Thursday’s top tech news: what does ‘funding secured’ mean anyway? – The Verge

Reed Hastings is stepping down as Netflix’s co-CEO

2023-01-19T16:10:28-05:00

As Netflix announced its quarterly earnings, co-founder Reed Hastings revealed that after 25 years of running the company that grew from delivering video disc rentals by mail into a streaming behemoth, he is no longer its CEO.

He named content chief Ted Sarandos co-CEO in 2020, and Sarandos will continue on in that role but will now share duties as co-CEO with Greg Peters, Netflix's former chief operating officer. In other executive moves, Bela Bajaria is now Netflix's chief content officer, and Scott Stuber has been named the chair of Netflix Film.

Ted & Greg are now co-CEOs. After 15 years together we have a great shorthand & I'm so con …

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Microsoft starts testing tabs in Notepad for Windows 11

2023-01-19T13:33:11-05:00

Notepad is the first built-in app to get tabs in Windows 11. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft has officially started testing tabs in Notepad for Windows 11. A Microsoft employee accidentally revealed the feature was on the way over the holidays, and now tabs are showing up in an update to Notepad for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel today.

The tabs support in Notepad lets you use multiple files in a single window, much like how Microsoft has implemented tabs in File Explorer in Windows 11. "There are also new keyboard shortcut keys to support managing tabs as well as some improvements to managing unsaved files, like automatically generating the file name/tab title based on content and a refreshed unsaved changes indicat …

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WhatsApp now lets you chat with yourself

2023-01-19T12:34:50-05:00

WhatsApp will now let you freely message yourself. The new Message Yourself feature has been gradually rolling out to WhatsApp users over the past couple of months and has appeared in the release notes for the latest app update this week. It's not Meta's latest AI invention but more of a digital notepad to let you send quick notes, reminders, links, and photos to yourself across multiple devices.

You could also use this feature to have a full-blown conversation with yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it. My colleague David Pierce texts himself every day to share links, notes, and reminders that are all searchable across devices.

If you talk to yourself in the mirror every morning, then you might enjoy this new WhatsApp feature more than most. | Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge">

I personal …

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PSVR2 adds Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite ports to its ‘launch window’ games list

2023-01-19T12:11:20-05:00

A post on the PlayStation blog lists "over 30" titles for the PlayStation VR2's monthlong launch window (you can scroll down to see the full list here) that starts when the hardware ships starting February 22nd.

While the new additions consist mostly of ports from the first PS VR or PC headsets, that list does include two popular puzzle games made by Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Enhance studio, Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite.

Both titles earned stellar remarks from us in their previous VR iterations, so it's good to see them here (since PS VR games won't work on the new headset), but it does mean paying a little extra.

People who own PS4 / PS VR v …

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Game developers aren’t so hot on NFTs, the metaverse, or huge acquisitions

2023-01-19T12:01:00-05:00

Ahead of the Game Developers Conference in March, the organizers of the event have released its annual State of the Industry survey results. Surveying 2,300 respondents, the questionnaire covered developer sentiment on a wide range of topics, including NFTs, unionization, the metaverse, and more.

As overall sentiment on NFTs cools amid continuous stories of fraud and scandal, the GDC survey reports only 23 percent of developers say that their studios are interested in Web3 technology - a slight decline from 27 percent last year. There does seem to be a marked decrease in NFTs and crypto in video games, as anytime a studio announces a Web3-b …

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Instagram now lets you pause notifications with Quiet Mode

2023-01-19T11:38:05-05:00

Instagram's adding a way to temporarily silence push notifications whenever you want to take a break from the app. The feature, called Quiet Mode, will send automatic replies to users who try to message you on the platform, letting them know you weren't notified.

Instagram will specifically prompt teen users to toggle on Quiet Mode "when they spend a specific amount of time on Instagram late at night." However, the platform doesn't state how much time teens have to spend on the app to see the prompt and also doesn't say what timeframe it considers "late at night." Meta spokesperson Liza Crenshaw tells The Verge the notification will appear …

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Twitter Blue arrives on Android for $11 a month

2023-01-19T11:25:34-05:00

Twitter Blue is currently only available to users in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, regardless of what system you use to subscribe. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter has rolled out Twitter Blue to Android users a month after the service was relaunched on the platform's iOS app. As seen in Twitter's updated help page for Twitter Blue, Android users can now purchase a monthly subscription for $11 - the same price as iOS users. The service is currently still limited to users within the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

Along with providing users with a blue "verified" checkmark, a subscription to Twitter Blue currently grants users access to the ability to edit tweets, upload longer 1080p videos, and access reader mode. Additional features like seeing fewer ads than nonsubscribers …

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The laptops I’m most excited to test in 2023

2023-01-19T11:00:00-05:00

Spoiler alert: this is one of them. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

It's going to be an interesting year for laptops. We're coming out of CES 2023, the annual trade show where the tech industry shows off the products we'll be seeing hit shelves throughout the upcoming year. Big players, from Dell and HP to Razer and MSI, unveiled their weirdest and wackiest new products. There's a lot to look forward to this year when it comes to display technology, chip capability, AI features, build, and more. But a few products really stood out from the rest.

In no particular order, here are the laptops that I'm most excited about testing in 2023.

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i

The Yoga Book 9i's kickstand is included! | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge">

Various companies have been trying to do funky dual-sc …

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US arrests Russian crypto exchange owner for allegedly laundering over $700 million

2023-01-19T10:45:18-05:00

The US Treasury Department has identified Bitzlato as a “primary money laundering concern” in connection with the Russian government. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

US authorities announced on Wednesday that the Russian co-founder of Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Bitzlato had been arrested in Miami for allegedly processing $700 million in illicit funds. Bitzlato's crypto assets were seized and its digital infrastructure was dismantled by French authorities working alongside the US (in addition to other international authorities).

The US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has since identified Bitzlato as a "primary money laundering concern" in connection with the Russian government.

In a statement coinciding with the arrest, FinCEN accused Bitzlato of "repeatedly fac …

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I wish Amazon had been honest about why it’s sunsetting AmazonSmile

2023-01-19T09:50:34-05:00

Whenever I come across a sales campaign that boasts, "if you buy our product, we're going to give part of our profit to this deserving charity," I'm often tempted to call a doctor and consult them about all the grains of (to me) forbidden salt I've just eaten. I'm very well aware that the amount of money that is going to be moved to that charity is probably very small, that the tax advantages to the company will be worth more than what it may lose in immediate profit, and that I'd be better off just sending some cash to the organizations I support.

All that being said, I must admit that I made an exception (practically and emotionally) for …

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