Monday’s top tech news: an Apple headset this year? Finally? – The Verge

It’s Kang’s world in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s newest trailer

2023-01-09T22:59:52-05:00

As silly as Jonathan Majors' Loki villain was, it's been kind of hard to imagine how the actor might bring Kang the Conqueror to life in director Peyton Reed's upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But the movie's latest trailer makes it crystal clear that while the Avenger Kang's fighting might be something of a goofball, Kang himself is going to be all business as he tries to tear reality itself apart.

Quantumania's new trailer re-introduces Paul Rudd's Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne, and Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet Van Dyne as they and Scott's daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) are accidentally sucked into the Quantum Rea …

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YouTube will start sharing ad money with Shorts creators on February 1st

2023-01-09T17:48:23-05:00

The money machine is coming. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

YouTube has announced that creators can start making ad revenue on Shorts starting February 1st, following a promise from September that the monetization option was on its way. The change is coming as part of a broader update to YouTube's Partner Program, which will require everyone who's currently part of it to sign new agreement terms, whether or not they're looking to make money from Shorts.

Creators have been able to make some money from the format that rolled out in 2021 for a while via things like Super Chats and shopping integrations, as well as a creator fund that the company had set up, but that model wasn't all that much better th …

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Meta’s done making new features for the Quest 1 — all updates will end next year

2023-01-09T17:15:45-05:00

Meta is planning to stop supporting the original Quest VR headset with new software updates, and soon anyone using the older hardware will be locked out of some social features.

Several users on Reddit and Twitter, along with journalist Janko Roettgers, have posted screenshots of an email saying the company will stop shipping new features to the Quest 1 and that some features are going away. The headset will, however, be getting "critical bug fixes and security patches until 2024."

The email says that original Quests will keep working, but users won't be able to "create or join a party" and that users "who currently have access to Meta Hor …

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Apple is reportedly making an all-in-one cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth chip

2023-01-09T17:14:29-05:00

The chip would be a major addition to Apple’s lineup. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple is working on a new in-house chip that would power cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth functionality on its devices, according to a report from Bloomberg. The company is also developing its own chip that would replace the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip it currently uses from Broadcom, Bloomberg says, which it wants to begin using in devices in 2025.

Bloomberg also shared some new information about Apple's efforts to develop its own cellular modems to replace Qualcomm's. While Qualcomm recently said during its Q4 2022 earnings that it expects to have the "vast majority" of 5G modems for 2023 iPhones, Bloomberg says Apple will use its own modems " …

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The $3,000 totally wireless Displace TV is the definition of CES absurdity

2023-01-09T15:33:10-05:00

Four hot-swappable batteries can keep the Displace running at all times.

Our time at CES 2023 might be over, but it's still worth highlighting some standouts at the show. One of those that's gotten quite a bit of attention is from an upstart company called Displace. LG's brand-new Signature OLED M eliminates every wire except for the power cord, but Displace is trying to nix that one, too. In Las Vegas, the company demonstrated a completely wireless 55-inch 4K OLED TV that runs off four hot-swappable batteries. This is a dream that has existed since the earliest days of The Verge.

Are we seeing an imperfect sneak peek of the future, or is this a solution in search of a problem? Is the Displace another classic ex …

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Meta is still adding basic moderation features to its VR playscape

2023-01-09T15:27:18-05:00

Meta will show you a notification when you violate the rules. | Image: Meta

Meta is adding some new moderation features to Horizon Worlds, the company's VR social platform, as part of version 91, according to a blog post published Friday. While the features are welcome upgrades, they also feel like relatively basic additions that should have been in place sooner.

For example, users who violate the platform's policies will now get a notification spelling out what they did. (You can see an example at the top of this post.) And with the Account Status menu, which is accessible from the Safety tab in settings, you can see a list of your violations. "With this added level of transparency, we hope to increase awareness o …

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Instagram is kicking the shopping tab out of the home feed

2023-01-09T14:07:51-05:00

Instagram users will soon have a revamped navigation bar on their home feed.

Beginning next month, Instagram will remove the shopping tab from the main bar at the bottom of the screen, and the button to create a new post will move down. The Reels tab, which is currently front and center on the navigation bar, will take the place of the Shop tab.

The new nav bar will roll out in February globally. | Image: Instagram" data-portal-copyright="Image: Instagram">

Instagram began testing a main feed without a shopping button back in September, saying it wanted to "simplify [the] Instagram experience" for users. But the test was part of a larger pivot on Instagram's part, according to a report by The Information, as the company pulls back on its shopping feat …

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The government has questions about Elon Musk’s Full Self-Driving tweet

2023-01-09T13:50:07-05:00

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reached out to Tesla with questions about a tweet by Elon Musk suggesting he would remove an important safeguard from the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. The news was first reported by the Associated Press.

An NHTSA spokesperson confirmed that the agency has reached out to Tesla to gather information about the Musk tweet, in which the controversial billionaire suggested he would eliminate a driver monitoring function that warns users to keep their hands on the steering wheel while using FSD.

The information gathering by NHTSA is part of a broader investigation into Tesla's Au …

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Google’s bringing new features to older versions of Android

2023-01-09T13:21:37-05:00

Google is taking another shot at bringing new features to phones that haven't gotten OS updates in years. It's releasing something called the "Extension Software Developer Kit," which should let developers use features like Android 13's new photo picker in apps running on some versions of Android 11 and 12. In a blog post announcing the change, the company says the feature lets it "extend the support of certain platform functionality to existing Android versions."

While more access to the photo picker previously exclusive to Android 13 is definitely nice, Google seems to have much bigger plans for the Extension SDK. "This update also sets t …

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A celebrity photo lawsuit claims Twitter’s copyright process is broken

2023-01-09T12:31:39-05:00

As Twitter slashes staff and pares back moderation under Elon Musk, it may soon run into a problem it can't ignore: its potential liability for copyright infringement. TorrentFreak reported last week that the company faces a lawsuit by celebrity photo agency Backgrid. Backgrid says that Twitter systematically failed to take down unauthorized copies of its pictures, arguing it shouldn't be protected by American safe harbor laws for copyright. The allegations leave plenty of questions unanswered, but claims like them could pose a problem for Musk's increasingly bare-bones operation.

Backgrid's claims predate Musk's ownership of Twitter, datin …

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