technology

/ After months of teasing and AR / VR hardware partnership announcements, Google could be getting ready for a reveal. 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”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Are we about to see what’s up Google’s sleeve after its mysterious AR / VR deals with companies like Qualcomm and Samsung? Or might it finally bring its Google Play Store to Meta’s Quest like Meta once asked? Either way, Google seems to be prepping its Play Store for headsets, according to details discovered in app store code by Android Authority. Screenshots published by the outlet show a smal...

/ Algorithmic risk scores might be obscuring a broader issue with how the judicial system works. 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: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images When Northwestern University graduate student Sino Esthappan began researching how algorithms decide who stays in jail, he expected “a story about humans versus technology.” On one side would be human judges, who Esthappan interviewed extensively. On the other would be risk assessment algorithms, which are used in hundreds of US counties to assess the danger of granting bail to accused criminals. What he fou...

The Echo ecosystem has seen its fair share of failures while trying to popularize Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant. By Andrew Liszewski, a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2011, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. For the past decade, Amazon has aspired for Alexa to be more than just a convenient way to start a cooking timer. To convince consumers of the smart assistant’s potential, the company has reinvented its Echo line again and again. From fashion-critiquing cameras to microwaves you can ask to make popcorn, Echo’s repeated renaissance has often felt wildly experimental in a way that hasn’t always clicked with consumers. Although the Echo smart speaker has endured, many other Echo spinoffs, accessories, and var...

/ First teased at Apple WWDC 2024, the Canon RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual lens is designed to make VR and spatial video content creation more affordable. a]:text-gray-13″>If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. 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: Canon Canon has officially announced its new RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual lens, which features stereoscopic elements that have been squeezed into a body no larger than a traditional 2D camera lens. It was originally teased during the Apple WWDC 2024 keynote last June and is designed to...

/ Will we see them at CES? 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 AMD Radeon GPU.

/ Reddit says its daily users are up 47 percent year-over-year. 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: The Verge Reddit just turned a profit for the first time. As part of its third-quarter earnings results released on Tuesday, the company reported a profit of $29.9 million, along with $348.4 million in revenue — a 68 percent increase year over year. The company hasn’t been profitable at any point in its nearly 20-year history. Since going public, Reddit lost $575 million during its first quarter on the market, but it decreased that loss to $10 million last quarter, and is now fin...

/ AI is hugely important to Google’s products, and it sounds like the company relies on it internally, too. 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”>Illustration: The Verge Google is building a bunch of AI products, and it’s using AI quite a bit as part of building those products, too. “More than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers,” CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company’s third quarter 2024 earnings call. It’s a big milestone that marks just how important AI is to the company. AI is helping Google make money as well. Alphabet rep...

/ The Vizio MicMe soundbar comes with two microphones and access to 85,000 songs. 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″>This soundbar has a secret.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″>Free to do it all my way, indeed.

/ The Grand Touring trim will come first, followed by the regular Touring model. 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 John Keeble/Getty Images Lucid Motors revealed pricing and reservation details for its upcoming Gravity SUV, which is expected to go into production later this year. To start out, Lucid will sell two trims of the Gravity: the Touring and Grand Touring. The Grand Touring will start at $94,900 and will be the first to go into production in late 2024. The Gravity Touring model, which starts at $79,900, won’t go into production in late 2025. Lucid is opening orders...

/ Google is also adding a shortcut to help you quickly refine drafts on mobile and the web. 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”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is expanding “Help me write” to Gmail on the web, allowing users to whip up or tweak emails using Gemini AI. Just like on mobile, users will see a prompt to use the feature when opening a blank draft in Gmail. Google’s “Help me write” feature is only available to users who subscribe to Google One AI Premium or have the Gemini add-on for Workspace. In addition to generating an email draft, “Help me write” can also...

/ Droves of subscribers canceled because of the spiked Washington Post endorsement. 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″>“We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with what the customer needs and we work backwards,” Jeff Bezos, previously.

Electric Cars The VW-backed company is following in the footsteps of Tesla and Rivian by selling directly to customers without a dealership. Share this story a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Digital sales and service To make that happen, Scout Motors is relying heavily on a digital platform that it’s building in-house. “Scout Motors doesn’t have any legacy apparatus,” Cody Thacker, Scout’s VP of growth, said. “We kept asking ourselves, if an OEM could start over again, what would they do differently?”  This clean-sheet approach is trying to remake car buying, one of the most loathed financial transactions Americans go through. According to research compiled by...