Chronological feeds won’t fix platform polarization, new Meta-backed research suggests Image: Nick Barclay / The VergeFacebook and Instagram users see wildly different political news in their feeds depending on their political beliefs, but chronological feeds won’t fix the problem with polarization, new research published Thursday suggests. The findings come from four papers produced through a partnership between Meta and more th…

Google delays its upgraded, more expansive Find My Device network Image: GoogleGoogle is delaying the broad expansion of its Find My Device feature, and it says it’s doing so with personal safety in mind since the industry spec proposed by itself and Apple isn’t quite ready yet. “User safety and the prevention of unwanted location tracking is a top priority for Android,” Google’s Erik Kay announced in a blog p…

Xbox Games with Gold ends with a whimper Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeMicrosoft revealed the final games you’ll be able to claim with an Xbox Live Gold subscription before Gold is replaced with the Xbox Game Pass Core, and, well, they’re games you may not have heard of before. Throughout the month of August, Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to snag Blue Fire, a 3D plat…

LinkedIn seems to be working on an AI ‘coach’ for job applications Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeLinkedIn appears to be developing a new AI tool that can help ease the effectively robotic task of looking for and applying to jobs. According to a new leak, the Microsoft-owned company seems to have a new “LinkedIn Coach” assistant in testing that could support you through the application processes, teach …

The ad-free Kindle Paperwhite Kids is $55 off The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is just like the standard model pictured above but with some kid-friendly extras. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The VergeIf you’re looking for an e-reader you can safely take to the beach, right now, the latest Kindle Paperwhite Kids is on sale for $114.99 ($55 off) with 16GB of storage at Amazon and Best Buy. That’s o…

WhatsApp adds a quicker way to send short videos to your friends Image: MetaWhatApp’s latest feature is the ability to quickly send short video messages, similar to the voice messages the service already supports. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a short clip of the feature in action, showing the circular videos sent via the feature. According to an accompanying blog post from WhatsApp, video messages can be …

Castlevania: Nocturne’s first trailer puts Richter Belmont in the revolutionary spotlight Richter Belmont getting ready to take some vampires down. | Image: NetflixWhen Netflix’s first Castlevania animated series drew to a close in its fourth season, the vampiric menace threatening to plunge the world into darkness had only been beaten into submission rather than outright destroyed. It was only a matter of time before Dracula and the…

Senate panel advances bills to childproof the internet Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeCongress is closer than ever to passing a pair of bills to childproof the internet after lawmakers voted to send them to the floor Thursday. The bills — the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and COPPA 2.0 — were approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday by a unanimous voice vote. Both pieces of legisl…

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra review: a lean, mean Windows machine Samsung’s 16-inch workstation aims to be the go-to for Windows fans with graphics-heavy workloads. Continue reading…

Two of the most underrated Zelda games are now available on Nintendo Switch Online Thank you Nintendo, now can we please have some GameCube titles? I miss playing Twilight Princess. | Image: Nintendo / Jess WeatherbedNintendo has announced that two new retro Zelda games — The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons — are now available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers on the standard $3….

The Witcher season 3’s big finale is a wasted opportunity Image: NetflixIn the finale of The Witcher’s third season — which also happens to be the final episode where Henry Cavill will play the lead role — our hero, Geralt of Rivia, spends most of his time in bed. This is not an exaggeration: after getting his ass thoroughly kicked in a previous episode, he’s stuck recuperating in a forest, trying his …

Niantic’s Monster Hunter Now is launching on September 14th Image: NianticThe next major release from Pokémon Go developer Niantic is launching very soon. The studio announced today that Monster Hunter Now, a collaboration with Capcom, will be available globally on September 14th, launching on both iOS and Android. The announcement was made as part of a lengthy presentation detailing more about how the g…

Peacock adds just 2 million subscribers ahead of price hike Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergePeacock added just 2 million subscribers over the past three months, bringing the service up to 24 million subscribers in the US. That number was included in Comcast’s earnings report today, which says Peacock nearly doubled its subscribers year over year. In addition to the small bump in subscribers, Peaco…

Sony has sold 40 million PS5s Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeSony announced it has sold over 40 million PlayStation 5 consoles despite the “unprecedented challenges of COVID” and supply chain issues. Unlike the press release shared when the PS5 crossed 10 million units sold as of July 2021, Sony didn’t call its flagship console out as the “fastest-selling console in the hi…

GoodRx launches digital ‘medicine cabinet’ that rewards people for taking their meds The Medicine Cabinet feature aims to tackle more than forgetfulness when it comes to medication adherence. | Image: GoodRxThere’s no shortage of apps designed to remind people to take their medications. But GoodRx, an online pharmacy and telehealth app, is trying to take it a step further by launching a digital “medicine cabinet.” The idea is t…

Slack is down, it’s not just you Slack has now acknowledged the issues and is investigating the cause. | Illustration: Alex Castro / The VergeSlack, the workplace chat app, is having some issues this morning, with messages failing to send on the service. Reports began spiking on DownDetector at around 5AM ET and the service’s status dashboard acknowledged the issues with a post…

EU opens Microsoft antitrust investigation into Teams bundling Illustration: The VergeThe European Commission is opening a formal antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of its Teams software with its Office productivity suite. Slack originally filed an anti-competitive complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission in July 2020, just months after a global pandemic began and the Microsof…

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to build a new agency to police Big Tech Getty ImagesThere’s a new bipartisan bill to establish a new federal agency tasked with regulating online platforms. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), would create a new agency called the Digital Consumer Protection Commission that would be empowered to go after giant tech firms for a slew of anti-c…

Here’s how to watch the evolution of Reddit’s r/Place canvas — including its protest art Image: RedditReddit wrapped up its 2023 r/Place collaborative canvas on Tuesday, but if you missed it while it was happening or want to relive the evolution of the artwork, there’s a few ways to look back on the project. If you just want to take it all in as it happened, I’d recommend watching Reddit’s official r/Place 2023 timelapse, which I’ve…

AWS is ready to power AI agents that can handle busywork instead of just chatting AWS VP Swami Sivasubramanian at the AWS Summit event. | Image: AmazonDuring the AWS Summit in New York on Wednesday, Amazon launched Agents for Bedrock, which will let companies build AI apps that can automatically do tasks on their own, like booking a flight for users instead of just telling them about it. AI agents are the assistant that actua…