The latest tech news about the world’s best (and sometimes worst) hardware, apps, and much more. From top companies like Google and Apple to tiny startups vying for your attention, Verge Tech has the latest in what matters in technology daily.
Like previous Halo titles, unlockable skulls in Halo: Campaign Evolved will allow you crank up explosions, turn down gravity, or celebrate every grunt headshot with confetti and fanfare. You can even mimic the gameplay of the classic Halo: Combat Evolved, or enable remixes of skulls for randomized choas.
AI health coach fatigue is creeping in, and it’s doing the concept more harm than good.
If you can’t start your day without the sounds of a simian rampage, Nintendo has added a new Donkey Kong theme to its Alarmo clock as well as 7 new alarm sounds from the Switch 2’s Donkey Kong Bananza. You can preview a few samples of them on Nintendo Japan’s website.
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The 5,458-acre site in Wittman, Arizona, was once the centerpiece of Apple’s ambition to build its own self-driving car. But after Tim Cook pulled the plug on Project Titan, the tech company put the testing ground up for sale. The deal, recorded June 5th in Maricopa County filings, is for $220 million — nearly twice the $125 million Apple paid for it in 2021. And it comes as Waymo expands its presence in Arizona, including new office space in Tempe.
[Phoenix Business Journal]
The Walkie-Talkie app for Apple Watch that lets users send push-to-talk voice messages to one another over FaceTime has been quietly removed in the first watchOS 27 developer beta, with no option to reinstall it. It was first introduced alongside watchOS 5 in 2018.
Earbuds come and go in the life of a reviewer, but these three have earned permanent spots in my life.
Look, I haven’t tried the dev beta of macOS 27 Golden Gate yet, and by all accounts it’s got some good improvements. But with that name, you’re just asking for trouble.
yomitomu:
I’m just waiting for the first controversy with this new OS so we can call it Golden GateGate.
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Kids aged 13 to 15 will only be able to create, save, and post Spotlight videos and Stories “on a dedicated profile that is visible only to their mutually accepted friends,” Snap announced on Wednesday. These more private profiles also won’t show metrics like favorite counts.
The European Commission and Apple are at loggerheads over Siri AI after Apple blamed EU law for delays. Brussels says nothing in the law blocks a launch. Apple says compliance would create unacceptable privacy and security risks.
The standoff continues.
The Spotlight 2, available today for $129.99, features breathing exercises guided by built-in haptics to help calm nervous presenters. The wireless remote can also be used to highlight presentation details with a digital onscreen spotlight or magnifier and adds a new customizable button that can trigger shortcuts like blanking the screen or muting audio.
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It’s basic, but ‘it works’ is a big deal.
The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s Kalshi’s latest effort to address insider trading:
Users seeking to make bets in some markets linked to material nonpublic information will be required to submit an online form disclosing where they work, Kalshi said. The changes are set to be rolled out in the coming weeks. Sensitive betting markets related to issues such as company performance and national security, including the war in Iran, are expected to require employment disclosure, according to a Kalshi official.
Last year’s macOS Tahoe was the last version to officially support Intel Macs, so it’s not a big surprise that Apple now doesn’t require Mac developers to offer versions of their apps that are compatible with Intel machines.
[Apple Developer]
According to The New York Times:
Still, Meta decided not to make major changes to its A.I. plans after the Instagram hacks, according to the internal documents. “We agreed to leave all products on and to pause one ongoing experiment (IG Forgot Password Chat),” the documents said. “All other entrypoints will remain available.”
[The New York Times]
“This includes the ability to redistribute, amplify, or interact with user-generated content through a social feed or similar discovery method that visibly spreads content to many users,” Apple says.
If an app has these “social media capabilities,” it will affect the app’s age rating and it’s measured in Screen Time’s Time Allowance. Whether or not those capabilities are available to users under 13 will also affect the rating and Time Allowance measurement.
Long before Steve Jobs was the unstoppable force of nature atop Apple, shipping hit product after hit product, he was practically run out of the company after a series of bad product and management decisions. But as Geoffrey Cain argues in his new book, Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary, the 12 years Jobs spent outside of Apple turned him into the leader the world came to know. Cain joins the show to talk about Jobs’ experiences at NeXT and Pixar, how Jobs learned to be a successful leader, and the true power — and danger — of the reality distortion field.
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Apple blames DMA for delaying Siri AI in Europe. The EU says nothing is stopping Apple from launching it.
The feature previously required a pair of headphones, but Google’s Gemini 3.5 Live Translate update is expanding support across more than 70 languages:
For Android users, we’re also starting to roll out a new ‘listening mode’ with 3.5 Live Translate that lets you hear translations directly through your phone’s earpiece. Simply hold your phone to your ear just like a regular call, and the translated audio streams straight to you.
On an episode of The Verge’s “Decoder” podcast, Suleyman said that in Anthropic’s Claude Constitution, they “speculate about its consciousness and whether it has those feelings and is aware.” He called it both “dangerous” and a “philosophical failing,” adding, “We want AIs to be controllable, contained, accountable, aligned tools that serve humanity.”
The company has some new ideas on ‘What is a photo?’
During an interview with The Game Business at Summer Game Fest, Xbox strategy chief Matthew Ball admitted to “underestimating” the RAM crisis, saying that demand for Xbox consoles “exceeds supply.” It’s pushing Xbox to re-evaluate its plans for its next-gen Helix console:
“We are working very hard to rethink everything that we can about Helix, which is a console we are committed to shipping, and we are very cognisant of the ways in which we need to change as a company to make sure it is affordable, to make sure that it’s flexible.”
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman came on Decoder this week to talk about the path to superintelligence and the company’s ever-evolving relationship with OpenAI. When asked whether Microsoft was using Build to flex its independence from OpenAI like a “freshly single divorcée,” Suleyman had this to say:
Definitely not. No, not at all. Look, I mean, obviously that’s a cool headline and a fun phrase. But the reality is that we are in partnership with OpenAI for years and years to come… So naturally, that’s going to continue. And so I think that’s just a natural course of these sorts of partnerships.
I don’t think it’s anything untoward or surprising. I think OpenAI is very understanding and supportive of that. I mean, they’ve obviously been an incredibly fast-growing company, and they understand that we have to pursue our own agenda as well.
Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball acknowledged during a The Game Business Live interview at Summer Game Fest that the wave of cancellations happened over just a few months after the October price hike. Ball also admitted that “the value of the offering has now changed,” since Call of Duty games won’t be available day-one on Game Pass anymore.
[GameSpot]
