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This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on all things AI, follow Hayden Field. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.
How it started
It all started with J.A.R.V.I.S. Yes, that J.A.R.V.I.S. The one from the Marvel movies.
Well, maybe it didn't start with Iron Man's AI...
Verizon has confirmed to customers in stores and online that its network is having an issue on Saturday. Many people have been unable to connect and make or receive calls for hours, while DownDetector’s tracker peaked in the afternoon at around 3:30PM ET with more than 20,000 reports. Some customers report their service has continued to function throughout the day, so it’s unclear what...
For the last week or two, reports have been circulating that recent Windows 11 updates (specifically KB5063878 and KB5062660) were causing some SSDs using Phison controllers to fail. Tech influencers on YouTube and TikTok were quick to jump on the reports of corrupted data and disappearing drives, laying the blame squarely at Microsoft’s feet. We’re not saying any company is above lying to...
Labor Day has finally arrived, and after a week of early discounts trickling in, the sales are now in full swing. We’ve put together an expansive guide detailing nearly 100 deals we think are worth the money — including everything from big-screen OLED TVs to back-to-school essentials like the latest MacBook Air — but we also recognize that spending a couple a hundred dollars on a new...
When a Waymo pulls up and parks in front of her home on a residential street in West Los Angeles, 10-year-old Morgan rushes to the window.
"The Waymo is home!" she says, calling to her parents, Lisa Delgin and Zach Tucker.
It is by no means the first time a Waymo has come "home" to this particular spot. Last year, a Waymo robotaxi dropped Delgin and Tucker off after a New Year's Eve party...
As one of the cofounders behind Oculus Story Studio, Edward Saatchi knows how hard it can be to sell people on new tech that bills itself as revolutionary. Even though Story Studio snagged an Emmy for one of its three animated features, a general lack of public interest in VR movies led Meta to shutter Oculus Story Studio back in 2017. The VR era has come and gone, but Saatchi is confident...
Every platform wants to be the place you hang with friends — even Spotify as of this week — so it’s apparently time for TikTok to shore up its direct messaging feature! It told TechCrunch that over the next few weeks, all users should see voice messages and image sharing options arrive in their DMs.
(They won’t show up for accounts that can’t DM to begin with, of course — “Direct...
The schedule of annual updates for Windows 11 that arrive in the second half of the year will hold steady for 2025, and today, Microsoft announced that the 25H2 package is available now for testing in the Release Preview Channel.
So, will you see new UI features or more AI tweaks included on your desktop with this update? Microsoft didn’t mention many specific features or changes in the...
There’s already been a number of leaks of upcoming Philips Hue products that are expected to be announced next week ahead of IFA. But one thing that hasn’t been mentioned was support for Matter-over-Thread. While there’s no confirmation that support is coming, there’s compelling evidence to suggest it might be.
First off, packaging for two unannounced bulbs appeared on Amazon, with a...
On Tuesday, I told you how the modular computer company Framework was finally fulfilling its promise of the "holy grail for gamers" - a laptop with modular, swappable discrete graphics cards so easy to swap, practically anyone can do it at home. The first futureproof gaming laptop, perhaps?
Today, I can confirm the system actually works. I traveled to Framework's San Francisco offices to...