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…

Leaked photos of the DJI Neo drone suggest it may cost just $329 to buy a bundle. | Image: Jasper Ellens DJI’s 4K-ready Neo drone has leaked — and according to the photos, box, specs, and leaked Walmart price we’ve now seen, it could be the lightest and cheapest full-featured DJI drone you can buy.A leaked Walmart listing hints that the DJI Neo Fly More Combo could sell for just $329, and the starting price for a standalone drone could be even less given that DJI’s “Fly More” bundle comes with extra batteries, a charging hub, and a shoulder bag that typically increase the price. Image: Jasper Ellens The DJI Neo. Meanwhile, retail packaging photos published on X by well-known leaker Jasper Ellens as well as an FCC database listing now give us a glimpse into the drone’s specs. As mentioned, the drone will be... 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: 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…

The 2024 Microsoft Surface Laptop is currently the least expensive available with a Qualcomm X chip. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Currently, the $999 Microsoft Surface Laptop is the cheapest way to get a Windows machine that runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip, with all the battery life benefits (and caveats) that might entail. But in 2025, they’ll be cheaper — Qualcomm now says they’ll hit the $700 mark next year.“As we look forward to 2025, in addition to new design wins, our X series product roadmap will expand to address PCs with retail prices as low as $700 without compromising NPU performance,” Qualcomm CEO and president Cristiano Amon just said on the company’s Q3 2024 earnings call. Amon did not necessarily say the cheaper machines would be laptops — the company’s chips can also power small desktops like its eight-inch Dev Kit. He only spoke to... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google’s earlier-than-expected Pixel hardware event is just around the corner — it’s scheduled for Tuesday, August 13th. Thanks to the relentless flow of leaks that have emerged over the past few weeks, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect.Google has already confirmed that it’s launching the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but the company may have some other surprises in store, including the Buds Pro 2 and maybe even the Pixel Watch 3.Here’s a roundup of everything we know so far.Google Pixel 9 lineup adds a smaller Pro optionAlongside the Pixel 9, Google is expected to release the Pixel Pro in two sizes: a larger 6.8-inch model and a smaller 6.3-inch variant. It’ll be the first time the Pro features are available in two... Continue reading…

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.

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…

The perfect shape for a car — and a mouse. | Image: Honda Take a look at this HP-X concept from 1984 that has been restored, seemingly so Honda can show the world how cool futuristic cars used to look. As a car born in the Knight Rider era, the HP-X placed advanced tech within the driver’s reach, including a CD player, GPS, real-time telemetry, and “special sonar” technology that warns you about road conditions. At the time, Honda called this tech suite its “electronic driver support system.” Image: Honda The 1984 HP-X has screens with GPS, at least conceptually. The HP-X was designed to run on a Honda F2 racing-based engine: a 2.0-liter DOHC 24-valve V6. And since there are no doors, the clear Perspex canopy comes off, so you can jump in like a fighter jet pilot.... Continue reading…

Siri’s big upgrade starts now, but you’ll need the right iPhone to access it. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge In iOS 18’s latest developer preview, Siri gets a glow-up. Like, the whole phone actually glows around the edges when you invoke Siri.A splash screen reintroduces you to the virtual assistant once you enable Apple Intelligence, an early version of which is now available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max in a developer beta. You’ll know Siri is listening when the edges of the screen glow, making it pretty obvious that something different is going on.The big Siri AI update is still months away. This version comes with meaningful improvements to language understanding, but future updates will add features like awareness of what’s on your screen and the ability to take action on your behalf. Meanwhile, the rest of the Apple Intelligence... 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…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After striking deals with Google and OpenAI, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is calling on Microsoft and others to pay if they want to continue scraping the site’s data.“Without these agreements, we don’t have any say or knowledge of how our data is displayed and what it’s used for, which has put us in a position now of blocking folks who haven’t been willing to come to terms with how we’d like our data to be used or not used,” Huffman said in an interview this week. He specifically named Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity for refusing to negotiate, saying it has been “a real pain in the ass to block these companies.”Reddit has been escalating its fight against crawlers in recent months. At the beginning of July, its robots.txt file was... Continue reading…