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Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Samsung’s upcoming One UI 7 update could bring some pretty big changes to the look of its Galaxy devices. Leaked screenshots @chunvn8888 shared with Smartprix show Samsung’s Android skin with tweaks to the quick settings and notification panels, along with UI elements that take on a rounder appearance throughout.
As shown in the leaked screenshots, it looks like Samsung may split the notification panel from the quick setting shade. The unified shade in One UI 6 has you swipe down once to access your notifications and again to reach your quick settings (unless you’re using instant access) — but that may change in One UI 7.

You might also notice that the shaded elements surrounding the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons trade their squircle shape in One UI 6 for a more rounded appearance. That tweak is reflected in other areas of One UI 7 as well, including the notification bubbles and the main settings menu.
Smartprix also obtained a video showing a new notification pop-out for the timer and other system apps that looks a little bit like the animations for the iPhone’s Dynamic Island. At the bottom of the screen, you can see each app with rounded corners, while the Gallery app icon has a more colorful design.

New Dynamic shit in One UI 7- @chunvn8888 pic.twitter.com/Snrn6DMnBA— SOUIC (@SSOUIC) July 26, 2024

The screenshots also show “continuity notifications,” which appear to allow you to send video call notifications to your other Galaxy devices and pick up your call from there. That sounds a bit like Google’s upcoming cross-device feature that lets you transfer video calls between devices. Apple also has a similar feature allowing you to hand off FaceTime calls from an iPhone to an iPad or Mac.
Of course, the One UI 7 setup we’re seeing in these leaks could always change before Samsung’s official release. Rumors suggest that the One UI 7 beta could arrive as soon as next week.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Samsung’s upcoming One UI 7 update could bring some pretty big changes to the look of its Galaxy devices. Leaked screenshots @chunvn8888 shared with Smartprix show Samsung’s Android skin with tweaks to the quick settings and notification panels, along with UI elements that take on a rounder appearance throughout.

As shown in the leaked screenshots, it looks like Samsung may split the notification panel from the quick setting shade. The unified shade in One UI 6 has you swipe down once to access your notifications and again to reach your quick settings (unless you’re using instant access) — but that may change in One UI 7.

You might also notice that the shaded elements surrounding the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons trade their squircle shape in One UI 6 for a more rounded appearance. That tweak is reflected in other areas of One UI 7 as well, including the notification bubbles and the main settings menu.

Smartprix also obtained a video showing a new notification pop-out for the timer and other system apps that looks a little bit like the animations for the iPhone’s Dynamic Island. At the bottom of the screen, you can see each app with rounded corners, while the Gallery app icon has a more colorful design.

The screenshots also show “continuity notifications,” which appear to allow you to send video call notifications to your other Galaxy devices and pick up your call from there. That sounds a bit like Google’s upcoming cross-device feature that lets you transfer video calls between devices. Apple also has a similar feature allowing you to hand off FaceTime calls from an iPhone to an iPad or Mac.

Of course, the One UI 7 setup we’re seeing in these leaks could always change before Samsung’s official release. Rumors suggest that the One UI 7 beta could arrive as soon as next week.

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Bev Priestman, head coach of the Canadian Olympic women’s soccer team, has been suspended for the rest of the Paris Games. | Photo by Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images

The plot in Canadian soccer’s Olympic drone spying scandal thickens. A TSN report alleges that the Canadian men’s and women’s soccer teams have been spying on opponents — with and without drones — for years.
Earlier this week, the Canadian Olympic women’s soccer team landed in hot water after the New Zealand team spotted a drone flying over their practice. The incident was reported to French authorities, and it was discovered that the drone operator was Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited “analyst” with the Canadian squad. Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were subsequently sent home, while head coach Bev Priestman voluntarily withdrew from the opening match against New Zealand. Priestman has since been suspended from the Games entirely.

It would’ve been a big enough scandal had this been a one-off, but TSN’s report cites sources close to the matter saying the team used the same tactics during the women’s team’s gold medal run at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and a Women’s World Cup qualifier game against Panama in 2022. The men’s national team also reportedly filmed practice sessions of the US men’s team in 2019 and a World Cup qualifier against Honduras in 2021.
More troubling: the report alleges that Canadian team staff and contractors were told that drone spying was part of the job — and that their positions were threatened if they didn’t comply. One source told TSN that during the Tokyo Olympics, staff even hid behind bushes, fences, and trees to film the Japanese team’s practice session. Another Canada Soccer contractor said when they refused to partake in the filming scheme for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, they were replaced by a staffer who would.
Kevin Blue, CEO of Canada Soccer, says the body is investigating the “systemic ethical shortcoming” but that the organization isn’t considering withdrawing the women’s team from the Games. Blue also insisted that the players were unaware of the drone spying tactics and pleaded that the team not be further penalized. Meanwhile, FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer and Priestman.
Despite the scandal, the Canadian women’s team won against New Zealand 2–1.

Bev Priestman, head coach of the Canadian Olympic women’s soccer team, has been suspended for the rest of the Paris Games. | Photo by Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images

The plot in Canadian soccer’s Olympic drone spying scandal thickens. A TSN report alleges that the Canadian men’s and women’s soccer teams have been spying on opponents — with and without drones — for years.

Earlier this week, the Canadian Olympic women’s soccer team landed in hot water after the New Zealand team spotted a drone flying over their practice. The incident was reported to French authorities, and it was discovered that the drone operator was Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited “analyst” with the Canadian squad. Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were subsequently sent home, while head coach Bev Priestman voluntarily withdrew from the opening match against New Zealand. Priestman has since been suspended from the Games entirely.

It would’ve been a big enough scandal had this been a one-off, but TSN’s report cites sources close to the matter saying the team used the same tactics during the women’s team’s gold medal run at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and a Women’s World Cup qualifier game against Panama in 2022. The men’s national team also reportedly filmed practice sessions of the US men’s team in 2019 and a World Cup qualifier against Honduras in 2021.

More troubling: the report alleges that Canadian team staff and contractors were told that drone spying was part of the job — and that their positions were threatened if they didn’t comply. One source told TSN that during the Tokyo Olympics, staff even hid behind bushes, fences, and trees to film the Japanese team’s practice session. Another Canada Soccer contractor said when they refused to partake in the filming scheme for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, they were replaced by a staffer who would.

Kevin Blue, CEO of Canada Soccer, says the body is investigating the “systemic ethical shortcoming” but that the organization isn’t considering withdrawing the women’s team from the Games. Blue also insisted that the players were unaware of the drone spying tactics and pleaded that the team not be further penalized. Meanwhile, FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer and Priestman.

Despite the scandal, the Canadian women’s team won against New Zealand 2–1.

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If you’re using a newer iPhone, ESR’s latest car mount is just as fast as an official MagSafe charger. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

At this point, I can confidently say that the new Qi2 wireless standard has found its footing. Everyone from Anker to Nomad now offers a selection of speedy Qi2 chargers, with the HMD’s forthcoming Skyline being one of the first Android phones to support the MagSafe-like standard. However, despite the influx of competition, ESR’s wireless car mount remains one of the cheapest Qi2 chargers available — especially now that it’s on sale at Amazon for $22.99 ($17 off).

If you own an iPhone 12 series phone or newer, ESR’s Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Car Charger (Halolock) is a straightforward solution for topping off your device while on the go. You can affix the magnetic mount to your dashboard or most air vents using the provided clip or flexible 3M adhesive, and once set up, it supplies your phone with up to 15W charging speeds — the same wireless speeds as Apple’s MagSafe-certified chargers, which typically cost far more. The sturdy mount even comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable and works with most MagSafe-compatible cases, meaning you could pair it with an Android phone so long as you don’t mind slower charging speeds. Qi v1 phones are limited to 5W when using a Qi2 charger, after all.

Read our ESR Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Car Charger review.

More ways to save this weekend

If you don’t mind buying refurbished, the Soundcore Sleep A10 earbuds are on sale at eBay (via Anker) through July 31st for an all-time low of $62.36 ($38 off) with promo code ANKERCR23. The last-gen A10 aren’t quite on par with Anker’s newer Sleep A20, but they’re still smaller and far more comfortable for sleeping than most earbuds. Plus, they provide access to white noise and other soothing sleep tracks via the Soundcore app, making them an excellent choice when the melatonin simply isn’t cutting it.
The bulk of Garmin’s Prime Day deals have dried up at this point, but if you’re a bike commuter, you can still grab Garmin’s Varia RTL515 Tail Light at Amazon, REI, and Backcountry for as low as $149.98 ($50 off). The bright, radar-powered light offers a worry-free IPX7 rating, up to 16 hours of battery life in select modes, and — most importantly — the ability to alert you of rear-approaching vehicles via the Garmin app or a Garmin Edge computer.
In case you missed it during the Prime Day fanfare last week, Nintendo is offering a rare deal on its NES Controllers until July 31st, one that drops the Nintendo Switch gamepads from $59.99 to $47.99 with a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership. The wireless controllers replicate the original gamepads that came with the OG Nintendo Entertainment System, which makes them the perfect accessory if you plan on attempting to set a new speedrun record in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition.

If you’re using a newer iPhone, ESR’s latest car mount is just as fast as an official MagSafe charger. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

At this point, I can confidently say that the new Qi2 wireless standard has found its footing. Everyone from Anker to Nomad now offers a selection of speedy Qi2 chargers, with the HMD’s forthcoming Skyline being one of the first Android phones to support the MagSafe-like standard. However, despite the influx of competition, ESR’s wireless car mount remains one of the cheapest Qi2 chargers available — especially now that it’s on sale at Amazon for $22.99 ($17 off).

If you own an iPhone 12 series phone or newer, ESR’s Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Car Charger (Halolock) is a straightforward solution for topping off your device while on the go. You can affix the magnetic mount to your dashboard or most air vents using the provided clip or flexible 3M adhesive, and once set up, it supplies your phone with up to 15W charging speeds — the same wireless speeds as Apple’s MagSafe-certified chargers, which typically cost far more. The sturdy mount even comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable and works with most MagSafe-compatible cases, meaning you could pair it with an Android phone so long as you don’t mind slower charging speeds. Qi v1 phones are limited to 5W when using a Qi2 charger, after all.

Read our ESR Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Car Charger review.

More ways to save this weekend

If you don’t mind buying refurbished, the Soundcore Sleep A10 earbuds are on sale at eBay (via Anker) through July 31st for an all-time low of $62.36 ($38 off) with promo code ANKERCR23. The last-gen A10 aren’t quite on par with Anker’s newer Sleep A20, but they’re still smaller and far more comfortable for sleeping than most earbuds. Plus, they provide access to white noise and other soothing sleep tracks via the Soundcore app, making them an excellent choice when the melatonin simply isn’t cutting it.
The bulk of Garmin’s Prime Day deals have dried up at this point, but if you’re a bike commuter, you can still grab Garmin’s Varia RTL515 Tail Light at Amazon, REI, and Backcountry for as low as $149.98 ($50 off). The bright, radar-powered light offers a worry-free IPX7 rating, up to 16 hours of battery life in select modes, and — most importantly — the ability to alert you of rear-approaching vehicles via the Garmin app or a Garmin Edge computer.
In case you missed it during the Prime Day fanfare last week, Nintendo is offering a rare deal on its NES Controllers until July 31st, one that drops the Nintendo Switch gamepads from $59.99 to $47.99 with a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership. The wireless controllers replicate the original gamepads that came with the OG Nintendo Entertainment System, which makes them the perfect accessory if you plan on attempting to set a new speedrun record in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition.

Read More 

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

Google is dying. Google is unstoppable. Somehow, right now, it feels like both of those things are true. For the first time in more than a decade, there appear to be products that might actually threaten Google Search as the centerpiece of the web — including OpenAI’s new SearchGPT. And yet Google Search continues to dominate the market and make truly unfathomable amounts of money.
On this episode of The Vergecast, we discuss the launch of SearchGPT, Google’s latest earnings, and the increasingly brazen ways AI companies are scraping the web for their own purposes. Who will win the future of search is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure: the way the web used to work doesn’t work anymore. We need new rules, new norms, and new ideas about how the internet ought to be.

After that, we talk through yet another big week of gadget news, including the revelation that Amazon’s Alexa project is a money pit of epic proportions. We also talk about our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Ring and Z Fold 6 and the Asus ROG Ally X.
Finally, in the lightning round, we talk about Apple Maps on the web, the NBA on Prime Video, and the increasing lengths to which you have to go to stream in 4K. The future is ads, apparently — and slightly blurry ones at that.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with the future of search:

OpenAI announces SearchGPT, its AI-powered search engine
Bing’s AI redesign shoves the usual list of search results to the side
Reddit is now blocking major search engines and AI bots — except the ones that pay
Google had a massive quarter thanks to Search and AI
Anthropic’s crawler is ignoring websites’ anti-AI scraping policies
The text file that runs the internet

And on the gadgets and reviews of the week:

Amazon’s paid Alexa is coming to fill a $25 billion hole dug by Echo devices
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a great phone that’s out of ideas
Asus ROG Ally X review: the best Windows gaming handheld by a mile
Samsung Galaxy Ring review: keeping you in Samsung’s orbit
Google’s next streaming player looks nothing like the Chromecast

And in the lightning round:

Jake Kastrenakes’ pick: Apple Maps launches on the web to take on Google

David Pierce’s pick: The NBA’s new TV deals put a lot of games on Amazon’s Prime Video starting in 2025

Nilay Patel’s pick: The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle is now available

Nilay’s other pick: Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

Google is dying. Google is unstoppable. Somehow, right now, it feels like both of those things are true. For the first time in more than a decade, there appear to be products that might actually threaten Google Search as the centerpiece of the web — including OpenAI’s new SearchGPT. And yet Google Search continues to dominate the market and make truly unfathomable amounts of money.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we discuss the launch of SearchGPT, Google’s latest earnings, and the increasingly brazen ways AI companies are scraping the web for their own purposes. Who will win the future of search is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure: the way the web used to work doesn’t work anymore. We need new rules, new norms, and new ideas about how the internet ought to be.

After that, we talk through yet another big week of gadget news, including the revelation that Amazon’s Alexa project is a money pit of epic proportions. We also talk about our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Ring and Z Fold 6 and the Asus ROG Ally X.

Finally, in the lightning round, we talk about Apple Maps on the web, the NBA on Prime Video, and the increasing lengths to which you have to go to stream in 4K. The future is ads, apparently — and slightly blurry ones at that.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with the future of search:

OpenAI announces SearchGPT, its AI-powered search engine
Bing’s AI redesign shoves the usual list of search results to the side
Reddit is now blocking major search engines and AI bots — except the ones that pay
Google had a massive quarter thanks to Search and AI
Anthropic’s crawler is ignoring websites’ anti-AI scraping policies
The text file that runs the internet

And on the gadgets and reviews of the week:

Amazon’s paid Alexa is coming to fill a $25 billion hole dug by Echo devices
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a great phone that’s out of ideas
Asus ROG Ally X review: the best Windows gaming handheld by a mile
Samsung Galaxy Ring review: keeping you in Samsung’s orbit
Google’s next streaming player looks nothing like the Chromecast

And in the lightning round:

Jake Kastrenakes’ pick: Apple Maps launches on the web to take on Google

David Pierce’s pick: The NBA’s new TV deals put a lot of games on Amazon’s Prime Video starting in 2025

Nilay Patel’s pick: The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle is now available

Nilay’s other pick: Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen

Read More 

Peacock’s Multiview is a way to see all the best stuff at the Olympics all at once. | Image: Peacock

For once, the answer for how to stream sports is simple: if you want to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics, you need only open up Peacock. This is the third time the Peacock team has streamed the Olympics, but it’s the company’s biggest undertaking yet: 5,000 hours of content over two weeks across 39 sports, all of it streaming live. Every day, from morning until midafternoon, there will be live sports; in the evening, NBC will air its prime-time show with all the best action from the day. “This is the most content we’ve ever had on the platform,” says John Jelley, NBCUniversal’s SVP of product and user experience. His team’s goal is to help you make sense of all of it.
(Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.)
NBCUniversal has the exclusive rights to the Games, at least in the US, and it’s planning to show every single minute on its streaming service. Peacock starts at $8 a month, and there’s a decent chance there’s a free trial awaiting you from a wireless carrier or cable company. (No need to get Premium Plus if all you want is the Olympics, you won’t see much difference.)
Ironically, the situation is more complicated if you have cable: you’ll be able to watch the events across NBC, USA, Telemundo, CNBC, and more, but many events are digital only. (There’s a very helpful schedule on the official Olympics website.) If you want the 4K cable feed with Dolby Vision, you’ll need a specific cable box, and it only works on one channel. Like I said, complicated. This is a streaming-first Olympics, and NBC is leaning into that in a big way.

Image: Peacock
The Peacock app has a dedicated hub for every sport.

There are basically two kinds of Olympics viewers, Jelley tells me. The first kind of viewer comes looking for something in particular — they want to know when badminton starts or make sure they don’t miss a second of women’s volleyball. For those users, the Olympics hub has a dedicated page for each sport that shows live and upcoming events, plus all the ancillary content — replays, athlete mini-documentaries, that sort of thing — that viewers might also care about. You can also search for whichever sport, athlete, or country you’re looking for, of course.
The second kind of viewer, Jelley tells me, is more of an Olympics generalist. They show up one or two or 10 times a day and just want to see what cool stuff is going on. This is where Peacock has really invested in new kinds of content and new ways to watch. One feature Jelley is particularly excited about is Peacock Discovery Multiview, which will show up to four streams at a time depending on what’s most interesting. If there’s a fight for a medal or a record about to be broken, it’ll show up in the Multiview. You can watch all the streams at once, choosing which audio you prefer to hear, or click into one feed and watch it in full screen. “This is really addressing the fact that there are up to 40 events happening at the same time,” Jelley says, “and we don’t want users feeling a sense of decision paralysis.”
Watching Multiview and Gold Zone is like turning on the Olympics fire hose
If you really want the full Olympic fire-hose experience, you’re going to want to flip on Gold Zone. It’s the Olympic version of NFL RedZone, the whiparound show that jumps from game to game, showing only the best and most important plays. Actually, it’s exactly that — Gold Zone even features Scott Hanson, the RedZone host, and for 10 hours a day, he’ll be bouncing between events to bring you the best of everything. But whenever Hanson switches to a new event, a little pop-up will appear on your screen asking if you want to stay on the one you were just watching. The same will happen in the daily prime-time show; when it switches sports, you’ll get a chance to save the current one to watch more later.
The idea with both Gold Zone and Multiview is to give you a broad view of everything that’s happening but also make it easy to dive deeper into anything that catches your eye. Events will be available on demand after they’re over, too, so Jelley says the team has tried to make it easy for people to watch what they can live and then catch up later. “If you were watching the swimming heats,” he says, “you could decide to watch the next stage tomorrow and then add that to your My Stuff to watch later without having to leave the prime-time show.”
A lot of the work here is about curation. More than 2,000 NBCUniversal employees are working on the Olympics coverage from the headquarters of NBC Sports in Connecticut, and Jelley says there are another 1,000 on the ground in Paris. They’re doing everything from calling and filming events to curating the Peacock homepage, signaling when a boring event just became a not-boring one and trying to put the most exciting things in front of viewers all day every day.

Image: Peacock
If you miss any good events, artificial Al Michaels has your back.

To take that idea even further, of course, NBC turned to artificial Al Michaels. The legendary sportscaster will anchor a personalized 10-minute highlight reel for every viewer every morning. When you first log in to the Olympics app on an iPhone or Android, you’ll tell it which sports you care about, and every day, you’ll get a compilation of the best stuff. NBCUniversal used an AI model trained on Michaels’ voice and the content of his telecasts and has tuned the model to correctly pronounce complicated names and sports terms. Jelley is careful to say all the content and audio will be reviewed by NBC Sports editors before it goes out the next day.
There’s a lot going on in that Olympics hub on Peacock, but that’s because there’s a lot going on at the Olympics. You can pick a sport and watch it constantly for the next two weeks, if you’d like, or you can rely on NBC’s curation and programming to bring you what’s most interesting. Or you can just turn on Gold Zone and trust that you’ll see every cool thing that happens everywhere. Because the best of the best of the best is what the Olympics is all about.

Peacock’s Multiview is a way to see all the best stuff at the Olympics all at once. | Image: Peacock

For once, the answer for how to stream sports is simple: if you want to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics, you need only open up Peacock. This is the third time the Peacock team has streamed the Olympics, but it’s the company’s biggest undertaking yet: 5,000 hours of content over two weeks across 39 sports, all of it streaming live. Every day, from morning until midafternoon, there will be live sports; in the evening, NBC will air its prime-time show with all the best action from the day. “This is the most content we’ve ever had on the platform,” says John Jelley, NBCUniversal’s SVP of product and user experience. His team’s goal is to help you make sense of all of it.

(Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.)

NBCUniversal has the exclusive rights to the Games, at least in the US, and it’s planning to show every single minute on its streaming service. Peacock starts at $8 a month, and there’s a decent chance there’s a free trial awaiting you from a wireless carrier or cable company. (No need to get Premium Plus if all you want is the Olympics, you won’t see much difference.)

Ironically, the situation is more complicated if you have cable: you’ll be able to watch the events across NBC, USA, Telemundo, CNBC, and more, but many events are digital only. (There’s a very helpful schedule on the official Olympics website.) If you want the 4K cable feed with Dolby Vision, you’ll need a specific cable box, and it only works on one channel. Like I said, complicated. This is a streaming-first Olympics, and NBC is leaning into that in a big way.

Image: Peacock
The Peacock app has a dedicated hub for every sport.

There are basically two kinds of Olympics viewers, Jelley tells me. The first kind of viewer comes looking for something in particular — they want to know when badminton starts or make sure they don’t miss a second of women’s volleyball. For those users, the Olympics hub has a dedicated page for each sport that shows live and upcoming events, plus all the ancillary content — replays, athlete mini-documentaries, that sort of thing — that viewers might also care about. You can also search for whichever sport, athlete, or country you’re looking for, of course.

The second kind of viewer, Jelley tells me, is more of an Olympics generalist. They show up one or two or 10 times a day and just want to see what cool stuff is going on. This is where Peacock has really invested in new kinds of content and new ways to watch. One feature Jelley is particularly excited about is Peacock Discovery Multiview, which will show up to four streams at a time depending on what’s most interesting. If there’s a fight for a medal or a record about to be broken, it’ll show up in the Multiview. You can watch all the streams at once, choosing which audio you prefer to hear, or click into one feed and watch it in full screen. “This is really addressing the fact that there are up to 40 events happening at the same time,” Jelley says, “and we don’t want users feeling a sense of decision paralysis.”

If you really want the full Olympic fire-hose experience, you’re going to want to flip on Gold Zone. It’s the Olympic version of NFL RedZone, the whiparound show that jumps from game to game, showing only the best and most important plays. Actually, it’s exactly that — Gold Zone even features Scott Hanson, the RedZone host, and for 10 hours a day, he’ll be bouncing between events to bring you the best of everything. But whenever Hanson switches to a new event, a little pop-up will appear on your screen asking if you want to stay on the one you were just watching. The same will happen in the daily prime-time show; when it switches sports, you’ll get a chance to save the current one to watch more later.

The idea with both Gold Zone and Multiview is to give you a broad view of everything that’s happening but also make it easy to dive deeper into anything that catches your eye. Events will be available on demand after they’re over, too, so Jelley says the team has tried to make it easy for people to watch what they can live and then catch up later. “If you were watching the swimming heats,” he says, “you could decide to watch the next stage tomorrow and then add that to your My Stuff to watch later without having to leave the prime-time show.”

A lot of the work here is about curation. More than 2,000 NBCUniversal employees are working on the Olympics coverage from the headquarters of NBC Sports in Connecticut, and Jelley says there are another 1,000 on the ground in Paris. They’re doing everything from calling and filming events to curating the Peacock homepage, signaling when a boring event just became a not-boring one and trying to put the most exciting things in front of viewers all day every day.

Image: Peacock
If you miss any good events, artificial Al Michaels has your back.

To take that idea even further, of course, NBC turned to artificial Al Michaels. The legendary sportscaster will anchor a personalized 10-minute highlight reel for every viewer every morning. When you first log in to the Olympics app on an iPhone or Android, you’ll tell it which sports you care about, and every day, you’ll get a compilation of the best stuff. NBCUniversal used an AI model trained on Michaels’ voice and the content of his telecasts and has tuned the model to correctly pronounce complicated names and sports terms. Jelley is careful to say all the content and audio will be reviewed by NBC Sports editors before it goes out the next day.

There’s a lot going on in that Olympics hub on Peacock, but that’s because there’s a lot going on at the Olympics. You can pick a sport and watch it constantly for the next two weeks, if you’d like, or you can rely on NBC’s curation and programming to bring you what’s most interesting. Or you can just turn on Gold Zone and trust that you’ll see every cool thing that happens everywhere. Because the best of the best of the best is what the Olympics is all about.

Read More 

The Nest Hello video doorbell can now be fully migrated to the Google Home app from the Nest app. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Google announced this week that it’s rolling out support for its Nest Hello doorbell in the Google Home app. This allows you to transfer Google’s original video doorbell camera — aka, the Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen) — from the Nest app to Google’s Home app. Google is also bringing its garage door detection feature out of Public Preview, making it available to all users with compatible hardware. This uses a Nest Cam to alert you when your garage door is left open.
Garage door detection launched last fall in Google’s Public Preview — a public beta where users can try out upcoming features — but is now available to all Nest Aware subscribers in the US and Canada. (Nest Aware starts at $8 a month / $80 a year.)
The feature works with the Nest Cam (indoor, wired, 2nd gen) and Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery) when wired for power to send a notification when your garage door opens, closes, or is left open.

Image: Google
The new feature sends alerts through the Google Home app when you door is open, closed or left open.

Garage door detection doesn’t require additional hardware, unlike a smart garage door controller, which generally needs to be wired to your garage door’s electrics. All you need to do is point your compatible Google Nest cam at your door, either from the inside or outside (Google has instructions for setting it up). However, it can’t control your door; it can only tell you its status.

Image: Google
The Google Home app has transitioned most of the Nest app’s video playback features, including switching between timeline and event views.

Nest Hello users will soon see an option in the Nest app to transfer their video doorbell to the Google Home app — if they’re in Google’s Public Preview (you can enroll here). This will let you manage the doorbell and view recorded videos in the Home app (currently only available in the Nest app), and connect your doorbell to other devices in Google Home to use it with automations — including using camera events as triggers.

The doorbell, which first launched in 2018 has been discontinued in the US but is still available in the UK, currently shows live video in the Home app (if you’ve migrated your Nest account to Google). However, you needed to use the Nest app for recorded video and other features — such as doorbell ring alerts. This transition should bring most of the doorbell’s function to the Home app. You can transfer it back if you want — but you won’t be able to access it in both apps simultaneously anymore.
Google has been moving its legacy Nest cameras to the Google Home app for a couple of years now, but it’s been a slow process. So far, the Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 1st gen) and Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 1st gen) have made it over. The addition of the Hello will be a welcome one for many users.
Google says it’s “actively working to transition additional Nest devices into the Home app.” Those still missing include the Nest Cam IQ indoor and the Nest Cam IQ outdoor — these can show live footage but require the Nest app to view recorded video. The Nest Protect smoke alarm is also still only accessible in the Nest app. Google will not be transitioning the OG Dropcams and Nest Secure system, as it ended support for these products earlier this year.

The Nest Hello video doorbell can now be fully migrated to the Google Home app from the Nest app. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Google announced this week that it’s rolling out support for its Nest Hello doorbell in the Google Home app. This allows you to transfer Google’s original video doorbell camera — aka, the Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen) — from the Nest app to Google’s Home app. Google is also bringing its garage door detection feature out of Public Preview, making it available to all users with compatible hardware. This uses a Nest Cam to alert you when your garage door is left open.

Garage door detection launched last fall in Google’s Public Preview — a public beta where users can try out upcoming features — but is now available to all Nest Aware subscribers in the US and Canada. (Nest Aware starts at $8 a month / $80 a year.)

The feature works with the Nest Cam (indoor, wired, 2nd gen) and Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery) when wired for power to send a notification when your garage door opens, closes, or is left open.

Image: Google
The new feature sends alerts through the Google Home app when you door is open, closed or left open.

Garage door detection doesn’t require additional hardware, unlike a smart garage door controller, which generally needs to be wired to your garage door’s electrics. All you need to do is point your compatible Google Nest cam at your door, either from the inside or outside (Google has instructions for setting it up). However, it can’t control your door; it can only tell you its status.

Image: Google
The Google Home app has transitioned most of the Nest app’s video playback features, including switching between timeline and event views.

Nest Hello users will soon see an option in the Nest app to transfer their video doorbell to the Google Home app — if they’re in Google’s Public Preview (you can enroll here). This will let you manage the doorbell and view recorded videos in the Home app (currently only available in the Nest app), and connect your doorbell to other devices in Google Home to use it with automations — including using camera events as triggers.

The doorbell, which first launched in 2018 has been discontinued in the US but is still available in the UK, currently shows live video in the Home app (if you’ve migrated your Nest account to Google). However, you needed to use the Nest app for recorded video and other features — such as doorbell ring alerts. This transition should bring most of the doorbell’s function to the Home app. You can transfer it back if you want — but you won’t be able to access it in both apps simultaneously anymore.

Google has been moving its legacy Nest cameras to the Google Home app for a couple of years now, but it’s been a slow process. So far, the Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 1st gen) and Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 1st gen) have made it over. The addition of the Hello will be a welcome one for many users.

Google says it’s “actively working to transition additional Nest devices into the Home app.” Those still missing include the Nest Cam IQ indoor and the Nest Cam IQ outdoor — these can show live footage but require the Nest app to view recorded video. The Nest Protect smoke alarm is also still only accessible in the Nest app. Google will not be transitioning the OG Dropcams and Nest Secure system, as it ended support for these products earlier this year.

Read More 

Image: The Verge

Microsoft is still helping CrowdStrike clean up the mess that kicked off a week ago when 8.5 million PCs went offline due to a buggy CrowdStrike update. Now, the software giant is calling for changes to Windows, and has dropped some subtle hints that it’s prioritizing making Windows more resilient and willing to push security vendors like CrowdStrike to stop accessing the Windows kernel.
While CrowdStrike has blamed a bug in its testing software for its botched update, its software runs at the kernel level — the core part of an operating system that has unrestricted access to system memory and hardware — so if something goes wrong with CrowdStrike’s app then it can take down Windows machines with a Blue Screen of Death.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon software uses a special driver that allows it to run at a lower level than most apps so it can detect threats across a Windows system. Microsoft tried to restrict third parties from accessing the kernel in Windows Vista in 2006, but was met with pushback from cybersecurity vendors and EU regulators. However, Apple was able to lock down its macOS operating system in 2020 so that developers could no longer get access to the kernel.
Now, it looks like Microsoft wants to reopen the conversations around restricting kernel level access inside Windows.
“This incident shows clearly that Windows must prioritize change and innovation in the area of end-to-end resilience,” says John Cable, vice president of program management for Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post titled “the path forward.” Cable calls for closer cooperation between Microsoft and its partners “who also care deeply about the security of the Windows ecosystem” to make security improvements.
While Microsoft doesn’t detail the exact improvements it will make to Windows in the wake of the CrowdStrike issues, Cable does drop a few clues about which direction Microsoft wants to see things go. Cable calls out a new VBS enclaves feature “that does not require kernel mode drivers to be tamper resistant” and Microsoft’s Azure Attestation service as examples of recent security innovations.
“These examples use modern Zero Trust approaches and show what can be done to encourage development practices that do not rely on kernel access,” says Cable. “We will continue to develop these capabilities, harden our platform, and do even more to improve the resiliency of the Windows ecosystem, working openly and collaboratively with the broad security community.”
These hints might kick off a conversation around Windows kernel access, even if Microsoft claims it can’t wall off its operating system in the same way as Apple due to regulators. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has already warned about the effects of Microsoft locking down Windows further, so Microsoft will need to carefully consider the needs of security vendors if it wants to pursue real change.

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Image: The Verge

Microsoft is still helping CrowdStrike clean up the mess that kicked off a week ago when 8.5 million PCs went offline due to a buggy CrowdStrike update. Now, the software giant is calling for changes to Windows, and has dropped some subtle hints that it’s prioritizing making Windows more resilient and willing to push security vendors like CrowdStrike to stop accessing the Windows kernel.

While CrowdStrike has blamed a bug in its testing software for its botched update, its software runs at the kernel level — the core part of an operating system that has unrestricted access to system memory and hardware — so if something goes wrong with CrowdStrike’s app then it can take down Windows machines with a Blue Screen of Death.

CrowdStrike’s Falcon software uses a special driver that allows it to run at a lower level than most apps so it can detect threats across a Windows system. Microsoft tried to restrict third parties from accessing the kernel in Windows Vista in 2006, but was met with pushback from cybersecurity vendors and EU regulators. However, Apple was able to lock down its macOS operating system in 2020 so that developers could no longer get access to the kernel.

Now, it looks like Microsoft wants to reopen the conversations around restricting kernel level access inside Windows.

“This incident shows clearly that Windows must prioritize change and innovation in the area of end-to-end resilience,” says John Cable, vice president of program management for Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post titled “the path forward.” Cable calls for closer cooperation between Microsoft and its partners “who also care deeply about the security of the Windows ecosystem” to make security improvements.

While Microsoft doesn’t detail the exact improvements it will make to Windows in the wake of the CrowdStrike issues, Cable does drop a few clues about which direction Microsoft wants to see things go. Cable calls out a new VBS enclaves feature “that does not require kernel mode drivers to be tamper resistant” and Microsoft’s Azure Attestation service as examples of recent security innovations.

“These examples use modern Zero Trust approaches and show what can be done to encourage development practices that do not rely on kernel access,” says Cable. “We will continue to develop these capabilities, harden our platform, and do even more to improve the resiliency of the Windows ecosystem, working openly and collaboratively with the broad security community.”

These hints might kick off a conversation around Windows kernel access, even if Microsoft claims it can’t wall off its operating system in the same way as Apple due to regulators. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has already warned about the effects of Microsoft locking down Windows further, so Microsoft will need to carefully consider the needs of security vendors if it wants to pursue real change.

Read More 

Image: The Verge

Valve has introduced some changes to Steam that should make it easier to find and install playable game demos. In a new events blog post, Steam said the “Great Steam Demo Update” was based on developer and player feedback, with new functionality that makes demos behave more like standalone games hosted on the platform.
For one, demos can now have a store page that’s completely separate from the main game, allowing developers to display demo-specific content like trailers, screenshots, and supported features. These pages will also display buttons to both install the demo and visit the main game’s store page, and allow players to leave demo-specific reviews.
And if a demo becomes available for a game that users have on their wishlists, or from a developer that they follow, those users can now be notified via email or mobile alerts. Demo listings can also now appear on the same lists and category pages as free games, such as the “New & Trending” section of Steam’s homepage charts. Alongside free games, users may see demos appearing more frequently as Steam says it’s made “some changes to the thresholds” in order to “better balance them with paid products.”

Image: Steam
Free games and the newly supported gaming demo listings will appear more frequently in Steam’s charts.

Other new features in this update include the ability to add demos to Steam libraries without immediately installing them, allowing demos to be installed even if the user already owns the full game, and making it easier to remove demos by right-clicking on them. When the demos are uninstalled they’ll also be removed from the user’s library.
The visibility changes introduced in this update may resurface older demos on user accounts, with Steam saying “We’ve tried our best to clean up the demos that we expect you don’t care about anymore, but we may have missed some.”
Amusingly, Steam added a note in the “infrequently asked questions” section of the blog for users who don’t know that Steam’s demo icon is based upon the Compact Disc, not a dinner plate. Am I so old that we’re really at the point of modernizing the save icon / floppy disk gag?

Image: The Verge

Valve has introduced some changes to Steam that should make it easier to find and install playable game demos. In a new events blog post, Steam said the “Great Steam Demo Update” was based on developer and player feedback, with new functionality that makes demos behave more like standalone games hosted on the platform.

For one, demos can now have a store page that’s completely separate from the main game, allowing developers to display demo-specific content like trailers, screenshots, and supported features. These pages will also display buttons to both install the demo and visit the main game’s store page, and allow players to leave demo-specific reviews.

And if a demo becomes available for a game that users have on their wishlists, or from a developer that they follow, those users can now be notified via email or mobile alerts. Demo listings can also now appear on the same lists and category pages as free games, such as the “New & Trending” section of Steam’s homepage charts. Alongside free games, users may see demos appearing more frequently as Steam says it’s made “some changes to the thresholds” in order to “better balance them with paid products.”

Image: Steam
Free games and the newly supported gaming demo listings will appear more frequently in Steam’s charts.

Other new features in this update include the ability to add demos to Steam libraries without immediately installing them, allowing demos to be installed even if the user already owns the full game, and making it easier to remove demos by right-clicking on them. When the demos are uninstalled they’ll also be removed from the user’s library.

The visibility changes introduced in this update may resurface older demos on user accounts, with Steam saying “We’ve tried our best to clean up the demos that we expect you don’t care about anymore, but we may have missed some.”

Amusingly, Steam added a note in the “infrequently asked questions” section of the blog for users who don’t know that Steam’s demo icon is based upon the Compact Disc, not a dinner plate. Am I so old that we’re really at the point of modernizing the save icon / floppy disk gag?

Read More 

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft has started testing a new way to access your Android phone from directly within Windows 11’s File Explorer. Windows Insiders are now able to test this new feature, which lets you wirelessly browse through folders and files on your Android phone.
The integration in File Explorer means your Android device appears just like a regular USB device on the left-hand side, with the ability to copy or move files between a PC and Android phone, and rename or delete them. It’s certainly a lot quicker than using the existing Phone Link app.

Image: Microsoft
Android phones will appear inside File Explorer.

You’ll need a device running Android version 11 or higher, be part of the Windows Insider program, and the beta version of the Link to Windows app to get the feature working right now. All four Windows Insider channels are getting access to test this, including the Release Preview ring — which suggests that it won’t be long until everyone running Windows 11 will be able to access this new feature.
You can enable this File Explorer feature by navigating to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mobile Devices and selecting the manage devices section to allow your PC to connect to your Android phone. A prompt will include a toggle for access in File Explorer, alongside the usual selections for notifications and camera access.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft has started testing a new way to access your Android phone from directly within Windows 11’s File Explorer. Windows Insiders are now able to test this new feature, which lets you wirelessly browse through folders and files on your Android phone.

The integration in File Explorer means your Android device appears just like a regular USB device on the left-hand side, with the ability to copy or move files between a PC and Android phone, and rename or delete them. It’s certainly a lot quicker than using the existing Phone Link app.

Image: Microsoft
Android phones will appear inside File Explorer.

You’ll need a device running Android version 11 or higher, be part of the Windows Insider program, and the beta version of the Link to Windows app to get the feature working right now. All four Windows Insider channels are getting access to test this, including the Release Preview ring — which suggests that it won’t be long until everyone running Windows 11 will be able to access this new feature.

You can enable this File Explorer feature by navigating to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mobile Devices and selecting the manage devices section to allow your PC to connect to your Android phone. A prompt will include a toggle for access in File Explorer, alongside the usual selections for notifications and camera access.

Read More 

Image: Peacock

It looks like Peacock is getting a solid dose of horror very soon. At San Diego Comic-Con, the streamer showed off a very brief teaser for its upcoming thriller series Teacup, while also confirming that it will start streaming in October.
According to Peacock, the show “follows a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive.” It’s helmed by showrunner Ian McCulloch — best known as a producer on the Western hit Yellowstone — and based on the novel Stinger by Robert McCammon. In a statement about the adaptation, McCulloch had this to say:

During production the series changed and evolved. Just as it should. Even the title’s different. Stinger is now Teacup. The reasons for this are too spoilery to share but watch the first few episodes and all will be revealed. Point being, the series is now very much its own thing: a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must look horror story, a family drama, a science fiction epic — of the keyhole variety, of course.
But as singular, strange, and surprising as I hope Teacup is, all you need to do is peel away the layers, characters, situations, and mythology and look behind the thrills, chills, hairpin turns and make-you gasp reveals. Do all that and you’ll see, at its heart, Teacup is still very much standing on the shoulders of Stinger. Just as it should.

The streamer currently has a pretty slim lineup when it comes to original horror series, but it appears to be steadily growing; in addition to Teacup, a Friday the 13th prequel is also in the works.
Teacup will span eight 30-minute-long episodes, and it starts streaming on October 10th.

Image: Peacock

It looks like Peacock is getting a solid dose of horror very soon. At San Diego Comic-Con, the streamer showed off a very brief teaser for its upcoming thriller series Teacup, while also confirming that it will start streaming in October.

According to Peacock, the show “follows a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive.” It’s helmed by showrunner Ian McCulloch — best known as a producer on the Western hit Yellowstone — and based on the novel Stinger by Robert McCammon. In a statement about the adaptation, McCulloch had this to say:

During production the series changed and evolved. Just as it should. Even the title’s different. Stinger is now Teacup. The reasons for this are too spoilery to share but watch the first few episodes and all will be revealed. Point being, the series is now very much its own thing: a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must look horror story, a family drama, a science fiction epic — of the keyhole variety, of course.

But as singular, strange, and surprising as I hope Teacup is, all you need to do is peel away the layers, characters, situations, and mythology and look behind the thrills, chills, hairpin turns and make-you gasp reveals. Do all that and you’ll see, at its heart, Teacup is still very much standing on the shoulders of Stinger. Just as it should.

The streamer currently has a pretty slim lineup when it comes to original horror series, but it appears to be steadily growing; in addition to Teacup, a Friday the 13th prequel is also in the works.

Teacup will span eight 30-minute-long episodes, and it starts streaming on October 10th.

Read More