Technology

This 32.8-feet LED smart strip light comes with 64 preset scene effects so you can create different vibes based on emotions, holidays, nature, and more. It also offers various music modes so, for instance, the light can pulse to your music and works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

On Wednesday, a jury in New York convicted ex-Central Intelligence Agency engineer Joshua Schulte on all nine charges he faced (as first reported by @InnerCityPress) as a result of the single largest leak in agency history. Dubbed Vault 7, the files and information shared by WikiLeaks in 2017 exposed a trove of tactics and exploits the CIA used to hack its targets’ computers, iPhones or Android phones, and even Samsung smart TVs. CIA spokesperson Tammy Thorp said in a statement given to The Verge, “Today’s verdict affirms that maintaining the security of our nation’s cyber capabilities is of the utmost importance. It’s critical to the security of the American people, and it’s critical to our advantage against adversaries abroad. As set forth in the trial, unauthorized disclosures not only ...

Andrej Karpathy, Tesla’s head of AI and a key leader in the development of Autopilot, its driver assist feature which requires supervision by a human, announced on Twitter Wednesday that he’s leaving the company. “It’s been a great pleasure to help Tesla towards its goals over the last 5 years and a difficult decision to part ways,” Karpathy wrote. “In that time, Autopilot graduated from lane keeping to city streets and I look forward to seeing the exceptionally strong Autopilot team continue that momentum.” In a follow-up tweet, Karpathy said he has “no concrete plans for what’s next” but wants to revisit “my long-term passions around technical work in AI, open source and education.” I have no concrete plans for what’s next but look to spend more time revisiting my long-term passions arou...

Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand CASETiFY has reunited with BTS for its latest tech collaboration. The “Permission To Dance” collection marks the fifth collaboration between CASETiFY and the South Korean boy band. Inspired by the band’s No.1 Billboard song, the collection of tech accessories includes Impact and Ultra Impact cases, Mirror cases, a brand-new Pillow phone case, a custom Casette case and the Impact Crush case series. The items come equipped with elements from the “Permission To Dance” music video, song lyrics and an array of stickers. Other included items in the offering are Airpods cases, Apple Watch bands, Macbook chargers, Magsafe wallets, Airtag cases and more. Alongside these items is a special-edition bead strap with the BTS logo and orange “Permissio...

Microsoft is experimenting with new UI changes to the Windows 11 taskbar. The software giant is testing out bringing back the familiar search bar from Windows 10, alongside notification badges for the Widgets section in Windows 11. Windows 11 currently ships with a search button on the taskbar, which can be disabled and only shows the search logo. Microsoft is now testing three different search taskbar visual changes. One experiment is the usual search icon, while two others include a small or large search bar in the taskbar. Microsoft is looking for feedback on the changes before they’re rolled out more broadly, and the tests are part of Microsoft’s new experimental Windows 11 features, which does mean they might not ship. The search taskbar UI changes.Image: Microsoft Notification badges...

Netflix is partnering with Microsoft for its upcoming ad-supported streaming tier, the company announced Wednesday. The streaming service says Microsoft will become its “global advertising technology and sales partner” upon rolling out the cheaper option. “It’s very early days and we have much to work through,” Netflix COO Greg Peters writes in the post. “But our long term goal is clear. More choice for consumers and a premium, better-than-linear TV brand experience for advertisers. We’re excited to work with Microsoft as we bring this new service to life.” We’re thrilled Netflix has selected Microsoft as its advertising technology and sales partner. We want publishers to have more long-term viable ad monetization platforms, so more people can access the content they love wherever they are...

More than 13,000 customers in New Jersey are currently affected by a major Optimum outage, according to the company’s outage map. Optimum, which offers internet, TV, and phone services, doesn’t specify which of its services are down, though the outages appear to be affecting all three for customers in the Parsippany-Troy Hills and Boonton areas. The outage map doesn’t have an indication of when things might be fixed. The company’s @Optimum and @OptimumHelp Twitter accounts have asked frustrated customers who have tweeted to DM. The accounts haven’t given guidance about what might be going on, though @OptimumHelp says the company’s working with local utilities to get things back up. One individual, citing Optimum, says the outage was due to a car crashing into a utility pole. Representative...

Tesla is asking its customers in Texas to avoid charging their electric vehicles during peak times in order to prevent overtaxing the state’s power grid. The alerts come as Texas’ grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT, is calling on residents to conserve electricity during the recent heatwave, as the system is being pushed to near-emergency conditions. Tesla sent an alert to customers’ in-car screens advising them to avoid charging their vehicles from 3PM–8PM. “A heat wave is expected to impact the grid in Texas over the next few days,” the alert reads, according to Electrek. “The grid operator recommends to avoid charging during peak hours between 3pm and 8pm, if possible, to help statewide efforts to manage demand.” The grid operator recommends to avoid chargi...

Meta and Ray-Bans’s Stories glasses are adding WhatsApp support, letting users make hands-free calls, send text messages, and hear messages read aloud. The addition follows the rollout of similar Facebook Messenger features last year, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says users will soon be able to directly reply to WhatsApp and Messenger messages with voice commands as well. The new features, partially leaked in April, integrate Stories more closely into the Meta ecosystem. They continue Meta’s moves toward becoming a virtual and augmented reality company as well as a social networking one. They’re also a potential stopgap following Meta’s delay of its full-fledged consumer AR glasses rollout, building out audio-focused AR with its existing hardware lineup. It’s following the lead of companie...

Motorola teased its upcoming Razr in a new trailer that shows off the device’s chin-less redesign (via GSMArena). The trailer, which Motorola posted to its Weibo account, gives us brief glimpses of the third-generation device’s smoothed edges, dual camera, new hinge, and what looks like a larger exterior display that matches up with a leaked version of the device we saw in May. You can’t really make out much from the trailer, though, aside from the Motorola logo stamped on one of its edges and on the back of the device. Chen Jin, the general manager of the Lenovo Business Group in China, offered a separate look at the device at an in-person event (and with much better lighting). He posted the photos to Weibo and demonstrated what the upcoming Razr will look like when it’s opened and folded...

Rather than resurrecting and perhaps “growing up” a bit with the ersatz child killer from Warner Bros.’ Orphan from 2009, Paramount’s Orphan: First Kill from director William Brent Bell is jumping back in time to tell the story of how Esther began her life of deception. Orphan: First Kill’s premise more than makes it feel like the movie will echo many of its predecessor’s beats, but the movie’s first trailer suggests that Esther truly wasn’t fooling anyone when she first got into murdering people. Katie Mauerova (Julia Stiles) and her husband Richard (Rossif Sutherland) are overjoyed when they hear that their missing daughter Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) has been found years after disappearing without a trace. Because it’s been years since anyone’s seen Esther, Katie and Richard assume that s...