Google is bringing verified checkmarks to its search engine

Verified checkmarks used to be a status symbol before Elon Musk ruined everything by allowing the plebs to purchase said status. Google, however, might be bringing back the status symbol nature of verified checkmarks, as it seems intent on introducing them to its search results. This is only a test at the moment, which only a limited subset of Google users are seeing. But what they are seeing will definitely seem familiar to anyone who's been on a social media site in the past few years. The checkmarks are blue and show up next to business links, which makes this a case of good...

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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE unboxing

We had a brief encounter the other day, but now that it hit the shelves we managed to grab a Samsung Galaxy S24 FE unit to review. But before handing it over to the review team let's do a quick unboxing. There's not much in the retail package, to be honest. The phones ships with a USB-C cable and a SIM tool, packaged in a typical black box. If it's good enough for the Galaxy S24 Ultra - it's good enough for the FE, we guess. We have the base model 8/2128GB in Yellow - what we'd expect most users would go for - the S24 FE is supposed to be the value-for-money option after all. The...

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YouTube Shorts are getting longer

YouTube Shorts are getting longer. Starting on October 15, you can create Shorts that are up to 3 minutes long. This was apparently a top requested feature, and now it's almost here. The change obviously won't affect any videos uploaded before October 15, and applies to videos that are square or taller in aspect ratio. YouTube says it will also work hard to improve recommendations for longer Shorts "in the coming months". Shorts are also getting templates, which you can try by tapping Remix on a Short and then selecting Use this template. And, "in the coming months", you'll be able...

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Samsung phones will unlock your door with a tap, or even hands-free

Samsung smartphones will, from next year, be able to unlock smart locks with just a tap - or not even that, by going hands-free using UWB. The tap to unlock functionality will use NFC instead, as you may have expected. Samsung users will thus become on par with iPhone owners, who have had the ability to unlock smart locks in a fiddle-free way already. Samsung will support the new Aliro smart lock standard and add it to its Wallet's Digital Home Key. When that happens, tap to unlock and hands-free unlocking will become a reality, and both of these can work locally between your phone...

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Google Pixel 9a to get an early launch

The Pixel 9 family was launched back in August, around two months earlier than Google's previous events took place in past years. But the family still isn't complete - the Pixel 9a is left to join it. And it will do so sooner than you may have expected, according to a new rumor. The Pixel 9a will be available for pre-order in mid-March, multiple sources have allegedly said. This is about - you guessed it - two months early compared to previous a series releases which took place around Google I/O in May. Google Pixel 9a leaked CAD-based render The Pixel 9a is then said to ship and...

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Gemini Live will be available in more than 40 languages

Google's Gemini Live conversational AI experience recently became available to everyone for free, and now the company has announced another development for this specific service. Starting today and "rolling out over the coming weeks", the conversational Gemini Live will suport more than 40 languages. Gemini Live supports conversations in up to two languages on the same device, and there are plans to expand this to more languages in the future. Unfortunately, Google hasn't shared a list of the 40+ languages Gemini Live will be available in soon, at least not yet. Before...

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Teardowns of new AirPods show no major repairability gains

Apple announced its AirPods 4 and AirPods Max with USB-C last month and the team over at iFixt has now shared their teardowns. Long story short, neither of the new AirPods offers improvements in terms of repairability. The small AirPods 4 require a specialized jig holder that keeps them in place while a heat gun helps loosen the adhesive to open up the top half of the buds. AirPods 4 teardown (iFixit) We can then see the speaker and battery components surrounded by heaps of glue. Opening up the bottom of the stem is a lot more challenging and requires a knife to cut...

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