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Pixel Watch pops off.

Some owners of Google’s first go at a smartwatch are reporting the rear casing falling off — mostly after removing it from the magnetic charging puck.

Android Police gathered several Reddit posts from the last couple of months showing how the backing falls off. We don’t really know how widespread the issue is, but it’s not the first smartwatch to pop off.


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The Verge
Across the Spider-Verse is the new definitive Spider-Man movie.

Sony’s Across the Spider-Verse isn’t just a breathtaking work of art — it’s a seminal piece of Spider-Man storytelling that rightfully establishes Miles Morales as this generation’s definitive webhead. Across the Spider-Verse’s trailers alone have been tremendous, but check out our review to read more about what makes the movie work so, so well.


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What if your charging pad just did everything?

This is the ThinkBook Wireless Dock, which you’ll be able to buy later this summer. If you happen to own a Lenovo ThinkBook, you can stick it on this pad, and not only does it charge the laptop, but it connects it to up to two 4K displays as well. The panel on the left side is a universal charger for mobile devices. I tried this out at Computex 2023, and it works impressively well.

I have a very vested interest in this kind of gadget, as someone whose deskside cable management is...you know what, let’s not talk about it.


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Youtube
Can an autonomous off-road Jeep provide “more fun, more adventure, more freedom?”

Jeep owner Stellantis is working on a system that adds autonomy to its iconic SUV — and we’re not talking about highway driving... this is for 4x4 adventures.

In a teaser video we see two Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe hybrids with camera-looking equipment. One moves sans a driver while the automaker’s head of AI holds an iPad like a real off-roader.


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Today on The Vergecast: It’s headsets all the way down.

Meta’s got a new headset. Apple’s almost certainly got a new headset. Can I interest you in a headset? What do you look for in a headset? When I say “headset,” what do you think of? What’s it gonna take to get you into a headset today?

We also spend a lot of time previewing WWDC. But let’s be real: this is the year of the headset.


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Twitter
For sale: Joy-Con controllers, now in pastel.

If you haven’t already got all the controllers you could possibly need for the six year-old Switch (or if you’ve lost any of them to Joy-Con drift), Nintendo has some new controller colors for you. One set comes in pink and yellow, the other comes in purple and green. Both cost $79.99 per pair, which is the same price the controllers launched at back in 2017.


The wild, true story of Chicago’s most infamous police impersonator

The “Kid Cop” duped the PD as a teenager — and that was just the beginning.

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TikTok
Folding full screen.

Get a look at the new Motorola Razr Plus, its 3.6-inch cover screen, and the Magenta color option in this quick hands-on video with the foldable phone that’s launching later this month.

And check this page for updates on the Razr line, plus all of the new foldable phones we’re expecting to see for the rest of 2023.


The unsung heroes of the Apple Watch are its hidden buttons

Changing watch straps isn’t new, but Apple’s hidden little buttons simplified it and took it mainstream.

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Getting your money out of Apple’s new savings account could be tricky.

The Wall Street Journal reports on some customers who experienced delays stretching weeks as they attempted to transfer money from the Goldman Sachs savings account attached to their Apple Card, in amounts from $1,700 to as much as $100,000. (I guess they were really enticed by that 4.15 percent APY.)

After contacting Apple, Goldman Sachs VP Nick Carcaterra responded with the same statement given to the WSJ:

The customer response to the new Savings account for Apple Card users has been excellent and beyond our expectations.

While the vast majority of customers see no delays in transferring their funds, in a limited number of cases, a user may experience a delayed transfer due to processes in place designed to help protect their accounts.

While we would not comment on specific customer interactions, we take our obligation to protect our customers deposits very seriously and work to create a balance between a seamless customer experience and that protection.


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Twitter
Triangulating.

Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky said it uncovered a new cyberattack delivered via iMessage. Dubbed Operation Triangulation, it apparently infected “dozens” of employees’ iPhones and was detected due to some anomalous traffic on the company’s network.

But, as TechCrunch reports, Russia’s FSB claimed the attack is the work of US intelligence, using vulnerabilities “provided by the manufacturer,” without providing any evidence to back that up. In a statement to the outlet, Apple spokesperson Scott Radcliffe said, “We have never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any Apple product and never will.”


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JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and others are pushing into AI.

There’s a bunch of examples here but frankly, the nut of the piece is pretty far down:

Bankers have a fiduciary duty not to trade on unreliable information. That’s an issue as use of AI expands.

If you can’t explain where your information came from, is it reliable? Oh well, the hedge funds are at it, too.

“Isn’t this sort of exciting?” writes Matt Levine. “The widespread use of relatively early-stage AI will introduce new ways of making mistakes into finance.”


The Verge’s 2023 Graduation Gift Guide

We found a wide range of gifts that’ll help graduates as they embark upon their next adventure, whether that’s college or a career.

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Can Twitter actually follow EU law? We might know later this month.

EU specialists are touring San Francisco performing “stress tests” of enforcement for the upcoming Digital Services Act, and Twitter is on the roster:

A team of roughly five to 10 digital specialists from the EU plan to put Twitter, and possibly other companies, through their content-policing paces during a visit to San Francisco in late June, Thierry Breton, the bloc’s commissioner for the internal market, said in an interview.

The test is voluntary, he said, and Twitter has agreed to be subjected to it. It won’t carry any fines or other enforcement consequences. It will offer companies a dry run for how the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA, will be enforced.

Elon Musk pulled Twitter out of a voluntary anti-disinformation program, but he’s promised to follow the EU’s rules... if Twitter’s skeleton crew can follow through.


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External Link
Did you know Apple stores make a lot of money?

Joking aside, it seems they do make huge piles of cash. From this Mark Gurman report in Bloomberg:

Regular stores typically generate more than $40 million annually, while Apple Store+ locations bring in over $45 million, according to internal data. The flagships generate more than $75 million, while the flagship+ sites make over $100 million annually.

Unsurprisingly, Apple is working on a lot more stores, according to Gurman.


WWDC 2023: what to expect and how to watch Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference

WWDC kicks off on June 5th, and it’s going to be a big one.

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Vorsprung durch Technik.

That’s Audi’s German-language slogan meaning “advancement through technology.” Today, the automaker is living by these words remotely through its introduction of an in-car Cisco Webex meetings app designed for hybrid work.

Select 2024 Audi and future VW Group vehicles will have Webex available to download from the automaker’s in-car app store (or, you could tell your boss that they aren’t and have a peaceful commute), which includes TikTok as an option. The Cisco-Audi partnership comes after Webex became available on 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Ford vehicles, plus in-car Zoom in a Tesla.


interior of Audi vehicle showing steering wheel, dash, and infotainment screen with man waving hand on the screen.
Cisco Webex meeting running natively in an Audi. Click here for a larger image.
Image: Audi
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PlugShare users have grown by a million in less than a year.

The EV charging guide app now has 3.5 million users according to EVgo, which acquired PlugShare in 2021. PlugShare’s been a boon to hundreds of early EV adopters looking for chargers. The interface is showing its age compared to Google Maps, but PlugShare users have logged over 6.5 million checkins worldwide and share useful tips on almost every charging station.


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Twitter
Finger lickin’ good.


KFC, eat your heart out.


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Verge Score

Living and working from an all-electric VW ID Buzz

Two humans and a beagle named Hank spent two weeks and 2,000 miles in Europe with a Ququq camping box to preview the future of #vanlife.

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If you have an Nvidia GPU and more than one monitor, you might want to skip the latest driver update.

Many people (including yours truly) are having problems with Chromium browsers and other apps flickering after installing the 535.98 driver released May 30th.

The problem seems linked to multiple monitor setups and having G-Sync enabled. A post to Nvidia’s forums says they’ve identified a fix, but until it’s rolled out, you can try an earlier driver or disable hardware acceleration in any apps that are having problems.


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Youtube
Will one of the CD-ROM’s original killer apps tempt you to VR?

You know Myst, but do you remember the CD-ROM’s other killer app? The 7th Guest is now 30 years old, and it’s getting remade in 3D for the first time to sell you on Meta’s Quest 2 (and just-announced Quest 3) headsets. It’ll still have something akin to full-motion video for its actors, too: volumetric video capture.