The Verge

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Business arrangements and opaque contracts have broken the pitch of the smart home. Better regulation can fix this problem. Continue reading...

8BitDo's Retro Mechanical Keyboard is a unique gift under $100 that's perfect for Nintendo fans. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge Let's be honest: most keyboards are boring necessities that you're not likely to find at the top of anybody's Christmas wishlist. But every now and then, a keyboard comes along that's so cool, anyone could get excited about it. 8BitDo's Retro Mechanical Keyboard is one of those unicorns, and right now, it's down to an all-time low of $89.99 ($10 off) at Amazon.Inspired by Nintendo, the Bluetooth mechanical keyboard sports a pair of massive red programmable buttons similar to the ones found on the old-school NES controllers. It's comfortable, too, thanks to clicky, hot-swappable switches you can replace when you want to change up the feel. The keyboard offers a standard tenkeyless layout, so it lacks a numpad, but if you don't need... Continue reading...

Photo by Nathan Edwards / The Verge Two desks, three computers, and countless keyboards. Continue reading...

Image: Epic Games Fortnite is currently saturated in nostalgia, thanks to the backwards-looking Fortnite OG. But that's about to change very soon: the battle royale's next major live event promises a new beginning" for the game. There aren't many other details, but the event is called The Big Bang, and it kicks off on December 2nd at 2PM ET; as with past events, developer Epic recommends players show up at least 30 minutes early so they don't miss out.The vibe of The Big Bang feels reminiscent of the black hole event in 2019, which wiped out the original battle royale island, paving the way for Fortnite to constantly reinvent itself with new chapters. The island has been changed multiple times since; one time it flipped over, another time it simply... Continue reading...

Here, The Doors Don't Know Me" by Mohamed Mahdy (pictured) was the winning Open Format entry in 2023. | Image: Mohamed Mahdy / Magnum Foundation / World Press Photo Foundation The World Press Photo Contest has updated its entry rules to exclude submissions for AI-generated imagery, just days after announcing that such images could be entered into its Open Format competition category. The World Press Photo Foundation initially said it would welcome AI-generated submissions - a decision met with immediate backlash from photojournalists who said allowing artificially created images into a contest for photojournalists responsible for documenting real-world events was anathema to everything our industry does."The foundation has since rolled back its new AI submission guidance and updated contest rules to bar AI-generated images from its Open Format category. Thanks to the honest and thoughtful feedback over the... Continue reading...

The new Insta360 Ace (right) and Ace Pro (left). | Image: Insta360 Insta360's new action cameras borrow the blocky design of GoPro's popular Hero series but add the ability to flip up that large 2.4-inch rear touchscreen for easy vlogging. The company's new Ace" camera starts at $379.99 for the regular model, and there's a flagship Pro" version for $449.99. The higher-end one is equipped with a Leica Summarit lens and a large 1/1.3-inch image sensor for excellent low-light performance and up to 8K at 24 frames per second recording. Both versions are available now.The standard Ace camera model comes with a smaller 1/2-inch image sensor, but it supports recording up to 6K at 30 frames per second, and both models can shoot 4K at a high-speed 120 frames per second and take 48MP pictures. They also have... Continue reading...

The FiiO KB3 has a built-in DAC and headphone amp. | Image: FiiO The KB3 is a new mechanical keyboard from audio brand FiiO with a built-in headphone jack that stands a good chance of sounding better than the existing 3.5mm output on your desktop computer or laptop. That's because the headphone jack isn't just passing through analog audio from your computer, it's plugged into a combination DAC and headphone amp that's integrated into the keyboard itself.So rather than having a headphone cable snaking across your desk to reach your machine, or cluttering up your workspace with a separate DAC and headphone amplifier, all these devices can theoretically be built right into the keyboard that's sitting underneath your hands. And it comes from a company which knows a thing or two about audio (even if its... Continue reading...

The cover is adorned with the legendary clockface found on AB1 alarm clock (1987) designed by Dietrich Lubs. A century of design - with and without Dieter Rams - giving credit where credit is due. Continue reading...

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images X, formerly Twitter, has followed through with owner Elon Musk's threat to sue the left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters. Media Matters reported last week that X has been placing ads for major brands" like Apple and IBM next to content that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party." Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have dubbed the report unrepresentative of X's general user experience. Several companies nonetheless pulled ads after that report and Musk's direct endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory - and Musk's lawsuit claims Media Matters is legally liable for X's loss.Nearly simultaneously, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into Media Matters for potential fraudulent activity." Musk posted the news on... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Music streaming service Spotify struck a seemingly unique and highly generous deal with Google for Android-based payments, according to new testimony in the Epic v. Google trial. On the stand, Google head of global partnerships Don Harrison confirmed Spotify paid a 0 percent commission when users chose to buy subscriptions through Spotify's own system. If the users picked Google as their payment processor, Spotify handed over 4 percent - dramatically less than Google's more common 15 percent fee.Google fought to keep the Spotify numbers private during its antitrust fight with Epic, saying they could damage negotiations with other app developers who might want more generous rates. Google's User Choice Billing program, launched in 2022,... Continue reading...

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge The latest numbers are in for how much our planet is projected to heat up this century, and it's got me sweating.Look, I am not a numbers person. And if I didn't write about climate change for a living, this latest report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) wouldn't hit the same. It says that this century, global temperatures are on track to reach between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius above where they were prior to the Industrial Revolution. That statement's a snooze, right? Well, here's why I'm stress-eating Corn Pops while writing this.It felt like 139.5 degrees Fahrenheit (59.7 degrees Celsius) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday. That was the heat index, a measure of both heat and humidity that's crucial because... Continue reading...

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple's iPads just don't get any cheaper than this. The ninth-generation iPad, which has unceremoniously remained the entry-level option of Apple tablets even a year after the 10th-gen model came out, is selling for a new low.You can get the 2021 iPad with 64GB of storage for $229.99 ($100 off its MSRP) at Amazon and Target. This early Black Friday deal is an additional $20 cheaper than the previous low of $249.99 we were consistently seeing for some time. Also, if 64GB is a little slimmer on storage than you'd prefer, the 256GB model is also $100 off at Amazon and Target - dropping it to $379.99.While the ninth-gen model may be a couple of years old, it's still a very formidable budget-friendly tablet. Its 10.2-inch display may be... Continue reading...

Image: Netflix When the news came that Netflix was making an animated version of Scott Pilgrim, one that brought back all of the original film actors (along with the director and series creator), it raised some interesting questions. Mostly, I was curious just how much would change as the story shifted mediums. While the original comics and the live-action film adaptation had their differences, they both still largely told the same story about a 20-something slacker from Toronto fighting his way through his girlfriend's dating history. But for the new series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the story isn't just a departure - it completely blows up the timeline.Note: This article includes some spoilers for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.At first, it doesn't really... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Video games run the world. They just do. The release of Call of Duty is an economic and cultural event every year, some of the biggest movies and TV shows are based on beloved games, and everybody's best vacation this year was the hours they spent in Hyrule. Even news of a possible release date for a trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI was huge news! Gaming continues to become more popular across nearly every demographic and every type of game, even as the rest of the entertainment industry looks a little wobbly. Everybody's a gamer, and games are winning.And yet, in some ways, the biggest and most important games in the industry seem somewhat in peril. Even the people running the game industry, like Microsoft's Phil Spencer, think so. AAA... Continue reading...

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge Adobe has been issued with a formal antitrust complaint by EU regulators regarding its $20 billion bid for cloud-based product design platform Figma. Following an in-depth investigation that was launched on August 7th, the European Commission reached the preliminary conclusion on Friday that if the deal goes ahead, it may significantly reduce competition in the global markets" for the supply of interactive product design tools, vector editing tools, and raster editing tools.The Commission has issued a statement of objections outlining its competition concerns. This highlights that EU officials believe Figma already exerts a significant constraining influence" over Adobe's Illustrator and Photoshop editing tools, and is significantly... Continue reading...

Starlink Standard terminal | Image: SpaceX SpaceX quietly introduced a new Standard Starlink terminal that's slimmer and simpler than the previous version, with a 10 percent broader field of view and no motor for setting up - instead, it comes with a kickstand; to orient it, you simply move it. A Starlink support page says the kit is available by invitation only to a small group of early customers in the US."SpaceX bumped its weather resistance rating up from IP54 to IP67, meaning it should be totally dust-proof and can be submerged in one meter of water for as long as 30 minutes before potential damage. Starlink's specifications page says it can operate in winds over 60MPH. Speaking of which, the company will sell mounts in case you'd rather secure it in place. It's otherwise... Continue reading...

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta has reportedly broken up its Responsible AI (RAI) team as it puts more of its resources into generative artificial intelligence. The Information broke the news today, citing an internal post it had seen.According to the report, most RAI members will move to the company's generative AI product team, while others will work on Meta's AI infrastructure. The company regularly says it wants to develop AI responsibly and even has a page devoted to the promise, where the company lists its pillars of responsible AI," including accountability, transparency, safety, privacy, and more.The Information's report quotes Jon Carvill, who represents Meta, as saying that the company will continue to prioritize and invest in safe and responsible... Continue reading...

Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge SpaceX's massive Starship rocket just took off shortly after 8AM ET from the company's Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.A few minutes after the launch and a planned hot stage" separation, the Super Heavy booster exploded instead of continuing its planned descent and water landing, but Starship itself continued into space. Minutes later, the SpaceX team said it had not received any signal from Starship and that they may have lost the ship. The New York Times wrote that the upper stage made it 90 miles high, putting it into space prior to its loss.

Sam Altman. | OpenAI Sam Altman has been fired as CEO of OpenAI, the company announced on Friday.Mr. Altman's departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities," the company said in its blog post. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI."Chief technology officer Mira Murati will be the interim CEO, effective immediately. The company will be conducting a search for a permanent CEO successor. When contacted by The Verge, OpenAI's communications department declined to comment beyond the blog post. Employees at OpenAI found out about the news when it was announced... Continue reading...

Image: Apple Monarch co-creators Chris Black and Matt Fraction and director Matt Shakman open up about why their new MonsterVerse series is so focused on ordinary humans. Continue reading...

The Lofree Flow is a low-profile keyboard that types and sounds like a full-height one. Continue reading...

How cheap are you exactly, Optiq? | Image: Cadillac Cadillac announced a new electric vehicle model called Optiq, which it says will act as the entry point" for the automaker's EV lineup in the US. Previously, the $64,000 Cadillac Lyriq was the automaker's cheapest electric vehicle option, so the Optiq's price could start in the sub-$60,000 range, although the company has not announced any details in that regard.As a matter of fact, Cadillac hasn't provided any details whatsoever, including key specifications like battery range, dimensions, powertrain options like whether it has AWD standard, charging speed, and more. Although unconfirmed, the Optiq is likely built on GM's Ultium electric vehicle platform. What we do know is it will at least come in an orange color, has frontal design... Continue reading...