TeamViewer is one of the go-to remote desktop applications that people know of, but it's nowhere near the best. While it was one of the first to make unattended access easy and made it possible to do remote support for friends and family members, it has since been usurped in recent years thanks to the proliferation of other remote desktop applications, including ones built into the operating system like Microsoft Remote Desktop. I used to use TeamViewer but I don't anymore, and here's what I use instead.

A screenshot from Palworld. | Image: Pocketpair Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair, which makes the game Palworld.According to Nintendo’s press release:Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, “Nintendo” hereafter), together with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Pocketpair, Inc. (HQ: 2-10-2 Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, “Defendant” hereafter) on September 18, 2024.This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.Palworld became a huge hit earlier... Continue reading…

Microsoft Excel comes with a bunch of collaboration tools so that you can share your workbook data and streamline communication. That said, before you hit the Share button and send your Excel workbook to team members, take a few moments to review your workbook thoroughly. Taking a moment for a second review is useful for identifying mistakes, safeguarding sensitive data, and preventing any potential misunderstandings or frustrating situations.

Integrating IVAS with Anduril’s Lattice software aims to keep soldiers informed of battlespace threats. | Image: Anduril Anduril Industries, the military tech company started by Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey, is teaming up with Microsoft to improve the mixed-reality headsets used by the United States Army. The project announced by Anduril will embed the company’s Lattice software into the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), allowing the HoloLens-based goggles to update soldiers with live information pulled from drones, ground vehicles, and aerial defense systems.The partnership marks a return to the VR headset space for Luckey, having sold Oculus to Meta for $2 billion in 2014. Luckey started Anduril in 2017 with support from venture capitalist Peter Thiel. The Lattice integration with IVAS could alert wearers to incoming threats picked up by... Continue reading…

Californians can now add their driver’s licenses or state IDs to their Apple Wallets. | Image: Apple Apple announced that starting today, California residents can add their driver’s licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet on their iPhones and Apple Watches as part of the state’s mobile driver’s license (mDL) pilot program.As announced last month, up to 1.5 million pilot participants can add the documents to Apple Wallet by scanning their driver’s license or state ID card using their iPhone and then providing a scan of their face using a “series of facial and head movements” as an added security measure. The scans will need to be verified by the state before the documents are made available in Wallet.However, as it’s still only authorized for limited usage, the state DMV advises users to continue carrying their physical IDs, too.S... Continue reading…

Image: Rockstar Games Grand Theft Auto V was one of the top ten most played games on Valve’s Steam Deck handheld this past week. It’s been in the top twenty for at least two years. But as of today, Valve now lists the game as “unsupported” — because developer Rockstar mysteriously broke compatibility with Valve’s handheld for its online modes. As you can see in the image above, this is the latest fight around Linux anti-cheat: like the developers of Fortnite and Roblox, Rockstar has decided not to support the Steam Deck with its new anti-cheat software for GTA Online — a game that, by all accounts, badly needed to deal with cheaters. (Outside the Steam Deck, better anti-cheat was probably a good move.)But unlike Fortnite and Roblox, Rockstar is... Continue reading…

Image: Sony Concord game director Ryan Ellis has stepped down following the decision to take the game offline, according to Kotaku. Developers at Concord developer Firewalk Studios are also uncertain of the future of the studio.Ellis, whose resume also includes more than seven years at Bungie, informed staff of the change in role last week, Kotaku reports. (His LinkedIn still lists his title as “Game Director.”) Ellis also authored the PlayStation Blog post announcing Concord’s shutdown.That post said the Firewalk team would be exploring options for what to do next with Concord, but Kotaku reports that some developers have “been asked to explore pitches for something completely different.” Some Firewalk developers are apparently refreshing their... Continue reading…

Black and custom blasted, like my soul. It makes no sense to upgrade based on color alone. Or does it? Continue reading…

The Verge’s Sean Hollister picking up his new passport at the post office. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge If you read my colleague Sean Hollister’s positive experience renewing his US passport online through a beta website from the State Department — without needing to ship his old passport — I have good news for you: that experience is now available for everyone. You can access it right here.“Instead of printing a paper application and mailing it with a check, Americans can now renew their passports through a secure process that will save time and effort,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken writes in an announcement about the program.Right now, the renewal website is showing a six- to eight-week estimate for processing times, and the State Department notes that mailing times aren’t included in that estimate. That all means you may not get... Continue reading…

If you've built a PC in the last 10 years, chances are high that you only have SSDs on your computer. Solid-state drives have inevitably replaced hard drives for most common use cases, thanks to their superior performance, durability, convenience, and cost (unless you're using tons of storage). So, it's no wonder that SSDs will be the predominant medium of storage for the foreseeable future.

Image: The Verge If you’re on LinkedIn, then you should know that the social network has, without asking, opted accounts into training generative AI models. 404Media reports that LinkedIn introduced the new privacy setting and opt-out form before rolling out an updated privacy policy saying that data from the platform is being used to train AI models. As TechCrunch notes, it has since updated the policy. We may use your personal data to improve, develop, and provide products and Services, develop and train artificial intelligence (AI) models, develop, provide, and personalize our Services, and gain insights with the help of AI, automated systems, and inferences, so that our Services can be more relevant and useful to you and others.LinkedIn writes on a... Continue reading…

Photo by Abigail Bassett for The Verge BMW of North America struck a deal to recycle lithium-ion batteries from all of its electrified vehicles with Redwood Materials, the companies announced today. The German automaker said it would instruct its dealers to send old batteries from all of its electrified models, including battery-electric, hybrid, mild hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles from brands like BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce, to Redwood for recycling. Redwood, which was founded by Tesla cofounder and ex-chief technology officer JB Straubel, will handle the end-of-life batteries at its two facilities. One facility is in Reno, Nevada, and the other, which is still under construction, will be in Charleston, South Carolina — somewhat near BMW’s Spartanburg and Woodruff... Continue reading…