Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images StubHub is facing a new lawsuit that accuses the ticketing service of hiding fees from customers until the very end of the purchasing process. In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb claims StubHub engages in “a series of deceptive, manipulative, and unfair practices.”Attorney General Schwalb alleges StubHub uses a “bait-and-switch” technique where it advertises “deceptively low” ticket prices and adds extra charges after a multi-page purchase process. During that process, StubHub displays a countdown timer giving customers 10 minutes to complete their purchase — something Schwalb calls a dark pattern designed to create a “false sense of urgency.”In addition, Schwalb accuses StubHub of... Continue reading…

The Nothing Phone 2A Plus will be available in the UK first, followed by limited availability in the US a few days later. | Image: Nothing A little more than four months after the Phone 2A’s debut, Nothing is already introducing a follow-up with the Phone 2A Plus, which has a handful of performance improvements and a more premium look while maintaining a sub-$400 price tag. Plus is often used in smartphone naming to delineate a larger model with a bigger screen, but that’s not the case here. The Phone 2A Plus has the same 6.7-inch OLED screen up front to go with the same flashing Glyph Interface in the back, the same 5,000mAh battery, and NFC, just like the 2A. The biggest upgrade for the Phone 2A Plus is a new MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G processor, currently exclusive to Nothing, which the company claims is nearly 10 percent faster than the processor used in the Phone... Continue reading…

Former President Donald Trump. | Image: Laura Normand / The Verge Meta’s AI assistant incorrectly said that the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump didn’t happen, an error a company executive is now attributing to the technology powering its chatbot and others.In a company blog post published on Tuesday, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s global head of policy, calls its AI’s responses to questions about the shooting “unfortunate.” He says Meta AI was first programmed to not respond to questions about the attempted assassination but the company removed that restriction after people started noticing. He also acknowledges that “in a small number of cases, Meta AI continued to provide incorrect answers, including sometimes asserting that the event didn’t happen – which we are quickly working... Continue reading…

Image: Taco Bell Your next Taco Bell drive-thru order might be handled by AI — and AI may have helped you get a Chalupa already. Parent company Yum! Brands has been testing its “Voice AI” technology at more than 100 Taco Bell drive-thru locations in the US, and now Yum! aims to bring the technology to “hundreds” of Taco Bell stores by the end of the year, according to a press release. Yum! is pitching the AI tech as a way to ease the workloads of its staffers, improve order accuracy, and reduce wait times — all, of course, while “driving profitable growth for Taco Bell, Yum! Brands and their franchisees.” But the fast food industry’s experiments with AI have had mixed results so far: while Wendy’s has been thrilled with its tests, McDonald’s recently p... Continue reading…

Remember the Windows Phone? If your memory is a little hazy, Windows Phone was Microsoft's way of dipping a toe into the mobile market until it wrapped everything up in 2017. Since then, it has left a Windows Phone-shaped void in the hearts of those who liked it, to the point where our Editor-in-Chief Rich Woods posted an article on the greatest Windows Phones of all time, simply because he could.

Image: Ring On Monday evening, Amazon Web Services sent a notice about issues in the US-EAST-1 region of its server networks, which supports many of the internet’s services. So far, the only problem we’ve seen that appears to be linked to the issues is an outage affecting Amazon-owned Ring, with owners of the security cameras and doorbells reporting that features like history, events, and Neighbors are unavailable.At 1:20AM ET, Ring’s status page was updated to announce the incident had been resolved, with a note at the bottom of the page saying the issues had affected Ring.com, Ring Protect (Video Recording), Live Calls (Doorbell Dings & Motions), Video On Demand, and Partner Integration. The Ring outage began starting at 6:40PM ET on Tuesday.... Continue reading…

If you're looking to make improvements to your gaming experience, getting some new hardware might be a good way to go if you're not already using a mouse or keyboard that's tailored for gaming. Of course, you're going to find a wide variety of options, but don't let the high prices scare you away, as you can still find some awesome hardware at affordable prices.

Image: Audi Audi’s got some new E-tron EV models, and this time around they aren’t SUVs. Instead, we’re getting electric versions of the A6, the automaker’s popular midsized sedan, and it’s coming in both a Sportback and an Avant station wagon style, along with performance S6 variants.Audi first revealed the A6 E-tron as a concept at Auto Shanghai back in 2021, and the production version is looking very close to the source material. The front still has slim headlights with adaptive matrix LEDs (only available outside the US due to regulations) and a front grill with a fish scale-like texture surrounded by a dark mask. And over on the back, the car has digital OLED panels for its rear lights that can be used as a safety communications display.The... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is making Skype ad-free in an update that will rollout to users across all platforms soon. The update also includes improved AI image creation tools on Skype for Windows and macOS, and the ability to sign in automatically on iOS if you’re already signed into another Microsoft app.“Our latest update removes all ads from Skype channels and the entire Skype platform, ensuring a smoother, decluttered and more enjoyable user experience,” says Skype product manager Irene Namuganyi.The removal of ads in Skype means you’ll no longer see ads in the main chat interface, or in the channels section. Microsoft says it has listened to feedback around ads in Skype, and decided to “focus on your chats without any ad distractions, making your... Continue reading…

Microsoft Excel is quite a popular spreadsheet tool utilized by consumers and enterprise users alike when it comes to managing data-related needs. As such, the Redmond tech firm continuously adds new features to the software in order to retain existing customers and attract more. In the past few weeks, we have seen new capabilities arriving in Excel for web, better integration for Python Editor, and more. Now, Microsoft has published a roundup of all the features it added to Excel during the past four weeks, just like it does every month.

If you're looking for a top-notch new CPU, Ryzen chips are definitely worth consideration, especially the Ryzen 5 9600X. You'll still need a great GPU to pair with your new processor, and there are tons of options out there, which can certainly make the process a bit confusing.

If you've been looking for a charging device that's compact and can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it, this Anker Charging Station is going to be just for you. Not only does it pack tons of USB ports, but it also has AC outlets too. Furthermore, it's sleek and compact design makes it perfect for home, office, or even on the go.