The Verge - All Posts

The A2 is about as affordable as it gets for an LG OLED TV. | Image: LG It's the Friday before the Fourth of July weekend, which means a couple of things: fly-by-night fireworks sellers are probably popping up in mall parking lots around you, and there are deals to be had (ones that don't risk you any bodily harm).As for today's deals, one of the best is the $700 discount Best Buy is currently offering on the 48-inch LG A2 OLED TV. That knocks the price of the entry-level OLED down to $599.99 - an all-time low we've seen once or twice before. While the A2 may be considered entry-level compared to LG's other OLED models, it's still an excellent panel. The A2 has the rich color contrast expected of OLEDs, and though it may not stack up to the brightness and features of newer, higher-end models like the C2 or... Continue reading...

Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images EVO doesn't start until August, but the best fighting game match of the year has already happened.Dominique SonicFox" McLean is a fighting games legend. They've won numerous tournaments in numerous games, including six EVO championships across five different titles. They are, unequivocally, one of the best fighting games players to have ever picked up a fight stick.But apparently, Twitter user BradonNinjaaa was unaware of this. Because only a person who has either been completely absent from the fighting games scene for the last 10 years or is so thoroughly confident in their own abilities to the point of self-delusion would ever do to SonicFox what BradonNinjaa did - challenge them to Mortal Kombat.Yesterday evening, SonicFox... Continue reading...

Image: Getty Images The Supreme Court has ruled that a graphic designer can't be required to make a website celebrating the wedding of a (possibly hypothetical) gay couple, saying it would violate First Amendment protections against compelled speech. It's a decision that isn't necessarily surprising for the current court but one that could intersect strangely with the coming fight over online moderation.Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the majority opinion in 303 Creative v. Elenis, and it was supported in a 6 to 3 vote, with the court's liberal minority dissenting. Gorsuch determined that Colorado graphic and web designer Lorie Smith could legally refuse service to a same-sex couple looking to commission a wedding website, something that Smith found morally... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google is facing scrutiny over claims it misled advertisers about where it places video ads - and whether it violated US sanctions. As reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, research from the analytics company Adalytics suggests that Google may have cost media buyers up to billions of digital ad dollars" by putting ads on sites in ways that violate Google's own standards.The report centers around one of Google's video ad formats, called TrueView, which the company places on YouTube and other sites across the web, called Google video partners. These ads appear during videos and give viewers the option to skip the entirety of the advertisement after five seconds. Advertisers only pay for the ad if a viewer watches at least 30... Continue reading...

Image: WhatsApp Transferring your WhatsApp messages and large attachments between phones running the same operating system could soon be a little easier. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced a new chat transfer feature that bypasses any cloud backups simply by scanning a QR code shown on your old phone with your new phone. Data is only shared between your two devices, and is fully encrypted during transfer," WhatsApp's announcement of the new feature says.The new process has the potential to be a lot quicker and easier than the existing cloud-based alternative, which involves backing up a history of your chats to iCloud or Google Drive and then downloading it to a new device. And it handily avoids any cloud storage limits you might run into if your... Continue reading...

Photo by Xavi Torrent / Getty Images Thousands of influencers post content online with one goal: getting a brand deal. It's affirmation that they've made it" as an influencer, that they're interesting enough to be paid to post, and that content creation could be a job. It's usually a good thing - until, of course, it blows up in your face.It's not clear to me why anyone involved in Shein's recent PR campaign thought it was a good idea to send influencers on a free trip to try to beat the labor exploitation accusations that plague the company. There's an unseriousness to sponsored content - the cheery, upbeat music, the approval process videos go through before they can be posted - that makes it an insufficient response to workers who say they're subjected to illegally... Continue reading...

Image: Apple The summer of sci-fi continues over on Apple TV Plus. Just as season 1 of Silo ends and a new season of Foundation is about to begin, Apple has confirmed that its alien series Invasion will be back very soon. The first episode of a 10-episode-long season 2 will premiere on August 23rd, with new ones dropping on Wednesdays. As part of the announcement, we also got some early images of season 2 that include a cool spacesuit and what seems like a pretty war-torn version of Earth.Invasion originally premiered in October 2021 and told a planet-wide story about an alien invasion, letting viewers see things unfold from multiple perspectives. It took a bit to get going but eventually ended up as a great start to a sci-fi story once it got... Continue reading...

The letter warns that the strict rules for generative AI outlined in the AI Act have consequences.' | Photo by Philipp von Ditfurth/picture alliance via Getty Images Some of the biggest companies in Europe have taken collective action to criticize the European Union's recently approved artificial intelligence regulations, claiming that the Artificial Intelligence Act is ineffective and could negatively impact competition. In an open letter sent to the European Parliament, Commission, and member states on Friday, and first seen by the Financial Times, over 150 executives from companies like Renault, Heineken, Airbus, and Siemens slammed the AI Act for its potential to jeopardise Europe's competitiveness and technological sovereignty."On June 14th, the European Parliament greenlit a draft of the AI Act following two years of developing its rules, and expanding them to encompass recent AI... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit has informed moderators of protesting communities that are still private that they will lose their mod status by the end of the week, according to messages seen by The Verge. If a moderator tells Reddit they are interested in actively moderating" the subreddit, the company says it will take your request into consideration."Here is the full message, which we have confirmed was sent to moderators of at least two subreddits:

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is the company's largest e-book reader. It has some cool note-taking features, but this starting summer, it won't work with Pocket anymore. | Image: Kobo It looks like Kobo readers might not lose Pocket integration after all. Mozilla, the maker of Firefox and current owner of Pocket, originally said in a support document that Kobo's Pocket integration would stop working entirely after August 15th, 2023, when Pocket will require Firefox accounts to log in. In separate statements to The Verge Mozilla and Kobo now say that existing users of the integration will not be affected, and that Kobo would update their devices to use the new logins.The original announcement that Kobo's Pocket integration would stop working was reported earlier this week by Goodereader.com and confirmed by The Verge.Sarah Vasquez, a senior manager for communications at Mozilla, provided the following statement... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is throwing a major wrench into video playback for viewers who are using ad blockers. The company has confirmed to The Verge that it's currently running a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium."The statement comes after some people began noticing a new prompt warning that video playback could be cut off if YouTube detects repeated use of ad blocking tools. Android Authority earlier reported on those tests, which prevent viewers from watching more than three videos when an ad blocker is active.Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers," Google spokesperson Oluwa Falodun told The Verge by... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google will be removing links to Canadian news in Search, News, and Discover following the recent passage of the Online News Act in Canada, according to a blog post by Kent Walker, Google's president of global affairs. The law, also called Bill C-18, forces big tech companies like Google and Meta to pay news publishers for their content.The unprecedented decision to put a price on links (a so-called link tax') creates uncertainty for our products and exposes us to uncapped financial liability simply for facilitating Canadians' access to news from Canadian publishers," Walker wrote. We have been saying for over a year that this is the wrong approach to supporting journalism in Canada and may result in significant changes to our... Continue reading...

Image: Annapurna Interactive The Not-E3 summer of games is winding down, but it is not over yet. Annapurna Interactive was the latest publisher to put on its own showcase, debuting new games and sharing big updates for others. Here are the highlights from the presentation.StrayPlayStation's best play-as-a-cat game is stray-ing to a new platform. Originally launched last year as a PC / PlayStation timed exclusive, Annapurna Interactive has announced that Stray, the cypberpunk cat-sim, is coming to Xbox on August 10th. Annapurna announced the move in the cutest way possible, with the game's lead gato pawing an Xbox controller off a table, as its concerned owner stares helpless in the face of the cat's reckless disregard. The only thing that could be more realistic... Continue reading...

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Electrify America is adding support for Tesla's NACS electric vehicle charging plug, which the company has dubbed the North American Charging Standard. On Thursday, the company said it will work toward bringing the NACS connector to existing and future" charging stations by 2025.This doesn't mean Electrify America is getting rid of the Combined Charging System (CCS), a standard that's used by EVs from automakers like General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, and others. The company says the CCS plug will still be available alongside the NACS connector. It doesn't mention the aging CHAdeMO connector that it also offers at its stations, however, which is used by the Nissan Leaf.Still, Electrify America's planned NACS support is a... Continue reading...

You can get up to 20 percent off of the Steam Deck. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Steam Deck rarely goes on sale, which is why you might want to take advantage of this deal on the portable gaming PC while it's hot. As a part of the Steam Summer Sale, Valve is taking up to 20 percent off the Steam Deck in the US as well as internationally. You can buy the Steam Deck starting at $359.10 ($40 off) for the base model with 64GB of storage, which matches the price we last saw when the handheld first went on sale in March, and you can save a lot more on the higher-end Decks.If you require more storage, you might want to consider buying the 256 or 512GB model. As my colleague Sean Hollister pointed out, you can easily upgrade it with a new SSD, but there's a slight risk of damage if you aren't careful. What's more, the... Continue reading...

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Niantic is making some major organizational changes, including layoffs, game shutdowns, and the closure of its Los Angeles studio, according to an email from Niantic CEO John Hanke shared on the company's website. The changes are designed to narrow the company's focus, especially on developing and maintaining its cash cow, Pokemon Go.Pokemon Go is nearing its seventh birthday, and it's still incredibly relevant; according to Sensor Tower data shared in June 2022, the game has earned about $1 billion in revenue per year. But it's shut down later attempts to recapture lightning in a bottle, including games based on Harry Potter, Catan, and four other titles as part of layoffs last year. Other companies haven't had much success with the... Continue reading...

Windows Copilot is now available to testers. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is making good on its promise of releasing Windows Copilot to testers in June. Today's Windows Insider Dev Channel build (23493) includes early access to Windows Copilot, native support for RAR and 7-Zip files, a new settings homepage, and even a much better volume mixer.Microsoft first announced Windows Copilot at build earlier this year, and the version that testers can access today works as a sidebar that's docked to the right-hand side of Windows 11. It won't overlap with your desktop content and will run unobstructed alongside your open app windows, allowing you to interact with Windows Copilot anytime you need," says the Windows team in a blog post today. Image: Microsoft Windows Copilot running... Continue reading...

Image: Roland Quandt via WinFuture The rumored DJI Air 3 might feature an upgraded camera system. In a set of images provided to WinFuture by leaker Roland Quandt, you can see two camera sensors on the gimble mounted to the front of the device.That could offer an improvement over the single half-inch sensor on the DJI Air 2 and the sole one-inch camera on the Air 2S, both of which can shoot 4K videos up to 60FPS. The addition of a dual camera system could bring the DJI Air 3 more in line with the high-end Mavic 3. While the Mavic 3 similarly sports two camera sensors - one main camera and one telephoto lens - it doesn't look like its Hasselblad branding will carry over to the DJI Air 3.The leaked images also suggest that the DJI Air 3 could come with a 4,242mAh battery... Continue reading...

Eufy's G20 Hybrid's a terrific budget-friendly robot vacuum that's cheaper than ever today. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Robot vacuums are handy little gadgets, but many of the best cost a couple of hundred dollars. If you've always wanted one but were turned off by the price, you may want to check out today's deal on Eufy's G20 Hybrid. Right now, one of our favorite budget-friendly robot vacuums is on sale for just $129.99 ($150 off) at Amazon.That's a new all-time low on the robovac, which does a good job of vacuuming and mopping your home for its price. It's also the quietest and smallest we've ever tested, making it particularly ideal if your living quarters are compact or if you need a second bot to quietly clean while in your home office. Plus, the robovac comes with support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can control it with just your... Continue reading...

A few small design changes can make all the difference. | Image: Adobe Adobe has started using some new branding across the most recent promotional videos for its generative AI apps. The new branding combines the current Adobe corporate mark (the triangular A" logo) with the company's Adobe Clean typeface (which is used in the software giant's current logo) to spell out the name Adobe. You'd be forgiven for assuming this was an update to the logo introduced in 2020, but according to Adobe, this wordmark" isn't replacing the official logo that the company currently uses.It's not replacing the logo; it's just a new expression in the way that we are creating the way our brand shows up in the world," Adobe's head of brand strategy, Heather Combs, said to Fast Company. "We've had a logo for a long time. A... Continue reading...

If you've got a large Bose bass module like the one above in your home somewhere, pay attention. | Image: Bose Ordinarily, a recall about products sold way back in the early 2000s probably wouldn't catch our attention. But this particular recall is about Bose, and people tend to hold onto Bose gear for a long, long time. Plus, we're dealing with speakers - and good old dumb" speakers can last for decades. So it's worth calling attention to the fact that Bose is recalling over 1 million bass modules that were part of the company's Acoustimass, Lifestyle, and Companion home theater systems.The recall website says these systems were sold at Bose stores, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sam's Club, Sears, and other electronics stores nationwide, and online at Bose.com from January 1994 through April 2007 for between $220 and $2,200." Circuit City? This... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you're looking to trade in your Apple product - be it a MacBook, iMac, Mac desktop, iPhone, or iPad - you stand to get a pretty good return. Apple's tech has a reputation on the secondhand market for retaining value long after release. This speaks to build quality but mostly to Apple's long-lasting software support for its older products. The trend is positive both for buyers, who will end up with a product that could continue to work for years, and sellers, who will make a good percentage of their original purchase price back.There are plenty of ways of trading in your old Apple products for cash. You can easily net an extra $50 to $100 from a sale if you've taken care of your tech, as buyers will pay more for products that look... Continue reading...

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge FTC v. Microsoft day four was all about Satya Nadella and Bobby Kotick. Continue reading...

Choi Seung-hyun, Lee Jin-uk, Won Ji-an, Park Gyu-young, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Jo Yu-ri, Roh Jae-won, the additional cast members of Squid Game season 2. | Netflix While Squid Game's upcoming second season still doesn't have a hard release date just yet, Netflix has just revealed the final eight new cast members set to join the hit series when it returns.Apropos of Squid Game's cast and showrunners getting together for their first table read of season 2 scripts, Netflix announced today that the show's cast will include Park Gyu-young (Sweet Home, Celebrity), former Iz*One member Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim (Be Melodramatic, Move to Heaven), Lee David (The Fortress, Svaha: The Sixth Finger), Lee Jin-uk (Sweet Home, Miss Granny), Choi Seung-hyun (Tazza: The Hidden Card), Roh Jae-won (Missing Yoon, Ditto), and Won Ji-an (D.P.)Previously, Netflix announced that season 1 cast members Lee Jung-jae, Wi... Continue reading...

The Asus Zenfone comes in an eye-catching red this year. Android phones are categorically ginormous, so every summer over the past few years, when a new Asus Zenfone has come around, it's been kind of a treat for the small phone fans among us. The Zenfone 10 continues the tradition of providing flagship-grade specs in a small" package - and yes, a 5.9-inch screen is considered small these days. We're grading on a curve.This year's Zenfone comes with wireless charging, which was missing from the previous models. It's a little tricky to get working with some stand-style chargers because of its small stature - the charging coil on the phone seems to be just out of reach on my Belkin Qi charger, and I can only get it charging on a Pixel Stand (2nd gen) if I press it up against the middle of the... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google and Facebook alumna Lexi Reese launched her campaign for US Senate in California Thursday - but you won't see that announcement on Twitter.Reese, who previously helped lead advertising for both Facebook and Google, said her campaign won't be using Twitter due to Elon Musk's leadership at the company. Specifically, Reese cited the platform's reported rise in hate speech and racial slurs since Musk's 2022 takeover as the reason her campaign is avoiding it.We should all support - as much as possible - people and businesses with whom we share values and motivations," Reese said in a statement to The Verge Wednesday. Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter has been increasingly divisive, racist, and sexist. It's a dumpster fire and... Continue reading...

The updates should take a week or so to fully roll out across the platform. | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images Warner Bros. Discovery has started fixing the controversial creator" credits section on its recently relaunched Max streaming platform over a month following the company apologizing for snubbing the talent behind films and TV shows. According to Deadline, the entertainment giant began revising the credit sections across its various platforms earlier this week - which currently lump together writers, directors, producers, and more as nondescript creators."This is a credits violation for starters," Meredith Stiehm, president of Writers Guild of America West, said last month. But worse, it is disrespectful and insulting to the artists that make the films and TV shows that make their corporation billions."The updated credit sections... Continue reading...

Image: Netflix The end of an era. Continue reading...

The existing Beats Solo Pro, which were released in 2019. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Weeks after 9to5Mac revealed some initial details of Beats unannounced Studio Pro headphones, the publication has followed up with what appears to be a complete list of specs for the over-ears. They're expected to have a premium price tag of $349 and the Apple-owned audio brand could announce them as soon as next month.Headline specs include a battery life that extends up to 40 hours with active noise cancellation and transparency mode turned off, or 24 hours with either feature turned on. There's support for Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking when used with compatible Apple devices as well as personalized spatial audio, two features that have previously been available with the true wireless Beats Fit Pro. I... Continue reading...

There are still a few hoops to jump through before the EUs AI regulations can take effect. | Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images It's taken over two years for the European Parliament to approve its artificial intelligence regulations - but AI development hasn't been idle. Continue reading...

Image: Netflix We've only had two seasons of The Witcher on Netflix, but the show has already had somewhat of an identity crisis. It started off with a bang, with a big, bloody debut that showed exactly why the books and games before it were so beloved. It was dark yet funny, full of action, sexual tension, and all kinds of cool monsters - plus an excellent Henry Cavill as the gruff and lovable Geralt of Rivia. Season 2, meanwhile, lost some of that personality as it attempted to tell a more grand - and typical - fantasy story while also deviating significantly from the books. Things got even more off-track with the prequel Blood Origin.Now we have season 3, which is being split into two volumes and which will mark the end of Cavill's run as Geralt (t... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit is pressuring moderators who have set their subreddits to private to reopen their communities this week, according to messages seen by The Verge. The company has given moderators deadlines to lay out their plans for reopening but said that they can't stay closed.The timeframes given generally indicate a deadline of sometime Thursday afternoon. Reddit was vague about the exact repercussions but seemed to suggest this was the final warning stage.This community remaining closed to its [millions of] members cannot continue" beyond the deadline, the admin (Reddit employee) account ModCodeofConduct wrote in a note to one of the biggest Reddit communities that's still private.That is not going to continue"After a mod replied,... Continue reading...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appears at court for FTC v. Microsoft. | Photo by Loren Elliott / Getty Images Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he'd love" to get rid of console game exclusives but blames Sony for defining the market and competition. Nadella made the comments as part of testimony in FTC v. Microsoft today, discussing Microsoft's cloud gaming strategy, internal gaming targets, and much more.When discussing the ideal of Microsoft being focused on software across as many platforms as possible, Nadella was asked about Xbox exclusives. Here's what he said:

Image: Plex Plex laid off 37 people on Monday, a figure that represents more than 20 percent of the company's staff, according to a Slack message from CEO Keith Valory obtained by The Verge. The layoffs affect every department," Valory wrote.Plex offers a popular media server app that lets people upload and stream their own content, but in recent years, it's bet big on adding free, ad-supported (FAST) movies and shows and live TV. But like many others in streaming, it seems Plex has found it can be tough to make money in the business right now.Plex's ad business has been significantly impacted" by the downturn in global advertising markets, Valory said, and unfortunately, we cannot know how long ad markets and pricing will continue to be... Continue reading...

The Fold's inner screen - as on any folding phone - is much more susceptible to damage than your typical phone display. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The Google Pixel Fold was only officially released yesterday, and unfortunately, we're seeing some of the first major casualties of Hot Foldable Summer. Reports of broken and damaged screens are starting to trickle in, ranging from Hmm, that might not be great" to Oh dear God, the humanity."First, there's the very unfortunate incident that Ron Amadeo over at Ars Technica experienced: OLED death in no uncertain terms. He reports that a tiny bit of debris likely got into the inner screen's small gutter" between the screen protector and bezels and was smashed into the panel by the two halves of the phone closing. A Fold owner on Reddit is also reporting some small dents in this same area of the screen - they haven't noticed the screen... Continue reading...

Photo by Anthony Wallace / AFP via Getty Images Sony has just revealed lots of highly confidential information about its PlayStation business by mistake. As part of the FTC v. Microsoft hearing, Sony supplied a document from PlayStation chief Jim Ryan that includes redacted details on the margins Sony shares with publishers, its Call of Duty revenues, and even the cost of developing some of its games.It looks like Sony redacted the documents with a black Sharpie - but when you scan them in, it's easy to see some of the redactions. Oops.The court has scrambled to remove the document, but the damage is done; reporters and Sony's competition have already downloaded all the documents while they were in the public domain. Among other things, the document shows that Horizon Forbidden... Continue reading...

The Astra Carta seal | Image: Sustainable Markets Initiative Jony Ive and his team at LoveFrom have made a new design for King Charles III called the Astra Carta" seal. The seal is meant to represent the UK's call to action for public and private sectors to work together on responsible and sustainable use of outer space. It marks his second project for King Charles this year after LoveFrom made a royal emblem to herald the King's recent coronation earlier.The seal, which is animated on the sustainability initiative's official site, is a circular badge with the all-caps Latin words ASTRA CARTA" planted in the middle beneath a crown. In the center, a blue dot represents the planet Earth, while constellations, the Sun, the Moon, and the flowery path taken by Venus surround it. Around the outside... Continue reading...

Image: OpenAI People apparently find tweets more convincing when they're written by AI language models. At least, that was the case in a new study comparing content created by humans to language generated by OpenAI's model GPT-3.The authors of the new research surveyed people to see if they could discern whether a tweet was written by another person or by GPT-3. The result? People couldn't really do it. The survey also asked them to decide whether the information in each tweet was true or not. This is where things get even dicier, especially since the content focused on science topics like vaccines and climate change that are subject to a lot of misinformation campaigns online.Turns out, study participants had a harder time recognizing... Continue reading...

Home Screen will be available for most" Vizio smart TVs from 2016 and later. | Image: Vizio Today, Vizio is announcing a completely overhauled homescreen experience for its TVs that will eventually make its way to models dating back as far as 2016. The new interface looks sleeker and more modern than the company's existing SmartCast OS. And Vizio went the direct route with branding: the new software is just called Home Screen.Take one look at the revamped user experience and it's immediately clear where Vizio drew inspiration from: this basically looks like its own streaming service. All the telltale signs are there. A column of navigation icons on the far left? Check. There's the usual hero slot at the top with immersive artwork, custom typefaces / logos, and autoplaying video.It's much easier to tell at a glance which... Continue reading...