Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge I maintain that YouTube TV is the very best of the streaming TV services, but good grief is it getting expensive. Today YouTube announced the service’s latest price hike, which brings the monthly subscription to $82.99. The change is effective immediately for new customers and will be reflected starting January 13th for “most existing customers.” As usual, the company attributes this increase to “the rising cost of content and the investments we make in the quality of our service.” YouTube TV last raised its subscription cost to $72.99 in March 2023. Before that, it was $64.99. The days when the service ran only $50 now feel like a lifetime ago. Some of you who got in early might even remember it costing a mere $35 per month. But since then, YouTube has routinely found itself in carriage disputes with Disney, NBCUniversal, and other content owners, and those renegotiated agreements have led YouTube TV’s price to climb higher and higher. The YouTube TV of today is much different than it used to be; there are more channels, yes, but the service has also shed a number of regional sports networks. The company is quick to note that none of the service’s core benefits are changing. The base subscription still includes over 100 channels, cloud DVR with unlimited storage, up to six user accounts per household, and the flexibility of three concurrent streams. But YouTube TV still charges extra for 4K streaming, which seems harder to rationalize after this $10 price bump. Customers are predictably none too pleased about the news and are weighing whether a service that now costs more than double its original price is still worth it.

XR stands for “extended reality,” which you should get used to explaining to lots of people. | Image: Google Google is taking another run at making headsets work. The company just announced Android XR, a new operating system designed specifically for what Google calls “extended reality” devices like headsets and glasses. It’s working with Samsung and lots of other hardware manufacturers to develop those headsets and glasses, is making the new version of Android available to developers now, and hopes to start shipping XR stuff next year. We don’t yet have a ton of details on exactly how Android XR will work or how it might differ from the Android on your phone. (The Verge’s Victoria Song got to try a few demos and prototypes — make sure you read her story.) Google is making immersive XR versions of apps like Maps, Photos, and YouTube and says it’s developing a version of Chrome that lets you do multiwindow multitasking in your browser. It will also support existing phone and tablet apps from the Play Store, much in the same way Apple supports iPad apps in the Vision Pro. Google’s Gemini AI, of course, is at the very center of the whole experience. Google has been trying to crack headsets for more than a decade — there was Glass and Cardboard and Daydream, all of which had good ideas but none of which turned into much — and the company thinks AI is the key to making the user experience work. “We believe a digital assistant integrated with your XR experience is the killer app for the form factor, like what email or texting was for the smartphone,” said Sameer Samat, who oversees the Android ecosystem at Google, in a press briefing ahead of the launch. As Gemini becomes more multimodal, too, able to both capture and create audio and video, glasses and headsets suddenly make much more sense. Image: Google This is the kind of AR interface you’ll get with Android XR. The choice of the term “XR” for the OS is maybe the most interesting part. There are a million terms and acronyms for this space: there’s virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, extended reality, and others, all of which mean different but overlapping things. XR is probably the broadest of the terms, which seems to be why Google picked it. “When we say extended reality or XR,” Samat said, “we’re really talking about a whole spectrum of experiences, from virtual reality to augmented reality and everything in between.” Google imagines headsets that can seamlessly transition from virtual worlds to real ones — again like the Vision Pro — and smart glasses that are more of an always-on companion. It’s also interested in audio-only devices like the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. Some things might be standalone; others might be more like an accessory to your phone. We’ll see if Google ends up building its own XR hardware, but it’s clearly trying to support a huge spectrum of devices. Android XR is still in its early stages, and most developers are only now going to start getting the software and hardware they need to build for the new OS. But Google’s trying to move quickly next year: a device it’s building with Samsung, codenamed Moohan, is apparently slated to ship next year. Android XR is, in some ways, a culmination of bets Google has been making in AI, the broader Android ecosystem, and the wearable future of technology. All of those bets are about to get the real test: whether anyone actually puts them on.

Google didn’t let me take my own photos, but this is strikingly similar to the demo I saw with my own eyes. | Image: Google I demoed Google’s new Android XR platform, Samsung’s Project Moohan, and prototype smart glasses. I felt as close to Tony Stark in a controlled demo as I’ll ever be. It’s an ordinary Tuesday. I’m wearing what look like ordinary glasses in a room surrounded by Google and Samsung representatives. One of them steps out in front of me and starts speaking in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish. Hovering in mid-air, I can see her words being translated into English subtitles. Reading them, I can see she’s describing what I’m seeing in real time. I mumble an expletive. Everyone laughs. This is my first experience with Android XR — a new mixed reality OS designed for headsets and smart glasses, like the prototypes I’m wearing. It’s Google’s big bet to power a new generation of augmented reality devices that embody all our wildest dreams of what smart glasses can be. Google is no stranger to augmented reality. Google Glass crashed and burned with the public more than 10 years ago before being repurposed for enterprise users and eventually discontinued. But things are different now. Apple has the Vision Pro. Meta has the Ray-Ban smart glasses, and their AI features have garnered positive buzz. That’s why Google is jumping back into the fray with Android XR. Google wants everyone to know the time is finally right for XR, and it’s pointing to Gemini as its north star. Adding Gemini enables multimodal AI and natural language — things it says will make interactions with your environment richer. In a demo, Google had me prompt Gemini to name the title of a yellow book sitting behind me on a shelf. I’d briefly glanced at it earlier but hadn’t taken a photo. Gemini took a second, and then offered up an answer. I whipped around to check — it was correct. On top of that, the platform will work with any mobile and tablet app from the Play Store out of the box. Today’s launch is aimed at developers so they can start building out experiences. The average person won’t be able to buy anything running Android XR right now, but in 2025, Samsung will be launching its long-rumored XR headset. Dubbed Project Moohan (Korean for infinity), the headset will be the first consumer product to ship with Android XR. Technically, it’s running the same software as the glasses I tried, but Project Moohan will also be capable of VR and immersive content — stuff that wouldn’t be suited to a pair of smart glasses. It’s essentially a showcase for everything that could be possible. Hence why Google is going with XR — a catch-all term that stands for “extended reality” and encompasses AR, VR, and mixed reality. Image: Google, Samsung Project Moohan felt like a mix between a Meta Quest 3 and Vision Pro headset. Samsung’s headset feels like a mix between a Meta Quest 3 and the Vision Pro. Unlike either, the light seal is optional so you can choose to let the world bleed in. It’s lightweight and doesn’t pinch my face too tightly. My ponytail easily slots through the top, and later, I’m thankful that I don’t have to redo my hair. At first, the resolution doesn’t feel quite as sharp as the Vision Pro — until the headset automatically calibrates to my pupillary distance. It’s at this point when I start feeling deja vu. I’m walked through pinching to select items and how to tap the side to bring up the app launcher. There’s an eye calibration process that feels awfully similar to the Vision Pro’s. If I want, I can retreat into an immersive mode to watch YouTube and Google TV on a distant mountain. I can open apps, resize them, and place them at various points around the room. I’ve done this all before. This just happens to be Google-flavored. I want to ask: how do you expect to stand out? I don’t get the chance to before I’m told: Gemini. For the skeptic, it’s easy to scoff at the idea that Gemini, of all things, is what’s going to crack the augmented reality puzzle. Generative AI is having a moment right now, but not always in a positive way. Outside of conferences filled with tech evangelists, AI is often viewed with derision and suspicion. But inside the Project Moohan headset or wearing a pair of prototype smart glasses? I can catch a glimpse of why Google and Samsung believe Gemini is the killer app for XR. For me, it’s the fact that I don’t have to be specific when I ask for things. Usually, I get flustered talking to AI assistants because I have to remember the wake word, clearly phrase my request, and sometimes even specify my preferred app. “One thing I’m really confident about, something that’s not just different from before, is that Gemini is really that great,” says Kihwan Kim, EVP at Samsung Electronics, who nods furiously in agreement when I mention this. To Kim, it’s the ability to fluidly speak to Gemini and the fact that it understands a person’s individual context that opens dozens of different options for the way each person interacts with XR. “That’s why I clearly see that this headset will give more insight about what [XR] should be.” I was shocked at how well my translation demos went, which were in the same spirit as the video here. In the Moohan headset, I can say, “Take me to JYP Entertainment in Seoul,” and it will automatically open Google Maps and show me that building. If my windows get cluttered, I can ask it to reorganize them. I don’t have to lift a finger. While wearing the prototype glasses, I watch and listen as Gemini summarizes a long, rambling text message to the main point: can you buy lemon, ginger, and olive oil from the store? I was able to naturally switch from speaking in English to asking in Japanese what the weather is in New York — and get the answer in spoken and written Japanese. It’s not just interactions with Gemini that linger in my mind, either. It’s also how experiences can be built on top of them. I asked Gemini how to get somewhere and saw turn-by-turn text directions. When I looked down, the text morphed into a zoomable map of my surroundings. It’s very easy to imagine myself using something like that in real life. But as cool as all that is, headsets can be a hard sell to the average person. Personally, I’m more enamored with the glasses demo, but those have no concrete timeline. (Google made the prototypes, but it’s focusing on working with other partners to bring hardware to market.) There are still cultural cues that have to be established with either form factor. Outside of Gemini, there has to be a robust ecosystem of apps and experiences for the average person, not just early adopters. The headset demos felt more familiar, though Circle to Search was unique to Android XR. “It’s not going to be a singular product. It’s Android,” says Shahram Izadi, Google’s VP of AR and XR, noting that Google has a three-pronged strategy for Android XR: laying the groundwork with devs is one element; Gemini’s conversational experience is another; and the third is the idea that no one device is the future of XR. Headsets, for example, may just be “episodic” devices you use for entertainment. Glasses could supplement phones and smartwatches for discreet notifications and looking up information. “The way I see it, these devices don’t replace one another. You’ll use these devices throughout your day, and if there’s consistency with Gemini and generative AI experiences across these form factors, people will get more comfortable with wearing computers on their faces. That’s the on ramp to get to more immersive devices,” says Izadi. Listening to Kim and Izadi talk, I want to believe. But I’m also acutely aware that all of my experiences were tightly controlled. I wasn’t given free rein to try and break things. I couldn’t take photos of the headset or glasses. At every point, I was carefully guided through preapproved demos that Google and Samsung were reasonably sure would work. I — and every other consumer — can’t fully believe until we can play with these things without guardrails. But even knowing that, I can’t deny that, for an hour, I felt like Tony Stark with Gemini as my Jarvis. For better or worse, this example has molded so much of our expectations for how XR and AI assistants should work. I’ve tried dozens of headsets and smart glasses that promised to make what I see in the movies real — and utterly failed. For the first time, I experienced something relatively close.

Image: Cath Virginia, Adobe Stock The Indian storytelling app gives its audience an unending stream of audio stories about lucky individuals who become rich. It might as well be an allegory for its own creator economy. Read the full story at The Verge.

In the past few weeks, we've seen a few puzzling reports about the iPhone 17 Pro's big design change coming this year. Apple will reportedly use two materials for the back of the phone's case, including aluminum and glass. The phone's top side would be metallic, with aluminum offering better protection for the camera section. The bottom side would be made of glass, so MagSafe charging can continue working. Some interpreted those rumors as an indication that Apple might ditch the titanium frame, but Apple can still keep the iPhone's titanium frame regardless of what materials it uses for the back panel on the iPhone 17. We didn't have any photo leaks at the time, but this changes today. An image from China gives us a first look at the purported iPhone 17 redesign, and you're going to need a minute. That is, you might not like what you're looking at. Continue reading... The post iPhone 17 Pro frame may have leaked, and you won’t believe this is Apple’s new design appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Best Cyber Monday deals 2024: All the top sales Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2024: Get $275+ free Today’s deals: $769 M2 MacBook Air, $198 Sony XM4 headphones, $24 AirTag, $600 off Narwal Freo X Ultra, more Cyber Week deals: $139 AirPods 4 with ANC, $4 smart plugs, $40 Ninja blender, last-chance PS5 deals, more

Time named President-elect Donald Trump its 2024 Person of the year early Thursday, hours before he was expected to ring the opening bell on Wall Street.

Israeli troops positioned inside the buffer zone along the Syrian border are there as a temporary measure to prevent terrorists from committing an Oct. 7-style attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., condemned Tuesday night's attack on Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., calling it "unacceptable" to physically assault those with differing opinions.

A commercial pilot reported mystery objects "moving at extreme speed" in Oregon airspace last weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to Newsweek.

Phil Collins still enjoys playing the drums despite his health challenges. In the official trailer of his new documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First, he expressed how much he cherished playing drums and saw himself as more of a drummer than a singer. The documentary, set to premiere later this month, shows the 73-year-old star being assisted to sit behind the drums by his son Nick Collins after several years. Phil Collins retired from playing the drums over 15 years ago after a spinal cord injury that left him almost immobile. When he was still actively a drummer, Phil was always energetic with the drums and was considered a great drummer. However, Phil Collins later became the lead vocalist of the rock band Genesis and a great solo singer. Phil Collins’ health stays declining, affecting his ability to perform Phil Collins/Youtube Phil Collins was forced to stop drumming because of some health challenges after 50 years. During a Genesis tour in 2007, he damaged a nerve in his neck due to his posture when playing drums. “My vertebrae have been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in. It comes from years of playing.” He said in 2009. “I can’t even hold the sticks properly without it being painful, I even used to tape the sticks to my hands to get through.” Although Phil Collins admitted he did not miss playing the drums, he acknowledged that “I’m not a singer that plays a bit of drums, I’m more of a drummer that sings a bit” in the latest documentary.  Phil had another surgery on his back in 2016 and could not walk without a walking aid. About a year later, Phil sustained a fall in a hotel bathroom and was diagnosed with a drop foot, making him unable to walk properly. Phil Collins/Youtube Meanwhile, Phil Collins was optimistic about his health and hoped to get healed with time. However, his condition continues to deteriorate as he still cannot walk without assistance. He had his final show with Genesis in 2022, where he sang instead of drumming while his son played the drums. Phil Collins: Drummer First Despite the health issues that clouded the latter part of Phil Collins’ drum career, he shares his preference for drums over singing in the soon-to-be-released documentary. Sitting behind the drums again after a long time, he tells his son, “It just feels so strange to hold a pair” of drumsticks. Phil Collins/Youtube The trailer also shows other musicians giving a testimonial to Phil’s skills. Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy says, “He’s really criminally underrated as a prog icon,” and the late Dom Famularo says, “The fact that we’re living in the time of Phil Collins is almost equal to what it was like when people were living in the era of Mozart.” Next up: ‘Christmas Vacation’ Star Resurfaces At 44 After Staying Away From Hollywood For Decades The post Phil Collins Shares Details About Struggles To Play Drums Due To Health Challenges In New Documentary appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Peace A