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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images The Department of Justice sent America PAC - the political action committee Elon Musk set up to help reelect former President Donald Trump - a letter warning that Musk's $1 million lottery targeting swing state voters may be illegal. It's the latest government attempt to regulate Musk, but it may go nowhere, even though campaign finance experts are adamant that he broke the law.A vocal Trump supporter, Musk is using his vast fortune to influence the election. He's contributed $75 million to the PAC thus far and has been stumping for Trump in Pennsylvania, a battleground state, since last week. But Musk's actions go far beyond typical - and legal - wealthy donor behavior.Musk has made payouts to voters a key element of his campaigning.... Continue reading...

Satechi's magnetic charging pad gets a Qi2 upgrade and a small price bump. | Image: Satechi Satechi has announced an updated version of its Trio Wireless Charging Pad that increases the power delivery to smartphones to 15W through an upgraded Qi2 charger. The new Satechi Qi2 Trio Wireless Charging Pad now also supports 5W fast charging for the Apple Watch, including the Series 7, 8, and 9 and both versions of the Ultra.Made from a mix of aluminum, vegan leather, and soft silicone to prevent devices from getting scratched, the charging pad is available starting today through Satechi's website for $129.99. That's $10 more expensive than the original version, but in addition to potentially faster charge times, Satechi has also included some design improvements on the new Trio. Image: Satechi Devices... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Peacock's multiview feature isn't just for sports - it's also good for tracking the action on election night, apparently. As votes roll in on November 5th, Peacock will show three different livestreams that you can jump between.One window will have a stream of NBC News Now, which will show breaking news and real-time election results from anchors Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie. The multiview setup will also include a Kornacki Cam" with analysis from correspondent Steve Kornacki as well as a map with election results from across the country.Just like the multiview option for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Peacock will let you move between each screen, toggle the audio on or off for specific streams, and select a livestream to watch in full... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images The latest AI manifesto, from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, says a lot about the industry's current moment. Continue reading...

Google Calendar on the web's new dark mode started rolling out to users on October 23rd. | Image: Google Google is finally introducing a dark mode to the web version of Google Calendar and rolling out a refreshed user interface." The new UI will include buttons, dialog boxes, and sidebars that are more modern and accessible" with improved typefaces.The update started rolling out this week and soon it will be available to everyone, whether they're using a personal Gmail login or any sort of paid Google Workspace account.Once it's available on your account, you can turn on the dark mode by clicking the settings icon in the top right corner of the Google Calendar interface, which presents a new drop-down menu with the dark option available under Appearance." Users can also switch back to the light option or choose to match their... Continue reading...

Image: Activision Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is launching on Nvidia's GeForce Now game streaming service on Friday, October 25th - the same day it launches on all other platforms. It's the first time a Call of Duty game is launching day one on GeForce Now, which follows Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023 and a deal to launch its games on Nvidia's service.New Call of Duty releases had exclusive content deals with PlayStation for many years, but Microsoft struck a deal with Sony as part of a promise it would bring parity for the franchise's future launches when it acquired Activision Blizzard. Microsoft had to compromise in its buyout of Activision Blizzard to get past regulators, which included bringing games from the... Continue reading...

Image: Minecraft Minecraft will officially stop supporting all virtual reality headsets after March 2025, according to an update posted to the Bedrock changelog. The update means Minecraft will no longer support devices like the Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, or the Meta Quest (through Quest Link), as reported earlier by UploadVR.Last month, Minecraft developer Mojang also announced that the game would end support for PlayStation VR headsets next March. When Minecraft's spring update rolls around, Mojang says you'll still be able to keep building in your worlds, and your Marketplace purchases (including Minecoins) will continue to be available on a non-VR/MR graphics device such as a computer monitor."As pointed out by UploadVR, you'll... Continue reading...

Image: Snapchat Starting this week, Snapchat is introducing a faster way for iPhone users to take snaps when they're in a rush. iPhones running iOS 18 or later can replace the flashlight or native camera shortcuts at the bottom of the lock screen with shortcuts to Snapchat's camera.With the new shortcuts, you can launch the Snapchat camera directly from the lock screen with a single tap, making it easier to capture moments before they pass. Using these controls enables iPhones to launch and take photos in Camera Only" mode while locked, but sending or editing the snaps will still require users to unlock the device.To set this up, users need to tap and hold the Lock Screen, hit Customize, and then select Lock Screen to replace one of the default... Continue reading...

Photo by Selcuk Acar / Anadolu via Getty Images Automatic emergency braking (AEB) isn't perfect, but the technology is improving, according to a recent study conducted by AAA. The research comes on the heels of a new federal rule requiring all vehicles to have the most robust version of AEB by 2029.AAA wanted to see how newer vehicles with AEB fared compared to older models with the technology. AEB uses forward-facing cameras and other sensors to automatically tell the car to apply the brakes when a crash is imminent. And according to the test results, newer versions of AEB are much better at preventing forward collisions than older versions of the tech.The motorist group conducted its test on a private closed course using older (2017-2018) and newer versions (2024) of the same... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Roblox is making some potentially major changes that will limit what pre-teens can access and give parents more control over what their kids do on the platform, according to an email sent by the company and shared with The Verge. The changes follow recent reports highlighting how Roblox has failed to protect children.In July, for example, Bloomberg published a big report about predators on the platform. Turkey blocked access to Roblox in August, saying it was a necessary measure to protect its children. (Roblox said this week that it would open an office in the country if access was restored.) Earlier this month, a popular financial newsletter accused Roblox of enabling child abuse and the investment firm Hindenburg Research alleged... Continue reading...

The Bookcase undoes years of smartphone makers working hard to reduce the size of screen bezels. | Image: Astropad Astropad's new Bookcase is a smartphone accessory designed to make reading on a smartphone feel more like reading on an e-reader. No, it doesn't give your phone an easy-on-the-eyes screen, longer battery life, or any other features that have made devices like the Kindle popular. Instead, for $50 the Bookcase is really just designed to make a smartphone easier to hold like a book, while making your favorite reading app more accessible.The Bookcase is essentially a magnetic attachment that adds chunky plastic handles on either side of your phone, making it roughly the size and shape of a paperback novel or an e-reader. Astropad says any smartphone that can be attached to a magnetic wireless charger can be used with the Bookcase" even... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google's SynthID text watermarking technology, a tool the company created to make AI-generated text easier to identify, is now available open-source through the Google Responsible Generative AI Toolkit, the company announced on X.Now, other [generative] AI developers will be able to use this technology to help them detect whether text outputs have come from their own [large language models], making it easier for more developers to build AI responsibly," Pushmeet Kohli, the vice president of research at Google DeepMind, told MIT Technology Review.Watermarks have become increasingly important tools as large language models are used to spread political misinformation, generate nonconsensual sexual content, and for other malicious... Continue reading...

2024 Dodge Charger Daytonas. | Image: Stellantis Stellantis says it will put a demonstration fleet" of Dodge Charger Daytonas on the road by 2026, equipped with solid-state battery technology that's lighter, more energy-dense, and could eventually make for cheaper EVs. The company calls the demo fleet a key next step" toward making solid-state EVs that you can actually buy.The cars will be built on its STLA Large EV platform, which is meant to underpin more than just the Chargers it's demoing next year. If its demo is successful, there's a chance that cars from brands like Maserati and Jeep will get the new battery tech, too. Image: Stellantis A demo fleet of the Dodge Charger will get semi-solid-state batteries in 2026, Stellantis says. There's probably a... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images On the heels of its highly anticipated but ultimately disappointing robotaxi event, Tesla published its third quarter earnings report, in which it reiterated its plan to launch a more affordable" electric vehicle in the first half of 2025.In order to continue accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy, we need to make EVs affordable for everyone, including making total cost of ownership per mile competitive with all forms of transportation," the company said. Preparations remain underway for our offering of new vehicles - including more affordable models - which we will begin launching in the first half of 2025."Preparations remain underway for our offering of new vehicles"Earlier this year, Tesla abandoned its... Continue reading...

The iOS 18 updates keep rolling. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge When Apple said that iPhone owners in the EU would be able to set new default apps for things like calling and messaging, it sounded a lot like only people in the EU would get that option.That's not the case, though: a note on Apple's developer website states that all users worldwide can set new default apps for calling and messaging in iOS 18.2. Maybe the continental divide between iPhones in the US and EU won't be so wide after all.The first iOS 18.2 developer beta went out today, and it didn't take long for 9to5Mac to spot the new options. There's a whole new section in the settings menu dedicated to managing default apps. This includes defaults you could already reassign, like your browser or email app. Other options include call... Continue reading...

Image: Microsoft Microsoft has made Windows Update significantly faster in its latest big update to Windows 11. Version 24H2 started rolling out earlier this month with lots of useful improvements, but now Microsoft is revealing this big update also reduces install time, restart time, and even CPU usage for monthly Windows updates.Microsoft typically distributes monthly cumulative security and non-security updates, which are designed to roll out new features or protect against new threats. Windows 11 version 24H2 includes new ways to update the OS that make it more efficient and speedier, including parallel processing of components, scalable use of system RAM, and an optimized cache to update components.These changes mean Windows 11 version 24H2 can... Continue reading...

Amazon is sweetening the Prime deal. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon Prime members are getting a new perk: extra savings at the pump. By linking your Amazon account with BP's loyalty program, you'll be able to save 10 cents a gallon whenever you fuel up at a participating BP or Amoco station. Incidentally, it's a discount much like the one Walmart offers at Exxon stations through its Prime competitor program, Walmart Plus.Naturally, you need to agree to let BP collect information about you to get your discount. But what's the harm in joining just one more loyalty program? And so what if BP is walking back its carbon emission goals to maximize profits while the planet burns? Because there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and also because everything is so god damn expensive lately, I went... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced fines totaling $89 million against Apple and Goldman Sachs because the companies illegally mishandled transaction disputes and misled iPhone purchasers about interest-free payment options" with the Apple Card. The CFPB says the issues affected hundreds of thousands of Apple Card users."Apple didn't send tens of thousands" of Apple Card transaction disputes to Goldman Sachs, according to the CFPB. The CFPB says that Goldman Sachs didn't complete timely inquires on disputes it received in accordance with federal law, either.Cardholders were also led to believe that they would automatically get interest-free financing if they bought Apple devices using the Apple Card, but... Continue reading...

Samsung's Galaxy Watch Ultra, one of our favorite fitness trackers, is up to $150 off at Amazon right now. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Samsung's Galaxy Watch 7 is a good Android smartwatch, especially if you're already embedded in Samsung's ecosystem, but it's best suited for casual fitness tracking. If you're the outdoorsy type or simply want the most full-featured Samsung smartwatch on the market, Samsung's Galaxy Watch Ultra is the better choice - one that's currently on sale at Amazon starting at a new low of $499.99 ($150 off).Built for adventurous types, the Galaxy Watch Ultra offers features you won't find in other Galaxy Watches, including an emergency siren, a multisport activity for triathletes, as well as a customizable shortcut button for quick access to the flashlight and workout app. The wearable also offers longer battery life than the Galaxy Watch 7 -... Continue reading...

The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass features a 90mm multi-coated glass lens for sharper instant prints. | Image: Lomography Lomography has announced an upgraded version of its Lomo'Instant Wide Camera that swaps the original's 90mm plastic lens for one made with multi-coated glass. The company says its new Lomo'Instant Wide Glass is the sharpest instant camera on earth," but while it probably outperforms other Lomography offerings, it's up against instant alternatives like the Nons SL660 which is compatible with EF mount lenses. And in either case, it's still going to be held back by the limitations of instant film.Those upgraded optics come with a much steeper price tag. The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass is available now for $279, where as the all-plastic Lomo'Instant Wide Camera Black Edition is still $169. Fujifilm's own Instax Wide 400 is even cheaper at... Continue reading...

The Boox Palma looks slick in either black or white. | Image: Boox Kindles and Kobos are relatively comfortable to use, but if those are too big and restrictive, the smartphone-like Boox Palma is a fantastic alternative that's grown on us considerably. A new model is on its way, but if you don't need the smoother performance it promises, you can save a bit on the original today. It's down to $245.99 ($34 off) at Amazon, which is a new all-time low price.The Palma's hardware sheet and appearance resemble a smartphone, but it has neither calling capabilities nor a traditional display. It uses a 6.13-inch backlit E Ink Carta 1200 display instead, offering a crisp 300 ppi resolution. There's a microphone and speaker, a microSD card slot for expanding its 128GB of internal storage, volume buttons that can... Continue reading...

The Climeworks AG Mammoth carbon removal plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland, on May 8th, 2024. | Photo: Getty Images Tech companies think they can reverse climate change with fancy new tools to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. But new research throws cold water on the idea that cooling the planet after it has already heated beyond a key turning point can avoid serious damage. Much of the toll climate change takes - from rising seas to lost homes - can't be undone, recent research published in the journal Nature warns.That makes it all the more urgent for governments and companies with climate goals to slash pollution from fossil fuels now, rather than offsetting or capturing their greenhouse gas emissions after the fact.Climate change comes with irreversible consequences."Climate change comes with irreversible consequences. Every degree... Continue reading...

Eero Outdoor 7 is the company's first outdoor-rated Wi-Fi access point. | Image: Eero Mesh Wi-Fi pioneer Eero is tackling a new frontier: the outdoors. Today, the Amazon-owned company announced the Eero Outdoor 7. Starting at $349.99, the dual-band 2.4 and 5Ghz Wi-Fi 7 access point boasts an IP66 rating and can provide up to 15,000 square feet of outdoor coverage with speeds of up to 2.1Gbps. That should be enough to stream movies to your outdoor TV or projector, get good connectivity for your security cameras, and even funnel some decent Wi-Fi to that shed at the end of the garden.With connectivity now a necessity for so many things we do, from work to play, extending your Wi-Fi network beyond your home into your yard feels increasingly more important. Nick Weaver, CEO of Eero, told The Verge in an interview that a... Continue reading...

For an extra $700 you buy a matching wooden tripod for Marantz's new wireless speakers. | Image: Marantz Marantz, a 70-year-old brand best known for high-end audio gear like amplifiers and receivers, announced its first speakers this week. The Marantz Horizon and Grand Horizon both pair an array of drivers with a central subwoofer and feature robust wireless connectivity with direct access to streaming services.Both speakers will be available starting on January 14th, 2025, in three different colorways: midnight sky, moon ray, and champagne. The Marantz Horizon will sell for $3,500, while the larger Grand Horizon will be $5,500. Marantz will also sell a matching tripod made from American walnut wood for $700. Image: Marantz The larger Marantz Grand Horizon offers a little extra power and includes two more drivers than... Continue reading...

Image: Apple Like a lot of tech companies, Lumon Industries is instituting a return-to-office policy for employees, but of course, this version looks a little scarier than real life. At least, that's how it seems based on the first proper trailer for season 2 of Severance.Following last season's incredibly tense finale, the show picks up with Mark S (Adam Scott) heading back to Lumon to find things a little different than he remembers them, including a number of his coworkers. But some things haven't changed - namely, the disorienting office hallways and the unyielding intensity of Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who looks intimidating even while holding party balloons.For the uninitiated, Severance is a sci-fi story about a medical procedure - the... Continue reading...

Image: Adobe Adobe is attempting to lure illustrators to join its creative software platform by making its dedicated drawing and painting app entirely free for everyone. Fresco is essentially Adobe's answer to apps like Procreate and Clip Studio Paint, which all provide a variety of tools for both digital art and simulating real-world materials like sketching pencils and watercolor paints.Adobe Fresco is designed for touch and stylus-supported devices, and is available on iPad, iPhone, and Windows PCs. The app already had a free-to-use tier, but premium features like access to the full Adobe Fonts library, a much wider brush selection, and the ability to import custom brushes previously required a $9.99 annual subscription. That's pretty affordable... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Anyone who has followed a social network knows that sometimes the most innocuous post can attract unpleasant responses, especially on apps like Instagram, where your content - whether video, image, or text - can be out there for anyone to see. There are any number of reasons you might want to set your account to private, even if only temporarily. It would make it so that only people you approve can follow you and see the stuff you post on your grid or in your Stories.This isn't a perfect solution. For example, although only your followers can see your posts while your account is private, some aspects of your account, such as your profile, will remain public.Anyway, let's begin. Screenshot: Meta It's not hard to... Continue reading...

Illustration by Haein Jeong / The Verge The upcoming release of Apple Intelligence has spurred the iPhone maker's own what is a photo?" moment. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple software chief Craig Federighi said the company is aiming to provide AI-powered image editing tools that preserve photo authenticity.Our products, our phones, are used a lot," said Federighi. It's important to us that we help purvey accurate information, not fantasy."iOS 18.1 brings a new Clean Up" feature to the Photos app that can quickly remove objects and people from images - a capability that Federighi and WSJ reporter Joanna Stern noted is far tamer than editing tools offered by rivals like Google and Samsung, which can add entire AI-generated assets to images. Despite... Continue reading...

The Boox Palma 2 features a faster processor and a fingerprint reader. | Image: Boox Boox has announced the Palma 2, the next version of its popular smartphone-sized e-reader. The Palma 2 addresses some of the original's shortcomings, with a faster processor to address the original's laggy interface and by running a newer version of Android.The new Boox Palma 2 is available for preorder today in ivory white or deep cyan black for $279.99, which is exactly the same price as the original. That's still more expensive than premium e-readers, including the recently announced $199.99 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which features a much larger screen and a more polished interface than the original Palma. Image: Boox The original Palma ran on Android 11, but the new Palma 2 will debut with Android... Continue reading...

Illustration by Haein Jeong / The Verge Thousands of creatives, including famous actors like Kevin Bacon and Kate McKinnon, along with other actors, authors, and musicians, have signed a statement warning that the unpermitted use of copyrighted materials to train AI models threatens the people who made those creative works. 11,500 names are on the list of signatories so far.Here is the one-sentence statement:

This Ariane 5 rocket carried Intelsat 33e and Intelsat 36 into space in 2016. | Photo by JODY AMIET/AFP via Getty Images A communications satellite built by Boeing has fallen apart while in orbit, as reported earlier by Jalopnik. On Saturday, Intelsat said its 33e satellite stopped working due to an anomaly" before confirming its total loss" on Monday.We are coordinating with the satellite manufacturer, Boeing, and government agencies to analyze data and observations," Intelsat said. The company has since established a board to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the cause of the anomaly."The satellite's breakup doesn't have great timing for Boeing, following the company's troubled Starliner mission and a criminal fraud charge over 737 Max plane crashes,The US Space Force also confirmed the incident:

Amazon Not long after injecting more artificial intelligence into its shopping experience, Amazon is now testing a new homepage for its shopping app on Android and iOS. Millions of users in the US will see changes starting today, with more slated to see them over the coming months.Fundamentally, the redesign seems to serve the same purpose as the current layout by surfacing personalized recommendations based on your purchase habits, browsing history, deals, and other signals based on your shopping activity. Today's change just builds on that formula with bigger, brighter graphics, more dynamic product curations and groupings, and an increased emphasis on horizontal scrolling for the various collections and sub-hubs you'll find. (It also... Continue reading...

AT&T will let you try before you buy. | Image: The Verge T-Mobile and Verizon have been offering free network trials for a couple of years at this point; now, AT&T has finally introduced a trial program of its own. It's a no-commitment way to give the AT&T network a try while still holding on to your current carrier, number, and device. Pretty cool! But you'll need an unlocked phone, which might disqualify a lot of people who are still paying off their current device - though the FCC is trying to do something about that.AT&T calls its program Try AT&T, and at the moment, it's iOS only; the carrier's blog post states that Android support will be introduced in 2025. The trial makes use of eSIM, which allows you to use a secondary line on your phone without ditching your primary number.... Continue reading...

Tim Cook apparently uses a lot more than an iPhone in his daily life. | Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images While discussing his daily routine, Tim Cook told Ben Cohen in this WSJ Magazine interview that every day" he uses every product." In the story, he mentions using an iPhone, an Apple Watch, AirPods, and then, for work, two different MacBooks, an iMac, a Vision Pro, and an iPad Pro.But what would it look like to truly use everything Apple makes every single day? Imagine using every variant of hardware Apple makes in one day, with or without Beats. Then, there are the accessories. Cook surely uses the polishing cloth, Apple's most compatible product, every day, and probably this VESA mount for the Pro Display XDR.You'd need to use all of its services also, and I don't just mean Apple Music, Arcade, and Apple TV Plus. iTunes Match,... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google Messages is trying to banish spammy job-seeking and package-delivery texts from your inbox, and it's also adding a content warning to blur images that might contain nudity.The Sensitive Content Warning feature is optional, and if enabled, it will show users a speed bump" with help-finding resources and options" before they can view an image with nudity detected via on-device scanning. If users try to share an image with nudity, the app will warn them about the risks.With all of the scanning done on-device, Google says it doesn't see the contents of your images or send them anywhere, and it doesn't break the end-to-end encryption available with RCS. Apple's Messages app added similar protection with Communication Safety... Continue reading...

Image: Joby The Federal Aviation Administration published highly anticipated final regulations for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles that it says will chart the path for the air travel of the future."The FAA says these powered-lift" vehicles will be the first completely new category of aircraft since helicopters were introduced in 1940. These aircraft will be used for a variety of services, including air taxis, cargo delivery, and rescue and retrieval operations. The final rules published today contain guidelines for pilot training as well as operational requirements regarding minimum safe altitudes and visibility.Powered lift aircraft are the first new category of aircraft in nearly 80 years," FAA administrator Mike Whitaker... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Anthropic's latest Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI model has a new feature in public beta that can control a computer by looking at a screen, moving a cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text. The new feature, called computer use," is available today on the API, allowing developers to direct Claude to work on a computer like a human does, as shown on a Mac in the video below.Microsoft's Copilot Vision feature and OpenAI's desktop app for ChatGPT have shown what their AI tools can do based on seeing your computer's screen, and Google has similar capabilities in its Gemini app on Android phones. But they haven't gone to the next step of widely releasing tools ready to click around and perform tasks for you like this. Rabbit promised similar... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Microsoft and OpenAI announced they're offering a select group of media outlets up to $10 million ($2.5 million in cash plus $2.5 million worth of software and enterprise credits" from each) to try out AI tools in the newsroom.This news comes while the two companies are still facing a slew of copyright lawsuits, including from The New York Times, The Intercept, Raw Story, AlterNet, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund behind the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune. Those have continued despite licensing deals reached with many media outlets, including The Verge's parent company, Vox Media.The first round of funding will go to Newsday, The Minnesota Star Tribune, The Philadelphia... Continue reading...

Plugable's PS-10CC can deliver 100W to all 10 of its USB-C ports, but not simultaneously. | Image: Plugable Plugable has announced a new multi-port USB-C hub that can power or charge up to 10 connected devices using intelligent power distribution and an easy-to-understand priority-based charging system.The company is bringing its new PS-10CC hub to consumers through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. The earliest backers can get one for $59, while the hub's full MSRP will be closer to $99, with delivery expected as early as January 2025. There's always a level of risk when backing a crowdfunded product, but Plugable has successfully delivered three devices through previous Kickstarters and says it already has functional prototypes of its new PS-10CC. Image: Plugable You'll need to supply your own power adapter for the... Continue reading...