Tech

/ The Vizio MicMe soundbar comes with two microphones and access to 85,000 songs. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>This soundbar has a secret.a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>Free to do it all my way, indeed.

/ The Grand Touring trim will come first, followed by the regular Touring model. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images Lucid Motors revealed pricing and reservation details for its upcoming Gravity SUV, which is expected to go into production later this year. To start out, Lucid will sell two trims of the Gravity: the Touring and Grand Touring. The Grand Touring will start at $94,900 and will be the first to go into production in late 2024. The Gravity Touring model, which starts at $79,900, won’t go into production in late 2025. Lucid is opening orders...

/ Google is also adding a shortcut to help you quickly refine drafts on mobile and the web. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is expanding “Help me write” to Gmail on the web, allowing users to whip up or tweak emails using Gemini AI. Just like on mobile, users will see a prompt to use the feature when opening a blank draft in Gmail. Google’s “Help me write” feature is only available to users who subscribe to Google One AI Premium or have the Gemini add-on for Workspace. In addition to generating an email draft, “Help me write” can also...

/ Droves of subscribers canceled because of the spiked Washington Post endorsement. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>“We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with what the customer needs and we work backwards,” Jeff Bezos, previously.

Electric Cars The VW-backed company is following in the footsteps of Tesla and Rivian by selling directly to customers without a dealership. Share this story a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Digital sales and service To make that happen, Scout Motors is relying heavily on a digital platform that it’s building in-house. “Scout Motors doesn’t have any legacy apparatus,” Cody Thacker, Scout’s VP of growth, said. “We kept asking ourselves, if an OEM could start over again, what would they do differently?”  This clean-sheet approach is trying to remake car buying, one of the most loathed financial transactions Americans go through. According to research compiled by...

/ The war of words between Microsoft and Google is heating up over cloud competition. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Microsoft is taking its gloves off today. The software giant is accusing Google of being behind what it calls “shadow campaigns” to discredit Microsoft’s cloud business. In a scathing blog post, Microsoft deputy general counsel Rima Alaily reveals that Google is about to launch a new “astroturf” group this week. “It is designed to discredit Microsoft with competition authorities, and policymakers and mislead the public,” says Alaily...

New Macs are coming. Apple has teased a “week” of announcements around the Mac starting on Monday, October 28th. And after months of leaks, we have a pretty good idea of what’s in the cards. Apple is likely to overhaul much of its Mac line with M4 chips, after launching the M4 series in the iPad Pro back in May. The MacBook Pro and iMac are expected to get spec bumps featuring the chip, while the Mac Mini is reported to be in line for a full redesign — its first in over a decade. Alongside the new Macs, a refreshed Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad with USB-C ports are likely to arrive, too. The public release of Apple Intelligence is also expected this week. That would bring AI features to the Mac as well as the iPhone and iPad. There’s no formal product event this time...

/ Researchers have found that Whisper frequently invents entire passages of text when presented with moments of silence. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: The Verge A few months ago, my doctor showed off an AI transcription tool he used to record and summarize his patient meetings. In my case, the summary was fine, but researchers cited by ABC News have found that’s not always the case with OpenAI’s Whisper, which powers a tool many hospitals use — sometimes it just makes things up entirely. Whisper is used by a company called Nabla for a medical transcription tool that it es...

/ Meta also throttles video quality as views go down, says Instagram’s head. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge Ever wondered why some of your Instagram videos tend to look blurry, while others are crisp and sharp? It’s because, on Instagram, the quality of your video apparently depends on how many views it’s getting. That’s according to a video AMA from Instagram head Adam Mosseri, in which he explained why some videos are lower-quality than others. Here’s part of Mosseri’s explanation, from the video, which was reposted by a Threads user today: In ...

/ Apple plans to release a low-end, non-robotic smart home display that looks like the ‘lampshade’ iMac, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>A smart home display that looks like the iMac G4 would be irresistible.