cars’ location tracking systems.

The notice of proposed rulemaking would kick off a process for the FCC to consider how it can use existing authority to create new protections for domestic abuse survivors. It seeks more information on available connected car services and whether changes to the way the agency implements the Safe Connections Act are necessary to address how those tools could be used for abuse. The agency is expected to take up the issue in the next month.

The Safe Connections Act, which was signed into law in late 2022, requires mobile service...

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Attention English majors: now you can add handwritten notes to Google Docs

Google

For anyone who has ever wished for the ability to hand annotate directly on a Google Doc, Google announced on Tuesday it’s rolling out a new markup feature for Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and personal Google accounts that will allow users to write directly on a Google Doc with a stylus or their finger. The new feature includes a few standard pen and highlighter colors (black, blue, red, green, yellow), and an eraser. If you don’t like any of those colors, you can add your own.

There are so many use cases for a feature like this, across age groups, industries, and professional and personal work. Google calls out some good ones in its announcement, especially for “educators giving students feedback...

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Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile launches worldwide on March 21st

Image: Activision

Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is launching worldwide on March 21st, following a limited release over the past year. The free-to-play game will be available on both iOS and Android, with the Verdansk and Rebirth Island maps and shared progression with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone on PC and console.

The shared progression means you can earn XP mobile, and this will contribute to your player level and battle pass across mobile, PC, and console. There is shared weapon level progression, too, so you can work on weapon XP while you’re mobile and away from your TV or monitor.

Image: Activision

Warzone Mobile players will be able to experience Verdansk in all its glory.

The 120-player...

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Samsung’s new microSD cards could make on-device AI easier

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung says its new, faster microSD cards will help enable on-device AI, allowing people to use more data-heavy AI-related apps.

In a press release, the company explains it began sampling its 256GB SD Express microSD card and started mass production of the 1TB microSD card. The 256GB SD Express version will be available later this year, while the 1TB UHS-1 microSD will launch in the third quarter of 2024.

Samsung says the 256GB SD Express microSD card can read data up to 800MB/s, “1.4 times faster than SATA SSDs (up to 560 MB/s) and more than four times faster compared to traditional UHS-1 memory cards.” But because faster speeds from SD Express cards can hit temperatures of up to 96 degrees Celsius, Samsung introduced dynamic thermal...

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RIP to the Apple Car, we hardly knew ye

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

In 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed what the global auto industry had long feared: the tech giant was working on a driverless car.

“We’re focusing on autonomous systems. And clearly, one purpose of autonomous systems are self-driving cars,” Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg. “And we sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It’s probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on and so autonomy is something that’s incredibly exciting for us, but we’ll see where it takes us.”

Where it took Apple was essentially nowhere. On Tuesday, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman confirmed that Apple was scuttling its secretive car project, with most of the team’s workers moving over to generative AI initiatives. Others would...

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Wendy’s says ‘dynamic’ pricing won’t tack surge pricing onto your nuggets

Photo by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

In response to reports that Wendy’s plan for new digital menu boards that can update throughout the day might increase prices of spicy chicken nuggets and other menu items at busy times, the fast food chain now claims this isn’t the case. Instead, Wendy’s says its “dynamic” pricing model will only result in “discounts and value” during the slowest times of the day — leaving other times of the day with higher standard prices unaddressed.

Earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said the company wants to start testing dynamic pricing in 2025 — a system that would use Wendy’s digital menu boards to adjust pricing throughout the day. In terms of comparisons to Uber surge pricing, Wendy’s claims this isn’t the case and that media reports...

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