Technology news

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Verizon has announced that it is automatically adding 15GB of high-speed data to wireless plans in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the company announced it will waive overage charges and late fees for those affected by the crisis, waiving internet and voice service for those on its discount Lifeline plan, and reiterated its previous pledge of free international calling for consumer wireless and home voice customers to CDC level 3 count

Ryan Heffington Kristin Childers went to a dance party on Saturday in her pajamas. The clothes didn’t matter, because she never left her living room. The party took place entirely on Instagram.
A few minutes before, she’d been sitting on her couch reading the news, feeling like she was about to cry. Then she got a notification on her phone: Ryan Heffington, the two-time Grammy nominated choreographer behind Sia’s “Chandelier” music video, was streaming a dance clas

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft disclosed a new remote code execution vulnerability today that can be found in all supported versions of Windows and is currently being exploited in “limited targeted attacks” (via TechCrunch). If a hacker successfully pulled off an attack, they could theoretically remotely run code or malware on the victim’s device.
The flaw involves the Adobe Type Manager Library, which helps Windows render fonts. “There are multiple wa

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge One of the next iPhone models could introduce sensor-shift image stabilization, potentially bringing image stabilization to the ultrawide camera, according to a new research note from tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that was seen by MacRumors.Per Kuo’s note, the image stabilization tech could come to a new 6.7-inch iPhone. The technology moves the image sensor around inside the camera to offset hand shake. Currently, image stabilization is only available on the

Apple is expanding the App Store to 20 new countries this year, the company announced on its developer portal, marking the latest expansion of Apple’s app marketplace around the globe.For now, there’s no word on when support will be available for the new regions. However, Apple has asked developers to log into their accounts on its developer website and accept the updated license agreements in order to make their apps accessible when the time comes.20 new countries in 2020
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Image: Oura A new study will evaluate a smart ring that takes people’s temperatures in an attempt to identify people who have the new coronavirus early, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
More than 2,000 emergency medical workers at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital will wear Oura Rings for the study. The rings will be given to emergency medical workers who come into contact with patients who may have COVID-19. W

HP HP is teasing a followup to its Reverb virtual reality headset made in collaboration with Microsoft and Valve. The announcement coincides with Valve’s release of Half-Life: Alyx, the year’s most anticipated VR game. There’s little detail, but HP’s website calls its new headset “a more immersive, comfortable, and compatible experience” than the Reverb, and an email from the company calls it a “no-compromise VR headset.”
The $599 Reverb was part

It’s the second week of our collective, voluntary quarantine and everything is online now. The spread of coronavirus has upended the rest of society in drastic ways: many high school and college classes are entirely virtual, for example. Prisoners across the country are being released early, and in New York, where I live, mortgage payments are being paused (though there’s not yet widespread rent relief) and evictions have been suspended.On a personal level, I’ve found the chang

Photo by Zhang Yazi/China News Service via Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration approved the first rapid test for the novel coronavirus over the weekend. The test, made by the biotechnology company Cepheid, returns results in around 45 minutes and does not need to be processed in a lab.But the test should primarily be used in emergency rooms and hospitals, not in doctors’ offices, David Persing, chief medical officer of Cepheid, told Stat News. In a hospital, it could help stream

Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images The coronavirus pandemic presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for cities to remake their streets by taking space away from cars and giving it to pedestrians and bicyclists — permanently.
With public transportation ridership cratering, demand for Uber and other ride-hailing services fizzling, and people everywhere looking to get the hell off their couches and feel a little bit of breeze on their skin, the time for cities to take a bold stand

It’s no secret that Google is looking to boost the number of games it has to offer on Stadia, and today, at the Google for Games Developer Summit, the company announced a new Stadia Makers program to expand self-publishing opportunities for independent developers on the game streaming platform.Google’s announcement highlights three key benefits of the program, which is being run in partnership with Unity: technical assistance from the Unity team, up to five physical development kits

Photo by Ben McCanna / Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images The United States economy is grinding to a halt as the country grapples with the novel coronavirus pandemic, and one of the first major actions President Trump has floated is having the government bail out the cruise line industry, which he says is a “prime candidate.” He shouldn’t do it.It may be wishful thinking that he won’t. Trump has proven he’s willing to give preferential treatment to big

Over-the-top live TV streaming service fuboTVannounced today it plans to merge with the virtual entertainment technology company, FaceBank Group. The proposed merger would retain the name fuboTV for the combined company, consisting of fuboTV’s direct-to-consumer live TV streaming platform and FaceBank’s technology IP in sports, movies and live performances.
FaceBank is not a household name, but is a developer of hyper-realistic digital humans — including those of celebrities an

Hamilton is bringing back the original digital watch with the PSR, a 50th anniversary tribute to the company’s legendary Pulsar Time Computer — the first commercially sold digital watch, which was released to massive hype in 1972. (The watch was first announced in 1970, hence the anniversary release this year.)
Displaying the time not through a mechanical mechanism but rather an LED display that lit up when a button on the side was pressed, the original Pulsar (and it’s space-a

A billboard in Naples reads “All together, without fear.”| Photo by Carlo Hermann / AFP via Getty Images As the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world, more governments are relying on mobile carrier data to track everything from patients who should be isolated to how well people are following limited-movement edicts.Mobile carriers in the European Union are sharing data with health authorities in Italy, Germany, and Austria to help monitor whether people are followin

Photo by Brennan King / The Verg It’s a rule that phones eventually become cheaper after they release, but few drop in price as quickly as Samsung phones. Samsung’s Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus launched in early March and are already $200 off at Amazon and Best Buy. This brings the price down to $800 for the S20 and $1,000 for the S20 Plus.These prices are for the unlocked versions, which you can use with any US carrier. If you’re buying through Best Buy, you should order online in

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge SoundCloud has teamed up with Twitch to help indie musicians who are feeling a financial strain due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. With gigs and tours canceled, lots of homebound musicians have recently started live-streaming to try to make ends meet. The partnership lets SoundCloud artists fast-track new Twitch accounts to Affiliate status, which unlocks Twitch’s monetization tools. This way, artists feeling the pinch can bypass Twitch&rsqu

VidCon, an annual gathering of social media influencers and content creators, is canceled this year in the US. The show was scheduled for June 17th through the 20th in Anaheim, California. The company made the announcement on Monday and said it’s looking to make the conference happen sometime in the fall, although organizers are still working on a plan. For now, tickets will be refunded. The team is also exploring virtual formats and seeking speakers who might be willing to participate.
Cr

Microsoft reorganized its Windows + Devices team last month, placing Surface chief Panos Panay in charge of both Windows and hardware. While it’s still early days for Panay, we’re starting to get an idea of how things might change with Windows. That starts with a new Windows Insider leader, Microsoft’s beta program that sees millions of people testing Windows 10.
“In my first 30 days as the Windows leader, as I’ve been spending time listening, learning, and working

File this one under “Kickstarter products we can’t easily explain”: a fabricated cybernetic lynx skull that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. The Kranio X, as it’s called, is currently raising money on the crowdfunding platform for what seems like a very limited run of the product — just $1,288 was the funding goal, and it’s already surpassed that with just 19 backers.So what, exactly, is going on here? Well, according to Hong Kong-based industrial designer Alan

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge If you’re having trouble concentrating on your work during self-quarantine, a set of quality noise-canceling headphones might be a good solution. You’ll likely get a lot of use out of them in the coming weeks (possibly months) at home. Best Buy is offering a $150 discount on Microsoft’s Surface Headphones, which are over-ear, noise-canceling wireless headphones. These usually cost $350, but now they’re $200.
This model stacks up well co

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge If you’re having trouble concentrating on your work during self-quarantine, a set of quality noise-canceling headphones might be a good solution. You’ll likely get a lot of use out of them in the coming weeks (possibly months) at home. Best Buy is offering a $150 discount on Microsoft’s Surface Headphones, which are over-ear, noise-canceling wireless headphones. These usually cost $350, but now they’re $200.
This model stacks up well co

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Uber is urging the White House and congressional leaders to include financial assistance for drivers and delivery workers in the economic stimulus package that is currently under debate. The company is also advocating for legislation that would require it to provide drivers with certain financial benefits while still classifying them as independent contractors.“protections and benefits for independent workers, not just employees”
The

As more people are asked to stay home due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Amazon is making a portion of Prime Video kids and family programming free, including popular shows like Arthur, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and more.Starting today, 40 family and kids’ shows will be made available to stream on Prime Video for all customers, including those without Prime memberships. All people need is an Amazon account, which they can get for free by signing up on the main site.The offer i

T-Mobile will launch its budget Connect plan on Wednesday, March 25th. The prepaid package will deliver unlimited talk and text as well as 2GB of data for $15 per month (or 5GB for $25). The carrier is launching the deal early; it was originally intended to launch after its pending merger with Sprint finalized.As the novel coronavirus pandemic forces businesses to shutter, T-Mobile claims Connect is ideal for Americans who are struggling financially. “Right now, having a reliable, low-cost

Photo by Charlotte Bickley / Instagram Elizabeth Savetsky, an influencer who lives in New York, has kept her Instagram feed pristine up until now. In every past photo, she wears an enviable outfit with perfectly done hair and, occasionally, her smiling, tall plastic surgeon husband. They’re photos that make people wish they could live in her shoes. But things are changing now that she’s stuck at home because of social distancing: she can’t hire photographers, she isn’t a

Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between.
This morning we’re taking a look at mega-rounds: funding events of $100 million or more.
What’s fun about these rounds is that they experience less temporal lag than other venture financings. Generally speaking, the larger a venture round is, the faster it becomes public knowledge. This is why seed rounds are the laggiest of all startup rounds and as you progres

Hello, internet. It’s your friend TC, executive editor and blogger at The Verge.
The novel coronavirus has rapidly spread across the US and darkened our daily lives, and it’s only going to get worse. While it’s important to keep up with enough information to stay informed about the pandemic, even a little bit can feel overwhelming. That’s why my colleagues at The Verge, who are all stuck at home, have held happy hours over Zoom, live-streamed cooking tutorials, and raced

TL;DR: Until March 31, you can save £40 on eharmony subscriptions with the exclusive code EH40.We might all be staying home and isolating, but this doesn't mean dating is dead. As we continue to look for love, cute coffee dates and dinners are taking place online. 
There are absolutely loads of online dating services out there that can help you find a little romance in these dark times. Some popular services are even offering deals to persuade you to sign up.
SEE ALSO: The best dating

Konami had planned to release its mini TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, and CoreGrafx consoles last week, but the production schedule has been hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic around the world. I managed to get my hands on a PC Engine Mini here in Japan, though, so here’s a quick look at it ahead of the TurboGrafx-16 launch in the US — which, hopefully, shouldn’t be too far off.
The TurboGrafx-16 was released in 1989 as the US version of the PC Engine, which came out in Japan two

Photo: Feature China / Barcroft Media via Getty Images Three months into the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s still unclear which drugs could combat the viral disease and which won’t — despite public figures like President Donald Trump extolling the unproven promise of some medications. With public health on the line, the scientific community is searching for answers faster than ever.When the novel coronavirus tore through China in January and February, researchers and doctors

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is planning to prioritize access to its cloud-based Azure services to first responders, emergency services, and critical infrastructure if there are capacity constraints. The software giant experienced some Microsoft Teams issues last week after a surge of nearly 40 percent occurred as businesses turned to remote working during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Microsoft is now trying to avoid impacting existing customers while managing new dema

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It’s difficult to try to keep things normal when the situation isn’t normal — especially during global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. One of those things includes adjusting our jobs to working from home, when we’re used to going into the office every day.
In these days of video conferencing, texting, and file sharing, it is thankfully possible for many people to move their workdays to home. In fact, remote working has been a pa

The current user profile appears on the top right of the service’s interface. | Image: NDTV Amazon is rolling out user profiles for Prime Video, allowing as many as six different people to track their viewing progress, manage watch lists, and get personalized recommendations. Kid profiles can also be added and limited to content that’s safe for children under 12 to watch. Amazon notes that the profiles feature, which was spotted by NDTV and XDA-Developers, is currently available in

While a number of companies who currently offer at-home medical and health diagnostics had rushed to produce kits that would allow for self sample collection by people who passed a screening and believed they might have contracted the new coronavirus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has updated its Emergency Use Authorization guidelines to private labs that specifically bar the use of at-home sample collection. This means startups including Everlywell, Carbon Health and Nurx will have