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Shioli Kutsuna as Mitsuki. | Image: Apple For much of the first two seasons of Invasion, the show's characters have seemingly been moving independently of each other. It's clear that they were heading in similar directions, with paths that would converge in some way, but it wasn't until the season 2 finale that Invasion finally started coming together. And it's setting the show up for a big showdown in the future.Invasion has played out a lot like a character-driven drama that just so happens to be set at the ground level of an alien invasion. It started out slowly - we didn't even get to see the spiky, blob-like invaders until a few episodes in - and largely stayed that way, even though season 2 ratcheted up the intensity somewhat to start.This story contains spoilers for... Continue reading...

Photo by Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images for Hertz Rental car company Hertz once envisioned itself as the ultimate EV broker, doling out battery-powered vehicles to business travelers, ridehail drivers, and tech newbies in an ambitious plan to grease the wheels for the EV revolution. The company inked agreements with Tesla and Polestar to buy nearly 200,000 EVs. Tesla's valuation topped $1 trillion on the news.But like many other aspects of the EV switch, that plan is running into some headwinds. This week, Hertz said it was tapping the brakes on its EV rollout, citing the plummeting resale value of its EVs and the high cost of repair.Tesla has been slashing prices to spark sales as it finds itself wrestling with softening demand and more competition. And repair costs are about double... Continue reading...

Image: Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment returns to the franchise after more than a decade, with a survival horror experience that's equal parts strange and terrifying. Continue reading...

Creepy Finder has something in store for us. | Image: Apple It looks like some new Macs are on the way. Apple is holding an online-only launch event on October 30th, where it's expected to introduce its next big chip updates and some Macs to go along with them. Apple is calling the pre-Halloween announcement the Scary Fast" event, and its YouTube channel playfully invites viewers to Treat yourself."Almost every Apple event invitation includes a themed Apple logo that hints at what to expect. This time, the company's event website has an animated Apple logo that morphs into the Finder icon, all but confirming some new Macs are in the cards. Meanwhile, scary fast" seems to hint at the possibility Apple will announce brand-new M3 processors, which could debut in some updated Macs - including a... Continue reading...

Image: Getty The Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo saw the debut of five different electrified sports cars, ranging from production-intent coupes to outrageous concept supercars. Continue reading...

Only supervised operations will go ahead while Cruise halts it's autonomous robotaxi services across the US. | Image: Cruise Cruise, the autonomous vehicle operator backed by General Motors, says it decided to proactively pause" its fleet of driverless cars across the United States. The operations halt comes just two days after Californian regulators suspended Cruise's robotaxi permit in the state, claiming that its vehicles are not safe for public operation."Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was investigating Cruise after receiving reports of pedestrian injuries involving the company's driverless vehicles. One notable incident that occurred on October 2nd in San Francisco resulted in a woman becoming pinned under a Cruise robotaxi after being struck by another driver and thrown into the path of the... Continue reading...

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is starting to roll out new changes to Windows Ink that let you write anywhere you can type in Windows 11. After months of previewing the changes, the handwriting-to-text conversion now works inside search boxes and other elements of Windows 11 where you'd normally type your input.Microsoft has started rolling out the KB5031455 non-security update as a preview to Windows 11 users yesterday. You simply have to head to Windows Update and toggle the Get the latest updates as soon as they're available" setting to get this update before it's available fully in the coming weeks.The Windows Ink update also includes gestures for edit fieldsIf you have a Surface device with a stylus or any other Windows tablet that supports Windows... Continue reading...

Samsung has released a demonstration of its ISOCELL Zoom Anyplace tech which uses the company's high resolution 200-megapixel sensors to pull off some nifty tricks with video zoom. The feature can simultaneously capture the full field of view and zoomed-in areas on video" and automatically track and film a moving subject within the frame. Samsung first teased Zoom Anyplace at a press conference earlier this month.Although the company doesn't say exactly which devices will get the new Zoom Anyplace feature, all signs point to the company's next-generation Galaxy S24 Ultra flagship which is likely to be announced early next year.4K at a 4x zoomFor starters, the S24 Ultra is rumored to be equipped with the requisite 200-megapixel... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Elon Musk wants X to be the center of your financial world, handling anything in your life that deals with money. He expects those features to launch by the end of 2024, he told X employees during an all-hands call on Thursday, saying that people will be surprised with just how powerful it is."When I say payments, I actually mean someone's entire financial life," Musk said, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Verge. If it involves money. It'll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever. So, it's not just like send $20 to my friend. I'm talking about, like, you won't need a bank account."X CEO Linda Yaccarino said the company sees this becoming a full opportunity" in 2024. It would blow my mind if we don't... Continue reading...

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images Ford is postponing $12 billion in EV factory building, including a planned battery factory in Kentucky. The reasons given were an unwillingness by customers to pay extra for its electric vehicles. You see, they're too expensive, and now Ford's massive transformation into an EV company is now going to take a lot longer than before.Ford's EV business continues to lose money, around $1.3 billion this past quarter in adjusted earnings. So far this year, Ford has lost $3.1 billion on its EV spending and has said it's going to lose a total of $4 billion for the year.The Kentucky plant, a mega campus" that builds lithium ion batteries for electric cars, would be put on holdThe Kentucky plant, a mega campus" that builds lithium ion... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Meta is going to let you make polls and insert GIFs right from the Threads post composer, the company announced on Thursday. Later in the day, Instagram head Adam Mosseri revealed that the company is testing view counts on Threads posts and pinned posts on profiles and in your replies.The polls and GIFs features are now rolling out, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated by making a post with a GIF and another post with a poll. They're small additions, but they're features you have been able to do on X (formerly Twitter) for a very long time.Zuckerberg's poll has three options (you can include up to four) and a timer that counts down how long users have to vote in the poll in real time, which is a nice touch. To be able to see the results... Continue reading...

Xiaomi's 14 phones run a new Android skin called HyperOS designed to run across different kinds of devices. | Image: Xiaomi Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is just a couple of days of old, and per usual, Xiaomi has already announced new flagship phones that put it to use. The Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro will be exclusive to China before a likely global (minus the US) launch, but for now, the AI-heavy feature set and a new Android skin called HyperOS give us a pretty good idea of what's to come in 2024.The Xiaomi 14 comes with a 6.3-inch screen, and the 14 Pro offers a 6.7-inch screen. They each claim a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, and they're both LTPO displays with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rates. The 14 comes with a flat display and narrow bezels measuring 1.61mm on three sides - there's an itty-bitty chin with a 1.71mm bezel along the bottom.The 14 Pro's... Continue reading...

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Xbox's latest update adds a way to map controller buttons to keyboard keys. If you have the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and the Xbox Adaptive Controller, you can now assign specific keyboard keys to buttons on your controller. This should make it easier to play games that have limited controller support or just have a lot of different controls.Microsoft first released this feature to Xbox Insiders in August, and now it's rolling out to the Xbox Accessories app on both PC and console this week. With this feature, you can now map any button on your controller, such as your left bumper, to the keyboard key of your choice. Image: Xbox While you can also map as many modifier keys, like Ctrl, Shift, Alt, and... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Apple has released the developer beta of iOS 17.2, and it includes the Journal app, a digital daily diary for users to log their activities.The Journal app was first announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and the company frames it as a way for users to self-reflect and practice gratitude.A feature of the Journal app that's raised questions is how it uses machine learning to prompt user entries, using data like photos, workouts, location data, and more - perhaps good for people who need a little bit of inspiration. But as my colleague Victoria Song wrote at the time, not all our memories are happy, and it's not hard to see how an AI-powered prompt machine could go awry.9to5Mac has more details about features... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge OpenAI is forming a new team to mitigate the catastrophic risks" associated with AI. In an update on Thursday, OpenAI says the preparedness team will track, evaluate, forecast, and protect" against potentially major issues caused by AI, including nuclear threats.The team will also work to mitigate chemical, biological, and radiological threats," as well as autonomous replication," or the act of an AI replicating itself. Some other risks that the preparedness team will address include AI's ability to trick humans, as well as cybersecurity threats.We believe that frontier AI models, which will exceed the capabilities currently present in the most advanced existing models, have the potential to benefit all of humanity," OpenAI... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge These misleadingly simple gadgets are some of the most useful smart devices you can have in your home. Continue reading...

Most of us associate the name Lisa Frank" with kittens, unicorns, and dolphins leaping out of neon oceans, but after watching the trailer for Focus Features' Lisa Frankenstein, you might have to add reanimated corpse boyfriends" to that list.From director Zelda Williams and writer Diablo Cody, Lisa Frankenstein tells the story of Lisa (Kathryn Newton), a gloomy high schooler who - like most of her peers - feels deeply misunderstood by the world. Like most of the teenagers in her orbit, Lisa longs to be with someone who can relate to her disdain for the drudgery of everyday life. But whereas Lisa's friends all pine for living, breathing boys, she only has eyes for a seemingly long-dead corpse (Cole Sprouse).When Lisa somehow manages... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is reorganizing its Xbox gaming and marketing leadership, less than two weeks after acquiring Activision Blizzard. Microsoft is promoting Matt Booty to president of game content and studios, including the new responsibility of ZeniMax, and Sarah Bond to Xbox president, overseeing all Xbox platform and hardware work. On the marketing side, chief marketing officer Chris Capossela is stepping down after 32 years at Microsoft.The Xbox changes mean Booty will now lead an expanded organization inside Microsoft Gaming that now includes ZeniMax and Bethesda. ZeniMax will continue to operate as a limited integration entity led by Jamie Leder, President and CEO, reporting to Matt," explains Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in an... Continue reading...

The Velop Pro 7 3-pack. | Image: Linksys Linksys has released the Velop Pro 7, its newest Wi-Fi 7 mesh router, which it says is so smart, it can fix itself - and it's convinced enough of this that it plans to phase out its router management app. Like the Velops before it, you can buy Linksys' new kit one at a time or in two- or- three-pack configurations. The router costs $399.99 for one, $749.99 for two, or $999.99 for three.This is usually where I would tell you about the specs. But first, we need to talk about the app thing. While briefing me on its new routers, Linksys said its customers have overwhelmingly told it that they just don't like needing to use an app to manage their network, so it's looking to phase it out. It won't happen immediately, but that's the goal.... Continue reading...

The album art for Now and Then." | Apple / Capitol Were it not for WingNut Films' machine assisted learning tech, Peter Jackson's 2021 The Beatles: Get Back Disney Plus docuseries might not exist the way it does today, and that very same artificial intelligence that made that project possible is why the music group's final song will soon be available to the public for the first time.Earlier this year, Paul McCartney teased that the same tech Jackson used to de-mix and isolate all of the Beatles' speaking voices in old footage had also made it possible to recover John Lennon's vocals from an old cassette of Now and Then" - an unfinished track recorded as a demo back in the 1970s. Today, the group announced that, after decades of lying in wait, Now and Then" is finally being released as... Continue reading...

Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, promised to scrap the hidden fees plaguing its ticketing service earlier this year. But one senator says the company's not doing nearly enough.In a letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino Wednesday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) called on the company to turn on an all-in" pricing filter that it added this year by default. Klobuchar said it's still too difficult" for users to turn on the filter that's buried within a tab that gives no indication that it contains" the option in the first place.Millions of Americans rely on your company for the chance to see their favorite artist, band, or sports team," Klobuchar wrote. In return for their business and trust, your customers expect a... Continue reading...

MIH's Project X EV looks like a toy car, but full humans can fit inside. | Image: MIH Don't give up on the dream of a small electric car just yet. At the Japan Mobility Show 2023, there's a tiny car designed for city driving and powered by Gogoro scooter batteries that owners can swap out and drive away without waiting around at a typical EV charging station.The car is called Project X (for now) and is built by the Mobility in Harmony Consortium (MIH), which is led by manufacturing conglomerate Foxconn. The vehicle is short in length, stubby, and looks like a cute toy but not too far off from a Smart Fortwo. However, Project X can fit a third person in the back. The space where a fourth seat could have gone is taken up by two angled Gogoro battery back slots for easy insertion and removal. Image: MIH ... Continue reading...

The second-gen HomePod looks just like the original, but it has an updated driver configuration and slightly better smart home applications. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple's flagship HomePod smart speaker rarely goes on sale after returning from the grave, but right now, you can get the white version for $279.99 ($20 off) at B&H Photo. B&H is also selling the black version for a slightly higher $289, saving just 10 bucks for those who want a more discreet look to their Siri-powered speaker.The second-gen HomePod is a lot like the original that debuted back in 2018, but the successor adds handy temperature and humidity sensors to be a little more smart home-y, and it has a nice integration with the Apple TV streaming boxes. (You can link two of them as a stereo pair for TV audio.) The HomePod's signature sound from the original model is mostly the same here, with an emphasis on rich, balanced audio... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is adding a range of new AI-powered features to Maps, including more immersive navigation, easier-to-follow driving directions, and better organized search results. The end result is an experience that will likely remind many users of Google Search.Some of this news has already been announced, like Immersive View, which is now coming to more cities. Other aspects are intended to enhance previously available features, like EV charging station availability.But the biggest takeaway is that Google wants Maps to be more like Search: a place where people can obviously come get directions or find coffee shops and EV chargers but also enter vague queries like fall foliage," latte art," or things to do in Tokyo" and get a whole... Continue reading...

Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images The United Auto Workers (UAW) union and Ford have reached a tentative agreement to end the union's six-week strike against the automaker. Last month, workers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis factories walked off the job in targeted work stoppages timed just as the large automakers shift to producing more electric vehicles than ever before.The strike has roiled the auto industry, costing each company hundreds of millions of dollars each week in lost production and throwing the industry's shift to electric vehicles on ice. An agreement with Ford puts more pressure on GM and Stellantis to strike a deal with the union.According to preliminary reports, Ford agreed to a 25 percent increase in wages, plus cost of living increases, that will bump... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge X, the platform previously known as Twitter, is rolling out audio and video calls. Several users on the platform, including some of us here at The Verge, have received a notification when opening the app, stating: Audio and video calls are here!"There's also a new Enable audio and video calling" toggle within the app's settings, which says you can turn the feature on and then select who you're comfortable using it with." It includes options to allow audio and video calls from only people in your address book, people you follow, verified users, or all three. You can then make a call by opening a DM with another user, selecting the phone icon in the top right corner of the screen, and choosing audio or video call. S... Continue reading...