Microsoft is always looking for ways to improve Teams for customers. The online collaboration and communication software receives tons of updates each month, which the Redmond tech firm details every four weeks. For the past couple of months, Microsoft has been working on adding support for custom emojis and reactions in Teams, and now, it is ready to roll out this capability for some.

Windows wasn't always the powerhouse we know today, and the initial release wasn't exactly well-received due to plenty of bugs and issues. But Microsoft came back around two years later with Windows 2.0, and this release was a big step forward, delivering more stability and refinements, as well as some brand-new capabilities. Windows 2.0 released on December 9th, 1987, and it was a pretty big step towards what we know today.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images A judge overseeing Redbox owner Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s bankruptcy case granted a request Wednesday to convert it from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to Lowpass’ Janko Roettgers and The Wall Street Journal. The company’s lawyers said Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment will lay off its remaining 1,000 employees and liquidate the businesses, including streaming operations and the 24,000 or so disc kiosks that have rented out DVDs, Blu-rays, and videogames for years.According to Roettgers, Judge Thomas Horan said, “There is no means to continue to pay employees, pay any bills, otherwise finance this case. It is hopelessly insolvent... Given the fact that there may also be at least the possibility of... Continue reading…

Stellantis’ idled Belvidere Assembly Plant is one of the factories that will have new life as an EV facility thanks to $334 million in grant money. | Image: Getty The Biden administration announced $1.7 billion to convert endangered or shuttered plants into electric vehicle manufacturing facilities. Eleven auto factories across eight states that are currently closed or at risk of closing will receive the funding in order to retrofit their operations for EV manufacturing, administration officials said in a call with reporters. The types of goods these factories will produce run the gamut from “parts for electric motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries, and electric SUVs,” the White House says. “Building a clean energy economy can and should be a win-win for union autoworkers and automakers,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “This investment... Continue reading…

The Killers marked England’s victory against The Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals with a bright(side) bang. | Image: The Killers The Killers assisted UK fans in celebrating England’s Euro 2024 semifinal victory yesterday by pausing their gig at London’s O2 Arena to project the final moments of the game behind the band. Viral videos across X and Instagram captured the elation that followed as confetti showered the crowd during a rousing rendition of “Mr. Brightside” — and now they’re being taken offline by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).According to an Instagram takedown notice seen by The Verge, UEFA says the removed videos include content that “infringes their copyright.” Many of the impacted videos being pulled, such as a clip posted by photographer Bella Falk, contained mere seconds of the live match and are “transformative” enough to fall... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) has shut down its digital ID app, Florida Smart ID, for iPhones and Android phones. The department emailed users asking them to delete the app and said it’s looking for another vendor to help it revive the service by “early 2025,” according to 9to5Mac. The state promoted its Smart ID app as a contact-free way to show proof of age or identity at stores or when talking to police, but now it’s gone. According to a report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last year, not many people were using it, with only 95,000 activations out of more than 17 million licensed drivers, and many police departments said they weren’t using it, either.The state department has posted this... Continue reading…

Image: Frontier Developments Planet Coaster’s sequel isn’t just about building the best theme park anymore: it’s about water parks, too. The sequel, coming this fall, will finally let you construct everything from wave pools and lazy rivers to custom-built waterslides.You’ll also get to outfit your aquatic experience with changing rooms, sunbeds, lifeguards, and more. Planet Coaster 2 builds upon its predecessor with the addition of new building and pathing tools, as well as an advanced event sequencer system that can give your guests new experiences. There are also new rides, scenery pieces, and themes.Another neat feature coming to Planet Coaster 2 is the ability to create shared theme parks with friends — but you can’t all build in the park at the same time. T... Continue reading…

The Starlink Mini can be powered by a portable USB battery. | Image: SpaceX SpaceX’s Starlink Mini dish — which Elon Musk says “will change the world” — is now available to anyone in the US. The diminutive internet-from-space kit neatly integrates the dish and Wi-Fi router into a weatherproof package that’s significantly smaller and uses less power than previous Starlink kits. The laptop-sized all-in-one dish can even be powered directly by a USB-PD power bank capable of 100W (20V/5A). Initially, Starlink Mini was only available as an add-on for current Residential subscribers in the US. Now, just a few weeks since launch, it’s available to a wide spectrum of vanlifers and digital nomads who want to stay connected no matter where they set up shop.The Starlink Mini hardware costs $599 and is available with both... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge As Sonos continues chipping away at fixing bugs and improving the performance of its poorly received mobile app redesign, the company also remains focused on several new hardware products. Among them is an ultrapremium soundbar that will serve as a successor to the current Sonos Arc — at a significantly higher price. Codenamed Lasso, the device is currently in limited beta testing, and today, I can share the first images of it. The exterior of the Lasso soundbar bears a strong resemblance to the Arc, which Sonos introduced over four years ago. But inside, the components and speaker drivers have been completely overhauled and redesigned, and that’s expected to result in a cost upwards of $1,200. Sonos aims to ship Lasso later this year,... Continue reading…

Image: Jackson Gibbs for The Verge Uprooting your life and moving hundreds — or thousands — of miles isn’t easy. Here’s how to make sense of it all. Continue reading…

If you've used Discord, then you definitely know about Discord Nitro. It's a subscription with two tiers, with Nitro Basic costing $3 a month and full Nitro costing $10 a month. For a yearly subscription of both, that's $30 a year and $100 a year respectively. While the cheaper one is easier to justify, I would argue that Discord Nitro is a waste of money for pretty much everyone, and I say that as someone who coughs up the $100 a year for my own personal usage.

Flip phones are a long way from becoming the norm, but there's no denying their growing popularity. Case in point: two top Android brands, Samsung and Motorola, are releasing new clamshell smartphones this year, with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Razr+ (2024) being attractive flagship-tier options for fans of these foldables. These two flip phones scratch a similar itch and come in at around the same price, but they have some notable differences. Let's compare them side-by-side and see whether the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Motorola Razr+ is the better buy.