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Gannett, the media company that owns hundreds of newspapers in the US, is launching a new program that adds AI-generated bullet points at the top of journalists’ stories, according to an internal memo seen by The Verge.
The AI feature, labeled “key points” on stories, uses automated technology to create summaries that appear below a headline. The bottom of articles includes a disclaimer, reading, “The Key Points at the top of this article were created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed by a journalist before publication. No other parts of the article were generated using AI.” The memo is dated May 14th and notes that participation is optional at this point.
The summaries appear to already be live on some USA Today stories online (Gannett owns USA Today papers). The AI-generated summary “aims to enhance the reporting process and elevate the audience experience,” according to the memo, which also states that the AI model that powers the tool was trained in-house over nine months.
“The document speaks for itself,” Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said in an email.
Gannett has previously experimented with AI content in incidents where the company quickly backtracked after embarrassing flubs. Last August, Gannett pulled the plug on AI-generated sports recaps after readers mocked the awkwardness of the writing. In October, Gannett staff at Reviewed, the company’s consumer products site, claimed that content that was appearing online was produced using AI. As I reported last year, the third-party marketing company that produced that work was also behind the Sports Illustrated AI controversy, where AI-generated authors were credited as writers. At the time, Gannett insisted that the product reviews were not created with AI tools.
The addition of AI-generated summaries comes as members of a local union raise concerns around proposed contract language regarding the use of AI. According to Digiday, unionized workers at the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, New York, were alarmed to see a clause added to their contract during bargaining that read: “Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to generate news content.”
AI-generated summaries on news articles mirror what’s happening to search platforms: at the Google I/O developer conference this week, the tech giant unveiled all the ways AI would become part of Search, including adding AI answers at the top of results pages. Even TikTok is experimenting with AI-generated “overviews” in search results pages. The prospect of elevating AI answers — that are trained on human-created content — above actual websites and links could be detrimental for publishers and their traffic, as users drop off after reading AI summaries instead of continuing on to the source material.
Anton didn’t respond to The Verge’s questions about whether AI summaries could disincentivize readers from reading the actual story.

Photo: Getty Images

Gannett, the media company that owns hundreds of newspapers in the US, is launching a new program that adds AI-generated bullet points at the top of journalists’ stories, according to an internal memo seen by The Verge.

The AI feature, labeled “key points” on stories, uses automated technology to create summaries that appear below a headline. The bottom of articles includes a disclaimer, reading, “The Key Points at the top of this article were created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed by a journalist before publication. No other parts of the article were generated using AI.” The memo is dated May 14th and notes that participation is optional at this point.

The summaries appear to already be live on some USA Today stories online (Gannett owns USA Today papers). The AI-generated summary “aims to enhance the reporting process and elevate the audience experience,” according to the memo, which also states that the AI model that powers the tool was trained in-house over nine months.

“The document speaks for itself,” Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said in an email.

Gannett has previously experimented with AI content in incidents where the company quickly backtracked after embarrassing flubs. Last August, Gannett pulled the plug on AI-generated sports recaps after readers mocked the awkwardness of the writing. In October, Gannett staff at Reviewed, the company’s consumer products site, claimed that content that was appearing online was produced using AI. As I reported last year, the third-party marketing company that produced that work was also behind the Sports Illustrated AI controversy, where AI-generated authors were credited as writers. At the time, Gannett insisted that the product reviews were not created with AI tools.

The addition of AI-generated summaries comes as members of a local union raise concerns around proposed contract language regarding the use of AI. According to Digiday, unionized workers at the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, New York, were alarmed to see a clause added to their contract during bargaining that read: “Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to generate news content.”

AI-generated summaries on news articles mirror what’s happening to search platforms: at the Google I/O developer conference this week, the tech giant unveiled all the ways AI would become part of Search, including adding AI answers at the top of results pages. Even TikTok is experimenting with AI-generated “overviews” in search results pages. The prospect of elevating AI answers — that are trained on human-created content — above actual websites and links could be detrimental for publishers and their traffic, as users drop off after reading AI summaries instead of continuing on to the source material.

Anton didn’t respond to The Verge’s questions about whether AI summaries could disincentivize readers from reading the actual story.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

OpenAI has signed a deal for access to real-time content from Reddit’s data API, which means it can surface discussions from the site within ChatGPT and other new products. It’s an agreement similar to the one Reddit signed with Google earlier this year that was reportedly worth $60 million.
The deal will also “enable Reddit to bring new AI-powered features to Redditors and mods” and use OpenAI’s large language models to build applications. OpenAI has also signed up to become an advertising partner on Reddit.
Redditors have been vocal about how Reddit’s executives manage the platform before, and it remains to be seen how they’ll react to this announcement. More than 7,000 subreddits went dark in June 2023 after users protested Reddit’s changes to its API pricing. Recently, following news of a partnership between OpenAI and the programming messaging board Stack Overflow, people were suspended after trying to delete their posts.

No financial terms were revealed in the blog post announcing the arrangement, and neither company mentioned training data, either. That last detail is different from the deal with Google, where Reddit explicitly stated it would give Google “more efficient ways to train models.” There is, however, a disclosure mentioning that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also a shareholder in Reddit but that “This partnership was led by OpenAI’s COO and approved by its independent Board of Directors.”
“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up-to-date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says.
The company has not always been friendly toward companies scraping its data to train AI models. It threatened to block Google web crawlers from accessing the site. OpenAI also reportedly told the moderators of the subreddit r/ChatGPT that they violated OpenAI’s copyright by using the ChatGPT logo as a display photo.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

OpenAI has signed a deal for access to real-time content from Reddit’s data API, which means it can surface discussions from the site within ChatGPT and other new products. It’s an agreement similar to the one Reddit signed with Google earlier this year that was reportedly worth $60 million.

The deal will also “enable Reddit to bring new AI-powered features to Redditors and mods” and use OpenAI’s large language models to build applications. OpenAI has also signed up to become an advertising partner on Reddit.

Redditors have been vocal about how Reddit’s executives manage the platform before, and it remains to be seen how they’ll react to this announcement. More than 7,000 subreddits went dark in June 2023 after users protested Reddit’s changes to its API pricing. Recently, following news of a partnership between OpenAI and the programming messaging board Stack Overflow, people were suspended after trying to delete their posts.

No financial terms were revealed in the blog post announcing the arrangement, and neither company mentioned training data, either. That last detail is different from the deal with Google, where Reddit explicitly stated it would give Google “more efficient ways to train models.” There is, however, a disclosure mentioning that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also a shareholder in Reddit but that “This partnership was led by OpenAI’s COO and approved by its independent Board of Directors.”

“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up-to-date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says.

The company has not always been friendly toward companies scraping its data to train AI models. It threatened to block Google web crawlers from accessing the site. OpenAI also reportedly told the moderators of the subreddit r/ChatGPT that they violated OpenAI’s copyright by using the ChatGPT logo as a display photo.

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Illustration: The Verge

TikTok is experimenting with 60-minute video uploads, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature is available only to certain users, with no immediate plans to expand widely.
The company has gradually bumped up the length of videos: in January, it gave some creators access to 30-minute clips, and as of now, users can upload content as long as 10 minutes long. Content creators who sell subscriptions also have access to 20-minute-long uploads.

TikTok’s arrival kicked off an era of shortform vertical video content, but these days, the platform has been leaning into longer, more YouTube-like material. Earlier this year, some TikTok creators got notifications that their content would get a “boost” if they shared horizontal clips instead of vertical. The platform’s monetization program now requires that creators share videos longer than a minute in order to qualify.
The explosive popularity of TikTok caused countless other companies — from Meta and YouTube to even LinkedIn — to add shortform video feeds to their platforms. But as everyone else tries to recreate the appeal of the For You page, TikTok is doubling down on longform content and livestreaming, formats more strongly associated with YouTube or Twitch. TikTok regularly hosts livestreamed events, including a music competition last year, as it pushes beyond bite-sized content.

Illustration: The Verge

TikTok is experimenting with 60-minute video uploads, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature is available only to certain users, with no immediate plans to expand widely.

The company has gradually bumped up the length of videos: in January, it gave some creators access to 30-minute clips, and as of now, users can upload content as long as 10 minutes long. Content creators who sell subscriptions also have access to 20-minute-long uploads.

TikTok’s arrival kicked off an era of shortform vertical video content, but these days, the platform has been leaning into longer, more YouTube-like material. Earlier this year, some TikTok creators got notifications that their content would get a “boost” if they shared horizontal clips instead of vertical. The platform’s monetization program now requires that creators share videos longer than a minute in order to qualify.

The explosive popularity of TikTok caused countless other companies — from Meta and YouTube to even LinkedIn — to add shortform video feeds to their platforms. But as everyone else tries to recreate the appeal of the For You page, TikTok is doubling down on longform content and livestreaming, formats more strongly associated with YouTube or Twitch. TikTok regularly hosts livestreamed events, including a music competition last year, as it pushes beyond bite-sized content.

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Image: Rockstar Games

In Take-Two’s Q4 2024 earnings report, the company stated when gamers can expect the next entry in the GTA series. What was previously a nebulous calendar year 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI is now a more specific but still a bit vague “fall 2025.”
As we enter Fiscal 2025 with positive momentum, we expect to deliver Net Bookings of $5.55 to $5.65 billion. Our outlook reflects a narrowing of Rockstar Games’ previously established window of Calendar 2025 to Fall of Calendar 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI. We are highly confident that Rockstar Games will deliver an unparalleled entertainment experience, and our expectations for the commercial impact of the title continue to increase.

In other GTA-related news, the company reported that GTA V has sold 200 million copies: a staggering feat, making the game the second bestselling title of all time but still 100 million copies short of the number one entry, Minecraft.
Other than a trailer (which unfortunately leaked early), Rockstar hasn’t shared more details about the most anticipated game release this decade. There are also rumors that the studio is planning a PC launch of the original Red Dead Redemption, but so far, there’s no word on that, either.

Image: Rockstar Games

In Take-Two’s Q4 2024 earnings report, the company stated when gamers can expect the next entry in the GTA series. What was previously a nebulous calendar year 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI is now a more specific but still a bit vague “fall 2025.”

As we enter Fiscal 2025 with positive momentum, we expect to deliver Net Bookings of $5.55 to $5.65 billion. Our outlook reflects a narrowing of Rockstar Games’ previously established window of Calendar 2025 to Fall of Calendar 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI. We are highly confident that Rockstar Games will deliver an unparalleled entertainment experience, and our expectations for the commercial impact of the title continue to increase.

In other GTA-related news, the company reported that GTA V has sold 200 million copies: a staggering feat, making the game the second bestselling title of all time but still 100 million copies short of the number one entry, Minecraft.

Other than a trailer (which unfortunately leaked early), Rockstar hasn’t shared more details about the most anticipated game release this decade. There are also rumors that the studio is planning a PC launch of the original Red Dead Redemption, but so far, there’s no word on that, either.

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Nick Barclay / The Verge

Two brothers were taken into federal custody Tuesday for allegedly stealing about $25 million worth of cryptocurrency in just a few seconds in a “first-of-its-kind manipulation” of the Ethereum blockchain. The brothers — Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Peraire-Bueno — studied math and computer science at MIT and used the skills they had acquired “at one of the most prestigious universities in the country” to exploit “the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain in order to fraudulently obtain” the funds, prosecutors say. The brothers were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
“Unfortunately for the defendants, their alleged crimes were no match for Department of Justice prosecutors and IRS agents, who unraveled this first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a press release.
Though the heist was carried out in a matter of seconds, the brothers spent months plotting it, charging documents claim. The indictment claims that the Peraire-Bueno brothers “carefully planned and executed” the attack, beginning sometime in December 2022. The brothers allegedly created “an online document” laying out their four-step plan: 1) The Bait, 2) Unblinding the Block, 3) The Search, and 4) The Propagation.
The brothers set up a series of Ethereum validators “in a manner that concealed their identities through the use of shell companies, intermediary cryptocurrency addresses, foreign exchanges, and a privacy layer network,” according to the indictment. They allegedly targeted three traders — whose behavior they had studied for months ahead of time, prosecutors claim — and set up “a series of test transactions or ‘bait transactions’” to attract bots the traders used.
Prosecutors claim the brothers exploited a vulnerability in Etherum’s code that has since been patched. “In doing so, they fraudulently gained access to pending private transactions and used that access to alter certain transactions and obtain their victims’ cryptocurrency,” the Department of Justice’s press release claims.
After stealing approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency, the Peraire-Bueno brothers allegedly laundered the funds through several shell companies. The brothers’ online search history in the weeks following the alleged theft included “top crypto lawyers,” “how long is us statue [sic] of limitations,” “fraudulent Ethereum access database,” and “money laundering statue [sic] of limitations.” Charging documents claim one victim and their lawyer repeatedly contacted the Peraire-Bueno brothers between April and June of 2023, as did a representative from Ethereum.
If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the three counts, according to the DOJ.

Nick Barclay / The Verge

Two brothers were taken into federal custody Tuesday for allegedly stealing about $25 million worth of cryptocurrency in just a few seconds in a “first-of-its-kind manipulation” of the Ethereum blockchain. The brothers — Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Peraire-Bueno — studied math and computer science at MIT and used the skills they had acquired “at one of the most prestigious universities in the country” to exploit “the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain in order to fraudulently obtain” the funds, prosecutors say. The brothers were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“Unfortunately for the defendants, their alleged crimes were no match for Department of Justice prosecutors and IRS agents, who unraveled this first-of-its-kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a press release.

Though the heist was carried out in a matter of seconds, the brothers spent months plotting it, charging documents claim. The indictment claims that the Peraire-Bueno brothers “carefully planned and executed” the attack, beginning sometime in December 2022. The brothers allegedly created “an online document” laying out their four-step plan: 1) The Bait, 2) Unblinding the Block, 3) The Search, and 4) The Propagation.

The brothers set up a series of Ethereum validators “in a manner that concealed their identities through the use of shell companies, intermediary cryptocurrency addresses, foreign exchanges, and a privacy layer network,” according to the indictment. They allegedly targeted three traders — whose behavior they had studied for months ahead of time, prosecutors claim — and set up “a series of test transactions or ‘bait transactions’” to attract bots the traders used.

Prosecutors claim the brothers exploited a vulnerability in Etherum’s code that has since been patched. “In doing so, they fraudulently gained access to pending private transactions and used that access to alter certain transactions and obtain their victims’ cryptocurrency,” the Department of Justice’s press release claims.

After stealing approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency, the Peraire-Bueno brothers allegedly laundered the funds through several shell companies. The brothers’ online search history in the weeks following the alleged theft included “top crypto lawyers,” “how long is us statue [sic] of limitations,” “fraudulent Ethereum access database,” and “money laundering statue [sic] of limitations.” Charging documents claim one victim and their lawyer repeatedly contacted the Peraire-Bueno brothers between April and June of 2023, as did a representative from Ethereum.

If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the three counts, according to the DOJ.

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Image: Google

Coinciding with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google is highlighting a number of new accessibility features across its software and enhancements to others that were already part of Android. First is a significant upgrade to Android’s Lookout tool, which helps people who are blind or have low vision find out more information about their surroundings. Google is leveraging AI and adding the ability for Lookout to search for specific objects, including seating, bathrooms, and more, making up seven total categories.
“As you move your camera around the room, Lookout will notify you of the direction and distance to the item,” Eve Andersson, Google’s senior director of product inclusion, equity, and accessibility, wrote in the blog post.
Android’s Look to Speak app allows people to select prewritten, customizable phrases with their eyes, which are then read aloud by their device. Now, the app is gaining a text-free mode, which Andersson says is intended “to help make communicating more accessible with cognitive differences, literacy challenges and language barriers.”

Project Gameface, which enables people to control a computer’s cursor using head movements and facial gestures, is also expanding from PC to Android, and developers can start tapping into it through GitHub.
Google’s blog post also goes over a handful of other accessibility efforts. For instance, businesses can now designate in their Google Maps profile that they support Auracast-enabled Bluetooth devices, which can receive audio from broadcast devices at theaters, auditoriums, or gyms. Detailed voice guidance for Google Maps’ walking directions is also expanding “to Android and iOS globally in all supported languages.”
The company has redesigned its sound notifications, which can alert people of noises like fire alarms, based on feedback it has received. The onboarding process, sound event browsing, and ability to save custom sounds have all recently been improved.
It’s always encouraging to see tech companies make continued progress when it comes to accessibility. Just yesterday, Apple announced a number of enhancements coming to its software later this year, including a way of navigating around iPhones and iPads with eye tracking.

Image: Google

Coinciding with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google is highlighting a number of new accessibility features across its software and enhancements to others that were already part of Android. First is a significant upgrade to Android’s Lookout tool, which helps people who are blind or have low vision find out more information about their surroundings. Google is leveraging AI and adding the ability for Lookout to search for specific objects, including seating, bathrooms, and more, making up seven total categories.

“As you move your camera around the room, Lookout will notify you of the direction and distance to the item,” Eve Andersson, Google’s senior director of product inclusion, equity, and accessibility, wrote in the blog post.

Android’s Look to Speak app allows people to select prewritten, customizable phrases with their eyes, which are then read aloud by their device. Now, the app is gaining a text-free mode, which Andersson says is intended “to help make communicating more accessible with cognitive differences, literacy challenges and language barriers.”

Project Gameface, which enables people to control a computer’s cursor using head movements and facial gestures, is also expanding from PC to Android, and developers can start tapping into it through GitHub.

Google’s blog post also goes over a handful of other accessibility efforts. For instance, businesses can now designate in their Google Maps profile that they support Auracast-enabled Bluetooth devices, which can receive audio from broadcast devices at theaters, auditoriums, or gyms. Detailed voice guidance for Google Maps’ walking directions is also expanding “to Android and iOS globally in all supported languages.”

The company has redesigned its sound notifications, which can alert people of noises like fire alarms, based on feedback it has received. The onboarding process, sound event browsing, and ability to save custom sounds have all recently been improved.

It’s always encouraging to see tech companies make continued progress when it comes to accessibility. Just yesterday, Apple announced a number of enhancements coming to its software later this year, including a way of navigating around iPhones and iPads with eye tracking.

Read More 

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon and Harvard University have created a “quantum network” that transmitted an entangled photon from one quantum computer to another over 35 kilometers of fiber-optic cable.
Researchers from Harvard and Amazon’s AWS Center for Quantum Networking put a set of nodes around the Boston area to build a network capable of “efficiently catching, storing, and transferring information initially stored in light.” Like the internet we know, quantum networks send information carried by light — in this case, quantum-entangled photons. But they need “repeaters” to prevent those photons from scattering across long distances, as light is wont to do, and the repeaters have to be able to send the photon without breaking its entanglement and modifying the information.
Harvard and AWS say the experimental nodes use cavities in diamonds that “trap light and force it to interact with quantum memories.” These nodes can be mass-produced with existing nanofabrication technology. During their experiments, the team took a qubit encoded into a photon and bounced it off a quantum memory in a Harvard lab. From the post:

When the photon interacts with the quantum memory, it becomes entangled with the memory – meaning that measurements performed on either the photon or the memory would provide information on (and thus modify) the state of the other.
However, instead of measuring the photon (and thus extracting the information), the photon undergoes quantum frequency conversion from visible frequency (where the quantum memory operates) to telecom frequency (where losses in optical fiber are minimized). The (now telecom-frequency) photon then makes a round trip through an underground fiber network before returning to Harvard, where it is converted back to visible frequency.
This journey accomplished, the photon is bounced off a different quantum memory in a different lab, thus transferring the entanglement from the photon onto this second memory. Finally, the photon, having bounced off the second memory, is then routed to a detector which notes the presence of a photon, but does not reveal any of the underlying quantum information contained in the light.It entangled with the memory — meaning that measuring either the photon or the memory modifies the state of the other. The photon then converts from a visible frequency to a telecom frequency, which then bounces to a different lab, thus completing the journey.

AWS says early experiments showed the quantum-entangled photon traveled more than 35 kilometers. The entangled photon was stored for over a second, which the company says is “sufficient for light to be able to travel more than 300,000 kilometers” and is more than enough time to go around the world 7.5 times.

Quantum networks use the same principles as quantum computing by using the quantum state of photons to carry information, the Department of Energy explains. Experiments with quantum networks have been around for a while, but no one has yet to make a fully commercial version.
AWS says many more improvements are needed before its quantum network will be scalable and commercially viable. So far, it’s slow and only sends one quantum memory at a time.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon and Harvard University have created a “quantum network” that transmitted an entangled photon from one quantum computer to another over 35 kilometers of fiber-optic cable.

Researchers from Harvard and Amazon’s AWS Center for Quantum Networking put a set of nodes around the Boston area to build a network capable of “efficiently catching, storing, and transferring information initially stored in light.” Like the internet we know, quantum networks send information carried by light — in this case, quantum-entangled photons. But they need “repeaters” to prevent those photons from scattering across long distances, as light is wont to do, and the repeaters have to be able to send the photon without breaking its entanglement and modifying the information.

Harvard and AWS say the experimental nodes use cavities in diamonds that “trap light and force it to interact with quantum memories.” These nodes can be mass-produced with existing nanofabrication technology. During their experiments, the team took a qubit encoded into a photon and bounced it off a quantum memory in a Harvard lab. From the post:

When the photon interacts with the quantum memory, it becomes entangled with the memory – meaning that measurements performed on either the photon or the memory would provide information on (and thus modify) the state of the other.

However, instead of measuring the photon (and thus extracting the information), the photon undergoes quantum frequency conversion from visible frequency (where the quantum memory operates) to telecom frequency (where losses in optical fiber are minimized). The (now telecom-frequency) photon then makes a round trip through an underground fiber network before returning to Harvard, where it is converted back to visible frequency.

This journey accomplished, the photon is bounced off a different quantum memory in a different lab, thus transferring the entanglement from the photon onto this second memory. Finally, the photon, having bounced off the second memory, is then routed to a detector which notes the presence of a photon, but does not reveal any of the underlying quantum information contained in the light.It entangled with the memory — meaning that measuring either the photon or the memory modifies the state of the other. The photon then converts from a visible frequency to a telecom frequency, which then bounces to a different lab, thus completing the journey.

AWS says early experiments showed the quantum-entangled photon traveled more than 35 kilometers. The entangled photon was stored for over a second, which the company says is “sufficient for light to be able to travel more than 300,000 kilometers” and is more than enough time to go around the world 7.5 times.

Quantum networks use the same principles as quantum computing by using the quantum state of photons to carry information, the Department of Energy explains. Experiments with quantum networks have been around for a while, but no one has yet to make a fully commercial version.

AWS says many more improvements are needed before its quantum network will be scalable and commercially viable. So far, it’s slow and only sends one quantum memory at a time.

Read More 

Say goodbye to LG’s rollable TV — for now. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

LG is no longer making the Signature OLED R TV that rolls down and hides in its stand, according to Chosun, which reports LG has already repurposed the manufacturing line for other TVs.
Customer interest in TVs that can disappear in their living room space has been growing, as evidenced by Samsung’s popular Frame TVs that can transform into wall art. But at $100,000 for a 65-inch 4K TV, LG’s rollable screen was too expensive to explain away as a possibly frivolous purchase and too small to fit the lifestyles of people who might be able to afford it.

GIF: Chris Welch The Verge
Hiding away and not coming back.

LG Display showed off a prototype rollable OLED TV at CES 2018, and another concept left Verge reviewer Chris Welch impressed in 2019 before LG finally put the Signature model on sale in 2021. As What Hi-Fi and FlatpanelsHD note, this cancellation isn’t the end of LG’s odd display concepts, and it’s already promising a transparent OLED TV later this year.

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LG has had an affinity for rolling OLED display tech over the years, developing sizes fit for smartphones and laptops and even releasing devices like the G Flex series of Android phones. Although it looks like the rollable TV era is over for the company, we still have the briefcase TV. But for now, LG has one less party trick TV for your living room.

Say goodbye to LG’s rollable TV — for now. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

LG is no longer making the Signature OLED R TV that rolls down and hides in its stand, according to Chosun, which reports LG has already repurposed the manufacturing line for other TVs.

Customer interest in TVs that can disappear in their living room space has been growing, as evidenced by Samsung’s popular Frame TVs that can transform into wall art. But at $100,000 for a 65-inch 4K TV, LG’s rollable screen was too expensive to explain away as a possibly frivolous purchase and too small to fit the lifestyles of people who might be able to afford it.

GIF: Chris Welch The Verge
Hiding away and not coming back.

LG Display showed off a prototype rollable OLED TV at CES 2018, and another concept left Verge reviewer Chris Welch impressed in 2019 before LG finally put the Signature model on sale in 2021. As What Hi-Fi and FlatpanelsHD note, this cancellation isn’t the end of LG’s odd display concepts, and it’s already promising a transparent OLED TV later this year.

LG has had an affinity for rolling OLED display tech over the years, developing sizes fit for smartphones and laptops and even releasing devices like the G Flex series of Android phones. Although it looks like the rollable TV era is over for the company, we still have the briefcase TV. But for now, LG has one less party trick TV for your living room.

Read More 

In its heyday, Inquisition was one of the closest things we had to a Game of Thrones game. | Screenshot: BioWare

If you’re a PC gamer with time to kill this summer, the Epic Games Store has come through with a chance to scoop up a bunch of titles on the low. In fact, you can take advantage of the Fortnite maker’s “Mega Sale” without spending a single dime. In addition to deep discounts on top games, you’ll be able to scoop up one free game each week from the Epic Games Store through the sale’s June 13th closing date, starting with Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Game of the Year Edition. It comes with all of the game’s three main add-ons, plus the Deluxe Edition’s bonus mounts, gear, and weapons.

Inquisition features developer BioWare’s patented branching storylines, deep action roleplaying combat systems, an open-world structure, and an evolving diplomacy system that has you, as the so-called Inquisitor, making world-changing decisions that your companions and opponents may or may not like. It’s still worth playing all these years later, especially with a new series entrant on the way.
You’ll find many other titles on sale for your coinage in the Epic Games Store Mega Sale, including newer hits like Alan Wake 2 down to $39.99 ($10 off), EA Sports FC 24 for $13.99 ($56 off), and Ubisoft’s online pirating adventure Skull and Bones for $29.99 ($30 off). You can also explore the wizarding world in Hogwarts Legacy for $29.99 ($30 off) and play some of Sony’s best PS4 titles on PC with the likes of God of War ($24.99, $25 off), The Last of Us Part I ($40.19, about $20 off), and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered ($35.99, $24 off).

If you want the newest iPad Air with M2, it’s going to cost you at least $599 for the 11-inch model. It’s a less impressive upgrade over its predecessor than the well-reviewed iPad Pro, however, and the original still holds up well if you just need a solid tablet that should continue to receive most new iPadOS features for the foreseeable future. You’d get considerable savings, too, as the base M1 iPad Air with 64GB of storage is down to $399 ($200 off) at Amazon and Walmart, a new all-time-low price that beats the previous record by a full $100. The 256GB M1 iPad Air also has a new price record of $599 ($150 off) at Amazon in select colors.
It’s possible Apple or its retail partners will keep the 2022 Air around as a value buy, so maybe this steep discount reflects a pending permanent price cut. Whatever the case, $399 is a fantastic price for the tablet. Compared to the refresh that launched just yesterday, it’s really only missing out on Apple Pencil Pro support, the M2-exclusive Apple Pencil hover feature, and Wi-Fi 6E (but Wi-Fi 6 is still good). There’s also no option to step up to a bigger 13-inch model. Otherwise, it still has more power than most people will likely ever need in a tablet, with its biggest strengths being a beautiful 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, a lightweight profile, and support for the second-gen Apple Pencil and the original Magic Keyboard.

Read our Apple iPad Air (2022) review.

Don’t miss these other great deals

Whether you’re getting the new Pixel 8A or have one of the family’s loftier devices and need a new pair of wireless earbuds, we typically recommend Google’s Pixel Buds Pro, which are down to $139.99 ($60 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, matching the all-time low. The Pixel Buds Pro earn their merit as a very competent pair of earbuds when it comes to common qualities, such as very good sound with solid noise cancellation, long battery life, and reliable connectivity that evaded some older models. You can have an enjoyable listen paired with any phone, but they’re even better if you have a Pixel thanks to exclusive features like spatial audio. Read our review.
The Hatch Restore 2, one of our favorite sleep gadgets, is down to $169.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Hatch, which is only $10 more than the all-time low. Besides the generous assortment of built-in sleep sounds, it features an embedded dot-matrix LED clock and a light that glows just bright enough to keep you from stubbing your toe on the nightstand during midnight bathroom runs. It can also play sunrise alarms that wake you up with gradual gentle sounds designed not to disrupt your circadian rhythm. You can sign up for Hatch Plus ($4.99 a month or $49.99 a year) to add custom unwind routines, music, meditation, sleep guidance, and other exclusive content. Read our review.
Now through May 31st, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X / S, and Nintendo Switch is down to $24.99 ($35 off) at Woot, which is the lowest price we’ve seen so far. The collection includes the most classic games from the stealth ops franchise. You’ll get the first three Metal Gear Solid games that launched on the PS1 and PS2, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, and Snake’s Revenge, which is a spiritual, noncanonical successor to the original Metal Gear that was only released in North America for the NES. The disc also packs digital art books, screenplays, cinematic videos, graphic novels, and digital soundtracks to enjoy.

In its heyday, Inquisition was one of the closest things we had to a Game of Thrones game. | Screenshot: BioWare

If you’re a PC gamer with time to kill this summer, the Epic Games Store has come through with a chance to scoop up a bunch of titles on the low. In fact, you can take advantage of the Fortnite maker’s “Mega Sale” without spending a single dime. In addition to deep discounts on top games, you’ll be able to scoop up one free game each week from the Epic Games Store through the sale’s June 13th closing date, starting with Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Game of the Year Edition. It comes with all of the game’s three main add-ons, plus the Deluxe Edition’s bonus mounts, gear, and weapons.

Inquisition features developer BioWare’s patented branching storylines, deep action roleplaying combat systems, an open-world structure, and an evolving diplomacy system that has you, as the so-called Inquisitor, making world-changing decisions that your companions and opponents may or may not like. It’s still worth playing all these years later, especially with a new series entrant on the way.

You’ll find many other titles on sale for your coinage in the Epic Games Store Mega Sale, including newer hits like Alan Wake 2 down to $39.99 ($10 off), EA Sports FC 24 for $13.99 ($56 off), and Ubisoft’s online pirating adventure Skull and Bones for $29.99 ($30 off). You can also explore the wizarding world in Hogwarts Legacy for $29.99 ($30 off) and play some of Sony’s best PS4 titles on PC with the likes of God of War ($24.99, $25 off), The Last of Us Part I ($40.19, about $20 off), and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered ($35.99, $24 off).

If you want the newest iPad Air with M2, it’s going to cost you at least $599 for the 11-inch model. It’s a less impressive upgrade over its predecessor than the well-reviewed iPad Pro, however, and the original still holds up well if you just need a solid tablet that should continue to receive most new iPadOS features for the foreseeable future. You’d get considerable savings, too, as the base M1 iPad Air with 64GB of storage is down to $399 ($200 off) at Amazon and Walmart, a new all-time-low price that beats the previous record by a full $100. The 256GB M1 iPad Air also has a new price record of $599 ($150 off) at Amazon in select colors.

It’s possible Apple or its retail partners will keep the 2022 Air around as a value buy, so maybe this steep discount reflects a pending permanent price cut. Whatever the case, $399 is a fantastic price for the tablet. Compared to the refresh that launched just yesterday, it’s really only missing out on Apple Pencil Pro support, the M2-exclusive Apple Pencil hover feature, and Wi-Fi 6E (but Wi-Fi 6 is still good). There’s also no option to step up to a bigger 13-inch model. Otherwise, it still has more power than most people will likely ever need in a tablet, with its biggest strengths being a beautiful 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, a lightweight profile, and support for the second-gen Apple Pencil and the original Magic Keyboard.

Read our Apple iPad Air (2022) review.

Don’t miss these other great deals

Whether you’re getting the new Pixel 8A or have one of the family’s loftier devices and need a new pair of wireless earbuds, we typically recommend Google’s Pixel Buds Pro, which are down to $139.99 ($60 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, matching the all-time low. The Pixel Buds Pro earn their merit as a very competent pair of earbuds when it comes to common qualities, such as very good sound with solid noise cancellation, long battery life, and reliable connectivity that evaded some older models. You can have an enjoyable listen paired with any phone, but they’re even better if you have a Pixel thanks to exclusive features like spatial audio. Read our review.
The Hatch Restore 2, one of our favorite sleep gadgets, is down to $169.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Hatch, which is only $10 more than the all-time low. Besides the generous assortment of built-in sleep sounds, it features an embedded dot-matrix LED clock and a light that glows just bright enough to keep you from stubbing your toe on the nightstand during midnight bathroom runs. It can also play sunrise alarms that wake you up with gradual gentle sounds designed not to disrupt your circadian rhythm. You can sign up for Hatch Plus ($4.99 a month or $49.99 a year) to add custom unwind routines, music, meditation, sleep guidance, and other exclusive content. Read our review.
Now through May 31st, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X / S, and Nintendo Switch is down to $24.99 ($35 off) at Woot, which is the lowest price we’ve seen so far. The collection includes the most classic games from the stealth ops franchise. You’ll get the first three Metal Gear Solid games that launched on the PS1 and PS2, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, and Snake’s Revenge, which is a spiritual, noncanonical successor to the original Metal Gear that was only released in North America for the NES. The disc also packs digital art books, screenplays, cinematic videos, graphic novels, and digital soundtracks to enjoy.

Read More 

A family subscription is also coming to Strava. | Image: Strava

There’s new leadership at Strava, and they want everyone to know the platform is about to get a bunch of new features, starting with the highly requested dark mode, a family subscription plan, night heatmaps, and, of course, AI.
Dark mode as a concept has been around for ages, but it’s been a recurring source of consternation for Strava users on Reddit forums. For those folks, the good news is dark mode will arrive later this summer, and users can choose between permanently keeping the app in dark mode or matching a user’s phone settings. More good news: it’ll be available for both subscribers and free users.
“There’s been a lot of investment that had to go in for an app that launched in 2009 to be able to get to a place where we could launch dark mode,” says Matt Salazar, Strava’s chief product officer. “I think one of the things I’d want our community to know is, hey, we heard you on all your feature desires. We’re committed to accelerating the pace of that and getting those features out sooner.”

Image: Strava
Night heatmaps are meant to give athletes a sense of which routes are well-trafficked between sunset and sunrise.

As for AI-enabled features, there are quite a few. The big one is the Athlete Intelligence Beta, which creates digestible summaries of your training data. According to Salazar, it uses large language models to interpret your data and “give it to you in plain English.” As in, it’ll give users insights into how well they did on a particular workout, parsing what individual stats mean in relation to overall goals, and providing some suggestions on how to get better. It’ll also take into consideration whether you’re trying to prepare for a race or recover from an injury.
“It’s not a chatbot situation,” Salazar says, noting that Strava made a deliberate choice not to implement a chatbot. For context, Whoop added a ChatGPT-powered coach to its app last year, while then-Fitbit CEO James Park also teased an AI chatbot for Fitbit at Made by Google in October. “It’s more of a summary aspect, but I think that’s really where athletes are going to find value.”
Strava’s also adding something called AI-enabled Leaderboard Integrity. In a nutshell, it’ll weed out the cheaters by using machine learning to flag “irregular, improbable, or impossible” activities recorded on the platform. For instance, it might alert you that an impossibly fast e-bike ride has been mislabeled as a regular bike ride and nudge you to correct it.

Making Strava more appealing to women is also on the agenda. On that front, the app is adding night heatmaps. (Heatmaps show popular routes among a fitness app’s users.) The filter lets athletes see which roads, trails, and paths are well-trafficked between the hours of sunset and sunrise. It’s not a perfect solution, as many female athletes, myself included, often choose to avoid running or cycling at night for safety reasons. This only tells you if a route is popular — it’d be slightly more helpful if you could also see information on how well-lit that route is or if it’s in a highly populated area. However, the move is aimed at helping athletes who do choose to partake in nighttime activities to be more informed.
Lastly, Strava is also adding a family subscription plan so that premium features can be more affordable. You can add up to three other people on a plan, and there are no restrictions as to who you can add. Salazar said the company is still working out pricing, however, and there’s a chance that the final subscription price will vary depending on region. The plan will launch in a few test markets this summer, with a planned global rollout by the end of the year.

A family subscription is also coming to Strava. | Image: Strava

There’s new leadership at Strava, and they want everyone to know the platform is about to get a bunch of new features, starting with the highly requested dark mode, a family subscription plan, night heatmaps, and, of course, AI.

Dark mode as a concept has been around for ages, but it’s been a recurring source of consternation for Strava users on Reddit forums. For those folks, the good news is dark mode will arrive later this summer, and users can choose between permanently keeping the app in dark mode or matching a user’s phone settings. More good news: it’ll be available for both subscribers and free users.

“There’s been a lot of investment that had to go in for an app that launched in 2009 to be able to get to a place where we could launch dark mode,” says Matt Salazar, Strava’s chief product officer. “I think one of the things I’d want our community to know is, hey, we heard you on all your feature desires. We’re committed to accelerating the pace of that and getting those features out sooner.”

Image: Strava
Night heatmaps are meant to give athletes a sense of which routes are well-trafficked between sunset and sunrise.

As for AI-enabled features, there are quite a few. The big one is the Athlete Intelligence Beta, which creates digestible summaries of your training data. According to Salazar, it uses large language models to interpret your data and “give it to you in plain English.” As in, it’ll give users insights into how well they did on a particular workout, parsing what individual stats mean in relation to overall goals, and providing some suggestions on how to get better. It’ll also take into consideration whether you’re trying to prepare for a race or recover from an injury.

“It’s not a chatbot situation,” Salazar says, noting that Strava made a deliberate choice not to implement a chatbot. For context, Whoop added a ChatGPT-powered coach to its app last year, while then-Fitbit CEO James Park also teased an AI chatbot for Fitbit at Made by Google in October. “It’s more of a summary aspect, but I think that’s really where athletes are going to find value.”

Strava’s also adding something called AI-enabled Leaderboard Integrity. In a nutshell, it’ll weed out the cheaters by using machine learning to flag “irregular, improbable, or impossible” activities recorded on the platform. For instance, it might alert you that an impossibly fast e-bike ride has been mislabeled as a regular bike ride and nudge you to correct it.

Making Strava more appealing to women is also on the agenda. On that front, the app is adding night heatmaps. (Heatmaps show popular routes among a fitness app’s users.) The filter lets athletes see which roads, trails, and paths are well-trafficked between the hours of sunset and sunrise. It’s not a perfect solution, as many female athletes, myself included, often choose to avoid running or cycling at night for safety reasons. This only tells you if a route is popular — it’d be slightly more helpful if you could also see information on how well-lit that route is or if it’s in a highly populated area. However, the move is aimed at helping athletes who do choose to partake in nighttime activities to be more informed.

Lastly, Strava is also adding a family subscription plan so that premium features can be more affordable. You can add up to three other people on a plan, and there are no restrictions as to who you can add. Salazar said the company is still working out pricing, however, and there’s a chance that the final subscription price will vary depending on region. The plan will launch in a few test markets this summer, with a planned global rollout by the end of the year.

Read More