The Verge – Page 20

Snapchat’s Snapstreaks are about to get more flexible — for a fee

Snapstreaks, a Snapchat feature that tracks how long you’ve been trading daily snaps with a friend, are about to get a little more forgiving. In a short blog post, the company says it’s testing the option to let users restore broken streaks. “Starting today, we’re making it easier to take a break with a new feature we’re testing to let you reignite the spark and restore one Streak for free with just one tap,” it writes.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/2/23621747/snapchat-snapstreaks-restore-freeze-premium-features%20SUN

Pokémon Sleep is just the start of my fully gamified life

I go for walks with pikmin and soon will snooze with pokémon. What’s next: lunch with Kirby?
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/1/23618888/pokemon-sleep-nintendo-gamified-life-apps

Google Chrome’s new zoom on mobile blows things up by up to 300 percent

Chrome on Android now lets you zoom in on text, images, videos, and on-screen buttons up to 300 percent without affecting the layout of the webpage.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/27/23615602/google-chrome-page-zoom-android-accessibility

Google launches first Android beta for ad-tracking overhaul

Around this time last year, Google revealed it was working on a multiyear initiative to improve privacy and remodel ad tracking on Android phones, bringing the mobile platform in line with Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature for iOS. Google says the first beta for Privacy Sandbox on Android will start rolling out tomorrow to a limited number of Android 13 devices.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/14/23599027/google-android-privacy-sandbox-beta-advertising-tracking

Google’s AI chatbot Bard makes factual error in first demo

A GIF shared by Google shows Bard answering the question: “What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9 year old about?” Bard offers three bullet points in return, including one that states that the telescope “took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our own solar system.” However, a number of astronomers on Twitter pointed out that this is incorrect and that the first image of an exoplanet was taken in 2004 — as stated here on NASA’s website.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/8/23590864/google-ai-chatbot-bard-mistake-error-exoplanet-demo

Why are so many tech companies laying people off right now?

Image: The Verge

Let’s be real, none of these companies are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy — in fact, they were recently minting money.

The answer is that investors have changed how they’re evaluating companies, says Michael Cusumano, the deputy dean at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Generally, when companies are growing really fast — like when revenue is shooting up 20 percent or 30 percent a year — nobody cares about profits, Cusumano says. But we’re not in a growth period right now, so investors are being more cautious.

But we’re not in a growth period right now, so investors are being more cautious.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/26/23571659/tech-layoffs-facebook-google-amazon