Want to try out the latest major feature update for Windows 10? If you don’t mind living on the wild side with a beta—something you might not want to risk if Windows applications are critical to you being able to do your job and/or function in real life—getting access to Windows 10 21H1 early is easy.
Samsung has launched support for electrocardiogram (EKG) readings and blood pressure monitoring on its Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3 devices, according to SamMobile. The feature comes courtesy of the Samsung Health Monitor app, which is now available to download from the company’s app store in 31 additional countries. Prior to today, the features were restricted to owners of one of those two devices in South Korea and the US only.
Samsung first announced last month it would be adding the features to its latest Galaxy Watch devices through software updates, considering both smartwatches have the requisite sensors used for measuring heart rate and blood pressure and performing an EKG.
Now,...
Microsoft is planning to add text predictions to Word in March. The new feature will work similarly to Google Docs’ Smart Compose option, using machine learning to predict what words an author will need to speed up document creation. Microsoft originally announced a beta of text predictions last year, but Neowin spotted it’s now on the Microsoft 365 roadmap to reach all Word users on Windows next month.
Word will highlight grayed-out predictions when users are writing a document, and the suggestions can be accepted using the Tab key or rejected by hitting Escape. Text predictions can also be completely disabled by Word users.
Microsoft also started rolling out identical...
Twenty-five years later, that’s still the case
Grandparents who don’t follow parents’ rules are a tradition as old as time, but polarization over pandemic safety guidelines, social unrest, and a contentious election are among the many ways that disagreements between loved ones now have more serious implications. Grandma or grandpa sneaking candy to grandkids whose…
TikTok is announcing today that it’s taking a couple small steps to try and help people who are affected by eating disorders. To do this, it’s partnering with the National Eating Disorder Association (or NEDA) to have an eating disorder awareness week, and implementing two new features that aim to provide resources and support to those who need it.
If a user searches TikTok for terms like “proana” (short for “pro-anorexia”), or “eating disorder,” the app will now show support resources, along with NEDA’s phone number. Currently, searching the terms only shows the support number, but the new interface will also provide users with advice on how to deal with an eating disorder.
Add Motional to the very short list of companies that have tested fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. The Hyundai-Aptiv joint venture announced that it has tested its vehicles without safety drivers behind the steering wheel on public streets in Las Vegas.
The tests, which took place in February, came less than three months after the company received the green light from the state of Nevada to test its vehicles without a human safety driver. “Multiple driverless vehicles” were tested, conducting maneuvers such as “navigating intersections, unprotected turns, and interactions with other road users, including pedestrians and cyclists,” the company said.
Of course, there are some caveats. A Motional employee remained in the...
Huawei has announced the Mate X2, its first all-new foldable device since 2019’s Mate X. The new phone has received a radical redesign compared to the original device, with a large screen that unfolds from the inside of the device rather than around the outside. For using the phone while folded, the Huawei Mate X2 has a second screen on its outside, similar to Samsung’s approach with the Galaxy Fold series. Images of the phone were leaked ahead of its official announcement by Evan Blass on Voice. The Mate X2 launch event has only just kicked off in China.
This being a Huawei device, the Mate X2 will launch without support for Google’s apps or services, which is likely to limit its appeal outside of China. Internally, the phone is powered...
Clubhouse has confirmed one of its users was able to siphon off audio feeds from the invitation-only app and make them accessible from a third-party website, raising security concerns about the fledgling service. A Clubhouse spokesperson told Bloomberg that “multiple rooms” were affected, and that the user behind the breach had been “permanently banned.” It said “safeguards” have been put in place to prevent a repeat, though it reportedly declined to provide specific details.
The incident is a reminder for Clubhouse users to be careful about sharing sensitive information in conversations held via the invite-only iOS app. This is especially important for any Chinese citizens or dissidents using the app, or any users concerned about state...
WhatsApp has detailed what will happen to users who don’t accept its new privacy policy in an FAQ on its website. Starting May 15th, its functionality will become more limited, and users will no longer be able to send or read messages from the app. They’ll still be able to receive calls and notifications, but this will only be possible for a “short time.” Speaking to TechCrunch, the company confirmed this period will last a few weeks.
The new privacy policy has been controversial among some users, who worry that it allows WhatsApp to share their private messages with its parent company Facebook. However, messages between individuals on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted, so only their recipients can see their contents. What the new...
Airlines in Japan and the US have grounded dozens of Boeing 777 aircraft after the dramatic engine failure that United Airlines flight 328 experienced over Denver this weekend. According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigation, two fan blades on the plane’s number 2 engine had developed fractures.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency airworthiness directive that requires “immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.” The administration noted that this was likely to result in aircraft being removed from service.
You would think the entire world would know how Zoom works by now. Lawyers can be cats, congressmen are sometimes inverted, but pants are not actually optional. That didn’t keep the Oakley Union Elementary School District’s board of trustees from badmouthing parents during a public WebEx call — suggesting that parents just “want their babysitters back,” or want to go back to smoking marijuana (via Gizmodo).
3) School Board Trustee Richie Masadas then appeared to link parents' frustration over close closures to drug use.
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 18, 2021
"My brother had a delivery service for medical marijuana and his clientele were parents of kids at school."@nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/vgAhY90lmG
There’s a popular stereotype that Apple’s computers are largely immune to malware. Not only is is that incorrect, it appears that sophisticated hacker(s) might have been toying with the idea of a heist or drop nasty enough they’d have needed to cover their tracks. As Ars Technica reports, security researchers at Malwarebytes and Red Canary discovered a mysterious piece of malware hiding on nearly 30,000 Macs, one designed to deliver an as-yet-unknown payload, and with a self-destruction mechanism that might remove any trace that it ever existed. They’re calling it Silver Sparrow.
Red Canary’s own blog post goes into more detail, including how they discovered multiple versions targeting not only Intel, but also newer Macs based on Apple’s...
Samsung has been toying with AR glasses for years, most recently trotting out an extremely basic set of image-projecting goggles on the CES 2020 stage, but I’ve never seen the company suggest it might like to build an actually ambitious augmented reality wearable computing device — until perhaps today.
WalkingCat, a fairly reliable source of gadget leaks, has published two new concept videos that show off some of the fun things a pair of “Samsung Glasses Lite” could do, like projecting a giant virtual screen where you can play your games, letting you kick back in your private movie theater, give you a giant virtual computer monitor, fire up an auto-dimming “sunglasses mode,” or act as an instant first-person-view screen for your DJI...
Pop quiz: which is the better deal, $500 off a Razer Blade laptop, or $150 off an Asus Zephyrus G14? It might hinge on whether you need a webcam, because in practically every other way the Asus is the laptop I’d buy today.
That’s not to say there’s anything particularly wrong with the Razer Blade 15 Base at today’s unheard of price of $1,099 at Amazon (regularly $1,599): aside from the paltry 256GB of solid state storage, you’re looking at a speedy 6-core Core i7-10750H processor, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics that should competently tackle yesteryear’s biggest titles, a 144Hz 1080p screen, plus plenty of ports packed into an attractive black CNC aluminum chassis with single-zone RGB lighting. The deal at midnight PT Sunday.
The FAA seems satisfied with its investigations into Elon Musk’s last two SpaceX Starship tests, each of which ended in an explosive crash, and the conclusion of those investigations should clear the way for a new SN10 flight in the very near future.
Late last month, we broke the news that SpaceX had violated its launch license with its Starship SN8 launch in December, but an FAA spokesperson now says that matter has already been settled, according to CNN’s Jackie Wattles.
As for the SN9, which similarly exploded during a landing attempt on February 2nd, the FAA says it “failed within the bounds of the FAA safety analysis” and “its unsuccessful landing and explosion did not endanger the public or property.”
"The FAA provided oversight...
An 18-piece Kitchen Solutions set and a FIXD vehicle diagnostic tool lead Sunday’s best deals.
Nimble Set of 2 Cutting Tools & Cutting Mat | $12 | MorningSave
Some people are blessed with the gift of being able to fall asleep anywhere. (Except in situations where “anywhere” includes places like a work meeting or the subway.) Other people are only able to drift off under a very specific set of conditions, like a made-bed with cotton sheets, the room temperature set to 68…
Fire extinguishers are one of those things that you don’t tend to think about until you need one. And when you need one, there’s a good chance that it’s an actual emergency. You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re trying to get a fire under control, reach for your fire extinguisher, try to use it, and then…
It’s been almost a year since people with office jobs were instructed to work from home until the pandemic passed. First of all, we should start by saying that to even have the ability to do so is a huge privilege: So many essential workers have continued to commute and face the public every day and don’t have the…
A United Airlines flight experienced a dramatic-looking engine failure just after takeoff from Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon. UA328, originally headed to Honolulu, quickly circled back to the airport and made a safe landing after the pilots calmly made a “mayday” call to air traffic control. There were no injuries among the 231 passengers and 10 airline staff on board, according to the FAA.
Since it’s 2021, the incident was thoroughly captured with both photos and video. Passengers shared video of what looks to be a significant right engine failure, with visible damage, flames, and trailing smoke:
Dinosaur Planet is an unreleased Nintendo 64 game by Rare that ultimately evolved into Star Fox Adventures for GameCube. But thanks to the preservationists at Forest of Illusion, it’s now possible to play that unfinished, original title. A build of the game from December 1st, 2000 — well into its development cycle — was retrieved from a disc purchased from a private collector.
Screenshots of the game feature Fox McCloud; as noted by Eurogamer, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto was reportedly influential in pushing the developers to shift the game into a Star Fox title. Digital Foundry’s John Linneman uploaded 20 minutes of gameplay, and here you can also see Fox replacing one of the original game’s intended protagonists, Sabre.
Today we...
Despite its later-than-usual timing and going completely virtual for the first time, yesterday’s BlizzCon keynote brought with it some big news and exciting trailers. It also featured a musical performance from Metallica. The band isn’t new to BlizzCon, having first appeared at the conference in 2014.
Viewers on many platforms (including Blizzard’s own Twitch and YouTube channels) heard a performance of Metallica’s 1984 tune “For Whom The Bell Tolls.” Several Twitch streamers broadcasting BlizzCon muted the feed during Metallica’s appearance to avoid any potential DMCA troubles.
But on the Twitch Gaming feed that was also carrying the stream, well, things took an amazing turn. Within seconds of the song beginning, the audio was...
Over at The Markup is an alarming story about a rash of phishing scams that have been targeting gig workers for Postmates. Drivers are receiving phone calls from people claiming to be Postmates employees, who urge the workers to give over their login details — usually under the guise that it’s necessary to keep a driver account in good standing or avoid claims of fraud.
Once the scammers obtain that info, they switch the debit card information on the account — Postmates makes weekly deposits of a worker’s earnings, but instant transfers can also be requested — and then drain the balance of everything that’s in there. The Markup has spoken to many Postmates gig workers who’ve been preyed upon with this scam, and others are using Reddit...
A 2-way remote start system and a case of Pedroncelli rosé lead Saturday’s best deals.
Situations that involve losing electricity are usually pretty stressful. That’s because you’re often not only dealing with the lack of power, but it typically happens in the context of something else, like a massive storm or natural disaster—like the extreme winter weather in Texas and many other parts of the country…
As the pandemic drags on, experts are exploring ways to stretch still-limited vaccine supplies to get as many people protected as possible. One idea that’s resurfaced this week involves allowing more time in between the first and second doses of the two-dose vaccines. This time, though, there’s some additional data that suggests it might work.
Here’s the idea: two leading vaccines, made by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna require two doses. But their early data showed pretty significant protection after the first dose. That got people thinking — is it worth giving more people partial protection with just one dose? Or should they stick to the schedule and fully vaccinate fewer people?
Back in December, some experts encouraged researchers...
Some people put a lot of thought into buying candles. They may use words like “burn time,” “musky” and “throw” to describe how they make their selections. But even though it’s really all about the scent, it can be hard to resist candles that come in aesthetically pleasing jars—and Big Candle knows that.
This is the first time in recent memory where several deals we’ve written about through the week are still available. It’s always great when readers have an extended window of time to snag a deal. So, below you’ll find a few of our favorite picks from the week, along with one new exclusive deal for Verge readers. I won’t keep you in suspense, it’s on the Pixel 5. We worked with a partner to secure some refurbished units that are in great condition.
The lowest price for a like-new refurbished Pixel 5 on Amazon is $610, but you can save more with this reader-exclusive deal from Daily Steals. It’s offering Verge readers a few...
The creator of The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman, released a new cat-themed mobile word game called Kitty Letter earlier this week that feels like playing one of his silly comic strips. That feeling was intentional, Inman told me.
“My comics have always been rhetorical,” he said. “You don’t interact with the comic, you have no say in it, you’re just experiencing it. So, with [Kitty Letter], I got a chance to introduce some elements where people get to play the comic, and I thought that was a lot of fun.”
Kitty Letter has a structure that Inman described as “Scrabble combined with Clash Royale.” Your goal is to beat your opponent by spelling words from a combination of letters at the bottom of your phone’s screen. When you spell a word, you’ll...
Those who grew up and/or learned how to drive in a place that saw a lot of ice and snow each winter (and sometimes also the fall and spring), probably have developed some habits over the years that have helped them adapt to the unpleasant conditions. Or maybe, you just started doing something because that’s what your…
Ease your way into the joys of commuting by electric bike
The other day, I saw a game named Valheim atop the Steam Early Access sales charts, with overwhelmingly positive reviews. Polygon seemed to like the $20 Viking-themed survival game, and I thought friends might like it, too. I wasn’t ready to commit quite yet — I waffled a while before giving it a go. Know who bought it while I was making up my mind? One million other people.
On February 10th, just eight days after launch, indie developer Iron Gate announced that Valheim had already sold 1 million copies. Five days after that, Valheim reached 2 million sales. On Friday February 19th, two days after we originally published this post, it hit 3 million sales.
Here are a few other facts you might like to know:
As a visual artist who also makes beats in the anonymity of my bedroom, I’ve always wondered how Daft Punk managed to craft not only their music, but their visual presence. A masterpiece unto itself, the Daft Punk helmets transform two anonymous musicians into otherworldly beings. Arbiters of funk and electro. Ambassadors of sound. Gods of the synthesizer. You get it. The helmets allow the musicians to detach themselves from reality and bring the audience into their universe. It leaves the musician in mystery, and until today, the genesis of the helmets was a mystery to me too.
In a tweet thread by @daft_wub, you can see the whole process from sketch to final, including electrical schematics and initial sculpts of the helmets. They also...
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the most popular titles on the Nintendo Switch right now. But if you’re interested in experiencing one of Nintendo’s popular franchises in other media forms, an official manga based on the latest entry is getting an English translation this year.
Viz Media announced that the first volume, titled Deserted Island Diary, will release in the West on September 14th. The manga will focus on what the villagers residing on a deserted island are up to. The manga was originally released in Japan in 2020 and currently has two volumes available. Animal Crossing: New Horizons also inspired a separate manga series, with the first chapter debuting in the February 2020 issue of Ciao magazine.
Navigating co-parenting relationships is not easy, whether co-parenting with a particularly difficult ex or with a former partner you generally have a positive relationship with. Most people are not irredeemable jerks, though, and when the focus of a co-parenting relationship can continuously be centered around the…
When not one, but two safe and highly efficacious vaccines received Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in December 2020—less than a year after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States— it almost seemed too good to be true. (Which is not to imply that corners were cut in…
Sony a7 III Mirrorless Camera (Body Only) | $1,698 | Amazon
There are three types of food content on TikTok: Stuff that is genuinely useful, pure shitposts, and honest content that just isn’t good. If you watch this mashed potato hack video from elis_kitchen, it may not be immediately clear which type you are looking at. However, if you view it within the context of their…
Backward compatibility is one of the best Xbox Series X|S features. Not only can you play almost every game from each previous Xbox console on the new system, but many also receive visual enhancements that make them look and run better than ever.
With the right keyboard accessory, you can transform your iPad into a laptop. Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the 11-inch iPad Pro and fourth-generation iPad Air can add a laptop-like experience to either tablet. It includes a set of backlit keys and a trackpad.
At $300, the Magic Keyboard accessory is not cheap, but you can sometimes find it at a much lower price. It is currently going for $199 at Amazon and Walmart.
If you’re in the market for a new TV for your home, Best Buy has an incredible deal: you can buy Hisense’s 75-inch 4K LED TV (model H6510G) for only $600, which is $400 off its usual price of $1,000. The model includes Android TV software built in, four HDMI ports, plus a panel that supports Dolby Vision, HDR 10, and HLG.
O...
All of those obnoxious marketing emails that crowd your inbox aren’t just pushing a product. They’re also tracking whether you’ve opened the email, when you opened it, and where you were at the time by using software like MailChimp to embed tracking software into the message.
How does it work? A single tracking pixel is embedded into the email, usually (but not always) hidden within an image or a link. When the email is opened, code within the pixel sends the info back to the company’s server.
There have been some attempts to restrict the amount of information that can be transmitted this way. For example, since 2014, Google has served all images through its own proxy servers, which could hide your location from at least some tracking...
You can get a great smartphone at this price, whether you want an iPhone, a big screen, or a great camera
You do everything right, yet disaster still strikes. Such is the world of troubleshooting a fussy PC, like when a prompt suggests that it’s fixing your computer but somehow makes a situation worse.
Images of the unannounced Oppo Find X3 Neo have leaked again, this time giving us our best look yet at the third phone in Oppo’s upcoming Find X3 phone lineup, NieuweMobiel.nl reports. As tipster Evan Blass has subsequently pointed out, the handset appears to be a rebranded version of Oppo’s Reno5 Pro Plus 5G. The phone is expected to be announced next month alongside the Find X3 Pro and Find X3 Lite.
Since the Find X3 Neo is based on an existing phone, we already have a pretty good idea of what its specs might be. These include a Snapdragon 865 processor, 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging, and a 6.55-inch 90Hz OLED display. Around back there are four cameras: a 50-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 13-megapixel telephoto, a...
Apple is reportedly developing a new iPhone charging accessory in the form of a battery pack that magnetically attaches to the rear of the device using MagSafe, Bloomberg reports. Although some prototypes have a rubber exterior, the battery pack isn’t thought to act as a protective case like previous iPhone battery accessories from Apple. Alongside details of the new battery case, Bloomberg also notes that the iPhone lineup is unlikely to receive support for reverse wireless charging anytime soon.
The battery pack accessory is thought to have been in development for at least a year, but it’s reportedly faced development issues relating to the iPhone’s software thinking that the pack is overheating. Bloomberg notes that Apple is cautious...
John Carmack has proposed an auction system for popular gaming products like GPUs, the PS5, and Xbox Series X. Carmack, the co-founder of id software, believes “we really would be better off with a transparent auction system directly from the manufacturers and a more efficient market.”
This type of auction system could be used to beat scalpers, who wouldn’t be willing to pay inflated prices on highly prized new products. “There would be much indignation at reported prices out of the gate, but removing intermediaries should net out better for consumers in the end,” says Carmack on Twitter.
Due to a global chip shortage and incredible demand, the true price of a PS5 was more than $1,000 in December, and RTX 3080s were selling for $1,227...
Acast, a podcast host and ad network, is looking to improve its tech and broaden its reach. The company announced today that it’s acquiring RadioPublic for an undisclosed amount with the goal of using RadioPublic’s tech to bring more creators to the Acast platform and make inroads in the US market. RadioPublic’s podcast app will remain live, and its team will stay based in the US.
Among the tools that RadioPublic created — and that intrigued Acast — is something called Podsite, which helps podcasters set up a complimentary website for their show as well as a feature called Affinity Promotions, which helps podcasters target their most loyal listeners with text-based messages. They can use these messages to promote a newsletter, for...
Uber has lost the final appeal in a long running UK legal battle over whether its drivers are self-employed or legally-recognized workers with all the attendant rights, Bloomberg reports. The ruling is the conclusion of the company’s five-year legal fight in the country and a major setback for Uber that will affect all gig workers in the UK, regardless of employer.
Today, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are, indeed, workers, confirming the decision made by three lower courts. That means the drivers are entitled to a minimum wage, paid holiday, and other legal protections. Judge George Leggatt said Uber drivers working time isn’t limited to time spent driving passengers, but also “includes any period when a driver is...
YouTube’s permanent Spaces locations, which were designed to offer resources and networking opportunities to its creators, won’t reopen after the pandemic, the company has confirmed. Instead, YouTube says it’s shifting to a hybrid model that will combine pop-up locations with virtual events. The Spaces that won’t be re-opening are in Berlin, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rio, and Tokyo.
Although it was the pandemic that pushed YouTube towards a virtual model, the shift away from permanent Spaces has been underway for at least a couple of years. Back in 2019, TubeFilter reported that the company was moving towards a reliance on temporary pop-up locations to give it the flexibility to serve creators across a wider area. At the time...
