The Verge

The Chromecast, in The Verge's first review. | Image: The Verge When I was still a starry-eyed 20-something living with my then-fiancee, the only way I could stream video on my TV was through its HDMI ports and my laptop. This had served me well for years - and still does, when I'm desperate - but dealing with the setup was cumbersome.Then came the original Chromecast in 2013, and it was a revelation. Suddenly, I had this tiny black stick, shaped like an oversized key, that plugged right into my TV's HDMI port and let me cast video through the air and onto my 55-inch screen in glorious high definition. And all it cost was $35? Incredible, especially in 2013.It felt like pure magic. It was a basically invisible device that I didn't even need an app for, and it let me beam music and video to my TV... Continue reading...

Image: Getty Images The Kia Boys may have met their match.A software update that first rolled out last year to owners of Hyundai and Kia vehicles without electronic immobilizers has cut theft rates by more than half, according to a new analysis from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).The automakers first began implementing the update in February 2023 in response to a wave of car thefts that started during the covid pandemic, when instructional videos on how to steal the cars first started going viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.Thieves calling themselves the Kia Boys" would post instructional videos about how to bypass the vehicles' security system using tools as simple as a USB cable. About 9 million vehicles have been impacted,... Continue reading...

Anti-immigration protests have quickly escalated into violent riots across the UK, spurred in part by misinformation spread via online platforms. | Photo by Christopher Furlong / Getty Images The UK communications regulator Ofcom has raised concerns regarding social media being used to incite violence amid far-right riots across the country. In an open letter, Ofcom's online safety director, Gill Whitehead, urged online platforms to tackle the potential spread of harmful materials related to the ongoing discord, highlighting its existing powers over video sharing platforms and its upcoming enforcement of the broader Online Safety Act.Ofcom is specifically encouraging platforms to address content that depicts hatred and disorder" and promotes violence or disinformation. The regulator's existing powers allow it to suspend or restrict" video sharing platforms that fail to protect the public from harmful material" -... Continue reading...

Mobile filmmakers can boost their smartphone's storage capacity by up to 2TB. | Image: Lexar A terabyte of storage can disappear quickly when you're capturing 4K footage on an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. Lexar's new Professional Go Portable SSD with Hub not only adds up to an extra 2TB of storage, but it also enables ProRes video captures at 60fps while giving mobile filmmakers a few extra USB-C ports for attaching other accessories.Lexar's external storage solution definitely isn't a new idea. Because 4K ProRes video recording is limited to 30fps when recording to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max's internal storage, many companies have released SSD drives designed specifically for the iPhone, enabling 60fps capture. What sets Lexar's solution apart is a compact design with a matching USB-C hub that doesn't add a lot of bulk to the... Continue reading...

Image: Getty This week's earnings reports make two things clear about the viability of the electric vehicle future: EV-only companies are continuing to struggle and lose lots of money, and having wealthy investors who are willing to pour money into your money-losing operation is the difference between survival and bankruptcy.Two of the big US-based EV-only companies - Rivian and Lucid - reported their second quarter earnings this week. Lo and behold, there's still a lot of red ink being spilled.Lucid reported a net loss of $643 million for the second quarter, a slight improvement over the $764 million it lost in the second quarter of 2023. And Rivian said it lost a staggering $1.46 billion, $300 million worse than the same period last year.Lo... Continue reading...

Image: Google Google is expected to launch a new weather app alongside the Pixel 9 - but you don't have to wait to try it out. As highlighted by 9to5Google and Android Authority, the Pixel Weather app is now on APKMirror, where you can sideload it on devices running Android 14 or newer.Based on some of the screenshots posted online, it looks like the Pixel Weather app will offer a clean look at your hourly and 10-day forecast, along with other handy measurements like wind speed, visibility, humidity, air pressure, and more. You can rearrange each tile in the app except for the 10-day forecast, according to 9to5Google. Image: 9to5Google The Pixel Weather app has an aesthetically pleasing interface. Additionally, code... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge TikTok will now create in-app hubs for movies and TV shows and place them directly on fan-made videos. The feature, called TikTok Spotlight, will automatically add links to applicable" videos on the platform, leading to landing pages that provide more information about the relevant title as well as options to buy tickets or watch it on a streaming service.The links will show up in the bottom-left corner of a creator's video, and users can tap in to view a landing page with the cast list, links to official accounts, related content, and information about where to watch the title. You might've already spotted this feature on TikTok, as the platform partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to promote Dune: Part Two with a dedicated hub on... Continue reading...

You can fill an entire wall with Nanoleaf's new glowing display cases, which simply need to stack to connect to each other. | Image: Nanoleaf Nanoleaf's new Expo Smart Display Cases are an eye-catching way to make a carefully curated collection the focus of any room. Each case features diffused color-changing LED lighting, and multiple cases can be stacked to create a larger display with colors and animated lighting that syncs across hundreds of cases. They're available now individually for $79.99, or you can save $20 by opting for a four-pack for $299.99.Made from premium grade ABS resin," the cases feature evenly diffused LED lighting to minimize shadows and hotspots around what's displayed inside. Unlike display cases with a single overhead spotlight, Nanoleaf is taking an approach similar to the product lighting used in professional photoshoots. Image:... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Meta and Google teamed up to run a secret campaign that deliberately targeted 13 to 17-year-olds with Instagram ads on YouTube according to the Financial Times, breaking the search giant's own rules against advertising to children.The publication reports that Google directed ads to a subset of users labeled as unknown" in its advertising systems, in an attempt to disguise the group skewed toward teenagers. According to a Google Ads help page, the unknown" demographic category refers to people whose age, gender, parental status, or household income are supposedly unidentified, and can allow advertisers to reach a significantly wider audience" when selected.However, Google could use app downloads and online activity to determine... Continue reading...

Image: Boeing During a press conference today, NASA representatives confirmed they have a contingency plan to bring astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year. If they're unable to leave sooner aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that brought them there, the backup plan would rely on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission, which has had its launch delayed while officials figure out what to do next.After a successful crewed launch of the Boeing Starliner on June 5th (following several delays), the two astronauts were originally supposed to spend about a week aboard the ISS before parachuting back to Earth. But the Starliner experienced thruster failures and helium leaks while docking with the ISS,... Continue reading...

Image: Visit Jackson Hole Wyoming's Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board has created an open-source Instagram filter to help visitors gauge if they're at a safe distance from wildlife to take photos. The board hopes the tool will help better protect tourists visiting wildlife destinations - and the animals they're watching - during the busy summer travel season.To use the filter, visitors to the valley and wilderness recreation area need to open up the Selfie Control filter in the Instagram app. After selecting the type of wildlife they're looking at, tourists must align the animal's outline to its icon. If the real-life animal's bigger than the icon, then they're too close and should back up.Jackson Hole, like nearby Yellowstone National Park and other wildlife... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said the new Ace headphones got off to a strong start and helped spur year over year revenue growth" that slightly exceeded the company's expectations as part of its third quarter earnings on Wednesday afternoon. But that success was immediately overshadowed" by ongoing woes with the redesigned Sonos app.The company is now delaying two hardware releases originally planned for later this year as it deploys an all-hands-on-deck approach to fixing the app. I will not rest until we're in a position where we've addressed the issues and have customers raving about Sonos again," Spence said during the afternoon earnings call.We believe our focus needs to be addressing the app ahead of everything else," he... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge You might have to pay to access some subreddits in the future. During an earnings call on Tuesday, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman hinted at new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas."I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has," Huffman said. But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built." Huffman said he doesn't think these gated communities would cannibalize" the site, which has seen an increase in users over the past few months. The site's daily active users jumped 51 percent, bringing its total to 91.2 million, while its revenue also increased by 54 percent to... Continue reading...

An Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, one of the first types identified to sometimes crash this way. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge There is no fix for Intel's crashing 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors. If your chip isn't yet damaged, please apply motherboard BIOS updates early and often to prevent issues. If it's already damaged, your only option is to exchange it.But what if you didn't buy a chip - but, rather, an entire PC? Will PC makers have your back? Will they pass along the extra two years of warranty that Intel just theoretically granted them, or will they perhaps try to save money at your expense? Image: Intel On Tuesday, Intel confirmed it will extend its warranty by two entire years for 24 different CPUs that may be affected. We asked over a dozen desktop computer companies that last question. Some agreed to... Continue reading...

Characters from the Chapter 5: Season 3 battle pass. | Image: Epic Games Epic Games is making a major change to Fortnite's battle passes that should remove some angst if you can't buy or complete a pass before the end of a season.Fortnite's battle passes offer a bunch of exclusive in-game rewards that you can only obtain during an individual season, but that means you might miss out on rewards entirely if you can't level up enough or don't buy the pass before it expires. To help alleviate that pressure, Epic announced on Wednesday that items from future battle passes might be available for purchase in Fortnite's item shop at least 18 months after the pass expires.Epic's battle pass policy adjustment is intended in part to let people buy outfits featuring licensed crossovers, even if they miss a season's... Continue reading...

A dial can be used to select one of four charging modes on Anker's new desktop Prime Charger. | Image: Anker Anker announced several additions to the company's Prime line of chargers today, including a new desktop version that allows the power output of its six USB ports to be customized through a control dial. As a result, connected devices get exactly as much power as they need.The new $169.99 Anker Prime Charger shares 250W of power across four USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. The first USB-C port can deliver up to 140W of power, while the other three max out at 100W. The two USB-A ports deliver up to 22.5W each. Image: Anker An LCD screen shows the power output of each USB-C port. The charger offers four different power distribution modes, adjustable through a built-in control dial or Anker's mobile app.

The Chromecast is going away after more than a decade in Google's hardware portfolio, with the company phasing it out to make room for the new Google TV Streamer. In 2013, the timing was perfect for the Chromecast's success. Most TVs of that era had rudimentary entertainment apps that were often slow, so beaming content from your phone to a TV made a lot of sense.But times have changed. With the Chromecast with Google TV in 2020. Google pivoted in the opposite direction with a much more traditional, lean-back entertainment experience. Casting took a backseat to carousels of content recommendations, and native apps returned.The Google TV Streamer is designed to build on that strategy by infusing Gemini AI smarts into the software. It'll... Continue reading...

Bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef in 2024. | Photo: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg The Great Barrier Reef and surrounding waters have reached hotter temperatures over the past decade than they have in at least 400 years because of climate change, according to new research published in the journal Nature.It's a stark warning. The survival of the Great Barrier Reef is essentially now in human hands. Corals around the world face near extinction if temperatures continue to rise with the world running primarily on fossil fuels.The reef is in danger."The reef is in danger, and if we don't divert from our current course, our generation will likely witness the demise of one of Earth's great natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef," Benjamin Henley, lead author of the research and a lecturer at the University of Melbourne... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is making views" the primary metric across all of its formats, meaning that creators will be able to track the same metric across Reels, Stories, photos, and more. The change will roll out in the coming weeks, according to a post on Instagram's creators account.

A new joint venture between three streaming leaders could create a monopoly problem in sports television, three lawmakers warn US regulators in a letter first reported by The Athletic.Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) are asking law enforcers to investigate the joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. to create a new service, Venu Sports. The streaming service is expected to include sports networks from across the three companies' portfolios, including ESPN, FOX, and TNT. Last week, the companies announced that Venu Sports will cost $42.99 per month.In the letter to Justice Department antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter and Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica... Continue reading...

Image: Roku Roku is preparing to launch a new 24/7 sports channel across its devices, apps, and on its website. Starting on August 12th, the new Roku Sports Channel will start showing sports-themed content that includes live events and original content.Joe Franzetta, who heads Roku's sports division, describes the channel as a curated always-on channel that leads our viewer through the wide variety of premium sports content available for free on The Roku Channel."The most premium" of those will be Sunday Leadoff, the live Major League Baseball games Roku got in a broadcast deal with the MLB earlier this year. But the channel will also feature live Formula E races and other sports broadcasts, including archival boxing matches, NBA G League... Continue reading...

Image: HBO House of the Dragon ended its second season with a reminder that this is all just one part of a much larger story. Continue reading...

The crimson red Apex Edition' OnePlus Open is a stunner, and the color isn't the only thing that's different about it. Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Disney's streaming business has finally become profitable. In its Q3 earnings results released on Wednesday, the company reported making $47 million off Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus.Like other streamers, Disney has struggled with making its streaming business profitable. At the same time last year, Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu recorded a $512 million loss. Things started to turn around last quarter when both Disney Plus and Hulu posted a profit, but losses at ESPN Plus prevented Disney's overall streaming business from crossing the line into profitability.This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our Entertainment segment both at the box office and in DTC, as we achieved profitability across our... Continue reading...

Image: AMD AMD has finally revealed the launch prices for its new range of Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs, and it's pricing them slightly lower than the Ryzen 7000 launch prices. The flagship Ryzen 9 9950X with 16 cores will be priced at $649, which is $50 less than the $699 Ryzen 9 7950X that launched nearly two years ago. The rest of the lineup are priced between $20 and $50 less than equivalent Ryzen 7000 CPUs.After a delay to the launch of its Ryzen 9000 CPUs out of an abundance of caution," the Ryzen 7 9700X ($359) and Ryzen 5 9600X ($279) will both launch on August 8th, followed by the Ryzen 9 9950X ($649) and Ryzen 9 9900X ($499) on August 15th. Image: AMD AMD's Ryzen 9000 series pricing. AMD is promising around a 16... Continue reading...

Image: Ford Ford announced today that it would be working with bike company N plus to introduce two new e-bikes inspired by the automaker's most iconic brands, the Bronco and Mustang.There's nothing new about car companies working with bike manufacturers to co-develop e-bikes in the hopes of exciting gear heads. GM, Porsche, Jeep, Polestar, and others have tried to do the same, with varying degrees of success. But Ford says its bikes will be unique insofar as they are directly tied to two of the company's most storied models.G.O.A.T. = Goes Over Any Type of Terrain"The Bronco e-bike will, of course, be very rugged and designed to handle rough terrain. The company says that the bike will come with a 750W hub motor that generates 85 Nm of torque... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit's ask me anything" posts, or AMAs, could feel more like special events than standard posts with a twist, thanks to changes that go sitewide on Thursday. While none of the updates reflect a total overhaul, they do put a new kind of emphasis on the popular Q&A sessions.Starting on Thursday, a new AMA tab will offer special options like the ability to schedule and promote an AMA in a single post. Creators of the posts can also add up to five cohosts, whose answers are tagged as such in the comments section. When the AMA is over, hosts can also add an ending note with closing thoughts, links, or final promotional info.For ordinary site users, a new RSVP option will let them get notifications so they don't miss one. Once the AMA is... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Amazon Music on Tuesday introduced Topics, a new AI-powered feature that should let you easily discover other related podcasts based on topics discussed in a particular episode.After analyzing podcast transcriptions and descriptions to identify key topics, AI, with the aid of human reviewers, generates a Topics tag button. Located beneath each episode description, clicking on any tag will produce a list of related podcast episodes to that subject.As an example, Amazon shared an Amazon Music mobile app screenshot of an episode about the effects of caffeine as a drug from the Stuff You Should Know podcast. Titled, Selects: The Duality of Caffeine," Amazon added three Topics tags underneath the product description: Caffeine," Coffee,"... Continue reading...

A small-scale model of a carbon removal facility during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Occidental Petroleum and 1PointFive Direct Air Capture (DAC) plant in Ector County, Texas, on April 28th, 2023. | Photo: Getty Images Companies are increasingly turning to newfangled ways to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as a way to hit their sustainability goals. But who's watching to make sure these tactics are working?A new project called the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative (CRSI) launched today, with the goal of helping develop standards for efforts to draw down and sequester CO2. It comes as big names in tech scale-up investments in carbon dioxide removal (CDR), even though there are still concerns about whether those technologies will be able to prove themselves at commercial scale.Who's watching to make sure these tactics are working?CDR can look like many different things - building an industrial facility to filter CO2 out of the air or s... Continue reading...

More watchfaces, Garmin Pay, and GoPro are now in the Garmin Connect IQ Store. | Image: Garmin Garmin doesn't have the best third-party app store, but it's at least getting a bit better starting today. You'll now be able to make purchases in the Connect IQ Store using Garmin Pay, plus there's a handful of new watchfaces and a GoPro app.Previously, downloading apps from the Garmin Connect IQ Store could be a real pain, as there wasn't an easy way to pay for apps that weren't free. (Even free apps like Spotify could sometimes be a headache to download and install.)The other problem with Connect IQ is that there simply aren't a ton of apps compared to Google Play or Apple's App Store. And while that's still an issue, today's announcement does bring some bigger names to Connect IQ. That includes four Disney-themed watchfaces,... Continue reading...