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Image: Santa Monica Studio

Ragnarök is nigh — that is, if you’ve got a PC capable of handling it. During its summer State of Play event, Sony announced that God of War Ragnarök is coming to PC on September 19th. The news was accompanied by a brand-new trailer including the info that the game is now available for preorder.
It’s been just over a year since God of War Ragnarök released, adding another emotional beat to the story of Kratos, the god of war, and his son, Atreus. When we last left the pair in 2018’s God of War, the two had just returned from an epic journey to disperse Atreus’ mother’s ashes from the highest peak in the nine realms. In Ragnarök, Kratos and Atreus’ lives have been upended by the omens heralding the destruction of the realms, an event that is connected to Atreus’ destiny. The two go on a journey — sometimes separate, sometimes together — to figure out that destiny and to put a stop to the god Odin’s evil plans.
In an accompanying blog post and announce video, Sony says God of War Ragnarök will require a PlayStation Network account. It is not clear why and comes weeks after the controversy surrounding a similar requirement for Helldivers 2. Sony eventually backed down and reversed the PSN requirement for Helldivers 2 after blistering player reaction.
Ragnarök is coming to PC at a time when gaming publishers are considering branching out beyond the walled gardens of console exclusivity to reach new players. This is one of the fastest PC ports for a first-party single-player Sony game, releasing a little more than an year after its console launch. Other Sony exclusives like The Last Of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima remained on console for several years before seeing their own PC ports.
The timing of this announcement is also somewhat ironic, however, as earlier this week, PlayStation’s new CEO, Hermen Hulst, commented that while multiplayer games will see day and date releases on PC, the strategy for single-player games is to entice players to experience them on the PlayStation console.
And there’s an interesting if unfortunate merit to that strategy, as Sony’s single-player PC ports have a reputation of being quite poor at launch. Hopefully, though, with the full might of Ragnarök behind him, the God of War will avoid such issues.
Update May 30th: Article updated with PSN requirement information.

Image: Santa Monica Studio

Ragnarök is nigh — that is, if you’ve got a PC capable of handling it. During its summer State of Play event, Sony announced that God of War Ragnarök is coming to PC on September 19th. The news was accompanied by a brand-new trailer including the info that the game is now available for preorder.

It’s been just over a year since God of War Ragnarök released, adding another emotional beat to the story of Kratos, the god of war, and his son, Atreus. When we last left the pair in 2018’s God of War, the two had just returned from an epic journey to disperse Atreus’ mother’s ashes from the highest peak in the nine realms. In Ragnarök, Kratos and Atreus’ lives have been upended by the omens heralding the destruction of the realms, an event that is connected to Atreus’ destiny. The two go on a journey — sometimes separate, sometimes together — to figure out that destiny and to put a stop to the god Odin’s evil plans.

In an accompanying blog post and announce video, Sony says God of War Ragnarök will require a PlayStation Network account. It is not clear why and comes weeks after the controversy surrounding a similar requirement for Helldivers 2. Sony eventually backed down and reversed the PSN requirement for Helldivers 2 after blistering player reaction.

Ragnarök is coming to PC at a time when gaming publishers are considering branching out beyond the walled gardens of console exclusivity to reach new players. This is one of the fastest PC ports for a first-party single-player Sony game, releasing a little more than an year after its console launch. Other Sony exclusives like The Last Of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima remained on console for several years before seeing their own PC ports.

The timing of this announcement is also somewhat ironic, however, as earlier this week, PlayStation’s new CEO, Hermen Hulst, commented that while multiplayer games will see day and date releases on PC, the strategy for single-player games is to entice players to experience them on the PlayStation console.

And there’s an interesting if unfortunate merit to that strategy, as Sony’s single-player PC ports have a reputation of being quite poor at launch. Hopefully, though, with the full might of Ragnarök behind him, the God of War will avoid such issues.

Update May 30th: Article updated with PSN requirement information.

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The Pixel Tablet can now be a video intercom for your Nest doorbell. | Image: Google

The Google Pixel Tablet is getting an update that will make it slightly more useful as a smart home device. In a blog post published today, Google said the $400 Pixel Tablet can now pull up a livestream from a Nest video doorbell to show who’s at the front door and give you the option to talk to them or send a quick response.
The feature — which was first teased this summer — works with all Nest doorbells, including the first-gen and second-gen wired versions and the Nest Doorbell battery, and is part of the Google Home Public Preview. The tablet needs to be locked and docked on its charging speaker dock to show a full screen view.

Considering Google Nest Hub smart displays have had the ability to announce visitors and pull up a live view from your doorbell for years, its omission when the Pixel Tablet launched last year was baffling. But it was in line with the way Google presented its new tablet for the home as decidedly not a smart display.

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The Nest Doorbell now works with the Pixel Tablet.

Google made a lot of baffling choices with this Pixel Tablet, including not making its speaker charging dock a Nest smart speaker, not putting a Thread radio in it, and not making it a Matter controller — features of all its current smart displays.
I was also sad that Google didn’t give the 11-inch tablet the option of an always-on smart home control display, such as Amazon has done with the Echo Hub. Instead, we got a shortcut to a “home panel” with a fiddly UI.
But with this new update, at least some of that missing functionality is here. And, who knows? Maybe the update is an indication that a second generation of the Pixel Tablet is in the works, and perhaps it will be everything the first-gen isn’t, at least when it comes to the smart home.

The Pixel Tablet can now be a video intercom for your Nest doorbell. | Image: Google

The Google Pixel Tablet is getting an update that will make it slightly more useful as a smart home device. In a blog post published today, Google said the $400 Pixel Tablet can now pull up a livestream from a Nest video doorbell to show who’s at the front door and give you the option to talk to them or send a quick response.

The feature — which was first teased this summer — works with all Nest doorbells, including the first-gen and second-gen wired versions and the Nest Doorbell battery, and is part of the Google Home Public Preview. The tablet needs to be locked and docked on its charging speaker dock to show a full screen view.

Considering Google Nest Hub smart displays have had the ability to announce visitors and pull up a live view from your doorbell for years, its omission when the Pixel Tablet launched last year was baffling. But it was in line with the way Google presented its new tablet for the home as decidedly not a smart display.

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The Nest Doorbell now works with the Pixel Tablet.

Google made a lot of baffling choices with this Pixel Tablet, including not making its speaker charging dock a Nest smart speaker, not putting a Thread radio in it, and not making it a Matter controller — features of all its current smart displays.

I was also sad that Google didn’t give the 11-inch tablet the option of an always-on smart home control display, such as Amazon has done with the Echo Hub. Instead, we got a shortcut to a “home panel” with a fiddly UI.

But with this new update, at least some of that missing functionality is here. And, who knows? Maybe the update is an indication that a second generation of the Pixel Tablet is in the works, and perhaps it will be everything the first-gen isn’t, at least when it comes to the smart home.

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The stick layout almost reminds me a bit of the Steam Deck. | Image: Scuf

Corsair-owned Scuf is best known for its vividly colored, outlandishly priced esports controllers. But its new $99.99 mobile phone controller looks built more for the normies.
The Nomad is a clamp-style iPhone controller akin to a Backbone or Razer Kishi, though it features full-size, drift-free Hall effect sticks (with swappable stick toppers) that are symmetrical on the top half of the pad. Around back are two customizable rear paddles amidst the controller’s contoured and rubberized grips. If you squint, it looks a bit like a thick-boy version of the Backbone One, though the Nomad is compatible with more phone cases since it relies on Bluetooth for connectivity instead of a protruding USB-C or Lightning plug.

Scuf’s first foray into the world of phone controllers is compatible with competitive mobile games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Warzone Mobile, and cloud / remote play streaming services like the PlayStation Remote Play app. The accompanying Scuf app for launching games, capturing and sharing gameplay recordings, and tweaking controls does not require paid subscriptions.

To me, as an original Backbone One owner, the Nomad and its larger Hall effect sticks, contoured grips, and Xbox-like D-pad seem intriguing, though Bluetooth has higher latency than the Backbone’s direct connection. And it’s yet another device to keep charged, albeit one with a claimed 16 hours of battery life.
The Nomad is available to preorder now in black or white and estimated to arrive July 8th.

The stick layout almost reminds me a bit of the Steam Deck. | Image: Scuf

Corsair-owned Scuf is best known for its vividly colored, outlandishly priced esports controllers. But its new $99.99 mobile phone controller looks built more for the normies.

The Nomad is a clamp-style iPhone controller akin to a Backbone or Razer Kishi, though it features full-size, drift-free Hall effect sticks (with swappable stick toppers) that are symmetrical on the top half of the pad. Around back are two customizable rear paddles amidst the controller’s contoured and rubberized grips. If you squint, it looks a bit like a thick-boy version of the Backbone One, though the Nomad is compatible with more phone cases since it relies on Bluetooth for connectivity instead of a protruding USB-C or Lightning plug.

Scuf’s first foray into the world of phone controllers is compatible with competitive mobile games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Warzone Mobile, and cloud / remote play streaming services like the PlayStation Remote Play app. The accompanying Scuf app for launching games, capturing and sharing gameplay recordings, and tweaking controls does not require paid subscriptions.

To me, as an original Backbone One owner, the Nomad and its larger Hall effect sticks, contoured grips, and Xbox-like D-pad seem intriguing, though Bluetooth has higher latency than the Backbone’s direct connection. And it’s yet another device to keep charged, albeit one with a claimed 16 hours of battery life.

The Nomad is available to preorder now in black or white and estimated to arrive July 8th.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

As May draws to a close, Microsoft is squeezing another Windows 11 Canary build across the line that comes with a fresh new connected Android phone feature: Suggested Replies. Now when someone texts to ask how you’re doing, you can just click one of several replies like “Not bad, you?” or “Fine, you?” so you don’t have to reach for your phone or your computer keyboard as you click through the web.
The feature is part of Phone Link, which lets you connect your mobile phone to Windows so you can send and receive texts, browse recent photos, and take phone calls on your PC. Suggested Replies works by using Microsoft’s cloud-based intelligent suggestion model to figure out three replies relevant to the context of the conversation. Windows Insiders who install Canary Preview Build 26227 and receive Phone Link version 1.24051.98 (or newer) in a rollout will find the feature enabled by default.

Image: Microsoft
Suggested Replies uses AI to generate message options.

This Canary build also comes with a notable change for accessing Copilot on your PC. Microsoft is retiring the Windows Key + C keyboard in anticipation of upcoming Copilot Plus PCs that have the new Copilot key. For existing PCs, now the shortcut is Windows Key + the number corresponding to the Copilot app’s taskbar position.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

As May draws to a close, Microsoft is squeezing another Windows 11 Canary build across the line that comes with a fresh new connected Android phone feature: Suggested Replies. Now when someone texts to ask how you’re doing, you can just click one of several replies like “Not bad, you?” or “Fine, you?” so you don’t have to reach for your phone or your computer keyboard as you click through the web.

The feature is part of Phone Link, which lets you connect your mobile phone to Windows so you can send and receive texts, browse recent photos, and take phone calls on your PC. Suggested Replies works by using Microsoft’s cloud-based intelligent suggestion model to figure out three replies relevant to the context of the conversation. Windows Insiders who install Canary Preview Build 26227 and receive Phone Link version 1.24051.98 (or newer) in a rollout will find the feature enabled by default.

Image: Microsoft
Suggested Replies uses AI to generate message options.

This Canary build also comes with a notable change for accessing Copilot on your PC. Microsoft is retiring the Windows Key + C keyboard in anticipation of upcoming Copilot Plus PCs that have the new Copilot key. For existing PCs, now the shortcut is Windows Key + the number corresponding to the Copilot app’s taskbar position.

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Image: Magic Leap

Google Glass and Magic Leap were both among the biggest technology flops of the past decade — but could their underlying ideas power something worthy and new? We may find out because Google and Magic Leap now have a “multi-faceted strategic technology partnership” designed to “foster the future of the XR ecosystem with unique and innovative product offerings.”

It is not at all clear what the deal involves, but the press release does repeatedly boast about Magic Leap’s optics and manufacturing expertise — expertise that, it claims, produces “highly-precise eyepieces with incredibly high yield rates and quality at scale.” (IIRC, the company itself has never shipped a headset with an MSRP below $2,000 and never shared sales numbers, so “scale” may be relative.)
It is true that Magic Leap has spent considerable effort researching and patenting intriguing optical techniques, though, as I wrote about in 2015 for Gizmodo. And though Google reportedly downsized its own AR / VR division and lost many of its leaders, the company is clearly still interested in augmented reality glasses — it showed off a blink-and-you-missed-it prototype pair at Google I/O earlier this month.

Image: Google
The mystery glasses prototype Google briefly teased at I/O.

Many leading tech companies chasing lightweight glasses are reportedly finding their optical components are difficult to develop and expensive to produce and are merely dipping toes in the water while they figure it out — like Apple with its heavy and pricey $3,500 Vision Pro, or Meta with its Quest 3’s passthrough mode or the lightweight Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that don’t have a display at all but do have a generative AI voice assistant. (Speaking of generative AI, it’s also sucked a lot of air out of the VR / AR / XR room.)
But perhaps Magic Leap has a technology or a patent that Google thinks will help it win the race to truly smart glasses?

If so, I wouldn’t expect to find out anytime soon. Google also inked a mystery deal with Samsung and Qualcomm to produce a headset back in February 2023, and we’ve heard basically nothing about it from those companies since then — though the rumor mill suggests it might arrive by the end of 2024 and could be revealed alongside the next Galaxy Z Flip and Fold handsets.

Image: Magic Leap

Google Glass and Magic Leap were both among the biggest technology flops of the past decade — but could their underlying ideas power something worthy and new? We may find out because Google and Magic Leap now have a “multi-faceted strategic technology partnership” designed to “foster the future of the XR ecosystem with unique and innovative product offerings.”

It is not at all clear what the deal involves, but the press release does repeatedly boast about Magic Leap’s optics and manufacturing expertise — expertise that, it claims, produces “highly-precise eyepieces with incredibly high yield rates and quality at scale.” (IIRC, the company itself has never shipped a headset with an MSRP below $2,000 and never shared sales numbers, so “scale” may be relative.)

It is true that Magic Leap has spent considerable effort researching and patenting intriguing optical techniques, though, as I wrote about in 2015 for Gizmodo. And though Google reportedly downsized its own AR / VR division and lost many of its leaders, the company is clearly still interested in augmented reality glasses — it showed off a blink-and-you-missed-it prototype pair at Google I/O earlier this month.

Image: Google
The mystery glasses prototype Google briefly teased at I/O.

Many leading tech companies chasing lightweight glasses are reportedly finding their optical components are difficult to develop and expensive to produce and are merely dipping toes in the water while they figure it out — like Apple with its heavy and pricey $3,500 Vision Pro, or Meta with its Quest 3’s passthrough mode or the lightweight Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that don’t have a display at all but do have a generative AI voice assistant. (Speaking of generative AI, it’s also sucked a lot of air out of the VR / AR / XR room.)

But perhaps Magic Leap has a technology or a patent that Google thinks will help it win the race to truly smart glasses?

If so, I wouldn’t expect to find out anytime soon. Google also inked a mystery deal with Samsung and Qualcomm to produce a headset back in February 2023, and we’ve heard basically nothing about it from those companies since then — though the rumor mill suggests it might arrive by the end of 2024 and could be revealed alongside the next Galaxy Z Flip and Fold handsets.

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Photo by Justin Lane-Pool / Getty Images

A Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on all counts in a case accusing him of falsifying business records to conceal payments he made to suppress unflattering stories about him.
It’s the first time a former president has been convicted of felony charges.
In remarks shortly after the verdict, Trump called it a “disgrace” and said the trial was “rigged.”
“The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people,” Trump said. “We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man.” He also blamed the Biden administration for the trial, even though the charges were not brought by the federal government, but rather the Manhattan district attorney’s office — an independent local enforcer. The X account for Trump’s presidential campaign posted an image Thursday evening, showing him with his fist raised and the words “NEVER SURRENDER,” along with a link to his campaign site.

https://t.co/KojPKxrZl5 pic.twitter.com/0aIY8qYp79— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) May 30, 2024

Reporters in the courtroom from outlets such as CNN and The New York Times noted that Trump’s demeanor quickly changed from lighthearted to more serious when he learned a verdict had been reached.
Though historic, it’s just the first of several separate federal and state cases Trump is currently facing, all while he tries to regain his old seat at the White House. In this case, prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization reimbursed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen for hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public with a story about her and Trump having sex. Witnesses at the trial included Daniels and Cohen as well as David Pecker, the former publisher of the tabloid the National Enquirer, who helped broker the deal with Daniels.
Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. It was brought as a felony case because Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg alleges he committed the crime with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, like violating federal campaign finance laws or state election law, though he’s not directly charged with those crimes.
Trump has faced a gag order during the trial that he violated multiple times, prompting the judge to threaten him with jail time. At other times, he’s appeared more sedate, with reporters observing that he appeared to fall asleep and jerk awake.
The former president’s future legal battles include challenges over his retention of classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago bathroom and his alleged election interference through a phone call to a Georgia election official imploring them to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.
Trump will face sentencing in the Manhattan case on July 11th.

Photo by Justin Lane-Pool / Getty Images

A Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on all counts in a case accusing him of falsifying business records to conceal payments he made to suppress unflattering stories about him.

It’s the first time a former president has been convicted of felony charges.

In remarks shortly after the verdict, Trump called it a “disgrace” and said the trial was “rigged.”

“The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people,” Trump said. “We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man.” He also blamed the Biden administration for the trial, even though the charges were not brought by the federal government, but rather the Manhattan district attorney’s office — an independent local enforcer. The X account for Trump’s presidential campaign posted an image Thursday evening, showing him with his fist raised and the words “NEVER SURRENDER,” along with a link to his campaign site.

Reporters in the courtroom from outlets such as CNN and The New York Times noted that Trump’s demeanor quickly changed from lighthearted to more serious when he learned a verdict had been reached.

Though historic, it’s just the first of several separate federal and state cases Trump is currently facing, all while he tries to regain his old seat at the White House. In this case, prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization reimbursed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen for hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public with a story about her and Trump having sex. Witnesses at the trial included Daniels and Cohen as well as David Pecker, the former publisher of the tabloid the National Enquirer, who helped broker the deal with Daniels.

Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. It was brought as a felony case because Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg alleges he committed the crime with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, like violating federal campaign finance laws or state election law, though he’s not directly charged with those crimes.

Trump has faced a gag order during the trial that he violated multiple times, prompting the judge to threaten him with jail time. At other times, he’s appeared more sedate, with reporters observing that he appeared to fall asleep and jerk awake.

The former president’s future legal battles include challenges over his retention of classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago bathroom and his alleged election interference through a phone call to a Georgia election official imploring them to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.

Trump will face sentencing in the Manhattan case on July 11th.

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Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Apple is planning a big AI update for Siri, and it could give you the ability to control specific iPhone app features with your voice, according to a report from Bloomberg. The revamped Siri will reportedly arrive next year as an update to iOS 18.
As noted by Bloomberg, the update will allow Siri to analyze the activity on your phone while turning on Siri-controlled features automatically. You’ll only be able to use Siri to control features in apps made by Apple to start, but the company plans on supporting “hundreds” of commands within its apps, Bloomberg reports.

Siri will reportedly only be capable of processing one command at a time. However, Apple will eventually let Siri handle multiple tasks in a single request, such as asking Siri to summarize a recorded meeting and then send it to a friend, according to Bloomberg.
That sounds a bit like what Samsung promised when it launched Bixby in 2017, saying “anything you can do with touch, you can do with voice” inside Samsung’s apps. It’s unclear how the technology will work exactly, but a recent demo from Microsoft showed how its GPT-4o-powered Copilot assistant could watch the screen to do things like give tips on how to play Minecraft.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple will focus on handling many AI requests on-device. It could process simpler commands on the iPhone, while fetching more complex requests from the cloud. There are rumors that OpenAI has closed a deal with Apple and that Apple will promote the security of its cloud processing by using M2 Ultra chips with its Secure Enclave, telling users that data processed remotely is as secure as when it’s on their device.
This tracks with the multiple reports we’ve seen over the past few weeks. Research papers indicate Apple is getting ready to overhaul Siri, while findings from AppleInsider suggest Apple could add the ability to analyze and summarize texts in Messages. The company is also reportedly planning to bring AI transcription to Voice Memos and Notes.
Even if a new Siri isn’t expected to arrive until next year, we’re bound to get a glimpse of what Apple’s been working on during WWDC on June 10th.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Apple is planning a big AI update for Siri, and it could give you the ability to control specific iPhone app features with your voice, according to a report from Bloomberg. The revamped Siri will reportedly arrive next year as an update to iOS 18.

As noted by Bloomberg, the update will allow Siri to analyze the activity on your phone while turning on Siri-controlled features automatically. You’ll only be able to use Siri to control features in apps made by Apple to start, but the company plans on supporting “hundreds” of commands within its apps, Bloomberg reports.

Siri will reportedly only be capable of processing one command at a time. However, Apple will eventually let Siri handle multiple tasks in a single request, such as asking Siri to summarize a recorded meeting and then send it to a friend, according to Bloomberg.

That sounds a bit like what Samsung promised when it launched Bixby in 2017, saying “anything you can do with touch, you can do with voice” inside Samsung’s apps. It’s unclear how the technology will work exactly, but a recent demo from Microsoft showed how its GPT-4o-powered Copilot assistant could watch the screen to do things like give tips on how to play Minecraft.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple will focus on handling many AI requests on-device. It could process simpler commands on the iPhone, while fetching more complex requests from the cloud. There are rumors that OpenAI has closed a deal with Apple and that Apple will promote the security of its cloud processing by using M2 Ultra chips with its Secure Enclave, telling users that data processed remotely is as secure as when it’s on their device.

This tracks with the multiple reports we’ve seen over the past few weeks. Research papers indicate Apple is getting ready to overhaul Siri, while findings from AppleInsider suggest Apple could add the ability to analyze and summarize texts in Messages. The company is also reportedly planning to bring AI transcription to Voice Memos and Notes.

Even if a new Siri isn’t expected to arrive until next year, we’re bound to get a glimpse of what Apple’s been working on during WWDC on June 10th.

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Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

I’ve been waiting years for this. The first thing I do when I configure a fresh Windows 11 PC is disable “enhance pointer precision” inside the ancient Control Panel and reverse my scroll wheel using the registry editor. Soon, I’ll just be able to head into the modern-looking Windows 11 Settings interface to control both of these settings.
Windows watcher PhantomOfEarth has discovered that Microsoft is secretly working on adding these options to the Windows 11 Settings interface. The latest Canary build of Windows 11, released earlier today, includes these options in Settings, but they’re currently hidden behind a flag.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

Windows laptop users have been able to reverse the scrolling direction on a touchpad for years, but it’s always puzzled me why desktop PC users have had to resort to registry keys to change something as basic as mouse scrolling direction or rely on a third-party mouse manufacturer to supply software that would enable this. Apple has had this built into macOS for years for mice, typically set to scroll up during a down motion on a mouse wheel.
Likewise, enhance pointer precision is something that PC gamers typically disable. I prefer playing first-person shooters with this setting disabled, but you always had to dig into “additional mouse settings” or head to the dedicated mouse Control Panel with its ancient-looking UI to get to this setting.
As someone who uses their PC for gaming and regularly switches between macOS and Windows, these two mouse settings are certainly a welcome addition to Windows 11. Microsoft hasn’t officially acknowledged these settings are on the way, but given they’re just about to enter testing, I’d expect to see them inside Windows 11 for everyone later this year.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

I’ve been waiting years for this. The first thing I do when I configure a fresh Windows 11 PC is disable “enhance pointer precision” inside the ancient Control Panel and reverse my scroll wheel using the registry editor. Soon, I’ll just be able to head into the modern-looking Windows 11 Settings interface to control both of these settings.

Windows watcher PhantomOfEarth has discovered that Microsoft is secretly working on adding these options to the Windows 11 Settings interface. The latest Canary build of Windows 11, released earlier today, includes these options in Settings, but they’re currently hidden behind a flag.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

Windows laptop users have been able to reverse the scrolling direction on a touchpad for years, but it’s always puzzled me why desktop PC users have had to resort to registry keys to change something as basic as mouse scrolling direction or rely on a third-party mouse manufacturer to supply software that would enable this. Apple has had this built into macOS for years for mice, typically set to scroll up during a down motion on a mouse wheel.

Likewise, enhance pointer precision is something that PC gamers typically disable. I prefer playing first-person shooters with this setting disabled, but you always had to dig into “additional mouse settings” or head to the dedicated mouse Control Panel with its ancient-looking UI to get to this setting.

As someone who uses their PC for gaming and regularly switches between macOS and Windows, these two mouse settings are certainly a welcome addition to Windows 11. Microsoft hasn’t officially acknowledged these settings are on the way, but given they’re just about to enter testing, I’d expect to see them inside Windows 11 for everyone later this year.

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Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images

AI search platform Perplexity is launching a new feature called Pages that will generate a customizable webpage based on user prompts. The new feature feels like a one-stop shop for making a school report since Perplexity does the research and writing for you.
Pages taps Perplexity’s AI search models to find information and then creates what I can loosely call a research presentation that can be published and shared with others. In a blog post, Perplexity says it designed Pages to help educators, researchers, and “hobbyists” share their knowledge.
Users type out what their report is about or what they want to know in the prompt box. They can gear the writing more toward beginners, expert readers, or a more general audience. Perplexity searches for information, then begins writing the page by breaking down the information into sections, citing some sources, and then adding visuals. Users can make the page as detailed or concise as they want, and they can also change the images Perplexity uses. However, you can’t edit the text it generates; you have to write another prompt to fix any mistakes.
I tried out Pages ahead of time to see how it works. Pages is not geared toward people like me who already have an avenue to share our knowledge. But it doesn’t seem geared toward researchers or teachers, either. I wanted to see how it can break down complex topics and if it can help with the difficult task of presenting dense information to different audiences.
Among other topics, I asked Perplexity’s Pages to generate a page on the “convergence of quantum computing and artificial intelligence and its impact on society” across the three audience types. The main difference between audiences seems to be the jargon in the written text and the kind of website it takes data from. Each generated report pulls from different sources, including introductory blog posts like this one from IBM. It also cited Wikipedia, which drove the student report vibe home.

Screenshot: The Verge
One of the pages Perplexity generated for me.

The Perplexity-generated page did a passable job of explaining the basics of quantum computing and how AI fits into the technology. But the “research” didn’t go as deep as I could have if I were writing the presentation myself. The more advanced version didn’t even really talk about “the convergence of quantum computing and AI.” It found blog posts talking about quantum inflection points, which is when quantum technologies become more commercially viable and is not at all related to what I asked it to write about.
Then, I asked Pages to write a report about myself, mainly because the information there is easily verifiable. But it only took information from my personal website and an article about me on my high school’s website — not from other public, easily accessible sources like my author page on The Verge. It also sometimes elaborated on things that had nothing to do with me. For example, I began my journalism career during the 2008 financial crisis. Instead of talking about the pieces I wrote about mass layoffs, Perplexity explained the beginnings of the financial crisis.
Pages does the surface-level googling and writing for you, but it isn’t research. Perplexity claims that Pages will help educators develop “comprehensive” study guides for students and researchers to create detailed reports on their findings. I could not upload a research paper for it to summarize, and I couldn’t edit the text it generated, two things I believe users who want to make the most of Pages would appreciate.
I do see one potential user for Pages, and it isn’t one Perplexity called out: students rushing to put out an assignment. Pages may improve in the future. Right now, it’s a way to get easy, possibly correct surface-level information into a presentation that doesn’t really teach anything.
Pages will be available to all Perplexity users, and the company says it’s slowly rolling it out to its free, Pro, and Enterprise users.

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images

AI search platform Perplexity is launching a new feature called Pages that will generate a customizable webpage based on user prompts. The new feature feels like a one-stop shop for making a school report since Perplexity does the research and writing for you.

Pages taps Perplexity’s AI search models to find information and then creates what I can loosely call a research presentation that can be published and shared with others. In a blog post, Perplexity says it designed Pages to help educators, researchers, and “hobbyists” share their knowledge.

Users type out what their report is about or what they want to know in the prompt box. They can gear the writing more toward beginners, expert readers, or a more general audience. Perplexity searches for information, then begins writing the page by breaking down the information into sections, citing some sources, and then adding visuals. Users can make the page as detailed or concise as they want, and they can also change the images Perplexity uses. However, you can’t edit the text it generates; you have to write another prompt to fix any mistakes.

I tried out Pages ahead of time to see how it works. Pages is not geared toward people like me who already have an avenue to share our knowledge. But it doesn’t seem geared toward researchers or teachers, either. I wanted to see how it can break down complex topics and if it can help with the difficult task of presenting dense information to different audiences.

Among other topics, I asked Perplexity’s Pages to generate a page on the “convergence of quantum computing and artificial intelligence and its impact on society” across the three audience types. The main difference between audiences seems to be the jargon in the written text and the kind of website it takes data from. Each generated report pulls from different sources, including introductory blog posts like this one from IBM. It also cited Wikipedia, which drove the student report vibe home.

Screenshot: The Verge
One of the pages Perplexity generated for me.

The Perplexity-generated page did a passable job of explaining the basics of quantum computing and how AI fits into the technology. But the “research” didn’t go as deep as I could have if I were writing the presentation myself. The more advanced version didn’t even really talk about “the convergence of quantum computing and AI.” It found blog posts talking about quantum inflection points, which is when quantum technologies become more commercially viable and is not at all related to what I asked it to write about.

Then, I asked Pages to write a report about myself, mainly because the information there is easily verifiable. But it only took information from my personal website and an article about me on my high school’s website — not from other public, easily accessible sources like my author page on The Verge. It also sometimes elaborated on things that had nothing to do with me. For example, I began my journalism career during the 2008 financial crisis. Instead of talking about the pieces I wrote about mass layoffs, Perplexity explained the beginnings of the financial crisis.

Pages does the surface-level googling and writing for you, but it isn’t research. Perplexity claims that Pages will help educators develop “comprehensive” study guides for students and researchers to create detailed reports on their findings. I could not upload a research paper for it to summarize, and I couldn’t edit the text it generated, two things I believe users who want to make the most of Pages would appreciate.

I do see one potential user for Pages, and it isn’t one Perplexity called out: students rushing to put out an assignment. Pages may improve in the future. Right now, it’s a way to get easy, possibly correct surface-level information into a presentation that doesn’t really teach anything.

Pages will be available to all Perplexity users, and the company says it’s slowly rolling it out to its free, Pro, and Enterprise users.

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Photo by Ashley Carman / The Verge

Spotify is now offering refunds to people who purchased its $90 Car Thing dashboard accessory. While the streaming company unceremoniously discontinued its first and only hardware product in 2022, just five months after its release, it recently announced plans to deactivate all remaining Car Things on December 4th, 2024. Users looking to get their money back will need to reach out to Spotify support and provide proof of purchase.
The slight concession comes after a group of Car Thing customers filed a class action lawsuit with the Southern District of New York against Spotify over their short-lived and now doomed accessories.

Car Thing was a simple external screen / remote control for the Spotify app on your phone— most attractive to drivers whose cars lack Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. While the device was fairly simple and likely a sales failure for Spotify, it found new life once it went on fire sale and crafty users took to implementing their Car Things into non-car places like home desk setups and on their keyboards.
Spotify’s slight attempt to make it up to Car Thing owners comes after a rough year that saw its music streaming service increase in price in 2023, reports of further increases coming later in 2024, and a round of layoffs that affected 17 percent of its staff. which subsequently cut off some popular music discovery tools. While a refund is better than nothing, Spotify is still making its customers jump through hoops by digging up years-old receipts (and, according to Reddit posts, breaking up the refund across multiple payments). Refunds or not, there will still be many useless hunks of e-waste left behind.

Photo by Ashley Carman / The Verge

Spotify is now offering refunds to people who purchased its $90 Car Thing dashboard accessory. While the streaming company unceremoniously discontinued its first and only hardware product in 2022, just five months after its release, it recently announced plans to deactivate all remaining Car Things on December 4th, 2024. Users looking to get their money back will need to reach out to Spotify support and provide proof of purchase.

The slight concession comes after a group of Car Thing customers filed a class action lawsuit with the Southern District of New York against Spotify over their short-lived and now doomed accessories.

Car Thing was a simple external screen / remote control for the Spotify app on your phone— most attractive to drivers whose cars lack Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. While the device was fairly simple and likely a sales failure for Spotify, it found new life once it went on fire sale and crafty users took to implementing their Car Things into non-car places like home desk setups and on their keyboards.

Spotify’s slight attempt to make it up to Car Thing owners comes after a rough year that saw its music streaming service increase in price in 2023, reports of further increases coming later in 2024, and a round of layoffs that affected 17 percent of its staff. which subsequently cut off some popular music discovery tools. While a refund is better than nothing, Spotify is still making its customers jump through hoops by digging up years-old receipts (and, according to Reddit posts, breaking up the refund across multiple payments). Refunds or not, there will still be many useless hunks of e-waste left behind.

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