Tech

/ Samsung had already made Google Messages the default texting app. 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 Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 will not ship with the Samsung Messages app pre-installed in the US, according to 9to5Google. Those who still prefer Samsung’s app will have to download it from the Galaxy Store, where it’s still available. “Starting with Starting with the Flip6, Fold6 and newer models, the Samsung Messages app will no longer be preloaded,” reads a Samsung message posted by Android leaker Max Weinbach. “Instead, Google Messages ...

/ The notch on your MacBook Air could actually become useful. 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 Mac app for true notch-heads.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″>NotchNook made my MacBook Air’s notch useful.

/ IT workers are on a long journey to deal with blue-screened machines. 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 The CrowdStrike outage that hit millions of Windows machines on Friday has left IT workers scrambling to get their organizations’ computer infrastructure back up and running. Images and stories shared online are illustrating just how tedious and overwhelming this task is. Microsoft and CrowdStrike don’t have a way to push a fix for the issue to crashed computers. And in many cases, systems administrators can’t repair the machines remotely, either. That leaves th...

/ On The Vergecast: selfie surveillance, DIY jaywalk detectors, and the artwork of one man with questions about AI. 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: Samar Haddad for The Verge On the infinite list of possible uses for AI, “getting selfie advice from a Kylie Jenner voice clone” seems both completely off-the-wall and also pretty inevitable. So of course it does exist. It’s not a widely-available app, at least not yet; it’s an experiment from artist and programmer Dries Depoorter. With access to a couple of APIs from OpenAI and ElevenLabs, and a little knowledge of Python,...

/ The new features follow a slew of updates with important features and quality of life improvements. 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″>Gamma supports Dual Shock controls now.

/ As phones got bigger, they got harder to handle with one hand. But there are some ways to make it just a little simpler. a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Methods for Android phones 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″>Android comes with a dedicated one-handed mode. 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″>...

/ The global IT outage on Friday resulted from a sensor configuration update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform that caused a Windows logic error. 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 CrowdStrike’s faulty update caused a worldwide tech disaster that affected 8.5 million Windows devices on Friday, according to Microsoft. Microsoft says that’s “less than one percent of all Windows machines,” but it was enough to create problems for retailers, banks, airlines, and many other industries, as well as everyone who relies on them. Separately, the technical breakdown from Cr...

Games Review Despite its confusing trailers, Kunitsu-Gami is a highly stylized and pleasantly challenging ‘maiden defense’ game. By Ash Parrish, a reporter who covers the business, culture, and communities of video games, with a focus on marginalized gamers and writing about the intersection of video games and sex. When Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess debuted during Capcom’s digital summer showcase last year, I didn’t pay much attention. It looked like a high-concept action RPG based in Japanese mythology that took some of its artistic cues from another one of Capcom’s highly stylized games, Okami. And while I have nothing but love for action RPGs and Japanese folklore, nothing in that initial trailer, nor the ones that followed, showed me enough of what the game was about to be interest...

/ Fuel for advanced reactors is raising nuclear proliferation concerns. 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: Getty Images Next-generation nuclear reactors are heating up a debate over whether their fuel could be used to make bombs, jeopardizing efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.  Uranium in the fuel could theoretically be used to develop a nuclear weapon. Older reactors use such low concentrationsthat they don’t really pose a weapons proliferation threat. But advanced reactors would use higher concentrations, making them a potential target of terrorist...

So far, this thing doesn’t seem like a very impressive tablet. But Daylight is more a display company than a tablet company — and the display is pretty great. By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired. Share this story 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: David Pierce / The Verge There’s a big piece of paper in the San Francisco offices of Daylight Computer, with a list written in purple ink of all the kinds of devices the company hopes to one day mak...

Work from home A new approach to power stations that does more than fast-charge (select) DJI drones. By Thomas Ricker, a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for almost 20 years. DJI isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to big-ass batteries — quite the opposite since the batteries that fit inside the company’s drones have to be as small and light as possible. But all that time spent finding the right balance between weight, size, flight time, and charging speeds has prepared the company to enter the power station market with the $599 Power 1000 and smaller $379 Power 500.  DJI’s approach to portable power stations is unique, I’ve learned while testing its flagship Power ...

/ More than 200 workers have formed a union at the legendary studio. 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: Bethesda Game Studios More than 200 developers at Bethesda Game Studios, the studio behind hit franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, have unionized with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). 241 workers, including “artists, engineers, programmers and designers,” have signed union authorization cards or “indicated that they wanted union representation via an online portal,” according to a CWA press release. Microsoft has recognized the union, the CWA says; the...