The Verge

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Baldur's Game 3 admittedly doesn't look this sharp on the Steam Deck, but it plays really well. | Image: Larian For many of us, summer can get just too hot to go outside and have fun. Thankfully, though, this season brings more than just heatwaves - there are also sales like Steam's, so you can enjoy gaming while keeping cool inside. Along with discounting the Steam Deck as we highlighted earlier this week, Valve is also now discounting a ton of games through July 11th as a part of the Steam Summer Sale.There are hundreds of discounted games with some, like Celeste, going for just $1.99 ($18 off) - and there are other well-known titles on sale. One of my favorites, for instance, is Steam's 2023 Game of the Year, Baldur's Gate 3, which I found particularly enjoyable to play on the Steam Deck, even if the graphics weren't the best. It's now down... Continue reading...

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge One of the big selling points you hear for electric vehicles is that they require less maintenance than traditional gas-powered vehicles. No oil changes, less gunk, fewer moving parts - that sort of thing.But EVs are essentially giant computers on wheels. And since when have you known any computer to be problem-free?JD Power's latest quality study is out, and it's not looking good for EVs. And in some ways, it's not a surprise. Like in past versions of the survey, battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles performed worse than their gas equivalents in just about every repair category measured by JD Power.JD Power measures quality based on reported problems per 100 vehicles of a particular brand. According to the survey, people who... Continue reading...

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge One of the big selling points you hear for electric vehicles is that they require less maintenance than traditional gas-powered vehicles. No oil changes, less gunk, fewer moving parts - that sort of thing.But EVs are essentially giant computers on wheels. And since when have you known any computer to be problem-free?JD Power's latest quality study is out, and it's not looking good for EVs. And in some ways, it's not a surprise. Like in past versions of the survey, battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles performed worse than their gas equivalents in just about every repair category measured by JD Power.JD Power measures quality based on reported problems per 100 vehicles of a particular brand. According to the survey, people who... Continue reading...

New leaks may have spoiled the colors that will be available for Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 devices. | Image: Evan Blass While Samsung is gearing up to officially introduce the latest Galaxy Z foldable smartphones at its Unpacked event on July 10th, a new batch of leaked images have spoiled more of the surprise. The renders of the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 handsets come courtesy of established leaker Evan Blass and WinFuture, which show what colors may be available alongside sharing many similarities with previous leaks from SmartPrix, OnLeaks, and Ice Universe.The images show a more squared-off design for the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which was also seen in images of a prototype earlier this month. The hinge and bezels surrounding the outer display appear smaller, and black rings can be seen around the rear triple-camera lenses. Leaked specifications... Continue reading...

My original Framework Laptop 16 review unit, next to its replacement. In January, I spent two weeks with the most modular notebook ever made: the Framework Laptop 16. It's a gadget nerd's dream: you can swap out its keyboard, touchpad, ports - even its entire discrete GPU. You can transform it from a sleek work laptop to a decent gaming machine in two minutes flat, one which charges with the world's first 180W USB-C power adapter.But at the time, I gave the Framework Laptop 16 a 5 out of 10. The product gave me multiple Blue Screens of Death, glitched, felt flimsy in places, and ran hotter and louder than its performance would suggest.Six months later, with a new unit and new firmware, I'm feeling a bit better! Not good enough to give it my full recommendation, but enough to raise its score to 6 out of... Continue reading...

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge The chair of the Federal Communications Commission proposed a new rule that could make it easier for consumers to unlock their cellphones. The proposed regulation, which the agency announced on Thursday, would require mobile providers to unlock consumers' phones within 60 days of activation.Under current regulations, consumers who want to unlock their phone - as in, freeing up a phone so it can move from one network to another - are at the mercy of their service provider. Per the FCC, consumers who want to unlock their device should contact their service provider to find out when and how their phone can be unlocked. To then unlock a device, a consumer must be in good standing" with their provider, meaning their phone must be paid off... Continue reading...

The new Vertex AI capabilities aim to improve the accuracy of Google's corporate chatbots. | Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images Vertex AI, the Google Cloud development platform that allows companies to build services using Google's machine learning and large language models, is getting new capabilities to help prevent apps and services from pushing inaccurate information. After rolling out general availability for Vertex AI's Grounding with Google Search feature in May - which enables models to retrieve live information from the internet - Google has now announced that customers will also have the option to improve their services' AI results with specialized third-party datasets.Google says the service will utilize data from providers like Moody's, MSCI, Thomson Reuters, and ZoomInfo and that grounding with third-party datasets will be available in Q3 this... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images Over the last day or so, customers of the big three US mobile carriers - Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile - who are using data roaming internationally have complained about an inability to connect and make calls. Complaints about connection problems have spread across social media for hours, with little response from the carriers.According to T-Mobile vp of corporate communications Tara Darrow, ...we're one of several providers impacted by a third-party vendor's issue that is intermittently affecting some international roaming service. We're working with them to resolve it."In an email sent to The Verge, AT&T spokesperson Keoni Holoman also explained that the issue is apparently linked to an unnamed third party:

When connected to a smartphone, the Unistellar Envision binoculars can identify over a million landmarks on Earth and in space. | Image: Unistellar Unistellar's new Envision binoculars bring smart functionality similar to Swarovski's Optik AX Visio binoculars announced earlier this year. But instead of recognizing birds and animals, the Envision will use AR to identify and label over a million unique landmarks including mountains and trails and more than 200,000 objects in the night sky.The French company launched a decade ago with smart telescopes that automate the process of finding and photographing objects like stars and planets. It's now squeezing that technology into a pair of binoculars featuring 50mm lenses from Nikon upgraded with an augmented reality projection system that overlays contextual information about what's being viewed in real time.It's innovative, but... Continue reading...

Illustration: Kristen Radtke / The Verge On today's episode of Decoder, we're talking about money and politics - always a good time - and how they come together in the form of lobbying in America. It's hard to imagine a time when the influence of big corporations and mouthy billionaires didn't touch every part of American politics, but the kind of lobbying we have now didn't really exist before the 1970s.That's when big corporations started reacting to a cratering economy and did what they do best: throw money around. Now, of course, our political debates about everything from energy and finance to healthcare are deeply intertwined with corporations and their money - and new big players in tech have started spending tons of political money of their own.To understand the... Continue reading...

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is launching its Xbox TV app on Amazon's Fire TV Sticks in July. The Xbox app will provide access to Xbox Cloud Gaming so subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can stream a variety of games directly to Fire TV devices.Microsoft will support the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K models for its Xbox app, which will be available in more than 25 countries. All you'll need is a compatible Fire TV Stick, a Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller, and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription to stream Xbox games. Image: Microsoft The Xbox TV app running on a Fire TV Stick. This marks the first time the Xbox TV app has launched on a device other than Samsung's recent TVs and monitors. Microsoft first p... Continue reading...

GE Cync's new undercabinet smart lights bring task lighting, dimming, and full color to your kitchen countertops. | Image: GE Cync If you've been looking for a simple way to add smart, color-changing undercabinet lighting to your kitchen, I have good news. First announced at CES earlier this year, GE Lighting's new Cync Reveal HD Plus Smart Undercabinet Fixtures are now available at Amazon, Lowe's, and Best Buy, starting at $59.99.These full-color and tunable white light fixtures fit under your cabinets and can be hardwired or plugged in to illuminate your countertops. The Cync lights are Matter-enabled and work with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home, and Samsung SmartThings for smart home integration. I first saw a sneak peek of them at CES 2023 and was excited that this might finally provide a good solution to the problem of smart kitchen lighting. ... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Traffic got you down? If the idea of locking your car keys in a drawer and using alternate means of transportation sounds intriguing, Uber has the challenge for you. Today, the ridehailing company announced the One Less Car trial, in which 175 people in the US and Canada will be selected to ditch their cars for five weeks in exchange for cash and credits to be put toward other travel modes.Call it a gimmick or a PR stunt, Uber says the aim is to highlight the high costs of personal car ownership, as well as all the external effects on our health and the cities where we live. Uber has long advocated for fewer cars on the road - even as studies have shown that the app-based ridehailing industry has intensified traffic congestion in... Continue reading...

Mr. Bugs Wordy Nugz." | Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge Wordle is a pretty clever name for the very good word game created by Josh Wardle. But when he was first working on it in 2013, Wardle had another name in mind that isn't quite as catchy.This is true: I was going to call Wordle, Mr. Bugs' Wordy Nugz," Wardle revealed as part of a presentation about Wordle at Figma's Config conference on Wednesday. He also showed a slide that spelled out the name in big yellow letters. Had I called the game Mr. Bugs, I like to think it would not have been successful."During the presentation, which was about the development decisions that he said are the opposite of what you're meant to do" but ultimately contributed to making the game a hit, Wardle also discussed the history of the game and showed... Continue reading...

Image: Baggu It all started with a nylon purse shaped like a horse.Baggu, the wildly popular brand of reusable shopping bags, announced earlier this month that it would be releasing a collaborative collection with New York-based brand Collina Strada. In the past, special-edition designer drops have been successful for Baggu: a previous collab sold out within minutes of items hitting the web. This new collection - with its colorful, dreamlike prints and bags shaped like a pony, little legs and all - seemed designed to elicit that same viral hype. The brands teased designs. Influencers posted unboxing videos. Fans were ready to shop.But on the day the bags and accessories were set to go on sale, fans got more details about the designs: some of the... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has added new Chrome Actions to mobile that will let you call, read reviews for, or get directions to a restaurant or other business - all right from the address bar. The company announced the new feature in a blog on Wednesday.Android users will see this new feature right away, but iOS users will have to wait until the fall. Image: Google A screenshot of the new Chrome Action shortcuts. First introduced in 2020, Google Actions lets you quickly perform tasks from the address bar by typing in select queries, like edit passwords," delete history," or translate this page." It's one of a few address bar shortcuts Google offers, like the @" shortcut that lets you quickly find bookmarks, tabs, and links... Continue reading...

A 3D-printed version of Super Monkey Ball's AiAi completes this custom creation. | Photo: Tom Tilley / X Gamers could get an edge in Sega's Super Monkey Ball with the help of a unique DIY controller: a literal monkey in a ball that can be physically rolled around instead of mashing a joystick on a gamepad.Super Monkey Ball requires players to tilt and roll a series of complex floating platforms to control the monkey's movements, so Sega designed the original arcade versions of the game with an oversize trackball controller.That wasn't carried over to the console versions of the game, and since arcade machines typically cost thousands of dollars, developer Tom Tilley decided to design and build a much cheaper solution made from recycled and 3D-printed materials. I am a software developer, but I worked for about eight years as a fax and... Continue reading...

Image: FromSoftware Shadow of the Erdtree is gonna get easier. Bandai Namco has seemingly heard the great hue and cry from reviewers and players alike that Erdtree is far too difficult. In response, the publisher is implementing a calibration update" that will reduce the level of difficulty by making players stronger. According to the patch notes for this update:

Image: The Verge, Microsoft A few years ago, Microsoft was planning to launch a dedicated Xbox cloud console, codenamed Keystone. The device looked like a miniature Xbox Series S, a small white box that was dedicated to accessing Xbox games over the company's Xbox Cloud Gaming service. Microsoft eventually canceled its plans to launch Keystone, but a new patent gives us the best look at what the Xbox cloud console would have looked like.Spotted by Windows Central, the patent reveals that Keystone would have shipped with an HDMI port, ethernet, and a power connector. At the front, there was an Xbox button, a controller pairing button, and a USB-A port. Underneath, Microsoft had a circular Hello from Seattle" plate that the console sat on, similar to what it uses... Continue reading...