Image: Wizards of the Coast A rare Magic: The Gathering card has sold for $3 million, making it the most expensive Magic card ever sold.And before you ask, Magic nerds, of course it was a Black Lotus. The sale of the card was announced last week by CGC Cards, a certification and grading company for trading cards, video games, comics, and more.
Image: Schuurman There's a lot riding on Sonos' first pair of wireless headphones; CEO Patrick Spence has expressed confidence that the new product category will be a huge revenue driver for his company after Sonos has faced cooling demand for its speakers. The headphones are expected to ship sometime next month, but today, we're getting a first look at the hardware design - and we now know what they'll be called.You're looking at the Sonos Ace headphones. These images were prematurely published by authorized Sonos parts dealer Schuurman. The main image reveals quite a few buttons on both ear cups, a toggle switch of some sort, and a premium build that seems fitting of headphones expected to be priced around $450. The Schuurman website shows a price of... Continue reading...
Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge Republican lawmakers are attempting to overturn the twin pillars of the Biden administration's climate platform: tax credits for electric vehicles and the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules to curb tailpipe emissions.The effort involves new bills introduced by members of Congress, as well as lawsuits filed by state attorneys general, all with the goal of rolling back the minimal progress made by the Biden administration to reduce the share of planet-warming carbon emissions produced by the automotive sector.Last month, 25 Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit intended to overturn the EPA's recently finalized tailpipe rules aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2032. In a statement, Kentucky Attorney... Continue reading...
Image: Samsung In its quest to carve out a chunk of the OLED TV market, Samsung has, until now, focused on the premium end with impressive QD-OLED models. But today, Samsung announced the entry-level S85D series of OLED TVs, bringing the fight to LG Electronics at lower price points as well.And here's the interesting thing: these sets almost certainly include OLED panels manufactured by LG Display. Samsung placed a big order for them last year to help meet its production needs, establishing a business alliance that would've been unthinkable in the not-too-distant past.The S85D comes in 55-inch ($1,699.99), 65-inch ($2,099.99), and 77-inch ($3,399.99) sizes - and inevitably, you'll be able to nab them for less once retailers start discounting the... Continue reading...
Image: Arrowhead Game Studios Stand down, Helldivers. Your battle is won. Late last week, Sony announced that Helldivers 2, one of the most popular multiplayer games of the year, would require Steam players to link their account to a PlayStation Network account. After a weekend of strong player backlash, including review bombing the game on Steam, Sony reversed course earlier this morning and will no longer require PC players to link to a PSN account.
Illustration: The Verge Google is streamlining the process of setting up two-factor authentication (2FA). Instead of entering your phone number first to enable 2FA, you can now add a second step method" to your account such as an authenticator app or a hardware security key to get things set up.This should make it safer to turn on 2FA, as it lets you avoid using less secure SMS verification. You can choose to enter a time-based one-time passcode through apps like Google Authenticator, or you can follow the steps to link a hardware security key.Google offers two options to link a security key, including by registering a FIDO1 credential on the hardware key or by assigning a passkey to one. If you have a Workspace account linked to an organization and want to... Continue reading...
Illustration: The Verge OpenAI and the developer platform Stack Overflow have announced a partnership that could potentially improve the performance of AI models and bring more technical information into ChatGPT.OpenAI will have access to Stack Overflow's API and will receive feedback from the developer community to improve the performance of AI models. OpenAI, in turn, will give Stack Overflow attribution - aka link to its contents - in ChatGPT. Users of the chatbot will see more information from Stack Overflow's knowledge archive if they ask ChatGPT coding or technical questions. The companies write in the press release that this will foster deeper engagement with content."Stack Overflow will use OpenAI's large language models to expand its Overflow AI,... Continue reading...
Both the second- and third-gen AirPods are on sale for some of the lowest prices we've seen. The same goes for the latest AirPods Pro. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple's AirPods should be on every iPhone owner's list of earbuds to try before exploring third-party options. The wireless earbuds offer a wealth of exclusive features for Apple users, and they make for a great Mother's Day gift or replacement for an aging pair of earbuds.Fortunately, the second-gen AirPods are down to $79.99 ($50 off) at Amazon and Best Buy right now, which is just $10 more than they were during Black Friday. The third-gen AirPods, meanwhile, are also matching their all-time low of $139.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, while the second-gen AirPods Pro with USB-C can be had for $179.99 ($70 off) at Amazon and Target (also an all-time low).If you're after a simple pair of AirPods and could care less for... Continue reading...
Image: Supergiant Games The wait is over: Hades II launches in early access today. The game was slowly rolled out to select players during its technical test period that began last month. After that testing period - in which players got to experience the game's opening area, fight the first boss, and meet a smattering of new gods and characters - early access grants players an in-progress build of the full game.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla's brutal round of layoffs entered its fourth week, with more employees posting on LinkedIn and elsewhere about receiving notice that their time at the company has come to an end.The most recent layoffs, which were first reported by Electrek and Business Insider, appear to be hitting different segments of the company, including software, services, and engineering. Employees said they received layoff notices over the weekend and on Monday.It's unclear how many employees have been affected. Business Insider reported at least seven employees posted about being laid off on Sunday.The layoffs first started last month, when Tesla began laying off what was said to be at the time 10 percent of the company's global workforce of... Continue reading...
Be safe out there! | Photo by Carmen Mandato / Getty Images I don't know what the explanation is - warm weather? too many histamines? too much Benadryl? - but we have once again entered Meltdown May, a season in which vulnerable specimens go absolutely wild on social media. We are not even a full week in, and folks, this one looks like a doozy. The Kendrick Lamar / Drake feud escalation alone is a formidable front that threatens to envelop much of the music industry.But even if you don't command the follower count of an extraordinarily popular rapper, knowing how to prepare for Meltdown May is the best way to avoid its dangers: becoming the main character of Online.Warning signs of an incoming meltdown include spending too much time on social media, especially Instagram and Twitter; searching... Continue reading...
The Kindle Paperwhite is our favorite Kindle, with waterproofing both the entry-level model and the Kindle Scribe lack. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge Whether mom's a bibliophile or you're looking to gift a graduate something useful as they head to college, Amazon's Kindles are great presents that we've highlighted in both our Mother's Day and graduation gift guides this year. They're even more attractive buys now that they're down to their best prices of the year.Right now, for example, Amazon's latest Kindle with ads and 16GB of storage starts at $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, which is just $5 shy of its all-time low price. The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite with ads and 16GB of storage starts at $114.99 ($35 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, while even the base Kindle Scribe is down to a new all-time low starting at $239.99 ($100 off) at Amazon and Target.Both the... Continue reading...
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Code on Apple's website in Japan mentions the Apple Pencil Pro" - a potential hint at what's to come during the company's iPad event on Tuesday, as spotted by X user @ribu_ap712 and reported by MacRumors.The code, which The Verge confirmed, was uncovered in the alternative text that describes the GIF for the Apple event and mentions a Pencil Pro" several times. A version of the text translated by Google reads:
Image: Apple Apple's newest band honoring LGBTQ+ communities is a brightly fluorescent Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop, Apple's one-piece braided yarn band that stretches over a wearer's wrist. The band will be available for $99 at Apple retail locations or through the company's online store starting on May 22nd in the US and Canada - and elsewhere on May 23rd.The new Pride band, looking far less like it sprang forth from the early '90s than last year's Sport band, will be available in both 41mm and 45mm sizes, making it compatible with the Apple Watch Series 4 or later and all versions of the Apple Watch SE. If you haven't had one of the Braided Solo Loop bands, I hear you're in for a treat. (I haven't had one, but The Verge's David Pierce quite... Continue reading...
Image: Beat Games Beat Saber players using Meta's first Quest headset soon won't be able to compete against friends. In an updated support page, Beat Saber's developers say they're ending multiplayer support, along with updates and customer service for the Quest 1 starting November 2nd, 2024.Quest 1 users will still be able to play the game after the change goes into effect. They can also continue to access multiplayer features and updates by playing the game's PC version through the Meta Quest Link. But this is a bigger hassle than just booting up the game from a headset - and it also requires players to have a PC that can run the game.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Robinhood's cryptocurrency division could soon be in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In an 8-K filing submitted on Saturday, Robinhood revealed that it received a Wells notice from the SEC's staff recommending the agency take action against the trading platform for alleged securities violations.Robinhood says it received the Wells notice after cooperating with the SEC's requests for investigative subpoenas about its crypto listings, custody of cryptocurrencies, and the platform's operations. A Well notice is a letter from the SEC that warns a company of a potential enforcement action. The SEC's response could include an injunction, a cease-and-desist order, disgorgement, limits on activities, and / or civil... Continue reading...
Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Polestar Polestar, now a more independent brand distinct from Volvo, is gearing up to deliver its most affordable cars yet. Continue reading...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Biden administration is taking applications for $285 million in federal funding - allotted from the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act - seeking companies to establish and operate a CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute focused on digital twins for the semiconductor industry." The plan for the CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute to establish a regionally diverse" network to share resources with companies developing and manufacturing both physical semiconductors and digital twins.
Randy Travis in 1987. | Photo: Mark Junge / Getty Images For the first time since a 2013 stroke left country singer Randy Travis unable to speak or sing properly, he has released a new song. He didn't sing it, though; instead, the vocals were created with AI software and a surrogate singer.The song, called Where That Came From," is every bit the kind of folksy, sentimental tune I came to love as a kid when Travis was at the height of his fame. The producers created it by training an unnamed AI model, starting with 42 of his vocal-isolated recordings. Then, under the supervision of Travis and his career-long producer Kyle Lehning, fellow country singer James DuPre laid down the vocals to be transformed into Travis' by AI.Besides being on YouTube, the song is on other streaming platforms... Continue reading...
Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is no longer on the board of Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform he helped start. In two posts today, Bluesky thanked Dorsey while confirming his departure and adding that it's searching for a new board member who shares our commitment to building a social network that puts people in control of their experience."The posts come a day after an X user asked Dorsey if he was still on the company's board, and Dorsey responded, without further elaboration, no." As TechCrunch points out, Dorsey was on a tear yesterday, unfollowing all but three accounts on X while referring to Elon Musk's platform as freedom technology." Neither Bluesky nor Dorsey himself seem to have said how or why... Continue reading...
Image: Tesla Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on Friday that the Standard Range rear-wheel drive Model Y the company has been building and selling over the last several months" actually has more range than the 260 miles they were sold with. Pending regulatory approval," he wrote that the company will unlock another 40-60 miles of total range, depending on which battery Model Y owners have, for $1,500 to $2,000."Tesla replaced the Standard Range Model Y with a 320-mile range version for $2,000 more. The car now starts at $44,990, or about $37,490 if you qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
Photo taken during the Eta Aquarid meteor shower in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka on May 5th. | Photo: Thilina Kaluthotage / NurPhoto via Getty Images If you've got clear skies and want an excuse to get away from town, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is roughly at its peak and should be going strong tonight. Made up of remnants of Halley's Comet that the Earth passes through, this annual shower is active from April 15th to May 27th and can show up at a rate of about 10-30 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society.You can see the Aquarids starting around 2AM local time in the Northern Hemisphere, radiating from the Aquarius constellation (though you'll want to look 40-60 degrees around Aquarius to see them). Weather permitting, conditions are pretty good for watching them since the moon is in its late waning period and won't be reflecting much light. Try to plan your... Continue reading...
Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge A good video game speedrun is a marvel to witness. You watch players fly through your favorite games, hitting impossible jumps and finding shortcuts you never knew existed. It makes you see a familiar game in a whole new light. If you've never watched a speedrun, check out this world-record run through the original Super Mario Bros., and you'll see what I'm talking about. Being, you know, a speedrun, it'll take all of five minutes of your time.But what you won't see (unless you follow speedrunners on Twitch) is the hours upon hours of work it took to create that perfect run - the thousands of attempts to navigate a game with perfect precision, shaving off every unnecessary move, exploiting every weird glitch. It's punishing work for the... Continue reading...
Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 36, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, hello, I'm thrilled you found us, the Installerverse loves you, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)I missed you all last week! I was at a friend's bachelor party in South Carolina, playing golf and eating burgers and mostly staying offline. Thanks to everyone who reached out to say you missed the newsletter! But I'm back now, and so is Installer. We are so back. This week, I've been writing about AI gadgets and iPads, watching Baby Reindeer and The Fall Guy, reading A Drink Before the War, and listening to the excellent Challengers score.I also have for you a new browser for... Continue reading...
Carrie-Anne Moss in The Acolyte. | Screenshot: Disney Disney's newest Star Wars show, The Acolyte, is just a month away on Disney Plus, and the newest trailer for it hints that the show will pull on a thread that Rian Johnson's Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi tugged on back in 2017: Is the Jedi order actually all that good?Set well before the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, The Acolyte sees High Republic-era Jedi master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) investigating a string of murders (which include at least one Jedi). Today's trailer reveals that the mysterious black-clad Mae (Amandla Stenberg), is a former student of his, and it seems like she's probably a suspect in the murders. It also reinforces the idea that this will be a particularly grim series. Screenshot:... Continue reading...
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The latest version of ChromeOS (M124) is out with a couple of nice upgrades, including faster split screen setup and a new web traffic prioritization feature. The update brings other updates with it as well, like a settings UI refresh and updated gesture controls.Judging from screenshots published by 9to5Google, the new Faster Split Screen Setup" feature will be familiar to Windows users. After you snap an app to one side of the screen, previews of other apps pop up on the other side - pick one, and it pins there for you. Before this update, you had to navigate to the other app and repeat the side-by-side pinning process, so this should remove a little of that friction. Image: 9to5Google Setting up split screen... Continue reading...
Screenshot: Amazon Prime Video When we last left The Boys, Homelander's (Anthony Starr) political dabbling was humming along and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) had a terminal illness. Two years and a new spin-off later, Homelander's supercharging of a presidential campaign continues to be a dark mirror of the US political climate and Butcher looks to desperately reckon with his diagnosis.The official trailer sees Butcher considering something very much like the X-Men legacy virus - a biological solution that can kill the series' supes. There's plenty of carnage, some teeing up of weighty, consequential moments, someone's skull apparently spewing bubbles when cleaved with a hatchet, a Butcher standoff with Black Noir, and even a chicken chest-burster.The next season of... Continue reading...
Illustration by Ard Su for The Verge Teens are opening up to AI chatbots as a way to explore friendship. But sometimes, the AI's advice can go too far. Continue reading...
Know just how steep that hill is before you go. | Screenshot: Komoot Getting into cycling in my late thirties has been humbling.I'm responsible for my own medical costs, which really makes me consider things differently than when I was a kid tearing through the neighborhood park on a twelve-speed Huffy. I've also discovered you can spend infinite money on bike stuff if you have the resources, which I do not.Most of all, I've learned that knowing how to get from point A to point B in a car or on a bus does not mean you know the best way to get there on a bike. For this particular bit of cycling logistics, I've found a tremendous - and mercifully free of charge - solution: Komoot.Komoot helps adventurers plan and follow routes - by bicycle or on foot. There are iOS, Android, and smartwatch apps in... Continue reading...
Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge Apple Notes is one of those apps you can turn to on a daily basis without ever really making full use of all the different features and functions it's got to offer. That's where this particular guide comes in. The idea is to point you to some of the lesser known but very useful tricks that Apple Notes can do.I'm going to focus on the mobile app, but you'll find most of these tips apply to the desktop version of Apple Notes on macOS as well.Link notes togetherMaybe you've got two notes that are separate but also related - one note for planning a trip, for example, and another listing various sights you want to see. Apple Notes lets you link them both together.Open one of the notes. At the point you want to insert the link:
May the Fourth be filled with awesome deals on games, toys, and collectibles. | Image: Star Wars Peruse these awesome deals on Star Wars stuff, you must, because today is May the Fourth. Fans of Lucasfilm's iconic franchise have long celebrated this day as a kind of borderline-religious holiday of sorts, one that recognizes an ever-growing franchise that has been adapted for almost every type of media - and product - you can think of.Since its debut in 77, Star Wars lore has been doled out in films, TV series, books and graphic novels, video games, and plenty of other mediums we're surely oblivious to. It's also inspired board games, toys, apparel, and enough merch to fill a galaxy far, far away. Many retailers commemorate May 4th by discounting the latter, and we've gone deep into the heap so you can see all of the best Star... Continue reading...
The tiny Flextail pump inflated this city bike tire in 45 seconds. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge Social media's algorithms know that I ride a bike almost every day. My quiver includes a city bike, mountain bike, and gravel bike, in addition to one or two e-bikes I'm always in the process of reviewing. I'm also the family mechanic, which makes me responsible for no less than 16 to 18 tires that I must keep inflated. So, you'd better believe I took notice when Instagram served me several ads for the Flextail Tiny Bike Bump.The mini rechargeable pump works with Presta (the thin one) or Schrader (the old fatty) valves and promises ultra-fast inflation that maxes out at 100psi (about 7 bars) - enough for any bike that doesn't require a stretchy wardrobe coordinated with your shoes and helmet.The origins of the pump are suspect, as I... Continue reading...
Illustration: The Verge The fate of Google's search business is now in the hands of Judge Amit Mehta, as closing arguments concluded in the landmark trial on Friday.The Department of Justice and plaintiff states made their last arguments Thursday on Google's alleged anticompetitive conduct in the general search market, and on Friday focused on its allegedly illegal conduct in search advertising. Google was also under fire (separately) for failing to retain chat messages that the DOJ believes could have been relevant to the case.The government is trying to show that Google locked up key distribution channels for the general search engine market, so that would-be rivals could not grow into significant threats. It says it did so through contracts with phone... Continue reading...
The Verge Microsoft's latest Windows Insider blog posts say that when it comes to testing new Copilot features in Windows 11, We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback." For people who already have the feature, Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders."Microsoft is holding an AI event on May 20th which would be a good time to show more of what's next, and after setting up 2024 as the year of the AI PC," with a new Copilot key on Windows keyboards, there's a lot to live up to.We're expecting to see new Surface laptops powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors that run Windows on Arm and compete with... Continue reading...
Illustration: The Verge Google has had a longstanding ban on sexually explicit ads - but until now, the company hasn't banned advertisers from promoting services that people can use to make deepfake porn and other forms of generated nudes. That's about to change.Google currently prohibits advertisers from promoting sexually explicit content," which Google defines as text, image, audio, or video of graphic sexual acts intended to arouse." The new policy now bans the advertisement of services that help users create that type of content as well, whether by altering a person's image or generating a new one.The change, which will go into effect on May 30th, prohibits promoting synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or... Continue reading...
I wouldn't call portable in the traditional sense, but it sure as hell beats lugging a 65-inch OLED around. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge As my colleague Chris Welch pointed out in his review of the LG StanbyME Go, there's something refreshing about a TV that takes a chance on a less familiar concept, especially at a time when beastly OLED panels and art-inspired TVs seem to dominate the landscape. And now, thanks to a $200 discount, you can pick up LG's suitcase TV at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo starting at $996.99.In terms of design, the StanbyME Go is basically a 27-inch touchscreen TV that's built directly into a 28-pound, military-grade briefcase you can tote around with you. The panel itself is nothing to write home about - it's a basic 1080 LCD with an HDMI/eARC port and a peak brightness of 500 nits - but it's the concept itself that makes it a fun... Continue reading...
Image: Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge Luminar, which makes lidar sensors for autonomous driving systems, announced today plans to lay off 20 percent of its workforce amid a broader restructuring of its production process.The company, which just announced shipments of its next-generation laser sensors to Volvo, said that it will transition to an asset light" business model that will see more of its production outsourced to its partners. As part of the restructuring, at least 147 people will lose their jobs. Luminar has at least 730 employees based in the US, according to LinkedIn.Many of these team members have been on our journey with us for years, which is why this is so difficult," Luminar CEO Austin Russell said in a statement. We have also made the decision to... Continue reading...
Rufino Choque, from the Urus Indigenous community, stands over a boat in the middle of the extinct Poopo Lake, which disappeared in 2015. | Photo by Manuel Seoane Attacks against environmental journalists have risen dramatically across the world, according to a report released by UNESCO to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists surveyed 905 journalists across 129 countries. Between 2009 and last year, more than 70 percent of reporters experienced attacks while working on environmental stories ranging from mining and deforestation to protests and land grabs.There were more than 300 attacks reported over the past five years alone, a 42 percent jump from the previous five-year period. The attacks come in many forms, from legal threats and online harassment to physical violence and death threats - although physical attacks were most common. They... Continue reading...
Image: Getty Images The TSA's been planning to expand facial recognition to a whopping 430 US airports over the next several years - but a bipartisan group of 14 senators is now challenging that.Facial recognition poses significant threats to our privacy and civil liberties, and Congress should prohibit TSA's development and deployment of facial recognition tools until rigorous congressional oversight occurs," reads part of the May 2nd letter (via Gizmodo) from Sens. Merkley, Kennedy, Markey, Marshall, Cramer, Wyden, Warren, Daines, Braun, Sanders, Lummis, Van Hollen, Welch, and Butler.They add later that this powerful surveillance technology as deployed by TSA does not make air travel safer" and suggest that the TSA's current error rate of 3 percent... Continue reading...
Illustration: The Verge Apple CEO Tim Cook has made it clear that AI features are coming soon, and a new report from AppleInsider offers more details about what we might see in the next version of iOS. One of the big focuses will be on Siri, which will reportedly gain the ability to analyze and summarize texts within the Messages app.AppleInsider previously said a similar Intelligent Search" feature is coming to Safari in iOS 18, allowing users to summarize webpages. Apple's large language model (LLM), called Ajax, will power these features. Several papers published by Apple suggest that the company is working on bringing on-device AI processing to the iPhone, and AppleInsider's report further aligns with this.The report says that Ajax uses on-device... Continue reading...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Last week, I placed a big dinner order for myself and several friends through DoorDash. There was no way to add a tip when I placed my order, but I wasn't too worried - DoorDash assured me I'd be able to tip after the order was placed or delivered.It was the first time I had used the service since last November, and since then, DoorDash made some big changes: in protest of a New York City law guaranteeing a minimum wage for delivery drivers, the platform removed the ability to add a tip when you place an order. Now, in New York City, customers like myself who want to continue tipping must do so after their order is placed.It wasn't until I went back to add a tip to that dinner order that I realized just how difficult DoorDash has made... Continue reading...
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Bounced emails. Stalled projects. Delayed adapters. These are the immediate effects of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's absolutely hard core" approach to cost cutting, which has resulted in at least 500 layoffs from the company's Supercharger business, including the division's top executive, Rebecca Tinucci.The timing couldn't have been worse. Tesla was on the verge of making its vehicle charging plug the de facto standard in North America, and its competitors and stakeholders are counting on a smooth ride. But Musk claims the leaner team will focus less on deploying new Supercharger locations and instead focus on 100 percent uptime." How that will translate into reality is unclear, with laid-off employees telling InsideEVs that reduced manpower... Continue reading...
Image: Arrowhead Game Studios Attention, Democracy Defenders: Helldivers 2 will soon require players on Steam to link their account to a PlayStation Network account. According to the announcement, all new players on Steam will be required to link to a PSN account starting May 6th, while current players will have a little bit longer, with mandatory enforcement delayed until June 4th.According to Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios, linking to a PSN account was always going to be a requirement for Steam players, and the policy is there to ensure players are protected from griefing and other in-game abuses. But the game's community isn't buying it, vociferously protesting the decision on social media and on Steam itself.
Image: Hisense Hisense is launching the CanvasTV, a matte television designed to display artwork and photos, letting it blend in with the rest of your decor when not in use. If it sounds similar to The Frame by Samsung, that's because it is - but the difference is that the CanvasTV's starting price is several hundred dollars cheaper.The CanvasTV is available in 55 and 65 inches, each costing $999 and $1,299, respectively. To compare, The Frame costs $1,499 for 55 inches and $1,999 for 65 inches. Like The Frame, Hisense's CanvasTV offers a 4K QLED anti-glare display. It also comes with a 144Hz refresh rate, an RGB sensor for ambient light adaption, and multi-channel 2.0.2 surround sound. Image: Hisense The CanvasTV comes with... Continue reading...
Photo by Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday banning the sale of lab-grown meat in the state. The legislation is a clear handout to the state's cattle industry: the state's commissioner of agriculture said it was about protecting our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture." But DeSantis' statements make it clear that, like many of his other pet causes, the lab-grown meat ban is a culture war issue.Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals," DeSantis said in a statement the day the bill was signed. A press release declared Florida was taking action to stop the World Economic Forum's... Continue reading...
The carriers are at it again. | Illustration: The Verge AT&T has a new optional feature for some of its plans. It's called Turbo, and for $7 per month, it provides better speed and stability" for a line of service by upgrading your data plan to performance data." AT&T pitches it as an add-on to help with demanding applications, like gaming. Okay, but what exactly is performance data?" It's kind of unclear. But we can sort of piece it together based on what it isn't.If you were hoping Turbo could help boost service on a prepaid or entry-level postpaid plan, I have bad news. It's only available on a handful of AT&T's postpaid plans: Unlimited Premium PL, Unlimited Extra EL, and Unlimited Elite. They're already some of AT&T's fanciest and priciest plans, with lots of hotspot data and... Continue reading...
Image: Laura Normand / The Verge Microsoft is overhauling its security processes after a series of high-profile attacks in recent years. Security is now Microsoft's top priority," the company outlined today in response to ongoing questions about its security practices and the US Cyber Safety Review Board's labeling of Microsoft's security culture as inadequate."Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is now making it clear to every employee that security should be prioritized above all else. The Verge has obtained a memo from Nadella to Microsoft's more than 200,000 employees, where he discusses the new security overhaul and how the company is learning from attackers to improve its security processes. Nadella also makes it explicitly clear that employees should not make... Continue reading...
Image: Instagram Instagram announced a handful of new features to Stories, including new interactive ways to share music, photos, and videos.The most intriguing new feature is called Reveal and, when applied, blurs the contents of a story post. The only way viewers can see the post is by DMing the person who shared it. Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said that direct messages are an increasingly important part of the platform and that stories and DMs account for most of Instagram's growth. Requiring a DM to view content is the next evolution of that - and will no doubt be used as an engagement hack by creators hoping to boost their stories' engagement. Image: Instagram Another feature, Frames, puts a Polaroid overlay on to images... Continue reading...
Image: The Verge Microsoft is making security its number one priority for every employee, following years of security issues and mounting criticisms. After a scathing report from the US Cyber Safety Review Board recently concluded that Microsoft's security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul," it's doing just that by outlining a set of security principles and goals that are tied to compensation packages for Microsoft's senior leadership team.Last November, Microsoft announced a Secure Future Initiative (SFI) in response to mounting pressure on the company to respond to attacks that allowed Chinese hackers to breach US government email accounts. Just days after announcing this initiative, Russian hackers managed to breach Microsoft's... Continue reading...