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Alienware’s QD-OLED monitor sets a new standard for gaming displays
High-end TVs and gaming monitors have been on a collision course for the past few years. The TV industry has pursued the best-looking picture, while monitors have opted for the fastest display tech. The crash that blends the two worlds together might have finally happened with Alienware’s latest curved gaming monitor, which has a QD-OLED screen. It’s the first device (of several more to come in 2022) to show what Samsung’s new QD-OLED display technology is capable of — for PC users, specifically. The AW3423DW, as it’s officially (and clumsily) called, is now available for $1,299.99, beating Samsung and Sony’s forthcoming QD-OLED TVs to market. Actually, while it’s technically available, the soonest delivery date for new buyers of this QD-OLED is currently late June. So, those TVs might fin...
OpenAI’s DALL-E AI image generator can now edit pictures, too
Artificial intelligence research group OpenAI has created a new version of DALL-E, its text-to-image generation program. DALL-E 2 features a higher-resolution and lower-latency version of the original system, which produces pictures depicting descriptions written by users. It also includes new capabilities, like editing an existing image. As with previous OpenAI work, the tool isn’t being directly released to the public. But researchers can sign up online to preview the system, and OpenAI hopes to later make it available for use in third-party apps. The original DALL-E, a portmanteau of the artist “Salvador Dalí” and the robot “WALL-E,” debuted in January of 2021. It was a limited but fascinating test of AI’s ability to visually represent concepts, from mundane depictions of a mannequin in...
Alphabet’s Drone Service Wing Will Start Making Deliveries in Dallas
Alphabet‘s drone delivery service Wing will now begin delivering packages in the Dallas and Fort Worth regions. Due to begin tomorrow, the company will start delivering parcels from Walgreens to those living in Little Elm and Frisco, Texas, before extending its service to other kinds of deliveries in the entire Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, covering businesses such as Texas Health, Easyvet and Blue Bell Creameries. “We’re going to get started in Little Elm and Frisco on April 7, but our long-term goal is to serve many, many more people around the DFW metroplex,” the company reassured. As for how exactly the service works, a retail worker will load up the drone outside the store, where the machine will then take off using its 12 upward-facing propellers and fly to its destination with the help ...
How to Secure Your Remote Work Environment from Cybersecurity Threats
Sourced from International IDEA Cybersecurity threats are at an all-time high. With organizations increasingly employing hybrid work models, it has become more vital than ever to educate employees on the various cybersecurity risks that come with a distributed work environment. In a hybrid work environment, employees working from home pose a greater security risk compared to those working at the office. Home networks are less secured than corporate networks, unprotected by in-office firewalls and advanced fraud detection systems. In the comfort of one’s home, a small mistake by an employee could potentially risk the company’s confidential data being leaked. However, risks like data leaks and device compromise can be managed by following certain best practices. Here are some of the practice...
MTN Nigeria Says it Supports New Government SIM Registration Rules
MTN, the multinational mobile telecommunications company, reassured its Nigerian investors on Wednesday that the country’s SIM registration rules will not have a huge impact on its finances. This comes after the Federal Government ordered all telecommunication operators to bar all SIMs that are not registered with National Identification Number (NIN). The government made this call in 2020 after the country saw an increase in abduction incidents. According to Tech Central, MTN shares tumbled 7.8% in Johannesburg on Tuesday as investors took fright at the decision by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to order mobile operators in Nigeria to bar outgoing calls from phone numbers not linked to the NIN system. MTN said that its Nigerian subsidiary has made good progress in registering...
Vevo to ‘review’ security after YouTube feeds for Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber, and others were hacked
On Tuesday morning, YouTube channels for some of the world’s biggest stars showered fans with strange music videos. Vevo channels for artists like Lil Nas X, Eminem, Drake, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Michael Jackson, Kanye West, and many others were affected. The channels in question have subscriber counts that add up to hundreds of millions. Before the videos disappeared, viewers saw bizarre clips of Paco Sanz, a Spanish conman sentenced to two years in jail after being convicted of fraud for lying about having terminal cancer, and rapper Lil Tjay. YouTube did not respond to requests for comment from The Verge; however, Vevo — which bills itself as “the world’s leading music video network” — did acknowledge the incident. A spokesperson responded to contact via ...
Anker’s first 3D printer might be the one you’ve been waiting for
3D printing can be a time-consuming and expensive hobby — even if you try to do it on the cheap. It feels like I’ve adjusted, replaced, or upgraded half the parts on my Ender 3 Pro. It’s been fun, but never easy. But what if a truly consumer-ready 3D printer changed that? We may be about to find out. Trusted phone charger company Anker is officially expanding beyond its Eufy smart home devices, Soundcore audio, Nebula projectors and Roav car accessories into 3D printing this year — and not in a small way. The just-revealed AnkerMake M5 looks like it could give leading brands a serious run for their money. Vases are a relatively fast thing to print on any FDM printer, but the M5 could make them even faster.Image: Anker Launching on Kickstarter later today for an early bird price of $429 (th...
Emoji reactions are coming to Google Docs
Google Docs is getting support for emoji reactions, allowing you to respond to text with a simple symbol rather than a fully written comment. In an announcement post, the company says the feature supports all the emoji available in the latest release, which includes gender-neutral options and sillier symbols like melting face and biting lip. A gif released by Google shows how the emoji reaction feature will appear as a third option alongside “Add Comment” and “Suggest Edits” when you highlight text. You can also type to search the emoji catalog. Google says these responses provide “a less formal alternative to comments.” Emoji reactions in action.Image: Google Emoji reactions have become a staple of modern software, and are available in numerous messaging apps (iMessage, Facebook Messenger...
Amazon Music’s prices are going up for Prime members
Amazon is increasing the price of its music streaming service, the company has announced in a new FAQ. From May 5th, Amazon Prime subscribers will have to pay $8.99 (£8.99) a month or $89 (£89) a year for access to Music Unlimited, up from $7.99 (£7.99) and $79 (£79) respectively. The price of the single-device plan — which lets you listen to the full library but only from a single Echo or Fire TV device — is also increasing from $3.99 (£3.99) to $4.99 (£4.99) a month. If you’re not a Prime member, the price of Amazon Music Unlimited is unchanged at $9.99 (£9.99). As Engadget notes, the price change all but eliminates the discount that Amazon Prime subscribers get when paying for Amazon Music on top of their regular monthly subscription to Amazon. Rather than getting a $2 a month discount,...
Elon Musk Appointed to Twitter’s Board of Directors
Tech tycoon Elon Musk is now being appointed to Twitter‘s board of directors. According to new reports, the business magnate will serve on the board until 2024, during which his ownership in the company cannot surpass 14.9%. “Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our board,” CEO Parag Agrawal said. “He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term.” Jack Dorsey also added that “I’ve wanted Elon on the board for a long time.” The appointment probably doesn’t come as a surprise given Musk’s recent purchase of 9.2% of Twitter, making him the single largest shareholder in the company for roughly $3 billion USD....
Twitter takes a harder line on POW photos and shadowbans Russian government accounts
Twitter announced on Tuesday that it will “require the removal of Tweets posted by government or state-affiliated media accounts” if they contain images or videos that show prisoners of war from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company also said it would “drastically” reduce the chances of people seeing posts from Russian government accounts. In its most recent updates to a post detailing how the company is responding to the conflict, Twitter says this decision is meant to ensure its platform isn’t used to spread content that violates the Geneva Conventions, one of which requires prisoners of war be protected from “acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.” This comes after the government of Ukraine has been criticized for posting images of dead soldier...
Netflix actually added a short-ass movie category
Yes, Netflix actually added a “short-ass” movie category in response to Pete Davidson’s Saturday Night Live ode to movies shorter than an hour and 30 minutes. Netflix quote-tweeted the SNL rap on Twitter, casually saying “good idea” and linking to the new short-ass movie category on Netflix. On the page, you’ll find a list of movies — organized by genre — that won’t have you stuck on the couch for hours, like Zoolander, Death at a Funeral, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Midnight in Paris, and a whole lot more. It, disappointingly, lacks some of the titles mentioned in the SNL skit, like Driving Miss Daisy and The Lion King (but maybe Netflix will bend to Davidson’s will on that as well). Despite the existence of this short-ass movie webpage, I, and a number of my colleagues at The Verge,...
