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The vocoder was never supposed to be a revolution in music. It wasn't supposed to be anything in music, really. Its development began a century ago, when an engineer at Bell Labs was looking for a simpler way to send phone calls across copper telephone lines. The engineer, Homer Dudley, built some pretty neat technology that could both capture and synthesize the human voice. As so much great tech does, the vocoder immediately took on a life of its own. It played a key role in World War II, enabling secret communications across the ocean. And then, only a few years later, it started to become a musical phenomenon. At first a few artists were … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/JvpTkHV

Sonos is no stranger to the occasional sale. The iconic audio company routinely runs sales around Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day, and the Super Bowl, though it’s rare to see substantial discounts on its portable speakers outside of tentpole shopping events. Fortunately, if you have no interest in the Sonos Move 2 or forthcoming Sonos Play , the Sonos Roam 2 is currently available from Amazon , Walmart , and Sonos for $139 ($40 off), which is just $5 shy of its lowest price to date. Sonos Roam 2 Where to Buy: $179 $139 at Amazon $179 $139 at Sonos $179 $139 at Walmart The original Sonos Roam was by no means a bad speaker, but the quality-of-life updates on the Roam 2 are genuinely meaningful, particularly if you were the kind of person who constantly struggled to pair the first-gen model with anything via Bluetooth (guilty as charged). The latest Roam has a dedicated pairing button on the back — meaning you don’t have to hold down the power button for a set period of...

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about online age verification and your privacy, follow Emma Roth . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Virtual private networks, or VPNs, weren't always used to access region-locked Netflix streams, bypass censorship online, or to prevent your internet service provider (ISP) from tracking your browsing history. It took years for VPNs to become the technology we know today, which provides an encrypted connection between your device and a private server, while conce … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/eY3DUPr

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 120, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, get ready for Pen Opinions, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about Banksy and music apps and influencer agents , watching Netflix docs about the manosphere and The Red Hot Chili Peppers , marveling at Ed Sheeran and Benny Blanco writing songs , enjoying Young Sherlock more than I expected, instantly subscribing to Joanna Stern's new tech channel , using the Sleep With Me podcast to fall asleep, and making a lot of brownies with the unbeatable Costco … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/kV24BZu

This year is shaping up to be a big one for self-driving trucks. In addition to Aurora's plan to deploy hundreds of autonomous big rigs and Waabi expanding into robotaxis , you've also got Kodiak AI aiming to launch its own fully driverless long-haul freight operation by the end of 2026. While robotaxis may still win all the headlines, driverless trucks are making their own progress, slowly but surely. But in a recent interview, Kodiak AI CEO Don Burnette said that deploying autonomous trucks is really only half the battle. He said that while most of his competitors are fussing over details like AI, perception, and mileage milestones, Kodia … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/soSNz1V

Over 10 years after shelving the Fire Phone, Amazon is reportedly planning to launch another smartphone, this time focused on Alexa. According to Reuters , the phone, which is code-named "Transformer," will center around Amazon's AI assistant, but Alexa won't "necessarily be the primary operating system of the phone." "Transformer" is currently in development in Amazon's ZeroOne group, led by J Allard, who previously worked on the Zune and Xbox at Microsoft. Allard's team has reportedly explored both smartphone and "dumbphone" designs, taking inspiration from the $700 minimalist Light Phone , which features a black-and-white display and lack … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/2GXzMI3

If you’re looking for the best time to get a deal this spring, it might very well be during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale , which kicks off at 3:01AM ET on March 25th and runs through 2:59AM ET on April 1st. Some early deals have already begun (we’re compiling them here ), but we’ll also be highlighting newer, more notable sales and the many so-called “doorbuster” deals that will appear throughout the seasonal shopping event. If the early deals are any indication of what’s to come, you can expect deals on all sorts of consumer tech, from personal audio and home theater upgrades to steep discounts on video games, mobile accessories, and various doo-dads for tinkerers. Given that the sale coincides with the arrival of spring, we can also expect deals on plenty of outdoor-friendly gear, including portable Bluetooth speakers, open-style earbuds, and more. Amazon’s annual spring sale doesn’t require a Prime membership to participate in, either. Most of the deals are available to everyone, wit...

Many organizations have called employees back to offices following Covid-related lockdowns, but the Iran war and ensuing energy crisis may quickly see workers returning to work from home. The International Energy Agency (IEA) - an energy watchdog established to help safeguard global power supplies following the 1970s oil crisis - is pushing for governments, businesses, and households to adopt recommendations that aim to curb energy demands amid supply disruptions triggered by the conflict. The list of ten suggested actions identified in the IEA's report includes encouraging people to work from home and/or drive slower to reduce fuel usage, … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/HfNFRSo

Just feed your images into the bot and it’ll try to mimic specific styles and aesthetics. | Image: Adobe Adobe is launching customizable AI image generators that can mimic specific artistic styles and character designs. The Firefly Custom Models are available in public beta starting today, allowing creators and brands to train a model on their own assets to ensure generated images follow a consistent aesthetic for characters, illustrations, and photography. The tool aims to streamline workflows for teams and creators that need to produce high volumes of content, providing a reusable foundation that preserves visual consistency across multiple projects, instead of having to start from scratch each time. Adobe says that custom models can help pr … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/DyxdGPI

Uber and Rivian are joining forces to deploy 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis over the next several decades, the companies announced Thursday. As part of the deal, Uber will invest $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031, contingent on Rivian meeting certain autonomy milestones, starting with an initial $300 million at signing. (The deal is still subject to regulatory approval.) The news signals a big vote of confidence in Rivian's nascent autonomy efforts , which include designing its own custom AI chips to power Level 4 autonomous vehicles. Uber, meanwhile, has been on something of a robotaxi partnering spree , corralling a variety of compani … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/SFne9xY

Nvidia surely thought it was doing a good thing for gamers by "upgrading" the faces of our favorite video game characters. But that just shows how much the company has lost the plot. Nvidia could've marketed its new DLSS 5 real-time lighting technology as a way to make future, next-gen games look better. Instead, it told the world that games people already know and love look bad . It focused on retconning characters' faces. And now, confronted with the predictable backlash, Nvidia's CEO is telling critics that we're "completely wrong ." Regardless of how it works, the tech presents as an AI filter that tries to optimize everyone and everythi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/nqpw6ms

Nvidia has revealed a new “3D guided neural rendering model” called DLSS 5 that can change a game’s lighting and materials in real-time, and… many gamers aren’t happy. From DLSS 5 memes to complaints about how it’s “yassified” Resident Evil Requiem characters in demos, the first impression has not been a good one, no matter how much Nvidia insists that this pursuit of photorealism is still honoring the original artists’ intent. Follow along below for all the latest updates about Nvidia’s DLSS 5 upgrades . Jensen Huang, on the critical reaction to DLSS 5: “Well, first of all, they’re completely wrong.” Nvidia’s DLSS 5 is like motion smoothing for video games, but worse DLSS 5 looks like a real-time generative AI filter for video games Nvidia just announced DLSS 5 and Digital Foundry already has a video. from The Verge https://ift.tt/XZeE6f2

BMW's new class of EVs begins with the iX3 SUV , but you had to know it wouldn't end there. The company's engineers didn't spend all that time working up a completely redesigned and substantially more efficient EV platform just for one crossover, and now it's time for the second wave. Meet the new i3, which takes the same basic motor, battery, and electronics package that powers the iX3, plus the Neue Klasse's controversial styling cues, and applies it to a more familiar sedan shape, the sort of silhouette that BMW's reputation was largely built upon. It definitely looks a lot like the iX3, but with a slightly different intent. Sebastian K … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/58g0AM7

The RGB light rings are surprisingly subtle. Xiaomi subsidiary Poco has launched the X8 Pro and X8 Pro Max phones, both of which feature large silicon-carbon batteries, powerful chipsets, and 256GB of storage as standard, with stronger specs on paper than the recent Pixel 10A despite costing less. Both Poco phones also feature a surprisingly subtle take on RGB lighting, with small rings of LEDs inside each of their rear cameras. The X8 Pro Max, a new tier in Poco's X line, is the more exciting of the two thanks to a huge 8,500mAh silicon-carbon battery - with an even larger 9,000mAh version available in India and some other markets. Either way, it should make for two to three days of … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/vrJifWD

It’s your last chance to grab the Galaxy Z TriFold before Samsung’s inventory runs out for good. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung is preparing to axe its first three-panel foldable phone less than three months after launching the device in the US. Sales of the $2,899 Galaxy Z TriFold will first be wound down in Korea and then discontinued in the US once remaining inventory has been cleared, an unnamed Samsung spokesperson told Bloomberg . This follows a report from Korean media outlet Dong-A Ilbo on Monday that says the TriFold will be getting a final domestic restock today, March 17th. Samsung's website stopped providing future restock updates for the foldable earlier this month, with the TriFold currently listed as "sold out" in the US. It was only availabl … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/s56lDva

A prototype Klumpen being tested. | Image: Himmelsfahrtskommando Klumpen isn't an off-grid cabin , but it does provide all the utilities needed to live away from civilization comfortably. The seven-square-meter teepee is an "off-grid utility core" that provides solar-generated electricity, satellite broadband, a shower, toilet, and small kitchen. It's expected to cost around $35,000 plus an estimated $3,000 to ship within the EU. The idea is to drop a factory-built Klumpen next to a small cabin and just press "on" - no need for any extra permits, plumbers, or electricians. The electrical system is built around a 7.5kWh battery with inverter to power standard 230V appliances and wall jacks. Water is recycl … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/8b9L2Jr

Last week, a few posts about a so-called virtual "embodied fly" tore through X, boosted by AI hype accounts and excited commenters who didn't seem to understand what it was they were excited about. The videos came from San Francisco-based Eon Systems, which says it's working toward "digital human intelligence" and claims it wants to build a full digital emulation of a mouse brain within the next two years - a timeline that is, to put it generously, ambitious. Cofounder Alexander Wissner-Gross shared the original clip publicly, calling it the "world's first embodiment of a whole-brain emulation that produces multiple behaviors" and hinting a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/YGLylfM

If you've already given your iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max a retro '80s facelift with Spigen's Macintosh 128K and Apple Lisa-inspired Classic LS cases , you might as well make your wireless earbuds match. But instead of making the AirPods Pro 3 look like a decades-old desktop computer, Spigen's case turns them into a replica of the Macintosh's iconic single-button mouse. The $29.99 case is available through Amazon and comes in two parts that attach to the bottom and hinged lid of the AirPods Pro 3's charging case. Even wrapped in its vintage disguise the case can still open as designed, and its USB-C port and status LED are still accessible. Spi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/g8cvftq

So when exactly is smut considered porn? | Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images OpenAI's delayed "adult mode" for ChatGPT is expected to support saucy text conversations at launch, but not the chatbot's ability to generate images, voice, or video. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal , an unnamed OpenAI spokesperson described content that will be provided by the upcoming feature as smut rather than pornography, allowing ChatGPT users to generate textual chats with adult themes. The feature was initially announced in October, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claiming that the company had managed to mitigate enough of the "serious mental health issues" with its AI model to relax safety restrictions and introduce " erotica for ver … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/dAi9Xgt

Arielle Duhaime-Ross does a bike tune-up. | Photo by Evan Ortiz / The Verge One of the first major crashes I experienced as a chronically ill person happened on an unusually sunny January day in New York City. It was 2023, and I was riding my bike with a friend, flying high from the exercise. We'd covered just over 40 miles on mostly flat ground, a longish ride, but not out of ordinary for me. And that's when it started. About 15 minutes from my apartment, my body gave out. At first it was just my head - it grew hot, and within minutes, my brain felt like it was on fire. Pretty soon, the rest of my insides were burning up, too. As the skin on my arms and face turned red, and my limbs grew heavy, I felt bewildered. … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/fBbxCGW

The Galaxy Buds Pro 4 are a nice improvement over the Buds 3, but still require a Galaxy device to use all their features. Samsung promised "more than a design refresh" for its new top-end Galaxy Buds - it added upgraded woofers for improved, dual-amped hi-fi sound, a new blade design, clearer call performance, and better noise cancellation. Ultimately, while the $249.99 Galaxy Buds 4 aren't a huge leap forward over the previous model, they keep what was good about the Buds 3 and improve on most of what wasn't - as long as you use Samsung Galaxy devices. That's because, much like the AirPods Pro 3 with Apple gear, the Buds 4 Pro still work best when paired with another Galaxy device. This unlocks all of the functionality of the Buds 4 Pro, including hi-res audi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/sr94pzw

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the slow-motion disaster of live-service games, follow Andrew Webster . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Two years ago, I stood at the top of the iconic red stairs in Times Square to experience the weirdest concert of my life. As glowing butterflies flitted about the various screens, a crowd steadily grew, knowing something was happening, but unsure of what. Then a countdown started, and a minute later one of the screens opened up, revealing Ice Spice and, later, … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/HmciC9d

Last fall, President Donald Trump's executive order raising the fee for H-1B visas to $100,000 - like many of his immigration policies - led to near-immediate chaos. Thousands of workers who had flown overseas to renew their visas ended up stranded abroad . Details about who would be affected only emerged after the fact. Six months later, the disorder from the initial announcement has mostly subsided. The H-1B registration season for the next fiscal year has just begun. With H-1B applications open until March 19th, it's unclear what effect, if any, the new rules will have on hiring, immigration, and the workforce, but experts are warning the … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/Q7yIoGk

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 119, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope your agents are well, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about Pixar's future and flight MH370 and sports gambling and YouTube Face , finally digging into Dungeon Crawler Carl after you recommended it so many times, hoping Rooster keeps being as good as its premiere, buying a MacBook Neo I definitely didn't need, redesigning my Obsidian setup to James Bedford's specifications , testing the Fairbuds XL headphones, and putting away all my winter … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/M4Ac38D

Some European retailers have stopped selling certain headphones after an EU-funded study found that they contained hormone-disrupting chemicals. The study included leading brands such as Apple, Beats, Samsung, Bose, JBL, and Sennheiser. Online stores Bol.com, Coolblue, and Mediamarkt didn't respond to inquiries from The Verge about which headphones they pulled, but local news outlets report that they're among the retailers that have decided to yank some of the worst-scoring models off the market. The study authors analyzed 81 different types of headphones, and found that all of them contained at least traces of harmful chemicals includi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/po9hnxR

It’s a TriFold, alright. But I don’t trust it. I had to buy Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold from eBay for $4,399 and I'm pretty sure that's because Samsung doesn't want anyone to actually have this phone. I'm also afraid to turn it on. Not that turning it on does much good. Whenever I tap "start" to set it up, a prompt to supply a "USIM" pops up and refuses to let me progress without one. I do not trust this phone enough to put a SIM card in it. The phone continues to want a SIM. We are at an impasse. In theory, Samsung's ambitious TriFold has been on sale in the US since January 30th (retail price: $2,899), but it has been damn near impossible to get one. For any other phone launch we wou … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/9AFYoHh

This thing is poised to eat their lunch. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The MacBook Neo is here, and it took no time at all for an executive from a major PC manufacturer to put their foot in their mouth trying to discuss this new competition from Apple's $600 laptop. On Asus' latest earnings call , CFO Nick Wu said that the Neo and its aggressive entry-level pricing were "certainly a shock to the entire market." Wu also disclosed that Asus had some knowledge of Apple developing the Neo back in 2025, much as many of us had heard rumors of a MacBook with an iPhone chip for months - and yet, Asus and other PC makers seem to have been caught flat-footed. What's worse is these company executives don't even seem to r … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/WlDGzfi

Apple is cutting App Store developer fees in China from March 15th, dropping its typical commission on purchases from 30 percent down to 25 percent. The decision was made following "discussions with the Chinese regulator," according to Apple's announcement , suggesting that the reduction aims to avoid regulatory intervention after China reportedly considered opening a formal investigation into the iPhone maker's App Store fees and policies in early February. The fee updates will apply to the App Store on both iOS and iPadOS. The commission rate for small businesses and mini app developers will also fall from 15 percent to 12 percent. This is … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/U6gVKAJ

JBL’s new wireless mics can improve your pitch. | Image: JBL Karaoke is more fun for everyone when the person holding the mic sounds as good as a song's original performer. So the latest addition to JBL's PartyBox Bluetooth speaker line, the On-the-Go 2 Plus, comes with one of the company's new EasySing wireless microphones, which use an algorithm to silence a song's vocals while also helping a karaoke singer stay on pitch and hit more challenging high notes. The On-The-Go 2 Plus is now available for preorder from the company's website for $419.95, with availability expected to start on April 5th. It's an update to JBL's original PartyBox On-The-Go speaker, and while it still delivers up to 100W of s … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/jk2hXbi

This marks Iran’s first significant cyberattack against the US since the war started. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images US medical equipment provider Stryker said its global networks were disrupted by a cyberattack on Wednesday, allegedly carried out by a hacking group linked to Iran. The attack impacted Stryker's internal Microsoft environment and deleted information from devices, with one employee telling NBC News that company phones stopped working, grinding work and communications to a standstill. In an SEC filing disclosing the attack, Stryker says the "full scope" of the operational and financial impact on its business "are not yet known," and that it's unable to provide a full restoration timeline. The situation was still ongoing as of 12:32AM ET on T … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/J92NWi4

Every six months or so, Nvidia's head of automotive, Xinzhou Wu, invites CEO Jensen Huang to go for a ride in a vehicle equipped with the company's hands-free autonomous driving system. But only when Wu has "good confidence" in the system's driving capabilities. Recently, the two went for a drive from Woodside, California, to downtown San Francisco in a Mercedes CLA sedan with MB.Drive Assist Pro, a hands-free driver-assist system partly designed by Nvidia that's similar to Tesla's Full Self-Driving. The mood was light, even if the traffic was pretty heavy. "Let me know when you're in autonomous mode," Huang said to Wu, according to a vid … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/cNfYmxQ

Meta is adding more scam detection tools to Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp that can help users protect their accounts. In its announcement, Meta says the new features aim to alert users about suspicious activities before they engage with them, such as unrecognized friend requests and device linking notifications, because "we know that scammers try to avoid our detection and may not immediately use accounts maliciously." WhatsApp users will now receive a warning when red flags are detected in the behavioral signals for device linking requests, helping to prevent scammers from linking other WhatsApp accounts to their own device. Meta says … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/nEDXueU

Amid a weekslong conflict with the Pentagon, resulting in a blacklist and a lawsuit , Anthropic is shaking up its C-suite and research initiatives. The company announced Wednesday that it's launching a new internal think tank, called the Anthropic Institute, that combines three of Anthropic's current research teams. It will focus on researching AI's large-scale implications, such as "what happens to jobs and economies, whether AI makes us safer or introduces new dangers, how its values might shape ours, and whether we can retain control," per the company. The news comes with C-suite changes, too. Anthropic cofounder Jack Clark is moving int … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/me6gn1a

A few years after selling Wordle to the New York Times , creator Josh Wardle has returned with a new word game - albeit one that's quite a bit trickier. Wardle and a team of collaborators have just released Parseword , a game that tries to make cryptic crosswords easier to understand. "Cryptics are beautiful and rich puzzles but are notoriously hard to learn," the site's about page explains . "We wanted to make a game that captures the joy of solving cryptics while making them more accessible to everyone." In a profile in the New Yorker , Wardle explained that he struggled with viral success of Wordle and the attention that followed, but he fou … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/gD0HS2m

Meta’s Oversight Board wants the company to start taking AI labeling seriously to protect its users from online misinformation. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Meta's methods for identifying deepfakes are "not robust or comprehensive enough" to handle how quickly misinformation spreads during armed conflicts like the Iran war. That's according to the Meta Oversight Board - a semi-independent body that guides the company's content moderation practices - which is now calling on Meta to overhaul how it surfaces and labels AI-generated content across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. The call for action stems from an investigation into a fake AI video of alleged damage to buildings in Israel that was shared on Meta's social platforms last year, but the Board says its recommendations are particularly r … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/LDOfFhV

SeatGeek was close to a deal that would bring its ticketing business to the next level. The company was in negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys, aiming to take over first-party sales at its stadium. But there was one sticking point: "the concert issue." The team feared that if it dropped SeatGeek's rival Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation could pull concerts from the team's stadium, damaging an important revenue stream. That's how SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger remembers things. The deal was ultimately successful, resulting in a primary ticketing partnership that was announced in 2018 . But for a while, Groetzinger recall … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/5vydJrp

There is so much art out there that it’s absolutely impossible to keep up. Whether it’s a slept-on post-punk album from the ‘80s, a new sci-fi novel, or a cult classic horror movie, we’re always finding new obsessions here at The Verge — and we want to share those obsessions with you. Sometimes that might be a new release, but often it’s going to be something a little older, something not necessarily plastered all over TikTok or sitting at the top of the charts on Spotify. We’ve said it before, b ut the best way to find new music, a new show to binge, or a self-help book that isn’t pure trash is to  skip the algorithm  and get a recommendation from actual humans. And it just so happens that The Verge employs a number of those (humans, that is). So checkback regularly for new art to fall in love with, and tell us about your latest obsessions in the comments. Maybe your new favorite album will become one of our new favorites, too. You need to listen to Laurie Spiegel’s mas...

The pink option is one of the prettiest controllers I’ve used. | Image: Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Crowning the EasySMX S10 the best Switch 2 controller last fall was easy. The $60 wireless gamepad, which is often well below $50, mimics or improves on many of the $90 Switch 2 Pro controller's best features. The S10 has great-feeling rumble in games, TMR joysticks that will last longer than Nintendo's, plus amiibo support, comfortable grips, and buttons and triggers that offer satisfying clicks. The new S10 Lite trims away some of those, but builds on EasySMX's lead with one big, new feature that I expect other companies to copy. EasySMX S10 Lite Where to Buy: $39.99 $34 at EasySMX (code VergeS10lite) The EasySMX S10 Lite is the first thi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/y5omRf4

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the EV struggle, follow Andrew J. Hawkins . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Apologies to the Toyota Prius, but the first hybrid vehicle of note was the Semper Vivus , developed by Ferdinand Porsche (yes, that Porsche) way back in 1900. The Semper Vivus (Latin for "always alive") used two combustion engines to power generators, which then fed electricity to motors inside the wheel hubs. The fact that it took modern engineers over a century to really appreciate th … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/bvA2exV

There are a lot of games that try to emulate The Legend of Zelda , but few that manage to capture that spirit in such a small, concise package as Ratcheteer DX . The postapocalyptic game only takes a few hours to complete, but over that span it nails the classic Zelda vibe almost perfectly, offering a real sense of adventure along with the satisfaction of figuring things out on your own. The game is set in a bleak future when most of humanity is hibernating beneath the Earth's surface in order to wait out an ice age. To keep things going, mechanics are awakened every so often to perform maintenance on all of the machinery that keeps everyone … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/xX03QNt

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 118, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, please take my Switch away so I can get some work done, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about moon factories and railroad monopolies and backing into parking spots , finally digging into the Acquired podcast archives, taking tons of notes on Michael Pollan's new book about consciousness , watching everything Look Mum No Computer has ever made , breaking my computer trying to get the Obsidian CLI to work for me, giving the Zen Browser another try a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/ld3brG5

When Elon Musk burst onto the scene in his little Tesla Roadster , it seemed a matter of time before electricity rendered gas-powered sports cars obsolete. It hasn't worked out that way. Automakers have struggled to bring purely electric two-seaters to market. The ones that managed to emerge have been flatly rejected by consumers. Porsche has walked back plans for an all-electric lineup of Boxster and Cayman models, seemingly spooked by technical hurdles and tepid response from its fanatical customers. Lamborghini last week scrapped plans for its first all-electric model, with the CEO saying the brand's customers have almost "zero interest" … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/9jZLD2P

Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg did not necessarily set out to create a new genre. But, in some ways, that's exactly what the duo did when they released Hidden Folks in 2017. Hidden object games have been around for decades - they've existed well before computers, when people searched for objects in paintings and printed drawings - but Hidden Folks was a distinct step forward. De Jongh calls Hidden Folks a "searching" game; objects are certainly hidden, but the game is more than just spotting objects. "We wanted to make a very playful, interactive game where our focus was invoking this curiosity for these little worlds and the little … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/9mskBD2

Marathon is weird as hell - and I mean that in the best possible way. The latest game from Destiny studio Bungie mixes the slick gunplay the developer is known for with a dark, and frankly bizarre, sci-fi universe. It's part of the burgeoning "extraction shooter" subgenre, where teams of players are dropped into a hostile environment and tasked with getting the hell out. After just a few hours with the game, I'm eager to play more, both because the core action is so satisfying and to make sense of this mystifying universe. But as much as I'm enjoying Marathon right now, I'm also wary about its future because I have no idea how long it will l … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/ACWPpwq

BlackBerries are so back. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge Unihertz's booth at MWC was a little out of the way, but those who did find it all seemed to want to pick up the Titan Elite 2 . Sure, the cosmic orange color attracted attention, and the QWERTY keyboard reminded one showgoer of his old BlackBerry. But once I picked it up, I could see why it was so popular. It's slim, light, and pocketable, and the physical keys just beg to be pressed. I felt unencumbered, which I can't say about the phone I'm currently using. I didn't want to put it down, and based on the steady stream of visitors I saw at the booth, I wasn't alone. As usual, MWC offered a bunch of odd and delightful ideas about phones that … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/TratmcB

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is reportedly back at the negotiating table with the Department of Defense in an attempt to salvage the company's relationship with the US military and prevent it from being iced out of defense work for being a "supply chain risk." Talks between the two parties imploded on Friday after weeks of bitter public feuding over the startup's refusal to grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to its AI , with rivals like OpenAI rushing to fill the void . Amodei is in talks with under-secretary of defense for research and engineering Emil Michael about a new contract that would allow the US military to continue using Anthropi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/snpkAjr