Friday’s top tech news: Jury rules in Elon Musk’s favor in securities fraud trial – The Verge

A remastered version of Myst is coming to iOS

2023-02-06T13:32:28-05:00

Indie studio Cyan is bringing its latest Myst remaster to iOS. | Image: Cyan

The classic puzzle game Myst is celebrating its 30th birthday this year with a new way to play: on your iOS device. Myst Mobile is based on the remastered version of the original that's been released for Oculus headsets and PCs over the past few years. It hits mobile devices on February 9th.

The new iOS port will support iPhones and iPads with A12 bionic chipsets and newer, so you can experience the mind-numbing frustration of turning dials and locating switches wherever you take your phone. Compatible iPhones include the XS, XS Max, XR, and newer; the eighth-gen iPad, third-gen iPad Air, and fifth-gen iPad Mini and newer will all be compat …

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Elon Musk cleared of fraud in ‘funding secured’ trial

2023-02-03T18:44:46-05:00

A jury deliberated for about an hour, then found Tesla CEO Elon Musk is "not liable" for losses incurred by investors who accused him of fraud based on his tweets in August 2018 that he was thinking of taking the company private, adding "funding secured," according to reports from The New York Times and CNBC.

The deliberation was exceptionally quick. While cases can be difficult to compare directly, juries took days to deliberate on verdicts for Elizabeth Holmes and Martin Shkreli, both of whom were on trial for fraud. The decision for Musk took a fraction of that time.

"We are still considering next steps," Nicholas Porritt, an attorney f …

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Pakistan is reportedly blocking Wikipedia

2023-02-03T16:16:31-05:00

It’s currently unclear what the government wants removed from the site. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Wikipedia has been blocked in Pakistan over "sacrilegious" content on the site, according to a report from Bloomberg. The ban comes after the government ordered the site to remove offending content within 48 hours, and the country's telecom authority "degraded" its services.

It's not currently clear what Wikipedia is being asked to remove, though Bloomberg reports that it's still in talks with Pakistani officials. Wikimedia, the foundation in charge of Wikipedia, didn't immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment on the matter. According to research from the OpenNet Initiative, the country blocks sites that have content it consid …

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The EU has reportedly issued a formal warning to Microsoft over the Activision Blizzard deal

2023-02-03T14:56:49-05:00

It’s more regulatory pressure on the deal. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is seemingly facing more regulatory opposition to its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to Politico, the European Union has issued a formal antitrust warning against Microsoft regarding the $68.7 billion deal.

Politico didn't share exact details about the contents of the warning, but the publication says that in a "statement of objections," EU officials "laid out the reasons why the deal could threaten fair competition on the video game market."

In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft spokesperson David Cuddy said, "We are committed to solutions and finding a path forward for this deal. We are listening carefu …

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PSA: Twitter’s API changes may make it difficult to log in to your favorite games

2023-02-03T13:52:44-05:00

Elon's messing up the game - literally. Two extremely popular online games, Arknights and Genshin Impact, have warned that players who use Twitter to log in may be affected by Twitter's pending API changes.

"We are in the process of confirming the impact of the Twitter API adjustments on game account login and the corresponding resolutions," read the tweet on Genshin Impact's official Twitter account. "To prevent possible account login problems, we recommend going to the HoYoverse Account page to link your email address for account logins."

Arknights' tweet suggested similarly. "We STRONGLY recommend players binding their game accounts wit …

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Is this Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing?

2023-02-03T13:14:49-05:00

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A screenshot purportedly showing the “new Bing,” inviting users to query an AI chatbot. | Image: Owen Yin

Microsoft is reported to be capitalizing on the success of ChatGPT by integrating the AI chatbot into its search engine Bing. But what might that look like? We may now have some idea, thanks to Bing users who said a new, AI-assisted version of the search engine mysteriously appeared (and disappeared) earlier today.

Student and designer Owen Yin reported seeing the "new Bing" on Twitter this morning. He told The Verge via Twitter DM that he has Bing set as his homepage on Microsoft's Edge browser and the new UI just loaded up. "Didn't do anything to find it," said Yin. "After a couple of minutes it stopped working … Jaw dropped when I realiz …

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Google invested $300 million in AI firm founded by former OpenAI researchers

2023-02-03T12:23:54-05:00

The competition between Google and Microsoft over tech's AI future continues to heat up. While Microsoft is firmly entangled with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Google may have turned to a company founded by former OpenAI employees: the little-known Anthropic.

According to a report from the Financial Times, in late 2022, Google invested around $300 million in the startup, though the news was not reported at the time. In return for the money, Google got a 10 percent stake in the company. Separately, Anthropic announced this week that Google Cloud is its "preferred cloud provider," with the companies "co-develop AI computing systems."

This dynamic …

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Elon Musk will share Twitter ad revenue — but only with creators who pay for Twitter Blue

2023-02-03T12:14:56-05:00

Elon Musk says that Twitter will start sharing revenue from reply-thread ads with creators who are subscribed to Twitter Blue Verified. (According to Musk, "legacy" verified marks will be going away in "a few months.") He says the program will start today, though there are currently very few details about how it will work.

Currently, subscribing to Blue will cost you $8 per month if acquired directly via its site or $11 per month from Apple's App Store or Google Play, but the cheapest version is an annual subscription directly from Twitter for $84. It's unclear how many viral tweets it would take to pay that off, but it could be difficult g …

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The Last of Us Part I on PC delayed by a few weeks

2023-02-03T11:39:41-05:00

Sorry, Joel, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer to play the game on PC. | Image: Sony

The Last of Us Part I for PC has been delayed to March 28th, developer Naughty Dog announced on Friday. The remake of the first The Last of Us game was originally set to launch on March 3rd, so the delay isn't too long, but it still might be disappointing to fans who may have circled the original date on their calendars.

"We want to make sure that The Last of Us Part I PC debut is in the best shape possible," Naughty Dog wrote in a tweet. "These additional few weeks will allow us to ensure this version of The Last of Us lives up to your, and our, standards."

The Last of Us Part I PC will now be released on March 28. An update from our team …

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How to stereo pair two Apple HomePods

2023-02-03T11:28:17-05:00

If you've read through our review of the latest HomePod, you'll know that one of Apple's smart speakers alone sounds pretty good. But combining two of them in a stereo pair really takes the listening experience to a different level. It's not a cheap proposition, but you'll end up with even more immersive room-filling sound - and if you use two HomePods as speakers for an Apple TV, they'll outperform many sound bars that are in a similar $600 price range.

It's important to note that you need two of the exact same model (first-gen HomePod, HomePod Mini, or second-gen HomePod) for a stereo pair; you can't mix the old and new HomePods together, …

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