Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge When we talk about the smart home, we often talk about grand visions of perfectly automated everything. You know the ones: you wake up well rested thanks to some bedside light thing, and as you stretch luxuriously toward the ceiling, a sensor notices and turns on the coffee pot, starts steaming the sauna, and plays a curated playlist of all your favorite songs. It sounds nice! It is... mostly not how the smart home actually works. But you know what does work and is pretty smart? Swapping out the lock on your front door for something that lets you enter with a code or a fingerprint or even just knows when you’re nearby and opens right up. In recent months, we’ve seen a slew of smart locks, along with some new video doorbells, that make a... Continue reading…

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Old Fort, North Carolina. | Photo by Sean Rayford / Getty Images Companies mining high-purity quartz in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, have paused operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The quartz is a critical component of the chipmaking process — and it’s only found in Spruce Pine. The two mining companies in the area, Sibelco and The Quartz Corp, confirmed that flooding, power outages, and employee displacement have led them to stop their work. In a statement on its website, Sibelco confirmed that it has “temporarily halted operations at the Spruce Pine facilities in response to these challenges” since September 26th: We are working closely with our local team to safely restart operations as soon as we can and are actively coordinating with local authorities and other partners to manage... Continue reading…

Generative Erase is like Google Pixel’s Magic Eraser feature but for your desktop PC. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is bringing some new AI-powered Paint and Photos features to Copilot Plus PCs that could make creatives less reliant on more powerful image editing software. Generative Fill and Generative Erase — which appear to be heavily inspired by similar AI tools in Adobe Photoshop — are being introduced to Paint, allowing users to precisely add or remove objects in their images. Both tools utilize a size-adjustable brush to “paint” over specific areas of an image to edit. Generative Erase will remove unwanted figures, objects like background clutter, and other distractions, similar to the Magic Eraser feature on Google’s Pixel phones. Generative Fill allows Paint users to add new AI-generated assets to an image using a text description... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Copilot is transforming into a more personalized AI assistant thanks to Inflection. Continue reading…

Image: Epic Games Developers that build Fortnite experiences can now try out a new first-person camera mode. The feature will first be available as an experimental release in the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Later this year, the feature will launch in beta, and at that time, creators will be able to publish their experiences with first-person modes, Epic Games says. The company first revealed the first-person perspective at its State of Unreal show in March, though it’s not planned for Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode, Epic confirmed to Rock Paper Shotgun. You can get a brief look at the mode in Epic’s State of Unreal replay at 1:06:26. For now, not everything a player does will stay in first person. Certain actions, including swimming, gliding, and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is using AI models to greatly improve Windows search on its new Copilot Plus PCs, including the addition of a new Click to Do feature that’s very similar to Google’s Circle to Search. These search improvements will make it easier to find and interact with images, emails, documents, and even videos and are just a few of the AI-based features coming to Copilot Plus PCs starting in November. The improved Windows search will first show up in File Explorer on Copilot Plus PCs next month, allowing you to search for pictures using words, even if the search word isn’t found in the photo or file name. “AI-powered search makes it dramatically easier to find virtually anything,” says Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is starting to release its Windows 11 2024 update today, also known as version 24H2. This update includes a number of small but useful additions to Windows 11 that improve the Start menu, File Explorer, Settings, and much more. The Start menu has a big change for those using Microsoft’s Phone Link software. The Windows 11 2024 update adds a side panel to the Start menu that provides information on your phone’s battery status and notifications as well as quick access to messages, calls, and photos. The floating panel is a neat addition for Phone Link users. If you own an HDR monitor, this latest Windows 11 update will enable HDR background support, and you can also now easily toggle monitor color profiles directly within the... Continue reading…

The idea of venturing into the unknown, facing danger, and discovering something new has captivated people for centuries. From the great sea voyages of the Age of Discovery to the exploration of the polar regions and beyond, the exploits of famous explorers have captured public imagination. For some people, the allure of exploration is so strong that they have decided to recreate the famous journeys of historical explorers themselves. These modern-day adventurers have taken on similar challenges, dangers, and witnessed many of the same wonders as their predecessors. In doing so, they have not only brought significant moments from history back to life, but also forged their own paths of adventure and discovery. Elise Wortley: Retracing the Steps of Forgotten Female Explorers Elise Wortley has traced the journeys of female explorers such as the French explorer Alexandra David-Néel, who traveled through the Himalayas; writer and poet Nan Shepherd, who trekked through the Scottish Cairngorms; and British-Italian explorer Freya Stark, who traveled through Iran's Valley of Assassins. She takes the re-creation of those expeditions seriously – not only following in the footsteps of these remarkable women, but also wearing the clothing and using the equipment that was available to them. Read moreSection: Ancient WritingsNewsGeneralScienceAmericasHistoryAncient TraditionsFamous PeoplePreviewRead Later 

Pete Rose, baseball's career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, has died.

US Sea Power Reaching Inflection Point, Experts Warn