Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is rolling out Chrome version 79 today, and it includes a number of password protection improvements. The biggest addition is that Chrome will now warn you when your password has been stolen as part of a data breach. Google has been warning about reused passwords in a separate browser extension or in its password checkup tool, but the company is now baking this directly into Chrome to provide warnings as you log in to sites on the web.

You can control this new functionality in the sync settings in Chrome, and Google is using strongly hashed and encrypted copies of passwords to match them using multiple layers of encryption. This allows Google to securely match passwords using a technique called private set intersection with…

Continue reading…

Image: Google

Google has an update that might make you hate your alarm a little bit less: a new feature lets it automatically change up what your alarm plays based on the time of day and the weather, theoretically playing something slightly more appropriate than the same awful song you hear day in and out. At least, it’ll be nice as long as you’re okay with waking up to AI-generated piano.

The feature is confined to a single device for now: Lenovo’s Smart Clock, a small smart display that basically has the functionality of a Google Home Mini paired with a screen that can show the time and weather. Google says this feature — which it calls “Impromptu” — is part of Google Assistant, though, which suggests it should reach other smart displays, and…

Continue reading…

Microsoft is bringing its first Office app to Linux today. The software maker is releasing Microsoft Teams into a public preview, with the app available in native Linux packages in .deb and .rpm formats. “The Microsoft Teams client is the first Office app that is coming to Linux desktops, and will support all of Teams’ core capabilities,” explains Marissa Salazar, a product marketing manager at Microsoft.

The app looks identical to what is available on Windows and macOS, and it’s entering public preview before Microsoft finalizes it. Microsoft is bringing Teams to Linux as part of a bigger push to align Teams as its hub for Office and teamwork, alongside supporting mixed environments that rely on Linux. Microsoft has been gradually…

Continue reading…

It’s a joint research project with Microsoft.

Give one of these best gifts (aside from a car) to the drivers in your life.

Not cool.

However, shoppers who’ve never owned a truck before prefer the Tesla and Rivian.

The Anker Soundcore Life Q20 headphones are now $40 at Amazon, $20 off their normal price.