Illustration: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 25, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith (which is awesome) and Argylle (which is not), reading about the tech vs. media wars, AI-created fake IDs, and multibillion-dollar arenas, debating canceling Amazon Prime, and trying out Crouton for managing recipes and grocery lists. I also have for you Google’s new AI tools, a new-ish social network, a better take on Google Docs, a new weather app worth checking out, and a bunch more. Let’s dig in.(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What... Continue reading…

Photo by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Microsoft appears to be readying its own DLSS-like AI upscaling feature for PC games. X user PhantomOcean3 discovered the feature inside the latest test versions of Windows 11 over the weekend, with Microsoft describing its automatic super resolution as a way to “use AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details.”That sounds a lot like Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, which uses AI to upscale games and improve frame rates and image quality. AMD and Intel also offer their own variants, with FSR and XeSS both growing in popularity in recent PC game releases. Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge A new AI super resolution feature has been discovered in Windows 11 test... Continue reading…

It's now confirmed that there'll be no Windows 12 this year. Instead, the company's "next version of Windows" will officially be called Windows 11 24H2. It's also an open secret that Microsoft will introduce a lot of AI features in the update, which might include Microsoft's own version of DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) to make games sharper.

Now you can turn your Apple Cash card into a Visa card. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge The iOS 17.4 beta lets iPhone users generate a virtual card number for Apple Cash, reports 9to5Mac, citing user reports on Reddit in the last couple of weeks. With a virtual card number, iPhone users can pay with Apple Cash even when Apple Pay isn’t available, removing one of the big limitations of Apple’s built-in Venmo-like service.I’m seeing the option in the 17.4 beta as well, but as 9to5Mac notes, its possible it hasn’t been rolled out to every beta user. It’s easy to check if you have it, though. Simply open the Wallet app, tap on your Apple Cash card, and look for a message below your balance invites you to set up a virtual card number — doing so is a simple, two-step procedure. Screenshots: Wes Davis / The... Continue reading…

New York City shrouded in wildfire smoke on Wednesday, June 7th, 2023. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Air quality in the US is projected to backslide in the coming decades, landing back where it was in the mid-2000s as a result of climate change, according to a new report. The report comes with an online tool for users to zoom in on individual properties to see what kind of air quality residents might experience there in the future. It paints a picture of a changing landscape for regulators, who are going to have to adapt to evolving threats.“Air quality really highlights how the changing climate is being felt by individuals.”A hotter planet sets the stage for more wildfire smoke and supercharges the chemical reactions that lead to smog. That means the game is changing when it comes to how to prevent pollution in the future. After... Continue reading…

OpenAI recently unveiled GPT-4 Turbo, and the only way to actually use it as a normal consumer currently is through Microsoft Copilot. Developers can use it through OpenAI's GPT-4 API by passing "gpt-4-preview" to the API in the request, but normal users will either have to wait or switch to Copilot.

Building a PC has its ups and downs. There's the excitement of ordering new parts and assembling your new rig, but you also have to deal with perfect cable management and, often, some starting troubles. But, the actual hardware we use to build our PCs has mostly stayed the same over the years — until now.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After weeks of rumors of Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, Microsoft is now planning to discuss its vision for the future of Xbox at an event later this week. Microsoft’s Xbox business update event will take place on Thursday, February 15th at 12PM PT / 3PM ET.Weeks of rumors suggest that Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and even Bethesda titles like Starfield and Indiana Jones could appear on non-Xbox platforms. Microsoft hasn’t addressed these rumors directly, but Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer didn’t dismiss them last week. “We’re listening and we hear you,” said Spencer, before announcing the Xbox business update event. Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah... Continue reading…

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images You don’t need to sign up for a pricey cable package just to watch the Super Bowl today, February 11th. Plenty of streaming services from Fubo to Philo TV are offering free trials, with Paramount Plus arguably offering the best deal. Today only, new subscribers can sign up for a free month of ad-free Paramount Plus with Showtime when they use offer code GOAT. The promotion means you’ll have access to a whole library of content to keep you entertained once the Big Game is over. In addition to live sports, Paramount Plus and Showtime’s catalog includes thousands of TV shows and movies such as Star Trek, 1923, Yellowjackets, Scream VI, Dexter, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and more. Just make sure to cancel your trial period... Continue reading…

It’s going to take something special to get people as hyped for Marvel’s movies as they used to be, and the first trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine — the studio’s first R-rated cape flick — makes it seem like it has just the thing.In the new trailer, it’s unclear how much time has passed for Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and his partner Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) since the end of Deadpool 2, or even if they’re exactly the same versions of those characters who appeared in that film. But when armored troops from Loki’s Time Variance Authority show up looking for Deadpool, he isn’t exactly surprised to see them or to be whisked away through a portal.Though Deadpool takes a moment to talk directly to the camera about the Disney of it all, TVA... Continue reading…

Super Bowl merchandise is ready at the NFL Super Bowl Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images These are the best ads we’ve seen from the Super Bowl this year. Continue reading…

Working with multiple apps simultaneously can be time-consuming and inconvenient at times. Thankfully, Microsoft offers several ways to organize apps on the desktop. The software giant has already delivered a robust multitasking experience on Windows 10, and with Snap assist on Windows 11, Microsoft took it to the next level. Whether you work on a laptop, or monitor or have a multi-screen setup, here’s how to use split screen on Windows.