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Updated 2025-04-22 15:49
Google’s carbon footprint balloons in its Gemini AI era
Illustration: The Verge Google's greenhouse gas emissions have ballooned, according to the company's latest environmental report, showing how much harder it'll be for the company to meet its climate goals as it prioritizes AI.Google has a goal of cutting its planet-heating pollution in half by 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline. But its total greenhouse gas emissions have actually grown by 48 percent since 2019. Last year alone, it produced 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution - a 13 percent year-over-year increase from the year before and roughly equivalent to the amount of CO2 that 38 gas-fired power plants might release annually.The jump in planet-heating pollution primarily comes from data center energy use and supply chain emissions,... Continue reading...
Shadow of the Erdtree’s new perfume weapons are seriously broken and seriously fun
Image: Bandai Namco Imagine if those aggressive salespeople at the Macy's perfume counter were shoving napalm in your face instead of Chanel No. 5: that's what it feels like playing with the new perfume bottle weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree.The early days after any Souls game release are always some of the best. The speedrunners and content creators have found the best / most busted builds, while the developers haven't had the time to nerf them yet. People post all kinds of wild videos of bosses melting within seconds, going down so fast they don't even have time to trigger their second or third phases. It happened in vanilla Elden Ring with Hoarfrost Stomp, and it's happening again with Erdtree's perfume bottles. Image: FromSoftware ... Continue reading...
Judge blocks Mississippi law that required age verification on social media
Image: The Verge A federal judge blocked a Mississippi law from taking effect that would have required age verification for all and parental consent for teens in order to make accounts on many social media sites.The preliminary injunction fell on the same day the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a pair of cases challenging social media laws in Florida and Texas that sought to regulate social media companies' content moderation. SCOTUS sent the cases back to the lower courts but made clear that platforms' content moderation and curation was protected speech.NetChoice, the industry group that represents Meta and Google and was also lead party in the SCOTUS cases, brought the challenge to Mississippi House Bill 1126. The law was set to take effect on... Continue reading...
Longer-lasting laptops: the modular hardware you can upgrade and repair yourself
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Modular laptops with parts that can be swapped out as needed are becoming more popular, like Framework's Laptop 16 and the Lenovo ThinkPad P1. Continue reading...
A year of Paramount Plus with Showtime is half off ahead of its impending price hike
The current promo lets you secure a better rate than either of the monthly plans, but you'll have to pay upfront. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge With a Paramount Plus price hike coming on August 20th, now might be a good time to secure a year's worth of access to the streaming service. Thankfully, Paramount is offering new and returning subscribers 50 percent off its Paramount Plus with Showtime plan, dropping the price of an annual ad-free plan to $59.99 (down from $119.99) until July 14th. That's about $5 broken down monthly, as opposed to its forthcoming monthly rate of $12.99.Paramount has steadily loaded its streaming coffers over the years with movies and shows from its film divisions, CBS networks, and more. Do you like planes, Tom Cruise, or a combination of both? Top Gun: Maverick should be your first stop if you haven't already seen the modern take on dogfighting... Continue reading...
The Pixel 9’s ‘Google AI’ is like Microsoft Recall but a little less creepy
The Pixel 9 could come with a new camera bump. | Image: OnLeaks via 91Mobiles The next generation of Pixel phones could come with new Google AI" features, including one that sounds a little like Microsoft's controversial Recall tool. As reported by Android Authority, Google is working on a Pixel Screenshots" feature that can save and process helpful details" from your screenshots, allowing you to search through them.However, unlike Microsoft Recall, which automatically captures what you're doing on your device, Google's version would only process the screenshots taken manually - which should immediately make it less creepy-feeling than Recall. Microsoft delayed the rollout of Recall on Windows 11 after security experts raised concerns about the feature. Even though Google AI may only use the screenshots you... Continue reading...
How to create PDFs on Android devices using Google Drive
Illustration: The Verge It hasn't always been that simple to create a PDF using your phone. Several years ago, when I started handling my mother's bills, I realized I needed a quick way to scan her documents while I was at her home. Rather than drag a scanner around, I found a handy Android app called Tiny Scanner that let me turn paper documents into easy-to-store PDFs using my phone's camera.Later, Google introduced the beta of its own scanning app called Stack, so I began using that to create many of my PDFs. It offers quick scans and categorization and was just a little more fun to use.However, as is Google's wont, that company is now sunsetting Stack and giving some (although not all) of the app's abilities to create, edit, and store PDFs to Google... Continue reading...
Biden administration proposes new heat protections for workers
A traffic warden during an eight-hour shift under the hot sun in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 12th, 2023, where temperatures reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit amid a heatwave. | Photo: Getty Images The Biden administration says it will propose new rules today to protect workers from the deadliest weather-related risk Americans face: extreme heat. The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to post its new heat protections on the federal register today, Biden administration officials said on a press call yesterday.The rules are supposed to prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths on the job. Heat already kills far more people in the US than hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, or any other weather-related disaster. Global warming is only making the problem worse, leading to longer, more frequent, and more intense heatwaves. The proposed rules are meant to enable workplace protections to... Continue reading...
‘Maxxxine is very different from both of them’: Ti West on closing out his X horror trilogy
Maxxxine. | Image: A24 For the last few years, Ti West hasn't stopped thinking about the horror villains Pearl and Maxine. Since 2020, the writer and director has been fully immersed in the genre-spanning franchise that started with the '70s slasher flick X and continued with the technicolor prequel Pearl, which were filmed back-to-back in New Zealand during the pandemic and released in 2022. Now things culminate with the premiere of the series' third act, the very '80s thriller Maxxxine. It's been an intense process that has meant West hasn't had much time for anything else. It's all such a blur at this point," he tells The Verge. It's been seven days a week, 12 hours a day, for four and a half years."The franchise was born, in part, out of practicality.... Continue reading...
Tesla delivered fewer vehicles to customers for the second quarter in a row
Photo by John Thys / AFP via Getty Images On the heels of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's massive payday, the company released its latest quarterly production and delivery report, showing drops from last year in both production and deliveries.Tesla reported producing 410,831vehicles over the three-month period that ended in June, a 14 percent drop compared to the second quarter of 2023. Tesla reported delivering 443,956 vehicles to customers during Q2 of 2024, a 4.76 percent drop from the 466,140 vehicles it delivered in Q2 2023.This continues a trend that began earlier this year in which Tesla reported its first year-over-year sales drop since 2020. The company is continuing to struggle with demand as customers have more choices than ever when shopping for an electric vehicle. It... Continue reading...
Netflix is starting to phase out its cheapest ad-free plan
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix is following through on its plan to phase out its cheapest ad-free tier for existing subscribers. As spotted in numerous posts on Reddit, Netflix is now asking some basic plan subscribers to choose a new plan to stay subscribed to Netflix.One Reddit user received a notification on their Netflix app, saying Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching." Subscribers paying $11.99 / month for the basic plan will have to choose either the $6.99 ad-supported tier, the $15.49 ad-free tier, or the $22.99 ad-free 4K premium plan.Judging by the posts on Reddit, it looks like most users receiving the prompt are located in Canada or the UK, which tracks with Netflix's plan to phase out the basic... Continue reading...
Apple’s Vision Pro: five months later
Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge The Apple Vision Pro is many things. But for us, and for many other users, it's one thing in particular: a really, really, really big screen. Since Apple started shipping its spatial computing headset five months ago today, we've tested the device as a TV, a computer monitor, a game console, a mega-chill way to relax on the beach, and much more.On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about the past, present, and future of the Vision Pro. We chat with The Verge's Wes Davis and Victoria Song about their experiences with the device, along with what they've liked and what they'd like to change. It seems pretty clear that the first version of the device wasn't a groundbreaking, market-moving hit, so what next? Apple is reportedly working... Continue reading...
A new Resident Evil is in the works
Leon Kennedy in the Resident Evil 4 remake. | Image: Capcom Capcom is developing a new Resident Evil game, Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi confirmed during a summer Capcom Next" livestream on Monday.We're making a new Resident Evil," Nakanishi said during the show. It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7. But I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can't share any details just yet but I hope you're excited for the day I can."That's admittedly not much to go on, but I get the sense he's hinting that this new game is the next major entry in the franchise. If that's the case, we'll have to see if Capcom calls it Resident Evil 9 or finds some sort of clever subtitle, like it did with the logo for Resident Evil Village.The news of a new Resident Evil... Continue reading...
Samsung SmartThings takes a step toward a smarter grid
Image: Samsung SmartThings Samsung has launched a new demand response program for its SmartThings smart home platform. Flex Connect allows your SmartThings connected appliances to communicate with the grid and automatically reduce energy use when there's a spike in demand, which could help avoid blackouts. While demand response programs have made for some scary headlines, many experts believe connecting our smart homes to the grid is critical for managing the strain on our energy network.Flex Connect is available in New York and California and works with SmartThings Energy - an energy management solution. It taps into SmartThings' AI Energy Mode to automate how smart appliances and connected devices like lights and thermostats respond to demand response events.... Continue reading...
The Atari 400 Mini plays dozens of classic games, and it’s 15 percent off
It looks even more ancient than a Fallout terminal, and that's awesome. | Image: Atari It's always worth revisiting the classics, and there's no shortage of retro consoles and emulators to enable that. The Atari 400 Mini is more niche than we're used to, however, and that's what makes it so intriguing. The 8-bit retro replica console has dropped to $102 ($18 off) at Amazon in a limited-quantity opportunity that's nearly halfway claimed.The Atari 400 was one of the brand's first home consoles and computers, noted for the inclusion of a keyboard alongside its iconic joystick. It launched in 1979, which probably explains why I haven't heard of most of the games in the lineup (my feet touched the planet in 1988). Asteroids, Star Raiders II, Centipede, and Berzerk ring a bell for me, and I've even played a few of them over... Continue reading...
The massive car dealership outage could be cleared up by July 4th
Photo by Getty Images Car dealerships hamstrung by outages following two cyberattacks against CDK Global in June might finally be able to use their systems again this week, as the company says it aims to get dealers back online by July 4th.We are continuing our phased approach to the restoration process and are rapidly bringing dealers live on the Dealer Management System (DMS)," Lisa Finney, a CDK Global spokesperson, says in a statement to The Verge. We anticipate all dealers connections will be live by late Wednesday, July 3 or early morning Thursday, July 4. Our Customer Care channels have also been restored and customers can call, chat, or submit eCases if they need assistance."CDK Global provides software for nearly 15,000 car dealerships, and... Continue reading...
Tap-to-pay could get more capable and more complicated
Photo: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images At some point in the future, a new Multi-Purpose Tap" concept will let payment cards or devices like smartwatches and phones accomplish multiple things at once when using NFC. With this in play, a customer in a store might tap their phone with Apple Wallet or Google Pay on a terminal that simultaneously checks their ID if they're buying booze, add points to their loyalty account, pay for their goods, and provide them with a digital receipt.Some of the concept's goals are laid out today in a PDF from the NFC Forum, the nonprofit consortium of tech companies that guides and promotes the NFC standard and which includes Apple, Google, and Sony among its roster. Image: NFC Forum NFC Forum slide on Multi-Purpose Tap.... Continue reading...
The first Thunderbolt 5 cables are here, but there’s barely anything to plug in
Thunderbolt 5 cables, like their TB4 and TB3 predecessors, have USB-C tips. | Image: Cable Matters Intel's Thunderbolt 5 might be the best USB-C cable ever, with 120Gbps of single-direction bandwidth, 240 watts of power, and enough oomph to drive external SSDs, eGPUs, and high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitors from a single cable at unheard-of levels. But first, it'd have to ship! Today, Cable Matters is shipping the first three certified Thunderbolt 5 cables, which bring us one big step closer to something practical instead of theoretical.Available today from Amazon in 1-foot (0.3m), 1.6-foot (0.5m), and 3.3-foot (1m) lengths for $23, $27, and $33, respectively, the new cables obviously don't do anything on their own - you'd need a computer with a Thunderbolt 5 port and a dock or accessory of some sort to get some real use out... Continue reading...
Silvergate Bank didn’t adequately monitor $1 trillion in crypto transactions, SEC says
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Silvergate Bank, once a cornerstone of the crypto financial world until its collapse in early 2023, defrauded its investors by lying about its anti-money laundering controls and misleading investors about how the fallout from the FTX collapse would affect it, the Securities and Exchange Commission says in a lawsuit. Also named in the suit were the company's chief executive officer, chief risk officer, and chief financial officer.Silvergate agreed to pay $50 million to settle the charges, without admitting or denying the allegations, the SEC said in a statement. CEO Alan Lane and CRO Kathleen Fraher also settled for $1 million and $250,000 each.Silvergate said it had an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program tailored specifically... Continue reading...
This is Big Tech’s playbook for swallowing the AI industry
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. | Photo by Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images A couple of months ago, I was sitting in the audience at a tech conference in San Fransisco watching Bloomberg's Emily Chang interview Reid Hoffman.She asked about Microsoft's hiring of the team behind Inflection, a would-be OpenAI competitor that Hoffman co-founded. It was an acquisition in everything but name, clearly designed to avoid the scrutiny of antitrust regulators. Not only had Microsoft (where Hoffman is a board member) hired most of Inflection's employees - it also licensed the startup's technology in a way that seemed designed to make its investors whole.Speaking with Chang that day onstage, Hoffman predicted that what happened to Inflection will become a pattern" for future AI deals. We are seeing that pattern play out... Continue reading...
At 0.72 pounds, Vaio’s first portable monitor is one of the lightest ever
Image: Vaio Would you believe today marks an entire decade since Sony spun out its Vaio computer brand? Vaio has stood for lightweight laptops pretty much ever since - and now the company's announcing one of the lightest-ever portable monitors to go with them.The Vaio Vision Plus 14 goes on sale today in Japan as a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 USB-C monitor that weighs just 0.72 pounds (325g). That's less than half as much as most of the monitors you'll find in a typical best portable monitor" list and notably lighter than the 13.3-inch, 1.08-pound (490g) Asus ZenScreen OLED MQ13AH, despite having a larger screen.The Vaio is also just 12.4mm thick (0.49in) at its widest point and 3.9mm (0.15in) at its thinnest. Images: Vaio The... Continue reading...
Clean energy has become an even more divided topic in the US
Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images While the majority of Americans would like to see more clean energy from solar and wind farms - support for new renewable energy projects has started to wane, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. It also found a drop in interest in electric vehicles following Biden administration policies to slash greenhouse gas emissions and Republican backlash.The share of people who favor more solar power has dropped from 90 to 78 percent since 2020, the survey found. Support for wind power among survey participants similarly dropped more than 10 percentage points to 72 percent over the past four years. And just 29 percent of adults said they'd consider an EV as their next car purchase, compared to 38 percent last year. ... Continue reading...
Some Pixel 6 owners say factory resets have bricked their phones
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Some folks are reporting being left with bricked Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6A phones after they factory reset them. Google is aware of the issue and is investigating, according to a comment from a member of the Pixel support forums' product expert program.Users in the forum thread, which was spotted by Indian tech outlet Tech-Issues Today, say that after attempting to reset their phone, the phone doesn't boot, throwing up an error message:
Apple already considers the first HomePod ‘vintage’
Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Apple says the iPhone X, first-generation AirPods, and first-generation HomePod are now considered vintage," as reported by MacRumors. So, if you own a first-generation HomePod - or multiple, like the person I sold my HomePod to in 2022 - it might sting to hear that Apple already considers the six-year-old speaker vintage."Apple's vintage label technically refers to products that it stopped distributing between more than five and less than seven years ago, and fortunately, you can still get service for vintage products from Apple and authorized repair shops. But Apple seems to be moving the original HomePod on a faster track, given that it only discontinued the product three years ago. Apple didn't immediately reply to a request for... Continue reading...
Instagram’s ‘Made with AI’ label swapped out for ‘AI info’ after photographers’ complaints
Image: Meta On Monday, Meta announced that it is updating the Made with AI' label to AI info' across our apps, which people can click for more information," after people complained that their pictures had the tag applied incorrectly. Former White House photographer Pete Souza pointed out the tag popping up on an upload of a photo originally taken on film during a basketball game 40 years ago, speculating that using Adobe's cropping tool and flattening images might have triggered it.As we've said from the beginning, we're consistently improving our AI products, and we are working closely with our industry partners on our approach to AI labeling," said Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin. The new label is supposed to more accurately represent that... Continue reading...
Elgato’s new Stream Deck is on sale for the first time and $15 off
The Stream Deck Neo comes in a simple and clean white color. | Image: Elgato Last week saw healthy savings on Elgato's jumbo Stream Deck XL macro pad controller for serious Twitch streamers and power users, but today's best deal is a chance for us normies to feast. That's because the recently launched Elgato Stream Deck Neo is selling for just $84.99 ($15 off) at Best Buy, Target, and direct from Elgato. This is the first time the nifty controller has gone on sale since its introduction in April, making it a great value option that shouldn't feel too limiting to advanced users.The Stream Deck Neo is designed to sit on your desk beside your computer or laptop and offer all kinds of useful shortcuts when it comes to livestreaming (e.g., cycling through scenes in OBS) or just getting things done on your computer... Continue reading...
Trump is ‘absolutely’ immune for ‘official acts’ on Jan 6th, SCOTUS rules
Photo: Getty Images The Supreme Court ruled that presidents are absolutely" immune from criminal prosecution when their actions involve allegedly official acts while they were in office. Former presidents also have a presumption of immunity" for their official acts while in office - but, the court ruled, there is no immunity for unofficial acts."The decision in Trump v. United States means that the special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution against former President Donald Trump - who's currently running to unseat President Joe Biden - may be able to proceed. In his majority decision, Chief Justice John Roberts remanded the case to the lower courts, which now have to determine whether Trump's conduct was official or unofficial.Trump is being prosecuted... Continue reading...
Supreme Court protects the future of content moderation
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images On Monday, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, two consequential cases about the future of speech on the internet. The court explicitly extended First Amendment protections to how social media platforms organize, curate, and moderate their feeds, drawing a comparison between internet content moderation and traditional publishers and editors."The decision elaborates that the compilation and curation of others' speech into an expressive product of its own" is entitled to First Amendment protection and that the government cannot get its way just by asserting an interest in better balancing the marketplace of ideas."The NetChoice cases concern a pair of similar laws in Florida and... Continue reading...
A major SmartThings update brings support for appliances, robot vacuums, and more throughMatter
Samsung is bringing Matter 1.2 to its SmartThings smart home platform. | Image: Samsung SmartThings Samsung SmartThings looks set to become the first major smart home platform to fully support Matter 1.2. According to a press release, the SmartThings platform now works with Matter 1.2, so manufacturers and developers can start integrating their compatible devices with the platform. The SmartThings app won't be updated to support Matter until later this summer - so you won't be able to control your Matter-compatible Roborock robot vacuum or Midea dishwasher through SmartThings until then.Samsung also announced several other updates to its smart home platform, including app design improvements, new device control options, a hub backup option, shareable routines, and the gamification of its SmartThings Energy feature.Support for... Continue reading...
How Big Green Egg is inviting zoomers to the cult of kamado cooking
Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Big Green Egg Fire is literally the oldest tech in the world, but grilling is a very modern business. Continue reading...
Facebook and Instagram’s ‘pay or consent’ ad model violates the DMA, says the EU
Image: The Verge The EU has formally charged Meta with violations of its Digital Markets Act (DMA), marking its second such charge in as many weeks. The European Commission writes in a preliminary ruling that the pay or consent" advertising model that launched last year for Facebook and Instagram users runs afoul of Article 5(2) of the DMA by not giving users a third option that uses less data for ad targeting but is still free to use.Regulators found in their investigation that Meta gives users a binary choice" that forces them to either choose to pay a monthly subscription fee to get the ad-free version of Facebook and Instagram or consent to the ad-supported version. Where Meta runs afoul of its rules, it says, is by not letting users opt for a... Continue reading...
This new Mac app uses animated flies to tell you when to take out the trash
Buzz buzz. | Image: Bananbin I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that not everyone agrees on the best way to handle their computer's trash directory. Some folks like to let it go until their computer yells at them about storage, while others empty it every single day. I'm somewhere in the middle, but I do try not to let it go too far. And I think I found the best tool for that job a couple of days ago: Bananabin.When the data kept in your Trash folder passes a certain threshold, Bananabin surrounds with buzzing, animated flies that you can shoo away with your mouse. That's it. That's the app. GIF: Wes Davis / The Verge I'm sure the novelty will wear off at some point. You can configure the fly threshold from the app's icon in... Continue reading...
The Vision Pro will get Apple Intelligence and ‘Go Deeper’ in-store demos
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge For all its impressive technical chops, Apple's all-singing, all-dancing Vision Pro hasn't set the world on fire. But it's early yet, and the company continues to throw some weight behind the headset, and reportedly has plans to add AI features to visionOS and is readying an updated approach to in-store demos.Apple is working through the challenge of incorporating Apple Intelligence into the augmented reality interface of the headset, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported today. That could be a relief for Vision Pro owners who were disappointed that the company didn't mention it during the AI portion of its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation.The company is adding a new Go Deeper" option to its in-store demos, Gurman writes. That reportedly... Continue reading...
Apple could announce a Google Gemini deal this fall
Illustration: The Verge If you're disappointed that the only AI model that will integrate with Apple devices so far will be ChatGPT, it sounds like you won't have to wait long for that to change. Apple will announce at least" one other deal - to add Google Gemini, too - this fall, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter today.Gemini has been part of the iOS 18 chatbot rumors for as long as OpenAI has. Apple software boss Craig Federighi even hinted at a Google deal shortly after the keynote was over. Anthropic has been mixed up in these rumors as well, and Gurman also suggests Apple could announce a deal with that company at some point, if not this fall. Meta, though, was quickly rejected because its Llama chatbot just isn't good... Continue reading...
How to watch Summer Games Done Quick 2024
Photo by Ivan Porkchop44" for Games Done Quick It's summer, which means it's time for sun and speedruns. The 2024 edition of Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ), the annual speedrunning marathon for charity, kicks off on Sunday and runs until July 6th. This year's lineup is once again packed with runs for some of my favorite games, including Balatro, Alan Wake 2, Elden Ring, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1, 2, 3, and 4 (all in one run), a glitchless Baldur's Gate 3 Honour Mode run, and a shipless Outer Wilds run (how???).But my most anticipated run is a live speedrun from Peanut Butter, the shiba inu who performed a remote run of the NES game Gyromite at Awesome Games Done Quick in January. At SGDQ, Peanut Butter will be live at the event playing Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball... Continue reading...
The portable speakers you need this summer
Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 44, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been writing about why I love the Boox Palma, reading about hot dog contests and the history of Markdown and the future of streaming, watching Shoresy and Federer and a lot of soccer (it's been a very sports-y week), mourning the end of the Longform podcast, developing a strange obsession with salt water taffy, retesting the Apple Vision Pro, and trying every method I can find for making good iced coffee at home.I also have for you a couple of great new Bluetooth speakers, the new season of Hulu's... Continue reading...
The biggest trailers of the week: June 23rd to June 29th
Willem Dafoe in Nosferatu. | Screenshot: YouTube I'm stuck in a weird spot when it comes to movies and TV, these days. On one hand, the constant churn of remakes, reboots, franchise movies, and sequels often feels like it comes at the expense of original storytelling. But on the other, I am unabashedly looking forward to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, I'm really enjoying The Acolyte, and I'm sorry, but I'm the reason Nintendo just keeps remaking games, and I will continue to be. (Also, I feel I must apologize to my friends and family in advance for my absence when Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is released.)Thankfully, the trailers that showed up this week look as promising as any of the best of those.Deadpool & WolverineIt's another Deadpool & Wolverine trailer; what am I going to do, not... Continue reading...
Uber and Lyft now required to pay Massachusetts rideshare drivers $32 an hour
An Uber and Lyft vehicle in New York. | Photo: Lindsey Nicholson / UCG / Universal Images Group via Getty Images Rideshare drivers in Massachusetts will soon get company-provided benefits, as well as a minimum pay of $32.50 per hour, starting on August 15th. That's thanks to a new settlement between the state and rideshare companies Uber and Lyft, four years after Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued the companies, asserting their drivers ought to be considered employees under state law.The two companies also agreed to pay a combined $175 million, the bulk of which will be paid out to current and former drivers who were underpaid by the companies," Campbell's office announced yesterday. The office says it will release details about who qualifies and how to apply in coming weeks." Despite the settlement and the original thrust of the suit,... Continue reading...
Amazon’s last-gen Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for 50 bucks right now
The 10th-gen Kindle Paperwhite may lack USB-C and don a smaller display, but it still nails the basics. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Lately, it seems as though the biggest happenings in the E Ink world revolve around large note-taking devices like the Kindle Scribe and color offerings such as the apt-titled Kobo Libra Colour. That said, if you're looking for a basic ebook reader to burn through your summer reading list, there's nothing wrong with picking up a last-gen e-reader like the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite - which happens to be on sale at Amazon (via Woot) in used condition with ads for $49.99.Amazon's last-gen Paperwhite has become more difficult to find since the arrival of the 2021 model, even if it isn't a dramatic step down in terms of features. It still carries an IPX8 rating for full resistance against water immersion, as well as a crisp six-inch, 300ppi... Continue reading...
Redbox’s owner files for bankruptcy after repeatedly missing payments and payroll
A Redbox machine from 2015. Redbox's owner, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy protection overnight. This comes at the tail end of a month in which the DVD rental company defaulted on loans, saw an order for its cars to be repossessed, and missed payroll for employees.Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment informed employees of the filing late Friday, writing in an email seen by The Verge that it had filed for a debtor-in-possession loan - a way for companies that are reorganizing after filing for bankruptcy to secure additional working capital to meet payroll.It's a pressing matter for the company, as employees have been waiting for paychecks since June 21st. The company also promised to reinstate health insurance for his employees,... Continue reading...
How to manage deleted files on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Most of the time when you delete a file, it's actually not wiped from existence immediately - as recently discovered by a man whose wife came across illicit texts he'd been sending (and which he thought he had got rid of on his iPhone). The man is now suing Apple.Marital infidelity aside, the safety net that's put in place for deleted files can help you recover data you've erased in error - however, it can also leave your data exposed to other people (if you're selling a device, for example). It's important to know where your deleted files are and how to get them back or erase them permanently.Checking sync status Screenshot: Apple Before you try to delete any files, you should check your iCloud syncing status.... Continue reading...
Fortnite’s Metallica concert showed how sprawling the game has become
Image: Epic Games Last weekend, Metallica graced the virtual stage in Fortnite, but the event was more than just a heavy metal concert. It was one piece in a weeks-long rollout of modes and content, which really drove home just how large and complex the game has become. The battle royale has steadily morphed into an entire ecosystem of games and experiences, and the Metallica crossover might've been the most complex to date.The concert was the showcase moment, and it was like going through an interactive version of heavy metal album art. Players were whisked away in a hot rod to a pyro-heavy concert stage before moving on to a gothic bell tower and a fight with a menacing puppet master. Like past virtual concerts featuring Eminem and Ariana Grande, it... Continue reading...
Here comes a Meta Ray-Bans challenger with ChatGPT-4o and a camera
The Solos AirGo Vision glasses, with camera module. | Image: Solos If you want a pair of glasses with hands-free video recording and an AI voice assistant, there aren't a lot of options, and the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are the clear leader. But Solos, whose smart glasses currently only feature audio, says it'll sell a camera-equipped version later this year - with OpenAI's new GPT-4o AI model to let the camera recognize objects and answer questions about what you're seeing.The Solos AirGo Vision also include the same swappable frame system as Solos' other glasses so you can swap out the camera - if you're going somewhere a camera wouldn't be socially acceptable, or if you'd just rather have a different look or some sun shades instead. Additional frames cost between $89 and $129. The... Continue reading...
Microsoft’s AI boss thinks it’s perfectly OK to steal content if it’s on the open web
Photo by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit Microsoft AI boss Mustafa Suleyman incorrectly believes that the moment you publish anything on the open web, it becomes freeware" that anyone can freely copy and use.When CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin asked him whether AI companies have effectively stolen the world's IP," he said:
What SCOTUS just did to broadband, the right to repair, the environment, and more
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images Since the New Deal era, the bulk of the functioning US government is the administrative state - think the acronym soup of agencies like the EPA, FCC, FTC, FDA, and so on. Even when Capitol Hill is not mired in deep dysfunction, the speed at which Congress and the courts operate no longer seems suitable for modern life. Both industry and ordinary people look to the administrative state, rather than legislators, for an immediate answer to their problems. And since 1984, the administrative state largely ran on one Supreme Court precedent: Chevron USA, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).That decision has now been overturned. Admin law is not always interesting, but the simple fact is when it comes to the day-to-day, agencies... Continue reading...
The Center for Investigative Reporting is suing OpenAI and Microsoft
Illustration: The Verge The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the nonprofit that produces Mother Jones and Reveal, announced on Thursday that it's suing Microsoft and OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement, following similar actions by The New York Times and several other media outlets.OpenAI and Microsoft started vacuuming up our stories to make their product more powerful, but they never asked for permission or offered compensation, unlike other organizations that license our material," Monika Bauerlein, CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, said in a statement. This free rider behavior is not only unfair, it is a violation of copyright. The work of journalists, at CIR and everywhere, is valuable, and OpenAI and Microsoft know it."C... Continue reading...
Deadpool & Wolverine’s latest trailer teases yet another X-villain cameo
Deadpool & Wolverine may be the cinematic debut for Charles Xavier's psychopathic twin sister, but the film's latest trailer is a reminder that it's also going to be a trip down memory lane filled with X-Men villains from films of franchises past.While most of Deadpool & Wolverine's ad spots so far have put more focus on the titular mutant heroes than the villains they'll be fighting, the movie's latest teaser is really just a big reveal that Tyler Mane - who first portrayed Sabretooth in Fox's X-Men back in 2000 - will reprise his role. Previous trailers featured very brief shots of Kelly Hu's Lady Deathstrike, Jason Flemyng's Azazel, Ray Park's Toad, and Aaron Stanford's Pyro. With Sabretooth now in the mix, it all makes Deadpool &... Continue reading...
The first-gen Nomad Base One Max 3-in-1 MagSafe charger is $55 off
Image: Nomad Nomad is running an overstock sale of various accessories on its site, and an especially notable one is its original Base One Max 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger - offered in black or silver for $95 ($55 off) or in an extra-fancy gold limited edition" for $120 ($30 off).This is the original, first-gen model from last year that simultaneously charges a MagSafe iPhone, Apple Watch, and compatible AirPods (or other wireless charging-capable earbuds). It's got a weighty heft to it, being made of a mix of aluminum and glass, and it's nearly identical to the revised model that Nomad released soon after, which added Apple Watch fast charging. Faster charging for Apple Watch Series 7 and newer models is a nice feature, but that updated Base One Max... Continue reading...
YouTube is stopping Dr Disrespect’s channel from making money
Photo by David Becker / Getty Images Dr Disrespect's YouTube channel has been demonetized. In a statement to The Verge, YouTube spokesperson Nicole Bell wrote, We have suspended monetization on DrDisrespect's channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy." Bell also wrote that Dr Disrespect has been suspended from YouTube's partner program following serious allegations against the creator."The allegations refer to multiple reports that the streamer, whose real name is Guy Beahm, was banned from Twitch in 2020 due to inappropriate messages sent to a minor through Whispers, a Twitch communication app. When Beahm was banned, neither he nor Twitch explained the reason, leaving it a mystery for four years. Late last week, however, Cody Conners, a former Twitch... Continue reading...
AT&T Next Up Anytime lets you get three phone upgrades per year, but it’s not cheap
Illustration: The Verge AT&T announced Next Up Anytime, a new early upgrade program for customers on an AT&T installment plan, which will be available starting July 16th. At $10 per month, it's more expensive than AT&T's existing $6 per month Next Up add-on but gives subscribers the option of upgrading their smartphone as soon as just one installment payment has been made, up to three times per year.After the new program launches, the cheaper Next Up will no longer be offered to new customers, but people who already have it will be able to keep that until they upgrade their devices. With Next Up, customers were eligible to trade in and upgrade their devices as soon as they paid off half of it, either through monthly installment payments or sooner with a lump... Continue reading...
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