Technology

Google seems to have accidentally shared a photo sample from its upcoming Pixel 5A, giving us some hints about what to expect from the barely announced device. The photo appeared in an album posted alongside a blog post about Google’s HDR+ Bracketing technology, which aims to reduce noise in HDR photos (via Android Police). The EXIF data for most of the photos said they were captured by existing Pixel phones including the Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4 XL, but in among them was one image apparently taken with a Pixel 5A. Google recently confirmed the existence of the Pixel 5A 5G in response to rumors that the device had been cancelled. However, beyond confirming that the device will be available later this year in the US and Japan, it didn’t offer any more details about the pho...

Colette, a short film featured in the Oculus VR game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, has won this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Presented by Oculus Studios and Electronic Arts’ Respawn Entertainment, and later acquired and distributed by The Guardian, it’s the first time a video game industry project has won an Oscar. Directed by Anthony Giacchino, Colette features a French Resistance survivor, Colette Marin-Catherine, returning to Germany for the first time since the end of World War II to visit a slave labor camp where her brother was killed. The documentary is presented in a traditional 2D format whether you watch it in the Oculus TV app or elsewhere. “The real hero here is Colette herself.” “The real hero here is Colette herself, who has shared her story ...

Many people adopted a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic. My wife and I just lost one. Gouda, our eight-and-a-half-year-old exotic shorthair cat, died on April 16th. We rushed him to the hospital the previous morning after he spent another night vomiting. The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong, but, over the course of 24 hours, signs pointed to fatal kidney disease. We made the difficult choice to euthanize him. The events would have been horrible under any circumstances. But I found that the forced isolation of the pandemic made grieving a lost family member even more challenging than I could have possibly imagined. We were stranded in pods of sadness My wife and I spent the majority of the 24 hours inside a Zipcar parked outside the animal hospital. Due to safety regulations, we couldn’t ...

Doctors, hospital owners, journalists, and other Twitter users in India have been tweeting and amplifying pleas for oxygen supplies on social platforms out of desperation, as new coronavirus cases and deaths there hit record highs. Oxygen supplies are at critical low levels in India, and some hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering from COVID-19. Using hashtags like #CovidSOS and #COVIDEmergency2021, many in India are seeking ICU beds, oxygen, and plasma, and others have tried to direct those in need to suppliers. Groups on WhatsApp and Facebook have been inundated with posts from people in need of ICU beds, oxygen, and other supplies, as organizations like HumanKind Global try to track down leads to help them. “Not only there is lack of oxygen supply for those who can’t get medi...

The Oscars are tonight and despite my best efforts I still haven’t seen all the Best Picture contenders, so will hold off on making predictions (but honestly not sure how anyone beats Chadwick Boseman as Best Actor). Lots of good trailers this week including the return of the most wholesome show on all of streaming and the next big Marvel movie. [embedded content] Ted Lasso Season 2 You know when you really love a show and it gets popular and everyone else likes it… and you brace for its sophomore season to be not quite as good as its debut? I am hopeful that Ted Lasso will not fall into this pattern, and the trailer for season two looks extremely promising (Ted: “Back home if a team was playing poorly, we don’t call them unlucky, what do we call ‘em, Coach?” Beard: “New York Jets.”)...

NASA’s tiny Ingenuity helicopter made its third successful flight on Mars early Sunday, and flew higher and faster than it did even when it was being tested on Earth. At about 1:31 AM ET, the helicopter ascended 16 feet and flew 164 feet during its 80 second third flight, at a top speed of 6.6 feet per second. NASA received the flight data shortly after 10AM ET. “Today’s flight was what we planned for, and yet it was nothing short of amazing,” NASA’s Dave Lavery said in a statement. “With this flight, we are demonstrating critical capabilities that will enable the addition of an aerial dimension to future Mars missions.” In its second mission on Thursday, Ingenuity made a 51.9-second flight, traveling seven feet. For Ingenuity’s first flight on April 19th, the little craft lifted 10 feet o...

Comics have never been bigger: with Marvel TV shows, DC movies, and indie adaptations growing by the day, comic books have never been more prominent in pop culture. This biweekly Verge column recommends comic series new and old, whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer. I’ve played a lot of Fortnite over the years, but I’ve never really thought about the internal lives of the many characters that inhabit the battle royale island. I was always too busy seeking shelter and supplies or exploring whatever big event was happening at the time. But now that I’ve read Zero Point, a crossover between Batman and Fortnite, I can’t stop thinking about what’s actually happening to them as they fight to the death over and over again. What is it? Zero Point is a new six-issue series — the first is ava...

The 93rd Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) will broadcast tonight, April 25th. This ceremony will recognize the films and their associated talent in a particularly strange and difficult year for the industry, which has been forced to adapt to some big changes during the pandemic. Cinemas weren’t where most people saw newly-released movies. Instead, many of those films were pushed faster than ever to digital distribution platforms like Vudu, Apple TV, and Google TV for purchase or rental. Some were even made available simultaneously with the theatrical release, like some Warner Bros. films on HBO Max. This year’s Oscars are happening later in the year than usual, apparently to make room for more movies, since the pandemic dried up the release schedule. In addition, this year’s cerem...

We’ve known that Brazilian soccer star Neymar was coming to Fortnite since March, when he was teased as part of the battle royale’s latest season — and now we finally know what he’ll look like. Today, Epic revealed Neymar’s video game look, which, in traditional Fortnite fashion, gets pretty outlandish, with unlockable outfits that look ripped straight out of Power Rangers. Curiously, Neymar isn’t sporting jerseys for either the Brazil national team or his club, Paris St. Germain, despite the fact that licensed team kits were introduced earlier this year. You can check out Neymar’s accessories in the image below. Neymar and his gear — including some new quests — will be available on April 27th for anyone who purchased the current pass. Neymar is the first pro athlete to be featured in Fort...

Audio social platform Clubhouse is partnering with the National Football League for some exclusive programming during the upcoming NFL draft, the company announced Sunday. This is the first sports partnership for Clubhouse. The NFL will host a series of draft-themed rooms on Clubhouse beginning Monday and throughout the week, which will include player assessments, a mock draft for fans, and a conversation with football team alumni from the University of Alabama. Football fans can drop into the NFL rooms on Clubhouse to follow the picks as they’re announced and listen to “discussions featuring key NFL figures—from athletes and coaches to network personalities,” according to a release from Clubhouse, and fans could be invited on stage by moderators to ask draft questions or share reactions. ...

A woman has sued Reddit for allowing an ex-boyfriend to repeatedly post pornographic images of her as a 16-year-old. The lawsuit applies controversial measures instituted in 2018 under FOSTA-SESTA to a site that’s drawn particular criticism for child sexualization. The resulting case will test the limits of platforms’ legal shields amid ongoing efforts to pare back the law behind them. The woman, identified under the pseudonym Jane Doe, argues that “Reddit knowingly benefits from lax enforcement of its content polices, including for child pornography.” She claims that in 2019, an abusive ex-boyfriend posted sexual photos and videos that he’d taken without her knowledge or consent. But when she alerted Reddit moderators, they could wait “several days” before removing the content, while Redd...

As part of an apparent effort to find holes in its network, the US Department of Defense has given a tiny Florida company control over about 175 million of its IP addresses, The Washington Post reported. Global Resource Systems began managing the IP addresses on January 20th, part of what a Pentagon spokesperson told the Post was a “pilot effort” to “identify potential vulnerabilities” and “prevent unauthorized use of DoD IP address space.” The Department of Defense still owns the IP addresses. Global Resource Systems was founded in September, according to the Post, which was not able to find any other federal contracts for the company or any public-facing website. The initiative is apparently being run by a group within the Pentagon called Defense Digital Service, which solves problems an...