Technology

When the pandemic hit this spring, a lot of teachers turned to Minecraft during their mad scramble for tools that could make remote learning work. Earlier this year, Microsoft added an “education” section to the Minecraft marketplace, and since March, 63 million pieces of content have been downloaded. While Minecraft: Education Edition isn’t new, its digital nature makes it an almost ideal tool for this strange time. It allows for multiplayer activities, is available on a large range of devices, and — perhaps most importantly — is something kids already enjoy doing. “We already had a lot of the features in the game, so we were well-suited from the beginning,” says Deirdre Quarnstrom, GM of the Minecraft Atlas division, which focuses on broader initiatives like education. The educational of...

If you’re used to working in an office full of coworkers, but are now forced to labor from home, you may be feeling that things are a little quiet — too quiet. The solution might be to listen to whatever music, talk, or other background audio can keep your spirits up and your attention focused. You may be listening to the same music or podcasts that you listened to through your headphones in the office. Or you may have decided you need something completely different to get you through your work-at-home days. We polled the staff of The Verge to find out what what they are listening to during working hours, be it a podcast, an album, a favorite musician, a music genre, whatever. Here’s what they told us. Read on — and who knows? You might be motivated to try a whole new audio experience. Wri...

Google launched the Pixel 4A in August but told us we’d have to wait to see the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G. They’re due to arrive sometime this fall (probably in early October), but new renders purportedly showing the Pixel 5 give us some idea what to expect. The renders come from regular leaker @OnLeaks and Indian tech site PriceBaba. There are no real surprises here, with the images showing a fingerprint sensor on the rear; square-shaped camera array containing what looks to be two cameras, a flash, and an unknown sensor; and a holepunch front-facing camera in the top left of the display. It’s hard to judge the render’s authenticity, but the sand-blasted texture on the case looks the same as the side-on peek of the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G Google shared earlier this year. Grid View What’s a ...

A fertility app that helps women monitor their cycles when hoping to become pregnant was sharing user data with several Chinese companies, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The International Digital Accountability Council (IDAC), a nonprofit consumer privacy watchdog, said its research found that the Android version of the app was sharing data with three Chinese analytics firms, including unique device identifiers which could help them follow users’ activities across other apps and websites. IDAC sent letters to the FTC, Google, and the attorney general of Illinois, where Premom is based, earlier this month. Since users had no way to opt out of the tracking and were not aware it was even happening, IDAC says the practice could violate state and federal law. It’s also a violation of...

Facebook’s “classic” experience, the interface with the iconic blue navigation bar at the top, is disappearing for good in September. Engadget reports that a Facebook support page has been updated saying everyone will soon have the new design. Although you can temporarily switch back to the old interface on Facebook’s site, the button warns that “the classic Facebook will no longer be available starting in September.” The new design was announced at Facebook’s developer conference last year, and initially rolled out on the service’s iOS and Android apps. In March it got a widespread release on desktop as an opt-in feature, leaving people free to continue using the old design if they want to. Come September, however, the old design will disappear for good. Attempting to switch back to the o...

Tesla is working on a new motion-detection sensor that could detect a child left behind in a hot car. According to Reuters, the company is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to market the technology, which would use unlicensed millimeter-wave radar sensors designed to operate at higher power levels than allowed under existing rules. In its application, Tesla said the device could be used to “reduce the risk of pediatric vehicular heatstroke, protect vehicle occupants from injury through advanced airbag deployment and seatbelt reminders, and enhance theft prevention systems.” “reduce the risk of pediatric vehicular heatstroke” Tesla envisions using radar imaging to measure body size so it can tell the difference between adults and children. This can help the c...

Major US news publishers have joined the list of companies and app developers criticizing Apple’s App Store terms as unfair and potentially anti-competitive. The digital media trade association Digital Content Next — which includes newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post and numerous magazines, broadcasters, and websites (Vox Media, parent company of The Verge, is also a member) — sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday. The letter asks the Apple chief executive what would be necessary to negotiate a deal similar to the one it granted Amazon in 2016 for its Prime video app. News of the letter was first reported today by The Wall Street Journal. “We would like to know what conditions our members — high quality digital content companies — would need to meet in orde...

Fortnite-maker Epic Games and Apple are currently embroiled in a public battle over Apple’s App Store policies, and in the latest move in the dispute, Epic has announced a Fortnite tournament taking place August 23rd where players can compete to win anti-Apple prizes. Last week, Epic added a new direct payment system to Fortnite in violation of Apple’s policies. Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store the same day, and shortly after, Epic launched a campaign against Apple by suing the company, releasing a “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” video mocking Apple’s famous “1984” ad, and promoting the hashtag #FreeFortnite. Players who compete in the tournament have the opportunity to win an in-game skin of the evil-looking apple featured in Epic’s “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” video (cheekily dubbed th...

Facing higher production costs due to the inclusion of 5G hardware in this year’s “iPhone 12” series, Apple is attempting to use less expensive components in other areas, according to analyst Ming-chi Kuo (via MacRumors and AppleInsider). One of the biggest cost reductions is believed to come from battery technology; Kuo says Apple is reducing the number of layers in the battery board and placing cell components in a smaller area. This will result in a battery board that’s 40 to 50 percent cheaper than the iPhone 11’s equivalent part, according to Kuo, and next year’s iPhone batteries will get a further 30 to 40 percent price decrease due to additional design changes. Apple is also said to be trimming battery costs for a third-generation AirPods release next year by switching to a “system-...

For the past two days, photographers have been posting in a panic across Twitter, Reddit, and the Photoshop feedback forums. They’d downloaded Adobe’s latest update for Lightroom’s iOS app, and suddenly their photos and presets were gone. Adobe has now confirmed the issue, and it’s also said that the data is gone for good. “I’ve talked with customer service for 4+ hours over the past 2 days and just a minute ago they told me that the issue has no fix and that these lost photos are unrecoverable,” complained one Reddit user, who says they’ve lost over two years’ worth of photo edits. The complaints were spotted by PetaPixel. “This is literally the worst,” tweeted another customer, who said they’d lost not only 800 pictures but hundreds of dollars worth of paid presets. “These lost photos ar...

Apple CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto both seem pretty useful for drivers — simply plug in your phone to charge, and it’ll link up with your car’s bigger touchscreen to give you directions to your doctor’s appointment, play music from your Spotify playlist, or send a text. Google also has an easier version that lets you connect wirelessly to your car stereo without even taking your phone out of your pocket — but it was limited to Google and Samsung phones. Now, Google has quietly announced that any phone running Android 11 will be able to connect to Android Auto, cable-free. Google’s updated Android Auto support page now notes that “any smartphone with Android 11.0” will be able to connect to Android Auto wirelessly. It’s likely in addition to Google and Samsung, phones from manufacturer...

The Last Light, Magic Leap’s in-house mixed reality experience thought to be lost after nearly everyone who made it was laid off, got a surprise — and official — release this week. (We spotted the release thanks to a tweet from former Magic Leap employee Alexandria Heston.) In The Last Light, you follow along as a young woman, Kayah, moves through a story about her family that plays out on objects in the room in front of you. “It is not a game or a tech demo,” said former Magic leap employee Anastasia Devana on LinkedIn. “It’s essentially a short film that is best experienced alone, in a quiet area, and uninterrupted for around 35-40 minutes or so.” [embedded content] The Last Light was originally set to premiere at SXSW in March, but the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic....