The latest tech news about the world’s best (and sometimes worst) hardware, apps, and much more. From top companies like Google and Apple to tiny startups vying for your attention, Verge Tech has the latest in what matters in technology daily.
Both companies warned shoppers earlier this month that prices would increase on April 25th.
As Microsoft focuses on agents, designers’ jobs are changing in the AI era.
Independent Bookstore Day is on Saturday, but Amazon is having a book sale, too, reports Fast Company.
An Amazon spokesperson tells the publication that “The overlap was unintentional. The dates for our sale were set this year to accommodate additional participating countries.”
That’s how Land Rover describes the recently-released upgrade for third‑generation Range Rovers produced between 2010‑2012 that lets them access Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. However, the upgrade is only available to people in the UK and Germany, according to 9to5Mac.
Following an apparent hack, it looks like the site is back up. The 4chan blog also got its first post in 8 years, but it doesn’t really say anything.
Here’s our post from earlier this month about the hack.
This New York Times feature cites sources describing how the Israeli military has integrated facial recognition technology, drone targeting, and chatbots monitoring texts into its war in Gaza. It describes the process of locating Hamas leader Ibrahim Biari, who helped plan the October 7th massacres:
Shortly thereafter, Israel listened to Mr. Biari’s calls and tested the A.I. audio tool, which gave an approximate location for where he was making his calls. Using that information, Israel ordered airstrikes to target the area on Oct. 31, 2023, killing Mr. Biari. More than 125 civilians also died in the attack, according to Airwars, a London-based conflict monitor.
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Meta, which purports to be a leader in AI, has been unable to stop the proliferation of deepfake advertisements impersonating Financial Times writer Martin Wolf on Facebook and Instagram. “Is it really that hard or are they not trying, as Sarah Wynn-Williams suggests in her excellent book Careless People?” Wolf asks. There’s also a fairly incredible graph showing the number of deepfakes skyrocketing after the FT told Meta about the scam. This article isn’t behind FT’s paywall— and it’s definitely worth your time.
“The guy in question is Mr. Zuckerberg,” The New York Times reports.
Zulay Kitchen, which makes and sells kitchen gadgets, told CNBC that the company is “temporarily raising” the price of some of its products as it works to move production to India, Mexico, and other locations not subject to Trump’s 145 percent tariff on China.
Another seller, Pure Daily Care, plans to “stagger price increases” while trying to stretch existing inventory in case the US and China reach an agreement, CNBC reports.
The upcoming thin phone was included on a list of models eligible for a discount on Samsung Canada’s French site according to WinFuture journalist Roland Quandt. The CAD$1,678.99 price sits right in between the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, which suggests it’ll cost $1,100-1,200 in the US.
That’s what The Financial Times’ sources are saying, with the goal of producing “the entirety of the more than 60mn iPhones sold annually in the US by the end of 2026.” But the real goal is to avoid the worst of Trump’s tariffs and to continue the diversification of Apple’s supply chain to places outside China.
So I guess “the army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones” won’t be from the US? Shocking.
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Just weeks after Apple replaced AI chief John Giannandrea as the head of Siri, Bloomberg reports that the company now plans on placing its robotics team under the leadership of John Ternus, the senior vice president of hardware engineering.
The change will allow Giannandrea’s AI team to “focus on underlying artificial intelligence technology,” Bloomberg reports.
Bloomberg reported 20 percent job cuts were coming this week, but Intel’s Q1 2025 earnings release isn’t saying that. Intel is “taking actions” that include “streamlining the organization, eliminating management layers and enabling faster decision-making,” but doesn’t say how many jobs. It does hope to save an extra $0.5 billion in 2025, more in 2026, and will have “restructuring charges associated with these actions.”
“We have not set any headcount reduction target,” Intel’s Sophie Metzger tells The Verge.
Sources tell leaker Majin Bu that iPadOS 19 could add a menu bar to the top of the iPad when it’s connected to a Magic Keyboard, as spotted by MacRumors. That tracks with Bloomberg Mark Gurman’s report that Apple is planning to bring more multitasking and windowing features to its tablets.
Additionally, Majin Bu says Apple may add external display support to iPhones with USB-C, which could offer an experience similar to Stage Manager.
