Google's new Best Phones Forever ads hearken back to the Mac versus PC ads of yesteryear, with Google arguing that Apple no longer tries to innovate with the iPhone.A new series of five ads feature a talking iPhone 14 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel Fold, which have quashed their ongoing rivalry to instead be friends.However, the series is designed to give the two phones space to hash out their differences, with the premise that the Google continues to innovate with Pixel, while Apple doesn't. Read more...

Starting with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, Apple is making Communication Safety available worldwide. The previously opt-in feature will now be turned on by default for children under the age of 13 who are signed in to their Apple ID and part of a Family Sharing group. Parents can turn it off in the Settings app under Screen Time. Communication Safety first launched in the U.S. with iOS 15.2 in December 2021, and has since expanded to Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. With the software updates coming later this year, Apple is making the feature available globally. Communication Safety is designed to warn children…

Image: Apple While Apple imagines users wearing its Vision Pro headset to do a variety of things, like watch movies, capture videos, and multitask, it still hasn’t mentioned one pretty major application: fitness. But now, a report from The Information suggests that Apple had been planning workout apps for the mixed reality headset, but they just weren’t ready in time for its June reveal. Former Apple employees tell The Information that staff members explored partnering with Nike to create workouts for the Vision Pro and also looked into creating face cushions designed for “sweaty, high-intensity workouts.” Apple employees even reportedly weighed the idea of letting Vision Pro wearers interact with content while on a stationary bike. Although Apple let some…

Screenshot by Barbara Krasnoff / The Verge The other day, I was going through a bag full of old tech — I mean, really old tech — trying to convince myself to finally get rid of phones that I hadn’t used for 10 years or so when I came across a battery. One of the batteries that I used to carry around in case my phone ran out of juice. You see, once upon a time, smartphones had replaceable batteries. Instead of having to carry around a portable charger or search desperately for a wall socket so you could charge up your failing phone (assuming you had a power cord with you), you could pull off the back of your…

The Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon for tricking customers into signing up for Prime, only to make it exceedingly difficult to cancel those subscriptions when no longer wanted.The suit, filed on Wednesday, says that Amazon had enrolled millions of customers into the paid subscription service without their consent. When customers attempted to cancel Prime, they faced a multi-step process designed to be deliberately difficult.The FTC notes that Amazon used the term "Iliad Flow" to describe the cancellation process, referencing Homer's epic poem about the Trojan War. Read more...

The Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon for tricking customers into signing up for Prime, only to make it exceedingly difficult to cancel those subscriptions when no longer wanted.The suit, filed on Wednesday, says that Amazon had enrolled millions of customers into the paid subscription service without their consent. When customers attempted to cancel Prime, they faced a multi-step process designed to be deliberately difficult.The FTC notes that Amazon used the term "Iliad Flow" to describe the cancellation process, referencing Homer's epic poem about the Trojan War. Read more...