The new and improved Windows PCs are finally here

The new and improved Windows PCs are finally here

Image: The Verge

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 43, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been reading about memexes and telepathy and John Lennon’s wristwatch, watching Presumed Innocent and Ren Faire, testing Genspark for AI search stuff, redoing my homescreen with Dumbify, and experimenting with overnight oats in an attempt to make mornings less chaotic. (Turns out, peanut butter makes pretty much everything 20 percent better.)

I also have for you a new tech podcast, a couple of handy new gadgets, a new calendar app, the game that will take over your weekend, and much more. Let’s get into it.

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What great apps / books / podcasts / shows / games / recipes / whatever else have you discovered and loved recently? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, tell them to subscribe here.)

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The Drop

• The Asus VivoBook S 15. Copilot Plus PCs cometh. It’s been a weird rollout, what with all the Recall complications, but we’re starting to get a sense of just what this new era of Qualcomm-powered Windows devices can do. So far, I’m pretty optimistic, but I’m still waiting to see how the new Surfaces pan out.
• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. The overall vibe of this huge new DLC is basically “it’s Elden Ring, only somehow even more so.” Given how deep and big this game already was, and how many hours we’ve all spent in it already, that’s pretty much all you can ask for.
• Pissing out Cancer. If all the Dropout Presents stand-up specials are as much fun as this one from Hank Green, we’re about to have a heck of a run of new comedy. Green here is funny and goofy as ever and extremely Hank Green-y. It’s an hour you won’t regret.
• The Xreal Beam Pro. Such a fun and different idea about how smart glasses should work: instead of trying to bake everything into the glasses themselves, Xreal is pulling all the smarts and software into a separate fairly cheap smartphone-style device. I’m excited to test this one out.
• Backfired: The Vaping Wars. The Juul story might forever be one of the strangest things to ever happen in Silicon Valley. This podcast goes deep on that story, along with the confusing societal debate about vaping, the government’s scramble to keep up, and where things go from here.
• Arc for iPad. Still my favorite browser, finally available on almost all my devices. (Android when, Arc people!?!) The app isn’t exactly iPad-optimized — it’s missing some keyboard shortcuts and is really just a blown-up version of the iPhone app — but it syncs and works well and I will absolutely take it.
• Amie for Windows. Big week for cross-platform apps! Amie is one of my favorite calendar / to-do apps and has gotten a lot more polished over the last few months. If you’re the all-in-one productivity type and appreciate some delightful design, give this one a whirl.
• The Logitech Keys-to-Go 2. I’ve had the original Keys-To-Go in my bag for a few years as a super light and handy way to get some stuff done with my phone or iPad. This looks like a huge upgrade: still light, still small, but with a more proper set of keys. $80 is a lot, but I suspect I’ll end up buying one.
• A Sense of Rebellion. An amazingly well-produced and deeply reported podcast on some decades-old ideas about AI and how we might use and live with technology. The story here, about hippies and capitalists and the government and big business, is kind of the story of technology all wrapped up in 10 episodes. Loving this so far.
• Clipbud. Clipboard history is helpful and good, but having a place with all the text you type a lot – your shipping address, stock email responses, important links, all of that — is a life-changer. The built-in text replacement and personal dictionary features (on iOS and Android, respectively) do a lot of that, and apps like Snippety are mega-powerful, but this new one is pretty delightful to use.

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Screen share

I think Nick Quah has introduced me to more great podcasts than any other person on earth. Whether in the early days of Hot Pod or in his 1.5x Speed newsletter over at Vulture (The Verge’s sister site here at Vox Media), he seems to have listened to all the shows all the time. Just this week, actually, he wrote a fun story about how chat podcasts have taken over and named some of the biggest names in New Radio.

I asked Nick to share his homescreen because a) I was curious what podcast app he used and b) I was hoping he might recommend a new show or two. I got my wish on both counts! Here’s Nick’s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:

The phone: Recently upgraded from my trusty ol’ iPhone 12 to an iPhone 15. Seems to be doing fine so far; I’m no longer stressed about losing juice on long flights.

The wallpaper: My sweet, sweet baby boy Siobhan (aka Shooby).

The apps: Calendar, Photos, Clock, Weather, Google Maps, To Do, Google Calendar, Gmail, Spotify, TikTok, Instagram, Steam, Delta, Strava, Discord, Slack, Stocks, LastPass, Messages, Phone, Firefox, Pocket Casts.

Yeah, well, as you can see, I’m pretty vanilla for the most part. All the immediately accessible apps are stuff I hit up with some frequency on any given day. Google Maps for navigation (and snooping). To Do to get my brain in order. TikTok and Instagram for something to do in the bathroom. I’ve been gaming a lot more these days, so I’m constantly trawling Steam for deals. Strava, ‘cuz I’ve somehow become a big runner. I’ve also been hitting up Delta quite a bit, working through a backlog of old JRPGs. And of course, Pocket Casts, which is my go-to for podcast listening.

I also asked Nick to share a few things he’s into right now. Here’s what he sent back:

• I’m a big rewatcher / replayer of things, and for whatever reason, the summertime is usually when I pick up my annual revisits. Right now, I’m working my way through Halt and Catch Fire for the sixth time. Gosh, that show is so lovely. It’s the 10-year anniversary, you know?
• Like the rest of the universe at this point in time, seemingly, I’m digging Chappell Roan. “Red Wine Supernova,” very good.
• Slowly making my way through Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love, David Talbot’s 2013 history of San Francisco. I’m finding it quite remarkable.
• Catching up on episodes of My Perfect Console, Simon Parkin’s great “Desert Island Discs, but for Video Games” interview show that’s really doubling as a fun historical record for the medium.

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Crowdsourced

Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more recommendations than fit here, check out the replies to this post on Threads.

“This little camera. I’ve been going over ways in my mind to justify it because it’s so cute but also the photos are surprisingly decent.” – Daulton

“Check out Ditto. It is a Nostr server that exposes Mastodon API to its clients. So the promise is that you would be able to use your very nice Mastodon app (Ivory, Ice Cubes) and add Nostr connection right into it. It would be like an additional server in the same app where your main Mastodon account is.” – Adnan

“I’ve been slowly getting back into following Pokemón trading cards and have been hooked watching TheBulbaStore on YouTube. It’s super interesting seeing a vendor’s point of view and the prices some cards go for now!” – Peter

“The Hawthorne & Horowitz mysteries by Anthony Horowitz. He recently released the fifth in the series, Close to Death. They all have tortured puns as titles (in this case, “close” being a British word for enclosed area). On top of that, the books are metafiction in which Horowitz himself is the main character, talking about how he is writing the series of murder mysteries that you are reading. Yet, they are some of the best contemporary murder mysteries I’ve read and do a wonderful job paying homage to Agatha Christie, all while playing with the genre.” – Kendrick

“I’m playing and watching chess! Chess is cool now! Lots of great ways to play, but Chess.com is probably the best for beginners. And there’s great YouTube content out there on chess from Eric Rosen, Irina Krush, Levy Rozman, and Hikaru Nakamura. Getting good so I can teach my three-year-old niece to be a master someday.” – Ryan

“I am really enjoying “Jet Lag: The Game” on YouTube. Imagine The Amazing Race, but actually good and not scripted. The hosts are likable and the game has some decent complexity behind it. They are about to wrap up their Australia season, and it has been a nail-biter.” – Dev

“I’m currently reading Hell Divers II: Ghosts by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. Postapocalyptic sci-fi about halo jumpers who dive into radioactive wastelands to scavenge supplies from mutant monsters, and yes, it is as good as it sounds.” – Jesse

“I’ve been obsessed with my new Klydoclock, a digital take on the classic analog clock. It features changing, artist-curated faces and can even tick and chime on the hour if you want it to. Best of all: it has no other functions and isn’t attached to an app or your phone. Minimalism and elegance at its finest.” – Jonathan

“I really believe that a home server or NAS is useful and easily accessible for more people than currently have one. More people should have their own Plex server, Pi-hole, self-hosted cloud storage, Minecraft server, or self-hosted VPN. An old PC is all you need if you want to keep it simple. And if you don’t mind learning how to work with Linux, you could even use an old Android phone or cheap Raspberry Pi clone.” – Voltaire

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Signing off

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I absolutely cannot get enough of watching / listening to / reading about how people who are great at their thing do their thing. (The musician Kygo has a series of making-of videos that is always the first example I think of in this genre.) One of my favorite recent ones is this video, with Zane Lowe interviewing Finneas and Billie Eilish about the making of Eilish’s latest album. They talk about process, fear, microphones, editing, and so much more. I will almost certainly never make an album, or shoot a movie, or make it in the NBA, but listening to people talk about how they do it never gets old.

See you next week!

How Pet Care Became a Big Business

How Pet Care Became a Big Business People have grown more attached to their pets — and more willing to spend money on them — turning animal medicine into a high-tech industry worth billions.

What the Arrival of A.I. Phones and Computers Means for Our Data

What the Arrival of A.I. Phones and Computers Means for Our Data Apple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?

How Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Failed Children on Safety

How Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Failed Children on Safety The C.E.O. and his team drove Meta’s efforts to capture young users and misled the public about the risks, lawsuits by state attorneys general say.

AT&T is still on the hook for offering landline service in California

AT&T is still on the hook for offering landline service in California

Image: The Verge

AT&T can’t pull the plug on landline service for customers across California. In a ruling on Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rejected AT&T’s request to release it from its obligations as a Carrier of Last Resort (COLR), as reported earlier by Ars Technica and CBS News.

AT&T has had a COLR designation in California since 1996, which ensures everyone in the state has access to affordable and reliable telephone service. Some people in California — especially those who live in remote areas — have come to rely on their landline service, as it allows them to make emergency calls even when the power is out or cellular service isn’t available.

Earlier this year, AT&T asked CPUC to be released from its duties as a designated carrier, citing the wide availability of mobile service and VoIP. In its request, AT&T argues the “economic justification” for COLR no longer exists because alternative voice services with “reasonable rates” and “based on superior technologies” are available throughout the state. The company adds that it “bears substantial cost to maintain and operate” the copper landline network, while competitors don’t have to. AT&T says it would continue providing landline service in areas where there is no alternative available.

“AT&T failed to demonstrate the availability of replacement providers willing and able to serve as COLR.”

However, CPUC rejected AT&T’s request. The agency says “AT&T failed to demonstrate the availability of replacement providers willing and able to serve as COLR.” The decision also cites public commenters who brought up the “unreliability” of mobile service and VoIP. AT&T is now pushing for new rules that would change the way California designates a COLR.

“No customer will be left without voice and 911 services,” Marc Blakeman, president of AT&T California, says in an emailed statement to The Verge. “We are fully committed to keeping our customers connected while we work with state leaders on policies that create a thoughtful transition that brings modern communications to all Californians.”

Concerns surrounding the reliability of cellular service aren’t unfounded. In February, AT&T went down for thousands of people nationwide, while an issue earlier this month cut off calls between Verizon and AT&T customers.

260 McNuggets? McDonald’s Ends A.I. Drive-Through Tests Amid Errors

260 McNuggets? McDonald’s Ends A.I. Drive-Through Tests Amid Errors Ordering mistakes frustrated customers during nearly three years of tests. But competitors like White Castle and Wendy’s say their A.I. ordering systems have been highly accurate.

Microsoft makes Copilot less useful on new Copilot Plus PCs

Microsoft makes Copilot less useful on new Copilot Plus PCs

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft launched its range of Copilot Plus PCs earlier this week, and they all come equipped with the new dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard. It’s the first big change to Windows keyboards in 30 years, but all the key does now is launch a Progressive Web App (PWA) version of Copilot.

The web app doesn’t even integrate into Windows anymore like the previous Copilot experience did since last year, so you can’t use Copilot to control Windows 11 settings or have it docked as a sidebar anymore. It’s literally just a PWA. Microsoft has even removed the keyboard shortcut to Copilot on these new Copilot Plus PCs, so WINKEY + C does nothing.

I was hoping Microsoft would evolve the Copilot key into something that could be used much like the Windows key, in combination with other keys to launch shortcuts to apps or even AI-powered features in Windows. That would make it far more useful than just launching a PWA.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

The Copilot PWA doesn’t integrate with Windows settings.

Microsoft hasn’t explained why it’s changed Copilot from a more integrated experience in Windows to just a web app that can no longer control Windows settings. “We’re also evolving the Copilot experience on Windows as an app that will be pinned to the taskbar,” says the Windows Insider team in a recent blog post. “This enables users to get the benefits of a traditional app experience, including the ability to resize, move, and snap the window – feedback we’ve heard from users throughout the preview of Copilot in Windows.”

Microsoft says it will be able to “more agilely develop and optimize” the Copilot experience as a result of these changes, so maybe we’ll see some future changes that make this regression in functionality make sense. Until then, the new Copilot key will replace the menu key (application key) on keyboards on new Copilot Plus PCs, and Microsoft has also pinned the Copilot app to the taskbar so you don’t even need to use the dedicated key anyway.

A Surgeon General Warning, The Disinformation Battle and The Rise of CryptoPACs

A Surgeon General Warning, The Disinformation Battle and The Rise of CryptoPACs Will a social media warning really help children’s mental health?

Starlink Mini brings space internet to backpackers

Starlink Mini brings space internet to backpackers

Starlink’s new Mini dish next to an Earth puppy. | Image: Michael Nicolls via X

SpaceX’s Starlink internet-from-space service is already available for boats, planes, vanlifers, Amazonian villages, and rural homes in over 75 countries — now it’s coming to backpackers.

The new compact DC-powered Starlink Mini is about the size of a thick laptop and integrates the Wi-Fi router right inside the dish. And despite using less power than other Starlink terminals, it can still deliver speeds over 100Mbps.

“This product will change the world,” claimed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on X, saying it took less than five minutes to setup.

I just set it up right now and am writing this post through space.

Took less than 5 mins. Easily carried in a backpack.

This product will change the world.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 17, 2024

Notably, the Mini kit consumes an average of just 20-40W compared to the 33-62W we measured just two years ago with a Standard Actuated dish and separate AC-powered Wi-Fi router. That means you can power the Mini dish for two to three hours from something like an Anker Prime 27,650mAh (99.54Wh) power bank, or a little over an hour with smaller 10,000mAh (40Wh) portable batteries you probably already have laying about. It requires a USB-C PD power source with a minimum rating of 100W (20V/5A).

The Mini dish measures 11.75 x 10.2 x 1.45 inches (259 x 259 x 38.5mm) and weighs just 2.43 pounds (1.1kg), or 3.37 pounds (1.53kg) with the 49.2 foot (15m) DC power cable and kickstand. It has an IP67 rating meaning it’s protected from dust and rain, including short periods of water immersion.

In the US, Starlink Mini is an add-on to Residential plans. The Mini kit costs $599 which is $100 more than the standard dish, and will cost an extra $30 per month to add the Mini Roam service to existing $120 Residential plans. That gives Starlink Mini users up to 50GB of mobile data each month, with the option to purchase more for $1 per GB, according to early-access invitations sent to some exiting US Starlink customers.

BREAKING: SpaceX has officially started selling Starlink Mini.

Early Starlink customers are being invited to purchase the Starlink Mini Kit for $599 and bundle the Mini Roam service with their existing Residential service plan for an additional $30/month (The kit price will drop… pic.twitter.com/anYVaxahGO

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 20, 2024

While Starlink Mini is new to the US, a Starlink support page says it’s already available in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama where it can be purchased with Mini Service or Mobile - Regional Service plans. In those countries, there’s no data or speed caps to use Mini, and in-motion and ocean use is not allowed. SpaceX says it’ll expand to more markets over time.

“Our goal is to reduce the price of Starlink, especially for those around the world where connectivity has been unaffordable or completely unavailable,” reads the Starlink support page. “In regions with high usage, like the US, where Starlink Mini places additional demand on the satellite network, we are offering a limited number of the Starlink Mini Kits to start at a higher price point.”

Inside the players and politics of the modern AI industry

Inside the players and politics of the modern AI industry

Image: The Verge

We’ve got a special episode of Decoder today — I was traveling last week, so Verge deputy editor Alex Heath and our new senior AI reporter Kylie Robison are filling in for me, with a very different kind of episode about AI.

We talk a lot about AI in a broad sense on Decoder — it comes up in basically every single interview I do these days — and then we also dive deep into very specific problems that AI is causing with things like copyright law, misinformation, and other various policy challenges.

But we don’t spend a ton of time on the day-to-day happenings of the AI industry itself. And that’s for good reason: it’s been moving so rapidly and changing so often that it’s nearly impossible for the average person to keep up. Making sense of all the different players, who’s building what, and what people in the industry honestly think about where it’s all going — it’s a lot.

So, we thought it would be a good idea to take a beat and have Alex and Kylie break down the modern AI boom as it exists today: the companies you need to know, the most important news of the last few months, and what it’s actually like to be fully immersed in this industry every single day.

You’ll hear Alex and Kylie talk about OpenAI, the gravitational pull it’s had on the entire tech sector, and how Google is trying to challenge that — to mixed results. But they also got into the relationship between the overzealous hype driving AI funding and product development and the very real paranoia in the Bay Area around what you’ll hear Kylie refer to as p(doom), shorthand for the probability percentage that AI might actually kill us all.

They also break down all the most important AI companies, how likely it is some smaller AI startup unseats ChatGPT, the open vs. closed source debate, and — as Alex puts it — the “Wall Street-ification” of AI.

Oh, and look out for a mention of an effective accelerationist rave where Grimes DJ’d for the CTO of OpenAI. Those are all real words, all in the same sentence together.

Lenovo squeezed eight speakers into its chonky new tablet

Lenovo squeezed eight speakers into its chonky new tablet

“Four matrix tweeters and four force-balanced woofers” on the Lenovo Tab Plus deliver 26W of sound. | Image: Lenovo

Tablets aren’t known for their room-shaking bass, but Lenovo’s new 11.5-inch Tab Plus is going all in. It features 26W of sound produced by four tweeters and four woofers split across each side of the tablet (when used in landscape mode). To fully take advantage of the Tab Plus’ sound capabilities, Lenovo has included the option to wirelessly connect other devices to the tablet and use it as a Bluetooth speaker.

Powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage that’s expandable with a microSD card, the Tab Plus definitely isn’t a powerhouse productivity tool. Lenovo is positioning it as a media consumption device first and foremost, which is further reflected in a front and rear camera that both only muster 8MP. The tablet ships with Android 14, and Lenovo is promising two years of OS upgrades and four years of security patches.

Image: Lenovo

Lenovo has decided we should expect more from how our tablets sound.

The Tab Plus’ 11.5-inch 90Hz 2K LCD display is far from best in class, but Lenovo claims its 8,600mAh battery will keep it streaming for up to 12 hours (it doesn’t specify whether that’s streaming audio or video), while 45W fast charging means a dead battery can be fully revived in 90 minutes.

An integrated pop-out kickstand on the back makes it easier to use the tablet as a Bluetooth speaker, but for those preferring to listen privately, a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack is still included that supports 24-bit 96kHz high-res audio with Dolby Atmos tuning.

One big tradeoff of those four integrated woofers is a very noticeable bulge on the back of the new Tab Plus that pushes the thickness of the 7.77mm tablet to a chonky 13.58mm. Remember, Apple has managed to slim the new 13-inch iPad Pro down to just 5.1mm, aside from its camera bump.

Although Lenovo hasn’t specified where the new 11.5-inch Tab Plus is available starting today aside from “select global markets,” its $289.99 price tag could make it a tempting solution for those tired of lugging around a tablet and a separate wireless speaker to bolster its sound.

Anthropic has a fast new AI model — and a clever new way to interact with chatbots

Anthropic has a fast new AI model — and a clever new way to interact with chatbots

GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5, and now Claude 3.5 Sonnet. | Image: Anthropic

The AI arms race continues apace: Anthropic is launching its newest model, called Claude 3.5 Sonnet, which it says can equal or better OpenAI’s GPT-4o or Google’s Gemini across a wide variety of tasks. The new model is already available to Claude users on the web and on iOS, and Anthropic is making it available to developers as well.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet will ultimately be the middle model in the lineup — Anthropic uses the name Haiku for its smallest model, Sonnet for the mainstream middle option, and Opus for its highest-end model. (The names are weird, but every AI company seems to be naming things in their own special weird ways, so we’ll let it slide.) But the company says 3.5 Sonnet outperforms 3 Opus, and its benchmarks show it does so by a pretty wide margin. The new model is also apparently twice as fast as the previous one, which might be an even bigger deal.

AI model benchmarks should always be taken with a grain of salt; there are a lot of them, it’s easy to pick and choose the ones that make you look good, and the models and products are changing so fast that nobody seems to have a lead for very long. That said, Claude 3.5 Sonnet does look impressive: it outscored GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5 Pro, and Meta’s Llama 3 400B in seven of nine overall benchmarks and four out of five vision benchmarks. Again, don’t read too much into that, but it does seem that Anthropic has built a legitimate competitor in this space.

Image: Anthropic

Claude 3.5’s benchmark scores do look impressive — but these things change so fast.

What does all that actually amount to? Anthropic says Claude 3.5 Sonnet will be far better at writing and translating code, handling multistep workflows, interpreting charts and graphs, and transcribing text from images. This new and improved Claude is also apparently better at understanding humor and can write in a much more human way.

Along with the new model, Anthropic is also introducing a new feature called Artifacts. With Artifacts, you’ll be able to see and interact with the results of your Claude requests: if you ask the model to design something for you, it can now show you what it looks like and let you edit it right in the app. If Claude writes you an email, you can edit the email in the Claude app instead of having to copy it to a text editor. It’s a small feature, but a clever one — these AI tools need to become more than simple chatbots, and features like Artifacts just give the app more to do.

Image: Anthropic

The new Artifacts feature is a hint at what a post-chatbot Claude might look like.

Artifacts actually seems to be a signal of the long-term vision for Claude. Anthropic has long said it is mostly focused on businesses (even as it hires consumer tech folks like Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger) and said in its press release announcing Claude 3.5 Sonnet that it plans to turn Claude into a tool for companies to “securely centralize their knowledge, documents, and ongoing work in one shared space.” That sounds more like Notion or Slack than ChatGPT, with Anthropic’s models at the center of the whole system.

For now, though, the model is the big news. And the pace of improvement here is wild to watch: Anthropic launched Claude 3 Opus in March, proudly saying it was as good as GPT-4 and Gemini 1.0, before OpenAI and Google released better versions of their models. Now, Anthropic has made its next move, and it surely won’t be long before its competition does so, too. Claude doesn’t get talked about as much as Gemini or ChatGPT, but it’s very much in the race.

Snap agrees to pay $15 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit

Snap agrees to pay $15 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit from the California Civil Rights Department. The lawsuit stemmed from a three-year investigation that found that Snap allegedly failed to “ensure that women were paid or promoted equally.”

The allegations span Snap’s period of rapid growth from 2015 to 2022, when the California-based company increased its headcount from 250 to more than 5,000. During this time, California’s civil rights agency claims Snap paid women less and offered them fewer promotions when compared to male employees.

Additionally, the lawsuit claims that women at the company “were routinely subjected to unwelcome sexual advances and other harassing conduct so severe or pervasive that it created a hostile work environment.” When women complained about their work environment, they allegedly faced retaliation in the form of denied promotions, negative performance reviews, and termination.

“We care deeply about our commitment to maintain a fair and inclusive environment at Snap, and do not believe we have any ongoing systemic pay equity, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation issues against women,” Snap spokesperson Ashley Adams says in a statement to The Verge. Adams adds that while Snap “disagreed” with the California civil rights agency’s claims, the company “took into consideration the cost and impact of lengthy litigation” and determined “it is in the best interest of the company to resolve these claims and focus on the future.”

Under the proposed settlement, Snap is to retain an independent consultant to evaluate and make recommendations about Snap’s compensation and promotion policies. It will also need to contract a third-party monitor to audit the company’s sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination compliance. Of the $15 million Snap agreed to pay, $14.5 million will go toward compensating women who worked at the company between 2014 and 2024.

Snap’s work culture has been criticized in the past. In 2018, a former software engineer claimed the company created a “sexist” and “toxic” work environment. The company opened an internal investigation into racism and sexism in 2020, and it released its first diversity report in response to growing scrutiny about its work culture that same year.

An AI video tool just launched, and it’s already copying Disney’s IP

An AI video tool just launched, and it’s already copying Disney’s IP

Last week, AI startup Luma posted a series of videos created using its new video-generating tool Dream Machine, which the company describes as a “highly scalable and efficient transformer model trained directly on videos.”

The only problem? At about 57 seconds in, the Dream Machine-generated trailer for Monster Camp — an animated story about furry creatures journeying to a sleepaway camp — features a slightly AI-smudged but still recognizable Mike Wazowski from Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. Many people noticed that multiple characters and its overall aesthetic look borrowed from the franchise, and the questions quickly started pouring in.

Upon closer inspection, Mike from the actual Monster's Inc. Is in the cartoon. Straight up ripping it off. https://t.co/gOPbppcXHj pic.twitter.com/DOW9l4Nsxv

— Jacob Davison (@JacobDavison_) June 16, 2024

Was it fed a prompt asking for animation in a Pixar style? Is it trained on material that includes the Disney studio’s work? That general lack of transparency is one of the biggest concerns about these kinds of models, as Dream Machine joins OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s VideoPoet, and Veo as one of the many text-to-video AI tools shown off in recent months.

Luma hyped its Dream Machine model as the future of filmmaking, featuring “high quality, realistic shots” created simply by typing prompts into a box. Watching videos showing cars racing down a dissolving highway or an awkwardly narrated sci-fi short, you can sort of see why bullish fans of this tech were quick to call it a novel innovation.

Currently, Luma is encouraging people to sign up and play with Dream Machine for free, but the company also has “Pro” and other tiers that charge users fees for more features. We reached out to Luma for comment about where it sources the footage Dream Machine is trained on but did not hear back by time of publishing.

Disney hasn’t publicly commented on what Luma seems to be up to, and it’s possible that the company hasn’t even noticed. But at a time when people have been pushing for more transparency about the datasets powering AI tools like the ones Luma is building, things like Monster Camp make it hard not to look at the generative AI ecosystem as prone to plagiarism.

Correction, June 18th: This story initially misstated when the AI videos were first posted. It was last week, not over the weekend.

Amazon Union Workers Join Forces With the Teamsters

Amazon Union Workers Join Forces With the Teamsters An affiliation agreement between the Amazon Labor Union and the 1.3 million-member Teamsters signals an escalation in challenging the online retailer.

Here are the best iPad deals right now

Here are the best iPad deals right now

You can save as much as $200 on a last-gen iPad Air, which is still an incredible tablet at this price. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

While the best iPad deals usually land during major sale events like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, many of the best iPad deals from the holiday season have persisted well into 2024. The discounts come and go like changing winds, but you can still take advantage of sales on many models today, particularly on the more affordable iPads. What’s more, Apple recently released a new iPad Pro and iPad Air, and they’re already causing prices on older models to drop even further.

It’s difficult to know where exactly you can find the most notable iPad deals unless you’re scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that’s often what our deal hunters at The Verge are doing each and every day, so let us help you out. Below, we’ve listed the best deals you can get on each iPad model that is currently available, from the cheapo ninth-gen iPad of 2021 to the latest models equipped with Apple’s powerful M2 and M4 chips.

The best iPad (2021) deals

Announced alongside the iPhone 13, the 2021 iPad is Apple’s aging entry-level tablet, one that’s still great at carrying out everyday tasks despite having recently been discontinued. The ninth-gen model originally started at $329 with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage, which arguably makes the newer 10th-Yeagen model the better deal if you don’t need a home button or a headphone jack, as it now starts at $349.

If you’re still interested in buying the last-gen model, however, you can pick up the base Wi-Fi configuration at Best Buy and Walmart starting at $249 ($80 off), which is just $20 shy of its lowest price to date. As for the 256GB model that normally retails for $479, Amazon is selling it for $379 ($100 off), which matches its second-best price to date. You can also pick it up at Best Buy for the same price if you’re a member of My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total; non-members, meanwhile, can grab it for $399.99 ($80 off).

A last-gen model is still worth considering

The last-gen iPad uses an A13 Bionic processor and a 12MP wide-angle camera with Center Stage, a feature designed to keep you framed up and centered while on video calls. The tablet also carries over a number of features from its predecessor, such as the 10.2-inch display, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the home button, and a Smart Connector for connecting a Smart Keyboard.

The best iPad (2022) deals

Although the newer 10th-gen iPad came out in late 2022, it’s still an excellent tablet — one we consider to be the best value for most people. The latest iPad modernizes the design with a switch to USB-C, uniform bezels with no home button, a side power button with a fingerprint sensor, and a larger display, but it eliminates the 3.5mm headphone jack.

In the past, you could often buy Apple’s latest entry-level iPad for $349 ($100 off) — which is now the MSRP. Right now, however, the base model with 64GB of storage is on sale in select colors at Amazon and B&H Photo for $329 ($20 off); .

The best iPad Mini (2021) deals

The sixth-gen iPad Mini has a larger screen than its predecessor, along with an A15 Bionic processor, support for USB-C, and options for 5G. It has forfeited its 3.5mm headphone jack and dedicated home button in the process, but overall, it’s a solid device that brings a fully refreshed design to Apple’s small tablet form factor.

The changes and refinements to the newest iPad Mini come at a heftier price, however, and the 64GB Wi-Fi model now starts at $499. Electing for 256GB of storage brings the price up to $649, while the 5G cellular models are $649 for 64GB and $799 for 256GB. These are some big numbers for a small iPad, and the larger iPad Air might be worth considering if you prefer your dollar to go further with more screen real estate. But if you want the latest and greatest from Apple in a smaller format, this is where the action is.

As of right now, Amazon and Best Buy are selling the latest iPad Mini in its 64GB base configuration starting at $399.99 ($100 off). If you need additional storage, the 256GB model is also on sale at Amazon and). As for the unlocked cellular model, it’s currently available at Best Buy for $549.99 ($100 off), which nearly matches its all-time low of $529.99.

The best iPad Air (2022) deals

The fifth-gen iPad Air used to retail for $599, but right now, the 64GB / Wi-Fi configuration is on sale in select colors at Walmart and Best Buy starting at $399 ($200 off), likely as a result of the 2024 model’s recent arrival. The lightweight slate was once our top iPad recommendation for most people thanks to its speedy M1 processor, slick modern design, and midrange price. For those who crave more storage, the 256GB variant is also available for $549.99 at Best Buy, which is $200 off compared to its previous starting price and likely the new standard going forward.

The 2022 iteration of Apple’s lightweight tablet is similar in terms of its capabilities when measured against the previous-gen model but still offers a handful of iterative upgrades. The most pronounced improvement is the M1 processor,

The best iPad Air (2024) deals

Apple just recently launched the 2024 iPad Air, which features several small upgrades. The newer model doesn’t feature any groundbreaking changes compared to the 2022 release, but notably, there is now a 13-inch configuration in addition to a base 11-inch model. Apple also added Wi-Fi 6E radios and upgraded the chipset to M2, which enables the hover feature when using Apple’s latest styluses. You can use the newer iPad Air with the Apple Pencil Pro and both previous-gen Magic Keyboards, too. The 11-inch iPad Air starts at $599, while the comparable 13-inch model starts at $799.

Deals for the 2024 iPad Air started to appear before the latest model even hit store shelves. Right now, you can pick up the 11-inch Wi-Fi model in select colors at Amazon with 128GB of storage starting at $569 ($30 off) . The 13-inch iPad Air, meanwhile, is available in select colors at Amazon in its base 128GB configuration starting at $754 ($45 off)

The best iPad Pro (2024) deals

Compared to the latest iPad Air, the 2024 iPad Pro is a far more impressive upgrade. The 11- and 13-inch models start at $999 and $1,299, respectively, and they are the first Apple devices to feature the company’s latest M4 chip, which brings moderate performance gains and dedicated hardware for on-device processing. The new Pro models can claim other firsts, too, such as being the first iPad models with OLED displays and and lightest Pros yet, which is true for both sizes. They also feature repositioned front-facing cameras that sit along the horizontal edge, which prevent you from looking as though you’re staring off into space on a video call.

Nikon’s new $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor

Nikon’s new $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor

Nikon’s new $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor. | Image: Becca Farsace / The Verge

At the beginning of a recent photo walk with a Nikon representative, I was told it was only a matter of time before I became a “birder.” Because eventually, every photographer runs out of things to take photos of and is left with only one subject to master: birds. Which, because of advancements in camera technology, have become a much easier target.

The Nikon Z6 III has an articulating back screen that is typical of hybrid photo / video cameras.

It was on this same photo walk that I got a few hours with the new $2,500 Nikon Z6 III. And the big news in this camera is its 24.5-megapixel partially stacked CMOS sensor. This is the first camera ever to employ this technology. Instead of the circuit parts and pixel area both stretching the full corner-to-corner dimensions of the image sensor and sitting on top of each other, as in the more expensive Nikon Z9 or Nikon Z8, or not being stacked at all, as in the previous Nikon Z6 II, the Z6 III’s circuit parts are stacked as bars on the top and bottom of the pixel area.

It results in higher continuous shooting rates, faster autofocus, higher video frame rates, and less rolling shutter effect than the previous Z6 II, with its BSI CMOS sensor in e-shutter mode. But it also means that the Z6 III is not as speedy as the more premium Z8 or Z9 with their fully stacked sensors. In simple terms, partially stacking the sensor allows Nikon to keep this camera’s price below that of the Z8 and Z9, while also improving its performance over the previous generation.

The other important updates are the Z6 III’s incredibly bright electronic viewfinder that can reach a peak brightness of 4,000 nits and the camera's ability to film 6K RAW video at up to 60fps and 4K RAW at up to 120fps. Nikon is also promising Z8-level build quality, which means the camera is dust and moisture sealed and rated for operation down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit / −10 degrees Celsius. Simply put, Nikon builds very resilient cameras that don’t skimp on specs — and also cameras that can turn any photographer into a birder.

The handgrip on the Nikon Z6 III is deep enough for long-term comfort.

I chose the Staten Island Ferry for my photo walk with the Z6 III because of its endless opportunities for people-watching and incredible views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Match that with the boat’s iconic orange color, and you are guaranteed at least a few great shots. What I had never paid much attention to before were all the birds using the boat’s slipstream to move across the harbor.

While the Z6 III does not have a dedicated bird focus mode, Nikon claims that its autofocus is 20 percent faster than the Z6 II and has an extended range down to -10EV, meaning it is more sensitive, even in low-light conditions. On the back of the ferry, it had absolutely no trouble locking onto birds. Within minutes of taking off from Lower Manhattan, I was whipping the Z6 III from left to right, attempting to capture seagulls. Eventually, I smartened up and framed One World Trade Center and waited for a bird to cross my frame. As soon as a bird entered, the camera locked right onto the moving object, which was a seagull. Within minutes, I had shot well over 100 photos.

Photos taken with the Nikon Z6 III and Nikon Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens.

Of course, there then came the moment when I thought, “What the hell am I going to do with all these photos of birds?” This is why I would like to thank you all for clicking through the above slideshow and giving my newfound passion for bird photography a reason to exist.

Much like the Z8 and Z9, Nikon increasingly makes cameras that are so responsive and intuitive that you no longer have to spend as much time thinking about problems such as focus, handshake, or shutter speed. You can quickly point the camera in any direction and it will capture something in focus.

That being said, there is only so much I could test in my few hours with this camera. I didn’t have a low-light environment to test the ISO ranges or low-light autofocus, I didn’t have multiple subjects to test skin tone representation on, and I didn’t have ND filters in order to get a proper video exposure for testing 6K RAW. So while I had a lot of fun — and am now a certified “birder” — there is certainly a lot more testing that needs to be done on this new partially stacked sensor technology. But in my short time with it, I can confidently say that in no way did it feel like a step back. The Z6 III will be available starting today for $2,500.

Nikon’s new $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor

Nikon’s new $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor

Nikon’s new $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor. | Becca Farsace / The Verge

At the beginning of a recent photo walk with a Nikon representative, I was told it was only a matter of time before I became a “birder”. Because eventually every photographer runs out of things to take photos of and is left with only one subject to master: birds. Which, because of advancements in sensor technology, have become a much easier target.

The Nikon Z6 III has an articulating back screen that is typical of hybrid photo / video cameras.

It was on this same photo walk that I got a few hours with the new $2,500 Nikon Z6 III. And the big news in this camera is its 24.5-megapixel partially stacked CMOS sensor. This is the first camera, ever, to employ this technology. Instead of the circuit parts and pixel area both stretching the full corner-to-corner dimensions of the image sensor and sitting on top of each other, as in the more expensive Nikon Z9 or Nikon Z8, or not being stacked at all, as in the previous Nikon Z6 II, the Z6 III’s circuit parts are stacked as bars on the top and bottom of the pixel area.

It results in higher continuous shooting rates, faster autofocus, higher video frame rates, and less rolling shutter effect than the previous Z6 II, with its BSI CMOS sensor in e-shutter mode. But it also means that the Z6 III is not as speedy as the more premium Z8 or Z9 with their fully stacked sensors. In simple terms, partially stacking the sensor allows Nikon to keep this camera’s price below that of the Z8 and Z9 while also much improving the performance of it over the previous generation.

The other important updates are the Z6 III’s incredibly bright electronic view finder that can reach a peak brightness of 4,000 nits and the cameras ability to film 6K RAW video at up to 60fps and 4K RAW up to 120fps. Nikon is also promising Z8 level build quality, which means the camera is dust and moisture sealed and rated for operation down to 14°F/−10°C. Simply put, Nikon builds very resilient cameras that don’t skimp on specs. And also cameras that can turn any photographer into a birder.

The handgrip on the Nikon Z6 III is deep enough for long-term comfort.

I chose the Staten Island Ferry for my photo walk with the Z6 III because of its endless opportunities for people watching and incredible views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Match that with the boat’s iconic orange color and you are guaranteed at least a few great shots. What I had never paid much attention to before were all of the birds using the boat’s slipstream to move across the harbor.

While the Z6 III does not have a dedicated bird focus mode, Nikon claims that its autofocus is 20% faster than the Z6 II and has an extended range down to -10EV, meaning it is more sensitive even in lowlight conditions. And while on the back of the ferry, it had absolutely no trouble locking onto birds. Within minutes of taking off from Lower Manhattan I was whipping the Z6 III from left to right attempting to capture seagulls. Eventually I smartened up and framed One World Trade Center and waited for a bird to cross my frame. And as soon as a bird would enter the camera locked right the moving object that was a seagull. Within minutes I had shot well over 100 photos.

Photos taken with the Nikon Z6 III + Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR Lens

There of course then came the moment I thought “what the hell am I going to do with all these photos of birds”. Which is why I would like to thank you all for clicking through the above slideshow and giving my new found passion for bird photography a reason to exist.

Much like the Z8 and Z9, Nikon increasingly makes cameras that are so responsive and intuitive that you no longer have to spend as much time thinking about problems such as focus, hand shake, or shutter speed. You can quickly point the camera in any direction and it will capture something in focus.

That being said, there is only so much I could test in my few hours with this camera. I didn’t have a low light environment to test the ISO ranges or low light autofocus, I didn’t have multiple subjects to test skin tone representation on, and I didn’t have ND filters in order to get a proper video exposure for testing 6K RAW. So while I had a lot of fun, and am now a certified “birder” there is certainly a lot more testing that needs to be done on this new partially stacked sensor technology. But in my short time with it, I can confidently say that in no way did it feel like a step back. The Z6 III will be available starting today for $2,500.

Can A.I. Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out.

Can A.I. Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out. Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are finding widest use at big companies, but there is wide expectation that the impact will spread.

Chrome on Android can read webpages out loud from within the app

Chrome on Android can read webpages out loud from within the app

Illustration: The Verge

Google is rolling out a new option called “Listen to this page” that can read a webpage out loud to you from within the Android Chrome browser. The feature comes with playback controls similar to those you’d find in music or podcast players, letting you pause, change the reading speed, scrub forward, or skip ahead or back by 10 seconds at a time.

You can also change the voice it uses, as well as the language. The feature supports several, including English, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish, according to a Google help page about the feature. To see if you have it, head to a page with a lot of text, then tap the three dots menu and “Listen to this page,” which should appear just below the Translate option.

Screenshots: Google Chrome

I recommend the breathy voice of Ruby: Mid-pitch, Calm.

You can also ask Google Assistant to read webpages out loud to you, and can even translate into other languages while it does so. But choosing that option takes you out of Chrome and into the Google app, whereas the new option keeps you in your browser.

Google has also tested the feature for Chrome on desktops. Safari for the iPhone has a similar feature called “Listen to Page” that reads webpages to you in Siri’s voice, with many of the same controls as Google’s. I only saw the new option while using the beta version of Chrome, but that’s fairly normal, since Google regularly handles its rollouts in phases. 9to5Google reports seeing it in version 125 of the Android Chrome app.

The OLED iPad Pro was only the beginning for Apple’s return to thin devices

The OLED iPad Pro was only the beginning for Apple’s return to thin devices

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The thinness of the OLED iPad Pro is only the beginning of a renewed effort by Apple to make increasingly thin computers, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. The company plans a “significantly skinnier” iPhone 17 and is also working on shaving off some of the thickness of the MacBook Pro and the Apple Watch, he writes.

It’s not the first time we’ve heard about a new, extremely thin “iPhone 17 Slim,” as The Information and multiple supply chain analysts have reported that this phone is on its way, possibly at a higher price than the existing iPhone 15 Pro Max. I haven’t seen concrete rumors about just how slim it will be, but it could have a 6.6-inch display and a smaller Dynamic Island.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Thickness has its advantages.

It’s not surprising that the company wants to go back to its pursuit of thinness, but the key difference now — one hopes — is that the company no longer wants to do it seemingly at all costs. That drive created some of the company’s most impressive devices, but it may also have led to bendy iPhones, limited port selection, cruddy battery life, thermal throttling issues, bad keyboards, and lawsuits for Apple itself. The company started reversing that trend though, and today, the iPhone 15 Pro phones and the MacBook Pro lineup are among the thickest of their respective categories the company has released in years.

I’ve welcomed those changes, but I would be lying if I said I don’t sometimes miss that old-time futuristic feel. I have an iPhone SE sitting on my desk, and any time I pick it up, I’m astounded by how nice it is to use, small screen and chugging processor notwithstanding. I also toss an envious side-eye at iPhone 12 or 13 Minis when I see them.

That time may be coming back, and without the costs that were once associated with it. The current MacBook Air is uncannily thin — even more so than the tiny, fanless 12-inch MacBook — yet it’s powerful and so battery-sipping that I feel perfectly comfortable taking it out of the house without a charger most of the time. And I gather from David Pierce’s Verge review of the new iPad Pro that being thinner than an iPod Nano hasn’t come with any major compromises that iPads didn’t already have.

Those are encouraging signs that the company may have finally figured things out, and hopefully it won’t get out over its skis again. Because after the last few years, I’m not interested in returning to the thin-for-the-sake-of-thin life; sturdiness and all-day battery are now non-negotiable.

Apple won’t wait until next year for some Siri improvements

Apple won’t wait until next year for some Siri improvements

Image: Apple

Siri may do more than make the edges of your iPhone a glowy rainbow when iOS 18 drops this fall. Apple Intelligence features won’t be out until 2025 for anyone not testing them in beta this year, but reports suggest that Siri itself will still get natural language updates and other key features before the year is out.

For instance, users will be able to type to Siri without diving into accessibility settings, and it will be more conversational, understanding you even when you trip over your words, according to Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg.

Image: Apple

Apple could offer instructions for how to do things in iOS this year.

He also writes that Siri will “have greater knowledge of Apple products,” presumably referring to the device support features Apple mentioned during its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

For another fun tidbit: Right now, iOS 18 beta testers can change Siri’s wake word to whatever they want using a new accessibility feature called Vocal Shortcuts by going to Settings > Accessibility > Vocal Shortcuts > Set Up Vocal Shortcuts > Siri (not “Siri requests”), as 9to5Mac wrote last week. You have to pause after saying the new wake word or your phone won’t acknowledge it, and the change doesn’t extend to your HomePods. But crucially, the new wake word works even if you turn off “Hey Siri” in the current developer beta. That’s great news if you’re tired of your iPhone activating when you’re trying to talk to your HomePod.

Apart from direct Siri improvements, Apple has also said ChatGPT will be available for free in iOS 18 later this year, though Gurman writes that it may not make the first version of iOS 18. When it comes, Siri will offer to punt requests it can’t handle to a GPT-4o-powered ChatGPT, giving users the opportunity to agree or decline (along with a disclaimer about its trustworthiness).

We won’t know until any of this rolls out if Siri is actually getting good now, but there are at least signs that we could finally get the digital assistant we’ve been waiting for. It’s not clear if the upgraded Siri won’t come to HomePods or iPhones other than the iPhone 15 Pro, though, like Apple Intelligence. Hopefully, the Siri improvements stand apart from the new generative AI features, and less-capable devices like the iPhone 15 and iPads without Apple’s M-series chips will get at least some of them.

The super simple gadget trying to replace your phone

The super simple gadget trying to replace your phone

Image: David Pierce / The Verge

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 42, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been writing about Excel, reading about tin foil hats and the song “Smooth,” obsessing over Francis Ford Coppola’s note-taking system, watching Anyone But You, Hit Man, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol because I had a bunch of plane rides, and debating buying Jabra headphones even though Jabra is quitting the headphone game.

I also have for you a new minimalist phone, a book to read, a documentary to watch, a fun hack for your Rabbit R1, and much more. Let’s get into it.

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you playing, reading, downloading, buying, or bedazzling this week? What are you into that everyone else should be into? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, tell them to subscribe here.)

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The Drop

• The Light Phone 3. The new version of one of the best minimalist phones comes with a better screen, a camera, an NFC chip, and some big ambitions about replacing your phone. I don’t think I’m physically capable of ditching my smartphone, but I want this thing so badly.
• Apple Passwords. We’ll talk a lot more about all of Apple’s WWDC announcements as they start to roll out, but this one’s worth thinking about now: Apple’s cross-platform, presumably well-integrated passwords app looks really good. Might be time to start compiling all your passwords and passkeys.
• Moonbound. Robin Sloan is one of my favorite writers on the internet, and both of his previous books were excellent. This one, a deeply meta science fiction epic, seems to be the weirdest one yet — and I mean that in a good way.
• How Music Got Free. For people of a certain age, this Paramount Plus doc is going to feel like reliving some formative years — remember Napster and Kazaa and LimeWire and the way the internet completely broke the music industry? So many fun stories in this one.
• House of the Dragon season 2. I confess I didn’t really get into House of the Dragon last season, but so many people have told me they’re excited about the new one starting this weekend that I feel like I have to catch up to be ready. Feels like everyone’s going to be talking about this on Monday.
• “I installed Android on Rabbit R1 & Made it Useful.” The top comment on this video just says, “They accidentally made a great dumbphone.” It’s kind of true! The R1 is a fun gizmo running crappy software; as a tiny Android tablet, I confess I kind of love it again. I even got mine out of the drawer to try this for myself.
• Yahoo News. Yahoo bought and shut down Artifact earlier this year. That was sad. This is better: some of that recommendation tech is back in the new Yahoo News, which has lots of personalization and streaks and badging and all kinds of good stuff. I’m using Yahoo again! Who woulda thunk!
• “Inside Disney’s ‘Area 51,’ Where Lightsabers and Other Tech Are Invented.” Lanny Smoot seems like an extremely cool person with an extremely cool job, and this video does a great job of showing all the wild, futuristic stuff he and Disney are working on for the company’s theme parks and other products. Give me that omnidirectional treadmill now.
• Fantasmas. This is a week old, but like 100 of you recommended it this week, so I’m making an exception. (Thanks to everyone who told me about it!) It’s a really unusually structured show, and you definitely can’t half-watch this one, but I’m digging it so far.

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Screen share

Andrew Liszewski has long been one of my favorite bloggers on the internet. He spent years at Gizmodo writing about the weirdest, funniest, silliest, coolest stuff on the web, and I’ve definitely spent thousands of dollars on stuff just because he wrote about it.

Now, Andrew works for The Verge! This was his first week, and he’s already in Slack causing chaos. It’s the best. I asked him to share his homescreen with us to see if I could get any tips on how he scours the web. He didn’t reveal all his secrets, but I do know more about the weather in Canada now, so that’s something.

Here’s Andrew’s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 12 Pro (with a battery that’s feeling its age).

The wallpaper: I like a very minimalist wallpaper under my apps, but because I find solid black makes the screen too reflective, I created a custom subtle blue gradient I’ve been using for the past five years. (For my lock screen, I’m using one of Mikael Gustafsson’s dreamy nature scenes.)

The apps: Google Calendar, Clock, Photos, Camera, Google Home, Google Photos, Find My, Instagram, Google Maps, WeatherCAN, Nest, Google Chat, Settings, Watch, Chrome, Apple Books, 1Password, App Store, Apple Notes, Phone, Gmail, Messages, Apple Photos.

My iPhone’s main homescreen is where all my daily driver apps live. This includes Instagram, Google Home, the aging Nest app (which includes functionality for my Nest thermostat I can’t find elsewhere), Chrome, 1Password (which all but solved my password anxiety once I finally switched over), IMDb, Paprika 3, countless smart home remotes, and most importantly, the Environment Canada weather app so I know when to get the grass cut before it rains. I’m obsessive about clearing notifications on my primary homescreen but am happy for them to pile up on the second screen, where I like to keep all other installed apps accessible.

I also asked Andrew to share a few things he’s into right now. Here’s what he sent back:

• I’m a big fan of retro gaming and recently added the tiny Anbernic RG28XX to my ever-growing collection of handheld emulators. The Game Boy Micro remains one of my favorite handhelds of all time, but with the RG28XX, I can leave all the cartridges at home.
• Our house is mildly obsessed with the reality series Alone, and we’re quite excited to dive into the season 11 premiere this week.
• I just finished reading Bill Hammack’s (also known as the “Engineer Guy” on YouTube) book, The Things We Make, which includes fascinating deep dives into the engineering of everything from medieval cathedrals to how the microwave was invented.
• When I’m struggling to fall asleep, nothing calms my brain faster than the Joe DIY Instagram account, which features videos of detailed restorations of classic die-cast toys. Give it a shot. Watching a rusted dump truck turn back into a bright yellow Tonka toy is immensely satisfying.

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Crowdsourced

Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For more recommendations than I could fit here, check out the replies to this post on Threads.

“I just recently came across this Australian company called Juicy Crumb that specializes in creating custom motherboard replacements for old iMacs, which lets people easily repurpose them as monitors. And they made one for the iMac G4! Believe me when I tell you I’ve never hit a ‘buy’ button so quickly (lol). Anyway, I ordered one a few months back and recently swapped it into my 20-inch G4, and it worked like a charm! I plugged it into a M1 Mac Mini I had, and now I’m using an iMac G4 like it’s 2004 again.” – Ryan

“I LOVE the Surface kickstand, enjoy typing onscreen (have done it for 14 years, tbf), and hate cases on my Apple devices. I’m obsessed with this magnet-back cover with a kickstand for my iPad. Could only source it from Amazon Germany, but they shipped to New Zealand for free. Wicked result.” – Brendon

“Your mention of Inbox Ten makes me think you’d appreciate Tony Hsieh’s Yesterbox method, which I’ve used successfully for years!” – Deb

“I’ve been loving journaling in Diarium, especially since it’s completely private and local. If you want to sync between devices, you can use a cloud sync of your choosing — it can even read-only sync with apps like Fitbit, Instagram, Strava, etc. to add everything you’ve done in the day into your journal entry.” – Michael

“I recently subscribed to Scott Belsky’s Implications newsletter, and I’m convinced everyone who is interested in the future of tech and culture should, too.” – Ricky

“I just discovered the app Crouton for recipe collection, and it’s by far the best at scrubbing a URL for the actual recipe. You can even take a photo of a cookbook page, and it’ll generate the recipe. Probably the best example of a real-world use for AI I’ve encountered yet.” – JT

“I’m enjoying the new MLB Morning Lineup podcast. Each episode is 10 minutes or less, and it recaps the previous day’s box scores and news. It’s been a very nice way to catch up on the best sport.” – Mario

“Been trying out Star Wars: Hunters on iOS after it finally launched. It’s a PVP arena combat game, and I’m loving it so far. The hunters are all unique and fun, it’s not too heavy on the pay-to-play stuff, and it’s remarkably good for a quick game. It’s not perfect (the UI is atrocious), but it’s a good start.” – Matt

“Puzzmo just added a new game to their catalog, Pile-Up Poker, and it is stellar.” – Luke

“My friends introduced me to this Call of Duty-like shooter that’s apparently very popular in India. It’s called Free Fire Max. The reason for its popularity is its ability to run on any device.

You should give it a try. The graphics are mediocre, but the experience is great.” – Rudrajit

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Signing off

I posted on Threads a few days ago that my number one productivity hack is to take a 25-minute nap in the middle of the day. This made a lot of people have feelings and ask questions, even though I’m totally right. (It’s just science. I don’t make the rules.) But for all the people who asked for tips, here are mine.

The perfect 25-minute nap involves three things. First, realizing that even if you don’t sleep, lying there with your eyes closed for 25 minutes is still very restful; not stressing about sleeping makes it easier to sleep. Second, an episode of a TV show I’ve seen before (I do a lot of Parks and Recreation) can make it easier to quiet my brain and fall asleep. Third, I put on my smartwatch and set an alarm there; waking up from a wrist buzz is infinitely better than a blaring sound. Naps are great, naps forever, happy napping, everybody.

See you next week!

Nintendo’s first US commercial might be this 1980 ad

Nintendo’s first US commercial might be this 1980 ad

Got a broken arm? Just play Toss-Up! | Screenshot: YouTube

Nintendo is a gaming juggernaut today, but it wasn’t really on anyone’s radar in the United States in 1980. And what was possibly the first US commercial for hardware produced by the company — a handheld called Toss-Up, from its “Game & Watch” series — certainly didn’t help, as a newly-restored copy shows. That’s because there’s no mention of Nintendo at all, or even Game & Watch.

Game & Watch games were simplistic standalone handheld LCD games not unlike the cheap licensed Tiger Electronics games seemingly every kid had in the 1990s. And in the US, those games were initially licensed to a company called Mego (pronounced “mee-go”), and sold as a series called “Time-Out” instead, according to The Video Game History Foundation in a blog post Time Extension spotted.

The ad was dated June 25th, 1980 — only “a couple of months after Nintendo of America was incorporated,” Gaming historian Chris Kohler, who found the 16mm reel containing the ad on eBay, told the foundation. The hardware was still apparently embossed with a Nintendo logo on the back.

Kohler lent the reel to the foundation, which turned to a company called Movette Film Transfer to digitize the film. It had to be restored because its dyes had faded significantly, leaving it with a magenta hue that will be familiar to anyone that’s seen obscure, unrestored movie prints. (I saw plenty of these in Austin, Texas at Alamo Drafthouse’s once-free-at-midnight “Weird Wednesday” exploitation films series.) The foundation pointed to this “potato quality” version of the commercial that was uploaded to YouTube six years ago to illustrate the differences:

The commercial entreats mostly older, trendy youths (except for the goofy nerdy one because ha, ha, nerds) to enjoy an “electronic sport” when they can’t do real ones. You know, like when you’ve got fallen arches or tennis elbow, or you’re entirely wrapped in a full-body cast. That’s pretty different from Nintendo’s own commercials a few years later! Those tended to focus on kids and families and certainly didn’t have close-ups of butts in skin-tight shorts. Like this one:

The Game & Watch games also came in other form factors besides the one Nintendo resurrected for its standalone collectible versions of the NES Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda games a few years ago. Like this dual-screen one:

The company has referenced those designs in its other handhelds over the years. That one looks a whole lot like the Nintendo DS Lite, for instance. And the Nintendo 20th anniversary edition of the Game Boy Micro bore a strong resemblance to the gold and red design used by Toss-Up.