Shopify’s AI ‘Sidekick’ chatbot for merchants is now in early access - Technology news - NewsLocker (2024)

A promotional image for Shopify’s Sidekick chatbot. | Image: Shopify Shopify’s new AI “Sidekick” chatbot is officially launching in early access, the company said as part of its “2024 Summer Edition” updates announced on Monday.Sidekick, which the company first revealed last year, functions as a support chatbot for merchants, helping them do things like make discount codes, generate reports about your store, or suggest blog post ideas. Sure, it sounds like pre

The Best Instant Coffees (2024): Tested and Reviewed

These instant coffees prove that fast doesn’t have to mean foul.

Tesla Cybertuck recalled again, this time over faulty wiper and trim

The Cybertruck is suffering from real-world issues.| The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images Tesla is again issuing a physical recall of its Cybertruck. This time it’s recalling 11,688 of its electric pickups due to a faulty windshield wiper that could reduce visibility for the driver, and 11,383 Cybertrucks due to trim in the truck bed that could come loose and create a road hazard for others.
These new recalls follow a recall in April affecting 3,878 Cybertrucks over the risk of a j

Uber and Aurora announce ‘long-term’ driverless truck deal after successful pilot

Photo: Aurora Uber’s freight hauling business will use Aurora’s driverless trucks on routes between Dallas and Houston as part of a new “long-term” deal that builds on a three-year-old commercial pilot.Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers on the Texas route launching later this year. Launched in 2017, Uber Freight connects truck drivers with shippers, much in the same way the company’s ridehailing app pairs drivers with those looking for a ride

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The Mystery of AI Gunshot-Detection Accuracy Is Finally Unraveling

How accurate are gunshot detection systems, really? For years, it's been a secret, but new reports from San Jose and NYC show these systems have operated well below their advertised accuracy rates.

Microsoft charged with EU antitrust violations for bundling Teams

Image: The Verge EU regulators have charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its Teams chat app with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. It’s the first time Microsoft has been charged with antitrust violations in the EU for 15 years, following two big cases related to Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer bundling.
“The European Commission has informed Microsoft of its preliminary view that Microsoft has breached EU antitrust rules by tying its communication and col

Pooping on the Moon Is a Messy Business

If humans are to return to the moon, space agencies and governments need to figure out the legal, ethical, and practical dimensions of extraterrestrial waste management.

Deepfake Creators Are Revictimizing GirlsDop*rn Sex Trafficking Survivors

The most notorious deepfake sexual abuse website is hosting altered videos originally published as part of the GirlsDop*rn operation. Experts say this new low is only the beginning.

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The US Is Being Flooded by Chinese Vapes

The US government vowed to crack down on the sale of illegal nicotine vapes. They only got cheaper, fancier, and more potent.

Here’s how much Google says it’d cost to fulfill Epic’s biggest demands

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge How much would it cost Google to let third-party app stores like the Epic Games Store live inside its own Google Play Store, with access to every Android app? Google says the reputational damage can’t be calculated — but that it’d take 12 to 18 months and upwards of $60 million to build and maintain the technical underpinnings.
We’re still waiting to find out what Epic actually won in its surprise victory against Google last Decem

Logitech’s affordable new low-profile keyboard also fits Cherry MX-style keycaps

The Logitech G G515 Lightspeed TKL wireless keyboard is just 22mm thick and features upgraded MX-compatible keycaps. | Image: Logitech Logitech has announced a new low-profile gaming keyboard, the G515 Lightspeed TKL Wireless, featuring upgraded low-profile switches that are now compatible with Cherry MX-style keycaps, improving the keyboard’s customizability.
The G515 is a welcome upgrade to Logitech’s G915 Lightspeed Wireless keyboard, which debuted in 2019. The new G515 features a

Boring Architecture Is Starving Your Brain

Thomas Heatherwick believes architecture has a “nutritional value” to society—and that the public desperately deserve a better offering.

Amazon Prime Day 2024 will take place on July 16th and 17th

Amazon’s first — and perhaps only — Prime Day event of the year is just around the corner. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As expected, Amazon’s annual sales event for Prime subscribers will once again take place in mid-July. The two-day sales event will start at 12:01AM PT / 3:01AM ET on Tuesday, July 16th, and run through Wednesday, July 17th, the company announced on Tuesday.
Like in previous years, Prime Day 2024 will function as a two-day sale, one that&rsq

EcoFlow’s new solar generator is a portable powerhouse

You can even charge your EV in a pinch. | Image: EcoFlow EcoFlow just released its new Delta Pro 3 portable solar generator that can scale to power your entire home during a blackout, a van or RV’s electrical system, or a party at the beach. It can even add a few extra miles to your EV in a pinch.
The Delta Pro 3 improves upon the very capable Delta Pro I reviewed in 2022 with even more storage capacity, more powerful inputs and outputs, reduced noise, and a wider wheelbase that should mak

Seven things I learned about the Sony car while playing Gran Turismo inside one

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge You know how Sony’s making a electric car with Honda that’s coming in 2026? Sony Honda Mobility is now letting journalists seriously touch its Afeela prototype — and play with a Gran Turismo video game version of the car while sitting inside the actual machine.
That’s why I drove to PlayStation’s North American headquarters last week, to try an Afeela inside an Afeela and touch the things we couldn’t touch before. But I got

Julian Assange is ‘free,’ will plead guilty to leaking national security secrets

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is now free, according to a post on X from the WikiLeaks account. “He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.”Court documents indicate Assange has reached a plea deal with the US on one count of violating the

Gmail’s Gemini AI sidebar and email summaries are rolling out now

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Gmail is getting more AI features that could make it easier to stay on top of your email.
On the web, Google is beginning to roll out a new Gemini side panel that can do things like summarize email threads and draft new emails. The tool will offer “proactive prompts” but you can also ask “freeform questions,” Google writes in a blog post, and it’s “built to leverage Google’s most capable models,” such as Gemi

Game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect ‘immediately’ terminating relationship with the streamer

Photo by Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images Midnight Society, the game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect, has terminated its relationship with the streamer. In a post on X, the studio wrote that it was made aware on Friday of allegations that Dr Disrespect — whose real name is Herschel “Guy” Beahm — was banned from Twitch in 2020 for sexting a minor. The studio said that it had launched an investigation in response.
“We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parti

Apple says no to PC emulators on iOS

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple might finally allow retro video game emulators on the App Store, but this month, the company rejected submissions of iDOS 3, a new version of the popular DOS emulator, and UTM SE, an app that lets you emulate operating systems like Windows on iOS. In both instances, Apple said the new releases violate guideline 4.7 of the App Review Guidelines, which is the one that allows for retro game emulators.
Chaoji Li, the developer of iDOS 3, shared some of Apple&r

The entry-level Steam Deck is cheaper than ever ahead of Steam’s Summer Sale

The original Steam Deck is still a great handheld, and right now, it’s as affordable as it gets in new condition. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Summer has various official and unofficial starts to kick off the season, but the real one for many of us gamers is Steam’s annual Summer Sale — which Valve recently announced will begin on Thursday, June 27th, at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. And as an added treat, Valve’s entry-level Steam Decks are already on sale for an all-time low

Fake Elon Musk livestreams promoting crypto scams keep popping up on YouTube

Is there any end in sight to fake Elon Musk livestream scams on YouTube?Over the weekend, Engadget reported on a YouTube broadcast featuring Elon Musk talking at what appears to be a Tesla conference-type event. The livestream had over 30,000 viewers at one point according to Engadget.One problem: It wasn't real. The fake live event is part of an ongoing cryptocurrency scam on YouTube.Fake Elon Musk livestreams on YouTube continue to flourishThe scammers that take part in this particular scheme

Auto industry pleads with Biden administration to ‘reconsider’ automatic braking rule

Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images The auto industry’s main lobbying group is requesting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “reconsider” its recent rule requiring all vehicles sold in the US to have robust automatic emergency braking (AEB), calling the current technology insufficient to meet the high standards outlined by the government.In letters sent to NHTSA as well as members of Congress, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents most of th

Thwarting cyberattacks from China is DHS’s top infrastructure security priority

Illustration: Kristen Radtke / The Verge Combatting “cyber and other threats posed by the People’s Republic of China” (PRC) is a top priority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the end of 2025, according to a guidance document the department released last Thursday. The document describes a “whole-of-society effort” to protect critical infrastructure from outside threats, and China is at the top of the list.
Other priorities include managing the &l

20+ Pre-Prime Day printer deals: Get a printer-scanner combo for $59.99

Early savings on printers and scanners:BEST HP DEALHP Smart Tank Plus 651 inkjet printer$199.99 at Amazon(save $90)Get DealBEST CANON DEALCanon Pixma TR4720 inkjet printer$69 at Amazon(save $30.99)Get DealBEST EPSON DEALEpson Expression Home XP-4200 inkjet printer$59.99 at Amazon(save $40)Get DealBEST KODAK DEALKodak Dock Plus 4PASS dye-sub photo printer bundle$129.99 at Amazon(save $70)Get Deal
While Amazon hasn't officially made its Prime Day date announcement, we know it's coming in July. And

Amazon TV deals ahead of Prime Day are actually pretty good

Prime Day can surely be counted as one of the best times of year to buy a TV depending on the type of TV you're in the market for. If that's a budget-friendly QLED model or Fire TV, you're in luck — you even have a handful of options for decent deals before Prime Day actually starts.While Amazon hasn't marked any of these deals as official early Prime Day deals yet, several are worth considering if you want that new TV now (rather than waiting until Prime Day officially starts). More than

Plenty of Apple deals are live already if you don't want to wait for Prime Day

Early Prime Day Apple deals to watch:Best MacBook dealApple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD)$1,129 at Amazon(Save $170)Get DealBest iPad dealApple iPad Air (M2, WiFi, 128GB)$569.99 at Amazon(Save $29.01)Get DealBest Apple Watch dealApple Watch Series 9 (45mm, GPS)$329.99 at Amazon(Save $99.01)Get DealBest AirPods dealApple AirPods Max$449 at Amazon(Save $100)Get Deal
There may not be a specific date announcement for Prime Day yet (beyond sometime in July), but what we do have is App

The best internet moments of 2024, from the rise of Chappell Roan to AI fails

The internet moves fast, and we keep up with it, so you don't have to. In this list, we sift through the metaphorical cream that rises to the top of the cultural cesspool we call the World Wide Web, recapping the tech flubs, film faves, and charming catchphrases that have defined 2024 so far.SEE ALSO:The best memes of 2024 (so far)
ChallengersCredit: Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures
The sizzling tensions of Luca Guadagnino's Challengers inspired memes, breathless text posts, and horny f

Meta is incorrectly marking real photos as ‘Made by AI’

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Multiple photographers are complaining that Meta is wrongly adding its “Made by AI” label to real photos they’ve taken, TechCrunch reports.
Several photographers have shared examples over the past few months, with Meta recently marking a photo former White House photographer Pete Souza took of a basketball game as AI-generated. In another recent example, Meta incorrectly added the label to an Instagram photo of the Kolkata Knight Riders w

Paramount Plus is getting yet another price hike

Image: Paramount Just like it did last summer, Paramount Plus is getting ready to hike the prices on some of its streaming service subscriptions.
Paramount announced today that, beginning August 20th, the monthly costs for its Paramount Plus with Showtime, Paramount Plus Essential, and Paramount Plus with limited commercials plans will increase for all new subscribers. Paramount Plus with Showtime will now cost $12.99 a month ($1 more expensive), Paramount Plus with limited commercials will now

How to turn on noise cancellation on your AirPods

The cool thing about Bluetooth headphones like AirPods is that you can listen to things without being directly next to your device, and you can choose how much background noise you let in through noise cancellation.With this handy feature, you can say "goodbye" to excess sounds and focus on the sounds you want to hear. But you have to turn on the noise cancellation feature first.SEE ALSO:How to properly clean your AirPods
Here are three ways to turn on noise cancellation on your AirPod Pro