Only the Pixel 8 Pro gets Video Boost, one of the AI camera features announced at its launch. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge When Google introduced Night Sight on the Pixel 3, it was a revelation. It was as if someone had literally turned on the lights in your low-light photos. Previously impossible shots became possible — no tripod or deer-in-the-headlights flash needed.Five years later and taking photos in the dark is old hat — just about every phone up and down the price spectrum comes with some kind of night mode. Video, though, is a different story. Night modes for still photos capture multiple frames to create one brighter image, and it’s just not possible to copy and paste the mechanics of that feature to video which, by its nature, is already a series of images. The answer, as it seems to be lately, is to call on AI.When the Pixel 8 Pro launched... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad for The Verge Happy holidays! Here is The Vergecast’s gift to you: over 90 minutes of audio content dedicated to USB-C.Every holiday season, we think about what consumer technology standard has impacted our gadgets throughout the year — and without a doubt, 2023’s favorite standard has to be USB-C. We saw the iPhone 15 finally switch over to the Type C port, a glimpse of 240W USB-C PD chargers, dongles that can relieve mosquito bites, and whole bunch of high-powered GaN chargers. Though the adoption has been slow since its introduction in 2013, we’re almost at a point where we only need one cable to charge all our gadgets (2024 resolution?). So that’s what this year’s Vergecast Holiday Spec-tacular is all about. The Verge’s Nilay Patel, David... Continue reading…

Image: Bluesky Bluesky remains an invite-only decentralized Twitter alternative, but now, you don’t need to be logged in to be able to see posts on the platform, according to a blog post from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber. You can now see posts from both the web and from the Bluesky app — like this one.If you want to prevent logged-out users from seeing your posts, you can “discourage” that by clicking a toggle in settings. But Bluesky notes that “other apps may not honor this request” and that the toggle doesn’t make your account private.“Bluesky is an open and public network,” Bluesky says in a note under the toggle. “This setting only limits the visibility of your content on the Bluesky app and website, and other apps may not respect this setting.” In... Continue reading…

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an essential tool to keep your internet activity private and secure. It can help you browse the web privately, mask your actual location while browsing the web for added privacy, unblock certain geo-restricted websites and content, and more. There's no shortage of VPN providers out there, so there are plenty of options across different platforms. Most of the best VPNs out there charge you a monthly or an annual fee, but you can pick from our selection of the best free VPNs to get started. Almost all these VPNs have an app that you can use on your Android phone, and here's how to set it up.

Samsung's Galaxy S23 series devices that came out earlier this year remain some of the best phones of the year, and they stack up very well against the newer flagships out there. All three phones are equally good, but the Galaxy S23+, in particular, is great for those who want a bigger display without splurging on the Ultra model.

Illustration: The Verge Apple is talking with some big news publishers about licensing their news archives and using that information to help train its generative AI systems, The New York Times reports. The company is apparently discussing “multiyear deals worth at least $50 million,” the NYT says, and has been in touch with publications like Condé Nast, NBC News, and IAC. The response from the publishers seems mixed. Apparently, the publishers might be “potentially on the hook for any legal liabilities that could stem from Apple’s use of their content,” the NYT says, and Apple has apparently been “vague” about its plans for news and generative AI. However, other news executives were reportedly more positive about the possibility of partnering with Apple.A... Continue reading…

The compatibility of VB6 with Windows 10 reassured many developers, and Microsoft's confirmation that the VB6 runtime will be supported in Windows 11 for its lifetime keeps it relevant. Users and developers find solace in this support, ensuring that their legacy applications and developmental skills remain applicable in a modern OS environment. In this guide, we will learn how to install and run the software with compatibility mode in Windows 11.

The Verge People are really getting their podcast lawsuits in before the new year. Let’s get to it.The Daily Beast reports that Fox News host Laura Ingraham filed a lawsuit against Quake Media, claiming the podcast startup hasn’t paid her $800,000 contract for 2022. Investment firm VGC Partners is suing Sean Glynn, the former CEO of British podcast studio Novel. The suit claims that Glynn did not disclose that the other co-founder intended to leave, and that the company’s revenue figures were inflated.My father-in-law responded to yesterday’s newsletter on New York’s lawsuit against SiriusXM saying that he, too, has had to take drastic measures to get rid of his subscription. “When I called back a third time to cancel, I told them I was... Continue reading…

It’s been almost two years since Microsoft added support for Android apps on Windows to the joy of many enthusiasts, taking a big step toward cross-platform compatibility and opening a myriad of possibilities. Slowly but surely, Android apps on Windows have evolved from being a mere novelty to a genuinely useful feature as more apps get supported. Of course, the experience is far from flawless still, as Microsoft continues to push updates to its Windows Subsystem for Android to further improve the experience and add more features.

The Verge / Photo courtesy of Netflix and IMDB With shows like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Blue Eye Samurai, and a wild new Castlevania spinoff, Netflix is still holding its own in the streaming wars. Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Two lawmakers filed a bill requiring creators of foundation models to disclose sources of training data so copyright holders know their information was taken. The AI Foundation Model Transparency Act — filed by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) — would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish rules for reporting training data transparency. Companies that make foundation models will be required to report sources of training data and how the data is retained during the inference process, describe the limitations or risks of the model, how the model aligns with NIST’s planned AI Risk Management Framework and any other federal standards might be... Continue reading…

EA was the king of sports games in the early 2000s, covering nearly every major sport. Cricket was one of the recurring titles in the EA Sports franchise. But, by the end of the decade, EA stopped producing Cricket games, along with numerous other underperforming titles.