technology

/ Microsoft’s office apps and services are getting new Copilot features, available to 600 customers willing to pay for early access. Microsoft is expanding preview access to its Microsoft 365 Copilot, a digital assistant based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 that brings AI-powered capabilities across Microsoft 365 apps and services. The tech giant has also announced a new indexing tool that lets Copilot more accurately report on internal company data, alongside some new Copilot features for apps like Microsoft Whiteboard, Outlook, and PowerPoint. The company is launching the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program — an invitation-only paid preview that will initially be rolled out to 600 global customers. Prior to this expansion, just 20 customers have been able to test the Microsoft 365 Copilot. Tho...

/ The smartwatch app lets you send text or voice messages from your wrist. Previously users could only respond to WhatsApp notifications. 

Electric Bikes More simple, more accessible, more reliable, less money. Well, this is a surprise. Despite saying they’d be skipping straight from the 3-series to the 5-series of electric bikes, VanMoof just announced two new e-bikes — the full-size S4 and smaller X4 — days after its $4,000 S5 and A5 e-bikes started shipping. At $2,498 / £2,198 / €2,198 the S4 and X4 models are not only priced to compete, they should also require fewer support calls since there’s a lot less that can go wrong. The S5 and A5’s fancy Halo Ring displays are gone, as are the integrated Apple Find My tracking, complicated three-speed automatic e-shifter, and superfluous multifunction buttons that most regular commuters don’t need. VanMoof’s e-bikes have been notorious for initial quality issue...

I spent a day on a $279, bright blue, cow-spotted 14-inch laptop, and I’m seriously impressed by how much it has to offer. I’ve just finished a day on the Gateway 14, one of the most talked-about laptops in the budget Windows space. And folks… I’m very impressed. We bought this at Walmart for $279 (discounted from $360 since it’s a couple generations old), and yes, it has the legendary cow spots on its lid. The Gateway brand from the 1990s that we all know and love is now licensed by Acer and has become a Walmart-exclusive brand. The cow moos on. Mooooo. The model I’ve been using includes an Intel Core i5-1135G7 (a chip that powered many of 2020’s most premium ultraportable devices, including the Samsung Galaxy Book, the Acer Swift 5, the Dell XPS 13, and the Lenovo Yoga 9i). There i...

/ All the best preorder bonuses and where to get them — at least, what you can still get. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Nintendo If you’re looking to buy yourself a ticket aboard the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hype train and preorder the game ahead of its May 12th launch, you might as well get some cool extra bonuses. Some retailers are offering free preorder incentives like a wooden plaque or an art print, which are a nice bonus that doesn’t cost anything extra. Or, super-fans willing to plunk down extra money can get the fancy Collector’s Edition with lots of...

/ Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are also nearly matching their best price to date, making our exclusive deal an excellent alternative if you own a Google Pixel phone. a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-blurple-1″>Read our AirPods (third-gen) review. Apple’s third-gen AirPods have a new design and sound significantly better than their predecessors. They also add new features like head tracking for spatial audio. If you own a PS5, you owe it to yourself to claim all the games still being offered via the PlayStation Plus Collection — a premium perk Sony plans to eliminate on May 9th. And if you’re not currently a PS Plus member, you can get 12 months of the PS Plus Essential tier for $48.49 (about $12 off) at Eneba when you use offer code USPlus before 7AM ET on May...

/ Discord’s major username changes to adopt standardized handles aren’t sitting well with its longtime users.

Electric Bikes $4,000 and a long list of features, but how many do you really need? “Sometimes you have to kill your darlings,” is a phrase used by designers to justify the removal of elements they find personally exciting but fail to add value. The last time I heard it was in April, 2022, when I rode pre-production versions of VanMoof’s new full-size S5 and smaller A5 electric bikes. The phrase was uttered by co-founder and CEO Taco Carlier to justify the removal of VanMoof’s iconic matrix display for a new “Halo Ring” interface.  One year later and both e-bikes are now — finally — being delivered to customers, well after their original target of July 2022. The price has also been raised to $3,998 / €3,498 from an early preorder price of $2,998 / €2,498, which was already much more e...

/ And could you let the team know if you’re going to invite a celeb? a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>An official skeet. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is already there, as is Sen. Brian Schatz and Sen. Ron Wyden. There are celebrities there, as well — CNN’s Jake Tapper, filmmaker Rian Johnson, model Chrissy Teigen, and filmmaker Lilly Wachowski. But the more high-profile members that join, the more moderation challenges the Bluesky team is likely to encounter. After all, when pundit Matt Yglesias joined, before a block button was available, one user threatened to beat him with hammers. So I’m sympath...

/ Google’s new passkeys lets you access your account and apps more quickly and easily. a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>What are the hardware / software requirements? Currently, you can create a passkey on any compatible hardware, including laptops / desktops with Windows 10 or macOS Ventura (or later) running Chrome 109, Safari 16, or Edge 109 or later. If you’re setting up a passkey on a mobile phone or tablet, it must run iOS 16 or Android 9 (or later). You can also use it with any hardware security key that supports the FIDO2 protocol. You will also need to have a screen lock enabled, and if you want to use your phone to sign into another device, such as a lapt...

/ The former Yahoo CEO says buying Hulu or Netflix ‘would have been a better acquisition’ in hindsight.

/ First, there were discounts on the expansion storage, seemingly spurred by upcoming competition, and now those deals are just the regular prices. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge The pricey Seagate Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X / S have finally received a much-needed price cut. The official Xbox Twitter account announced that the current selection of 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB memory cards from Seagate are now available at a lower price of $89.99, $149.99, and $279.99, respectively. This effectively takes the recent discounted sale prices of the cards...