Music Labels Sue Verizon for $2.6 Billion Music Labels Sue Verizon for More Than $2.6 Billion Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Powerful record labels, including UMG Recordings, Warner Music, and Sony Music, filed a lawsuit Friday accusing Verizon of intentionally ignoring its customers’ copyright violations for profit, reports Music Business Worldwide. The plaintiffs say they are entitled to as much as $150,000 per violation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which could add up to as much as $2.6 billion. The lawsuit includes a list of 17,335 tracks from artists or bands, including Elvis Presley, Matchbox Twenty, Goo Goo Dolls, and Brandy. (Here’s the list if you’d like to dive further in — it starts with Sam Cooke and ends with Wiz Khalifa.) The labels say they’ve…

The Best Xbox Controller to Buy Right Now Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge From basic and affordable to premium and ultra-customizable, these are the best controllers we’ve tested for Xbox. And they work with PCs, too. Continue reading… source: https://www.theverge.com/23025443/best-xbox-controllers-one-series-x-s

This HR Company Tried to Treat AI Bots Like People — It Didn’t Go Over Well This HR Company Tried to Treat AI Bots Like People — It Didn’t Go Over Well Image: Lattice “Today Lattice is making AI history,” CEO Sarah Franklin wrote in a July 9th blog post. “We will be the first to give digital workers official employee records in Lattice. Digital workers will be securely onboarded, trained, and assigned goals, performance metrics, appropriate systems access, and even a manager. Just as any person would be.” On July 12th, after a very predictable backlash, Lattice posted an update saying it “will not further pursue digital workers in the product.” Here’s a sample of the responses to Lattice’s original announcement: “I have questions,” Hebba Youssef, chief people officer…

How to Install the iOS 18 Public Betas How to Install the iOS 18 Public Betas People with Apple developer accounts have had all the fun with the iOS 18 betas so far, but now that the public betas are out, anyone can try the new features. Setting up the public beta is slightly less involved than setting up the developer beta but just as free. And if you’re looking for help with the iPadOS 18 beta, you’re in the right place: the setup process is the same. You should understand what you’re getting when you try a beta, though. For one, you won’t get all of the new features at once; many of them will come down the road. Also, the fun of trying features early comes with the…

Apple releases public betas for iOS 18, macOS, and more Apple releases public betas for iOS 18, macOS, and more Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge You can now download the public betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and watchOS 11. Apple’s updated operating systems will eventually include Apple Intelligence AI features and a better Siri — if you have the right device, that is. For now, the betas will bring less exciting but still useful features to the various Apple devices. The public iOS 18 beta will bring with it key updates to the way the iPhone software works, including support for RCS messaging and new customization options that let users put apps wherever they want to on the homescreen (finally) or apply a tint to…

Apple’s Public Betas: All the News on iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and More Apple lets the public in on beta testing, but Apple Intelligence is likely still months away. Continue reading… source: https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/15/24199011/apples-public-betas-all-the-news-on-ios-18-macos-sequoia-and-more

The watchOS 11 Beta Slowed Me Down, in a Good Way The Modular Ultra face now allows you to have bezels for your training load and vitals. One thing always irked me about the Apple Watch. Rain or shine, in sickness and in health, it pushed me to close my rings. Never mind if I had covid-19, shin splints, or was mentally in a dark place. It nudged me to be a “better” version of myself, so long as better didn’t involve a day off. But with watchOS 11 — the public beta of which arrives today — it feels like my Apple Watch is finally cutting me some slack. This is largely due to a trio of new features: the new Vitals app, Training Load feature, and the ability…

YouTube Music Tests AI Playlists Tailored to What You Want to Hear YouTube Music is testing a new feature that lets you use AI to generate a playlist. In a statement to The Verge, YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby said that Premium users in the US will be able to create a custom playlist by “describing exactly what they want to hear.” As shown in screenshots obtained by 9to5Google, the feature could surface a chat UI that you can use to enter a description, or choose from prompts like, “Catchy pop choruses” or “Upbeat pop anthems.” It will then generate a playlist based on your description. Spotify has a similar feature that lets Premium users generate playlists using AI. Gibby says YouTube Music is also rolling out a feature that lets…

Appeals Court Halts Return of Net Neutrality Written by: Cath Virginia / The Verge Photos from Getty Images A federal appeals court has agreed to halt the reinstatement of net neutrality rules until August 5, while the court considers whether more permanent action is justified. It’s the latest setback in a long back-and-forth on net neutrality — the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) should not be able to block or throttle internet traffic in a discriminatory manner. The Federal Communications Commission has sought to achieve this by reclassifying ISPs under Title II of the Communications Act, which gives the agency greater regulatory oversight. The Democratic-led agency enacted net neutrality rules under the Obama administration, only for those rules to be repealed under Trump’s FCC. The current FCC, which has…

Google Vids is Available to Test Out Gemini AI-Created Video Presentations Google is launching its new Vids productivity app in Workspace Labs with the idea that “if you can make a slide, you can make a video in Vids.” Announced in April, Vids allows users to drop docs, slides, voiceovers, and video recordings into a timeline to create a presentation video to share with coworkers. Making it available in the Labs preview allows Workspace admins to opt-in users to try out the AI-powered video maker. While you can generate video in Vids, it’s not to be confused with AI tools like OpenAI’s Sora, which can create life-like footage from a prompt. Instead, Vids is about generating a presentation by describing what you want to Gemini and then letting you alter…