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Google Chat now lets you subject coworkers to your celebrity impressions.

Google is rolling out voice messages for enterprise Workspace users. To send one, tap the microphone button to record yourself. Others can react to your message, quote it, or reply to it.

Only the Android / iOS Google Chat apps support voice recordings right now, but web users can receive them, and will get recording later.


A GIF showing Google Chat voice messages.
[Ron Swanson voice] “Veganism is the sad result of a morally corrupt mind.”
Image: Google
MTA’s redesigned subway app is now available, and it looks great.

Some big changes include the addition of real-time ETA, live train and bus tracking, service alerts, and multi-modal trip planning. If you already have the MTA app, it will automatically update. If not, it’s available for Android or iOS. I’m no New Yorker, but this looks way better than the app we have for Los Angeles public transit.


Graphic images of smartphones showing screenshots of the redesigned MTA app.
Good news! Your boss can now drag you into a meeting during your morning commute.

Gone are the days when your car was a refuge from work. Ford is the latest automaker to bring Cisco’s Webex video conferencing application to its vehicles, starting with the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus, 2025 Lincoln Aviator, and 2025 Ford Explorer. More models will follow.

If you’re driving, it’s audio-only. While parked, you’ll be able to see your coworkers’ beaming faces, but they won’t be able to see yours because it’s not connected to the in-cabin camera — yet. I’m of the opinion that selfie cameras in the car are inevitable. (See: Benz, Mercedes.)


Lincoln Nautilus with Cisco’s Webex
Just be sure to turn off Mike and the Mad Dog before you unmute yourself.
Image: Ford
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Ready for 90 minutes of big feelings about productivity apps?

I went on the Waveform podcast this week to talk about productivity apps, getting stuff done, to-do lists, and the true chaos that is just using your Alarms app to remind you to do stuff. I think Marques and I successfully fixed Andrew... but we’ll see.


Tidal has found the right way to share music with friends.

Instead of sharing a Tidal-specific song link with friends, now you can let them choose the service they want to open it with — whether it’s Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music. Tidal is rolling out universal links today, and you can see how it looks in the screenshot below.


If only other music streaming services would adopt this.
If only other music streaming services would adopt this.
Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge
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Oversight Board says Meta “disproportionately restricts free expression” with its ban on “shaheed.”

The independent body funded by Meta recommended it change its approach to moderating the term “shaheed.” The word “is sometimes used by extremists to praise or glorify people who have died while committing violent terrorist acts,” says the board. But it says there are alternate meanings, not intended to glorify.

The group was finalizing the opinion before the October 7 Hamas attack, but paused publication. Further research confirmed the recommendation “held up.”


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Amazon’s data shows the massive scale of its counterfeit problem.

The ecommerce giant’s latest brand protection report reveals that it identified, seized, and disposed of over 7 million counterfeit products on its marketplace in 2023. It says it also worked with Chinese authorities to carry out more than 50 “successful raid actions,” which led to the identification and questioning of over 100 counterfeit manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors.


Humanoid robot providers are eyeing up manufacturing jobs.

According to this Financial Times report, AI and robotics providers have some lofty expectations regarding how popular their technology will be in manufacturing environments.

One company claims that 14 percent of manufacturing and automotive jobs will be automated in the next four years, and Goldman Sachs projects that the humanoid robot market could reach $38 billion by 2035 — at least if robots like Tesla’s Optimus can become as capable as their makers are claiming they will be.


A graph showing the forecast global humanoid robot market size in billions.
This graph from Goldman Sachs includes anticipated demand for humanoid robot specifications that simply don’t exist yet.
Image: Goldman Sachs Research
Philips Hue’s app on Samsung TVs is getting more appealing.

The Hue Sync TV app for Samsung QLED TVs — previously only available as a one hundred and thirty dollar single-TV unlock — is getting a $3/mo subscription option that works on up to three Samsung TVs. It’s also getting music sync and better SmartThings integration. The update rolls out in spring to 2024 TVs and later for 2022 and 2023 models.


Image of a couple watching a wall-mounted TV. The image on the TV is of a fire-breathing dragon, and the walls behind and around the TV are lit up in colors that match the image — blue at the top, reds and oranges fading into yellow on the right and the bottom.
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Amazon Pharmacy expands its same-day deliveries.

Patients in New York City and greater Los Angeles can now get same-day medications through Amazon’s digital pharmacy, joining cities like Austin, Miami, and Seattle. The company also offers one-hour drone delivery in College Station, Texas.

Amazon says this will grow same-day deliveries to over a dozen cities in the US by the end of the year. Pharmacy chains like Walgreens already offer same-day deliveries for a variable fee depending on location.


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What do soaring Bitcoin prices mean for the power grid and the environment?

Soundside, a daily broadcast program from Seattle’s NPR news station KUOW, breaks it down in this episode. Catch my interview about the energy and environmental costs of Bitcoin mining in the US, and the legal battle that killed the Department of Energy’s survey of miners’ electricity consumption.


Here’s why AI search engines really can’t kill Google

The AI search tools are getting better — but they don’t yet understand what a search engine really is and how we really use them.

Sports and gambling.

In the MLB, it’s investigating Shohei Ohtani’s apparently gambling-addicted translator, who may have stolen millions to pay off an illegal bookmaker. While the details remain unclear, the star himself says, “I’ve never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked someone to do it on my behalf.”

Meanwhile, ESPN reports the NBA is looking into “unusual betting interest” on props for Raptors forward Jontay Porter tied to games he left early due to injury or illness.

The future is now.


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More Sora videos come out into the wild.

OpenAI worked with visual artists and filmmakers to see what they could do with Sora, its new text-to-video generation platform. The results are a mix of conceptual videos telling stories with surreal characters and recreations of real-life settings.

Director Paul Trillo said he appreciates the lack of budget restrictions. “Sora is at its most powerful when you’re not replicating the old but bringing to life new and impossible ideas we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to see.”


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Fisker delisted.

Trading was halted on the EV company’s stock due to an “abnormally low” share price. Basically, the stock hit rock bottom and now the New York Stock Exchange is delisting Fisker for failure to comply with rules requiring its stock trade above $1 for at least 30 days. Earlier today, the company said that investment talks with another automaker (probably Nissan) broke down. Now Fisker seems to be heading to an all-too-familiar place. At least for founder Henrik Fisker.


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The Google Pixel 6A is missing.

It stuck around as the company’s budgetiest budget phone since the 7A was released last year. But as DroidLife points out, there’s now a Pixel 6A-sized hole in Google’s online store.

If it’s truly gone, it could be making room for the rumored Pixel 8A with more storage and a 120Hz display, which could show up at Google I/O on May 14th — If Google doesn’t spoil its own announcement before then.


So you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Last week Fujifilm released a limited edition of its popular X100VI camera. But Fujirumors.com cites scalpers who say they snagged 92 percent of the cameras, which only included 300 in the US.

But not all hope is lost! Fujifilm announced on Instagram that it intercepted "a large number of suspicious orders" and canceled them, so Fuji fans will get one more chance to get their hands on the LE X100VI via a raffle. More details to come soon.


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BBC will stop using AI in Doctor Who promos.

The marketing team for the longtime sci-fi series halted its use of generative AI for Doctor Who marketing emails following complaints, reports Deadline.

The response from the BBC:

As part of a small trial, marketing teams used generative AI technology to help draft some text for two promotional emails and mobile notifications to highlight Doctor Who programming available on the BBC. 

We followed all BBC editorial compliance processes and the final text was verified and signed-off by a member of the marketing team before it was sent. We have no plans to do this again to promote Doctor Who.


The creators of 3 Body Problem want to have ‘a back and forth’ with the book

Though Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is very different from Cixin Liu’s novel, the show’s creators say they wanted the two stories to share the same essential narrative DNA.

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The Full-Self Driving will continue until morale improves.

In an internal memo, the Tesla CEO announced that its controversial driver assist system FSD would come pre-installed on all new vehicles, and that every customer taking delivery of a new Tesla would get a demonstration of its capabilities.

My theory: FSD sales are flatlining because Tesla has slashed prices so much that regular people — and not die-hards who hang on Musk’s every tweet — are now buying them. And most price-sensitive normies aren’t going to hand over $15,000 for a driver assist system that could drive them into a tree.


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The ESPN app is getting some local sports.

ESPN’s digital plan is sort of all over the place. It’s building a streaming version of the cable network, it’s part of the “Hulu for Sports” coming later this year, and now it’s offering listings for some local sports — though you’ll still have to subscribe to your network and watch the actual games separately. Odd!

ESPN has long talked about being something along the lines of a TV guide for streaming sports; seems like this is what it looks like.


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Silicon Valley’s biggest city is training AI to detect homeless encampments.

A decade ago, San Jose broke up “The Jungle,” reportedly the biggest homeless encampment in the US; the feds estimate San Jose still has the highest proportions of unsheltered homeless and homeless youth. It’s not unusual to see a sidestreet filled with sunbaked RVs, or tents lining a creek or underpass.

Now, under new pressure to solve the homelessness emergency that’s never gone away, San Jose is quietly training AI to detect lived-in vehicles. More: