Author: News Room

In the days that followed the US and Israel’s joint military strike on Iran on Saturday, floods of images and videos that supposedly document the war have appeared online. Some are old or depict unrelated conflicts, are made or manipulated with AI, and in some cases, are actually taken from military-themed video games like War Thunder.With misinformation spreading like wildfire, many people have placed their trust in reputable digital investigators. Organizations like The New York Times, Indicator, and Bellingcat have extensive verification procedures to avoid publishing synthetic or misleading content. “Audiences can turn to trusted, independent news organizations that take…

We’ve been talking to phone companies both big and small this week at MWC, and they’ve basically all agreed on one point: the RAM crisis is hitting hard, and phone prices will almost certainly increase where they haven’t already.For a major global brand like Xiaomi, volume is one lever the company can pull. To balance out the increased costs, Angus Ng, Xiaomi’s director of communications and public relations, tells us, “We can potentially go for bigger volumes, especially in the mid-range segment and entry-level segment, so then we can try to lower costs in that area.“ Pulling other levers, like…

Engadget, the long-running tech news website, has a new owner. Yahoo sold the publication to Static Media in a deal that was signed in early February and is scheduled to close later this March. (Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.) The deal hasn’t yet been publicly announced, but a source familiar with the publication says Engadget staff was told a few weeks ago and has already met with the new owners.“This move reflects Yahoo’s focus on our core brands, while aligning Engadget with an owner whose primary focus is operating and growing editorial media brands,“ says Sona Iliffe-Moon, Yahoo’s chief…

So far, several airlines support the new Find Hub feature, including AJet, Air India, China Airlines, Saudia Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and the Lufthansa Group, which owns Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Swiss International Air Lines. Google says more airlines, such as Qantas, will accept Find Hub links in the future. When asked whether US-based airlines plan to add this feature, Google spokesperson Sofia Giovannello told The Verge that the company is “actively working with additional airline partners to integrate this feature into their luggage recovery processes, and we look forward to sharing more updates.”You can stop sharing…

Bad news: most Americans are about to lose an hour of sleep next week. Good news: if you have trouble falling (or staying asleep), Newegg is currently selling Anker’s Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds for $113.99 ($66 off) when you use coupon code MMSF88 at checkout, which drops them to just $6 shy of their lowest price to date.A couple of us here at The Verge are fans of Anker’s last-gen sleep buds, which do a good job of muffling disruptive noises (including snoring). They’re lightweight and comfortable enough to wear overnight, even while sleeping on your side, with multiple ear…

With Gemini’s new agentic feature, you can ask the assistant to complete work on your behalf inside “select” apps, including Uber and Grubhub. It will work in the background while you use your phone, but Google notes that you can supervise or interrupt its work at any time. This feature will also be available on Samsung S26 phones, ahead of the similar features for Siri that have been delayed for months now.Alongside the Gemini update, Google is adding some new features to Circle to Search, which lets you search for something on your screen just by drawing a circle around…

The US version of TikTok is once again experiencing issues due to an Oracle outage, just a month after coming back online from a similar outage in February.The service disruption, impacting Oracle’s Ashburn, Virginia data center, began early Tuesday afternoon, with Downdetector reports spiking around 1PM Eastern. TikTok USDS confirmed in a post on X that US users “may temporarily experience lags in posting content while Oracle works to resolve the issue.”This is the second service disruption the US version of TikTok has suffered after a deal in January that transferred majority ownership away from the platform’s original owner, Chinese…

Google is bringing a new desktop mode to its Pixel phones and tablets. The feature comes as part of Google’s March Pixel drop, allowing users with a Pixel 8 and newer to connect their device to an external monitor via USB-C for a “desktop-like multi-window experience.”You can use a mouse and keyboard with the new desktop mode, which also works with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The Pixel Tablet is also getting a desktop windowing feature that Google says will offer a “familiar interface to arrange and resize overlapping windows.” Read the full article…

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is SharkNinja’s latest robot vacuum and mop. A flagship model with a multifunctional dock that empties the dustbin and refills and washes its mop, the Reveal’s signature feature is a UV light designed to “find” stains on your floors. It costs $1,299.99 and is available now.Combined with an RGB camera to detect visible messes and obstacles, the UV light lets the vacuum spot stains that aren’t visible under normal lighting, such as pet urine. When it encounters dirt, visible or not, the robot uses onboard AI to identify and decide how to clean it.Its cleaning…

Google has a big update in store for the Pixel Watch, which will now allow you to make a range of payments by simply tapping your watch to a retail terminal without opening the Wallet app. The feature, called “express pay,” is coming to the Pixel Watch 2 and later.It’s similar to “express mode” on the Apple Watch, a feature that lets you use compatible cards without waking or unlocking your device. However, Google notes that you’ll need to opt in to use the new express pay feature, and that the watch itself will need to be unlocked to make…

The iPhone 17 lineup now has a “budget” option. Announced this week, the iPhone 17E will hit stores on Wednesday, March 11th, starting at $599, with preorders opening on March 4th. The 6.1-inch phone joins the rest of Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup, which includes the iPhone 17 ($799), the more powerful iPhone 17 Pro ($1,099), and the iPhone 17 Pro Max ($1,199), as well as the ultra-thin iPhone Air ($999).Unlike last year’s iPhone 16E, the 17E features MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging, along with the faster A19 chip found in the iPhone 17 and twice as much base storage (256GB…

Unihertz, known for its slab phone alternatives, has unveiled an evolution of its device with a physical keyboard: The Titan 2 Elite. It’s smaller and sleeker than the (aptly named) Titan that precedes it, comes in the orange color that’s all the rage right now, and looks a heck of a lot like a Blackberry.Unihertz teased the Elite in January; from the teaser it looked to be a smaller Titan 2 with rounded edges. Having seen it in person at MWC, I can confirm that’s exactly what it is. The keys are slightly smaller than the Titan 2’s, and there’s…