Skip to main content

Today’s Storystream

Feed refreshed

Is Samsung’s Snapdragon X ARM laptop imminent?

Yes, in a few days, says German tech site WinFuture, citing unnamed sources (and Samsung’s site). That includes a 16-inch Galaxy Book 4 Edge Pro that’s equipped with the highest-end version of the Snapdragon X ARM chip that’s meant to take on Apple’s custom M-series chips.

Expect other Snapdragon X laptops soon, including from Microsoft, Dell, and Asus.


A screenshot purporting to be of the Galaxy Book 4 Edge 16-inch.
Is this the 16-inch Galaxy Book 4 Edge?
Image: WinFuture
W
External Link
Winamp wants your ideas.

The company announced that it’s “opening up its source code” and invites developers to contribute to the Windows version of its music player. It’s also releasing a mobile app in July. As ZDNet points out, the company will still own and decide what goes into the official version.

Winamp didn’t immediately reply to a request for more information, like whether and what open-source license it’ll use.


AI assistants are so back

On The Vergecast: what’s new from OpenAI and Google, the future of search, and more.

W
Twitter
Your iPhone trade-ins might be a little more valuable on Monday.

Apple retail stores will offer a little more money for iPhone trade-ins in the US and Canada for people upgrading to the iPhone 15 series of phones from May 20th to June 3rd, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

He didn’t say what the new values will be. At the moment, the most Apple offers is $630 for an iPhone 14 Pro Max.


YouTube Music looks a little nicer on iOS now.

The app’s “Now Playing” screen has a gradient background now, as 9to5Google spotted. Also, the three tabs at the bottom aren’t on a visually separate bar anymore, though you can still swipe up to reveal them.

If you don’t see it at first, try swiping the app closed from the app switcher and relaunching — worked for me.


A pair of screenshots, showing the old YouTube Music background on the left, and the new one on the right.
Old (left) vs. new (right).
Screenshots: YouTube Music

The Mac vs. PC war is back on

We might be about to witness Microsoft’s M1 moment.

S
External Link
I would watch the heck out of a good Sierra On-Line documentary.

Ken and Roberta Williams are some of the most influential video game designers ever, and also founded a video game publisher that did a whole lot more — until Sierra On-Line became a victim of massive accounting fraud and dramatically collapsed.

Vice’s Waypoint published this must-read feature story about it, before it, too, became a victim. Now, an authorized Sierra documentary is coming:


Microsoft’s AI obsession is jeopardizing its climate ambitions

After pledging to slash its greenhouse gas emissions, Microsoft’s climate pollution has grown by 30 percent as the company prioritizes AI.

Cillian Murphy’s coming back for 28 Years Later.

It wasn’t initially clear whether Cillian Murphy might return for Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 Years Later. But Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman revealed to Deadline that we can expect to see Murphy show up in a “a surprising way and in a way that grows,” when the movie hits theaters on June 20th, 2025.


96th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals
Photo by Sarah Morris/WireImage
E
External Link
“Pig butchering” scammers arrested for crypto money laundering.

Perhaps of note: their Binance accounts and their Deltec accounts; Deltec was allegedly key in giving FTX secret money to buy Tether. Criminal complaint here.

And though the charges are for laundering at least $73 million, the wallet in question received $341 million between April 2021 and the date of the indictment. Hm!


“The first AI standup comedian powered by 5G.”

After a week of watching AI demos of ChatGPT and Google’s Project Astra, reset with comedian Conner O’Malley’s new special Stand Up Solutions.

O’Malley performs as startup founder Richard Eagleton, pitching an “AI standup comedian” product for an audience of VCs. The unhinged presentation parodies tech bro lingo and exaggerated business promises — which is probably NSFW, especially if you work in Big Tech.


Comedian Conner O’Malley yelling at this AI standup robot on a screen

The Verge’s 2024 graduation gift guide

We found all sorts of gadgets and goodies to celebrate the class of 2024, from the practical to the poignant.

A
Twitter
One last update for Redfall.

Despite the studio’s closure, Arkane Austin is squeezing out one final update for its vampiric shooter Redfall. This follows the final patch for Hi-Fi Rush from Tango Gameworks, which was also shut down.


A
Twitter
We have Fallout at home.

Post-apocalyptic wastelands are all the rage right now, and soon that will extend to Fortnite. When the game’s Greek mythology season ends next week, it will give way to something that will hopefully make the wait for Fallout 5 a little easier.


There’s a way to get your Uber notifications without putting up with marketing as well.

If you use Uber with an iPhone, you can turn off unwanted marketing notifications — but the feature is a leetle hard to find. Okay, it’s a lot hard to find. John Gruber found it, though: go to Account > Settings > Privacy > Offers and Promos from Uber and tap the word here.  You can then unsubscribe from some or all Uber marketing emails or notifications.


Page saying Manage Offers and Promos from Uber

1/2

Tap on the word “here”...
Screenshot: Uber

Google and OpenAI are racing to rewire the internet

Both companies are competing to build a combination of ChatGPT and Search. Now, it’s a matter of who can out-maneuver the other.

FromSoftware just debuted their bloodiest monster yet.

FromSoftware’s monster designs have really nailed the inherent horror of living in ambulatory sentient meat sacs and this new one from Shadow of the Erdtree is just...

That is a uterus, y’all and if it means Shadow of the Erdtree will tread the “transformative horrors of childbirth” like Bloodborne did, I am so on board. I cannot wait for June 21st, my uterus is ready.


Image of a monster from Shadow of the Erdtree featuring a feminine looking monster in a gold mask wielding circular blades hunched in a position to resemble a uterus.
Image: Bandai Namco
U
External Link
And this pot of $150 million is for all the bad batteries.

Chevy Bolt owners who were forced to have their battery range nerfed (because of fire risk) might get promised compensation thanks to LG agreeing to pitch in with GM on the relief fund.


J
External Link
EU threatens Microsoft with huge fines over AI concerns.

The European Commission has given Microsoft until May 27th to hand over the information it needs to assess Bing’s generative AI features, or else face fines of up to six percent of the company’s global annual income.

The EU suspects that tools like “Copilot in Bing” and “Image Creator by Designer” may have violated its DSA rules regarding deepfakes, voter manipulation, and ‘hallucinations.’


T
External Link
UK regulators won’t investigate Microsoft’s Mistral AI partnership.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has decided that Microsoft’s Mistral AI investment “does not qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002.” The brief statement comes weeks after the CMA signaled it was looking into Microsoft and Amazon’s AI partnerships. Microsoft invested around $16 million into Mistral and also hired a bunch of Inflection AI staff.

Correction: Microsoft’s Mistral investment was around $16 million, not $2.1 billion.