Technologies

Netflix Goes Vertical: More Phone-First Shows Coming in 2026

The streamer will add vertical video podcast clips and unveil a new mobile experience this year.

More vertical video features are coming to Netflix. Co-CEO Greg Peters revealed plans to expand the streamer’s mobile vertical video feed during Tuesday’s earnings call.

Testing is already underway to expand the mobile experience, which currently features vertical clips of Netflix TV shows and movies. New vertical video content, including snippets from video podcasts, will be available on Netflix this year.

«You can imagine us bringing more clips based on new content types, like video podcasts, which Ted [Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO] mentioned that we’re adding to the general service,» Peters said. «We’ll bring the sort of appropriate components of that into that vertical video feed.»

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Netflix’s move to expand its vertical video offerings comes after Sarandos acknowledged during the earnings call that social media apps like Instagram are now seen as competitors.

«TV is not what we grew up on. TV is now just about everything,» Sarandos said. «The Oscars and the NFL are on YouTube. Networks are simulcasting the Super Bowl on linear TV and streaming. Amazon owns MGM, Apple is competing for Emmys and Oscars, and Instagram is coming next.»

Competing with the likes of Instagram and TikTok means evolving the content the platform offers. And if it wants to attract Gen Z viewers, leaning into bite-sized vertical clips of live programming like WWE Raw, competition series Star Search and significant moments from Netflix hits like Stranger Things and KPop Demon Hunters is a good place to start.

«Vertical» is the hot buzzword in Hollywood right now. New production studios are dedicated to the mobile-first content, and with the massive popularity of vertical micro-dramas — which Variety calls «a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon» — more streamers will likely follow suit in the near future.

Peters also revealed Netflix’s plan to overhaul its mobile interface to «better serve the expansion of our business over the decade to come.»

«We’re going to roll this out later in 2026, and just like our TV UI, it then becomes a starting point, it becomes a platform for us to continue to iterate, test, evolve and improve our offering,» he said.

Technologies

‘Is Microsoft Down?’ Outlook and Teams Go Dark in Widespread Outage

It’s not just you: Numerous Microsoft services weren’t working most of Thursday, and the outage is continuing.

Thursday has been a tough work day for many — or maybe, a great one, depending on how eager you are to access work-related programs. Microsoft services, including Outlook, Teams and Microsoft 365 are experiencing a significant outage that’s still going on as of early evening, Pacific time. Microsoft hasn’t announced an expected time when everything will be back up and running.

You can follow the official Microsoft 365 Status account on the social-media platform X, which has been regularly posting updates about the outage.

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The first post there, from 11:37 a.m. PT, said that the company was «investigating a potential issue impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview. Further information can be found in the admin center under MO1221364.»

The admin center is the dashboard for IT admins managing Microsoft 365 services.

You can also monitor Microsoft’s Service Health Status page. That page is noting that «users may be seeing degraded service functionality or be unable to access multiple Microsoft 365 services.»

A representative for Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Ring’s Latest Feature Lets You Verify Shared Security Videos

With so many fake videos out there, the home-security company is adding a level of protection.

Popular home security brand Ring announced that videos shared from its devices can now be verified, so customers know they’re watching an authentic, unaltered video. Ring says the new verification process is similar to a security seal on a package or medicine bottle, indicating that no one has tampered with it.

The new feature is available starting Thursday, and it doesn’t matter which Ring device recorded the video. All videos downloaded directly from the Ring app are automatically verified and include a security seal for authenticity.

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When someone sends you a Ring video, you can now visit Ring’s verification page, paste the video link, and determine immediately whether the video is verified. The website doesn’t send your video anywhere. It stays locally on your device, and all verification checks happen within your browser. The verification website only accepts MP4 files, the format Ring videos are saved.

Videos downloaded before December 2025 or edited videos cannot be verified. Ring says that even minor adjustments, such as shaving a couple of seconds off the beginning or end of a video, or even adjusting brightness levels, will render it unverifiable.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 23 #691

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 23, No. 691.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be the toughest of the week. Some of the answers are hard to guess and challenging to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: None the wiser.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: I believe you!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RUDE, VINE, VINES, SCAN, SCAR, SCARE, LOST, LOSS, LESS, LESSER, BILL, BILE, GULL, RUED

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

NAIVE, CALLOW, ARTLESS, GULLIBLE, CREDULOUS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BORNYESTERDAY. To find it, start with the B that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up and then down.

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