Wednesday’s top tech news: another year of the Chief Twit – The Verge

Xbox February update includes Google Home app support and ‘carbon aware’ downloads

2023-02-15T19:15:22-05:00

Microsoft is rolling out a new February update to its Xbox consoles that adds one of several planned sustainability updates and Google Home app support.

With the update, Xbox consoles are able to be "carbon aware" of when to perform game downloads and updates by connecting to the internet and checking for regional carbon intensity data. Microsoft says it will schedule updates during the nightly maintenance window for times that result in lower carbon emissions because more available electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources.

While the blog post encourages gamers to "choose what works best for you," Xbox hasn't yet rolled out the one- …

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Twitter is relaxing its policies to allow cannabis ads

2023-02-15T17:04:48-05:00

Twitter will allow cannabis ads on the platform starting today, the company announced in a blog (per Axios).

The company previously allowed CBD topical ads targeting some US users. The policy change means Twitter - where major ad firms have cautioned clients against buying ads following Elon Musk's takeover - will allow more cannabis ads than other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

On Meta-owned platforms, advertisers can promote hemp products with restrictions around geographic targeting and content, but THC and CBD products aren't allowed. TikTok also has strict rules around drugs, even refusing to allow public service anno …

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Apple’s mixed reality headset will reportedly debut at WWDC

2023-02-15T16:37:36-05:00

Apple plans to introduce its long-rumored mixed reality headset at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The reveal date has apparently been pushed back multiple times - most recently, the aim was to first show it in the spring - but now, it will be introduced at WWDC ahead of a planned release by the end of the year, Gurman reports.

New story: Apple has postponed the planned introduction of its mixed-reality headset from around April to June at the annual WWDC conference, the latest setback for Apple's next major device. https://t.co/B9Z822eiWV
- Mark Gurman (@markgurman) Febru …

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Twitter is back after struggling on a random Wednesday

2023-02-15T15:25:17-05:00

Twitter is back after an outage for many on Wednesday. The full extent of the issues was unclear, but the problems were centered on the iOS app. If I tried to refresh my "For you" feed, for example, I got a message that says "tweets aren't loading right now." My "Following" feed loaded once but showed the same error message later.

"Pardon the interruption!" Twitter's support account tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "iOS users may have experienced some trouble using Twitter earlier. Things should be back to normal now."

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User reports peaked at more than 8,000 on Downdetector. I also saw a lot of posts on Twitter asking if the service is …

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Peacock’s all in for Poker Face season 2

2023-02-15T12:33:26-05:00

Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale. | Image: Peacock

Rian Johnson's Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne is easily one of - if not the - best original series Peacock's ever produced, which is why it comes as no surprise that it's been renewed for a second season.

Ahead of Poker Face's seventh episode hitting Peacock tomorrow, the streamer announced today that it's ordered a second season about Lyonne's Charlie Cale, a woman who uses her uncanny ability to detect lies to solve murder mysteries from week to week.

In a statement about the season 2 order, Susan Rovner, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming's head of content, said that while the streamer's hopes for Poker Face were always high, "th …

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Horizon Forbidden West arrives on PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium on February 21st

2023-02-15T12:30:11-05:00

Sony is bringing Horizon Forbidden West to its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscription service on February 21st. It's arriving just a year after it was first released on PS4 and PS5.

PS5 owners who haven't played Horizon Forbidden West are in for a treat, both visually and in the storyline of the successor to Horizon Zero Dawn. It was one of Sony's biggest PlayStation games of the year in 2022, with a PS5-exclusive expansion, Burning Shores, set to debut on April 19th.

My colleague Ash Parrish reviewed Horizon Forbidden West and spent more than 60 hours hunting, exploring, crafting, and fighting in a world that's "easy to get lost …

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Epic’s next ‘State of Unreal’ could feature Unreal Engine 5.2 and Fortnite

2023-02-15T12:03:00-05:00

Characters from Fortnite. | Image: Epic Games

Epic Games' annual State of Unreal presentation will take place on March 22nd, the company announced on Wednesday. The event and many additional sessions about Epic's hugely popular Unreal Engine are happening alongside the Game Developers Conference, which is scheduled for March 20th through 24th.

Epic is keeping the specific announcements close to the vest for now. "Get a glimpse at what's in store for the future of game development as the Epic Games team takes the stage with our talented partners," the company writes on its event page. "We'll take a look at some new projects, dive into the latest Epic tech, and have some fun along the wa …

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Microsoft’s Bing is an emotionally manipulative liar, and people love it

2023-02-15T11:54:33-05:00

Microsoft's Bing chatbot has been unleashed on the world, and people are discovering what it means to beta test an unpredictable AI tool.

Specifically, they're finding out that Bing's AI personality is not as poised or polished as you might expect. In conversations with the chatbot shared on Reddit and Twitter, Bing can be seen insulting users, lying to them, sulking, gaslighting and emotionally manipulating people, questioning its own existence, describing someone who found a way to force the bot to disclose its hidden rules as its "enemy," and claiming it spied on Microsoft's own developers through the webcams on their laptops. And, what' …

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We talk to technicians keeping old HomePods and Harmony remotes alive

2023-02-15T11:42:09-05:00

This week on The Vergecast, the flagship podcast of home theater remotes, we dedicate an episode to the right to repair the technology you own.

We live in a world where our most important gadgets are with us at all times. Because of this, we expect them to last as long as physically possible. Unfortunately, the reality of consumer tech today is that a lot of gadgets are not built with the intention of being easily fixable when they break. On today's episode, we talk to people who are figuring out how to repair the tech we use every day so we can use it even longer, even after manufacturer support stops.

First, we chat with Nic Splattstoess …

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Oppo Find N2 Flip review: big screens at a better flipping price

2023-02-15T11:00:00-05:00

The Find N2 Flip in black (left) and purple.

Competition is good for many reasons, but looking at the Oppo Find N2 Flip, there are two things in particular that stand out. The first is price. At £849 (around $1,025), Oppo's foldable flip phone is £150 more affordable than Samsung's comparable Galaxy Z Flip 4 was at launch in the UK, and that's currently Oppo's most serious competitor outside of China. (Although the Find N2 is releasing "globally," Oppo's definition doesn't extend to North America.) Undercutting it on price like this is important, especially if Oppo can pressure Samsung to cut prices to stay competitive.

Second is variety. Although Oppo's foldable has the same overall …

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