Monday’s top tech news: an ultra year for tech? – The Verge

Fitbit’s service was down, but your smartwatch can sync your steps again

2023-02-07T09:53:21-05:00

Update February 7th, 9:52AM ET: There are reports Fitbit is experiencing issues again.

No, it's not you - Fitbit earlier today experienced a major outage.

According to Downdetector, the outage started at about 8AM ET, with most reports indicating the problem was with the Fitbit mobile app. However, some users are also reporting issues with the Fitbit website.

The main problem appeared to be that users couldn't sync their data, set up devices, or view updates. Essentially, anything related to using the Fitbit app appeared to be borked. Other users on Twitter have said that uninstalling and reinstalling the app effectively locks them out, a …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Fox’s Super Bowl LVII ads won’t include any crypto companies

2023-02-06T17:04:06-05:00

Last year, Super Bowl LVI was effectively the crypto bowl for companies like FTX, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and others. Now, with only a week to go until the Eagles versus Chiefs matchup, Sports Business Journal reports that while FTX and other crypto businesses bought Super Bowl LVII ad spots from Fox, they've all backed out.

As LA faced off with Cincinnati for the NFL's championship trophy, big-name celebrities like Matt Damon and LeBron James greeted TV viewers and attempted to convince them all to join the movement and invest in crypto. At the time, Bitcoin was valued at over $42,197.52 - but even after a rally in recent weeks, its price is …

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Here’s why Meta is shutting down Echo VR

2023-02-06T15:36:29-05:00

Last week, Meta announced that it would be shutting down the widely praised VR game Echo VR in August. Since then, Meta CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth has shared some further details about the shutdown, and former Meta consulting CTO John Carmack has weighed in about the decision.

In an Instagram AMA, Bosworth said that Echo VR's playerbase, while "loyal as all get out," had fallen into the "low ten thousands," as transcribed by UploadVR. "Unfortunately, keeping things alive takes work," Bosworth said. "This is not like a return on investment money standpoint; it's just those resources could be put to other uses that I think will be useful to th …

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Exclusive: Sonos’ next speakers will be called the Era 300 and Era 100

2023-02-06T14:56:05-05:00

A 3D product rendering of the upcoming Sonos speaker, codenamed Optimo 2, as created by The Verge | Product render by Alex Castro / The Verge

Sonos is preparing a new generation of smart speakers, known as the Era 300 and Era 100, that will debut in the coming months, The Verge has learned. The speakers, which The Verge previously detailed under the codename Optimo, will be pitted against Apple's $299 HomePod and other smart home speakers from Google and Amazon. The flagship Era 300 is designed to showcase spatial audio music tracks and Dolby Atmos content. Both speakers have a completely new design compared to existing Sonos products.

The Verge can exclusively report the consumer-facing names as Sonos finalizes plans for the Era 300 and 100. As further evidence of the new Sonos …

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Microsoft announces surprise event for Tuesday with Bing ChatGPT expected

2023-02-06T14:29:48-05:00

Microsoft is holding a major news event on Tuesday, February 7th. The software giant first mailed out invites to an in-person event at the company's Redmond headquarters last week and is now officially announcing the event minutes after Google made its ChatGPT rival official.

Microsoft's event starts at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, and the company isn't teasing much ahead of time. But it's likely the company will focus on its rumored ChatGPT integration into Bing and its broader partnership with OpenAI.

The invite says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will "share some progress on a few exciting projects," so expect a number of important announcements. The …

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Twitter can now default to the ‘Following’ timeline on iOS and Android

2023-02-06T14:27:46-05:00

The choice has returned. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter's iOS and Android app will now default to showing you the last timeline tab you selected, whether it's the algorithmic "For You" or the reverse chronological "Following" list. The company rolled out this feature on the web in late January after it changed the system for selecting your timeline earlier that month.

The app now works mostly as you'd expect. If you switch to the Following timeline and close the app, it'll take you back to the Following list the next time you open it. And if you leave it on the For You tab, that's what it'll default to.

View Link

While your pinned lists will still show up along the top bar, you won't be …

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AMC is about to make paying for theater seats more like booking an airline ticket

2023-02-06T13:33:08-05:00

Nicole Kidman in AMC’s “We Make Movies Better” ad. | Image: AMC Theatres

Starting pretty soon, some tickets at AMC locations are going to be getting cheaper and more expensive depending on where you sit as the movie theater chain introduces a new tiered pricing scheme called Sightline.

Today, AMC announced its plans to roll out Sightline at AMC, a new pricing structure that will split auditorium seats into three differently priced tiers in theaters across the country beginning this Friday. In a statement about the new program, Eliot Hamlisch, AMC's chief marketing officer, described Sightline as an effort to get consumers thinking about buying movie tickets the same way they might events at "many other entertain …

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Introducing the Overwatch 2 dating sim

2023-02-06T13:01:00-05:00

A long whispered prayer has finally been answered: Overwatch 2 is getting a dating sim. Stealthily announced as a part of Overwatch 2's season 3 battle pass, starting on February 13th, players can go to https://www.Loverwatch.gg to play a text-based dating sim in which they can choose to pursue either Genji or Mercy with the help of a Cupid-ified Hanzo.

Check out the season 3 trailer below.

It sounds like players will choose a hero and go through the criminally short 30-minute game to woo either the ninja or the angel. The Overwatch 2 developers were swift to mark in big, bold letters that anything contained within the dating sim was not c …

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Sony answers your burning PSVR2 questions in an extensive new FAQ

2023-02-06T12:15:08-05:00

We’re just a couple weeks away from the launch of the new headset. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony has posted an extensive FAQ about the PlayStation VR2 ahead of the imminent launch of the next-generation virtual reality headset. Though a lot of the questions cover what we already know, the FAQ page includes a handful of interesting tidbits about what you can expect from the headset when it launches on February 22nd.

Personally, I was most happy to see Sony confirm that there are more than 100 games in development for the platform. The headset will have an impressive launch window lineup that includes games like Tetris Effect, Rez Infinite, and, after a free update available on launch day, Gran Turismo 7, but now we know for certain …

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Getty Images sues AI art generator Stable Diffusion in the US for copyright infringement

2023-02-06T11:56:57-05:00

An illustration from Getty Images’ lawsuit, showing an original photograph and a similar image (complete with Getty Images watermark) generated by Stable Diffusion. | Image: Getty Images

Getty Images has filed a lawsuit in the US against Stability AI, creators of open-source AI art generator Stable Diffusion, escalating its legal battle against the firm.

The stock photography company is accusing Stability AI of "brazen infringement of Getty Images' intellectual property on a staggering scale." It claims that Stability AI copied more than 12 million images from its database "without permission … or compensation … as part of its efforts to build a competing business," and that the startup has infringed on both the company's copyright and trademark protections.

The lawsuit is the latest volley in the ongoing legal struggle be …

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