This happened today

Deals: AirPods 3 Drop to New Record Low Price of $134.99 ($35 Off).

Verizon today introduced a new all-time low price on the AirPods 3 with Lightning Charging Case, available for $134.99, down from $169.99. This beats the previous record low price on the headphones by $5, and right now only Verizon has the deal. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Verizon. ...

The new Microsoft Teams is here with big performance improvements and UI changes.

The new and updated Microsoft Teams client. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is overhauling its Teams app today to make it faster and easier to use. Microsoft Teams has been rebuilt from the ground up, with a new preview available today for businesses to try out this radical rework that has been years in the making. ...

Microsoft Teams now lets you transform into a 3D avatar during meetings.

The new avatars inside Microsoft Teams. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is now allowing Teams users to create a 3D avatar to use in meetings instead of being on camera or even needing a webcam. Originally announced in 2021, Microsoft has been testing these 3D avatars over the past year and is now ready to allow Microsoft Teams users to try them out in public preview today. ...

The Nintendo Switch OLED is on sale at Woot.

The Nintendo Switch OLED rarely ever is $30 off. | Image: Nintendo If you’ve been eyeing the Nintendo Switch OLED but stayed away because of its price, good news: you can now buy the popular hybrid console with white Joy-Cons for $319.99 ($30 off) at Woot. The rare deal will be available until 10PM PT today, March 27th, or 1AM ET March 28th, as long as supplies last. ...

The TikTok ban is a betrayal of the open internet.

Image: Becca Farsace / The Verge There’s cause for alarm with TikTok — but is it enough to justify building America’s own Great Firewall? Continue reading…

Nintendo will show 10 minutes of 'Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' gameplay tomorrow.

You don't have to settle for trailers if you're curious to know how The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will play. Nintendo and series producer Eiji Aonuma will showcase 10 minutes of Tears gameplay in a live premiere on the company's YouTube channel. It's not clear just what you'll see, but it's safe to presume the demo will feature new mechanics and steer clear of major plot spoilers. ...

Nintendo is showing off ‘roughly 10 minutes’ of Tears of the Kingdom gameplay on March 28th.

Image: Nintendo Quite possibly the biggest game of the year is getting an appropriately large gameplay reveal. Nintendo announced that will be releasing a presentation featuring “roughly 10 minutes of gameplay” from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the much-anticipated sequel to the defining Breath of the Wild. ...

Lucid Motors recalls Lucid Air sedan for a defect that could cause a loss of power.

Image: Tim Stevens for The Verge Lucid Motors issued a recall for 637 of its luxury Air sedans over a faulty switch in its electrical motor that could lead to a loss in power. The issue is with electrically activated switches called contactors that “close at vehicle startup to transfer energy to and from the drive units, and open at vehicle shut down. ...

Zoom’s new AI features help you catch up on meetings you’re late to.

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Zoom has become the latest productivity app to expand its use of artificial intelligence. In a blog post published on Monday, the company announced a partnership with OpenAI that brings AI-generated summaries, message drafts, and more to the video conferencing app through its Zoom IQ AI-powered assistant. ...

FTC bans scammy companies from ‘calling about your car’s extended warranty’.

The proposed court order follows a lawsuit opened by the FTC last year that sought to charge operators of an “extended vehicle warranty” telemarketing scam. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Regulators in the US are cracking down on operators of an “extended vehicle warranty” telemarketing scam with action that could see the responsible parties face a lifetime ban from the vehicle warranty industry. ...

Apple Music Classical Begins Launching for Some iPhone Users.

Apple Music Classical is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, March 28, but it appears that the app is beginning to roll out for some iPhone users in some Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, according to Twitter users. Apple Music Classical became available for pre-order on the App Store earlier this month. ...

Apple Acquires WaveOne Startup Working on AI-Powered Video Compression.

Apple recently acquired WaveOne, a California-based startup that was developing AI algorithms for video compression, according to TechCrunch. Apple did not confirm the acquisition, but former WaveOne executive Bob Stankosh said a "sale of the company to Apple" was finalized earlier this year. In addition, the report notes that WaveOne's website was taken offline around January and that several of the company's employees now work at Apple on various machine learning teams. ...

Nintendo's eShop closures are putting generations of games out of reach.

The Nintendo eShop for the Wii U and 3DS game consoles officially closed for business on March 27th, 2023, permanently disabling all new purchases on the platforms. We knew this was coming. Nintendo quietly announced the eShop's closure over a year ago, asserting that it was the "natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time. ...

Deals: Save on Satechi's Best Accessories During its New 20% Off Sitewide Sale.

Satechi today kicked off a new springtime sale, offering 20 percent off sitewide when entering the code SPRING20 at checkout. This sale is available on all Satechi products sitewide with the exclusion of the new 200W USB-C 6-port GAN charger, and it will last through April 2. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Satechi. ...

Samsung Galaxy S23 phones drop to record low prices at Amazon.

You didn't have to wait long for Samsung's latest phones to receive steep discounts. Amazon is running a sale on the Galaxy S23 series that brings the flagship devices to record-low prices. Most notably, the Galaxy S23 Ultra with 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM is down to $1,200 (normally $1,380). You can roll the savings into wireless earbuds, a case and other accessories. ...

The swagged-out pope is an AI fake — and an early glimpse of a new reality.

The original viral image (left) and another AI-generated fake from the same batch (right). | Image: via Reddit / u/trippy_art_special AI-generated images have gone viral before, but none have spread so far and wide as a picture of the pope wearing what can only be described as a swagged-out puffy jacket. ...

The Nintendo Switch OLED is $30 off right now.

The Nintendo Switch OLED is a big improvement over the original, due in particular to the 7-inch OLED display that's larger and brighter than the original model. It's also $50 more than its predecessor, but a sale (today only) helps negate some of that. Woot is selling the Switch OLED for just $320, a savings of $30 over the regular price, and the best deal we've seen to date. ...

iPhone 15 Rumored to Lack SIM Card Tray in France and Likely Other Countries.

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models could launch without a SIM card tray in France this year, according to information obtained by French website MacGeneration. This means the devices would work with eSIMs only for cellular connectivity. If the SIM card tray is removed in France, it would likely be removed in at least some other European countries as well, as Apple typically sells one iPhone model in most of Europe. ...

Sonos Era 300 review: A big bet on spatial audio.

If you pay attention to the music industry, you’ve probably heard about spatial audio. The promise is that music will envelop the user from all directions without needing a room full of speakers to achieve the effect. Apple has pushed it a lot in the last few years, in Apple Music, its line of AirPods headphones and the latest HomePod speaker. ...

Sonos Era 100 review: Affordable multi-room audio that actually sounds good.

Of the two speakers Sonos announced earlier this month, the Era 100 is much easier to sum up: it’s a replacement for the Sonos One, which was first introduced in 2017. Unlike the Era 300, there’s no need to ponder the value of spatial audio; the Era 100 is a relatively straightforward mono speaker, just like the One and the Play:1 before it. ...

Sonos Era 300 review: too ahead of its time.

When you find a good spatial audio song, Sonos’ new speaker can blow your mind and sounds like nothing else. But it trails the Sonos Five at stereo playback and suffers from the wildly inconsistent state of Atmos mixes. Continue reading…

Apple Car's Self-Driving System Reportedly Advances, Could Use Sensors From iPhone LiDAR Supplier.

Apple has made advancements with its self-driving system and could use LiDAR sensors from Wenmao, Economic Daily News reports. Apple has reportedly improved its vehicle project's self-driving capabilities and is expanding testing. The self-driving system apparently heavily relies on LiDAR sensors, which Apple may source from Chinese supplier Wenmao – a supplier that already provides LiDAR scanners for the iPhone and iPad Pro. ...

Tim Cook Praises Apple's 'Symbiotic Relationship' With China During Beijing Visit.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has praised his company's "symbiotic relationship" with China during his first visit to the country in the last three years. Tim Cook shares a photo of his visit to Apple's Wangfujing store via Weibo In his first visit since the pandemic began in 2020, the Apple chief gave a keynote speech over the weekend at the China Development Forum, where he said he "could not be more excited" to celebrate Apple's 30th anniversary in the country, where the company makes the vast majority of its iPhones. ...

The Morning After: Some of Twitter's source code may have leaked online.

According to a New York Times report, parts of Twitter’s source code were leaked online. Court filings published Friday reveal Twitter claimed copyright infringement to have the code taken down from Github as soon as possible. The code was removed the same day, but there’s no report on how long it was online for – or the leak's scope or depth. ...

Tim Cook Pays Tribute to the Late Intel Co-Founder Gordon Moore.

Gordon Moore, co-founder and former chairman of Intel, died on Friday, March 24. He was 94. Tributes to the technology pioneer were shared on social media by Silicon Valley industry leaders over the weekend, including one from Apple CEO Tim Cook. Image credit: Intel"The world lost a giant in Gordon Moore, who was one of Silicon Valley's founding fathers and a true visionary who helped pave the way for the technological revolution," said Cook in a tweet. ...

Apple OLED Supplier Samsung to Start iPhone 15 Panel Production One Month Earlier Than Planned.

Apple OLED supplier Samsung Display will start manufacturing OLED panels for the iPhone 15 series a month earlier than planned due to production problems with one of Apple's other suppliers, according to a new report out of Korea. According to The Elec, Samsung will now begin manufacturing the OLED panels in May instead of June to compensate for the lack of planned initial orders from BOE, which is having problems with light leakage around the portion of the OLED display where the pill and hole cutouts secure the space necessary for the TrueDepth camera and Face ID. ...

Amazon will give you a $50 gift card when you buy a year of Microsoft 365 Family.

If you've been waiting to purchase Microsoft 365 Family, now might be the right time. Amazon is offering a 12-month subscription for $100, down from $150 — plus a $50 Amazon gift card. Basically, you save $50 and get another $50 in spending money, not so bad. Your purchase includes all the usual Microsoft programs — Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook etc. ...

It's your last chance to buy from Nintendo’s Wii U and 3DS eShops.

It's the end of an era as Nintendo is shutting down its Wii U and 3DS eShops today (March 27th) at 5PM PST (8PM EST). After that, you'll no longer be able to purchase new games for those consoles, though you'll still be able to redownload titles you've already purchased for the time being. ...

Portions of Twitter's source code were reportedly leaked online.

In yet another embarrassing development for new Twitter boss Elon Musk, court filings published Friday reveal that portions of the social media site's source code — the base programming that makes Twitter possible — have been leaked online, the New York Times reports.Per court filings, Twitter claimed copyright infringement in an effort to have the offending code taken down from the Github collaborative programming network, where it had been posted. ...