The Verge

Illustration: The Verge Some California residents will be able to add their driver's licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet soon, Apple announced Thursday.Apple's announcement doesn't say when the mobile driver's licenses will be rolled out, just that it will happen this fall" as part of California's mobile driver's license (mDL) pilot. The pilot, which will be limited to 1.5 million participants, will let users traveling through certain terminals at Los Angeles International and San Francisco International airports go through TSA screening without handing over their driver's licenses - or their phones.To enroll, users must scan their driver's license or ID, then scan a photo of their face. People who participate in the pilot program will be able to use... Continue reading...

Attendees during a media tour of the Revolution Wind construction hub at the Port of Providence in Providence, Rhode Island, US, on Thursday, June 13, 2024. | Photo: Getty Images Offshore wind energy giant Orsted is pushing back the start date for Revolution Wind, the project it's building off the coasts of Rhode Island and Connecticut.It's a another setback to the Biden administration's hopes of sourcing clean energy from new offshore wind farms that have faced a myriad of challenges since the covid-19 pandemic.Revolution Wind is now expected to start running by 2026 instead of next year, Orsted announced today. The problem lies on land. Orsted's partner on the project, Eversource Energy, is building a substation on a former naval station where lingering soil contamination is apparently going to take longer to clear than expected.Risk is an integrated part of projects."Risk is an integrated part of... Continue reading...

OpenAI It's strange to sit down at my desk and talk to an AI about my life - but that's what I spent my Tuesday doing.I'd gotten access to OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode, the new ChatGPT feature that sounds strangely like a human. When counting quickly, it'll pretend it's out of breath. It says um" and uh." It laughs. It changes tone when talking about difficult or upbeat topics. After messing around with it, I felt equal parts amazed and uncomfortable. It sounds natural (when it isn't glitching), it responds in seconds, and you're able to interrupt it and ask new things - but do we need chatbots that sound like us?Advanced Voice Mode features several different voice options, and I chose Juniper, a feminine persona reminiscent of the movie H... Continue reading...

Sonos' midrange Beam soundbar might not sound as immersive as the Arc, but it's a step up from the built-in speakers on your TV. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge It's been a rough few months for Sonos fans, but there has been at least some good news sprinkled in with the bad. Sonos might be relaunching its old app, for one, and right now, Woot is offering steep cuts on several Sonos products. The ongoing Random Audio" sale includes the Sonos Five speaker and the third-gen Sonos Sub, but if you're looking to upgrade your home theater setup, we'd steer you toward the Sonos Arc and second-gen Sonos Beam. Now until 12:59AM ET on August 22nd, Woot is selling the Beam for $389 ($110 off) and the Arc for $699 ($200 off), both with a 90-day Woot warranty.If you need a refresher, the midrange Sonos Beam is a 26-inch soundbar that's great for those who want to dip their toes into the Sonos ecosystem.... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Most Google Pixel phones sold since September 2017 included software that could be used to surveil or remotely control users' phones, according to a new report from the cybersecurity company iVerify.The vulnerability was discovered after iVerify's endpoint detection and response (EDR) scanner flagged an insecure Android device at Palantir Technologies, an iVerify client. After launching a joint investigation, iVerify, Palantir, and Trail of Bits discovered a hidden Android software package - Showcase.apk - across Google Pixel devices. The data-mining firm Palantir, which sells its surveillance products to governments and private companies, banned Android devices across the company in response.This was very deleterious of trust, to... Continue reading...

Image: Threads Meta is testing a handful of new features on Threads, its X competitor, the company announced today.The new additions range from options that the average Threads user might appreciate to content management tools that feel more directly aimed at brands. Threads, which just passed the one-year mark since its official launch on July 5th, 2023, now has more than 200 million monthly active users, including some celebrities and brand accounts.The most useful new feature, in my opinion, is the ability to have multiple posts saved as drafts. Currently, Threads only allows for one draft - you have to post it or replace it. With the update, users will be able to save up to 100 drafts.Users will also get new ways to customize their Threads... Continue reading...

Image: Rivian Rivian is selling a travel kitchen accessory for the first time. This is not the comprehensive campsite device it advertised years ago (but never released) that slid out the side of the company's electric R1T trucks. Instead, this new one is compact and lightweight, designed to sit on a vehicle's tailgate.Simply called the Travel Kitchen, it folds out to span the length of the tailgate and features two induction burners, a cutting board that stows away in an organizer drawer, and a pop-out bar for hanging a towel. The unit needs a three-prong 120V power source with 15A of current to work, which you can get from a Rivian vehicle, campsite power, or an F-150 Lighting, Cybertruck, or other vehicle with capable onboard power or a generator.... Continue reading...

Zero Zero Robotics hasn't yet revealed pricing or a ship date for the HoverAir X1 Pro and X1 Pro Max selfie drones. | Image: Zero Zero Robotics One of the shortcomings of the recently reviewed HoverAir X1 selfie drone was that its camera could only capture video at 2.7K/30fps resolutions. Zero Zero Robotics will soon resolve this issue with two upgraded versions of the drone that it's been teasing on its website, as spotted by DIYPhotography.The HoverAir X1 Pro will be able to capture 4K footage at up to 60fps, or 120fps slow motion footage at 1080P, through a half-inch CMOS sensor paired with a 17-millimeter wide-angle lens. The X1 Pro Max further boosts video resolution to 8K at 30fps but can also capture footage at 4K/120fps or 4K/60fps in 10-bit HDR through a 1/1.3-inch sensor and a slightly wider 16-millimeter lens.Zero Zero Robotics hasn't revealed the full details for... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge As Google brings AI Overviews to six new countries, it's also changing the way the generated summaries display citations. Instead of putting relevant webpages directly in the AI-generated summary, Google is adding a new display to the right of the response that shows cited webpages more prominently.This new format is rolling out today, and it will also show up on mobile when you select the site icons that appear in the top-right corner of the AI Overview. We are using the right-hand-side space to prominently display the links to the AI Overview so that people can navigate to the content that they're interested in," Hema Budaraju, Google's senior director of product management for Search, tells The Verge. Google will continue to display... Continue reading...

Kanye West Loves Megaupload A dozen years later, New Zealand is extraditing Kim Dotcom to face trial in the US. Continue reading...

Dotcom has been fighting US extradition for 12 years. | Photo by MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP via Getty Images Kim Dotcom is being extradited to the United States to face long-standing criminal charges relating to his defunct file-sharing service Megaupload. The order was signed by New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith according to Reuters, who said that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial."As the founder and former CEO of Megaupload, Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) was accused by US authorities of having cost film studios and record companies over $500 million by enabling users to share pirated content. The German-born Internet mogul moved to New Zealand in 2010, and has been fighting extradition since local police, at the behest of the FBI, raided his Auckland mansion in 2012 over charges of racketeering, money laundering,... Continue reading...

Eric Schmidt. | Photo By Lukas Schulze/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images Former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt has made headlines for saying that Google was blindsided by the early the rise of ChatGPT because its employees decided that working from home was more important than winning."The comment was made in front of Stanford students during a recent interview, video of which was removed from the university's YouTube channel after Schmidt's gaffe was widely picked up by the press. I managed to watch most of Schmidt's chat with Stanford's Erik Brynjolfsson before it was taken down, however, and something else he said stands out. (You can still read the full transcript here.)While talking about a future world in which AI agents can do complex tasks on behalf of humans, Schmidt says:

Google's bringing the party" back to the party line with emoji reactions for group calls. | Illustration: The Verge Google's Meet app is getting a few more features designed for calls. Meet, the videocalling app Google rolled Duo into a couple of years ago, is designed to handle both meetings and personal video calls. The update, which will roll out over the coming months, focuses on the personal side. It offers an updated UI and features like in-call messaging - things that have only been available in meetings until now.With this latest update, the call UI will look more like the meeting interface, with call controls becoming more readily available. In-call messaging is now supported so you can share links and rude comments, if you're so inclined, while you're muted. Emoji reactions will also be available in group calls, you'll be able to stack... Continue reading...

Image: AltStore AltStore PAL, a third-party iOS app store that's available in the EU, is dropping its annual 1.50 (plus tax) subscription after receiving a MegaGrant" from Fortnite developer Epic Games. AltStore originally charged the subscription to help cover Apple's Core Technology Fee (CTF), which is a fee third-party app marketplaces have to pay for each annual app install.Epic uses MegaGrants as a way to sponsor the development of exciting projects that may not otherwise have enough funding to fully realize," the company says. The grants are typically meant for smaller teams using Epic's technologies to bring bold, challenging, and insanely creative dreams to life," but in this case, Epic awarded the grant for innovation in app... Continue reading...

Detecting an offside violation can be difficult. | Photo by Dan Istitene / Getty Images The UK's top soccer league is switching up the tech it uses to detect offside violations on the football pitch. The Premier League has contracted with a company called Genius Sports, which will use dozens of iPhones combined with machine-learning models to help game officials make an offside call.Offside violations aren't always clear-cut, especially when players are grouped in a way that blocks officials and even multiple camera angles from seeing enough detail to accurately call them. That's where video assistant referee (VAR) systems usually come in, ostensibly filling in the gaps using cameras and machine learning.Soccer leagues have used VAR systems for years. FIFA, soccer's global league, started officially using machine... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Valve has started publicly testing sorting reviews in the Steam store based on how well they help players make purchase decisions about games.

The Roto VR Explorer chair can make VR feel more immersive by spinning in response to the user's head movements. | Image: Rotovrltd The Roto VR Explorer chair is designed to make VR experiences feel more immersive (and less nauseating) by pairing real-world movements with what's seen in a headset. By simply spinning a sitting user in place, it's able to do that in a much smaller footprint than other solutions like the Virtuix Omni treadmill or Disney's Holo Tile treadmill.It looks like an office chair, but the Roto VR Explorer is distinguished by an oversize wheeled base with an integrated electric motor that can spin a seated user at speeds of up to 21 revolutions per minute. The chair will automatically rotate left and right to match the head turns of a user wearing a Meta Quest headset, but instead of relying on movement data captured by the Quest, the Roto VR... Continue reading...

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple reportedly has a team of several hundred people" working on a new product that attaches an iPad-style display to a robotic arm that uses actuators to tilt up and down as well as spin 360 degrees, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.The tabletop device could reportedly serve multiple purposes, letting you control your smart home, attend video conferences, monitor home security, and more.Gurman has reported rumors of the company exploring home robotics more than once over the last several months and now says the project is proceeding with Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology, at the helm. Sources tell Bloomberg the company is aiming for a launch in 2026 or 2027 and that it may cost around $1,000.The... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Disney wants a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit at a Disney-affiliated restaurant based on terms of service for the entertainment giant's website and streaming video services. The company argues that a couple agreed to an arbitration clause when one of them bought tickets to Disney World - and in an even more distant connection, when signing up for Disney Plus years before.The lawsuit, filed in February, concerns a 42-year-old woman named Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died due to an allergic reaction that occurred after eating at one of the restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort's Disney Springs area in October 2023. As noted in the suit, Tangsuan and her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, allegedly chose the restaurant because it... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sonos has explored the possibility of rereleasing its previous mobile app for Android and iOS - a clear sign of what an ordeal the company's hurried redesign has become. The Verge can report that there have been discussions high up within Sonos about bringing back the prior version of the app, known as S2, as the company continues toiling away at improving the performance and addressing bugs with the overhauled design that rolled out in May to a flood of negative feedback. (The new Sonos app currently has a 1.3-star review average on Google Play.)Letting customers fall back to the older software could ease their frustrations and reduce at least some of the pressure on Sonos to rectify every issue with the new app. At least for now, the... Continue reading...

Image: 20th Century Studios Though Fede Alvarez's new Alien film is gorgeous, its questionable optics leave much to be desired. Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google recently introduced a new table formatting feature in Sheets that made it far easier to create self-contained, sortable blocks of cells inside a spreadsheet. But the company didn't stop there and seems to be rapidly updating the software with features that make it faster to set up, configure, and view data within a table.The latest update, which is rolling out in stages now, builds on its earlier addition of table formatting by adding intelligent suggestions" that show a +" button when you select data that could be turned into a table. Clicking the button then formats the data with things like alternating colors and sortable, filterable headers. The change expands on Google's table formatting feature from May, which made it... Continue reading...

Photo by Alex Broadway / Getty Images A team of computer scientists found that wireless gear-shifting systems in high-end bikes are vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks that could undermine popular races like the Tour de France.Wireless gear-shift systems are meant to give riders better control of their bikes, according to the University of California San Diego, whose researchers collaborated with those from Northeastern University on the study. But the modernization also introduces a new set of problems in the form of hacking vulnerabilities. Those weak points could be exploited to gain an unfair advantage, potentially causing crashes or injuries by manipulating gear shifts or jamming the shifting operation," the researchers wrote.The group specifically looked into bikes... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Sonos laid off approximately 100 employees this morning, a source familiar with the situation tells The Verge. Those affected - I'm told the marketing division took a significant hit - abruptly lost access to the company's internal network. Sonos is also in the process of winding down some of its customer support offices, including one in Amsterdam that will close later this year.Sonos reported a headcount of over 1,800 employees in October 2022. The company laid off 7 percent of workers the next year, in June 2023.These latest cuts come as Sonos continues to grapple with the fallout from its disastrous mobile app redesign. On Sonos' earnings call last week, CEO Patrick Spence stressed that fixing the app is the company's number one... Continue reading...

Halide lets you pick the image processing you want, including no processing at all. | Image: Lux Optics It's trickier than ever to know what a photo really is - and when AI and processing turn a photo into something else entirely. Google, Samsung, Apple, and others are making it easier than ever to tweak photos to your liking, combine several mediocre shots into one great one, or add or remove things - including yourself - in your photos. Many of these features are cool, but is the resulting file really even a photo?One of the iPhone's best camera apps is going completely the other way. Halide is getting an update today with a new feature called Process Zero," which takes all of the AI and processing out of photography and tries to turn your captures back into something like what you'd get out of a digital camera from a decade ago.H... Continue reading...

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are more expensive than their predecessor, but they continue to deliver a lot of impressive features (and colors). | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Earlier this week, we highlighted preorder details on the Pixel Watch 3 and Google's entire Pixel 9 lineup. However, if you've got your eyes on Google's forthcoming earbuds, rest assured there are also deals to be had on the Pixel Buds Pro 2. In fact, you can already preorder the $229 pair of earbuds at Amazon and Best Buy, both of which are offering them with a $30 gift card ahead of their launch on September 26th. Google is offering a similar deal, only in the form of store credit.We're still in the process of testing the wireless earbuds, but so far, they seem like a more capable version of the original Pixel Buds Pro. That's saying a lot, given the last-gen model remains our top choice for Pixel phone owners thanks to their... Continue reading...

The Walt Disney Corporation is probably not a fan. | Image: Tom Warren / Grok xAI's Grok chatbot now lets you create images from text prompts and publish them to X - and so far, the rollout seems as chaotic as everything else on Elon Musk's social network.Subscribers to X Premium, which grants access to Grok, have been posting everything from Barack Obama doing cocaine to Donald Trump with a pregnant woman who (vaguely) resembles Kamala Harris to Trump and Harris pointing guns. With US elections approaching and X already under scrutiny from regulators in Europe, it's a recipe for a new fight over the risks of generative AI.Grok will tell you it has guardrails if you ask it something like what are your limitations on image generation?" Among other things, it promised us:

A pop-up LED light on the Anker Solix C300 DC will save you from having to find a working flashlight during a power outage. | Image: Anker The new Anker Solix C300 DC includes a feature not seen on the company's portable power stations before: although it can only be charged using a solar panel or its bidirectional 140W USB-C ports, for the first time, users can recharge it using two of those USB-C ports at the same time, boosting charging speeds to up to 280W.Inside the Solix C300 DC is a 90,000mAh 288Wh lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery, offering a total power output of up to 300W. Anker is positioning the power station as one of its smallest portable options, making it ideal for carrying to the beach or a campsite, but at 6.18 pounds, you're definitely going to feel that weight hanging off your shoulder (with an optional strap) or inside a backpack. ... Continue reading...

Realme demonstrated its new 320W SuperSonic Charge technology at an event in Shenzhen. | Image: Realme Realme has once again taken the lead in the fast charging arms race with its new 320W SuperSonic Charge technology. The company demonstrated the tech by fully charging a smartphone with a 4,420mAh battery (which is a bit smaller than what's in the new Pixel 9 and 9 Pro) in four minutes and 30 seconds.The charging speeds are made possible by two key innovations announced during an event in Shenzhen, China. Realme managed to boost the power output of its existing 240W charger that debuted last year to 320W without increasing its size. The Pocket Cannon, as the upgraded charger is called, also now features two USB-C ports capable of delivering 150W to Realme's smartphones, and 65W to devices like laptops.

Image: AMD AMD launched its first Zen 5 desktop processors earlier this month, and tomorrow, it's about to release what looks like a disappointing flagship Ryzen 9 9950X CPU. Early reviews of the initial Zen 5 CPUs - the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X - revealed a lack of performance improvements and efficiencies, and now reviews of the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X are coming to the same conclusion.Hardware Unboxed has tested a variety of productivity workloads and games with the 9950X, and the results make the previous generation Ryzen 9 7950X chip look like a better value in most cases.Over a 13-game average running at 1080p with an RTX 4090, Hardware Unboxed found that the 9950X was just a single percent faster than the existing 7950X. AMD's new... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you read The Verge, then you probably know your tech, and so it's likely that you're sometimes asked to help troubleshoot computer issues by friends, family, and / or neighbors. It can be something as simple as just turning on the Wi-Fi or as complicated as having to update a BIOS. Whatever's wrong, it's much harder to sort out if you're not in the same room as the computer in question - and trying to work with someone over a phone call can be a lesson in frustration.To save you from an endless series of What's on-screen now?" and Which options can you see?" questions, you can set up a remote connection to the computer you're trying to troubleshoot so that you're virtually in front of it yourself.There are actually numerous ways... Continue reading...

Google's new 45W charger is available for preorder today, with shipping expected as early as next week. | Image: Google One device that didn't get a main stage reveal during yesterday's Made by Google event is the company's new 45W USB-C charger. That's not entirely surprising given the new Pixel 9 lineup, the Pixel Watch 3, and the Pixel Buds Pro 2 were overshadowed by Google's artificial intelligence efforts.The 45W charger replaces Google's 30W charger, which is no longer listed in the company's online store. It features a more rounded design than the 30W option and repositions the USB-C port to the underside of the charger instead of having it in line with the plug. That will make it easier to securely plug into a wall outlet but could cause some crowding on a power strip.The bump to 45W means that the new charger has more than enough power for the... Continue reading...