Tech
Google confirms it just laid off around a thousand employees
Google/ Tech / Or more than a thousand? Depends on the definition of “few”. 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: The Verge Turns out Google’s postpandemic reckoning didn’t just hit the Google Hardware team this evening — it’s taken similarly sized bites out of Google Assistant and Google’s core engineering teams too. Google just confirmed to The Verge that it’s eliminated “a few hundred” roles in each of these divisions, meaning Google has confirmed layoffs of around a thousand employees on Wednesday alone, if we use a reasonable definition of “few”. And those are only th...
Google is losing its Fitbit leaders and laying off hundreds of AR employees
/ Google confirmed “a few hundred” hardware employees are getting axed. 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 Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google’s hardware division just took a body blow. The company has confirmed it’s laying off hundreds of hardware workers, especially in its augmented reality division — and 9to5Google is reporting that Fitbit co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman, and other Fitbit leaders are leaving the company entirely. Update, 1:42AM ET: It’s not just Fitbit and AR. Around a thousand Google layoffs were just confirmed, and there may be more. Here’s ...
Druski Stars In New Trailer For ‘Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth’
Is there anyone out here securing more bags than Druski? Not many.
Kia gets its first customer for the PV5 modular electric vehicle: Uber
/ Kia says the lineup of futuristic vans and trucks will redefine commercial fleets. Uber needs to get more drivers into EVs to fulfill its 2040 climate pledge. 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: Kia Kia and Uber have signed a memorandum of understanding to use the automaker’s newly announced PBV modular electric vehicles for ridehailing. PBV, which stands for Platform Beyond Vehicle, was introduced during CES in Las Vegas as a family of EVs built on a flexible vehicle architecture, with different swappable body types. The vehicle can be transformed from a minivan to a full-si...
First Bitcoin ETFs approved by US regulators
/ Now there’s a Wall Street approach to cryptocurrency. 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″>Take that, Satoshi!
Twitch is cutting one-third of its staff
/ The streaming platform’s latest round of job cuts is affecting more than 500 employees, which is reportedly about 35 percent of its headcount.
VinFast shows off a midsize truck and small utility EV for North America
/ The Vietnamese company has big plans, but it’s been plagued by quality issues and bad reviews. 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: VinFast Vietnam’s VinFast must really want a slice of the EV market in the US based on the vehicles it brought to CES in Las Vegas this year: a midsize pickup truck that looks to be about the same size as the Toyota Tacoma, and a small utility EV called the VF3 that was first introduced last year. Theoretically, both of these vehicles could sell really well in the US. Trucks are some of the most popular vehicles in the country, and a midsize elect...
Tesla’s upgraded 2024 Model 3 is now available in the US
/ The refreshed ‘Highland’ Model 3 has a sleek new front end for improved aerodynamics but lists a lower top speed. 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″>Tesla Model 3 (2024)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″>Tesla’s new and old Model 3 designs (not shown to scale), 2023 on the left in red, and the “Highland” 2024 Model 3 in grey on the right.
The SEC’s X account was hijacked to post a fake approval of Bitcoin ETFs
/ The official SEC account posted a statement from Gary Gensler saying the long-awaited approval arrived, but then Gensler’s X account said it was a hoax. 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: Nick Barclay / The Verge The Securities and Exchange Commission’s official social media account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a notice on Tuesday evening falsely claiming it had approved listings for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which has since been deleted. Moments later, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a post on his own account that the agency’s account was “compromised, and an...
Astrobotic’s Attempt at First Commercial Moon Landing Derailed Following “Critical” Fuel Loss
Astrobotic had set out to do what no other private space company had done before: land on the Moon. Founded in 2007 by leading roboticist Red Whittaker, the space company had plans to send its Vulcan Centaur rocket to the Moon, where a lunar lander named Peregrine would land on its surface.Peregrine was set to mark the first lunar lander to touch down on the Moon in over five decades. It would also make history as the first lunar lander from a commercial company.Unfortunately for Astrobotic, the mission went awry about six hours after takeoff on Monday. Due to technical difficulties with the spacecraft’s orientation, Peregrine was unable to turn its solar panels towards the Sun, preventing it from charging its batteries.While engineers were eventually able to solve that issue and charge Pe...
Samsung Has a 3D, VR Gaming Monitor That Doesn’t Require a Headset
Samsung is leading the charge on immersive VR gaming – without the typical bulky headset. At CES 2024, the company unveiled its latest cutting-edge creation, a monitor that allows users to play 3D, VR titles in 4k resolution without sporting a headset.Tentatively titled the Samsung 2D/3D Gaming Monitor, the device features a Neo QLED display and is capable of streaming normal 2D games, but its real appeal lies in its 3D abilities. The monitor itself contains two cameras that track face and eye movement.When the monitor is set to 3D mode, the cameras use those cues to control the intensity and direction of which graphics come from the screen. It also uses eye-tracking to “create a VR-like experience on a flat screen.”The gaming device essentially seems like it takes the same features of a h...
Not even Notepad is safe from Microsoft’s big AI push in Windows
/ It’s the year of the AI PC, after all. 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 Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft said 2024 was going to be “the year of the AI PC,” and it looks like that’s ringing true already. Microsoft appears to be readying a new generative AI feature for its Notepad application that’s built into Windows. While the software giant hasn’t officially announced it, eagle-eyed Windows watchers have discovered code in Microsoft’s latest test builds of Windows 11 that indicate a new “Cowriter” feature could be on the way soon. It looks like it has the same credit...
