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Image: Xbox

Microsoft is rolling out an Xbox update that lets you view game art with any Xbox Home background. That means you’ll continue to see your dynamic or regular background when you’re not scrolling through different games.
Previously, Microsoft only let you view game art with the default Xbox Home background. Now, you can keep your background and view game art without having to decide between the two. Microsoft first started testing this feature in April, and you can see how it looks in this embedded post from my colleague Tom Warren.

Microsoft is testing a new Xbox Home UI dashboard update that lets you enable game art backgrounds with any dynamic or regular background. Much better than having to use a default background to get the game art feature pic.twitter.com/DhdIGPZgCl— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) April 29, 2024

To enable this option, head to your Xbox’s Settings menu, and then select General > Personalization > My Background. From there, choose Show selected game art. You can also now update your dynamic background color without changing the color of your profile.
Microsoft is rolling out a few other updates, too, including the ability for your Xbox to remember up to 10 Wi-Fi networks, saving you from having to set up the network information and passwords all over again each time you move your console from one place to another.
It’s also rolling out a controller update that allows the Xbox Adaptive Controller to have “expanded support for more connected USB accessories,” with each port now supporting up to 12 buttons, a second stick, and a hat switch, plus more stable audio connections for headsets plugged in to an Elite Wireless 2 gamepad.
Additionally, Microsoft is making mouse and keyboard support in Xbox Cloud Gaming available to everyone and will now allow players to self-manage game data and cloud saves for titles played on their browser, Xbox’s website, or the Xbox app on Samsung TVs.

Image: Xbox

Microsoft is rolling out an Xbox update that lets you view game art with any Xbox Home background. That means you’ll continue to see your dynamic or regular background when you’re not scrolling through different games.

Previously, Microsoft only let you view game art with the default Xbox Home background. Now, you can keep your background and view game art without having to decide between the two. Microsoft first started testing this feature in April, and you can see how it looks in this embedded post from my colleague Tom Warren.

To enable this option, head to your Xbox’s Settings menu, and then select General > Personalization > My Background. From there, choose Show selected game art. You can also now update your dynamic background color without changing the color of your profile.

Microsoft is rolling out a few other updates, too, including the ability for your Xbox to remember up to 10 Wi-Fi networks, saving you from having to set up the network information and passwords all over again each time you move your console from one place to another.

It’s also rolling out a controller update that allows the Xbox Adaptive Controller to have “expanded support for more connected USB accessories,” with each port now supporting up to 12 buttons, a second stick, and a hat switch, plus more stable audio connections for headsets plugged in to an Elite Wireless 2 gamepad.

Additionally, Microsoft is making mouse and keyboard support in Xbox Cloud Gaming available to everyone and will now allow players to self-manage game data and cloud saves for titles played on their browser, Xbox’s website, or the Xbox app on Samsung TVs.

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Image: Netflix

It’s going to be a busy few weeks for Zack Snyder on Netflix. Just a day after Netflix announced the director’s cut of Rebel Moon would start streaming on August 2nd comes the news that another Snyder project will hit the service soon after. Twilight of the Gods, an animated series based on Norse mythology, will start streaming on September 19th. You can get a first glimpse at the show in action in the brief new teaser trailer above.
The animation is being handled by Snyder’s own Stone Quarry studio, and the show itself was created by Snyder, along with Jay Oliva (executive producer on Netflix’s Trese) and Eric Carrasco (a writer on Apple TV Plus’ Foundation). Here’s the basic premise:
In a mythical world of great battles, great deeds and great despair, Leif, a mortal king, is saved on the battlefield by Sigrid, an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love. On their wedding night, Sigrid and Leif survive a wrath of terror from Thor, which sets them — and a crew of crusaders — on an against all odds and merciless mission for vengeance. This heroic story of love, loss and revenge, is a journey to Hell and beyond… across fantastical lands, battlefields fierce and bloody, and wars waged against Gods and demons.
The cast includes: Sylvia Hoeks (Sigrid), Stuart Martin (Leif), Rahul Kohli (Egill), Paterson Joseph (Loki), Pilou Asbæk (Thor), and John Noble (Odin).
The premiere date news comes as Netflix has been touting its animation lineup, which also includes Terminator Zero in August and the second (and final) season of Arcane in November.

Image: Netflix

It’s going to be a busy few weeks for Zack Snyder on Netflix. Just a day after Netflix announced the director’s cut of Rebel Moon would start streaming on August 2nd comes the news that another Snyder project will hit the service soon after. Twilight of the Gods, an animated series based on Norse mythology, will start streaming on September 19th. You can get a first glimpse at the show in action in the brief new teaser trailer above.

The animation is being handled by Snyder’s own Stone Quarry studio, and the show itself was created by Snyder, along with Jay Oliva (executive producer on Netflix’s Trese) and Eric Carrasco (a writer on Apple TV Plus’ Foundation). Here’s the basic premise:

In a mythical world of great battles, great deeds and great despair, Leif, a mortal king, is saved on the battlefield by Sigrid, an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love. On their wedding night, Sigrid and Leif survive a wrath of terror from Thor, which sets them — and a crew of crusaders — on an against all odds and merciless mission for vengeance. This heroic story of love, loss and revenge, is a journey to Hell and beyond… across fantastical lands, battlefields fierce and bloody, and wars waged against Gods and demons.

The cast includes: Sylvia Hoeks (Sigrid), Stuart Martin (Leif), Rahul Kohli (Egill), Paterson Joseph (Loki), Pilou Asbæk (Thor), and John Noble (Odin).

The premiere date news comes as Netflix has been touting its animation lineup, which also includes Terminator Zero in August and the second (and final) season of Arcane in November.

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If you’re looking for an e-reader you take notes with, the Scribe is a good option for those embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

With the ability to solve math equations and convert typed text into your own handwriting, Apple’s iPads are going to become a lot more student-friendly when iPadOS 18 launches in the fall. However, if you want something dedicated to studying or reading, I personally think an e-reader with note-taking capabilities like the Kindle Scribe is a better choice. And right now, it’s on sale for an all-time low at Amazon and Target, where you can buy the Scribe with a Basic Pen for $239.99 ($100 off) or a Premium Pen for $264.99 ($105 off).

In my experience, hybrid devices like the Kindle Scribe offer fewer distractions than your typical tablet, allowing you to focus better on the task at hand. As an e-reader, the Scribe also lasts about a month on a single charge, and its soothing light is easier on the eyes without sacrificing readability thanks to its sharp, 10.2-inch screen.
Aside from just being a good large-screen ebook reader, the Scribe has also come a long way as a note-taking device since it launched in 2022. It can convert handwriting into typed text, for instance, and now allows you to write directly on pages of select titles. The built-in notebooks also offer more organizational tools and a better selection of pen styles. I still think the Kobo Elipsa 2E is the more intuitive and capable device — it can even solve math equations — but the Scribe is still worth a look if you’re already embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem.

Read our Kindle Scribe review.

A few more ways to save

Right now, the JBL Authentics 200 is available at a new all-time low of $249.95 ($100 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. Unlike many other smart speakers on the market, the 70-style smart speaker lets you invoke both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa at the same time. It’s not technically a portable speaker in the traditional sense — it doesn’t offer a built-in battery like the midrange Authentics 300 — but it’s still relatively travel-friendly and delivers good sound for its size. Read our hands-on impressions.
The Chipolo Card Spot is on sale at Best Buy for $19.99 ($15 off), which is one of its lowest prices to date. If you’re looking for a slim AirTag alternative and don’t mind that it isn’t compatible with Android, the card-shaped Bluetooth tracker is a good option. It isn’t as accurate as the AirTag, but it does work with Apple’s vast Find My network and does an otherwise good job of keeping tabs on your personal belongings. Read our review.

Amazon’s latest Echo Buds are matching their all-time low of $34.99 ($15 off) at Amazon. The Alexa-enabled earbuds may not offer noise cancellation like their predecessor, but they do sport a comfortable semi-open design that makes it easier to hear your surroundings.
The M2-powered Mac Mini is on sale for $479 ($120 off) at Amazon and B&H Photo with an eight-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD of storage. If you’re looking for a desktop machine for general use, Apple’s entry-level Mini is a great performer with support for Wi-Fi 6E and a good port selection that includes two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and HDMI 2.0 output. Bear in mind, however, that you’ll have to supply your own monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Read our review.

If you’re looking for an e-reader you take notes with, the Scribe is a good option for those embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

With the ability to solve math equations and convert typed text into your own handwriting, Apple’s iPads are going to become a lot more student-friendly when iPadOS 18 launches in the fall. However, if you want something dedicated to studying or reading, I personally think an e-reader with note-taking capabilities like the Kindle Scribe is a better choice. And right now, it’s on sale for an all-time low at Amazon and Target, where you can buy the Scribe with a Basic Pen for $239.99 ($100 off) or a Premium Pen for $264.99 ($105 off).

In my experience, hybrid devices like the Kindle Scribe offer fewer distractions than your typical tablet, allowing you to focus better on the task at hand. As an e-reader, the Scribe also lasts about a month on a single charge, and its soothing light is easier on the eyes without sacrificing readability thanks to its sharp, 10.2-inch screen.

Aside from just being a good large-screen ebook reader, the Scribe has also come a long way as a note-taking device since it launched in 2022. It can convert handwriting into typed text, for instance, and now allows you to write directly on pages of select titles. The built-in notebooks also offer more organizational tools and a better selection of pen styles. I still think the Kobo Elipsa 2E is the more intuitive and capable device — it can even solve math equations — but the Scribe is still worth a look if you’re already embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem.

Read our Kindle Scribe review.

A few more ways to save

Right now, the JBL Authentics 200 is available at a new all-time low of $249.95 ($100 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. Unlike many other smart speakers on the market, the 70-style smart speaker lets you invoke both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa at the same time. It’s not technically a portable speaker in the traditional sense — it doesn’t offer a built-in battery like the midrange Authentics 300 — but it’s still relatively travel-friendly and delivers good sound for its size. Read our hands-on impressions.
The Chipolo Card Spot is on sale at Best Buy for $19.99 ($15 off), which is one of its lowest prices to date. If you’re looking for a slim AirTag alternative and don’t mind that it isn’t compatible with Android, the card-shaped Bluetooth tracker is a good option. It isn’t as accurate as the AirTag, but it does work with Apple’s vast Find My network and does an otherwise good job of keeping tabs on your personal belongings. Read our review.

Amazon’s latest Echo Buds are matching their all-time low of $34.99 ($15 off) at Amazon. The Alexa-enabled earbuds may not offer noise cancellation like their predecessor, but they do sport a comfortable semi-open design that makes it easier to hear your surroundings.
The M2-powered Mac Mini is on sale for $479 ($120 off) at Amazon and B&H Photo with an eight-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD of storage. If you’re looking for a desktop machine for general use, Apple’s entry-level Mini is a great performer with support for Wi-Fi 6E and a good port selection that includes two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and HDMI 2.0 output. Bear in mind, however, that you’ll have to supply your own monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Read our review.

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As usual, Apple left plenty of things out while presenting its next big software updates. | Image: Apple

Apple left out a lot of small updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote this year. It makes sense: the company had a lot to talk about, with a third of its presentation entirely devoted to new AI features. But that doesn’t make the features that didn’t get airtime any less worth talking about.
From new bezel animations to better ways to manage widgets, there is plenty to discover in the first round of betas for iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and more. Here are some of our favorites so far:

@verge As usual, Apple left plenty of cool features out of its WWDC keynote. Here are some of our favorites. #wwdc #apple #ios18 #techtok ♬ original sound – The Verge

If you’re not in a place to watch that video, that’s fine. I’ve also broken the new features out below (plus a few more).
The iPhone’s bezels come to life

GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge

When you press the side buttons while running the iOS 18 beta, there’s a clever new animation that makes it look like you’re pushing the bezel into your screen a little bit. At first glance, there’s not much purpose here other than to add a little whimsy. But it might also be a practical visual indicator if Apple eventually releases iPhones with solid-state side buttons that don’t move when you press them, simulating a click with vibration instead. And it’s hard not to think of the inky animations of the Dynamic Island (the pill-shaped selfie camera and Face ID sensor cutout from some recent iPhones).
You can type in Spanglish now!

GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge
Typing in Spanish and English, with autocorrect suggestions and everything!

Bilingual people might be pleased to hear that in the iOS 18 beta, you can type in two languages at once without toggling between them again and again by tapping the wireframe globe on the iOS keyboard and picking the new language. It takes some setup under iOS keyboards language settings (Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard), but the change will stop bad autocorrect results just because you want to type a quick couple of words of Spanish in an otherwise English text!
A new way to see (with the iOS flashlight app)

Remember the Action Button picker that came with the iPhone 15 Pro? While not quite so over the top, in the iOS 18 betas, people found that tapping the flashlight icon brings down a similarly fun little animation of a flashlight that you can swipe vertically to raise and lower luminance. You can also slide your finger left and right to adjust the actual shape of the beam! It only works with the iPhone 15 Pro phones, though, as they have a special flash not found on other iPhones.
Easier widget customization

Apple is also working on a better way to resize widgets in iOS 18. When you long-press, you’ll get a row of size options right there in the contextual menu, rather than having to pick “Edit Widget” and go through all the rigamarole of picking a size there.
The Vision Pro will see your keyboard now

GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge
Look at my floating keyboard!

One of the best quality-of-life upgrades for the Vision Pro is that the headset will show you your keyboard when you’re fully in a virtual environment now. It didn’t do that before, so if you wanted to, say, work on top of a mountain, you had to either use partial immersion in the scene or clumsily paw at your keyboard. It’s not perfect — it’s mainly designed to work with the Magic Keyboard, and in my testing, seems to inconsistently recognize my mechanical keyboard. But it’s a welcome change all the same.
Wallpapers, notifications, and charging limits

Apple is adding some new nostalgic “Macintosh” wallpapers in macOS Sequoia, and they come with a very pleasant animation.

Seeing voicemail transcriptions right in the notification will save you so many taps.

Beta users have also spotted a more granular set of charging limit options for iPhone 15 devices — instead of just choosing to limit charge to 80 percent, there’s a slider between 80 and 100 percent, with stops every 5 percent along the way.
While there are tons more updates hidden throughout Apple’s current set of betas, we have to stop somewhere. If you’re interested in trying out the new betas and don’t want to wait for their public releases later, you’ll need to sign up for the developer program and then follow Apple’s instructions. (We have our own guide, if you find that easier!) Make sure you back up your device before you download the beta, though, and beware: betas can be buggy, and there’s potential for things to go seriously wrong. It’s fun to mess with betas on an old iPhone, but it’s not a great idea on your primary phone or computer.

As usual, Apple left plenty of things out while presenting its next big software updates. | Image: Apple

Apple left out a lot of small updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote this year. It makes sense: the company had a lot to talk about, with a third of its presentation entirely devoted to new AI features. But that doesn’t make the features that didn’t get airtime any less worth talking about.

From new bezel animations to better ways to manage widgets, there is plenty to discover in the first round of betas for iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and more. Here are some of our favorites so far:

If you’re not in a place to watch that video, that’s fine. I’ve also broken the new features out below (plus a few more).

The iPhone’s bezels come to life

GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge

When you press the side buttons while running the iOS 18 beta, there’s a clever new animation that makes it look like you’re pushing the bezel into your screen a little bit. At first glance, there’s not much purpose here other than to add a little whimsy. But it might also be a practical visual indicator if Apple eventually releases iPhones with solid-state side buttons that don’t move when you press them, simulating a click with vibration instead. And it’s hard not to think of the inky animations of the Dynamic Island (the pill-shaped selfie camera and Face ID sensor cutout from some recent iPhones).

You can type in Spanglish now!

GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge
Typing in Spanish and English, with autocorrect suggestions and everything!

Bilingual people might be pleased to hear that in the iOS 18 beta, you can type in two languages at once without toggling between them again and again by tapping the wireframe globe on the iOS keyboard and picking the new language. It takes some setup under iOS keyboards language settings (Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard), but the change will stop bad autocorrect results just because you want to type a quick couple of words of Spanish in an otherwise English text!

A new way to see (with the iOS flashlight app)

Remember the Action Button picker that came with the iPhone 15 Pro? While not quite so over the top, in the iOS 18 betas, people found that tapping the flashlight icon brings down a similarly fun little animation of a flashlight that you can swipe vertically to raise and lower luminance. You can also slide your finger left and right to adjust the actual shape of the beam! It only works with the iPhone 15 Pro phones, though, as they have a special flash not found on other iPhones.

Easier widget customization

Apple is also working on a better way to resize widgets in iOS 18. When you long-press, you’ll get a row of size options right there in the contextual menu, rather than having to pick “Edit Widget” and go through all the rigamarole of picking a size there.

The Vision Pro will see your keyboard now

GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge
Look at my floating keyboard!

One of the best quality-of-life upgrades for the Vision Pro is that the headset will show you your keyboard when you’re fully in a virtual environment now. It didn’t do that before, so if you wanted to, say, work on top of a mountain, you had to either use partial immersion in the scene or clumsily paw at your keyboard. It’s not perfect — it’s mainly designed to work with the Magic Keyboard, and in my testing, seems to inconsistently recognize my mechanical keyboard. But it’s a welcome change all the same.

Wallpapers, notifications, and charging limits

Apple is adding some new nostalgic “Macintosh” wallpapers in macOS Sequoia, and they come with a very pleasant animation.

Seeing voicemail transcriptions right in the notification will save you so many taps.

Beta users have also spotted a more granular set of charging limit options for iPhone 15 devices — instead of just choosing to limit charge to 80 percent, there’s a slider between 80 and 100 percent, with stops every 5 percent along the way.

While there are tons more updates hidden throughout Apple’s current set of betas, we have to stop somewhere. If you’re interested in trying out the new betas and don’t want to wait for their public releases later, you’ll need to sign up for the developer program and then follow Apple’s instructions. (We have our own guide, if you find that easier!) Make sure you back up your device before you download the beta, though, and beware: betas can be buggy, and there’s potential for things to go seriously wrong. It’s fun to mess with betas on an old iPhone, but it’s not a great idea on your primary phone or computer.

Read More 

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

An unofficial site tracking titles in the Epic Games library may have just leaked a ton of upcoming games, as reported earlier by Wccftech. The site, called EpicDB, was taken offline shortly after it posted information scraped from the Epic Games Store catalog on Monday, but that didn’t stop people from scanning the list and posting their findings.
You can see the list of games from publishers like Bethesda, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, and others in a series of screenshots posted by a user on a ResetEra forum. While some, like Turok, are easy to spot, others are listed under previously rumored codenames, such as “Parkside” or BioShock 4.
There are still other titles under codenames we haven’t heard about. Some users speculate that “Momo” could point to a Final Fantasy 9 remake, while “Selma” may be the PC port of Red Dead Redemption 1. The codename “Utah” could also hint at the PC version of The Last of Us Part 2, which is rumored to be almost ready to launch.
Epic Games has since pushed an update preventing sites like EpicDB from scraping its list of unpublished games. “We released an update tonight so third-party tools can’t surface any new unpublished product titles from the Epic Games Store catalog,” Epic Games said in a statement provided to Wccftech. The Verge reached out to Epic Games with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
But with so many other titles listed under unknown codenames, like CurlyWurly from Sega and Brownie from Bethesda, internet sleuths still have plenty of mysteries to figure out.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

An unofficial site tracking titles in the Epic Games library may have just leaked a ton of upcoming games, as reported earlier by Wccftech. The site, called EpicDB, was taken offline shortly after it posted information scraped from the Epic Games Store catalog on Monday, but that didn’t stop people from scanning the list and posting their findings.

You can see the list of games from publishers like Bethesda, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, and others in a series of screenshots posted by a user on a ResetEra forum. While some, like Turok, are easy to spot, others are listed under previously rumored codenames, such as “Parkside” or BioShock 4.

There are still other titles under codenames we haven’t heard about. Some users speculate that “Momo” could point to a Final Fantasy 9 remake, while “Selma” may be the PC port of Red Dead Redemption 1. The codename “Utah” could also hint at the PC version of The Last of Us Part 2, which is rumored to be almost ready to launch.

Epic Games has since pushed an update preventing sites like EpicDB from scraping its list of unpublished games. “We released an update tonight so third-party tools can’t surface any new unpublished product titles from the Epic Games Store catalog,” Epic Games said in a statement provided to Wccftech. The Verge reached out to Epic Games with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

But with so many other titles listed under unknown codenames, like CurlyWurly from Sega and Brownie from Bethesda, internet sleuths still have plenty of mysteries to figure out.

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Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

A hacker breached the systems behind Tile device trackers and stole customer data, including names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers. According to reporting from 404 Media, which was contacted by the hacker, the collected information came from a database that indicated it was intended for law enforcement to identify owners of specific Tile trackers. The stolen information did not include precise Tile location data.
Life360, which owns Tile, published a statement by CEO Chris Hulls acknowledging the hack. Hulls confirmed the data includes Tile tracker IDs and said that the hacker had attempted to extort Life360 and that the company reported it to law enforcement.
In an email to The Verge, Hulls wrote, “From what I gather, very little was accessed.” Hulls did not respond to a question about whether the company would contact affected customers. “We are continuing to work with law enforcement on the matter and have no other updates at this time,” Life360 representative Kristi Collura tells The Verge in another email.
The hacker reportedly gained access using login credentials supposedly belonging to a former Tile employee. 404 Media was provided screenshots by the hacker indicating they had access to various internal tools designed to transfer ownership of a Tile tracker, add admin accounts, and send messages to Tile users.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

A hacker breached the systems behind Tile device trackers and stole customer data, including names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers. According to reporting from 404 Media, which was contacted by the hacker, the collected information came from a database that indicated it was intended for law enforcement to identify owners of specific Tile trackers. The stolen information did not include precise Tile location data.

Life360, which owns Tile, published a statement by CEO Chris Hulls acknowledging the hack. Hulls confirmed the data includes Tile tracker IDs and said that the hacker had attempted to extort Life360 and that the company reported it to law enforcement.

In an email to The Verge, Hulls wrote, “From what I gather, very little was accessed.” Hulls did not respond to a question about whether the company would contact affected customers. “We are continuing to work with law enforcement on the matter and have no other updates at this time,” Life360 representative Kristi Collura tells The Verge in another email.

The hacker reportedly gained access using login credentials supposedly belonging to a former Tile employee. 404 Media was provided screenshots by the hacker indicating they had access to various internal tools designed to transfer ownership of a Tile tracker, add admin accounts, and send messages to Tile users.

Read More 

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The company’s Elite earbuds hit at the right time and had their moment, but the end was inevitable. Thanks for pushing multipoint until it became the norm, Jabra. Mere hours after announcing two new pairs of earbuds, Jabra parent company GN revealed that the Elite 10 Gen 2 and Elite 8 Active Gen 2 will mark the end of its consumer earbud business. That’s all she wrote for the long-running Elite series after years of quality products.
The decision seems somewhat abrupt; earlier this month, Jabra invited select press on an “all-expenses-paid media trip” to its Copenhagen headquarters. (The Verge did not attend.) Now, just a couple weeks later, GN is acknowledging that “markets have changed” and trying to compete with Apple, Samsung, Sony, and countless other earbud brands is no longer worth the cost.
“The investment required for future innovation and growth in this very competitive space is deemed unjustified,” GN wrote in its press release. It doesn’t get much more blunt than that. There’s just more money to be made in enterprise hardware and hearing aid tech.
I’m sad to see Jabra bowing out. I was looking forward to testing out the company’s new LE Audio charging case, which can transmit audio from other devices like treadmills or in-flight entertainment to the earbuds. That excitement has already dampened now that the end is in sight — even if GN says it’ll continue to support existing Jabra hardware for several years.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
For several years, Jabra was the default pick if you wanted an AirPods alternative.

But I can also concede that Jabra’s best days in the consumer market have been behind it for some time now. In the early stages of true wireless earbuds, when many products were plagued by audio dropouts and other annoyances, the company carved out a solid reputation for itself. The Elite series became the de facto recommendation for those seeking an alternative to Apple’s AirPods. I used the same review headline twice in a row in praise of their quality. For a company that had previously been best known for dorky Bluetooth earpieces, it was an impressive feat.
The peak for Jabra was really in that Elite 65t / 75t era between 2018 and 2020, when heavyweights like Sony and Samsung were still finding their footing with true wireless buds and before a raft of other competition got into the ring. This was also when the company began including a feature — multipoint Bluetooth connectivity — that took bigger players ages to implement in their own buds.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Jabra ultimately couldn’t compete where it matters most anymore.

Multipoint allows you to pair with two devices at the same time, so you can be listening to music on your laptop and then seamlessly take a call on your phone. We’ve finally reached a point where this feature has (mostly) become the status quo now that Sony, Google, Sennheiser, and others are offering it. Technics’ AZ80 earbuds even let you pair with three devices at once. The big multipoint holdout remains AirPods, but Apple would tell you that its automatic switching between iPhones, iPads, and Macs is a better solution anyhow.
Jabra got other things right, too. I always liked its mobile app. Sure, it was stuffed to the gills with features that some people probably didn’t even know were there — like white noise and nature soundscapes — but it always worked reliably when it came to adjusting EQ or updating the earbuds’ firmware.
But Jabra being surpassed by its much bigger rivals was inevitable. The company reached a point where it just couldn’t hang anymore in crucial areas like sound quality, noise cancellation, and so on. We’re increasingly seeing Apple, Samsung, and Google save the best ecosystem tricks for their own earbuds, which didn’t help matters. And more recently, the Elite lineup got a little too bloated and started trending toward quantity over quality. The best thing I can say about last year’s Elite 10 earbuds is that they’re extremely comfortable. But they never stood much of a chance at replacing my current favorites.
It’s a shame to see the company go, but it’s walking away from a market that’s never been more competitive across every pricing tier. So much so that GN just doesn’t see the point anymore.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The company’s Elite earbuds hit at the right time and had their moment, but the end was inevitable. Thanks for pushing multipoint until it became the norm, Jabra.

Mere hours after announcing two new pairs of earbuds, Jabra parent company GN revealed that the Elite 10 Gen 2 and Elite 8 Active Gen 2 will mark the end of its consumer earbud business. That’s all she wrote for the long-running Elite series after years of quality products.

The decision seems somewhat abrupt; earlier this month, Jabra invited select press on an “all-expenses-paid media trip” to its Copenhagen headquarters. (The Verge did not attend.) Now, just a couple weeks later, GN is acknowledging that “markets have changed” and trying to compete with Apple, Samsung, Sony, and countless other earbud brands is no longer worth the cost.

“The investment required for future innovation and growth in this very competitive space is deemed unjustified,” GN wrote in its press release. It doesn’t get much more blunt than that. There’s just more money to be made in enterprise hardware and hearing aid tech.

I’m sad to see Jabra bowing out. I was looking forward to testing out the company’s new LE Audio charging case, which can transmit audio from other devices like treadmills or in-flight entertainment to the earbuds. That excitement has already dampened now that the end is in sight — even if GN says it’ll continue to support existing Jabra hardware for several years.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
For several years, Jabra was the default pick if you wanted an AirPods alternative.

But I can also concede that Jabra’s best days in the consumer market have been behind it for some time now. In the early stages of true wireless earbuds, when many products were plagued by audio dropouts and other annoyances, the company carved out a solid reputation for itself. The Elite series became the de facto recommendation for those seeking an alternative to Apple’s AirPods. I used the same review headline twice in a row in praise of their quality. For a company that had previously been best known for dorky Bluetooth earpieces, it was an impressive feat.

The peak for Jabra was really in that Elite 65t / 75t era between 2018 and 2020, when heavyweights like Sony and Samsung were still finding their footing with true wireless buds and before a raft of other competition got into the ring. This was also when the company began including a feature — multipoint Bluetooth connectivity — that took bigger players ages to implement in their own buds.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Jabra ultimately couldn’t compete where it matters most anymore.

Multipoint allows you to pair with two devices at the same time, so you can be listening to music on your laptop and then seamlessly take a call on your phone. We’ve finally reached a point where this feature has (mostly) become the status quo now that Sony, Google, Sennheiser, and others are offering it. Technics’ AZ80 earbuds even let you pair with three devices at once. The big multipoint holdout remains AirPods, but Apple would tell you that its automatic switching between iPhones, iPads, and Macs is a better solution anyhow.

Jabra got other things right, too. I always liked its mobile app. Sure, it was stuffed to the gills with features that some people probably didn’t even know were there — like white noise and nature soundscapes — but it always worked reliably when it came to adjusting EQ or updating the earbuds’ firmware.

But Jabra being surpassed by its much bigger rivals was inevitable. The company reached a point where it just couldn’t hang anymore in crucial areas like sound quality, noise cancellation, and so on. We’re increasingly seeing Apple, Samsung, and Google save the best ecosystem tricks for their own earbuds, which didn’t help matters. And more recently, the Elite lineup got a little too bloated and started trending toward quantity over quality. The best thing I can say about last year’s Elite 10 earbuds is that they’re extremely comfortable. But they never stood much of a chance at replacing my current favorites.

It’s a shame to see the company go, but it’s walking away from a market that’s never been more competitive across every pricing tier. So much so that GN just doesn’t see the point anymore.

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Image: Cartoon Network

As part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s big plan to double down on previously established IP, the studio has ordered a slate of new projects spun off from the worlds of Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
Timed to Warner Bros.’ presentation at this year’s Annecy Festival, Cartoon Network Studios announced today that it has greenlit a number of new projects including an Adventure Time film as well as series spun off from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and Regular Show. Variety reports that Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar, Over the Garden Wall’s Patrick McHale, and Adventure Time showrunner Adam Muto are all attached as members of the new film’s creative team.
In addition to the movie, Cartoon Network Studios is also producing Adventure Time: Side Quests and Adventure Time: Heyo BMO, two shows aimed at younger viewers that will bring back a number of the original show’s classic characters, like Finn the Human and the Ice King.
Cartoon Network Studios seems to be especially keen on courting the preschool audience, as it has also tapped Craig McCracken to revive the Foster’s Home IP with Foster’s Funtime for Imaginary Friends — a show about young imaginary friends learning the ins and outs of their whimsical world. And while the studio has yet to announce any details, J.G. Quintel is currently working on a new Regular Show project that may bring back a number of characters from the original show.

Image: Cartoon Network

As part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s big plan to double down on previously established IP, the studio has ordered a slate of new projects spun off from the worlds of Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.

Timed to Warner Bros.’ presentation at this year’s Annecy Festival, Cartoon Network Studios announced today that it has greenlit a number of new projects including an Adventure Time film as well as series spun off from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and Regular Show. Variety reports that Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar, Over the Garden Wall’s Patrick McHale, and Adventure Time showrunner Adam Muto are all attached as members of the new film’s creative team.

In addition to the movie, Cartoon Network Studios is also producing Adventure Time: Side Quests and Adventure Time: Heyo BMO, two shows aimed at younger viewers that will bring back a number of the original show’s classic characters, like Finn the Human and the Ice King.

Cartoon Network Studios seems to be especially keen on courting the preschool audience, as it has also tapped Craig McCracken to revive the Foster’s Home IP with Foster’s Funtime for Imaginary Friends — a show about young imaginary friends learning the ins and outs of their whimsical world. And while the studio has yet to announce any details, J.G. Quintel is currently working on a new Regular Show project that may bring back a number of characters from the original show.

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Image: Epic Games

It’s sad but true: Metallica is coming to Fortnite. Epic just announced that the group will be featured in the game’s next concert. The news is part of a larger musical collaboration between Fortnite and the heavy metal band.
First up, the concert itself. It’s called “Metallica: Fuel Fire Fury,” and players can check it out during a few windows later this month: June 22nd at 2PM, 5PM, and 11PM ET and June 23rd at 10AM, 2PM, and 5PM ET. There aren’t many details on what the virtual show will entail, but it’ll be the latest in a line of in-game concerts from the likes of Eminem, Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and Marshmello.
Now that Fortnite is more than a battle royale (though that remains the most popular mode), Epic is spreading the Metallica experience across the ecosystem. The band will be the featured act in the music game Fortnite Festival starting on June 13th, taking over for Billie Eilish, and there will be a new “Thrash Mountain” track in Rocket Racing. Not only are all four members of Metallica going to be featured in the game but there will also be Lego versions of them as well.

Image: Epic Games

Fortnite’s battle royale is currently in the midst of a postapocalyptic season reminiscent of Mad Max, complete with a wasteland biome and vehicular combat. Lego Fortnite, meanwhile, just got a big update that introduced two new difficulty mode: cozy and expert.

Image: Epic Games

It’s sad but true: Metallica is coming to Fortnite. Epic just announced that the group will be featured in the game’s next concert. The news is part of a larger musical collaboration between Fortnite and the heavy metal band.

First up, the concert itself. It’s called “Metallica: Fuel Fire Fury,” and players can check it out during a few windows later this month: June 22nd at 2PM, 5PM, and 11PM ET and June 23rd at 10AM, 2PM, and 5PM ET. There aren’t many details on what the virtual show will entail, but it’ll be the latest in a line of in-game concerts from the likes of Eminem, Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and Marshmello.

Now that Fortnite is more than a battle royale (though that remains the most popular mode), Epic is spreading the Metallica experience across the ecosystem. The band will be the featured act in the music game Fortnite Festival starting on June 13th, taking over for Billie Eilish, and there will be a new “Thrash Mountain” track in Rocket Racing. Not only are all four members of Metallica going to be featured in the game but there will also be Lego versions of them as well.

Image: Epic Games

Fortnite’s battle royale is currently in the midst of a postapocalyptic season reminiscent of Mad Max, complete with a wasteland biome and vehicular combat. Lego Fortnite, meanwhile, just got a big update that introduced two new difficulty mode: cozy and expert.

Read More 

Image: The Verge

Artificial intelligence has become this year’s wonder technology. But because it comes in a lot of different flavors from a lot of different companies, it can be really confusing. You’ve not only got the ChatGPT bot created by OpenAI, but you’ve got the big three — Google, Apple, and Microsoft — cooking up their own versions.
Google’s latest attempt is called Gemini, and it’s no less confusing than the others.

When I first started researching Gemini, I did a Google search for “versions of Google Gemini.” On top of the search, I got an AI-generated summary that started:
“Google Gemini has three versions: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. Ultra is the largest model and is designed for complex tasks, while Pro is the best model for scaling across a wide range of tasks, and Nano is the most efficient model for on-device tasks.”
Okay, good enough. But it’s not the complete story.
What is Gemini?
Gemini is the third zodiac sign, associated with the twins Castor and Pollux from Greek mythology.
Okay, sorry. I couldn’t resist. Gemini is a chatbot created by Google that has replaced its previous chatbot named Bard. It’s based on something called a large language model (or LLM), also called Gemini, which was developed by DeepMind, a part of Google.

Screenshot: Google
Confusingly, Gemini is both a chatbox and an LLM.

So Gemini is both a chatbox and an LLM? How many types of Gemini are there?
How much time do you have? Seriously, though, we’re going to limit ourselves to the types of Gemini that you may encounter because the number of iterations feel endless.
Originally, when it was introduced in December 2023, Gemini offered three different versions (known as models): Nano as a lightweight Android version, Pro for everyday wear, and Ultra for heavyweight business / enterprise usage.
Then on May 14th, during its I/O 2024 event, Google introduced Gemini 1.5 Pro, the first in what the company called a “mid-sized multimodal model.” According to Google, the new version of Pro is about as powerful as the previous Ultra version and is meant to enhance existing apps and create new ones for day-to-day uses.
Hold on. Multimodal?
In other words, it can accept prompts in all different modes of communication: text, images, audio, and video.
So that’s it for the models, right?
Well, not quite. There’s also Gemini 1.5 Flash, which is a faster version of Gemini for developers who will be able to use it in specific applications. In other words, unless you’re a developer, it’s not something you will be working with.
So, just to reiterate, we now have four Gemini models for developers to work with: Ultra, Pro, Flash, and Nano. (We’ll tell you how you can play with it yourself in a moment.)
I watched the Google event, and they kept talking about 1 million tokens, 2 million tokens. What was that all about?
That’s what you get for watching an event that’s meant more for developers than for everyday people like us. But it’s really not all that difficult.
Tokens are the elements of words that are used to train AI models such as Gemini. The more tokens an AI model is capable of, the more info you can feed the AI and the better it will understand what you need and what it can give you.
Okay, back to Gemini 1.5 Pro. What can I do with it?
Well, if you’re a developer, you can use it to add to or create a bunch of new apps. Otherwise, Google is adding it to a lot of its existing apps and creating new ones.
Like?
Well, just as an example, let’s start with Google Photos. A new feature expected this summer, called Ask Photos, will let you search using more complex queries. Instead of just finding all the photos of your grandmother, for example, you should be able to ask it to “Find all the photos of my grandmother through the years that show her working on her carpentry projects.”
There’s also the existing Lens app, which uses both text and photos to help you identify and research stuff. Lens will now be able to find info using videos as well. Google’s demonstrated it by taking a video of a misbehaving record player and using a video to find out why the tonearm wasn’t contacting the record.
You know that sidebar in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail? The one where you can now access various other Google apps? Well, it’s going to be taken over by Gemini, which will be used to unify — or, at least, to connect — a variety of Google apps so that you’ll be able to, say, easily reference a Google Doc in an email or visa versa. It should be rolling out to subscribers next month.

Screenshot: Google
AI Overviews explaining AI Overviews.

Even Google’s basic search has been affected: AI Overviews now lead off your search results, giving you an AI-generated summary of what Google thinks you’re looking for. (Although there’s been a lot of pushback on that and quite a few users looking to get rid of it.)
Those are existing apps. How about new ones?
Lots of them. Currently, some include:
Project Astra, which is essentially Google Assistant with the added ability to see (via your phone’s camera) and respond to, and with, spoken language. This is still in its early days, so you probably won’t see it for a while.
LearnLM, which will help students find answers to their questions using educational sources; according to the company, it’s already been built into some products and is being introduced to educators.
Veo, a “generative AI video model.” Generative as in it will generate 1080p videos that you ask it to create. You want a video of a cat wearing a nightgown and a top hat jumping over the Moon? Veos is what you want to use. Well, when you can — like Project Astra, it’s still being tested and won’t be available to the general public for a while.
This all sounds interesting. How can I sign up? And is it free?
You can start working with the Gemini 1.0 chatbot right now and right here. However, if you want to play with Gemini 1.5 Pro — which is faster and gives you more capabilities — you’ll need to subscribe to Gemini Advanced, which will cost $20 a month after a two-month trial. (Gemini Advanced is considered part of a Google One subscription, so you’ll also get 2TB of data storage and other Google One benefits.)
If you’re a business using Google Workspace and you want to try the more sophisticated levels of the AI (also starting at $20 a month), you can find more information here.
Anything else I need to know?
Just the usual cautions. Like all AI applications, Gemini’s answers can be iffy — in other words, downright wrong. The tech is definitely in its early stages, and so while it can be a useful tool, you should also check any data you get. It’s gotten so that wrong information generated by AI engines has gotten its own name: hallucinations, because by accessing wrong information, the AIs are creating their own reality. So, buyer beware.

Screenshot: Google
It’s not a bad idea to be cautious about Gemini’s answers.

That being said, it looks like AIs are going to be with us for a long time. It’s not a bad idea to do some hands-on in order to become familiar with them and how they work. Besides ChatGPT and Gemini, there are Microsoft’s upcoming CoPilot Plus PCs, which will come with built in AI-capable hardware, not to mention Apple’s just-announced and upcoming suite of features called Apple Intelligence. So depending on your favorite operating system, not to mention your level of curiosity, you can experiment with a variety of AI chatbots, enhanced apps, and other features.

Image: The Verge

Artificial intelligence has become this year’s wonder technology. But because it comes in a lot of different flavors from a lot of different companies, it can be really confusing. You’ve not only got the ChatGPT bot created by OpenAI, but you’ve got the big three — Google, Apple, and Microsoft — cooking up their own versions.

Google’s latest attempt is called Gemini, and it’s no less confusing than the others.

When I first started researching Gemini, I did a Google search for “versions of Google Gemini.” On top of the search, I got an AI-generated summary that started:

“Google Gemini has three versions: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. Ultra is the largest model and is designed for complex tasks, while Pro is the best model for scaling across a wide range of tasks, and Nano is the most efficient model for on-device tasks.”

Okay, good enough. But it’s not the complete story.

What is Gemini?

Gemini is the third zodiac sign, associated with the twins Castor and Pollux from Greek mythology.

Okay, sorry. I couldn’t resist. Gemini is a chatbot created by Google that has replaced its previous chatbot named Bard. It’s based on something called a large language model (or LLM), also called Gemini, which was developed by DeepMind, a part of Google.

Screenshot: Google
Confusingly, Gemini is both a chatbox and an LLM.

So Gemini is both a chatbox and an LLM? How many types of Gemini are there?

How much time do you have? Seriously, though, we’re going to limit ourselves to the types of Gemini that you may encounter because the number of iterations feel endless.

Originally, when it was introduced in December 2023, Gemini offered three different versions (known as models): Nano as a lightweight Android version, Pro for everyday wear, and Ultra for heavyweight business / enterprise usage.

Then on May 14th, during its I/O 2024 event, Google introduced Gemini 1.5 Pro, the first in what the company called a “mid-sized multimodal model.” According to Google, the new version of Pro is about as powerful as the previous Ultra version and is meant to enhance existing apps and create new ones for day-to-day uses.

Hold on. Multimodal?

In other words, it can accept prompts in all different modes of communication: text, images, audio, and video.

So that’s it for the models, right?

Well, not quite. There’s also Gemini 1.5 Flash, which is a faster version of Gemini for developers who will be able to use it in specific applications. In other words, unless you’re a developer, it’s not something you will be working with.

So, just to reiterate, we now have four Gemini models for developers to work with: Ultra, Pro, Flash, and Nano. (We’ll tell you how you can play with it yourself in a moment.)

I watched the Google event, and they kept talking about 1 million tokens, 2 million tokens. What was that all about?

That’s what you get for watching an event that’s meant more for developers than for everyday people like us. But it’s really not all that difficult.

Tokens are the elements of words that are used to train AI models such as Gemini. The more tokens an AI model is capable of, the more info you can feed the AI and the better it will understand what you need and what it can give you.

Okay, back to Gemini 1.5 Pro. What can I do with it?

Well, if you’re a developer, you can use it to add to or create a bunch of new apps. Otherwise, Google is adding it to a lot of its existing apps and creating new ones.

Like?

Well, just as an example, let’s start with Google Photos. A new feature expected this summer, called Ask Photos, will let you search using more complex queries. Instead of just finding all the photos of your grandmother, for example, you should be able to ask it to “Find all the photos of my grandmother through the years that show her working on her carpentry projects.”

There’s also the existing Lens app, which uses both text and photos to help you identify and research stuff. Lens will now be able to find info using videos as well. Google’s demonstrated it by taking a video of a misbehaving record player and using a video to find out why the tonearm wasn’t contacting the record.

You know that sidebar in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail? The one where you can now access various other Google apps? Well, it’s going to be taken over by Gemini, which will be used to unify — or, at least, to connect — a variety of Google apps so that you’ll be able to, say, easily reference a Google Doc in an email or visa versa. It should be rolling out to subscribers next month.

Screenshot: Google
AI Overviews explaining AI Overviews.

Even Google’s basic search has been affected: AI Overviews now lead off your search results, giving you an AI-generated summary of what Google thinks you’re looking for. (Although there’s been a lot of pushback on that and quite a few users looking to get rid of it.)

Those are existing apps. How about new ones?

Lots of them. Currently, some include:

Project Astra, which is essentially Google Assistant with the added ability to see (via your phone’s camera) and respond to, and with, spoken language. This is still in its early days, so you probably won’t see it for a while.

LearnLM, which will help students find answers to their questions using educational sources; according to the company, it’s already been built into some products and is being introduced to educators.

Veo, a “generative AI video model.” Generative as in it will generate 1080p videos that you ask it to create. You want a video of a cat wearing a nightgown and a top hat jumping over the Moon? Veos is what you want to use. Well, when you can — like Project Astra, it’s still being tested and won’t be available to the general public for a while.

This all sounds interesting. How can I sign up? And is it free?

You can start working with the Gemini 1.0 chatbot right now and right here. However, if you want to play with Gemini 1.5 Pro — which is faster and gives you more capabilities — you’ll need to subscribe to Gemini Advanced, which will cost $20 a month after a two-month trial. (Gemini Advanced is considered part of a Google One subscription, so you’ll also get 2TB of data storage and other Google One benefits.)

If you’re a business using Google Workspace and you want to try the more sophisticated levels of the AI (also starting at $20 a month), you can find more information here.

Anything else I need to know?

Just the usual cautions. Like all AI applications, Gemini’s answers can be iffy — in other words, downright wrong. The tech is definitely in its early stages, and so while it can be a useful tool, you should also check any data you get. It’s gotten so that wrong information generated by AI engines has gotten its own name: hallucinations, because by accessing wrong information, the AIs are creating their own reality. So, buyer beware.

Screenshot: Google
It’s not a bad idea to be cautious about Gemini’s answers.

That being said, it looks like AIs are going to be with us for a long time. It’s not a bad idea to do some hands-on in order to become familiar with them and how they work. Besides ChatGPT and Gemini, there are Microsoft’s upcoming CoPilot Plus PCs, which will come with built in AI-capable hardware, not to mention Apple’s just-announced and upcoming suite of features called Apple Intelligence. So depending on your favorite operating system, not to mention your level of curiosity, you can experiment with a variety of AI chatbots, enhanced apps, and other features.

Read More