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Say what? Playing a puzzle video game could help improve your hearing

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For elderly gamers, this could be the biggest hit since Wii Sports : a new video game helped older people with hearing loss get better at tracking speech in noisy environments, new research says. The game had players complete a puzzle by listening for clues as background noise steadily got louder. After two months of playing, elderly adults with hearing loss could hear 25 percent more words spoken under noisy conditions than they could before, according to the study published in the journal Current Biology . It won’t replace hearing aids, but it could boost their effectiveness. “That was a holy shit moment.” There’s a growing interest in using video games as digital medicine to treat disorders like ADHD or lazy eye , but the idea is somewhat controversial . Playing a game might make you better at winning it, but there’s less evidence that it could boost your performance in real-world situations. Still, researchers led by Daniel Polley at Massachusetts Eye and E
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The movement to regulate Facebook is attracting powerful new allies

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This week, a bipartisan group of US senators took the first steps toward regulating online political advertising in a manner similar to the way the government already regulates these ads in traditional media. Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Mark Warner (VA), joined by Republican Sen. John McCain (AZ), say their Honest Ads Act will protect against foreign interference in elections by requiring platforms like Facebook to make details about ads’ buyers, pricing, and targeting publicly available. Advocates cheered the move, which they said represented a long-overdue step to apply the same standards of transparency and fairness to online ads that have long been the norm for print, radio, and television. At the same time, the bill’s passage is far from certain: so far, it has just one Republican supporter in Congress, and the tech companies that would be affected have deployed a phalanx of lobbyists. “It goes a long way,” said Alex Howard, deputy director of th
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Exclusive: Inside Airbus' modular plane concept, Transpose Is this the thing that will make flying less terrible?

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There are the smartphones and laptops we use every day, and then there’s Next Level technology. In this new Verge video series, s enior e ditor Lauren Goode takes you behind the scenes to show you the technology that’s being worked on at some of the world’s most innovative companies and research institutions. From modular airplanes to prescription video games to Hollywood’s attempt to hack your emotions, Next Level will show you the technology that has the potential to radically change the way we interact with tech. Commercial flying is, for most people, a mediocre experience at best. Unless you shell out for an upgraded seat, you’re generally stuck with little leg room, tepid meals, and nowhere to go for hours or more — all for an average airfare of $350 in the US . Add in recent events , involving overbooking, passenger apparel choices, and dead pets, and the airlines aren’t exactly winning the hearts of customers right now. This is the problem that Airbus thinks it
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Ubuntu is now available on the Windows Store

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  At Microsoft's Build 2016 conference, the company shocked the tech world when it announced support for Bash shell and the entire Linux command line system on Windows 10. This year the surprise continued by extending its Linux love to SUSE and Fedora distributions as well. With the first announcement, Microsoft tapped Ubuntu maker Canonical to help ensure smooth Bash performance on Windows as it is on the various Linux distributions. Well, today Canonical is officially releasing Ubuntu in the Windows Store for download right now. Microsoft's Rich Turner also released an official announcement that lays out the benefits of this Windows Store version of Ubuntu as well as some helpful FAQs. Ubuntu (and SUSE and Fedora eventually) run in a sandboxed environment alongside Windows 10. This implementation also allows it to share hardware and files with Windows 10. This integrated approach allows developers to run Linux command line utilities without having to create
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Is this the Google Pixel 2 XL?

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  Last month, we found out some juicy tidbits of information about the upcoming Pixel and Pixel XL phones. According to rumors, Google cancelled the mid-sized Pixel 2 XL that was code-named "Muskie" and went instead with an even larger phone code-named "Taimen". The original leak from XDA-Developers highlighted noteworthy specs including an LG made 5.9" 1440p screen powered by a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. However, up until this point, no photos had been seen. Thanks to a report from Android Police , we may finally have a real look into what the Pixel 2 XL will look like: We rate this rumor a 8 out of 10 on our confidence scale. The reason we are subtracting two points is due to the fact that we are not confident our source material reflects a fully finalized design. As such, there is a possibility that small changes may still occur before the phone makes it into production, as we don't expect Google to announce this
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The Best Smartphones

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  Throughout the years we’ve reviewed dozens of smartphones and got hands on time with plenty others. The good news is that as smartphones have matured, they've become so good in terms of hardware and design that it’s getting harder to pick something you will truly regret... or if you’re the glass half empty kinda person, they’ve become so good that picking the one that’s right for you can be a challenging task. You've read the reviews and have formed your own opinions on the devices you've owned and currently own, but with our vast access to devices, the best smartphones feature is meant to highlight the stuff that matters, what we'd buy for ourselves based in a number of factors (particularly price point) and thus make it easier for you to buy the best possible device. The Best Phone A Flagship for Less A Mid-Priced Superstar Best Budget Phone iPhone Lovers: Wait Best Overall Samsung Galaxy S8+ In numbers Price:
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STEVE JOBS: THE TECH ICON, THE VISIONARY

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As tech enthusiasts we pay tribute to one of the most iconic leaders in the history of our industry. Steve Jobs was a tech visionary that transcended the possibilities of his time. Here's a brief timeline of his career in and outside of Apple. Feb 1955   Steve Jobs is born in San Francisco, adopted by the family of Paul and Clara Jobs. 1971 Attended lectures at HP during high school and earned a summer gig alongside Steve Wozniak. 1972   Steve drops out of Reed College after one semester because he "couldn't see the value in it." 1973 A frugal Jobs slept on friends' floors and collected soda bottles for money while sitting in on free courses at Reed, including one for calligraphy. A decade later, he applied this experience to the first Mac's typeface. Fall 1974 After leaving college permanently, Jobs returned to California and scored a technician position with Atari. Apr 1976 Jobs
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