Jacob Kastrenakes
The Verge
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Jacob:
Pornhub blocks access in Mississippi and Virginia over age verification laws
Pornhub has shut off access in Mississippi and Virginia to protest age verification laws that can involve checking government IDs. It previously blocked access in Utah. → Read More
No need to mind the gap.
Per these leaked photos, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 seems to have an improved hinge that finally lets its two sides cleanly close together — one of the big hardware achievements on the Pixel Fold. Images via AndroidPolice. → Read More
Netflix is now streaming Insecure, and more HBO shows are coming
Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery reached a deal to stream HBO shows on Netflix, including Insecure, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Six Feet Under, and Ballers. → Read More
[DJ Khaled voice] Another one.
Turns out if you do not pay your bills, you will get sued and asked more forcefully to pay those bills. Twitter finally paid its Google Cloud bill (though the current state of the platform might suggest otherwise), but it looks like there are still some outstanding payments the company has been letting slide. → Read More
Gen Z wants a photo with their iced coffee.
So Keurig is getting into ice coffees. An exec on their team tells The Wall Street Journal that ice coffee’s aesthetics are one of the reasons they added a new machine designed for large iced drinks. → Read More
Security contractors for Bill Gates apparently performed some wildly inappropriate background checks.
The Wall Street Journal reports that women interviewing for jobs were asked about sexual histories, nude photos, and porn — men were spared these questions. The report doesn’t indicate that Gates knew about these questions, but the incident follows other indiscretions that have recently put Microsoft’s founder in the news, including his connection to Jeffrey Epstein and an affair with a… → Read More
They should have called it, “My Preciou$$$.”
Magic: The Gathering fans are already offering more than $2 million to secure the one-of-a-kind “One Ring” card that’s being released as part of a Lord of the Rings set today. One hiccup: no one’s actually found it yet! → Read More
I’m getting real Windows XP vibes from the new MacOS wallpaper.
And it’s probably intentional: the XP wallpaper photo was taken in Sonoma, California. The new MacOS name? MacOS Sonoma. → Read More
Google says over 800 million people now have access to RCS.
And exactly zero of them are my parents. But Google sure got some applause from this line: “We hope every mobile operating system gets the message and adopts RCS.” I agree! But I don’t have a ton of hope. → Read More
YouTube Music is adding podcasts
YouTube Music is adding podcasting features in the near future. It’ll offer free background listening and tools focused on show creators. → Read More
Your next swipe might be on an AI chatbot
The future of dating has virtual reality, AI, and the metaverse. Land of the Giants: Dating Games looks at Replika and a return to IRL dating as a salve. → Read More
Did Spotify screw up? ‘No… and yes,’ says its CEO
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek discusses whether the company overinvested in 2022 on content and acquisitions. Plus, new details on Spotify’s audiobook plans and podcast spending. → Read More
Hot Pod Summit is back at On Air Fest 2023
Hot Pod Summit, the invite-only business summit, will take place on February 23rd at Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn in partnership with work x work and On Air Fest. → Read More
Spotify, Basecamp, and Deezer ask European regulators to crack down on Apple
In a letter, Spotify, Basecamp, Deezer, and five others say Apple places “artificial obstacles” in their way, charges “excessive” fees, and makes “capricious changes” to the rules along the way. → Read More
Twitter suspends @ElonJet after Musk promises not to ban it
Elon Musk previously said he would not ban the account. → Read More
Last.fm turns 20 and now has a following on Discord
Last.fm is growing on Discord, Neil Young says he’s “never going back” to Spotify, and Spotify pushes ahead with audiobooks. → Read More
What are Apple’s audiobook rules, anyway?
Apple banned Spotify from emailing a link to buy an audiobook, but Amazon does much the same thing. Spotify doesn’t know why Amazon’s system gets a pass. → Read More
Spotify pulls audiobook purchases from iOS app after Apple blocks updates
One month after launch, users can no longer buy audiobooks through Spotify’s new vertical. Spotify says that Apple blocked multiple proposed tweaks to the purchasing system. → Read More
YouTube’s most important podcast play
YouTube expands podcast advertising globally, Spotify might launch a higher-priced plan with HiFi, the iPad loses another headphone jack, and Andrew Cuomo launches a podcast. → Read More
Another sign of post-pandemic podcast fatigue
Listening may be normalizing after the pandemic bump. → Read More