The iPhone Duo should have been an iPad
We gave the iPhone Duo a 7 /10. But that wasn't always the score we planned, and it might not be the right score forever. Such are the challenges of reviewing - and assessing - a big, new idea about the most popular smartphone in history.
On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay debate whether the Duo deserved the score it got, and try to work through how this device might change over time. Is the outer screen, as Daring Fireball's John Gruber suggested, the worst iPhone ever? Would it be a better product if it started as an iPad rather than an iPhone? Would we feel differently about this thing if it were simply called the iPad Du …
Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads
Google has updated its privacy policy in a way that could mean you'll start seeing targeted ads based on your personal data if you're using personalized AI features. The update, spotted by Android Authority, adds an exception to its promise about not using your Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos for personalized ads. While the previous version simply said it wouldn't do that, as of October 16th, Google has added the line, "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."
That means anyone who has connected their Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos to AI Mode and other Search tools …
The first broken iPhone Duos are here
The iPhone Duo officially goes on sale today, but a few units already have broken screens. According to posts on Reddit about the affected units, the issue appears to be happening at a similar spot on all of them: Some kind of problem shows up on the inner screen along the hinge and a strange bright line (or lines) across the right side of the display.
Here's how one user in Australia described what happened to their phone:
Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times.
I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen.
As I cont …
Feds want robotaxis to signal ‘I’m driving’ with cyan-colored lights
After years of debating how driverless cars should tell the world no one is at the wheel - flashing text, audio alerts, custom lights - the feds just stepped in with a single answer: cyan.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released proposed changes to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, specifically rewriting the rules to fit autonomous vehicles. It's a mix of cutting red tape for human-free designs and standardizing how robotaxis communicate with the world around them - starting with a distinctive blue-green light.
NHTSA is proposing cyan-colored marker lamps "to clearly and consistently signal to law e …
SpaceX’s mobile carrier push reportedly involves tapping into 80,000 cell sites
SpaceX is planning to access at least 80,000 cell sites as part of efforts to compete directly with Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, according to a report from Bloomberg. Sources tell the publication that SpaceX is in talks with Crown Castle Inc., one of the nation's largest cell tower owners.
The move would give SpaceX access to half of the 158,500 cell towers currently operational in the US, according to Reuters. When asked about a potential partnership with SpaceX, Amazon, or other satellite services during an earnings call on Wednesday, Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said, "I don't think I want to get into customer-specific detail, but y …
Meta delays new business terms after publisher pushback on AI scraping
Meta is delaying the enforcement of its new business terms after publishers raised concerns that they could allow the company to scrape news sites for AI training, as reported earlier by Fast Company. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts says the terms will go into effect on November 20th "to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not."
The business terms, which were originally supposed to go into effect on October 30th, appeared to give Meta permission to freely scrape the new sites that use its platforms, while using the material for AI training. Though Meta u …
The Sigma FP2 brings significant upgrades to the ‘world’s smallest’ full-frame camera
Seven years after Sigma claimed its original fp was the world's smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless camera, the company has announced a similarly compact follow-up with several welcome upgrades, including an improved sensor, an articulating LCD display, and longer battery life. But this time around, Sigma is only claiming its new FP2 is the "world's smallest" full-frame shooter since those upgrades have increased its body-only weight by about 6 grams.
The Sigma FP2 will be available on November 11th and starts at $2,199 for the camera body alone. For $2,749, you can bundle it with Sigma's upgraded EVF-21 viewfinder featuring a 5.76 …
Our best tips for using the iPhone Duo
The Duo is an entirely new kind of iPhone, so it comes with a bit of a learning curve. That's a wild thing to imagine, since the iPhone has had very few fundamental changes since its inception. But the Duo is built different. If you won the preorder lottery and managed to get your hands on one today, you'll see what that means. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll lose track of the volume buttons as you turn the thing around.
We've learned a few tricks over the past week of flipping and folding the Duo as much as we could. Here are our favorite tips and hacks for newly minted Duo owners.
You can set orientation lock on each screen independent …
Apple revives the original iPod as an Apple Music easter egg
If you've been feeling nostalgic for your old iPod, you can head over to Apple Music's 404 page to listen to music on a virtual re-creation of the first-generation iPod. The hidden iPod was spotted by users on social media on Friday. It's appropriately stocked with music from the early 2000s, like Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" or Gorillaz's "Feel Good Inc." The iPod seems to pop up on any non-existent Apple Music page, so you can find it by just adding a string of random letters after the main Apple Music URL.
People are vibe coding their way to better TVs
Vibe coding has reached TVs. Social media is awash with posts from people using LLMs and open-source tools to remove ads and tracking, trim bloat so the OS runs faster, and even completely change the look and organization of their homescreens. While a lot of it is fun - one user turned their TV homescreen into a Pokémon town - I think there's a level of frustration behind it, too. And TV companies should take notice.