AMD finally has a response to Nvidia's Video Super Resolution (VSR) capability, launched last year to enhance online videos. With the latest Adrenaline driver 24.1.1, AMD has introduced a new advanced video algorithm for RX 7000 GPUs and DirectX 11 apps to elevate the overall visual experience.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Logitech is rolling out a firmware update for its popular G Pro X Superlight 2 mouse this week that will enable 4kHz response rates. The higher polling rate is designed for high DPI / low in-game sensitivity players who play esports PC games, which is who Logitech markets its Superlight series of mice toward. A higher polling rate on a mouse essentially means that when a frame is rendered, you get a more recent and accurate cursor position shown on your screen. The time delay between your cursor and where it’s being displayed on your screen is reduced the higher the polling rate.Firstly, for PRO X Superlight 2 users, we are excited to share a new firmware update for your mouse that will increase your response rate to 4kHz for free.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Haein Jeong / The Verge Two Florida middle schoolers were arrested in December and charged with third-degree felonies for allegedly creating deepfake nudes of their classmates. A report by Wired cites police reports saying two boys, aged 13 and 14, are accused of using an unnamed “artificial intelligence application” to generate the explicit images of other students “between the ages of 12 and 13.” The incident may be the first US instance of criminal charges related to AI-generated nude images.They were charged with third-degree felonies under a 2022 Florida law that criminalizes the dissemination of deepfake sexually explicit images without the victim’s consent. Both the arrests and the charges appear to be the first of their kind in the nation related to... Continue reading…

Microsoft has a rather controversial history of inserting "advertisements" for its other services in Windows 11, with these promotions sometimes causing issues in the operating system too. Now, the Redmond tech giant has been caught embedding content regarding Copilot in the Windows 11 lock screen in a rather unsolicited manner.

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge One of the more frustrating aspects of TikTok used to be the difficulty in finding a video that you really liked and wanted to see again but had accidentally swiped past or watched a day or two ago. Previously, there was a long, complex series of steps you had to follow to find out your watch history on TikTok — making it hardly worth the effort. Now, however, you can easily find your watch history — and, if you want, erase it. All you have to do is:Tap your Profile icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen.Select the three-line icon in the top-right corner.Tap on Settings and privacy > Activity center.You should now see a gallery with all of the videos you’ve watched over the last 180 days. Tap on any that you’d like to... Continue reading…

Sam Altman. An independent investigation commissioned by OpenAI’s nonprofit board has found that CEO Sam Altman’s conduct “did not mandate removal.” After surviving an attempted boardroom coup in November, he will now rejoin the board.In a press release, board chair Bret Taylor said the law firm WilmerHale interviewed board members, employees, and reviewed “more than 30,000 documents” to reach the conclusion that Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman “are the right leaders for OpenAI.”In addition to Altman, Taylor also announced three more OpenAI board members: Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, a former legal executive at Sony; and Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart. They will join Taylor,... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Google has fired an employee who publicly protested the company’s work for the Israeli military. During a presentation by an executive with Google’s Israel branch on Monday, the now-former Google Cloud engineer stood up and shouted, “I refuse to build technology that powers genocide or surveillance.”Google confirmed the firing, which was first reported by CNBC, in an email to The Verge. “Earlier this week, an employee disrupted a coworker who was giving a presentation — interfering with an official company-sponsored event,” Google spokesperson Bailey Tomson says in an emailed statement. “This behavior is not okay, regardless of the issue, and the employee was terminated for violating our policies.”BREAKING—PRO-PALESTINE @googlecloud ... Continue reading…

Since the launch of the Steam Deck, the market for great PC gaming handhelds has boomed. Just about every major manufacturer has bought into the concept and made their own gaming handheld. That includes the likes of Valve, Lenovo, Asus, and soon MSI. We've reviewed all of them, from the Steam Deck OLED to the Lenovo Legion Go, and love the experience of playing full-fledged PC games on the go. But since these devices are also capable PCs, gaming handhelds have the potential to be much more than just gaming consoles.

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Amazon’s Drop In feature has become a useful tool for contacting people in your household, finding out what your kids are up to (especially when they’re being too quiet), and checking in on elderly relatives. It allows you to literally “drop in” using an Alexa-capable device, either just via audio or with audio and video. But since you don’t want anyone dropping in on you unwanted, it’s a good idea to understand how to set it up and how to use it.Set up your device for Drop InIn order to allow somebody to drop in on an Echo or Fire device (or any Alexa-capable device that allows you to make calls), first you have to enable the Drop In feature on that specific unit.Open the Alexa app on your phone and select the Device icon on the... Continue reading…

Image: Adult Swim Even Warner Bros. Discovery games are subject to the capriciousness of the executive suite. Several developers of games published under Adult Swim Games, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, have said that the company has reached out to inform them that their games will soon be removed from digital storefronts on PC and console.“It saddens me to announce that we received notice from Warner Bros. Discovery (the owners of Adult Swim Games) that Fist Puncher will be retired and removed from Steam in the next 60 days,” wrote Matt Kain, one of Fist Puncher’s developers, on Steam.Other developers with Adult Swim Games said they received the same message. “Within the next 60 days, Soundodger+ will be removed from Steam,” wrote Studio Bean on X.S... Continue reading…

The HomePod Mini isn’t for everyone, but it’s still a solid choice for Apple users. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge With most of the Apple news this week revolving around the new M3 MacBook Air and Apple’s ongoing app store kerfuffles in the EU, it’s not surprising that Best Buy’s current promos on the HomePod Mini and second-gen HomePod have slipped under the radar. That’s a shame, however, given the smart speakers are on sale for $79.99 ($20 off) and $269.99 ($30 off), respectively, which doesn’t happen often.If you’re deciding between Apple’s latest Siri-based smart speakers, there are a few things to consider. The latest HomePod is essentially a rehash of the original model from 2018, only this time, it comes with support for spatial audio, the new Matter standard, and temperature and humidity sensing. The pint-size HomePod Mini, meanwhile,... Continue reading…

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2: Myths & Mortals | Image: Epic Games The launch of Fortnite’s Greek mythology-themed Chapter 5: Season 2 has been on hold since early this morning after the usual downtime for maintenance didn’t end on schedule. Epic usually takes the servers down at 3AM ET to prepare for a big update, but then the battle royale game never came back online, with messages saying the work would take a few hours longer than usual. The most recent message from the Fortnite Status account on X came just after 4PM ET, telling players they could preload the new update “in approximately five hours.” How long will it take until everyone is able to log in and actually play? We don’t know yet, but we’ll update you on the issue as more information comes in. A message sent at around 6PM ET warned... Continue reading…