Many EV manufacturers have leaned heavily on energy-gulping resistive heaters to keep the cabin and battery warm in the winter time. But heat pumps, which can cut down on battery range losses in the cold, are becoming more prevalent in EVs, and they could help EV owners in the US who are dealing with the low temperatures across much of the country this week.EV research site Recurrent reported that heat pumps can improve drivable range in below freezing temperatures by about 8 to 10 percent. The site tested this by comparing the ranges of 2020 Model 3 and Model S vehicles that lack heat pumps against 2021 versions that have them.Recurrents data shows that the Tesla Model X and the Audi E-Tron only lose about 11 to 13 percent of their range at 32 degrees Fahrenheit compared to driving them in ideal temperatures hovering around 70 degrees, as The Washington Post notes, making them among the best heat pump-equipped EVs.. However, The Washington Post says that heat pumps arent as effective below 15 degrees.A heat pump works by efficiently transferring heat generated by the car to the cabin and other components. Similarly, gas cars have long used a heater core to transfer wasted heat energy from its internal combustion engine into the cabin.Heat pumps have made their way into popular EVs like Teslas as early as 2021 and are coming to other top models like Fords Mustang Mach-E for the 2025 model year. They also are already in many EVs on the road today, including the Polestar 2, Honda Prologue, Chevy Equinox EV, Kia EV6, Rivians, and even some Nissan Leaf models as early as 2013. Recurrent has a complete list of EVs that have heat pumps.Older EVs with smaller batteries that lack heat pumps demonstrate cold range loss more vividly. For instance, my sister, who is driving a 2017 Ford Focus Electric, is only getting about 80 miles of range in the freezing cold with its resistive heaters off and only about 50 with it on. That could be the difference between being able to do a full work commute roundtrip without stopping or needing to find a (hopefully working) DC fast charging station on the way back.Weve previously shared some tips on how to handle EVs in the winter that can help you through icy situations on the road. Some tips include preconditioning your vehicle while plugged in before leaving and brushing snow off more often since it wont melt off the hood like a gas car.

Following last months test, Threads will now let everyone schedule posts, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced on Thursday. You can use the feature by creating a new post, selecting the three-dot menu in the top-left corner, and selecting Schedule.Once you get your post timed up, you can view, delete, or edit it from your drafts folder. Threads will let you schedule your posts up to 75 days in advance, but it wont allow you to schedule replies. Screenshot: The VergeMosseri also said that Threads is adding a way to markup a post youre resharing. Based on early versions of the feature shared by users, it looks like it will let you draw over, highlight, or add arrows to an existing post. This feature is rolling out to a few countries with more to come soon.There are some big changes in store for Threads, which will also trade fact-checking for Community Notes as part of Metas broader moderation shift. The X competitor will start adding political content to recommendations as well.

Though Nintendo can technically claim it had the first big gaming news event of the year, at least Xboxs Developer Direct actually showed off some games and let us know when we can play them. The showcase was anchored by deep dives into the biggest games coming down the green pipe like Doom: The Dark Ages and Compulsion Games South of Midnight, with a couple of surprises to fill out the nearly one-hour-long runtime. Here are the highlights from the show.Ninja Gaiden 4Xbox kicked off the Direct with the surprise reveal of Ninja Gaiden 4. The game is being codeveloped by Koei Tecmos Team Ninja and Bayonetta studio PlatinumGames. Ninja Gaiden 4 revives the series bloody, fast-paced combat and high-stakes (but often frustrating) platforming with a new face, the ninja Yakumo. Yakumo will use his unique fighting styles to defeat the Divine Dragon Order thats turned Tokyo into a dystopian, crumbling mess. Gaidens former protagonist, Ryu Hayabusa, will also make an appearance as a playable character and Yakumos rival.Ninja Gaiden 4 will launch in the fall of this year, but if you dont want to wait for your bloody ninja action, you dont have to. Xbox stealth dropped Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, a remake of Ninja Gaiden II, and its available right now on Xbox and Game Pass.South of MidnightThe developers at Compulsion Games went into detail about South of Midnights gameplay and story. You play as Hazel who must use her powers as a Weaver, fighting monsters and traversing the haunted landscape, to rescue her mother who gets swept away in a hurricane. With this, everything Ive seen about South of Midnight makes it seem like itll be one of my games of the year. Its got a Black protagonist, features characters and tropes that harken to Southern gothic folklore, and its stop-motion art style makes it immediately stand out. I cannot wait to get my hands on this game when it releases on April 8th.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Sandfall Interactive was founded in Montpellier, France, in 2020 with a team led by former Ubisoft developers. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the studios first game a turn-based RPG with a compelling narrative hook. The world has been ravaged by a being known as the Paintress. Every year, she writes down a number, and everyone older than that number disappears. Expeditions are sent out to stop the Paintress, and the game will follow Expedition 33 in their attempt to save humanity. In addition to an interesting Persona 5-style take on turn-based combat, Expedition 33 features some serious voice acting talent, starring Charlie Cox, Jennifer English, Ben Starr, and Andy Serkis. Cant wait to hear them perform when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches on April 24th.Doom: The Dark AgesTo close out the Direct, Xbox gave us another look at Doom: The Dark Ages, the prequel to id Softwares 2016 Doom reboot and Doom Eternal. It will, of course, feature all the ripping and tearing a Doom enjoyer could want, along with an interesting focus on narrative something the series isnt really known for. But I suspect folks are far more interested in piloting a 30-story Doomguy-shaped mech suit when the game releases on May 15th.

TerraPower, a nuclear energy startup founded by Bill Gates, struck a deal this week with one of the largest data center developers in the US to deploy advanced nuclear reactors. TerraPower and Sabey Data Centers (SDC) are working together on a plan to run existing and future facilities on nuclear energy from small reactors.Tech companies are scrambling to determine where to get all the electricity theyll need for energy-hungry AI data centers that are putting growing pressure on power grids. Theyre increasingly turning to nuclear energy, including next-generation reactors that startups like TerraPower are developing.The energy sector is transforming at an unprecedented pace.The energy sector is transforming at an unprecedented pace after decades of business as usual, and meaningful progress will require strategic collaboration across industries, TerraPowerPresident and CEO Chris Levesque said in a press release. A memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies establishes a strategic collaboration thatll initially look into the potential for new nuclear power plants in Texas and the Rocky Mountain region that would power SDCs data centers.Theres still a long road ahead before that can become a reality. The technology TerraPower and similar nuclear energy startups are developing still have to make it through regulatory hurdles and prove that they can be commercially viable. Compared to older, larger nuclear power plants, the next generation of reactors are supposed to be smaller and easier to site. Nuclear energy is seen as an alternative to fossil fuels that are causing climate change. But it still faces opposition from some advocates concerned about the impact of uranium mining and storing radioactive waste near communities.Im a big believer that nuclear energy can help us solve the climate problem, which is very, very important. There are designs that, in terms of their safety or fuel use or how they handle waste, I think, minimize those problems, Gates told The Verge last year.TerraPowers reactor design for this collaboration, Natrium, isthe only advanced technology of its kind with a construction permit application for a commercial reactor pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to the company. The company just broke ground on a demonstration project in Wyoming last year, and expects it to come online in 2030. Electricity demand from data centers has tripled over the past decade, according to theLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). That demand is only expected to grow with the rise of AI, a trend that could prolong the lives of aging fossil fuel power plants and revive retired nuclear plants.Microsoftmade a deal in September to help restart a retired reactor at Three Mile Island. BothGoogleandAmazon, meanwhile,announced plans last year to support the development of advanced reactors to power their data centers.

Meta and YouTube arent the only platforms looking to benefit from TikTok potentially disappearing Substack wants in on the action, too.The company announced Thursday its launching a $20 million creator accelerator fund, promising content creators they wont lose revenue by jumping ship to Substack. Creators in the program also get strategic and business support from Substack, and early access to new features. We established this fund because weve seen creators who specialize in video, audio, and text expand their audience, revenue, and influence on Substack, where the platforms network effects amplify the quality and impact of the work theyre doing, the company said in a blog post.This pivot on Substacks part has been in the works for a while for months, the company has been marketing itself not as a newsletter delivery service but as a creator platform similar to Patreon. On Substack, [creators] can build their own home on the internet: one where creators, not platform executives or advertisers, own their work and their audience, the blog post reads. The post also cites bans, backlash, and policies that change with the political winds as a reason creators cant depend on traditional social media services.Thats all fine (we at The Verge have been saying this for a while). But creators focusing on Substack are also subject to ebbs and flows depending on what the company is prioritizing: first, it was newsletters, then it was tweet-like micro blogs, followed by full-on websites and livestreaming. For some, Substacks initial stated mission of giving more freedom to independent writers is fading. And TikTok creators looking to move to Substack will need to rebuild their following all over again you obviously cant export your TikTok followers.Substacks business is not immune from political winds, either. Just a year ago the company found itself in hot water over Nazi newsletters that were being monetized on the platform. Substack eventually banned some of the newsletters, but only after sustained and public pressure from high-profile writers. In 2022, when Substacks promise was to be a better version of a newsroom, the company abruptly fired an editor who had worked on a newsletter critical of Substack. The $20 million fund isnt the first time Substack has offered a pool of money meant to entice creators. Under a program called Substack Pro, the company poached top media talent from traditional newsrooms with higher pay, health insurance, and other perks. That program ended in 2022, with Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie saying the deals werent employment arrangements but seed funding deals to remove the financial risk for a writer in starting their own business. In other words, welcome to Substack. Now that youre here, youre on your own which is more or less the deal other platforms offer.

Perplexity has turned its AI answer engine into a mobile assistant on Android. The new assistant can answer general questions and perform tasks on your behalf, such as writing an email, setting a reminder, booking dinners, and more.Its also multimodal, meaning you can ask it questions about whats on your screen as well as have it open your camera and see whats in front of you. In an example shared by Perplexity, a user asks the assistant to get me a ride. Once it learns where the user wants to go, the assistant automatically opens Uber with available rides to that destination.I tried it out for myself, and it is kind of neat. When I asked it to open up a good podcast, my phone started playing the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience on YouTube. It worked rather quickly, even though its taste may be questionable.Perplexity gave me the rundown on these promotional Pokmon cards. Screenshots: The VergeUsing my phones camera, Perplexitys assistant successfully identified the promotional Pokmon pack I got in a McDonalds Happy Meal (dont judge), which I found impressive since the promotion only started a couple of days ago. It also helped me write and send a text to a family member using the information in my contacts.Alongside Samsungs announcement of the Gemini-equipped Galaxy S25, Google revealed that its AI assistant can now complete tasks across multiple apps, as well as complete multimodal requests.RelatedBut Perplexitys assistant doesnt work across every app and with every feature. Its not able to access Slack or Reddit, for example, and I also couldnt use it to leave a comment on a YouTube video. Right now, the assistant supports Spotify, YouTube, and Uber, along with email, messaging, and clock apps, according to Perplexity spokesperson Sara Platick. Were continuing to add support for more apps and more functionality though, so this is just the starting point, Platnick adds.You can enable the assistant through the Perplexity app, which prompts you to replace your phones default assistant with Perplexity. From there, you can swipe up on the left corner of your screen or hold down your home button to access the assistant.Its currently not available on the iPhone, however. If Apple gives us the right permissions, well make it happen, Platnick says.

The Surface Laptop Go 3 could get a replacement very soon. | Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Its been less than a year since Microsoft launched its first Qualcomm Snapdragon X-powered Surface devices, and now a new rumor says followups could debut as soon as this spring. A report from Windows Central updates rumors that have circled since 2023, citing sources who say that new versions of the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro 2-in-1 are in the works, with 11- to 12-inch size screens, Windows on Arm, and lighter but still premium designs.Microsoft has already scheduled a major Surface for Business event next week. There, were anticipating variants of the current Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 CoPilot Plus PCs that have Intels Lunar Lake chips inside and are aimed at business customers.According to Windows Central, its unclear where these smaller devices might launch, but they will have cheaper chipsets, like the Snapdragon X Plus or possibly the Snapdragon X that launched earlier this month at CES, to keep prices in the $800 - $900 range. When Microsoft last updated its Surface Laptop Go lineup with a third-generation in 2023, we thought it no longer made sense at the asking price, but the battery life and performance supported by Qualcomms hardware might change things for a new replacement. The smaller Surface Pro is described as a competitor for Apples 11-inch iPad Pro. However, Windows Central reports its unclear if it is positioned to replace the old Surface Go series, which was last updated with the business-focused Surface Go 4.

Microsoft promised a new game announcement at its Xbox Developer Direct event, and that game turned out to be Ninja Gaiden 4. The new entry in the long-running franchise is being co-developed by Team Ninja along with Platinum Games, the team behind action games like Bayonetta and Nier: Automata. The game is launching in Fall 2025, and will be coming to Xbox, PC, and PS5 (it will also be available via Game Pass).While the Ninja Gaiden franchise has been around since the late 80s, it entered into a new era on the Xbox with the bloody, and tough-as-nails Ninja Gaiden on Xbox in 2004. That version, developed by Team Ninja, was ported to a handful of other consoles and also received a number of sequels. Based on the debut trailer, the new game looks to continue the dark action started with the 2004 release, but with even faster gameplay.In addition to the brand-new release, a remake of Ninja Gaiden II was also announced called Ninja Gaiden II Black. In a nice surprise: the game is available now on Xbox, PC, PS5, and Game Pass.These arent the only returns to Ninja Gaiden in the works, however. Retro experts Dotemu are also developing a new throwback release called Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.

Matter launched with a mission to provide a reliable, secure way for smart home devices to connect to and communicate with each other across brands and ecosystems. But two years in, problems have plagued the connectivity protocol. Big players like Apple, Amazon, and Google have been slow to offer broad support for Matter device types, there are ongoing reliability and interoperability issues, and the Thread protocol Matter relies on has seen significant growing pains. Its been a bumpy start.The companies behind Matter hear the complaints and say this is the year those concerns will be put to rest. 2025 is going to be a really important year. Were looking to really hit reliability and make sure that things just work, says Tobin Richardson, president and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the organization responsible for developing and maintaining the smart home standard.Its going to be a year of focusing on fixing these reliability and performance issues in Matter.To find out how Matter is going to improve, I sat down with the heads of the three organizations responsible for Matters success: Richardson of the CSA; Vividh Siddha, president of Thread Group and director of software engineering at Apple; and Kevin Robinson, president and CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Thread and Wi-Fi are the two wireless protocols Matter works over, and the three organizations and their members have been collaborating on the standard since it began back in 2019. This is the first time the organizations have given a joint interview, and they had plenty to share about how they are working together to improve the smart home standard.According to Richardson, well start to see the Matter we were promised easy to use, reliable, and seamless potentially within the next 12 months. Its going to be a year of focusing on fixing these reliability and performance issues in Matter, he said. Siddha concurs, saying, 2025 is really pivotal for us to get all those issues resolved, to get all these product experiences to be more robust and reliable. Robinson feels confident that the collaboration between the three groups will help bring this about. I think where organizations like ours deliver value is by aligning [our industries], so everybody is singing from the same song sheet, he says.RelatedSolutions being explored include embedding software in home routers to ensure Matter and Thread devices can connect to networks seamlessly (solving the multicast issue with many home routers), adding Thread radios to home routers, potentially replacing Bluetooth with Thread for onboarding Thread devices, and pushing ecosystems onto Thread 1.4. Additionally, companies like Apple and Google are sharing data about their real-world deployment of Matter and Thread for the first time in an effort to help everyone implement the technologies successfully.These feel like positive steps for the standard especially the plans to fix how home routers deal with Matter devices but the proof will be in how quickly and effectively they can execute them. Apple, Google, and (hopefully) other ecosystems sharing what theyve learned in an effort to make Matter work for everyone, and not just the big four, also feels like a significant shift. Matter is supposed to promote interoperability, but today, the most reliable way to get it to work is to stick with one ecosystem. (This GitHub thread dives deep into the problems Home Assistant users are having with Thread devices that work fine with Apple Home.)After all, Matter is an industry collaboration, and the only way it will ever work as advertised is if all these companies continue to work together. Most of the big names here Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon, LG, Comcast, along with silicon makers such as NXP and Qualcomm are members of all three of the organizations working to make Matter a viable solution for the smart home. If they fail, those companies will have failed, too.The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.Lets start with the basics. Explain why Matter chose Thread and Wi-Fi as its wireless connectivity protocols and not Zigbee or Z-Wave. And who made that choice?Tobin Richardson (CSA): The choice was 100 percent member-driven; those who founded Project CHIP [as it was called, founders include Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung SmartThings]. That was a two-year conversation. But Wi-Fi is already in every smart home device thats connected, so why go with a new technology? As Project CHIP came together, it was an evaluation. We knew we needed a common language, and we needed it to be IP-based. We looked at what is in the smart home already. Wi-Fi is in the smart home. But thats not all use cases. What captures 90-plus percent of use cases? Thread. So, with Wi-Fi and Thread, youre capturing a known. It comes down to Internet Protocol. That was a conscious choice to give a nod to Wi-Fi and Thread as they work over IP. Zigbee is great. It is lightning fast. Its been out for 20 years, but its not IP-based. Embracing Internet Protocol was really that key building block.Kevin Robinson (Wi-Fi Alliance): Its the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Things should be built like the internet, which means Internet Protocol. It was very simple: lets make the smart home like the internet and allow it to scale like the internet did. (The good parts!)Vividh Siddha (Thread Group): Part of it was also the ecosystem and silicon vendors having the support for Thread and Wi-Fi. Thats a big enabler that you require to make sure that this comes to fruition. Multi-protocol was a big factor because its not something that will take years to build. It was there already.KR: There were attempts within the Wi-Fi industry to do something similar to Matter, but it never really took off because it was Wi-Fi only. One of the genius things, and ultimately why were very optimistic about what Matter is going to deliver, is you have ThreadandWi-Fi. Now you have two major technologies that address pretty much anything youre going to want to do in the home, and you have an organization that is working on this upper layer (Matter) that makes it all work seamlessly. It was a very important strategic decision and the right decision to pick two technologies that cover the landscape and then say we are committed to both. Thats going to make Matter successful.So, you have two ways to use Matter: Matter-over-Thread or Matter-over-Wi-Fi? Which is better?KR: It depends! The Wi-Fi industry has been saying for years that the smart home is going to be a combination of technologies. No one technology can accomplish every use case. But all of us want, collectively, to be able to make the smart home opportunity reach its potential.The smart home is going to be a combination of technologies. No one technology can accomplish every use case.There are going to be cases for Wi-Fi if youre doing high-definition security camera streaming, I dont believe Thread can do that yet. Each technology is optimized differently, but theres going to be overlap. Ultimately, the vendors will decide whether it makes it into their product. Theres also the draw of Were already using one versus the other, so Ill just stick with that. But overall, its going to be driven by the specific application in the smart home, the capabilities that are required to address that application, and then the fit to one of our technologies.VS: We are getting into this new phase where people are looking at Wi-Fi and Thread as complementary not independent technologies. So, if you can take the example of a camera for streaming video, you definitely need to use Wi-Fi, but for some of the control functions in a camera stopping, starting, or doing other control functions you could potentially use Thread as well, which could be helpful if Wi-Fi is congested. There will be some interesting complementary ways that these technologies will be used. Were not there yet, but there are companies talking about how they could use that.I get the different use cases, but in Matter, we have product categories like smart plugs and smart switches where some manufacturers use Matter-over-Wi-Fi, and some use Matter-over-Thread. Thats where the consumer is confused about which one is better for them. I understand what Wi-Fi can do in terms of bandwidth and what Thread can do in terms of lower latency, but why do we have this distinction in devices where the use case isnt so obvious? Is that a manufacturer's choice based on cost? Simplicity? And which is better?KR: I dont think the consumer is going to choose that product based on Wi-Fi or Thread.Our readers do!KR: That may be true, but ultimately, if Matter accomplishes what it intends to, consumers are going to look for a Matter logo. Increasingly, were now seeing home access points that will include Thread as well. So, ultimately, your home network, if its a Matter network, is going to support either. Its a matter of, no pun intended, youre going to buy from a brand you trust that will drive decisions [more than protocols].VS: Where we are right now is people think about Matter-over-Wi-Fi and Matter-over-Thread, partly because Thread is in its initial phases of deployment. One of the key things you need is the infrastructure. As for Wi-Fi, its already a given that all people have a Wi-Fi router in their homes. Thread border routers, which is an essential function, are now pretty much in every ecosystems products, as well as many other companies providing border routers in the home.End users wont have to think about whether its Wi-Fi or Thread. It just works.With Matters HRAP initiative [Home Routers and Access Points], once access points start supporting border router functionality out of the box, then most people will have Thread functionality in the home. It will take some time, but I think once we get there, whether its Wi-Fi or Thread, from a Matter standpoint, it should just be agnostic. It will use the technology thats the best. Manufacturers will use the technology thats best for their product, and end users wont have to think about whether its Wi-Fi or Thread. It just works.KR: But then, outside this room, of course, Im going to be trying to convince manufacturers why Wi-Fi is appropriate for certain things, and [Threads] going to be convincing manufacturers why Thread is appropriate for other things. Itll all kind of shake out again by the vendors, those manufacturers making decisions of what really fits their use case the best.Those are obviously the manufacturers decisions. But for the consumer, its stability, low latency, and making everything work the way Matter has said it will. Thats what were here for. We want the smart home to work. Matter / Thread had a bumpy start. How soon is the dream of a stable, low-latency smart home where everything works going to be a reality? What is the timeline for when the consumer can buy a Matter product Wi-Fi or Thread and feel confident that it will work?VS: I would say 2025 is going to be a fairly important year from a Thread standpoint. We see this from our ecosystems telemetry as well. Most people do have a border router in their homes now, and Thread 1.4 will solve an important problem where [border routers from different manufacturers] dont necessarily talk to each other well. Thread 1.4 is going to definitely improve that. Once we get a deployment of 1.4, which we are accelerating by sunsetting earlier versions of Thread, it will allow us to get these border routers to work seamlessly between themselves. And once we get to that point, well see wider adoption of Thread just working.The deployment of Thread 1.4 is being accelerated by sunsetting earlier versions of ThreadYou mentioned sunsetting earlier versions of Thread. Does that mean that if you have a Thread border router, it should be on 1.4?VS: Yes, particularly for companies that are building border routers.Will there be scope for companies to be grandfathered in to earlier versions? They havent been super fast at updating new versions of Thread to date. How much power do you have here? [Companies manufacturing Thread border routers include Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon, LG, and several smaller smart home companies.]VS: We definitely will listen to the ecosystems every company has its own limitations in terms of when they can update. But we have some policies in place where we expect them to implement 1.4, and we havent gotten much pushback. They understand this is an important thing to do. We expect that to happen fairly quickly, and its a small number of companies. Its not the entire set of companies that are building accessories. Its a small number of companies building border routers. So once the infrastructure is robust, the acceleration of products will happen.This year, we saw a number of different solutions to the issue of Thread border routers fromdifferent manufacturers not talking to each other, includingseveral ways to ensure they share their credentials and can form one Thread mesh network in your home. Thread has one solution, the CSA has one, and phone operating systems can also manage the exchange of credentials. Does the user need to worry about which solution theyre using? Is the end effect going to be the same, that theyre going to have a stable Thread network? Or is there a best solution?VS: I think the ecosystems will define what the user experience for that will be, but I expect there to be at least one minimum step where the user is involved in sharing [credentials]. For example, its similar to sharing your W-Fi network. Lets say I go to Kevins home, and he wants to share his Wi-Fi network with me. He has to share the password with explicit intent. So theres that step that will be there in a Thread network as well. How the ecosystems expose that experience to the end user will depend on their implementation. But the underpinnings of that, even if theyre different, dont matter.From the standpoint of the new smart home user, who Matter is targeting, currently the simplest way to use Thread in their home is the phone, thanks to Thread radios in mobile devices from Apple and Google. Is that a good solution for the smart home, or is that more of a temporary Band-Aid? Is it going to set them up for problems?VS: Both Apple and Google have made announcements of Thread radios in mobile devices. Its to enable an early adopter. If you take a very early on smart home user somebody who goes to Ikea, buys a bulb and a switch what happens with those users is they discover they cannot do automations. So, Thread on mobile can enable that evolution [to a border router]. But the other important factor is the ability to use your accessories, and some important ones, like your front door lock when theres a power outage. If you have no infrastructure your Wi-Fi router is down, your Thread border router is down and you still want the ability to get into your house or do other things that might be smart home related. Those are some use cases that its explicitly designed for, but its not limited to that.Where does Bluetooth fit into this conversation? Its part of Matter for onboarding, but is there potential for Thread to replace Bluetooth in certain applications? It is also a wireless, low-power, low-latency connectivity standard. Is it something that could do much of what Bluetooth does today in our smart homes?VS: Bluetooth still has its use cases and applications. For example, in high-end audio streaming, Bluetooth will still remain the dominant choice. But with Thread, you talked about provisioning or commissioning: Thread 1.4 now supports native Thread commissioning. At least for smart home products, we now have the ability to do native Thread commissioning, so we do expect to see that.If its a smart home product that requires Matter and Thread, it doesnt need Bluetooth. It allows [manufacturers] to do two things: one is to simplify their product, and the second is to reduce cost because they dont need to add Bluetooth, which takes memory. There is also a cost involved with adding an additional radio, so that can go away. If its a smart home product that requires Matter and Thread, it doesnt need Bluetooth.We were talking earlier about smart home use cases around health and wellness. Could Thread be used in devices in our homes, such as blood pressure monitors and other home healthcare devices that currently use Bluetooth?VS: Yes. In fact, we have some companies in Europe that are building exactly those types of products, where it gives you low power, low latency, and all that. There are those use cases where it makes sense because these are very small amounts of data that are being sent periodically, which is just an optimal case.HRAPs are now part of the Matter spec, which, due to incorporating Thread, Wi-Fi, and some Matter magic, should be a solid foundation for people wanting to use Matter in their smart home. Kevin, from your position in the Wi-Fi Alliance, what timeline can we expect in terms of seeing routers supporting Matter? It feels like an important step for adoption. But where Verge readers might change their routers once a year, people like my parents never do. Unless their ISP upgrades them, most people arent getting new routers regularly. What do you see among your members around adoption here and bringing that to the customer?KR: One key point to start off with is that theres close collaboration between our organizations and there are certain areas where we absolutely need to collaborate, and there are other areas where each organization moves at its own pace. And thats good. With HRAP, the industry is already delivering many of the things youre going to need in a home access point. For example, Wi-Fi 6 is a good baseline for todays access points. And as an industry, weve already, just this last year, shipped a little over a quarter of a billion Wi-Fi 7 access points. So that will be the predominant generation of Wi-Fi in most homes in a few years.What we need for a Matter HRAP device is A, B, C, and D, and weve already got A, B, and C. From our perspective, most of what Matter needs, particularly in an initial iteration, the industry already has. We can essentially flip a switch, and now its fully capable and fully Matter-enabled.So youre saying many current HRAPs in peoples homes could become Matter-enabled easily but not Thread-enabled? [Which is required for Matter certification.] What about Thread adoption in routers? Is that something your members are actively pursuing? Do you feel like thats something were going to see in the next year? Five? Ten?KR: In terms of the Wi-Fi capabilities that make up that HRAP device, yes. Most of that is already in the market today in the leading routers. [For Thread], it depends on each implementation and what radios are in there. In some of our service provider members, we see that they are already rolling out Thread on those devices. In some cases, the Thread radio is there, and its just waiting to be turned on. Its on a vendor-by-vendor basis, but we certainly expect, particularly with the service providers that are active in Matter, that they could enable that fairly quickly.TR: Were hearing the same thing. Its mainly from service providers. Companies like Verizon and others have indicated that direction. Verizon is now on the board of directors for the alliance.VS: A lot of the major service providers that we know about in North America are actively engaged, and they have plans and existing deployments that already have [an IEEE 802.15.4] radio, so it could just be turned on. For routers that dont have a radio, they might have a dongle they could stick in to enable this functionality.One of the challenges today is the way routers implement their multicast discovery can be broken, and that leads to a pretty bad experience for users.But even with routers that will support HRAP that dont have a Thread radio, theres an important aspect of some key functionality that routers have to support to enable not only the smart home but also Thread. These include features like IPV 6 and multicast discovery, which we want to make sure are consistent and reliable across routers, to make sure that they work.One of the challenges today is the way routers implement their multicast discovery can be broken, and that leads to a pretty bad experience for users. Matter particularly relies on that discovery mechanism to work all the time, and if it doesnt, then you have lots of issues in the ecosystems. There is a lot of value in the work that the HRAP group in Matter is doing.So this is something thats part of the Working Group for HRAP? If you have a Matter-enabled router, it should actually optimize your Wi-Fi for Matter in some way. Thats what youre working toward?KR: Yes, this is where the collaboration is... there are elements from Matter, and then there are capabilities and certifications were delivering around that to make sure its working properly. Its divide and conquer, right? Were able to deliver some value to the Matter ecosystem to allow it to be more successful.VS: That was the starting point for HRAP before we even added the Thread border router functionality. We need to make Wi-Fi work reliably for all of the IoT use cases. We drafted the initial set of things that we knew were broken or were not optimal. Specifically, the home routers. The issue is not with Wi-Fi as such; it is the layer above, the routing layer, that is broken in some of these vendor companies, and HRAP will allow us to fix this.Something a lot of Verge readers want is routers as Matter devices. Being able to control their router through their smart home turn it on, off, reboot it remotely, management of devices. Is the concept of having a Matter router be a Matter device on the roadmap, or is it just about the infrastructure?VS: Its more focused on functionality and manageability. What youre talking about is currently not in the scope.KR: You bring up some interesting cases. There are probably subsets of that that could make sense, where its more of the user-facing management of things. But theres a lot more that goes into managing a home network that Matter probably wouldnt want to get into.One possible area is the router itself as a sensor in the home. It has information about what devices came into the home. We now have Wi-Fi ranging, Wi-Fi location via multiple access points can pinpoint where somebody is. Wi-Fi sensing can tell when somebody is walking in the home. Did they fall? Leveraging that access point or that Wi-Fi network as a sensor of sorts, thats the type of application we do see members getting some interest around through Matter. But theres no work on it currently. There are other things that are more important to be focusing on.Can you give us a timeline of when Matter is all just going to work? What have been the major challenges in the first couple of years that you feel youve successfully surmounted, and which are you still struggling with?TR: 2025 is going to be a really important year for Matter. Were not looking to add 100 new device types this year. Were looking to really hit reliability and make sure that things just work. Thats been a strong focus, and thats why these relationships are so important. Because companies making cool experiences for the consumer will be enabled by the complexity underneath. We knew that coming in, and thats why I think its so important that Thread continues to do a lot of its work, engaged side by side with us and Wi-Fi.People ... who think they should be further along are not looking at past efforts what other initiatives like this accomplished in a given time horizon.When are we going to get to that promised land? Its months, not years. Is it two months? No. Is it less than 12? It depends. Your readers will see things faster than others because they understand whats going on. What was jointly addressed in [fixing] credential sharing with Thread Group is a great example of how we can move at a good speed. And what we did with the Interop Lab just recently, making it easier for developers and companies to get to market faster. Weve hit a lot of the unknown unknowns the ones you just dont know about on day one.What about for Thread? Its been around for 10 years, but this has been the first mass real-world deployment.VS: If you look at 2020, thats when we had our first border router products. Until then, we were just supporting specs. After Apple announced the first border router and all the other ecosystems now support it, I think were at a place where the border routers are now in peoples homes. With 1.4, the interoperability issues will be solved. Once we have done that, the infrastructure underpinnings will be pretty good for enabling Matter over Thread.There is some work we need to do with Matter on optimizing for the protocol, specifically for Thread because its a low bandwidth network, but thats something were collaborating on to help improve memory and release memory and stuff like that. A lot of that will get better, for sure. As Tobin mentioned, 2025 is really pivotal for us to get all those issues resolved, to get all these product experiences to be more robust and reliable.Something Ive heard from a number of manufacturers and companies is that Matter-over-Thread works really well in Apple and Google ecosystems, but when you take it outside of those platforms, thats when it starts to go wrong. Does that ring true to you?VS: Well, yes. Theres a lot of work the ecosystems do for their individual products. And Google has been working on Thread for a long time. Apple, particularly, has invested quite a bit in Thread, so they might be leading the efforts there. But all the ecosystems are putting a lot of effort in Thread.TR: If you have the ecosystems bringing that knowledge back in, not keeping it to themselves. Thats the benefit of why these large companies have invested in Thread, not just their own proprietary approach. But thats a process. To bring those learnings back and then ensure theyre picked up and understood by the other manufacturers. Whether or not those are performing well, the time for turnaround on that learning should be compressed, and thats one of the things that we are working on: making sure that it gets back out to the community so they can update and upgrade as appropriate. Thats the benefit of an open standard.VS: A key aspect for Matter is having a close eye on what end users are seeing. Member companies are sharing information with each other around key things that we need to prioritize. In Thread Group, we have started having ecosystems share data. In our previous member meeting, Apple shared data for the very first time about what they are learning about their deployments. At the prior meeting, Google shared some data. The ecosystems themselves are bringing a lot more internal data that will help us to understand how these things are working in the wild.On a recent Vergecast and on a Matter panel I hosted at CES with Amazon, Google, Samsung, and Bosch, I invited everyone to grade Matters efforts so far. What grade would you give Matter at the end of its second year, in its mid-terms?TR: I think Matter gets a B. When you look at a grade, what you obviously need to know is: are they getting their homework done? Are they passing the tests? Is there a good effort in there? Its a combination of those three, along with: are they ready to go to the next stage? And absolutely, Matter is ready to go to the next stage. Weve learned a bunch.These companies are trying to kill each other in the market ... But what theyre doing together is really impressive.The effort, thats an A. In terms of what people are doing in the Matter Working Groups and the Alliance. Its incredible, even heartwarming. Because these companies are trying to kill each other in the market, as they should, right? Thats their job, for their shareholders. But what theyre doing together is really impressive.VS: I think B. From a purely technology standpoint. The education aspect, I think theres more work to be done there. But I would agree that in terms of just the sheer enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication from the member companies to fix all the problems as quickly as we can and get them to market, its just unprecedented. Everybody comes to the table, and its all hands on deck to solve things.KR: I give Matter a B+, grading on a curve. People outside Matter who think they should be further along are not looking at past efforts what other initiatives like this accomplished in a given time horizon. From an outsiders perspective, the intensity and the amount of investment these companies are making to do the work is impressive to see. Things like this can get very territorial. Were different organizations. We all have responsibilities for the success of each of them. However, the CSA has been very easy to work with.Looking to the final grade, the thing that will be essential for me is ensuring that Matter does a good job of balancing the road maps of the respective technologies. As Im innovating, as Thread is innovating, the CSA needs to balance how we bring these innovations into the spec, into the products themselves, so that my industry can deliver the benefits of Wi-Fi innovation to people buying Matter products. Thats going to be a delicate balance that they will have to strike to get the A at the end of the semester.

CNN is developing a new streaming service and it sounds a lot like the one it shut down nearly three years ago. In an internal memo shared with The Verge, CNN CEO Mark Thompson says the service will give viewers the ability to stream news programming from us on any device they choose as part of a broader restructuring plan.CNN jumped on the streaming bandwagon in 2022 with the launch of CNN Plus, a short-lived service that shut down after just one month. Thompson doesnt say whether the new service will mirror the content on its linear channel, or if it will stick to original programming, similar to CNN Plus.Its early days but weve already established that theres immense demand for it not just in America but across much of the world, Thompson wrote. Well have more to say about this new digital product in the coming months,including content plans and how we will work with our existing and future distribution partners to bring this to market. Along with the new streaming service, Thompsons memo also said Alex MacCallum, CNNs executive vice president for digital products and services, will announce the companys first lifestyle-oriented digital product and a major pivot to digital video.As part of these changes, CNN will lay off six percent of jobs, making up around 200 employees. Thompson says the company doesnt expect total headcount to fall much this year because of a $70 million investment from CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, The Hollywood Reporter says. The news of a revived CNN streaming service comes as linear TV networks grapple with a growing shift toward streaming. CNN, which airs a 24/7 news broadcast on Max, recently announced that its locking some of its articles behind a paywall. Along with CNN, CNBC also launched a $14.99 / month CNBC Plus subscription.

In 2022, I wrote that GPUs were headed in the wrong direction their price, size, and power consumption were off the charts. And while I still believe thats true, I can now confirm Nvidia has at least made one phenomenal exception in the size category: the two-slot Founders Edition of its RTX 5090 graphics card, on sale January 30th. The last time Nvidia made a two-slot flagship graphics card, it was the 2021 RTX 3080 Ti FE the 3090, 4080 and 4090 were gigantic by comparison. So, while my colleague Tom Warren was busy writing his full review of the new 5090 using the best gaming CPU, I wedged one of the $2,000 cards into my own aging mini desktop. I wanted to see whether the surprisingly small flagship GPU was truly ready for small form factor (SFF) cases or, whether my beloved 12.7-liter Ncase M1 chassis is well and truly obsolete. 1/7Gallery: The 5090 may be a two-slot card, but its not as small as two-slot cards of yesteryear like this RTX 3080...1/7Gallery: The 5090 may be a two-slot card, but its not as small as two-slot cards of yesteryear like this RTX 3080...To my surprise, it worked: all I needed was a new power supply to turn my backpack-sized daily driver into one of the most powerful gaming PCs in the world. At 4K resolution, Im typically seeing more than double the framerate I get with an RTX 3080 Founders Edition, one of the last cards that could comfortably fit in the Ncase M1, to give you some idea.But Im not going to suggest you do the same! For starters, were talking about a two thousand dollar graphics card and a one thousand watt power supply which I actually saw consuming up to one whole kilowatt (as measured by my trusty Kill A Watt at the wall) in my Cyberpunk 2077 tests. With an RTX 3080, my system consumed over 200 fewer watts. Not that I minded having a space heater on these cold January days!But I literally had to wedge the 5090 into my Ncase M1 to make it fit, and even remove and reattach the video cards bracket inside my case. And even then I couldnt fully seal my desktop because the GPUs new 12V-2x6 power connector occupies a chunk of space where my cases side panel is supposed to go. Youll want an SFF-ready case with more clearance than I have.It took a bit of elbow grease to get it in there.If not for that power cable...Still, leaving my desktops guts exposed was a small price to pay to toy with this much power! Its enough to play games at 4K at their maximum settings, save for full ray tracing (aka path tracing). Its even got enough horsepower to turn on path tracing, too, if you combine it with dynamic upscaling and/or fake frame generating tech. I normally play Helldivers 2 on an old 3060 Ti graphics card I bought for just $400, where Im forced to rely on those tricks just to get smooth 4K-ish gameplay. It was quite nice, if expected, to finally max out that game on the 5090 instead.What I didnt expect: my aging, space-constrained AMD 5800X desktop delivered the same performance as Toms open-air testing rig in quite a few of our 4K gaming benchmarks. I knew it was possible, but it goes to show that Nvidias fancy two-slot double flow through cooler really is suitable for SFF PCs.RTX 5090 SFF test at 4KGameSean's SFF 5090Tom's Bench 5090Percent DifferenceAssassin's Creed Mirage (Ultra High, Native)1351446.67%Black Myth: Wukong (100% resolution)6362-1.59%Black Myth: Wukong (DLSS + Frame Gen)147146-0.68%Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Extreme)1401453.57%Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, no RT)1081090.93%Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra RT + DLSS Quality + FG)1521530.66%Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (Very High, Native)11215336.61%Horizon Zero Dawn (DLSS Quality + Frame Gen)20623715.05%Metro Exodus Enhanced (Extreme)9291-1.09%Returnal (Epic)1381422.90%Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest)20723814.98%Average framerates at 4K resolution.It depends on whether your games are CPU limited, of course, as my older PC does have a slower CPU and most of todays games tend to be at least somewhat CPU limited at 1440p resolution, where Toms system often pulled far ahead by 20 to 60 percent.RTX 5090 SFF results at 1440pGameSean's SFF 5090Tom's Bench 5090Percent DifferenceAssassin's Creed Mirage (Ultra High, Native)13718837.23%Black Myth: Wukong (100% resolution)91910.00%Black Myth: Wukong (DLSS + Frame Gen)1801810.56%Call of Duty: BO6 (Extreme)16119621.74%Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, no RT)14820739.86%Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra RT + DLSS Quality + FG)20724618.84%Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (Very High, Native)12320062.60%Horizon Zero Dawn (DLSS Quality + Frame Gen)22229934.68%Metro Exodus Enhanced (Extreme)12014520.83%Returnal (Epic)16720120.36%Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest)22335458.74%Average framerates at 1440p.Facing down the alien swarms and flying particles in Returnal, for example, Tom pulled 201 frames per second at 1440p while my diminutive desktop managed just 169fps; in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, the most CPU-limited game were testing, my bottlenecked system averaged just 123fps to Toms 200fps. But thats still over 120fps on max settings, more than enough for butter-smooth sessions of these single-player games! And if I were to pair my tiny tower with a 4K TV in my living room instead of a 1440p monitor, as many SFF PC builders might like to do, Id have a blast my 4K results always averaged over 60fps, and were often within just a few FPS of Toms open bench. RTX 5090 vs 3080 4K SFF testGameSean's 5090 SFFSean's 3080 SFFRoughly how much fasterAssassin's Creed Mirage (Ultra High, Native)135652.1x as fastBlack Myth: Wukong (100% resolution)63222.8x as fastBlack Myth: Wukong (DLSS Quality)93392.4x as fastCall of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Extreme)140582.4x as fastCyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, no RT)108402.7x as fastCyberpunk 2077 (Ultra RT + DLSS Quality)89382.3x as fastHorizon Zero Dawn Remastered (Very High)112591.9x as fastMetro Exodus Enhanced (Extreme)92332.8x as fastReturnal (Epic)138612.3x as fastShadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest)207892.3x as fastAverage framerates at 4K resolution.And again, Im typically seeing the RTX 5090 delivering more than twice the horsepower of an RTX 3080, making it quite the upgrade for SFF fans with deep pockets. Thats not necessarily something to celebrate, though: the $2,000 RTX 5090 admittedly costs more than twice as much as a $700 RTX 3080 did at its 2020 launch, and will be out of reach for most gamers even if shortages and scalpers dont rear their ugly heads. When it comes down to it, I think the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is a damn cool piece of kit. It makes me want to quote Ferris Buellers Day Off because it is so choice. Its a noteworthy exception to the very annoying trend of GPUs expanding in every direction. But at $2,000, 575 watts of power by its lonesome, and with no other Nvidia board partner offering anything nearly as compact, its the exception that proves the rule.Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge

The latest batch of new Pokmon TCG PocketThe Pokmon Company announced today that Space-Time Smackdown, Pokmon TCG Pockets latest expansion, is set to debut at the end of the month right after the games trading feature launches on January 29th. While cards from the last set could all be obtained from a single type of pack, Space-Time Smackdown which includes a number of monsters from Pokmon Diamond / Pearl / Platinum will come from packs featuring the legendary Pokmon Dialga and Palkia.Along with Space-Time Smackdowns announcement, TCPi also revealed a bit more about how the trading mechanic will involve two new types of in-game currencies trade houseglasses and trade tokens. It seems as if there will be cooldown periods as well as a cost if you want to swap cards from Pockets Genetic Apex and Mythical Island sets with other players. But there will definitely be some waiting involved for people hoping to trade Space-Time Smackdown, which will not be tradeable until a later date after it drops on January 30th.

Macbeth, William Shakespeares iconic play, is being reimagined as an interactive video game with a neo-noir vibe and its being developed in part by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The game, titled Lili, is a screen life thriller video game where youll have access to a modern-day Lady Macbeths personal devices, according to a press release.Players will be immersed in a stylized, neo-noir vision of modern Iran, where surveillance and authoritarianism are part of daily life, the release says. The gameplay will feature a blend of live-action cinema within an interactive game format, giving players the chance to immerse themselves in the world of Lady Macbeth and make choices that influence her destiny. It sounds kind of like a version of Macbeth inspired by Sam Barlows interactive thrillers.The Royal Shakespeare Company is making the game in collaboration with iNK Stories, a New York-based indie studio and publisher that also made 1979 Revolution: Black Friday. It stars Zar Amir as Lady Macbeth (Lili), per the press release.Lili is set to release later in 2025.

Googles Gemini is already winning the next-gen assistant warsGoogles Gemini is already winning the next-gen assistant wars / AI has made virtual assistants a big deal again. So far, it looks like ChatGPT, Siri, Alexa, and the rest are all chasing after Gemini.By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired. Jan 22, 2025, 10:04 PM UTCShare this story Illustration: The VergeOne of the most important changes in Samsungs new phones is a simple one: when you long-press the side button on your phone, instead of activating Samsungs own Bixby assistant by default, youll get Google Gemini.This is probably a good thing. Bixby was never a very good virtual assistant Samsung originally built it primarily as a way to more simply navigate device settings, not to get information from the internet. It has gotten better since and can now do standard assistant things like performing visual searches and setting timers, but it never managed to catch up to the likes of Alexa, Google Assistant, and now, even Siri. So, if youre a Samsung user, this is good news! Your assistant is probably better now. (And if, for some unknown reason, you really do truly love Bixby, dont worry: theres still an app.)The switch to Gemini is an even bigger deal for Google. Google was caught off guard a couple of years ago when ChatGPT launched but has caught up in a big way. According to recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal, CEO Sundar Pichai now believes Gemini has surpassed ChatGPT, and he wants Google to have 500 million users by the end of this year. It might just get there one Samsung phone at a time.Gemini is now a front-and-center feature on the worlds most popular Android phones, and millions upon millions of people will likely start to use it more or use it at all now that its so accessible. For Google, which is essentially betting that Gemini is the future of every single one of its products, that brings a hugely important new set of users and interactions. All that data makes Gemini better, which makes it more useful, which makes it more popular. Which makes it better again.Right now, Google appears to be well ahead of its competitors in one important way: Gemini is the most capable virtual assistant on the market right now, and its not particularly close. Its not that Gemini is specifically great; its just that it has more access to more information and more users than anyone else. This race is still in its early stages, and no AI product is very good yet but Google knows better than anyone that if you can be everywhere, you can get good really fast. That worked so well with search that it got Google into antitrust trouble. This time, at least so far, it seems like Googles going to have an even easier time taking over the market.Its not that Gemini is specifically great; its just that it has more access to more information and more users than anyone elseFor years, there were three meaningful players in the virtual assistant space. Amazons Alexa, Googles Assistant, and Apples Siri all offered similar features and were similarly accessible through speakers and phones and wearables. But now? The much-hyped, AI-first Remarkable Alexa is, by all accounts, massively delayed and massively underpowered. The latest versions of Siri shipped with a wackier animation and seemingly no new smarts or capabilities.There are other ascendant AI assistants, of course. ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Copilot all have strong underlying models, and some share the same multimodal capabilities as Gemini. There are lots of good reasons to pick them or even something like Perplexity over Gemini. But theyre missing the most important thing: distribution. Theyre apps you have to download, log in to, and open every time. Gemini is a button you can press and thats a big difference. Theres a reason OpenAI is reportedly working on everything from a web browser to a Jony Ive-designed ChatGPT gadget: the built-in options usually win.The built-in options are also the ones that tend to have the best integration across the platform, which might be the whole ball game. Gemini can already change settings on your phone and, with new upgrades, can even do things across apps grabbing information from your email and dumping it into a text message draft, just to name one example. Because of the way iOS and Android are architected, no other assistant has this kind of access and again, theres no indication that Siris ever going to be as good as it needs to be. If the future of assistants is this kind of agentic, using-your-apps-for-you behavior, Googles inherent advantage might be insurmountable.Google is practically spoiled for places to put GeminiMeanwhile, Google is practically spoiled for places to put Gemini. The company recently announced that all paying Workspace customers will get Gemini access. You can access Gemini with one click from your Gmail inbox or summon it with one keystroke in Docs. And the underlying tech is even more pervasive. You can use Gemini to find stuff on YouTube and in Drive, and practically every time you search, a Gemini-powered AI Overview appears at the top of your results. Today, all seven of our products and platforms with more than two billion monthly users use Gemini models, Pichai said on Googles earnings call last fall. (Fun fact: the word gemini appears 29 times in that earnings call transcript, only three fewer than search.)When it comes to how people actually encounter and interact with these models, though, the phone is still the AI device of choice. And thats where Google has maybe its largest advantage. Geminis deep integration is improving Android, Pichai said on that earnings call. For example, Gemini Live lets you have free-flowing conversations with Gemini; people love it. For now, smartphones are the most compelling AI devices, and Google can integrate its systems unlike any other. Apple, scrambling to play catch-up with the iPhone, had to launch an awkward handoff with ChatGPT just so Siri could answer more questions.All of these assistants, including Gemini, still have lots of limitations. They lie; they misunderstand; they lack the necessary integrations to do even some of the basic things Alexa and Assistant have been able to do for years. The Gemini models still occasionally do ridiculous, deal-breaking things like tell people to eat rocks and generate diverse founding fathers. But if you believe the AI era is coming, or is maybe even here, then there is nothing more important right now than getting your AI platform in front of users. People are developing new habits, learning new systems, developing new relationships with their virtual assistants. The more entrenched we become, the less likely we will be to dump our AI friend for another one.ChatGPT had the first-mover advantage and captured the worlds imagination by showing just how compelling an AI chatbot could be. But Google has the distribution. It can put its sparkly icon in front of practically the entire population of the internet every single day, across a huge range of products, and get the kind of data and feedback it needs to eventually do this well. Even as it fights in court over how powerful its default status made it in search, Google is executing the same playbook with AI. And its working again.Most PopularMost Popular

The megapixel race isnt over if you ask Canon. Today, the company announced a new 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor with a resolution of 410 megapixels. Thats 24,592 x 16,704 pixels and a resolution thats equivalent to 24K or 12 times the resolution of 8K and 198 times the resolution of HD.Its the largest numberof pixels ever achieved in a 35mm full-frame sensor, according to Canon, but dont expect the company to introduce it on its consumer-ready digital cameras. Its designed for surveillance, medicine, and other industrial applications that demand extreme resolution, and dont mind paying a small fortune for it.Thanks to a redesigned circuitry pattern and a newly developed back-illuminated stacked formation in which the pixel segment and signal processing segment are interlayered, Canon says the sensor has a readout speed of 3,280 megapixels per second, allowing full-resolution images to be captured at eight frames per second.Canon will also offer a monochrome version of the sensor with a four-pixel binning function that improves low-light sensitivity by treating four nearby pixels as one. Although that reduces its overall resolution, it allows the monochromatic version of the sensor to capture 100-megapixel videos at 24 frames per second.If you want to maximize your megapixels, you typically need to turn to medium-format or larger sensors and bigger cameras. The Phase One XF IQ4 150MP, for example, can capture images at 150-megapixels. But by putting this much resolution into a 35mm sensor that will be compatible with a wide range of lenses already available for full-frame cameras, Canon says it will help contribute to the miniaturization of shooting equipment.

Nvidias triple-fan GPU cooler was one step along the way to a slimmer RTX 5090Nvidias triple-fan GPU cooler was one step along the way to a slimmer RTX 5090 / A leaked quad-slot prototype GPU design from Nvidia was real and informed the modular system used to make the upcoming RTX 5090 smaller than the RTX 4090.By Umar Shakir, a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge. Jan 22, 2025, 10:26 PM UTCShare this storyThe RTX 4090 is a lot thicker than the RTX 5090. Photo by Tom Warren / The VergeNvidia has posted a new video showcasing a history of Founders Edition graphics card designs that explores the design of its new RTX 5090 and confirms a previously leaked prototype that used an unconventionally large four-slot design. As noted by VideoCardz,the prototype Titan ADA card first revealed by leaker Kopite7kimi included a triple-fan cooling system, and earlier this month, Gamers Nexus tested and tore down a working version of the prototype.RelatedIn the video published today, Nvidias EVP of system products, Andrew Bell, explains that Nvidia cards were trending larger and larger, and they wanted to change that. We didnt like the idea of it taking up four slots; it was big, it was unwieldy, it worked in a limited number of chassis, Bell said.Bell says that the prototype triple-fan cooling system influenced Nvidias Blackwell architecture. However, the latest RTX 5090 Founders Edition card that we are currently testing achieves its goals through a modular four-part design with a separate I/O board that allows air to flow through for a more efficient and compact cooler. According to Nvidia, these changes are why the new 5090 fits in two slots on the motherboard compared to the previous three-slot 4090. Most PopularMost Popular

Earthblade, the next game from the developers of Celeste, has been canceled. The fantasy-inspired game got its first trailer in late 2022, and the game would have let you explore a free-roaming, dynamically-loading map, Extremely OK Games Maddy Thorson said at the time. But the team decided to cancel the game in December after a team conflict and because of the pressure of trying to follow up on Celeste, Thorson says in a post detailing what happened.The disagreement was between Thorson and Noel Berry (Thorson refers to the two of them as us) and Pedro Medeiros over the IP rights of Celeste, Thorson says. We eventually reached a resolution, but both parties also agreed in the end that we should go our separate ways, and Medeiros is currently working on a game called Neverway. Losing Pedro wasnt the only factor in cancelling the game, but it did prompt us to take a serious look at whether fighting through to finish Earthblade was the right path forward, Thorson says.The huge success of Celeste also applied pressure on us to deliver something bigger and better with Earthblade, and that pressure is a large part of why working on it has become so exhausting, Thorson says. Pedro isnt to blame for this in fact the split with him has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat.Thorson and Berry want to refocus on smaller-scale projects and are prototyping again to try and rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celestes or TowerFalls inception.

Tumbler has finally launched Tumblr TV as a new tab at the top of its app, the company said today in a brief set of update notes spotted by TechCrunch. Tumblr TV first debuted as a GIF-finding feature in 2015, but now it includes video content as well. Screenshot: Tumblr TVAccording to Tumblr, New users will have this tab enabled by default in the third position, while existing users will have it availablein the Dashboard Tabs configuration, if not already enabled.When you tap the Tumblr TV tab, youll see a grid of videos and GIFs. Once you tap one, you can like, comment, repost, or share it, and when youre ready to see something else, you can swipe up to move on.In my very brief testing, its still very GIF-heavy despite the inclusion of video and a swipe interface similar to other short-form video apps. It could be tempting to compare Tumblr TV to TikTok, especially in light of its recent shutdown, but right now, its more like scrolling a group text full of GIFs.

Xbox has a new beta software update rolling out today for Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring that enables Series X and S systems to support much larger external hard disks. Previously, the Xbox could only support up to 16TB of space on a single USB-connected drive.With the new update, Xbox systems can now partition hard disks larger than 16TB into segments to use the full physical storage space. A single 24TB hard disk can now be formatted into multiple partitions (the largest still being 16TB) so you can archive more games, apps, and media than ever if thats something youve wanted to do.However, if you have already been using a hard disk greater than 16TB with Xbox, the company says youll need to erase it first to take full advantage:Drives greater than 16TB that have already been formatted will be unaffected by this change and would need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support for larger drives.Although you still cant play current generation games directly off an external drive, it can be useful to back up all of your installs anyway, or games made for older systems. You wont need to redownload entire titles such as the 300GB-plus Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 using an internet connection when you feel like playing it again after a hiatus, unless they need an equally-sizable update.Xbox is also releasing an update that enables new network quality indicators for cloud gaming sessions to tell you if your connection is slow and affecting your gameplay. They will appear in red bubbles on the upper right side of the screen, telling you what is happening, such as packet loss or increased ping, which can help you troubleshoot your connection.

Samsung just teased the Galaxy S25 Edge the new ultra-slim entry into the Galaxy S25 lineup. The phone isnt out yet, and Samsung hasnt provided any details, but now we know its real. And we have pictures. Like pretty much every phone, its a thin silver slab. Its got two cameras on the back, rather than the three cameras youd get with other S25 phones. The Edge is rumored to measure just 6.4mm thick, but my colleagues Allison Johnson and Vjeran Pavic, who are on the ground at Galaxy Unpacked and took the below photos, werent able to actually hold or measure the device to confirm.Were trying to get closer so we can show perspective, but the place is mobbed with people. Theres a lot of excitement about this phone. By comparison, though, the regular Galaxy S25 is 7.2mm thick. So, its... even thinner.Here are some of the pictures we took: Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The VergeUpdate, January 22nd: Added more photos.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra, announced today, sheds more of its Note roots this year with rounded corners and flat edges that align it more with the rest of the S series. It comes with Qualcomms latest chipset, an upgraded ultrawide camera, and not much else, hardware-wise. With no price increase over last years model starting at $1,299 its a light refresh of Samsungs biggest phone, with a major emphasis on One UI 7.0s AI upgrades.Something about the shift from curved edges to flat sides makes the S25 Ultra look hefty in photos, like if the Cybertruck were a phone. But its actually slightly smaller and lighter than last years device, even with a bigger 6.9-inch screen thanks to slimmer bezels. Its equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor tuned for Galaxy devices thats true for all S25-series phones sold in all regions, which hasnt been the case recently. And it still comes with one more strong spec: seven years of OS updates and security patches. Samsung rounded out the pointy, uncomfortable corners on the S24 Ultra and flattened the edges. Photo: Allison Johnson / The VergeThere are some interesting things not on the Ultra this year, though. Bixby is no longer the default virtual assistant. Its still present and you can summon it through its own app. But Google Gemini will answer when you long-press the wake button on the side of the phone.The included S Pen, another holdover from the Note era, gets a bit of a downgrade. It no longer supports Bluetooth, so the air gesture controls that previous versions offered are gone. The S25 Ultras included S Pen is just a basic stylus, no magic wand tricks up its sleeve. Bummer.Camera hardware is largely unchanged from the previous model, except for a new 50-megapixel ultrawide, replacing a 12-megapixel module. Samsung claims that an upgrade to the S25s algorithmic image processing has improved detail in zoomed images. On the video side, Samsung now offers a Galaxy Log profile along with a custom LUT.Gemini is the new default assistant. Photo: Allison Johnson / The VergeThe most interesting changes are software-side in One UI 7.0. My colleague Dominic Preston has a good rundown of the new stuff as it also appears on the S25 and S25 Plus models. Unsurprisingly, it all has to do with AI, and much of it we were already familiar with thanks to the One UI 7.0 beta. But a couple of things made me sit up and pay attention.The first is the ability to use AI across apps to take action, like taking a picture of a flyer and having Gemini add the dates to your calendar and send your spouse an email about it. Maybe this doesnt sound like much, but some of us have to remember which day is crazy hair day at preschool, when conferences are, and the deadline for signing up for this seasons soccer class. A little help would be nice. This will first work across Google Workspace and Samsung native apps, with the addition of WhatsApp and Spotify. The other thing Im interested to see in action is suggested routines. In theory, the S25 phones will be able to notice if there are certain settings you tend to use at the same time every day or under certain conditions like turning Bluetooth on every time you get in the car and turning it off when you get out. When it sees a pattern, it should be able to suggest a routine to take care of those actions for you automatically. Youll be able to customize the routine parameters to your liking, but you wont have to go through the tedious work of setting it up from scratch. That could be cool!1/7 Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge1/7 Photo by Chris Welch / The VergeThe thing is, this stuff isnt exclusive to the S25 Ultra or even the S25 series. Samsung smartphone product manager Blake Gaiser told me Samsung will bring its new AI features to older devices where possible. The company certainly seems committed to delivering those updates to older phones but dont forget that they probably wont always be free.Well find out soon enough whether this is the AI update that will finally deliver on the promise of AI on our smartphones; the Galaxy S25 Ultra and its S25 siblings ship on February 7th.

If the Galaxy S24 series heralded the triumphant arrival of Galaxy AI, then the S25 and S25 Plus may be a bit of a comedown: they promise more AI thats smarter and sometimes slightly faster. Youd better like it because thats pretty much all youre gonna get.Samsung changed as little as it could on the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus, announced today alongside the larger and redesigned Galaxy S25 Ultra. Theres the obligatory jump to a new chipset in this case, Qualcomms custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, included in phones worldwide this time around and a welcome decision to offer 12GB of RAM as standard on every S25 phone, pulling the base model in line with the others.Samsung hasnt changed the look of the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus.The displays are the same as last year: 6.2 inches on the S25 and 6.7 inches on the S25 Plus, peaking at 2,600 nits of brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. The cameras are identical, too. Theres a 50-megapixel main camera, an ultrawide, and a 3x telephoto, with a familiar 12-megapixel selfie shooter on the front.If you were to upgrade from last years Galaxy S24 Plus to this years model, the only spec that would change is the chipset. Well, that and the fact that the new phones are Qi2 Ready they dont have the magnets that Qi2 certification requires, but theyll charge at up to 15W on a Qi2 charger when paired with Samsungs official Qi2 Ready magnet cases.Samsung hasnt changed the camera hardware at all from the S24 and S24 Plus, though the thick black bezel is new.Both S25 phones are thinner than their predecessors.Perhaps Im being a little unfair. Samsung hasnt increased its prices at least the S25 starts at $799.99 and the Plus model at $999.99, with preorders open now ahead of a full launch on February 7th. Its also maintaining its promise of seven generations of Android updates and seven years of security support. Both phones are lighter than their predecessors and almost half a millimeter thinner. That should ease the disappointment of anyone whos been hoping for the launch of the rumored S25 Slim, which is now tipped not to launch in the US at all. But its still hard to avoid the inevitable conclusion: this year is a software update, not a hardware one.The new Galaxy phones are awash with AI-branded features which Samsung says remain free to use this year, though its plans are unclear beyond that. Plenty of them have been here since last year, like Googles Circle to Search or generative photo editing tools that let you draw elements into photographs or remove distracting people and objects. Those now generate better results in less time, helped by improvements in AI models and the move to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which handles more AI processing on-device, including previously cloud-based tasks like Generative Edit.Audio Eraser is a built-in tool for video editing that lets you remove or reduce video noise across specific categories think voices, music, wind, crowds to focus on whichever sounds you care about. It works well, but its only new to Samsung: Google Pixel phones have been able to do the same thing through Audio Magic Eraser since the Pixel 8.AI Select replaces Smart Select in the Edge Panel menu.Other AI abilities are just as familiar, but we didnt always call them AI. Take AI Select, accessed from Samsungs Edge Panel, which gives suggested actions like cropping and sharing screenshots, creating GIFs from videos, or adding events to your calendar. It replaces Smart Select, which did most of that, too, but with a different design.The S25 phones also offer a daily summary called Now Brief that lets you know whats on your calendar for the day or how your commute looks, bringing us back full circle to 2012s Google Now. Meanwhile, the Now Bar is Samsungs answer to Apples Dynamic Island: a lockscreen element that can show sports scores and Google Maps navigation instructions or tell you what song is playing. It sounds useful, but is it AI? Apple didnt think so.Gemini is now the default AI assistant on the phones. RIP Bixby.Some of the new features represent more meaningful progress. The phones AI assistant which is now based on Google Gemini by default, with Samsungs own Bixby relegated to access through its app can control your phone with natural language requests. Ask it to make text bigger or find photos from your last holiday, and it should oblige. Gemini can now also work across multiple apps in a single interaction, though this upgrade isnt exclusive to Samsung. It might look up a good restaurant and share it with your friend or pull up sports fixtures and add them to your calendar.The problem for me is that most of these features are hard to test in-depth when youre at a launch event using a phone that isnt yours, has few apps installed and no accounts signed in, and might have only been set up for the first time that morning. Well have a better sense of how effective Samsungs new AI features are when we can actually use the S25 and S25 Plus for an extended run in our review.The problem for Samsung is that, until then, its not clear what here should tempt anyone into upgrading. Many of these AI and software features are baked into One UI 7 itself and should roll out soon to owners of the S24 and older models. If the hardwares hardly changing, and the softwares coming to your phone anyway, whats the incentive to upgrade?Yesterday, my colleague Allison Johnson wrote that Samsung needs to give us a reason to care about new phones every year. On the strength of the S25 and S25 Plus, I think its fair to say that it hasnt.Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge

YouTube Premium users are getting a slew of new experiments to try out before anyone else alongside an option to reduce their membership cost when bundling subscriptions. Subscribers can now also sign up to test multiple experimental features all at once, instead of being limited to just one at a time.There are several new experiments that users can try out, including 256kbps bitrate audio quality on videos, and options for iOS users to view YouTube shorts in picture-in-picture mode and automatically download recommended Shorts for offline viewing. The AI-powered skipping feature that allows users to jump right to the most-watched part of a video is also available on web browsers after initially being introduced for mobile devices last year.These will eventually be joined by expanded playback options for mobile devices that can increase video speed by up to four times. YouTube hasnt mentioned when this experimental feature will be available, however, only that its coming soon.YouTube is also rolling out a deal that makes YouTube Premium a smidge cheaper when you purchase it as a bundle with Googles cloud storage. The offer is eligible on Google One Premium plans (which start at $9.99 per month for 2TB) or higher, but youll only save $2 per month on YouTube Premium bringing the price back to 2023 levels.

If youre spending more time indoors to escape the icy winds or need something impressive to enjoy the Super Bowl, a new TV might be in order. Although its a couple of years old now, the LG C3Amazon and Walmart. Theyre selling the 65-inch model for $1,196.99 ($302 off), which is matching its all-time low price.RelatedThe LG C3 offers a great picture quality with vivid color, no light blooming or bleeding, and deep, inky black levels for a practically infinite contrast ratio. If you somehow havent seen how good an OLED panel can look yet, then a trip to Best Buy is in order. It appeases most home theater and gaming needs with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and auto low-latency mode across all four of its HDMI ports, Dolby Vision and HDR 10 Plus, Dolby Atmos audio, and an incredible upscaling engine that can make older content look fantastically sharp. Youre not missing out on much by skipping the LG C4, either, and the incoming C5 may not have enough to justify waiting and paying significantly more. LG advertises a substantial brightness boost in the newer models, but in reality, the C4s panel doesnt blow the C3 out of the water. The C4 is also capable of a higher 144Hz refresh rate, though thats a largely discernible jump thats only relevant for PC gamers. Both run webOS, which offers a deep selection of apps for gaming, music, and video with voice-activated content discovery.LG C3$1197$150020% off$1197$1197$150020% offThe LG C3 offers more processing power than its predecessor and several new picture modes. It continues to offer a 120Hz refresh rate and low input lag as well, along with support for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync variable refresh rate tech.$1197 at Amazon$1197 at WalmartMore ways to saveCostco members can pick up the Insta360 X4 adventure bundle for $429.99 ($7 off) at Costco. The waterproof 8K action camera comes with two batteries, a 114cm selfie stick that Insta360s software can automatically remove from your footage, and a 256GB V30 microSD card. You can shoot up to 30 frames per second at its max resolution, or step down to 5.7K for up to 60 frames per second and 4K at 100 frames per second all decent improvements over the X3. Another new feature is a detachable lens guard to protect the glass element, one that doesnt noticeably impact your image quality when shooting in 360 mode.The CMF Buds from Nothings affordability-focused sister brand are already a ridiculous bargain, but Amazon is discounting select colors to an even better $27 ($12 off). The IP54 wireless earbuds support active noise cancellation that can reduce up to 42dB of noise and have four noise-filtering mics to help with call quality. Theyll last up to eight hours per charge with a total 35.5 hours available with the case, and they have Bluetooth 5.3 with Google Fast Pair support. You can customize them in Nothings companion app, too, allowing you to change gesture behaviors and tweak audio modes.If you need a really good Android phone thatll get major software updates for more than half a decade, you should start with the Google Pixel 8A. You can get the 128GB model for $399 ($100 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store right now. Its using Googles Tensor G3 processor, which supports computational photography and other AI features being baked into Android. The phone also has a 120Hz display, Qi wireless charging, and a decent camera thats not quite as nice as those on its flagship counterparts but still capable of impressive results. Read our review.

Lights that turn on when you walk into a room and turn off when you leave are one of the most desirable smart home features. But you need to buy additional hardware like motion sensors to make this magic happen. A new ambient sensing technology called Sensify could make this easier by turning your light bulbs into motion sensors. And it might be landing on a Philips Hue bridge near you very soon.There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; were just working on the final touches to lightup the full experience. Sensify is a wireless network sensing (WNS) technology developed by Ivanithat can turn mains-powered Zigbee devices into motion sensors for controlling your lights with justa firmware update no additional hardware needed. The best part is that it can work on devices already in most homes. There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; were just working on the final touches to lightup the full experience, Ivani cofounder Justin McKinney tells The Verge. An obvious use case for this is a Zigbee-based smart lighting system such as Philips Hue. Theres been speculation that Hue isworking on a Zigbee sensing technologysince its sister company Wiz debuted a similar tech called SpaceSense in 2022, which uses WNS over Wi-Fi. The well-informed hueblog.com reports that Zigbee wireless network sensing is the technology Hue will most likely use. The Verge reached out to Signify, which owns Hue, but hasnt yet received a response. This engineering video demonstrates how Sensifys Zigbee ambient sensing can turn lights on and off based on occupancy. Video: IvaniMcKinney wouldnt say which companies are using Ivanis Sensify, which has been in development since 2016, but he did share that the company is working with some large household names poised to deploy the technology very soon. He also said its the only company offering this capability over Zigbee networks. Ivani is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which runs the Zigbee protocol, but Sensify is a proprietary solution that leverages the Zigbee network. Despite reports indicating this sensing tech is coming to all Zigbee devices, the CSA confirmed to The Verge that this is not a new feature within Zigbee itself.WNS works by detecting disturbances in radio frequencies and can also be applied to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread technologies. McKinney says Sensify requires three or more devices positioned around a detection area to detect motion and occupancy in the space. The tech also allows for precise detection zones based on where the devices are situated. The devices send messages to each other, look at underlying network diagnostic information, and process it to provide occupancy sensing decisions, says McKinney.Wireless network sensing requires three or more devices to work. This diagram from Ivani illustrates typical topologies. Image: IvaniPerformance-wise, McKinney says Sensify is equivalent or superior to passive infrared sensing (PIR) tech, which is traditionally used for motion sensing. It also doesnt need line of sight, as PIR does. However, its not as precise as technologies like mmWave sensing, which can determine if someone is in a room through as slight a movement as breathing. The lights will still likely turn off if youre still, even if youre in the space, he says. The good news is that Sensify can run on Zigbee networks with a range of chipsets working together, meaning it can be deployed as a software update to existing systems. McKinney also confirmed Sensify runs locally on your Zigbee network, theres no Sensify cloud, and any sensing data is only accessible to the manufacturer deploying the technology. This video, published by the CSA, illustrates how Ivanis wireless network sensing works over a Zigbee network.Motion sensing in the smart home has several use cases, from lighting control and security to energy management and elder care. Two big advantages of WNS here are cost and scale. Theres no need to buy additional hardware to get the capability, and many homes already have devices that can use it. Ivani is currently the only company with a Zigbee solution, but there are WNS solutions out there that use Wi-Fi. Origin Wirelessand its partner company,Nami, were the first to develop Wi-Fi sensing, and they are leading Matters efforts around bringing ambient RF sensing technologies to the smart home standard. It really is the promise of what home automation was supposed to beOrigins technology powered Linksys Aware, a feature the router company launched in 2019 that turned its routers into motion sensors, and last year, Threshold launched a smart plugusing Origins Wi-Fi sensing to allow caregivers to monitor a loved ones activity remotely. In 2021, I tested Hex Home, a proof-of-concept security system from Origin that used Wi-Fi sensing instead of motion sensors. But false positives made it virtually unusable. I also tried Wizs Wi-Fi-based SpaceSense when it first launched. It was more reliable but still fairly inconsistent. However, according to McKinney, advances in machine learning and AI have brought significant improvements to WNS technology.He says Ivanis Sensify tech is ready for deployment over Zigbee, and theyre just waiting for their partners to fine-tune how best to introduce the feature within their productlines. He expects they will update existing products in the next few months. We have the pleasure of experiencing our partners products and their beta tests in our homes, and it really is the promise of what home automation was supposed to be.There have been a lot of promises around home automation over the years, with very few being fulfilled. But the idea of, say, every Philips Hue light bulb in your home turning into a motion sensor overnight, making it simple to automate control of your lights without sticking white plastic sensors everywhere, is a fairly exciting one.

Search in Premiere Pro has been updated with AI-powered visual recognition, allowing users to find videos by describing the contents of the footage. Its just one of several quality-of-life features Adobe is adding to Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Frame.io that aim to save video editors time on their projects.Users can enter search terms like a person skating with a lens flare to find corresponding clips within their media library. Adobe says the media intelligence AI can automatically recognize objects, locations, camera angles, and more, alongside spoken words providing theres a transcript attached to the video. The feature doesnt detect audio or identify specific people, but it can scrub through any metadata attached to video files, which allows it to fetch clips based on shoot dates, locations, and camera types. The media analysis runs on-device, so doesnt require an internet connection, and Adobe reiterates that users video content isnt used to train any AI models.This is launching alongside a translation feature for video captions that supports 17 languages. Multiple caption tracks can be opened simultaneously in Premiere Pro to make it easier to view and edit several translations at once. The media intelligence-empowered Search panel and caption translations are available starting today in the beta version of Premiere Pro, which is available to anyone with an active Creative Cloud or Premiere Pro subscription.After Effects now supports HDR monitoring and has been overhauled with a new caching system that makes it faster to preview or playback large project files. The app is no longer limited to storing all the rendered frames in your system memory instead, both RAM and the disk cache of your computer storage are used to improve performance. Adobe says this will allow older desktops and laptops to play back entire compositions without having to pause for caching or rendering. Both HDR support and the updated caching system are available in the After Effects Beta.Finally, Canons C80 and C400 cameras can now be used with Frame.ios Camera to Cloud integration, which allows you to automatically upload files to the Frame.io app directly from the camera. Support for this was rolled out in a Canon firmware update in December, which users will need to install before using the feature.

Google is announcing a variety of classroom and accessibility-focused ChromeOS features today, and one of the standouts is being able to control your computer with your head and facial expressions. The feature aimed at those with motor impairments was first announced in early December, but its now rolling out to more users with compatible Chromebooks (Google recommends 8GB of RAM or more).This isnt Googles first foray into the face-as-a-cursor space. It previously made an open-source AI accessibility tool for Windows games called Project Gameface, which was also announced for Android. Heres a sample video from Google of the tech in action, demoed by software engineer Amanda Lin Dietz who helped develop it.Additionally, Google is also teasing a boatload of new Chromebooks for 2025, with over 20 new devices in its standard Chromebook and Chromebook Plus lines coming this year. That estimate may be a bit of a stretch, since Google seems to be counting the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus that launched back in October, but it does also count the just-announced 14-inch Lenovo Chromebook Plus 2-in-1 and more to come.Along with laptops aimed at educators and students, Googles got a new batch of classroom-focused ChromeOS features called Class Tools. These allow teachers to have real-time control of their students screens. Once a pairing code is shared, educators will be able to send students direct content on their Chromebook screens, flip on live captions or translations for them, remotely view their screens, and share a students work with the whole class. An educators view of Googles Class Tools settings. Image: GoogleIn addition to these collaborative tools, Google Classroom is also getting an integration with Figmas FigJam, allowing teachers to assign online whiteboards to students for brainstorming and group work. Maybe the combination of FigJam with the teachers ability to snoop on students screens will reveal whos really doing all the work for the group.

A plan to build a system of data centers for artificial intelligence has been revealed in a White House press conference, with Masayoshi Son, Sam Altman, and Larry Ellison joining Donald Trump to announce The Stargate Project. Their companies, Softbank, OpenAI, and Oracle (respectively), along with MGX are listed as initial equity funders for $500 billion in investments over the next four years, building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.According to a statement from OpenAI, Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the initial tech partners, with a buildout currently underway starting in Texas as other sites across the country are evaluated. It also says that Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system.Separately, Microsoft announced an update to its partnership with OpenAI, saying that the key elements of their deal remain in place through 2030, covering our access to OpenAIs IP, our revenue sharing arrangements and our exclusivity on OpenAIs APIs all continuing forward. What is changing is that Microsoft says OpenAI has made a new, large Azure commitment that will continue to support all OpenAI products as well as training. However, their exclusive arrangement for new capacity is changing so that now Microsoft has a right of first refusal over OpenAI building new capacity.In a press conference announcing the project, which has been rumored since early last year, Son and Altman spoke directly to Trump, insisting that the project only happened because of his election victory.

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who ran the dark web marketplace Silk Road under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence without parole since 2015, when he was convicted of multiple charges, including the distribution of narcotics.The Silk Road marketplace, which was only accessible through the Tor network, became one of the most prevalent early commercial uses of Bitcoin. Buyers and sellers traded in illicit drugs, forged passports, and more. In the intervening years, Ulbricht became a cause celebr for a certain segment of the right-wing, particularly in the crypto crowd that embraced Trump last year. To his supporters, Ulbrichts life sentence is unusually punitive. Similar offenses have garnered much more lenient sentences for instance, Blake Benthall, who operated Silk Road 2.0, was sentenced to time served and three years of probation. Ulbrichts lieutenant, Thomas Clark, also known as Variety Jones, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year. Although the criminal offenses were nonviolent in nature, the judge who sentenced Ulbricht took into account multiple deaths attributable to drugs bought through the Silk Road. Throughout his trial, Ulbricht denied that he had committed the crimes at issue. Because law enforcement had arrested him with his laptop open, they had access to all his files, which included the code of the website, private messages between him and employees of the Silk Road, and a diary whose entries corresponded to OKCupid messages tied to Ross Ulbrichts real identity.

Bambu Lab, the company behind my favorite 3D printers, has given itself one hell of a week. Now, Ive got answers to some of my burning questions, answers which you might also hopefully appreciate. But first, some backstory.Since last Thursday, some creators have pledged not to buy Bambu printers anymore, even removed some of their 3D models from its online repository, after the company revealed it would add a new proprietary authentication mechanism that could keep you from using third-party tools to remote control your printer. While youd still be able to stick a file on an SD card and physically put it into your printer or use Bambus proprietary cloud, the old way of printing remotely from a third-party slicer would be no more unless you downloaded a new proprietary Windows and Mac Bambu Connect desktop app to be the middleman between your slicer and Bambus hardware.Unauthorized third-party software will be prohibited from executing critical operations BambuWhile Bambu was clear early on that this would be an optional update, one you could simply choose not to install, the company also positioned it as a necessary one to secure printers against remote hacks. Some owners immediately saw that as a potential bridge to enshittification, however.They noted how Bambu printers can already detect if youre using an official roll of filament and imagined a future where Bambu can keep you from using third-party filament at all. They noted how Bambu already seems to be planning a subscription service for its print farm software, one that requires regular cloud activations and imagined a future where your Bambu printer stops working if you dont pay up. Bambu has denied these and many other such fears in a subsequent setting the record straight blog post, and explained that its new tool doesnt require internet access or a user account and has also backpedaled very slightly, pledging to offer an at-your-own-risk Developer Mode that maintains local access to your printer without any new proprietary authentication at all. Unfortunately, that mode may also disable your ability to access your printer via the cloud. Meanwhile, Bambu didnt do itself any favors by keeping people from using the Wayback Machine to scrutinize its changing statements, by allegedly censoring criticism of the company on its subreddit, and by claiming that the developer of Orca Slicer was working with Bambu on a seamless way to continue to print directly from his popular third-party slicer when they had not actually pledged their support. It has also not helped confidence that Bambus own security around its new Bambu Connect app is such that hackers have already extracted its private key and authentication certificate, or that users have discovered that Bambu gives itself the right to block new print jobs until a printer has finished automatically downloading firmware updates in its Terms of Use.Anyhow, I think the real question here is: are these changes a stepping stone to more enshittification, or at least more of a walled garden, or not? Here are the questions I sent Bambu and the answers I got, via spokesperson Nadia Yaakoubi:1) Will Bambu publicly commit to never requiring a subscription in order to control its printers and print from them over a home network?For our current product line, yes. We will never require a subscription to control or print from our printers over a home network. However, there might be specific business scenarios in the future that require exceptions, i.e a 3DP vending machine, but these would apply to entirely different applications and customer needs. If such a product line is introduced, we will clearly communicate this before its launch.1b) If not, why not?N/A.1c) Will Bambu publicly commit to never putting any existing printer functionality behind a subscription?Yes.2) Will Bambu publicly commit to never restricting the use of third-party filament in any way, shape, or form?For our current product line, yes. We have no plans to restrict the use of third-party filament in any way.3) Will Bambu publicly commit to never monitor files and prints transmitted between users and their printers over a home network?Lets be clear about how this works:LAN mode: Nothing is transmitted through our servers.Cloud mode: Users control their privacy through incognito printing. When enabled, no print history is recorded, and files are not stored in the cloud.Cloud features: For features like re-printing, files are temporarily stored in the cloud to allow users to access their print history. Under no circumstances do we look into the print file/model without the explicit consent of our customers.Bambu has additionally agreed to add a new Developer mode. Some users are concerned that this move is just temporary and that Bambu can simply remove the developer mode and claim that it was too much of a security risk or say that not enough users opted to use it to justify keeping it around. 4) Will Bambu publicly commit to permanently keep the Developer mode with local MQTT, livestream and FTP and never remove it in any future update or shipping batch ofthe X1, P1, A1, and A1 Mini?Yes. However, if a severe security issue arises in the future, we may need to make adjustments to address it. Users can always choose whether to update their printer firmware or not.5) Will Bambu publicly commit to offering and keeping the local Developer mode available in any future printers it releases?We cannot commit to features for non-existent future printers.However, we will clearly communicate all relevant details before customers make their purchase decisions.6) Will Bambu publicly commit to its current and future printers permanently being remotely controllable over LAN without user account or Internet access?For current models: Yes. For future products, while we aim to retain this functionality, we believe committing to a specific technical approach indefinitely is not responsible. However, we will clearly communicate all relevant details before customers make their purchase decisions.Bambu has announced that Bambu Connect will integrate with third-party slicers like Orca, but some users are confused why an app like Bambu Connect is required at all when you could instead add more secure authentication to the printer itself, with industry standard practices like having the printer generate a secure token/API key instead of creating a proprietary middleman authentication app.7) Did Bambu consider and reject interoperable ways of securing its printers, like tokens?Yes.7b) Will Bambu commit to changing its authentication system to an interoperable one? If Bambu did reject interoperable secure authentication systems, why?If software communicates and interacts with our cloud system, it is reasonable for us to have a say in how it operates. As highlightedin our blog post, unauthorized third-party software has created ongoing challenges to the stability of our cloud services and machines for a long time. While we trust that most developers act with good intentions, users are often unaware of the hidden complexities within such software and the security requirements. This lack of transparency of all software makes interoperable secure authentication systems insufficient to fully resolve these issues. Our goal is to safeguard the entire Bambu Lab product ecosystem, providing every user with confidence that our products are secure and easy to usefree from concerns about complex network configurations. And with the changes done, we are one step closer to integrate third-party access in a secure way.8) Is it true that the developer of Orca Slicer was not actually working with Bambu on the integration and that Bambu announced their involvement without approval?We have been in ongoing discussions with SoftFever, the developer of Orca Slicer, since January 14 regarding the firmware update and potential integration into the new release. Work with might be ambiguous. To be more specific, messages were exchanged, files were sent, and their receipt was confirmed along with an indication that they would be reviewed.9) Will Panda Touch and similar accessories continue to work under Developer Mode?We guarantee keeping the port/channel open, but implementations are up to third-party developers.9b) Is Bambu answering that companys questions?Since the release, we have received many inquiries from third-party software developers, including BigTreeTech, viadevpartners@bambulab.com. We are currently in the process of finalizing our response. Its worth noting that we warned third party developers in ablog postfrom March 2024:If youre developing a device that controls the entire printer, including heating elements and motion systems, please do not expect long-term support unless it has been approved by us in advance. This is especially applicable to for-profit organizations.10) Will you allow users to roll back to the old firmware, for reasons like if they accidentally upgrade without understanding the limitations?Yes. Firmware rollback was and always will be available.11) Does the private key leaking change any of your plans?No, this doesnt change our plans, and weve taken immediate action.