The latest tech news about the world's best (and sometimes worst) hardware, apps, and much more. From top companies like Google and Apple to tiny startups vying for your attention, Verge Tech has the latest in what matters in technology daily.
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Netflix is all about the money, not the members
Netflix added 9.3 million subscribers this quarter — but the push for advertising and paid sharing means it will stop reporting that number next year.
Until the end of April, Woot is selling Google’s latest mid-range smartphone unlocked for $339 ($160 off) in sea and coral.
The Pixel 8A could arrive next month, but the 2023 model is still great if you need an immediate upgrade. Its strengths include flagship-worthy performance, multi-day battery life, and a very good dual-camera system.
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Bloomberg:
Almost 600 public fast-charging stations were switched on for US drivers in the first three months of the year, a 7.6% increase over the end of 2023, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of federal data. There are now almost 8,200 quick-turn EV stations across the country, or one for every 15 gas stations. Tesla is responsible for slightly more than one quarter of them.
EV charging is still a bit more complicated than a fill-up, what with different charging speeds, competing standards, and rival networks, but alignment is underway.
***If you fill out a questionnaire beforehand that includes a non-disclosure agreement and get accepted into the beta test program. Enrollment will last through April 30th, and lucky users will get notified about a week later.
So, not exactly the Wear OS 4 rollout Mobvoi fans have probably been hoping for, but a sign of progress!
From my interview with Mark Zuckerberg this week:
I noticed that Google is now helping with real-time knowledge in Meta AI. I think you’re the only assistant that has Google and Bing. I’m surprised that Google especially is outsourcing search to another AI assistant when they have Gemini. Did it surprise you that they were willing to do that?
I guess I wouldn’t have been surprised if they didn’t want to do it. But it seems like they are building up a whole model around this, so it makes sense. It’s good for Google. It shows Google prominently and links to Google. They pay Apple a ton of money for distribution. They’re not paying us. So, I think it’s good for them on that.
Are you paying them then?
There’s not a ton of money flowing either way.
We’ve seen purported renders of the Pixel 9, now 9to5Google points out Rozetked (also a source for Pixel 3 era leaks) photos of a prototype 6.1-inch Pixel 9 Pro.
In a picture of the boot screen, it says the “caiman” device has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM onboard (up from 12GB on the Pixel 8 Pro), along with 128GB of storage.
A Tesla delivery center in Virginia reportedly has a way to deal with the now-recalled accelerator pedal on Cybertrucks.
In a Facebook post, Jim McGlone wrote that they installed a temporary rivet to secure the pad that might slip off and get stuck. With that in place, he picked up his new Cybertruck yesterday after it had been in a “containment hold.”
Microsoft’s new AI model, VASA-1, transforms a single still image and an audio clip into an animated video, which is impressive, if not a little creepy.
The benefits – such as enhancing educational equity, improving accessibility for individuals with communication challenges, offering companionship or therapeutic support to those in need, among many others – underscore the importance of our research and other related explorations.
Microsoft says it won’t release a demo, API, or product with VASA-1 “until we are certain that the technology will be used responsibly.”
It’s not just us Swifties who have been waiting impatiently for April 19th — The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) release day. It appears Mark Zuckerberg had a carefully worded pun locked and loaded for today, which also marks the pop superstar’s debut on Threads.
The amendment would reverse a provision included in the recent House bill reauthorizing Section 702 of FISA that expands the definition of “electronic communications service provider,” which critics say would force Americans to essentially spy for the government.
“Forcing ordinary Americans and small businesses to conduct secret, warrantless spying is what authoritarian countries do, not democracies,” Wyden said in a statement.
That’s why I’m keen on this rumor from AppleInsider that says macOS 15 will add a sidebar that gives you an overview of previous calculations. The app will supposedly look more like the iOS version and get unit conversions too.
Good! Sign me up for anything that makes math less painful.
The Verge’s 2024 Mother’s Day gift guide
We found a collection of unique gift ideas that go beyond the flowers and chocolates that typically rule the day.
Sources tell The New York Times that Sony and investment firm Apollo Global Management are in talks to submit a bid to acquire Paramount. At the same time, reports suggest Paramount is getting closer to making a deal with Skydance.
[The New York Times]
Apple Watch ban: everything you need to know
Apple’s ability to sell the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US is in trouble due to a patent dispute — here’s all the latest news.
Sales for the game rose by 7,500 percent week-on-week across Europe, according to Gamesindustry.biz, with Steam charts showing a similar spike in players that suggests a wider, global trend. Not bad for a near-decade-old game.
The new Prime Video series is likely driving this as we saw a similar phenomenon with The Last of Us following its own TV adaptation.
While US lawmakers take aim at TikTok, The Wall Street Journal reports that several popular messaging apps were removed by Apple at the request of the Chinese government which will make it harder for people in the country to download the apps for use with a VPN. Reuters notes that Meta apps like Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram are still available.
Here’s Apple’s statement on the matter:
“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns. We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”
[The Wall Street Journal]
Apple’s headset doesn’t have an official Netflix app, but MacRumors mentions Best Buy’s app has arrived.
Just put on your Vision Pro, open the Best Buy Envision app and scroll through hundreds of options to see them appear digitally, right in front your eyes, in your physical space.
Now, all we need is a Netflix app for those virtual TVs.
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Like Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, and Destiny 2, the developers of Overwatch 2 are going after players who use “unapproved peripherals” to combine the precision of mouse and keyboard controls with the aim assist granted to controller players.
Over the next few weeks, there will be permanent account bans against players who are the most severe abusers of unapproved peripherals. These actions will be targeted towards high-ranked players who have been reported by others and who our data clearly shows are using an unapproved peripheral.
Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, but previously served as the CEO of 99Fang, a Chinese home finder startup with “very powerful” tech for search, image processing, and recommendations.
Now, The New York Times reports that former contractors suing Susquehanna, an investor in both companies, claim technology they developed for 99Fang was used to create TikTok without compensating them.
Futurism spotted what looks to be AI photo shenanigans in Netflix’s What Jennifer Did, a true crime documentary detailing a murder-for-hire plot. The possible AI-generated images appeared in scenes describing the subject, Jennifer Pan’s personality. Futurism rightly points out that fake AI images in a true crime documentary are controversial, at the least.
In 2020, Apple sued a recycling partner after more than 11,000 pounds of gadgets disappeared. But a Bloomberg report reveals that workers pilfering iPhones isn’t the only problem with Apple’s recycling program.
The company regularly ordered the recycling partner to destroy “tens of thousands” of refurbishable devices, legal filings show. Such waste occurs regularly throughout the globe.
[Bloomberg]
Co-CEO Greg Peters says the streamer doesn’t have a “set position” on a ceiling for its subscription pricing:
You can look at pay TV as a potential markers for where people have spent before but we really actually don’t think of it so much is defined by that... As we add more entertainment value, then of course we can go back to our subscribers and ask them to pay a little bit more to keep that virtuous cycle moving.