Apple’s latest iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge For the first time ever, Apple beat out Samsung to ship the most smartphones in a year according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Although IDC cautions that its data is preliminary and subject to change, a second research agency, Canalys, also has Apple taking its top spot for all of 2023. IDC has Apple’s total mobile shipments at 234.6 million, versus 226.6 million for Samsung. Xiaomi, Oppo, and Transsion round out the top five with 145.9, 103.1 and 94.9 million smartphones shipped, respectively. IDC notes that the last time Samsung wasn’t on top of the annual board was 13 years ago in 2010. Back then Apple didn’t even feature in the top five. Instead it was Nokia in first place, Samsung in second, LG Electronics in... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is unlocking the doors for all businesses to get access to its AI-powered Office features. Microsoft’s Copilot for Microsoft 365 launched in November with enterprise customers having to commit to at least 300 users and pick up the phone to get on the list. That was an additional $9,000 cost minimum for businesses, but now Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant is generally available for all businesses large and small with no minimum amount of users.“Given the demand and interest we’ve heard from small and medium-sized businesses, we’re removing that 300 seat minimum,” says Divya Kumar, global head of marketing for search and AI at Microsoft, in a 1 on 1 with The Verge. “So now businesses of all sizes can get the $30 option and... Continue reading…

Photo: JSR_ Though Awesome Games Done Quick will go on for the rest of the week, the charity speedrunning event may have already peaked with a run performed by Peanut Butter... a Shiba Inu. Using a custom-made controller and spurred by commands and treats, Peanut Butter button-pressed his way into our hearts and the speedrunning history books with his run of Gyromite in the first-ever speedrun done by a dog. Gyromite is a game where the player guides a sleepwalking scientist through his lab by pressing buttons to raise or lower colored pillars in the scientist’s way. To successfully complete a level, players must not get squished by releasing a pillar too soon and avoid monsters called “smicks” that can kill the player in one hit.For the run,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The broad legislation is already forcing some major shifts in the tech industry. Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Yesterday TikTok presented me with what appeared to be a deepfake of Timothee Chalamet sitting in Leonardo Dicaprio’s lap and yes, I did immediately think “if this stupid video is that good imagine how bad the election misinformation will be.” OpenAI has, by necessity, been thinking about the same thing and today updated its policies to begin to address the issue.The Wall Street Journal noted the new change in policy which were first published to OpenAI’s blog. ChatGPT, Dall-e, and other OpenAI tool users and makers are now forbidden from using OpenAI’s tools to impersonate candidates or local governments and users cannot use OpenAI’s tools for campaigns or lobbying either. Users are also not permitted to use OpenAI tools to discourage... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Climate change disinformation on YouTube has morphed into a misleading new narrative, according to a report published today. With compounding disasters making it harder to deny that climate change is happening, creators spreading disinformation have pivoted to content that targets clean energy.In the past, content that falsely claimed that climate change was either not happening or not a result of humans burning fossil fuels dominated disinformation channels. That’s not the case anymore, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Instead, the most common lies about climate change now have to do with denying the benefits of clean energy, attacking policies meant to slash planet-heating pollution... Continue reading…

It’s impossible to look cool in a VR headset, even if it’s the $3,499 Vision Pro. | Image: Apple I know what I saw, but I’m still trying to figure out where this headset fits in real life. Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft first launched its AI-powered Office features for businesses in November, but just two months later the company is already offering them to consumers. Copilot Pro is launching today as a $20 monthly subscription that provides access to AI-powered features inside Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint alongside priority access to the latest OpenAI models and the ability to build your own Copilot GPT.If you’re already a Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscriber then the extra $20 per month (per person) subscription will immediately unlock Copilot in Office apps on Mac, Windows, and iPad. These features include the ability to generate entire PowerPoint slide decks from a chatbot-like prompt, and inline Copilot experiences... Continue reading…

Can you tell the difference between these two logos? Take-Two has its doubts. | Image: Take-Two / Rockstar Games / Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment, the developer that created the Max Payne and Alan Wake video game franchises, is embroiled in a trademark dispute with Take-Two Interactive over claims that Remedy’s new “R” logo too closely resembles that of its subsidiary Rockstar Games.As first reported by RespawnFirst, the Rockstar parent company has objected to trademark filings Remedy submitted to the Intellectual Property Offices in the UK and EU last year, over grounds that the logo is likely to cause “confusion on the part of the public.” Remedy publicly unveiled its updated “R” logo in a blog post on April 14th, 2023 — one day after the company filed its trademark application with the EU — saying that the “bullet in the letter R in the old logo... Continue reading…

A lot has been said about Microsoft Copilot lately, as the company has pushed the artificial intelligence chatbot very hard in recent weeks. Aside from expanding Copilot offerings within Windows 11, Microsoft is also adding a physical Copilot key to its laptops. Whether you love or hate Microsoft's transition to the 'Windows as a service' model, the newly-released Copilot app for iOS and Android is worth a look. This free app offers access to OpenAI's DALL-E 3 and GPT-4 artificial intelligence models. To get GPT-4 from OpenAI's ChatGPT app, you'll need to pay a hefty $20 monthly for the ChatGPT Plus subscription.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The blood oxygen feature is about to disappear from new Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 devices. While Apple itself has not released a statement or responded to our request for comment, both Bloomberg and 9to5Mac are reporting that the feature will be going away and that US Customs and Border Protection has approved the measure, which would allow Apple to consider selling both products after their sale was banned last year.The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 were both banned in the US late last year as the result of a patent dispute with medical device maker Masimo. The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the blood oxygen sensors in both devices infringed on patents from Masimo.Apple pulled the Watch Series 9... Continue reading…

Apple’s mixed-reality headset lets users switch between virtual and augmented reality using a physical dial. | Image: Apple After first introducing the Vision Pro during last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple recently revealed that the forthcoming headset will be available starting February 2nd. If you can’t wait to get your hands on it, however, you can preorder it from US Apple Store locations and online for $3,499 starting at 8AM ET on January 19th.If you plan on placing your order as soon preorders later this week, it’s a good idea to read up on everything you need to know ahead of time. To make doing so a little easier, we’ve rounded up all the info you’ll need to place a preorder below, including a few details regarding the upcoming headset, the various accessories it comes packaged with, and more. We’ll also be updating this post when... Continue reading…