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The latest tech news about the world's best (and sometimes worst) hardware, apps, and much more. From top companies like Google and Apple to tiny startups vying for your attention, Verge Tech has the latest in what matters in technology daily.

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Gmail’s tabs are actually useful now that I’ve found this extension

Thanks to this extension, I can now organize my inboxes in ways that make sense for my life.

Apple is finally rolling out AirPlay in hotel rooms

Your iPhone’s AirPlay feature connects to the TV starting today at ‘select’ hotels throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico.

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Best Buy launches an augmented reality shopping app for the Vision Pro.

Apple’s headset doesn’t have an official Netflix app, but MacRumors mentions Best Buy’s app has arrived.

Just put on your Vision Pro, open the Best Buy Envision app and scroll through hundreds of options to see them appear digitally, right in front your eyes, in your physical space.

Now, all we need is a Netflix app for those virtual TVs.


Simulated view of the Best Buy Vision Pro app projecting LG and Amazon TVs into a living room setting next to a page of Best Buy product listings with details and prices.
Augmented Best Buy Reality
Image: Best Buy
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Overwatch 2 targets console cheaters using XIM, ReaSnow, and Cronus devices.

Like Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, and Destiny 2, the developers of Overwatch 2 are going after players who use “unapproved peripherals” to combine the precision of mouse and keyboard controls with the aim assist granted to controller players.

Over the next few weeks, there will be permanent account bans against players who are the most severe abusers of unapproved peripherals. These actions will be targeted towards high-ranked players who have been reported by others and who our data clearly shows are using an unapproved peripheral.


TikTok’s infamous algorithm and its link to a failed real estate app.

Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, but previously served as the CEO of 99Fang, a Chinese home finder startup with “very powerful” tech for search, image processing, and recommendations.

Now, The New York Times reports that former contractors suing Susquehanna, an investor in both companies, claim technology they developed for 99Fang was used to create TikTok without compensating them.


AI true crime.

Futurism spotted what looks to be AI photo shenanigans in Netflix’s What Jennifer Did, a true crime documentary detailing a murder-for-hire plot. The possible AI-generated images appeared in scenes describing the subject, Jennifer Pan’s personality. Futurism rightly points out that fake AI images in a true crime documentary are controversial, at the least.


Photo from Futurism on the documentary “What Jennifer Did.”
Is this AI-generated?
Image: Futurism
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Apple’s iPhone recycling program is riddled with theft and waste.

In 2020, Apple sued a recycling partner after more than 11,000 pounds of gadgets disappeared. But a Bloomberg report reveals that workers pilfering iPhones isn’t the only problem with Apple’s recycling program.

The company regularly ordered the recycling partner to destroy “tens of thousands” of refurbishable devices, legal filings show. Such waste occurs regularly throughout the globe.


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Will the Netflix price hikes ever end?

Co-CEO Greg Peters says the streamer doesn’t have a “set position” on a ceiling for its subscription pricing:

You can look at pay TV as a potential markers for where people have spent before but we really actually don’t think of it so much is defined by that... As we add more entertainment value, then of course we can go back to our subscribers and ask them to pay a little bit more to keep that virtuous cycle moving.


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Microsoft and OpenAI deal may face anti-trust investigations in the EU.

If it pushes through, the European Commission could look into whether Microsoft’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI restricts competition, Reuters reports. The commission floated the possibility of an investigation in January.

The partnership between the two companies already drew scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Federal Trade Commission in the US.


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Crypto trader Avi Eisenberg found guilty of fraud in market-manipulation case.

Eisenberg sent the price of MNGO tokens up, then withdrew $110 million in crypto. He did not testify.

His defense pointed out the was permitted by the crypto’s code. Turns out code isn’t law!


House passes bill restricting law enforcement from buying personal information from data brokers.

The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act has been circulating since at least 2020, seeking to close this loophole in constitutional privacy protections. A version of the bill finally passed Wednesday evening, in a 212–199 vote.


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Does a 25-year-old Super Soaker still reign supreme?

Spyra recently sent me its new $54 SpyraGo electric water blaster, so I decided to bring back a literal blast from the past: a 1998 Super Soaker CPS 2500, one of the most effective hosers ever made.

Below, see how they perform against the flagship $179 SpyraThree and the $15 X-Shot Epic Fast Fill, one of the best budget soakers you can buy!


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The new Firefly AI-powered Adobe Express app is now available.

As we saw in the beta release this new version of Adobe Express packs the same creative, editing, and generative AI features that desktop users have into an iOS and Android app.

It’s free to use, but to access Firefly and the full suite of editing tools you’ll need a $10 per month Premium membership.


The world’s smallest Nintendo Wii is literally the size of a deck of playing cards.

The Short Stack: a scale model of a Nintendo Wii one-thirteenth the size, with an actual trimmed Wii motherboard inside. Four headset jacks do duty as working GameCube controller ports, attached to custom PCBs that add USB-C power, HDMI output, and microSD storage.

Update: Here’s a video of it working, GameCube pad and all!


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Images: James Smith
Wait, Mark Zuckerberg’s a chain guy now?

We’ve seen Zuck in his grilling phase (both meat and in front of Congress) as an MMA athlete, a metaverse CEO, and now... announcing AI updates as a middle-aged man wearing a chain.

The good news is that, unlike the “gold” chain I bought on Virginia Beach in the 90s, I doubt it will turn his skin green.


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New bill would create public datasets to train AI and incentivize innovation.

A group of key senators introduced the Future of AI Innovation Act Thursday to promote artificial intelligence research and innovation and create global standards for the technology.

The group’s sponsors include Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), a member of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s AI working group, and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO).


Future of AI Innovation Act

[www.commerce.senate.gov]

Apple Watch ban: everything you need to know

Apple’s ability to sell the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US is in trouble due to a patent dispute — here’s all the latest news.

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger are all rolling out Meta AI search right now.

Alex told us they were coming, but it looks like Meta is flipping the switch as we speak — adding Meta AI searches alongside traditional ones in each app’s default search box. Oh, and some Ask Meta AI mini-prompts, too. If Meta AI has an answer to something you type, it’ll show a blue-violet circle next to that search result.


“Ask Meta AI anything,” the search box invites.
“Ask Meta AI anything,” the search box invites.
Screenshot by Chris Welch / The Verge
The Xbox credit card is now available in the US.

Microsoft has been testing an Xbox Mastercard for more than six months and it’s now opening it up to everyone in the US today. The Xbox Mastercard is a no annual fee credit card issued by Barclays, and purchases made using the card will generate points that can be redeemed on Xbox games and add-ons.


The Xbox Mastercard.
The Xbox Mastercard.
Image: Microsoft

At Kernel, your veggie burger will be served by a robot

Its robotic arm heats vegan burgers and crispy potatoes while relegating humans to assembly line jobs.