Image: The Verge This is Hot Pod‚ The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more. After last week’s big deal announcements‚ Spotify reported its fourth quarter earnings. The company is still operating at a loss‚ but the margins on podcasting do seem to actually be improving. I have more on that below‚ plus what it cost for the company to get there. Oh‚ and still no HiFi. Plus‚ I’ve got some more Hot Pod Summit programming announcements. After slashing jobs and ending exclusivity‚ Spotify may finally have a profitable podcast business On a call today‚ Daniel Ek told investors what they have wanted to hear about podcasting for a long time. “I’m pleased to say in Q4‚ we were very close to breakeven on that business‚... Continue reading…

Image: Laura Normand / The Verge Lingo Telecom and Life Corporation are linked to a robocall campaign that used an AI voice clone of President Joe Biden to persuade New Hampshire voters not to vote‚ said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella during a press conference on Tuesday. Authorities have issued cease-and-desist orders as well as subpoenas to both companies. The two companies are both based in Texas and have been accused of illegal robocall investigations in the past‚ the FCC noted in the document. In its cease-and-desist order to Lingo Telecom‚ the FCC accused the company of “originating illegal robocall traffic.” According to the document‚ the robocalls began on January 21st of this year‚ two days before the New Hampshire presidential primary. Voters in... Continue reading…

Photo by Rodin Eckenroth / WireImage Three years after Disney cut ties with The Mandalorian’s Gina Carano‚ the actor is now filing a lawsuit against the company — with a little help from Elon Musk. As The Hollywood Reporter reports‚ Carano is suing Disney for discrimination and wrongful termination after she was fired following inflammatory and antisemitic posts on X (then Twitter) and Instagram. At the time of Carano’s firing‚ Disney said in a statement that “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” As for the timing‚ Carano is filing the lawsuit now because Musk posted in August of last year that “if you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this... Continue reading…

Google and then Samsung promised seven years of Android updates and seven years of security updates for the Pixel 8 phones and Galaxy S24 series‚ respectively. These guarantees are unprecedented. The best Android vendors could do before the Pixel 8 was four years of Android updates‚ and it was Samsung leading the charge‚ by the way.  While it's a great talking point‚ especially since it beats Apple's iPhone updates‚ I explained more than once why the promise of seven years of Android updates is somewhat misleading. Apple has never guaranteed software updates for any of its iPhone models. But it routinely gives them around five years of updates. It has certainly been better than anything Android vendors were able to muster before last year's promises. And now‚ we're seeing that Google and Samsung's 7-year guarantee is not something others are keen to copy. OnePlus is the best example of that. The Chinese vendor will only offer three to four years of Android updates for the newly announced OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R. And OnePlus has a great point about the promises that Google and Samsung make‚ which is in line with my expectations: The hardware isn't likely to last that long. Continue reading... The post OnePlus showed us the truth about Google and Samsung’s 7-year update promise for Android appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals This $16 clip-on lens kit fits the iPhone or any Android phone‚ and it’s awesome Amazon deal offers a 7-inch Android tablet for under $43 Save 61% on a 6-port USB rapid charger on Amazon Save 75% on a Canon black and white multifunction laser printer on Amazon

The Tudor era‚ spanning 118 years‚ emerged from the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII's victory at Bosworth in 1485 secured his tenuous claim to the throne Read moreSection: NewsVideosHistoryImportant EventsRead Later 

A pair of California lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill Tuesday to allow people 21 and older to consume psychedelic mushrooms under professional supervision as part of an agenda to tackle the state's mental health and substance use crises.

The former 'party drug' ketamine has gotten some good press recently‚ with clinical trials suggesting it might be a powerful and fast-acting antidepressant. Now‚ one of the first "real-world" studies of ketamine against depression appears to support those...

U.S. stock buybacks are picking up‚ with corporate announcements this earnings season trending above the prior two quarters and above the average of the past 12 earnings periods‚ according to EPFR.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Tuesday said she is concerned about looming commercial real estate stresses on banks and property owners‚ but believes the situation is manageable with assistance from bank regulators.

A door panel that flew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet mid-flight on Jan. 5 appeared to be missing four key bolts‚ according to an initial report by a U.S. safety board investigating the incident.