 |
by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6PV5H)
Musk has chosen lawfare over free speech. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images A group of advertisers, called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), have discontinued" activities, Business Insider reports, citing an email sent to members. The group said it had limited money, and was focused on fighting the antitrust lawsuit filed against it by X.GARM was an initiative formed in 2019 by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA); the idea was to stop advertising on social media platforms that don't meet certain safety standards. In its lawsuit, X said that GARM organized an advertiser boycott of Twitter."The lawsuit from the platform formerly known as Twitter was one of several odd legal actions coming from Elon Musk - ones that seem more focused on punishing anyone who doesn't agree with him than... Continue reading...
|
The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-11-05 21:34 |
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6PV5J)
Nanoleaf's Essentials Matter line, which includes an A19 bulb and light strip, will be one of the first Matter products to work with Apple Home's Adaptive Lighting feature. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge A major feature of Apple Home will soon work with Matter devices. With iOS 18, Apple is enabling Adaptive Lighting for smart lights connected to its smart home platform through Matter, the interoperability standard developed by Apple, Amazon, and Google. The feature, which automatically adjusts the color temperature of smart lights throughout the day, currently only works with a few brands. Adding support for Matter bulbs means it should work with many more.Gimmy Chu, CEO of Nanoleaf, confirmed to The Verge that his company is currently testing the feature on its line of Essentials Matter lights. We are one of the partners that are part of the launch of Adaptive Lighting on Matter products," he said in an interview. For the past... Continue reading...
by Jay Peters on (#6PV5K)
Image: Oculus Studios Meta is closing Ready at Dawn, the first-party studio behind VR games like Echo VR and Lone Echo, Android Central reported on Wednesday. The shutdown is effective immediately. Meta acquired the studio in 2020.As for why Meta is shutting down the studio, here's what Android Central said:
 |
by Andrew Liszewski on (#6PV21)
250 lumens of illumination isn't super bright, but the light is cheap enough to group several of them together. | Image: TTArtisan Even if you switched to a digital camera decades ago, TTArtisan's Mini LED Light is a fun reason to carry around a film cartridge. Instead of a roll of 35-millimeter film inside, there's a rechargeable battery and an array of 15 LEDs. It's not the brightest camera light you can buy, but it's also $7.With just 250 lumens of illumination, you'll need to position the light within 10 feet of your subject for it to be of any real use. But by way of comparison, you can buy 18 of them for the same price as a single 400-lumen Lume Cube LED light. Image: TTArtisan An included magnetic hot shoe mount lets you attach the light to a camera. The Mini LED Light's 300mAh rechargeable battery will keep it glowing for up to... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6PV22)
One of the classic problems of looking into a palantir was correctly interpreting what the viewer saw... | Image: The Verge Palantir, the company named for the dangerous seeing-stones that tended to mislead their users, has announced a partnership with Microsoft to deliver services for classified networks in US defense and intelligence agencies.This is a first-of-its-kind, integrated suite of technology that will allow critical national security missions to operationalize Microsoft's best-in-class large language models (LLMs) via Azure OpenAI Service within Palantir's AI Platforms (AIP) in Microsoft's government and classified cloud environments," the announcement says.Palantir is a data-analysis company that sucks down huge amounts of personal data to assist governments and companies with surveillance. It is somewhat unclear from the text of the... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6PV23)
Image: ADT Security company ADT disclosed in an SEC filing that hackers obtained some limited customer information, including email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses." TechCrunch reports that ADT's disclosure follows a seller on a cybercrime forum claiming last week that they had obtained more than 30,000 stolen ADT customer records.The hackers obtained the information by accessing certain databases containing ADT customer order information," according to ADT. The company believes that only a small percentage" of its subscribers were affected and says it has notified those customers. (ADT has about 6 million customers, according to a June blog post.) ADT says that it has no reason to believe" that the hackers compromised home... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Lauren Feiner on (#6PTYW)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) are calling for answers about how OpenAI handles whistleblowers and safety reviews after former employees complained that internal criticism is often stifled.Given the discrepancy between your public comments and reports of OpenAI's actions, we request information about OpenAI's whistleblower and conflict of interest protections in order to understand whether federal intervention may be necessary," Warren and Trahan wrote in a letter exclusively shared with The Verge.The lawmakers cited several instances where OpenAI's safety procedures have been called into question. For example, they said, in 2022, an unreleased version of GPT-4 was being tested in a new version of the... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Mia Sato on (#6PTYX)
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is expanding the number of photos and videos that can be added to a single grid post, the company said today.Each carousel post can now have up to 20 photos or videos. Users could previously add up to 10 pieces of content to each carousel post - something that's colloquially known as a photo dump." The carousel feature was first rolled out to users in 2017. Image: Instagram Instagram has slowly added more features to the carousel function, including the ability to pair songs with your slides and collaborative posts that allow multiple users to add their content. A higher ceiling could be helpful for this specifically, especially if several people are contributing to a single carousel post.The expansion... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6PTYY)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple's smallest Mac is in for some major changes, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. A new version of the Mac Mini coming later this year will undergo the product's most significant redesign in over a decade. Gurman says the device will be far smaller than its predecessor, approaching the size of an Apple TV set-top box." That's tiny, even if the Mini will likely be taller than Apple's streamer.The company has been testing one design with at least" three USB-C ports and an HDMI output, and the device will maintain its aluminum casing. A Mac Mini that could inconspicuously sit on a TV stand? This thing sounds like a Plex lover's dream.The 2024 Mini will also reportedly get a processor upgrade to Apple's M4 chip, which is... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Nilay Patel on (#6PTYZ)
Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images AAG Jonathan Kanter says the Google monopoly verdict belongs on the Mount Rushmore of antitrust.' Continue reading...
|
 |
by Umar Shakir on (#6PTZ0)
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack, two-door version. | Image: Stellantis Dodge has put a price on its first all-electric vehicle, the Charger Daytona, and it won't be cheap for the mean, clean, neighborhood-disturbing machine. The 2024 Daytona two-door models will start at $59,595 for the R/T and $73,190 for the Scat Pack - both excluding a $1,995 destination fee.Both Daytona models are starting production this summer, and four-door models will be built in the first half of 2025. You can check out the models heading to dealerships online starting in the fall, and they should make it to lots by the end of the year. Image: Stellantis The two-door models are launching first. At launch, you'll get a stage 1 upgrade kit included for the R/T model that boosts it to 496 horsepower and... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Andrew Liszewski on (#6PTZ1)
Cyclists have quick access to two of eight selectable alert tones. | Image: Trek The quiet ding of many bike bells isn't always enough to alert pedestrians or vehicles of a cyclist's presence. Trek's new BellBeats is a compact Bluetooth speaker that can be mounted to a bike's handlebars giving cyclists a selection of eight quick-access alert tones that are either friendly or urgent.Like a traditional bike bell, the alert tones on the BellBeats can be triggered while riding, using a thumb button. Cyclists can select two of eight tones - including a ringing metal bell, a subdued train horn, or an old-timey ahooga horn - that are activated with either a long or short press of the button.Trek claims the BellBeats' alert tones are more noticeable than the sounds made by traditional bike bells because they encompass a... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Tom Warren on (#6PTZ2)
Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Asus and MSI have both released beta BIOS updates today to address Intel's crashing 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors. While the BIOS updates won't fix CPUs that are already damaged, they include Intel's new microcode update that should help further address the instability issues.If it works well, this could be a very big deal for Intel, which lost some of its reputation after its flagship chips were found to crash earlier this year and, after a long investigation, discovered there would be no true fix, requiring customers to replace any damaged chips. Intel also isn't having a great year, period, recently announcing layoffs of at least 15,000 workers and stopping non-essential work."Asus has released its beta BIOS... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6PTW5)
The Chromecast, in The Verge's first review. | Image: The Verge When I was still a starry-eyed 20-something living with my then-fiancee, the only way I could stream video on my TV was through its HDMI ports and my laptop. This had served me well for years - and still does, when I'm desperate - but dealing with the setup was cumbersome.Then came the original Chromecast in 2013, and it was a revelation. Suddenly, I had this tiny black stick, shaped like an oversized key, that plugged right into my TV's HDMI port and let me cast video through the air and onto my 55-inch screen in glorious high definition. And all it cost was $35? Incredible, especially in 2013.It felt like pure magic. It was a basically invisible device that I didn't even need an app for, and it let me beam music and video to my TV... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6PTW6)
Image: Getty Images The Kia Boys may have met their match.A software update that first rolled out last year to owners of Hyundai and Kia vehicles without electronic immobilizers has cut theft rates by more than half, according to a new analysis from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).The automakers first began implementing the update in February 2023 in response to a wave of car thefts that started during the covid pandemic, when instructional videos on how to steal the cars first started going viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.Thieves calling themselves the Kia Boys" would post instructional videos about how to bypass the vehicles' security system using tools as simple as a USB cable. About 9 million vehicles have been impacted,... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PTW7)
Anti-immigration protests have quickly escalated into violent riots across the UK, spurred in part by misinformation spread via online platforms. | Photo by Christopher Furlong / Getty Images The UK communications regulator Ofcom has raised concerns regarding social media being used to incite violence amid far-right riots across the country. In an open letter, Ofcom's online safety director, Gill Whitehead, urged online platforms to tackle the potential spread of harmful materials related to the ongoing discord, highlighting its existing powers over video sharing platforms and its upcoming enforcement of the broader Online Safety Act.Ofcom is specifically encouraging platforms to address content that depicts hatred and disorder" and promotes violence or disinformation. The regulator's existing powers allow it to suspend or restrict" video sharing platforms that fail to protect the public from harmful material" -... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Andrew Liszewski on (#6PTW9)
Mobile filmmakers can boost their smartphone's storage capacity by up to 2TB. | Image: Lexar A terabyte of storage can disappear quickly when you're capturing 4K footage on an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. Lexar's new Professional Go Portable SSD with Hub not only adds up to an extra 2TB of storage, but it also enables ProRes video captures at 60fps while giving mobile filmmakers a few extra USB-C ports for attaching other accessories.Lexar's external storage solution definitely isn't a new idea. Because 4K ProRes video recording is limited to 30fps when recording to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max's internal storage, many companies have released SSD drives designed specifically for the iPhone, enabling 60fps capture. What sets Lexar's solution apart is a compact design with a matching USB-C hub that doesn't add a lot of bulk to the... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6PTWA)
Image: Getty This week's earnings reports make two things clear about the viability of the electric vehicle future: EV-only companies are continuing to struggle and lose lots of money, and having wealthy investors who are willing to pour money into your money-losing operation is the difference between survival and bankruptcy.Two of the big US-based EV-only companies - Rivian and Lucid - reported their second quarter earnings this week. Lo and behold, there's still a lot of red ink being spilled.Lucid reported a net loss of $643 million for the second quarter, a slight improvement over the $764 million it lost in the second quarter of 2023. And Rivian said it lost a staggering $1.46 billion, $300 million worse than the same period last year.Lo... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6PTWB)
Image: Google Google is expected to launch a new weather app alongside the Pixel 9 - but you don't have to wait to try it out. As highlighted by 9to5Google and Android Authority, the Pixel Weather app is now on APKMirror, where you can sideload it on devices running Android 14 or newer.Based on some of the screenshots posted online, it looks like the Pixel Weather app will offer a clean look at your hourly and 10-day forecast, along with other handy measurements like wind speed, visibility, humidity, air pressure, and more. You can rearrange each tile in the app except for the 10-day forecast, according to 9to5Google. Image: 9to5Google The Pixel Weather app has an aesthetically pleasing interface. Additionally, code... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6PTRM)
Image: The Verge TikTok will now create in-app hubs for movies and TV shows and place them directly on fan-made videos. The feature, called TikTok Spotlight, will automatically add links to applicable" videos on the platform, leading to landing pages that provide more information about the relevant title as well as options to buy tickets or watch it on a streaming service.The links will show up in the bottom-left corner of a creator's video, and users can tap in to view a landing page with the cast list, links to official accounts, related content, and information about where to watch the title. You might've already spotted this feature on TikTok, as the platform partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to promote Dune: Part Two with a dedicated hub on... Continue reading...
|
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6PTRN)
For a camouflage-style pattern, it's far from the most try-hard. | Image: Corsair I'm rarely a sucker for camouflage print anything, but put it on a game controller and turn it black-and-white, and suddenly, it warms my heart - especially if it's a solid deal. That's just the case with this custom Scuf Instinct Pro controller in a black tiger camo finish, which is on a clearance sale at Best Buy for $155.99 ($84 off).The Instinct Pro is an excellent step-up controller over the standard Xbox gamepad, as it's nearly the same great controller with some nice upgrades. It supports the wireless connectivity built into Xbox Series X / S consoles and of course can be used on PC - just like the stock controller - but it also features four rear paddle buttons built into the chassis of the gamepad and lockouts for the shoulder... Continue reading...
 |
by Andrew Liszewski on (#6PTPK)
You can fill an entire wall with Nanoleaf's new glowing display cases, which simply need to stack to connect to each other. | Image: Nanoleaf Nanoleaf's new Expo Smart Display Cases are an eye-catching way to make a carefully curated collection the focus of any room. Each case features diffused color-changing LED lighting, and multiple cases can be stacked to create a larger display with colors and animated lighting that syncs across hundreds of cases. They're available now individually for $79.99, or you can save $20 by opting for a four-pack for $299.99.Made from premium grade ABS resin," the cases feature evenly diffused LED lighting to minimize shadows and hotspots around what's displayed inside. Unlike display cases with a single overhead spotlight, Nanoleaf is taking an approach similar to the product lighting used in professional photoshoots. Image:... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PTPM)
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Meta and Google teamed up to run a secret campaign that deliberately targeted 13 to 17-year-olds with Instagram ads on YouTube according to the Financial Times, breaking the search giant's own rules against advertising to children.The publication reports that Google directed ads to a subset of users labeled as unknown" in its advertising systems, in an attempt to disguise the group skewed toward teenagers. According to a Google Ads help page, the unknown" demographic category refers to people whose age, gender, parental status, or household income are supposedly unidentified, and can allow advertisers to reach a significantly wider audience" when selected.However, Google could use app downloads and online activity to determine... Continue reading...
|
by Lauren Feiner on (#6PTCR)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images It started with a rage tweet."Gonna start VCs for Democracy,'" Leslie Feinzaig, founder and general partner at Graham & Walker, wrote on X in late July. Who's in?"Turns out, more than 1,300 techies," including 750 accredited investors, were in as part of a group that came to be known as VCs for Kamala. On Wednesday, that group raised $150,000 to support Vice President Kamala Harris' path to the presidency during an hourlong Zoom call that reached up to 600 attendees.About $100,000 of that came from 97 donors, and another $50,000 came in the form of a match from SV Angel founder and managing partner Ron Conway, who helped kick off the call. The group had already raised about $25,000 from its original push to get VCs to sign its... Continue reading...
 |
by Andrew Liszewski on (#6PT9C)
Image: Boeing During a press conference today, NASA representatives confirmed they have a contingency plan to bring astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year. If they're unable to leave sooner aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that brought them there, the backup plan would rely on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission, which has had its launch delayed while officials figure out what to do next.After a successful crewed launch of the Boeing Starliner on June 5th (following several delays), the two astronauts were originally supposed to spend about a week aboard the ISS before parachuting back to Earth. But the Starliner experienced thruster failures and helium leaks while docking with the ISS,... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Sheena Vasani on (#6PT9D)
Image: Visit Jackson Hole Wyoming's Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board has created an open-source Instagram filter to help visitors gauge if they're at a safe distance from wildlife to take photos. The board hopes the tool will help better protect tourists visiting wildlife destinations - and the animals they're watching - during the busy summer travel season.To use the filter, visitors to the valley and wilderness recreation area need to open up the Selfie Control filter in the Instagram app. After selecting the type of wildlife they're looking at, tourists must align the animal's outline to its icon. If the real-life animal's bigger than the icon, then they're too close and should back up.Jackson Hole, like nearby Yellowstone National Park and other wildlife... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6PT6V)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said the new Ace headphones got off to a strong start and helped spur year over year revenue growth" that slightly exceeded the company's expectations as part of its third quarter earnings on Wednesday afternoon. But that success was immediately overshadowed" by ongoing woes with the redesigned Sonos app.The company is now delaying two hardware releases originally planned for later this year as it deploys an all-hands-on-deck approach to fixing the app. I will not rest until we're in a position where we've addressed the issues and have customers raving about Sonos again," Spence said during the afternoon earnings call.We believe our focus needs to be addressing the app ahead of everything else," he... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6PT6W)
Illustration: The Verge You might have to pay to access some subreddits in the future. During an earnings call on Tuesday, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman hinted at new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas."I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has," Huffman said. But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built." Huffman said he doesn't think these gated communities would cannibalize" the site, which has seen an increase in users over the past few months. The site's daily active users jumped 51 percent, bringing its total to 91.2 million, while its revenue also increased by 54 percent to... Continue reading...
|
by Mia Sato on (#6PT6X)
Image: Tim Walz Vice President Kamala Harris' pick for running mate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former teacher and football coach whose straightforward manner of speaking has endeared him to many and helped launch his name into the public consciousness.Walz's public persona has what many would describe as dad energy." He makes unsubtle jokes and regularly posts pictures of his dogs. During a widely shared television appearance, he described Republicans as weird," a line of attack that resonated with Democrats. Walz comes off as humble, restrained, and eloquent in an everyman way.A few weeks ago, I explained Brat summer" and how the Harris campaign was tapping into a cultural moment that has swept across a certain millennial and Gen Z... Continue reading...
 |
by Sean Hollister on (#6PT6Y)
An Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, one of the first types identified to sometimes crash this way. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge There is no fix for Intel's crashing 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors. If your chip isn't yet damaged, please apply motherboard BIOS updates early and often to prevent issues. If it's already damaged, your only option is to exchange it.But what if you didn't buy a chip - but, rather, an entire PC? Will PC makers have your back? Will they pass along the extra two years of warranty that Intel just theoretically granted them, or will they perhaps try to save money at your expense? Image: Intel On Tuesday, Intel confirmed it will extend its warranty by two entire years for 24 different CPUs that may be affected. We asked over a dozen desktop computer companies that last question. Some agreed to... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6PT6Z)
Characters from the Chapter 5: Season 3 battle pass. | Image: Epic Games Epic Games is making a major change to Fortnite's battle passes that should remove some angst if you can't buy or complete a pass before the end of a season.Fortnite's battle passes offer a bunch of exclusive in-game rewards that you can only obtain during an individual season, but that means you might miss out on rewards entirely if you can't level up enough or don't buy the pass before it expires. To help alleviate that pressure, Epic announced on Wednesday that items from future battle passes might be available for purchase in Fortnite's item shop at least 18 months after the pass expires.Epic's battle pass policy adjustment is intended in part to let people buy outfits featuring licensed crossovers, even if they miss a season's... Continue reading...
|
by Barbara Krasnoff on (#6PT70)
A magically green room full of gaming mementos. Continue reading...
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6PT2N)
Image: The Verge / Getty Images Last year, when Minnesota's progressive politicians coalesced around a bill to raise the minimum pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in the state, their ostensibly left-of-center governor surprised them all by pulling a move he had yet to use while in office: he vetoed it.Uber and Lyft were threatening to stop operating in Minnesota if the bill was signed into law, and Governor Tim Walz was worried about losing a mode of transportation that many Minnesotans relied on. But he also didn't want to ostracize his progressive allies, many of whom have been laboring for years to force the multibillion-dollar ridehail companies to cough up a little more for their beleaguered drivers.Now that he's been catapulted to the national stage as Vice... Continue reading...
 |
by Andrew Liszewski on (#6PT2P)
A dial can be used to select one of four charging modes on Anker's new desktop Prime Charger. | Image: Anker Anker announced several additions to the company's Prime line of chargers today, including a new desktop version that allows the power output of its six USB ports to be customized through a control dial. As a result, connected devices get exactly as much power as they need.The new $169.99 Anker Prime Charger shares 250W of power across four USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. The first USB-C port can deliver up to 140W of power, while the other three max out at 100W. The two USB-A ports deliver up to 22.5W each. Image: Anker An LCD screen shows the power output of each USB-C port. The charger offers four different power distribution modes, adjustable through a built-in control dial or Anker's mobile app.
|
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6PT2Q)
The Chromecast is going away after more than a decade in Google's hardware portfolio, with the company phasing it out to make room for the new Google TV Streamer. In 2013, the timing was perfect for the Chromecast's success. Most TVs of that era had rudimentary entertainment apps that were often slow, so beaming content from your phone to a TV made a lot of sense.But times have changed. With the Chromecast with Google TV in 2020. Google pivoted in the opposite direction with a much more traditional, lean-back entertainment experience. Casting took a backseat to carousels of content recommendations, and native apps returned.The Google TV Streamer is designed to build on that strategy by infusing Gemini AI smarts into the software. It'll... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Justine Calma on (#6PT2R)
Bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef in 2024. | Photo: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg The Great Barrier Reef and surrounding waters have reached hotter temperatures over the past decade than they have in at least 400 years because of climate change, according to new research published in the journal Nature.It's a stark warning. The survival of the Great Barrier Reef is essentially now in human hands. Corals around the world face near extinction if temperatures continue to rise with the world running primarily on fossil fuels.The reef is in danger."The reef is in danger, and if we don't divert from our current course, our generation will likely witness the demise of one of Earth's great natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef," Benjamin Henley, lead author of the research and a lecturer at the University of Melbourne... Continue reading...
|
by Kylie Robison on (#6PT2S)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Shortly after Humane released its $699 AI Pin in April, the returns started flowing in.Between May and August, more AI Pins were returned than purchased, according to internal sales data obtained by The Verge. By June, only around 8,000 units hadn't been returned, a source with direct knowledge of sales and return data told me. As of today, the number of units still in customer hands had fallen closer to 7,000, a source with direct knowledge said.At launch, the AI Pin was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews. Our own David Pierce said it just doesn't work," and Marques Brownlee called it the worst product" he's ever reviewed. Now, Humane is attempting to stabilize its operations and maintain confidence among staff and potential... Continue reading...
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6PT2T)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is making views" the primary metric across all of its formats, meaning that creators will be able to track the same metric across Reels, Stories, photos, and more. The change will roll out in the coming weeks, according to a post on Instagram's creators account.
|
 |
by Lauren Feiner on (#6PT2V)
A new joint venture between three streaming leaders could create a monopoly problem in sports television, three lawmakers warn US regulators in a letter first reported by The Athletic.Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) are asking law enforcers to investigate the joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. to create a new service, Venu Sports. The streaming service is expected to include sports networks from across the three companies' portfolios, including ESPN, FOX, and TNT. Last week, the companies announced that Venu Sports will cost $42.99 per month.In the letter to Justice Department antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter and Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica... Continue reading...
|
by Mia Sato on (#6PT2W)
Illustration by Erik Carter Thousands of families have witnessed fake obituaries of loved ones crowd Google search results. As The Verge reported in February, the obituaries - which often appear to be AI-generated - target everyday people, not just celebrities, and are written to extract clicks and subsequent ad revenue from readers.A new report by watchdog organization Check My Ads traced some of the middlemen profiting from obituary spam: ad exchanges, or the companies that connect brands that want to run ads and websites on which ads will appear.One of the sites the Check My Ads report focused on is HausaNew.com.ng, a content mill that, until recently, was churning out obituaries and news about local deaths in towns across the US. The site published an... Continue reading...
by Victoria Song on (#6PSY2)
Fitbit's rolling out Tap to Pay in time for the new school year. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge It's officially back-to-school season, so Fitbit's updating its kids-focused Ace LTE smartwatch with some helpful features for parents and children. Namely, it's adding a Tap to Pay feature, launching two new games, and later this year, will allow users to add siblings as contacts in the Fitbit Ace app.Tap to Pay was mentioned as coming soon" when the Ace LTE launched back in May. The idea was to give kids the freedom to buy things on their own, while also allowing parents oversight. To do that, Google - which owns Fitbit - is partnering with Greenlight and GoHenry, which offer debit cards for children and teens. If you have accounts with those services, you'll be able to add them to the Ace LTE, and kids will be able to use their... Continue reading...
by Sheena Vasani on (#6PSY3)
Elgato's Stream Deck Neo is designed to be accessible to everybody, not just streamers. | Image: Elgato Here at The Verge, we're big fan Stream Deck fans. However, Elgato's programmable macro controllers can be pricey, with the Stream Deck XL and Deck Plus retailing for $249.99 and $199.99, respectively. If you want something more affordable for streamlining your workflow, the Elgato Stream Deck Neo is currently matching its all-time low of $84.99 ($15 off) at Best Buy, Target, and directly from Elgato.Although you can program Elgato's compact Neo to perform a variety of shortcuts in macOS or Windows, it comes preloaded with some common actions right out the gate. It sports eight customizable LCD buttons - as opposed to the six on the like-minded, last-gen Stream Deck Mini - allowing you to control your smart lights, join or mute a video... Continue reading...
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6PSY4)
Image: Roku Roku is preparing to launch a new 24/7 sports channel across its devices, apps, and on its website. Starting on August 12th, the new Roku Sports Channel will start showing sports-themed content that includes live events and original content.Joe Franzetta, who heads Roku's sports division, describes the channel as a curated always-on channel that leads our viewer through the wide variety of premium sports content available for free on The Roku Channel."The most premium" of those will be Sunday Leadoff, the live Major League Baseball games Roku got in a broadcast deal with the MLB earlier this year. But the channel will also feature live Formula E races and other sports broadcasts, including archival boxing matches, NBA G League... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6PSY5)
Image: HBO House of the Dragon ended its second season with a reminder that this is all just one part of a much larger story. Continue reading...
|
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6PSY6)
Image: Rad Power Bikes Rad Power Bikes announced a new more affordable, lighter-weight e-bike for urban commuters who just want a cheap, simple way to get around. Dubbed the RadKick, the new bike starts at $1,199, making it the Seattle-based company's most affordable model yet.And for those desiring fewer grease stains on their pant cuffs, the RadKick also comes with an optional belt drive in place of a traditional bike chain, which is a first for the company.The low-step frame, integrated battery pack, and space for a plethora of front- and rear-rack optional add-ons could make this the ideal entry-level bike for anyone curious about electric bikes but perhaps turned off by high prices or the idea of lugging an extremely heavy bike up and down stairs.In... Continue reading...
by Emma Roth on (#6PSTP)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Disney Plus will soon no longer let you share your password with people outside your household. During an earnings call on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the crackdown will kick off in earnest" this September.The timeline for Disney's password-sharing crackdown has been a bit confusing so far. In February, Disney announced plans to roll out paid sharing and also began notifying users about the change. It then launched paid sharing in a few countries" in June but provided no information on when it would reach the US.But now, it seems like Disney is pretty serious about rolling out paid sharing to more subscribers in September - even though it still hasn't shared details on how much it will cost. Netflix, which rolled out paid... Continue reading...
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6PSTQ)
The crimson red Apex Edition' OnePlus Open is a stunner, and the color isn't the only thing that's different about it. Continue reading...
|
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PSTR)
Image: TCL It's been several years since Samsung first launched its popular Frame TV lineup, and now we're starting to see more brands release their own canvas-like designs. The latest is TCL's newly announced 4K QLED NXTFrame TV, which has many of the features you'd expect from an Art TV" - including a magnetic wooden frame, flush-to-wall mount, an ultra matte" display, and various gallery modes for displaying images.This follows similar releases like the Hisense CanvasTV and LG's Pose and Easel TVs that mirror Samsung's Frame pitch - to disguise the TV itself as a piece of artwork around your home. Third-party accessories like the Leon Studio Frame for Sony's Bravia range have also appeared to get in on the aesthetic trend, but all-in-one... Continue reading...
by Tim Stevens on (#6PSRQ)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images From Car Throttle to Donut, countless YouTube creators are fleeing. But is this a new trend or a tale as old as venture capital? Continue reading...
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6PSRR)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Disney's streaming business has finally become profitable. In its Q3 earnings results released on Wednesday, the company reported making $47 million off Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus.Like other streamers, Disney has struggled with making its streaming business profitable. At the same time last year, Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu recorded a $512 million loss. Things started to turn around last quarter when both Disney Plus and Hulu posted a profit, but losses at ESPN Plus prevented Disney's overall streaming business from crossing the line into profitability.This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our Entertainment segment both at the box office and in DTC, as we achieved profitability across our... Continue reading...
|