Amazon secretly excluded neighborhoods from Prime delivery, DC AG alleges Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeAmazon quietly carved out two Washington, DC zip codes from being serviced by its fastest Prime delivery service with its own branded trucks, outsourcing deliveries to slower services like UPS and the Postal Service, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb alleges in a new lawsuit. The alleged decision led to abo…

An air pressure sensor lets this bike computer calculate wind resistance An air pressure sensor inside the Elemnt Ace bike computer can determine wind speeds while you ride. | Image: Wahoo FitnessWahoo Fitness announced a new bike computer featuring a built-in air pressure sensor that’s used to calculate the speed of the wind during a ride. The Elemnt Ace’s added metric lets cyclists better understand their performan…

Instagram creators can now turn on replies in broadcast channels Broadcast channel replies allow participants to respond to messages as they can on Instagram posts. | Image: MetaInstagram is adding some new features to broadcast channels that give platform creators more ways to directly interact with their followers. Meta announced that creators can enable “Replies” in their broadcast channel limited group ch…

ESPN is coming to the Disney Plus app starting today Image: DisneyAfter bringing Hulu content to the Disney Plus app earlier this year, Disney is now doing the same for ESPN Plus programming. A new ESPN tile is being added to the app’s homescreen. The tile just says “ESPN,” because for right now, it’ll only include the live games and shows that are normally part of ESPN Plus. But next year will m…

Skeleton Crew is a kid-friendly reminder of who Star Wars is for Image: Disney Plus / Lucasfilm Ltd.Disney Plus’ latest Star Wars series is trying to speak directly to a new generation of young fans. Read the full story at The Verge.

The Verge picks out the most memorable tech of 2024 As far as tech goes, 2024 was a strong year for some innovative, interesting, and unforgettable moments. We kicked off the year with the Apple Vision Pro — Apple’s long-awaited entry into the world of “spatial computing.” It was impressive, with The Verge’s editor-in-chief, Nilay Patel, describing the device as “magic, until it’s not.” But it s…

OpenAI’s 12 days of ‘shipmas’ include Sora and new reasoning model Image: Alex Parkin / The VergeHappy holidays from OpenAI. The AI startup plans to kick off a “shipmas” period of new features, products, and demos for 12 days, starting on December 5th. The announcements will include OpenAI’s long-awaited text-to-video AI tool Sora and a new reasoning model, sources familiar with OpenAI’s plans tell The Verge. O…

Govee’s smart Christmas tree lights are cheaper than ever Govee’s Christmas Lights 2 adds some holiday cheer to your home with color-changing smart lights that sync to music. | Image: GoveeOrnaments are nice and all, but few Christmas tree decorations are as magical as Govee’s Christmas Lights 2. If you want your tree to truly dazzle this year, then you might want to check out Govee’s 66-foot smart st…

Xreal’s new glasses are a surprisingly good TV for your face The Xreal One. | Image: XrealDuring a recent flight from Los Angeles to New York City, I put a headset on my face to watch a movie. I wasn’t wearing the Vision Pro or a Meta Quest. I was trying the latest pair of AR glasses from Xreal, a Chinese startup taking an unusually focused approach to face computers. To call the Xreal One, which is avail…

Spotify Wrapped 2024 adds an AI podcast to recap your listening habits Image: SpotifyThis year’s Spotify Wrapped has arrived. As you look at your stats for 2024, you’ll find a few new features you can use to interact with your data, including one that lets you listen to and share an AI-generated podcast summarizing your listening habits. Spotify built this feature using Google’s AI note-taking tech, NotebookLM, whi…

Microsoft closes the door on Windows 11 supporting older hardware Image: MicrosoftMicrosoft has poured cold water on any hopes of lower hardware requirements for Windows 11. With Windows 10 end of support approaching in October 2025, the software giant now says that its Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 requirement for Windows 11 is “non-negotiable.” In a blog post entitled “TPM 2.0 – a necessity for a secure …

Apple Arcade’s best exclusive game is finally on console and PC Image: Square EnixFantasian was an easy game to recommend when it launched in 2021. Developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker studio, Fantasian was an approachable old-school roleplaying game that had a lot of clever ideas, along with an adorable aesthetic thanks to its world made out of hand-crafted dioramas. There was …

Google’s new generative AI video model is now available Image: GoogleVeo, Google’s latest generative AI video model, is now available for businesses to start incorporating into their content creation pipelines. After first being unveiled in May — three months after OpenAI demoed its competing Sora product — Veo has beaten it to market by launching in a private preview via Google’s Vertex AI platform….

Growl’s interactive bag lets you punch your boxing trainer in the face The Growl trainer has a screen you can punch without regretting it later. | Image: GrowlGrowl is a startup launching a wall-mounted fitness device that uses a combination of projectors and sensors to give you a life-size boxing coach to train with. Unlike similar interactive trainers such as the Lululemon Mirror or Tonal, the Growl encourages ph…

6 hours under martial law in Seoul A shocking coup attempt sent South Korea into political upheaval. But on the ground, at the protests that would prevent the President from seizing power, people were organized, angry, and a little drunk. Read the full story at The Verge.

Walmart bought Vizio Image: VizioAfter announcing plans to acquire Vizio in February, Walmart officially owns the company after the $2.3 billion transaction closed on Tuesday. The retail giant says the acquisition will help bolster its advertising business, as Platform Plus — the TV-maker’s advertising and data division — “accounts for all the company’s gr…

Ubisoft shooter XDefiant is shutting down and sending refunds to players Image: UbisoftDespite only officially launching the game in spring of this year, Ubisoft has already announced that it’s ending development and sunsetting its free-to-play team-based shooter XDefiant. Like Hyper Scape before it, XDefiant had high expectations, with Ubisoft touting more than 1 million players in its closed beta last year. Now, it…

Microsoft accuses FTC of leaking news of its antitrust investigation Illustration: The VergeMicrosoft is asking the inspector general at the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether agency management improperly leaked news of its antitrust investigation into the company, and make their findings public. Bloomberg first reported that the probe was underway last week, which The Verge later confirmed. The inve…

Two data brokers banned from selling ‘sensitive’ location data by the FTC Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is banning data brokers Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla from collecting, using, and selling “sensitive” location data of Americans, the agency announced on Tuesday. The FTC targeted Gravy Analytics, its subsidiary Venntel, and Mobilewalla for allegedly violating the…

Amazon announces its own set of Nova AI models Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeAmazon has announced a series of new AI foundation models under a new “Nova” branding that will be available as part of the Amazon Bedrock model library in AWS. There are three “understanding” models available now, Amazon says in a blog post: Amazon Nova Micro, a text model that’s “optimized for speed and …