Category: Technology

That was fast. A week after a new feature for sharing long-form text was spotted in the Threads app, Meta is making the experiment official. Threads users will now be able to append text snippets of up to 10,000 characters to their posts in a feature Meta says is meant to support journalists and creators on the platform. 

As Engadget detailed last week, the feature is fairly basic for now. Selecting “text attachment” from the post composer opens up a simple text editor that has some formatting options. Once published to Threads, text attachments open either in a full-screen view on mobile or in a dedicated window on threads.com. If the post contains a link, the text attachment will also show a preview of the linked post at the end of text.

That’s notable as Meta has been trying to make links shared on Threads more prominent in an effort to give creators a boost on the platform. So far, there have been mixed results. While data shows engagement with links has been growing in recent months, Threads is sending very little traffic to websites overall.

In a blog post, the company says the feature was inspired by user behavior as people frequently share “screenshots of longer content from books, articles, newsletters, podcast transcripts.” The company also suggests that the feature could be used by authors and journalists who wish to share previews of their published works.

While the 10,000 character limit technically means that authors and journalists could publish substantial amounts of writing directly on Threads, text attachments lack many features you’d expect from publishing tools. There are limited text formatting options, for example, and you can’t embed media or do much else to break up big chunks of text. (A Meta spokesperson says highlighting and other formatting abilities are in the works.)

Text attachments also aren’t compatible with sharing to the fediverse, so followers from other ActivityPub services won’t be able to see them even if you’ve opted in to fediverse sharing. But many users will likely still find the feature preferable to sharing lengthy multi-part Threads, which can be hard to follow and don’t always all appear in a single view in the app or website. 

Meta says the feature is still in its early days and that it plans to add more functionality to text attachments in the future, along with more creator-focused updates.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-posts-now-support-text-attachments-up-to-10000-characters-170000305.html?src=rss 

The video-generation model Veo 3 has come to Google Photos, bringing even more AI tomfoolery to the platform. This allows users to do all sorts of wacky things. First and foremost, the pre-existing photo to video feature has been significantly improved. Google says that it can now be used to turn “still images into even higher-quality clips.”

There’s also a tool called Remix that transforms photos into various styles, like anime drawings, comic book illustrations, 3D animations and more. This is a popular use case for image generators. You’ve probably seen those Studio Ghibli-inspired images across the internet.

Veo 3 brings a new Collage tool that makes it easy to pick multiple photos and select a layout. There’s even a simple image editor here that can be accessed directly from the collage maker.

The Highlight tool creates visual montages based on search prompts, complete with music. There’s also something called Cinematic Photos, which creates 3D renderings of pre-existing photos. Many of these tools can be combined to create unique images and videos.

Google Photos with Veo 3 integration is available to US customers right now, and these tools can all be accessed in the new Create tab. Users only get a limited number of image generations each day, with more generations available for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

This is just the latest platform that Google is sloppin’ up with Veo 3. The company recently brought it to YouTube.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-photos-gets-veo-3-integration-bringing-in-even-more-ai-tools-160042831.html?src=rss 

LinkedIn will now require some users to verify their identity before they change job titles in an attempt to cut down on scams on the platform. The new identity verification rules will specifically apply to executives and recruiters who interact with job seekers or represent a company in one form or another.

As part of these changes, LinkedIn says users who add or update their title to anything recruiter-related (recruiter, talent acquisition, etc.) will have to verify their workplace on their profiles. The same identity verification rules will apply to executives, as well, which LinkedIn says covers titles like “Executive Director, Managing Director, and Vice President.” Verifying your workplace requires you to provide an official email address that uses your company’s domain name. The new requirement only applies to people changing roles, existing recruiters and executives won’t have to verify.

LinkedIn has offered similar verification tools to select companies upon request, but now the platform says it’ll open up the option to every company with a LinkedIn page via a new “Premium Company Page subscription.” A verified company should be easier to trust when paired with verified employees.

While LinkedIn is best known as a home for thought leadership and a necessary evil in job hunts, it’s also the site of a large amount of fraud. Scammers impersonate company employees to collect data from fake job postings or conduct elaborate investment schemes, as CNBC reported in 2022. LinkedIn has automated systems for weeding out fake accounts, and rolled out an earlier wave of anti-scam features focused on job postings in 2023, but this new system should offer even more security.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/linkedin-will-require-recruiters-and-executives-to-verify-their-identity-to-cut-down-on-scams-130040435.html?src=rss 

Anker took it’s excellent Nebula X1 projector and said, “what if that but louder?” The result is the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro that marries Anker’s 4K, 3,500 lumen Google TV projector with a 160W Soundcore speaker, offering what should be an incredible outdoor entertainment machine. 

Marrying these products wasn’t just a matter of jamming them into the same box. The subwoofer was set up to float inside the assembly on a spring-type system to avoid vibrating the laser-powered 4K video. And to get some semblance of soundstage, the 80W soundbar speakers fold out to the left and right of the projector, with two wireless satellites completing the 7.1.4 surround effect. It even supports Dolby Atmos, which the projector on its own doesn’t do, while also offering IP43 protection from light rain and dust, another feature absent on the Nebula X1. 

Otherwise, it’s the same excellent triple-laser, glass lens projector I tested last month that offers outstanding image quality, a simple automatic setup thanks to the motorized lens and surprising portability. Considering it’s mean for outdoor use, it puts a lot of dedicated indoor projectors to shame in terms of brightness and color accuracy. When not beaming movies, the system can also be used in audio-only Bluetooth speaker mode.

The Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro will launch on September 23rd on Kickstarter (at between $4,000 to $5,000), just as the Nebula X1 projector did. It will then come to retail a bit later, around March 2026. The company is also offering the opportunity to leave a $100 deposit and get $500 off. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/ankers-soundcore-nebula-x1-pro-is-the-ultimate-party-projector-130255687.html?src=rss 

TCL is showcasing a new phone at IFA 2025. A late entrant to the modern mobile market, the company tries to differentiate its devices with NXTPAPER eye-comfort screen tech. The new NXTPAPER 60 Ultra is TCL’s first phone to feature the latest version of that technology, which it first introduced in a tablet at CES 2025.

The idea behind NXTPAPER is to strike a balance between e-paper and OLED screens, alleviating eye strain without sacrificing color range or refresh rates. Its hardware-level features include blue light filtering, a matte anti-glare layer and flicker-free brightness control. One of its neatest aspects is Ink Mode, which can switch into an E Ink-like presentation with the press of a dedicated button. TCL says the 2025 version of the display tech (NXTPAPER 4.0) brings sharper detail, more accurate color and AI-driven eye comfort modes.

Looking beyond the eye-comfort features, the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra is a mid-range Android phone. It has a spacious 7.2-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate with 1080p resolution. It’s powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7400 processor and 12GB of RAM. (An additional 12GB is available via virtual RAM.) The phone has a three-camera setup, including a 50MP periscope telephoto sensor. (That camera provides 3x optical zoom and 6x “lossless” zoom via digital trickery.) The phone has a 5,200 mAh battery.

At least for now, the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra is only launching in Europe, Latin America and Asian markets. It will be available there later this month, priced at €499 for 256GB storage and €549 for 512GB.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/tcls-new-smartphone-uses-the-latest-version-of-its-eye-comfort-screen-tech-133041739.html?src=rss