Latest Technology

Roblox is making a subtle but notable change. After swapping the word "game" for "experience" all over its website and mobile apps in 2021 while the Epic Games v. Apple trial was taking place, Roblox is getting more comfortable with using the term "games" once again. "Over time, we've learned that 'experiences' isn't an intuitive term for many parents, older players, and game developers," Roblox spokesperson Juliet Chaitin-Lefcourt tells The Verge . "'Games' is clearer and better reflects what Roblox is and where we're going." One of the Epic v. Apple trial's major points was trying to define what a game is . Roblox sits in a bit of a middle … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/eQJ8Gw3

Elon Musk promised Neuralink would bring superhuman abilities and minds merged with AI. Then he fueled a runaway hype train for his brain implant technology, which ended up with a grisly record for implants in monkeys and some success with human subjects. But for all of the hype, he's still further away than Mars from his goal. And that's because his relentless ambition is once again hitting the wall of scientific reality. The heart of the issue is how brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) translate thought into results. Neuralink's products have all been brain-to-cursor interfaces, which allow patients to control a mouse with their minds. But N … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/x81vgae

Microsoft has started testing its own virtual mouse cursor inside its Xbox mode for Windows-based handhelds. The new Gamepad Cursor option provides a quick way to turn the left stick of a handheld like the Xbox Ally X into a virtual mouse. While Asus has its own cursor as part of Armory Crate, Microsoft's Gamepad Cursor lives inside its own Xbox mode in Windows 11, and it's easy to activate from the Game Bar without having to use Armory Crate. Once activated, the Gamepad Cursor will turn your left stick into a mouse for precise control, or for apps that aren't designed for controllers. The left stick will scroll around a screen like a mous … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/ikT0zWx

For years, even decades, virtually everyone in the United States had the same phone. Nobody really thought about it, it didn't even matter what it was called - it was just The Phone. Well, The Phone was called the Western Electric 500 , and when landline phones ruled the world, the Western Electric 500 ruled the landlines. It was so ubiquitous for so long that even if you've never touched a landline, you've encountered the 500. The Phone app on your iPhone? Looks like a 500. On this episode of Version History , we tell the story of the Western Electric 500, and the deeply strange world it came to represent. David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and pro … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/wJnrgdV

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the AI coding and vibe-coding booms, follow David Pierce . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Writing code was a killer app for AI even before anyone was really talking about AI. In the spring of 2021, 18 months before the world knew the word "ChatGPT," Microsoft debuted the very first product of a partnership with a nonprofit called OpenAI: a tool called GitHub Copilot that watched developers as they wrote code and tried to autocomplete snippets and lines for them … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/DGWT0wL

No frills, all artsy thrills. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge I love black-and-white photography. I also adore compact cameras you can always have by your side. So I'm a total mark for the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, a fixed-lens camera that can't zoom and can't record color - at all. It's a formula that makes the average person ask, "Why?" I've tested the GR IV Monochrome for over a month, taking it with me everywhere and photographing everything. Let me explain how this pricey little point-and-shoot is likely to go down as one of my all-time-favorite cameras. Ricoh GR IV Monochrome Score: 8 Pros Cons Excellent black-and-white image quality Everything great about the standard GR IV: sharp lens, small size, … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/MmadLwR