Technology

While Samsung’s mobile boss TM Roh has telegraphed plans to bring stylus support to more phones across its lineup, there may still be a new Galaxy Note in 2021. An anonymous Samsung official tells Yonhap that the company is “preparing to release the Galaxy Note series next year” and that “Roh’s message does not mean that the Galaxy Note series will be discontinued.” Samsung declined to comment on the specifics of Yonhap’s report when contacted by The Verge, but provided the following statement: Samsung confirms plans to bring some of the most beloved features of the Galaxy Note to more device categories in 2021. We remain committed to providing the best mobile experience to our consumers and will continue to actively listen and consider consumer feedback in all our product innovations. We ...

With yesterday’s release of iOS 14.3, Siri got a new trick: the ability to play real-world sound samples on command. Ask “Hey Siri, what does _____ sound like?” and it will start playing the sound for you. If you ask on an iPhone or iPad, it will show you a picture as well. Google Assistant has been able to do this for a few years now, but now it’s available for the iPhone, iPad, and HomePod. Apple hasn’t announced how many sounds it’s added, but it’s been able to handle most of the animals I asked about (except for some obscure ones that I’m not sure have a real distinctive noise, like an anteater). At the moment, it seems like the sounds are limited to animals, vehicles, and musical instruments. I tried asking for some nature-y sounds, such as thunder or a waterfall, and Siri didn’t play...

Oculus is resuming shipments of its Quest 2 Elite Strap accessory and extending the warranty after reports of defective straps. As UploadVR reported earlier, the Facebook-owned virtual reality company paused Elite Strap shipments in November, saying a small number of users had reported them snapping after use. Now, it tells Android Central that it’s pinpointed the issue as a “processing inconsistency with some early units,” and the product is going back on sale. Oculus maintains that the Elite Strap problems affect a “very small percentage” of customers. But it’s increasing the standard one-year warranty to a two-year period, during which Oculus will replace broken straps free of charge. The $49 Elite Strap (and a $129 version with an external battery and carrying case) replaces the standa...

Activists working for the influential youth-led environmental group, Sunrise Movement, have voted to form a union, they announced today. Some 96 percent of Sunrise workers voted for the union. The group, which has pushed for a Green New Deal, will form a union with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1180 in New York, CWA represents other big-name advocacy groups such as Amnesty International. “Sunrise Movement unequivocally supports, and fights for, the right of any and all workers to unionize.” “When we talk about creating millions of good jobs through a Green New Deal, we mean jobs where people get paid well, with the protections they deserve and that the labor movement fought for,” Sunrise Movement Executive Director Varshini Prakash said in a statement today. “Sunrise Moveme...

Amazon’s cloud gaming service, Luna, is now available on Android, Amazon announced on Tuesday. Like the iOS version of Luna, there’s no separate Luna app to download — instead, you’ll access the service through the Chrome web browser. Amazon launched Luna in early access in October, where it was initially available on PC, Mac, Fire TV, and on iPhone and iPad via web apps. The service works on a channels-based model, where you pay a monthly fee for each channel of games you want access to. Right now, there are two channels available. Amazon’s $5.99-per-month Luna Plus channel has games from many different publishers, and Ubisoft’s $14.99-per-month Ubisoft Plus channel offers Ubisoft games. (Paying that $14.99-per-month fee for the Ubisoft Plus channel also gives you access to Ubisoft Plus o...

Facebook is moving its UK users out from under the strict privacy protections of the European Union, according to a report from Reuters. Users of the social media site, and of Instagram and WhatsApp, will have to sign a terms of service agreement in the coming months with Facebook’s headquarters in California, instead of its European branch based in the Republic of Ireland. Moving the user agreements to the US means that UK users will no longer be covered by data policies crafted to adhere to the EU’s stringent privacy regime. This change is similar to the one Google made earlier this year. It’s meant to avoid a situation where UK citizens are no longer citizens of the European Union, but have agreements based in an EU country, where Facebook is subject to the EU’s data protection laws. Us...

Facebook will send notifications directly to users who like, share, or comment on COVID-19 posts that violate the company’s terms of service, according to a report from Fast Company. This new feature works like this: if a user interacts with a post that’s later removed, Facebook sends a notification to the user telling them that the post was taken down. If the user clicks the notification, they’ll be taken to a landing page with a screenshot of the post and a short explanation for why it was removed. The landing page will also feature links to COVID-19 educational resources and actions, like unfollowing the group that posted it. Facebook’s updated anti-misinformation notifications.Image: Facebook, Fast Company This is an expansion of Facebook’s previous attempts to combat misinformation. B...

Microsoft announced in a blog today that its dual screen phone, the Surface Duo, will be getting an “enhanced” TikTok app that takes advantage of its design. The company also announced the Duo will be available outside the US in early 2021. When The Verge reviewed the Surface Duo, we liked the hardware of the device, but had concerns with its modified Android software. The Duo was buggy at release and didn’t feature many non-Microsoft apps that took advantage of the dual screen setup. The Surface Duo can run normal Android phone apps on either screen, but using the split-screen features Microsoft designed requires specific tailoring. The group of apps that use Microsoft’s “postures” and multitasking features remains small, but TikTok is a major social media addition. The new TikTok experie...

Hark! The blobs sing! Or at least, they do in Google’s latest machine learning experiment, the awe-inspiring Blob Opera, which will see a chorus of four adorable, colorful blobs serenade you with spine-tingling operatic music. Drag a blob up or down, and you’ll change what pitch they sing in; drag them from side to side, and you’ll change the vowel sound. Each blob will also harmonize with the others, in what can only be described as magical. The Blob Opera just sounds beautiful, with soaring harmonies ringing out from each blob. Four actual opera singers — Christian Joel (tenor), Frederick Tong (bass), Joanna Gamble (mezzo‑soprano), and Olivia Doutney (soprano) — recorded 16 hours of singing (Ingunn Gyda Hrafnkelsdottir and John Holland-Avery also contributed), but it’s not their actual v...

Google says that a “significant subset” of Gmail users are running into errors with the service right now. While users can access their inboxes, they may encounter “error messages, high latency, and/or other unexpected behavior,” the company wrote in a message on its service status page. The errors come just a day after many Google properties, including Gmail, YouTube, and Google Docs, were hit with a widespread outage. Downdetector, which monitors reports of website issues, shows a spike of problems impacting Gmail starting around 3PM ET. Users have reported being unable to access their inboxes, while others have said they’re receiving bounceback messages when trying to email someone with a Gmail address. Google said it would provide an update by 5:30PM ET on when it expects the problems ...

Elon Musk’s tunneling venture, The Boring Company, is planning a massive citywide expansion of the currently modest underground transportation system it’s building in Las Vegas. The startup now wants to build a 10-mile sub-surface “loop” that serves the famous Las Vegas Strip of casino hotels and reaches the city’s downtown area as well as McCarran International Airport, all with Tesla vehicles. The Boring Company also wants to build an additional loop that connects properties owned by Caesars Entertainment. The proposed new tunnels would make it possible to go from the Las Vegas Convention Center to Mandalay Bay in just three minutes, as opposed to 30 minutes by surface roads during peak traffic hours, the company claims. The plans, first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, were det...

Among Us, Innersloth’s breakout hit of 2020, is coming to the Nintendo Switch today. The news was announced during a special indie game-focused Nintendo Direct. The game will feature crossplay. Among Us is an online social deduction game, one in which players have to work together to complete tasks around the ship and figure out who the crew’s imposters are. Imposters, meanwhile, attempt to quietly kill as many other players as they can. Although the game first launched in 2018, it’s become a sensation, thanks to a newfound popularity on Twitch, played by streamers and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Among Us has become so popular, in fact, that Innersloth canceled the game’s sequel to focus on improving the original. The game picked up the award for best multiplayer title of the year durin...