The Apple Event Quiz Note: This content is not displaying properly in Apple News. Please use this link instead. Apple’s product events have always been more than sales pitches — they’re essentially technology entertainment: presentations that run as long as feature films and make bold promises about how technology is changing and why Apple’s new products are (suppos…

Qualcomm extends iPhone modem deal amid Apple chip delays Qualcomm will continue to supply iPhone 5G modems for the next three years. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeIt looks like Apple could still be relying on Qualcomm modem chips for its next few generations of iPhones. On Monday, Qualcomm announced the two companies had extended a modem supply agreement (that was originally set to expi…

Sony launches ‘foster care’ program for its aging robot dogs A rehoming pound for preloved robot pups. | Image: SonySony is launching a new sustainability program to ensure that even robot dogs are for life, and not just for Christmas. Five years after releasing the ERS-1000 Aibo — a reboot of its popular line of “autonomous entertainment” robot dogs from the late 90’s — Sony Japan is now launching an “Ai…

Let the robot vacuum wars begin: the newest Roombas tackle the competition’s biggest issues Surprise! More robot vacuums. iRobot launches its new j9 Plus robot vacuum line, featuring a new auto-empty dock that can refill the robot’s water tank. | Image: iRobotiRobot’s newest robot vacuums are smarter and more powerful, and the mopping bot can scrub your floors more deeply. At least, that’s what the company is claiming as it launches it…

Meta sets GPT-4 as the bar for its next AI model, says a new report Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeMeta has been snapping up AI training chips and building out data centers in order to create a more powerful new chatbot it hopes will be as sophisticated as OpenAI’s GPT-4, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company reportedly plans to begin training the new large language model early in 2024, with…

WhatsApp is working on cross-platform messaging Illustration: The VergeA WhatsApp for Android beta update (version 2.23.19.8) that came out today contains a new screen called Third-party chats, reports WABetaInfo. For now, the screen is neither functional nor accessible by users, according to WABetaInfo. But its title is a strong clue that this is likely the first step to opening Meta’s encry…

Disney is releasing a very expensive 100-movie Blu-ray collection The VergeDisney is releasing a 100-film Blu-ray collection on November 14th called the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection (via The Wrap). Preorders will start on September 18th at Walmart.com, and we regret to inform you it will cost $1,500, according to The Wrap. The collection includes movies from both Disney and Pixar, all crammed into th…

Dynamic Island isn’t such an exciting destination after all — and that’s okay The iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island is expected to land on all iPhone 15 models this year.Exciting is overrated, anyway. Continue reading…

I never want to be apart from my home espresso machine There are many like it, but this Breville Barista Express is mine.Zen and the art of espresso machine maintenance. Continue reading…

A new-old camera, Clubhouse pivots, and smart home apps galore Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 5, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, first of all, hi, hello, welcome, and second of all, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about the remarkable pettiness of Disney CEOs and the crypto world’s most obvious …

How to use the new web-based editing tools in Google Photos Illustration by Samar Haddad / The VergeGoogle Photos isn’t just a place for storing and sorting your photos and videos — both the web interface and the mobile apps come with a slew of image editing tools so you can spruce up and enhance your pictures before sharing them with the wider world. Google regularly updates these editing tools, and a s…

Elon Musk’s X is suing California over its online moderation reporting bill Illustration: The VergeElon Musk’s X Corp. is suing the state of California over AB 587, a state bill requiring social media platforms to report to the state attorney general, semiannually, how they’re tackling moderation of certain categories of speech. The complaint alleges that the bill violates federal and state free speech laws because it “…

Get Hulu with live TV for a major discount during Disney’s Charter spat Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeDisney has announced that until October 11th, it will offer a three-month deal on Hulu plus Live TV for $49.99 per month. The $20-a-month discounted subscription, which includes the ad-free tiers for Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, comes right as the final weekend of the US Open championships gets underway and t…

VPNs, Verizon, and Instagram Reels: how students are getting around the TikTok ban The University of Oklahoma blocked TikTok on its devices and networks in December 2022. | Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka / NurPhoto via Getty ImagesWhen he first read the email announcing that public universities in Texas had been asked to ban the use of TikTok on their campuses, UT Dallas student Eric Aaberg feared the worst. As a full-time content…

Can you guess how many apps we have on our phones? Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeAs you can imagine, there are a lot of interesting — and occasionally off-the-wall — conversations that take place on The Verge’s Slack channels, especially when the weekend is on its way. One of them occurred recently, when reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy happened to ask how many apps people had on th…

Why is it so hard to find a good PopSocket alternative? This one that I got off Amazon for $20 is alright. But it doesn’t do everything I need it to. | Photo by Victoria Song / The VergeI like big phones, but I cannot lie. They come with tradeoffs. Namely, despite having large hands and piano fingers, my iPhone 14 Pro Max doesn’t always feel secure in my grasp. That’s fine when I’m in bed, surrounded…

PowerPoint co-creator Dennis Austin is dead at 76 A screenshot from a 2015 video interview, titled Oral History of Dennis R. Austin, that was published by the Computer History Museum. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The VergeDennis Austin, who co-created PowerPoint, passed away at his home in Los Altos, California, on September 1st, reports The Washington Post. His son, Michael Austin, said he’d had …

Grid’s framed, disassembled gadgets are up to 40 percent off this weekend Finally, the kind of treatment Nintendo’s 34-year-old handheld deserves. | Image: GridHappy Saturday, dear readers! If you’re anything like me, chances are you have a soft spot for older tech, specifically the kind of borderline-ancient gadgets and gizmos that often find their way to the landfill or the shoebox under your bed. If so, I’m here to…

Sea of Stars is pure RPG comfort food once you push past its slow start Image: Sabotage StudioSea of Stars is basically a modern-day SNES RPG. I had a sense that would be the case going in: it has pixel art clearly inspired by 16-bit classics, pits a ragtag group of adventurers against evil forces, uses a clever turn-based battle system, and is filled with stunning music (including a few tracks from Chrono Trigger c…

Your Wyze webcam might have let other owners peek into your house Image: WyzeSome Wyze security camera owners reported Friday that they were unexpectedly able to see webcam feeds that weren’t theirs, meaning that they were unintentionally able to see inside of other people’s houses. A Wyze customer support agent confirmed to The Verge that this was indeed happening. “Went to check on my cameras and they are al…