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The UI isn’t flashy, but does it need to be? | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge A week ago, I was on a three-day road trip when all the audio cut out in my car. From podcasts to directions — even the turn signal wasn’t clicking. My copilot struggled to find a solution via Google. It took me at least five minutes. Today, it took Gemini Live, the just-keep-talking-to-it version of Google’s voice assistant, about 15 seconds to come up with a solution that worked. Naturally, the moment felt magical. In The Verge’s first interaction with the assistant, rolling out today, it felt like the promised cleverness of digital assistants is finally being delivered. But then Gemini Live kept talking. And talking. The Verge team was packed in a glass booth, and as Gemini Live droned on, a friendly Google employee encouraged me to... Continue reading…

Google’s latest wearable is both bigger and brighter than its predecessors. | Image: Google Now that Google has officially announced the Pixel Watch 3 after a deluge of leaks and rumors, Android users have even more wearables to choose from. Google’s latest smartwatch will arrive on September 10th and start at $349.99, with the last-gen Pixel Watch 2 hanging around for $249.99. Sadly, Google has dropped the original model from its lineup, though you can still buy it on sale from third-party retailers. With almost identical names and similar domed displays, it can be confusing to distinguish which watch is which — never mind which to buy. Yet, they’re more different than they appear, with each wearable offering more features and capabilities than its predecessor. The new Pixel Watch 3 offers several advanced running features,... Continue reading…

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Apparently, turning the cliched “enhance!” meme into reality wasn’t as easy as Google might have initially expected. Today, the company confirmed in a blog post that Zoom Enhance is finally rolling out to the Pixel 8 Pro and will also be present on the Pixel 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold at launch. Google announced the AI-powered Zoom Enhance during last year’s Made by Google event, but we’ve made it all the way to a new generation of phones, and only now is the software feature ready for release. “When you pinch in, Zoom Enhance can intelligently sharpen and enhance the details of your images, so you can get closer than ever, even when you forget to zoom” is how Google’s hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, explained the feature last... Continue reading…

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge A Texas judge who was assigned two cases involving Elon Musk’s X platform has recused himself from one of them, shortly after a report that he owns stock in Tesla. US District Court Judge Reed O’Connor was assigned to X’s recent antitrust lawsuit against advertisers over their boycott of the service, as well as a separate case against Media Matters, which the company sued for a report showing that X displayed ads from major brands next to pro-Nazi content. On Tuesday, O’Connor filed a notice to the court clerk recusing himself from the antitrust lawsuit. He still appears to be assigned to the Media Matters case as of Tuesday afternoon. The recusal came just a few days after NPR reported on O’Connor’s Tesla stock holdings, which, a... Continue reading…

Image: Paramount Ahead of its upcoming merger with Skydance Media, Paramount is winding down its TV production studio as part of a larger restructuring effort that will put 15% of its current workforce out of jobs. In a memo sent to employees today and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount TV head Nicole Clemons and Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks announced that Paramount Global is shuttering the studio. Clemens, who joined Paramount in 2018 following former exec Amy Powell’s sudden exit, is also set to leave the company, and all of Paramount’s currently-airing TV series and projects still in development will transition to CBS Studios. In the memo, Clemons and Cheeks insisted that while Paramount TV is coming to an end, “our ethos will live on in... Continue reading…

The base Pixel 9 is one of four new models, starting at $799. | Image: Google At its most recent Made by Google event, the monopolistic search giant announced four new phones: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is more phones than Google has ever sold at once — especially when you throw in the midrange Pixel 8A from May — making the decision on which to get somewhat confusing. So, we thought it might be helpful to explain the key differences and similarities between the four new models and succinctly lay out all the finer specs for you to peruse. Hopefully, this will help you choose between the new Pixels, which are set to launch in waves on August 22nd and September 4th. The biggest differences between Pixel 9 phones: price and size What immediately separates most of the Pixel 9... Continue reading…