The Verge – Page 17

Adobe adds Firefly generative AI features to new Express mobile app

Adobe has released a new app for Adobe Express, its cloud-based mobile design platform, bringing the same creative, editing, and Firefly-powered generative AI features enjoyed by desktop users to iOS and Android devices. Available to try for free today in beta, the new Adobe Express app allows users to easily produce creative assets like social media posts, posters, and website banners, with Creative Cloud members able to access and edit Photoshop and Illustrator files directly within the mobile app.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093148/adobe-express-mobile-app-beta-firefly-generative-ai-design-tool

Facebook will remove its News tab and stop paying publishers for news

Facebook’s News tab launched in 2019 with millions of dollars in content deals for publishers (a reported $10 million for the Wall Street Journal, $20 million for the New York Times, and $3 million for CNN), but in April it’s going away for good. Meta says it will “deprecate” Facebook News in the US and Australia in April 2024, it won’t enter new commercial deals for news, and it “will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future.”
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/29/24087220/facebook-news-tab-united-states-australia

Samsung has big ambitions for the Galaxy Ring

amsung’s VP of Digital Health Dr. Hon Pak didn’t specifically say what sensors are in the ring, but mentioned sleep insights based on heart rate, movement, and respiratory indicators. Dr. Pak says that Samsung’s partnership with Natural Cycles (which already brings period and fertility tracking to its Galaxy Watch series) will extend to the Ring, too — putting it in direct competition with the Oura ring. On the Galaxy Ring, battery size increases slightly in the larger band sizes, though Dr. Pak couldn’t share any exact battery life estimates.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/26/24082729/samsung-has-big-ambitions-for-the-galaxy-ring

Wunderlist’s creators are back with a nifty new to-do app

Wunderlist was both full of useful features and whimsical in a way few apps manage. Then, long story short, Microsoft bought it in 2015, morphed it into Microsoft To Do (a very good and much less delightful tasks app), and killed Wunderlist forever. But a group of the folks who made Wunderlist in the first place, led by co-founder Christian Reber, set out to bring its spirit back to life.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/13/24071136/superlist-tasks-app-wunderlist-productivity-tool

Supreme Court rejects Epic v. Apple antitrust case

Epic v. Apple began in 2020 after Epic implemented its own payment system for Fortnite’s virtual currency, bypassing Apple’s commission on in-app purchases. Apple banned Epic from its iOS App Store and Epic filed a lawsuit in response, claiming the App Store — and Apple’s overall walled-garden approach to iOS — violated US antitrust laws. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected most of Apple’s claims and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the decision.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/16/24039983/supreme-court-epic-apple-antitrust-case-rejected

Adobe abandons $20 billion acquisition of Figma

Following mounting pressure from regulators in the UK and EU, Adobe and Figma announced on Monday that both companies are mutually terminating their merger agreement, which would have seen Adobe acquire the Figma product design platform for $20 billion. “It’s not the outcome we had hoped for,” said Figma CEO Dylan Field in a statement. “But despite thousands of hours spent with regulators around the world detailing differences between our businesses, our products, and the markets we serve, we no longer see a path toward regulatory approval of the deal.”
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/18/24005996/adobe-figma-acquisition-abandoned-termination-fee

E3 is officially over forever

E3 is dead for good. “We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners,” Stanley Pierre-Louis, the CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, the nonprofit trade organization that ran E3, told the Post.
https://www.theverge.com/23998271/e3-gaming-convention-canceled-death