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Media files sent as documents don't display a preview in WhatsApp, but you can view them in-app by tapping on them. | Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature on iOS that allows users to share photos and videos as a document to preserve their original quality. As spotted by WABetaInfo the official changelog provided alongside WhatsApp's 23.24.73 update on iOS notes that users can now easily send original quality media as a file," as an alternative to the compressed approaches the communications app defaults to.This feature was spotted being tested by a small subset of users in November, but is now releasing to all iOS users. The changelog notes that this is rolling out over the coming weeks" so it may take a while to appear on your device, but when it does you can access it by tapping the +" in chat, selecting Document" and then Choose Photo or... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge I know you've been waiting all year to hear this: You can use Zoom on your 2nd gen or later Apple TV 4K. Yesterday, AppleInsider spotted a post from Sigmund Judge about the Zoom - for Home TV" app that quietly showed up in the tvOS App Store.Earlier this year, Apple's tvOS 17 update enabled Continuity Camera for the Apple TV, making it possible for anyone with a 2nd-generation-or-later version of the streaming box to use their iPhone or iPad as a webcam for FaceTime on a TV. The iPhone can do the same thing for meetings on macOS. Image: Wes Davis / The Verge Zoom on an Apple TV. Using Zoom's new app is fairly straightforward. Logging into it is a lot like signing into most third-party video streaming apps -... Continue reading...

Image: Epic Games Fortnite is heading underground. Following The Big Bang event on Saturday, which led to the destruction of the Chapter 4 island, some big changes are coming to the battle royale in a new season dubbed Underground." That includes a new island, gameplay features like boss battles, Lego skins, and of course more licensed characters like Metal Gear's Solid Snake and Peter Griffin from Family Guy.Let's start with the island. In the update - which brings the game to Chapter 5: Season 1 - the battle royale island has been completely changed, which means a number of new locations. There's a railway - complete with a train you can actually travel on - as well as marinas, mansions, and an all-new grassland area. There's also quite a bit of snow.... Continue reading...

Illustration: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 16, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome to our delightful corner of the internet, sorry about all the productivity apps, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)Hope you all had a great holiday, or at least a great week with one fewer email in your inbox. This week, I've been testing Supernotes as a daily diary app, reading about what it takes to make an iPhone in India and whatever gamified theater" is, unsubscribing to every brand that sent me a Happy Holidays!" email, hunting for games to play on my new Backbone controller, watching Mike Birbiglia's excellent The Old Man and the Pool special (and listening to his... Continue reading...

Master Chief, the Spartan hero from Halo, will continue his live-action adventures with two episodes of its second season premiering worldwide on February 8th next year. Paramount Plus announced the date, along with a teaser trailer, during CCXP in Brazil.The teaser trailer doesn't reveal much about the story, of course. But Paramount Plus says in its release that the new season will see Schreiber's Master Chief trying to prove that the Covenant (the alien antagonists from the show and the games) are preparing to attack Reach - the humans' military stronghold that fell prior to the story's beginning in the first Halo game.If you've played that game, you know where this goes, and Paramount Plus hints at it in the release. The Master... Continue reading...

Image: Epic Games Fortnite's latest virtual concert was more than just Eminem stomping across a destroyed city - it also teased a number of experiences coming to the game in the future.The Big Bang Event, as it was called, lasted around 10 minutes and whisked players through a variety of spaces. At first, everyone was gathered on the Fortnite OG island to witness a few moments from the game's past happen again: a rocket launched, a meteor crashed, and then everything was sucked into a black hole.From there, players were sucked into a number of portals, each with a different theme. First, there was an island full of Lego characters running around, fighting and building things. Then there was a futuristic race. Finally, Eminem appeared, and while he... Continue reading...

The next chapter of Fortnite will introduce a new island - but it's also adding a Lego-themed game experience. Following The Big Bang event, which marked the conclusion of Fortnite OG (and also starred Eminem), developer Epic Games revealed a new in-game experience called Lego Fortnite. It's described as a new survival crafting game" that will be available within Fortnite starting on December 7th.

This is decidedly not evidence of the existence of parallel realities. | Image: Tessa Coates / Crop: The Verge Depending on how online" you are, you may have seen a picture floating around socials with a strange quirk: a woman - comedian Tessa Coates - is standing in front of two mirrors in a bridal gown and, somehow, holding three poses at once. Coates insisted in her Instagram post that the picture wasn't altered; it just came out that way.So what happened? Was it a glitched iOS Live Photo (the iOS feature that takes short videos and picks out the best one)? A faked image manipulated with Photoshop? A brief glimpse into three different, parallel realities?Nope, it's simpler than all of that. Faruk from the iPhonedo YouTube channel posted a short video to Threads explaining exactly what happened, and it's much more straightforward than you... Continue reading...

It's a good-looking desk accessory - but is it a good mug? | Image: Ember My coffee routine is needlessly fussy but fairly predictable. I wander bleary-eyed into the kitchen, add some water to the kettle, and start heating it to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, grind some coffee beans, get out the Chemex, add and rinse a new filter, put the whole thing on a scale, add 40 grams of beans, slowly pour in 600 milliliters of hot water, pour it into my trusty silver Yeti Rambler, and pad into the living room to either play with my son or look at TikTok on my phone. It's a life, you know?For the last few weeks, the Ember Tumbler has wormed its way into that routine. The $199 Tumbler is Ember's newest product but carries the same promise as the company's popular mugs: it can keep your drink at the exact temperature you want... Continue reading...

Google chief legal officer Kent Walker. | Photo By Alex Zea/Europa Press via Getty Images Judge James Donato is overseeing Epic v. Google, a case that could determine the future of the Android app store - but testimony in this case may have more repercussions for Google too.On Friday, Judge Donato vowed to investigate Google for intentionally and systematically suppressing evidence, calling the company's conduct a frontal assault on the fair administration of justice." We were there in the courtroom for his explanation.I am going to get to the bottom of who is responsible," he said, adding he would pursue these issues on my own, outside of this trial."Testimony in the Epic v. Google trial - and in a parallel DOJ antitrust suit against Google in Washington, DC - revealed that Google automatically deleted chat messages... Continue reading...

Leaked images of the new Samsung S24 Ultra and standard S24. | Image: Windows Report This is the time of year when Samsung unwillingly has major details of its flagship Galaxy S line of phones leaked out months before they launch. So it will come as no surprise that we've now got details on the S24 and S24 Ultra - or at least the phones we assume will carry that name.Today, Windows Report got a hold of new official Samsung images that include the Galaxy S24 Ultra with a new flattened screen design. It confirms an earlier leak by Twitter / X user David Martin, who posted handheld images of the purported new S24 Ultra. The images clearly showed sharper screen edges akin to the changes made with the regular S23 from earlier this year, instead of the gentle curve, and a new gray color finish.As reported last month, Samsung... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge We still don't know the whole story around the conflict between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the company's board, but more and more is leaking out. A new report, from The New Yorker, alleges that OpenAI's old board deliberately excluded Microsoft after initially voting to expel Sam Altman as CEO, and they actually believed the company would back them.In the sprawling story, New Yorker reported Microsoft executives were blindsided by the decision to oust Sam Altman, possibly to prevent Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella from warning Altman what was about to happen.Altman has a reputation for being a shrewd business person, and part of the decision not to inform Microsoft was to ensure that he would be surprised.When OpenAI announced Altman's... Continue reading...

Image: Amazon Amazon is enlisting the help of one of its biggest rivals to shuttle its Project Kuiper internet satellites into space. The company will use SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for three launches beginning in 2025, Amazon announced on Friday.Project Kuiper is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite program that could eventually provide users across the globe with internet connectivity. Amazon launched its first two Project Kuiper test satellites into space in October, where it managed to connect to the internet and conduct a two-way video call. However, it still has to do some serious catching up to SpaceX's Starlink, which has already deployed around 5,000 satellites.Despite the rivalry between the two companies, it doesn't exactly come as a surprise... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Gmail experienced some issues with delayed emails twice this week: on Thursday and again on Friday.On Thursday at 12:31PM ET, Google wrote on Gmail's Workspace Status Dashboard that customers impacted by this issue may see delay in sending the emails," but at 5:03PM ET, the company posted an update that indicates things were fixed.The Thursday issues affected at least two of us here at The Verge. Earlier that day, emails sent from our personal emails to our work accounts took a while to show up. Weirdly, emails from our work emails to our personal Gmails sent just fine. 9to5Google reported the opposite, finding that personal emails worked as expected while Workspace account emails weren't arriving as expected.On Friday, Google... Continue reading...

Image: Analogue Three years after its announcement, Analogue is finally shipping the Analogue Duo: a modern reimagining of NEC's systems that can play games made for the TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, SuperGrafx, TurboGrafx CD, PC Engine CD-ROM, and Super Arcade CD-ROM. In an update on Friday, Analogue says the Duo will start shipping on December 11th and is on track to be delivered before Christmas.The Duo was initially set to launch in 2021, but that date kept getting pushed back until the company finally started taking preorders in May. Priced at $249.99, the machine supports both wired and Bluetooth controllers and is capable of running games in up to 1080p with zero lag." Just like the Analogue Pocket, the Duo relies on the actual game cartridges and... Continue reading...

The Amazon Alexa mobile app has a new design and new features. | Image: Amazon It's been 87 years ... (okay, three), but Amazon has finally updated its Alexa app. The revamp is rolling out fully this week to iOS and Android devices, but it started this summer with some small changes you may have already spotted. The end result is an app that's more streamlined and more tailored to smart home control. And while it's not appreciably faster (boo), it is considerably more intuitive and easier to use (yay).I've not been quiet about my disdain for the Alexa app's (lack of) capabilities. But this new app and the new Map View feature that launched last month, combined with the increased smart home control capabilities of the Echo Show 8 and the new Echo Hub, could convince me to try it again as my smart home daily... Continue reading...

Warner Bros.' animated features based on DC Comics characters have always had that fascinating X-factor that the studio's live-action projects tend to lack. The new trailer for director Eri Osada and writer Tappei Nagatsuki's Suicide Squad Isekai makes it look like the studio's keeping that tradition alive.Set in a continuity outside of DC's core canon (much like an Elseworlds comic), Suicide Squad Isekai follows Harley Quinn (Anna Nagase), Deadshot (Reigo Yamaguchi), Peacemaker (Takehito Koyasu), Clayface (Jun Fukuyama), and King Shark (Subaru Kimura) into an alternate reality as the team is sent on yet another risky, covert mission by the US government. Though the super-felons are all used to working together as Task Force X in their... Continue reading...

The Next World forum in Riyadh was hosted by the Saudi Esports Federation. | Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images With avowed massive gamer' Mohammed bin Salman at the helm, the kingdom's insatiable appetite and bottomless riches are already remaking the global video game industry. Continue reading...

A new all-time low for Microsoft's obelisk of a console. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge It's the best time to buy an Xbox right now, as the Xbox Series X is selling for just $349. You can get Microsoft's flagship console at eitherAmazonor Walmart and save $150.Xbox may not have all the heavy-hitter console exclusives these days like Sony's PlayStation and its cadre of AAA single-player experiences, but it's a great 4K-capable gaming machine with handy features like Quick Resume to get you back into your game in a near instant. Plus, if you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, there are all kinds of great and unique games to enjoy for just $16.99 per month - like sleeper hits Hi-Fi Rush, Cocoon, and Remnant 2 (the last of which just stealth-dropped on the service within the last few days).Best Buy is discounting a whole slew of... Continue reading...

In iA Writer's traditional minimalist interface, AI text shows up in grey, while your own words an in black. | Image: iA Writer iA Writer 7, the latest version of the minimalist multi-platform writing software, has a new feature that's designed to clearly mark text contributed by generative AI systems like ChatGPT. While your own words appear in black, you can choose for AI-generated text copied into your iA document to be greyed out. Then, as you tweak and edit the AI additions you can easily keep track of how much text is your original work and how much is artificially generated.In its blog post about the feature, the company outlines its philosophy about using AI-generated text in writing. Rather than letting AI become a ghostwriter" that takes over" and makes you lose your voice," iA Writer's feature is designed to encourage you to use AI as a dialog... Continue reading...

COP28 logo on the opening day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on November 30, 2023. | Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Will there be a future for fossil fuels? How much money do the most polluting countries owe the rest of the world? That's all on the table at the United Nations Climate Change Conference underway in Dubai. Continue reading...

The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images The long-delayed delivery event is over after Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a few details about the new truck. Continue reading...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 30: COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber during the opening day of the United Nations Climate Conference. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images Tens of thousands of negotiators, activists, and corporate execs have descended upon Dubai to wrangle over the future of fossil fuels. Namely, should they even have a future? Can governments broker a deal to phase out the oil, coal, and gas causing climate change? Countries have already suffered deep losses as a result of the fires, floods, and other disasters intensifying with climate change. They want the biggest, heaviest-polluting nations to do something about it. And they'll be making their case at a conference presided over by an oil baron.Those are some of the hot topics on the table at the United Nations climate conference that kicks off in Dubai on November 30th. It's called COP28, because it's the 28th annual Conference of... Continue reading...

Photo: David Pierce / The Verge Valve's Steam Link app, which lets you stream games from your Steam library to another device, is out now for the Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro headsets, according to a news post from Valve. Having Steam Link available on Quest devices means that you can more easily play your VR games wirelessly, so it might finally be time to play Half-Life: Alyx on your Quest if you've been putting it off. (It's possible to do that now, but it takes a little work.)To stream your games to your headset from Steam Link, Valve says you'll need a router with a wired connection to your PC" and a 5GHz WiFi network for your headset." Steam and SteamVR will need to be installed and running on your PC (which needs to be a PC on Windows 10 or newer). The company... Continue reading...

Godzilla Minus One. | Image: Toho Right now, we are absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to entertainment. TV shows, movies, and games all come out at such a fast and furious pace that it's hard to keep up. Not all of them are worth your time, of course - which is where we come in.Our team spends a lot of time immersed in the various realms of pop culture so that we can handpick our favorites for you. That could mean a hot new indie game you might've otherwise missed or the streaming series that will become your new obsession. Either way, if you're finding it hard to sort through the flood, this is the place to find a curated selection of the best stuff.And like last year, this page will be updated regularly throughout the year - so make sure to check back in... Continue reading...

Image: Toho Toho's latest Godzilla film from writer / director Takashi Yamazaki takes the kaiju king back to its roots to tell a sobering story about reckoning with the present. Continue reading...

The Boy and the Heron. | Image: GKIDS Everything you need to know about Studio Ghibli's latest feature. Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp is introducing a new way to keep your locked chats away from prying eyes. Instead of having your locked chats folder visible with all your other conversations, you can now hide the chats behind a secret code of your choosing.As shown in the below example provided by Meta, you can use letters, numbers, special characters, and even emoji in your secret code. All you have to do is type that password into the WhatsApp search bar to find your locked chats. This should hopefully keep people from knowing you have a locked chat folder in the first place in case they sneak a peek at your phone. Image: WhatsApp WhatsApp also notes you can choose to have your locked chats appear in your chat list instead at any time. T... Continue reading...