Microsoft to reveal Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 later this month

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft is planning to unveil new Surface devices later this month. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that the company will unveil Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 hardware, aimed at business and commercial customers, on March 21st.

The March event will be focused on minor spec bumps to the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 commercial models, but a larger redesign is planned for the consumer models of both devices this spring. While the commercial Surface Pro 10 will sport the latest Intel chips and a familiar design, Microsoft is moving to an OLED display on the Surface Pro 10 for consumers.

Windows Central first reported details of an OLED Surface Pro 10, claiming Microsoft would unveil the new OLED model...

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Release 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.

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Dodge’s first electric muscle car is here

© 2024 Stellantis

The electric Charger will come in two variants, but Dodge isn’t ready to abandon the gas-gargling V8 quite yet.

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Facebook, Instagram, and Threads are all down

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Facebook, Instagram, and Threads are all experiencing issues. The three Meta-owned platforms aren’t working for many users, with the widespread outage seeming to start around 10AM ET. Some users are experiencing issues logging in to their Meta Quest headsets, too.

Facebook is logging users out of their accounts, leaving them unable to get back in. Meanwhile, over on Instagram, some users, including several of us at The Verge, can’t refresh their feeds. Meta acknowledged the issue on its status page with a message timestamped 10:17AM ET, reading, “We are aware of an issue impacting Facebook Login. Our engineering teams are actively looking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Reached for comment, Facebook pointed The Verge to a...

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Kayak’s new AI features will let users double-check flights with a screenshot

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Kayak launched new AI features that let people ask a chatbot for travel tips and find flights with just a screenshot. This brings Kayak in line with many other travel sites that offer AI services for trip planning and, now, price comparisons.

PriceCheck, one of Kayak’s two new AI features, lets users check if they found the best price just by taking a screenshot of flight information they found somewhere else. Kayak said in a statement that customers can upload a screenshot of any flight, even if they found the flight on their competitors’ websites, and PriceCheck will “search hundreds of sites to see if we can find a better price.”

Matthias Keller, chief scientist and senior vice president of technology at Kayak, said in an email to T...

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The MacBook Air’s wedge is truly gone — and I miss it already

RIP to an iconic shape. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

I had mixed feelings when Apple did away with the wedge in favor of a more traditional shape for the M2 MacBook Air. Did it feel a bit like sacrilege? Sure, but at least the wedge wasn’t gone gone. There was still the M1 Air.

Except now that the M3 Air is here, it’s been discontinued. Now, it really is the end of the wedge era and I can’t help but feel bereft.

Logically speaking, losing the wedge shape doesn’t affect how well the newer Airs work. I know because I have one: a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. It’s thin, sleek, and the battery lasts forever. I didn’t pay out the nose for it. These are the defining characteristics for the Air — wedge-less or not.

But I also have an M1 MacBook Air that I use for work. Recently, jumping back and...

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Amazon’s inexpensive smart thermostat has fallen to its best price in months

Amazon’s apt-titled thermostat can learn your habits over time and supports Alexa. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

While the days are getting brighter, spring isn’t set to arrive for another few weeks. Given we’re still dealing with storms in “sunny” Southern California, I’m going to venture a guess that it probably doesn’t feel like winter’s almost over where most of our readers live, either. Thankfully, Amazon’s Smart Thermostat is on sale right now at Amazon for $59.99 ($20 off), its lowest price in nearly three months and the best deal we’ve seen outside of Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day.

Amazon’s budget-friendly smart thermostat offers an impressive set of features for the price. It’s compatible with most 24-volt HVAC systems and adapts to your habits and preferences over time thanks to its support for Hunches, which lets you essentially...

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AI gadgets, bendy phones, and more from MWC

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

There’s one thing you can count on at Mobile World Congress: a whole mess of Android smartphones. This year’s conference in Barcelona, Spain, delivered, with new devices from Xiaomi, Nothing, and others showing off the state of the art in the smartphone world.

But there was something else brewing at this year’s MWC: some new ideas about what a “mobile device” might really mean. As generative AI changes the way we interact with technology, devices like the Humane AI Pin are starting to chart a path past the slab of glass in your pocket. Some of those slabs of glass are becoming more than just bundles of apps.

MWC goers also saw a few new smartwatches, Samsung showed off its smart ring, and Lenovo asked the most important questions of all:...

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This year’s Oscar documentary nominees are terrific, and you can stream them all

Lookman Kampala

Five films that take an expansive and creative approach to the documentary form.

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How caregivers are using smart tech to help aging parents

Illustration by Adrián Astorgano

As my mother reached her 90s, although she was relatively healthy and active, I realized that she was starting to experience some physical limitations and memory issues. And while I didn’t live far away, I knew that I needed to find a way to help her live on her own comfortably and safely despite her increased dependence. More traditional technologies, such as wearable alert systems, could only do so much (especially when she refused to wear them). So I started looking at smart home tech — and started finding some better answers.

I’m not alone. According to the US census, in 2020, the number of people in the United States aged 65 or older reached 55.8 million, or 16.8 percent of the population, and many are choosing to “age...

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GM is developing a fleet of hydrogen-powered medium-duty trucks for DOE pilot

Image: GM

General Motors will release a fleet of medium-duty trucks that run on hydrogen fuel cells as part of a pilot project sponsored by the US Department of Energy. The goal is to prove out the capabilities of hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, as a viable alternative to diesel vehicles.

“We will design, engineer, and develop a fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell medium-duty trucks,” said Jacob Lozier, project lead at GM, “to demonstrate how the capability and strength of our fuel cells can help real-world fleet customers.”

The trucks’ development will receive funds from DOE’s SuperTruck program, which aims to reduce carbon emissions among heavy- and medium-duty vehicles. The total project will cost $65 million, with $26 million...

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Rivian R2 launch event: the EV company’s more affordable SUV is here

Image: Nilay Patel / The Verge

The compact crossover won’t go on sale until 2026, but the R2 is a crucial product for the young EV company.

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Our favorite smart home automations

Illustration by Adrián Astorgano

For many of us, the path to the smart home starts with a simple problem. You lock yourself out of the house one too many times, so you buy a smart lock. You want to change the temperature without getting out of bed, so you get a smart thermostat. You always forget to turn the porch lights off, so you buy a smart switch that automates them. For most people, that’s as far as it goes and as far as it needs to go.

But other people see a temperature sensor and a smart plug, or a light switch and a smart bulb on different circuits, plus a platform that lets them talk to each other, and think, “Ah, I could go wild with this. Why shouldn’t the lights come on automatically when I walk into a room? Why can’t my bed be perfectly...

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Cars will need fewer screens and more buttons to earn 5-star safety rating in Europe

Removing stalks on the Tesla steering wheel in favor of touch controls has driven people mad. | Photo by Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

Car makers in Europe are being encouraged to stop using touchscreens for basic functions like turn signals and wipers in an attempt to promote safer driving. As reported by the Times, the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) — an independent and well-regarded safety body for the automotive industry — is set to introduce new rules in January 2026 that require the vehicles it assesses to have physical controls to receive a full five-star safety rating.

While Euro NCAP testing is voluntary, it is widely backed by several EU governments with companies like Tesla, Volvo, and BMW using their 5-star scores to boast about the safety of their vehicles to potential buyers.

“The overuse of touchscreens is an industry-wide problem”

“The...

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The Nothing Phone 2A proves thoughtful design can come at a budget price

A standout in a sea of same-looking budget phones.

Budget phones tend to be pretty forgettable, but the Nothing Phone 2A isn’t your average budget phone — that much is obvious just looking at it.

The 2A is Nothing’s third phone, and its first attempt at a truly inexpensive device. And it’s very budget-friendly: the Phone 2A goes on sale today starting at £319 (€329) for a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. A 12GB/256GB version will cost £349 (€379). Preorders open today, and the phone will ship on March 12th. The 256GB variant will be sold in the US for $349, but there’s a catch — it’s only available through a developer program and the phone will only work on T-Mobile. That’s our loss, because Nothing has created a device that really stands out from the crowd.

...

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A new proposal could ban landlords from charging for cable and internet in bulk

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a proposal to bar landlords from charging tenants in bulk for cable, internet, and satellite services, offering them more choice in the kinds of services they need.

The agency is circulating a proposed rule to ban the practice of “bulk billing,” the White House announced in a press release ahead of President Joe Biden’s meeting with his Competition Council on Tuesday. It’s part of a broader effort to promote policies that will lower costs for Americans, as Biden is trying to appeal to voters focused on the economy as he seeks reelection later this year. That theme of lowering costs will resurface in Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard...

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Rivian’s smaller R2 electric SUV detailed in website slipup

A screenshot from a recent R2 teaser video. | Image: Rivian

Ahead of its launch on March 7th, key specs for Rivian’s upcoming R2 electric SUV were briefly visible via the source code on the company’s teaser site, Electrek reports. These include a range of up to 330 miles, a 0-60mph acceleration in three seconds, five seats, and a starting price of $47,000 (though a $47,500 starting price was reportedly also mentioned on other parts of the site). Deliveries are expected to start in 2026, per the website’s code, which is in line with previous reports.

Rivian has been teasing its R2 electric vehicle for a while now, which is expected to be a smaller and more affordable compact SUV versus its current R1S. The company has publicly said it’s targeting a price of between $40,000 to $60,000 for the new...

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Oregon is about to sign — or veto — the strongest right-to-repair law yet

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Oregon’s landmark right-to-repair law is nearly here — today, SB 1596 passed the Oregon legislature, and is headed to Governor Tina Kotek’s desk to sign or veto within the next five days. It’s a big deal, because the Oregon law would be the first to ban “parts pairing,” a practice where companies can keep you from using components (sometimes even official ones) unless that company’s software is satisfied that they belong.

Similar to California’s right-to-repair law, the Oregon bill also requires companies to make the same parts, tools, and repair documents available to any owners that it offers to authorized repair shops, and without charging any more for them.

It doesn’t specify a number of years that companies need to make those...

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Here are the best iPad deals right now

Select iPad models go on sale quite frequently, but some discounts on aging models are getting harder to find. | Image: Procreate

While the best iPad deals usually land during major sale events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon’s various Prime Days, many of the best iPad deals from the holiday season have persisted into 2024. The discounts come and go like changing winds, but you can still take advantage of sales on many models today, particularly on the more affordable iPads. What’s more, prices are likely to drop even further when Apple ushers in a new slate of iPad Pro and iPad Air models, which could happen this month according to the latest rumors.

Forthcoming models aside, it’s difficult to know where exactly you can find the most notable iPad deals unless you’re scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that’s often what our deal hunters...

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ChatGPT can read its answers out loud

Illustration: The Verge

OpenAI’s new Read Aloud feature for ChatGPT could come in handy when users are on the go by reading its responses in one of five voice options out loud to users. It is now available on both the web version of ChatGPT and the iOS and Android ChatGPT apps.

Read Aloud can speak 37 languages but will auto-detect the language of the text it’s reading, and the feature is available for both GPT-4 and GPT-3.5. It’s an interesting example of what OpenAI can do with multimodal capabilities (the ability to read and respond through more than one medium) revealed soon after a competitor, Anthropic, added similar features to its AI models.

ChatGPT launched a voice chat feature in September 2023 where users can directly ask the chatbot prompts without...

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Fired Twitter execs are suing Elon Musk for over $128 million

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Elon Musk fired a lot of people after he took over Twitter, but the first ones to go were several of its top executives. Now former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Sean Edgett are suing Musk and the company now known as X, saying they’re owed more than $128 million in severance payments, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Under Musk’s stewardship, X’s aversion to paying those it owes has practically become a trope (this is referenced in the lawsuit, along with a link to a page that tracks lawsuits against Twitter for non-payment and a note that the person who runs the site has been banned by X).

But this time, it’s the same execs who forced Musk to close...

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How to file and pay your 2023 taxes online

Image: 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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The Lightning-based Backbone One controller is down to its best price yet

The BackBone One might help you realize hidden savings by staving off carpal tunnel treatments. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

If you want to reliably hit headshots and combos on your smartphone, there’s no substitute for a mobile gaming controller that adds proper physical controls. Our favorite for the task is still the Backbone One, and now through March 10th, you can save 30 percent on the original Lightning version in black, which is down to $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Target, and direct from Backbone. You can also pick up the PlayStation Edition, which comes in white and has button labels corresponding to Sony’s controllers, for $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Target, and Backbone.

The original Backbone One supports the iPhone 14 and older, Lightning-based models. (If you own an iPhone 15 variant, you’ll need the Backbone One with USB-C, which isn’t on...

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Now everyone can edit their Instagram DMs

Instagram

We’ve all sent DMs on Instagram that we wish we had phrased differently or that included an awkward typo. Now, Meta has announced Instagram is giving users the ability to edit their direct messages up to 15 minutes after sending them. Prior to this update, the only option to undo the past was to delete the entire message.

In order to edit a DM on Instagram, simply press and hold the sent message until the dropdown menu appears. Then, select “Edit.” The revised message will display the word “Edited” in the conversation, so if you’re hoping they just hadn’t noticed, you still might be better off deleting the original and resending.

Image: Instagram

A screenshot of a user’s chat history on Instagram in which they...

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Ikea begins beta-testing Matter on its Dirigera hub

Ikea is finally bringing Matter to its new smart home hub. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

Ikea’s Dirigera hub, its new hub for controlling its line of connected devices, may soon get Matter support. While promised when the hub was announced in May 2022, Matter for the Dirigeria didn't materialize within a “couple of months” of the product launching, as initially announced. It was then delayed again last November. But the company has now announced the rollout of Matter for the hub in beta.

“We are excited to unveil the first version of Matter support for the Dirigera hub, available now for beta users through the Ikea Home Smart app,” David Granath, range manager at Ikea Home Smart told The Verge.

“The initial release transforms the Dirigera hub into a Matter bridge, allowing Zigbee devices to be compatible with Matter...

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You can now preorder the new M3-powered MacBook Air

The new MacBook Airs are equipped with the M3 chip, which allows for CPU and GPU improvements. | Image: Apple

There’s a new MacBook in town. Following months of rumors, Apple has announced a new pair of entry-level laptops, both equipped with Apple’s latest M3 chip. The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air will start shipping on Friday, March 8th, but you can preorder them from Apple beginning today from $1,099 and $1,299, respectively.

According to Apple, the M3-powered MacBook Airs are “up to 60 percent faster” than the now-discontinued M1 MacBook Air, which is a claim we’ve yet to test. Thanks to the new chip, the laptops also feature an improved 16-core Neural Engine that can “run optimized AI models,” along with hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. They both include a Liquid Retina display and up to 500 nits of brightness, as well as...

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Google Pixels add support for Instagram’s Ultra HDR photos

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Soon, Google Pixel devices will be able to upload and view Ultra HDR pictures on Instagram. It’s part of Google’s March feature drop that rolls out to supported Pixel 7, Pixel 8, and Pixel Fold phones starting today, while a post in Google’s support forum for Pixels says the update will roll out for US carriers starting next week.

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 was the first to support Ultra HDR photos on Instagram, allowing you to show off photos taken with the device’s upgraded camera in full color and contrast. But now, Pixel owners will soon be able to do the same as well as capture and share 10-bit HDR videos to Instagram Reels.

Next week’s feature drop will also bring Circle to Search to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. This feature lets you l...

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The Verge Promotes Jake Kastrenakes, Alex Cranz, and Kara Verlaney

Alex Cranz, Jake Kastrenakes, and Kara Verlaney

The Verge’s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel announced several changes to the industry-leading tech publication’s masthead today, starting with the promotion of Jake Kastrenakes to executive editor.

Kastrenakes first joined The Verge as an intern in 2014 and has spent 10 years as a reporter and editor at the site, overseeing the news team, creators coverage, and the Hot Pod and Command Line newsletters. As executive editor Kastrenakes will be responsible for making sure The Verge’s newsroom meets the highest standards of rigor and quality every single day.

“The Verge audience has incredibly high expectations of us and our work, and Jake has spent his career overdelivering on those expectations,” says Patel. “Jake has already been instrumental...

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Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu will utterly fold and pay $2.4M to settle its lawsuit

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Just over a week ago, Nintendo sued the developers of the leading Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu, for “facilitating piracy at a colossal scale.” Now, it appears that Yuzu will give up without a fight — and give Nintendo everything it wanted.

According to a joint filing, Tropic Haze, LLC has not only agreed to pay $2,400,000 to Nintendo, it also agrees that Yuzu was “primarily designed to circumvent and play Nintendo Switch games,” and agrees to be permanently enjoined from working on Yuzu, hosting Yuzu, distributing Yuzu’s code or features, hosting Yuzu websites and social media, or doing anything else that circumvents Nintendo’s copyright protection.

Oh, and it will surrender the yuzu-emu.org domain name to Nintendo, agrees to delete...

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Arrakis looks dangerous as ever in survival game Dune: Awakening

Image: Funcom

If Dune: Part Two has left you, uh, thirsting for more of Frank Herbert’s world, Dune: Awakening might just be the thing. First revealed in 2022, Awakening is a survival MMO from Funcom set on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis — and a brief new gameplay trailer gives a sense of just how harsh it can be.

That includes the giant worms, which apparently can’t be killed, but which you’ll definitely want to avoid. There’s also some ornithopter combat and what looks like fairly extensive base-building options. Of course, if you’re trying to eke out a living on a planet like Arrakis, you’ll want to make a nice getaway. The trailer doesn’t get much into the pure survival element, but given this is Dune, you can bet you’ll spend a lot of time...

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