The Verge

Image: Epic Games Finally, you can bury a friend as Billie Eilish. Fortnite has revealed its next major musical collaboration, and it will see Eilish become a playable character starting on April 23rd. You should see her in a Victory Crown.There aren't many details just yet, but the singer will be the featured artist for the next season of Fortnite Festival, the Rock Band-like in-game experience that launched last year. That means you can expect her songs to be playable in that mode and her neon green character skin to appear in the in-game shop (presumably with a Lego variant).Of course, this is far from the first big-name star to be featured in the game. Eilish follows the likes of Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Eminem; more recently, Fortnite held its... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images A new report from Stanford's Internet Observatory said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline needs to improve its technology if it wants to meet the influx of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM).The report said CyberTipline, the first defense against CSAM on the internet, already struggles to handle the high volume of calls it receives. According to the center, the tip line received 36.2 million CSAM reports in 2023, a 12 percent increase from 2022.The rise of AI-generated CSAM would only make things worse. The tip line receives reports from online platforms like Facebook and Google through a manual reporting API, but this API doesn't ensure all important fields are filled out. Stanford also... Continue reading...

Photo by Ulrik Pedersen / DeFodi Images via Getty Images It looks like Apple's foray into streaming soccer could be getting even more ambitious. According to a report from The New York Times, Apple is close to a deal with FIFA - the sport's global governing body - for worldwide rights for an expanded version of the Club World Cup that will take place in the US in 2025. The Times says that the deal could be worth upward of $1 billion and that an official announcement could happen sometime this month.If the deal goes through, it would mark Apple's second major broadcast partnership in the sport. In 2022, the company signed a 10-year deal for streaming rights to Major League Soccer, which got a big boost a year later with Lionel Messi's arrival in Miami. The deal with FIFA would be more notable,... Continue reading...

Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Discord For teens and gamers, Discord has become their entire online social lives. Co-founder Jason Citron thinks the internet is headed more in that direction. Continue reading...

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is starting to improve the experience of downloading Windows store apps from the web. The software giant has built what it calls an undocked version of the [Microsoft] Store" that works like a typical executable to install apps from the Microsoft Store. It should cut down on the complexity involved in finding Windows store apps on the web and installing them.Instead of launching the Microsoft Store and a mini window, now when you download apps from the web version of the Microsoft Store it will download a standalone installer instead. This means you don't have to click install on the web, then allow Chrome or Edge to open the Microsoft Store, and finally hit install to actually install the app. A lightweight installer will be... Continue reading...

Embracer Group will house major properties like the Lord of The Rings under its new Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends company. | Image: Warner Bros. Swedish gaming conglomerate Embracer Group announced plans on Monday to split itself into three distinct games and entertainment companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. These will be separate, publicly listed companies, according to Embracer, which says the move will allow each entity to better focus on their respective core strategies and offer more differentiated and distinct equity stories for existing and new shareholders."This move towards three independent companies reinforces Embracer's vision of backing entrepreneurs and creators with a long-term mindset," says Lars Wingefors, co-founder and Embracer Group CEO, allowing them to continue to deliver unforgettable experiences for... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A couple of weeks ago, I ran out of screen on the one external monitor my work-issued MacBook Air can run. So I switched to my five-year-old Windows desktop and plugged in another monitor. Love it. Productivity through the roof. But it means that I'm finally spending significant time in Windows 11, and gosh, is it janky.There are some things that Windows does very well compared to macOS and Linux. All the games are there, for one thing, and Windows runs on all sorts of hardware without a lot of fiddling. You do not have to spend a thousand dollars minimum on a non-upgradable machine to use it. You also generally do not have to download a bunch of drivers or spend six hours in the command line hand-assembling the goddamn operating... Continue reading...

It's phones, y'all. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge At any given time, there are between five and eight phones on my desk. And by my desk," I mean any combination of tables and countertops throughout my house. So when I watched the Humane AI Pin reviews start pouring in last week, I did what any logical person would do: grab the closest phone and try to turn it into my own AI wearable.Humane would like you to believe that its AI Pin represents consumer tech at its most cutting edge. The reviews and the guts of the pin say otherwise: it uses a Snapdragon processor from four years ago and seems to run a custom version of Android 12.It's a midrange Android phone!" I declared at our next team meeting, waving around a midrange Android phone for effect. You could just download Gemini and... Continue reading...

Streaks aren't the only way to be consistent. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Six weeks ago, I was having a tough time sticking to my running routines and goals. Physically, I was mostly fine. Mentally, the thought of running - a sport I usually love - made me roll into a blanket burrito and never leave my bed. I started hating myself, but none of my usual fitness apps and trackers were helping. After building a weeklong streak, I couldn't muster the energy to get out of bed one Saturday. I broke it and spent the next day wallowing in guilt and self-pity.Fed up, I went digging around the internet and ended up downloading the Gentler Streak app.Gentler Streak is what it sounds like. It's an iOS and Apple Watch app with a more compassionate approach toward building a fitness habit. You can set an activity status:... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 35, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, get ready to open some tabs, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been rewatching Killing Eve now that it's on Netflix, reading about Maggie Rogers and flying cars and the Today in Tabs newsletter, nodding along as MKBHD talks about gadget reviews, testing the Godspeed to-do list app, talking to everyone I know about the Papyrus 2 sketch, listening on repeat to The Tortured Poets Department, and playing with the Plaud AI voice recorder.I also have for you a surprisingly gadget-y week! We have a new set of earbuds to try, a new handheld camera, an AI memory... Continue reading...

Tesla's drilling holes in Cybertruck accelerator pedals. | Image: Tesla (PDF) Tesla temporarily halted deliveries and recalled every single Cybertruck after a viral video showed how the pad on its accelerator pedal could slip off and get stuck in the interior trim, leaving the pedal depressed down 100 percent, full throttle." Now, video from a Tesla event in California taken today and Tesla's own documentation confirm the riveting installation that secures the pad with a rivet, and they show us exactly how it's done.While Aaron Cash's video posted to X says it's a 35 second recall fix," demonstrated at the Cyber Takeover" event in Long Beach, the video starts with the required drilling jig already in place.

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images The House once again passed a bill that could ban TikTok from the US unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance divests it - but this time, it's in a way that will be harder for the Senate to stall.The bill passed 360-58 as part of a larger bill related to sanctions on foreign adversaries like Russia. It's part of a package of foreign aid bills that seek to provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza. Due to the urgency of the funds, packaging the TikTok bill with these measures means that the Senate will need to consider the proposal more swiftly that it would as a standalone bill. The earlier TikTok bill, which passed the House 352-65 just last month, has so far lingered in the Senate, with lawmakers... Continue reading...

Image: Netflix Netflix's Rebel Moon films both feel like Zack Snyder trying to celebrate sci-fi classics by gently riffing on them in some of the least inspired ways possible. Continue reading...

Courtesy of IFC Films and Shudder Horror films live and die by their conceits. And sometimes, the best way to make a movie scary is to place it in an environment that's not scary at all.Is there anything further from spooky than a brightly lit TV studio? The surprise box office darling Late Night with the Devil, which hit horror streamer Shudder this weekend (and might be more suited to home viewing), tries to make one of the most innocuous American broadcast traditions into a terror. David Dastmalchian, a character actor who you'll recognize from the margins of half a dozen Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve movies, gets a rare star turn as Jack Delroy, the host of late-night talk show Night Owls. But in an era where Johnny Carson rules after-hours broadcast,... Continue reading...

The Verge There are more digital subscriptions around than ever, and among them, you may well have a music streaming service (or two or three). What with free" trials and trying to find a service you really like, it's easy to suddenly realize you're oversubscribed. Luckily, canceling a music subscription - or switching to a free tier - isn't too difficult. And remember that you can always sign up again. It doesn't have to be goodbye forever.Here's how it's done on the four best-known platforms. The options will be similar on other services.Spotify Spotify has a variety of plans for individuals, families, and even two people. Spotify has a free tier with ads, without downloads, and with limits on playlists, while the... Continue reading...

Valve says each unit has received over 100 tests and meets the same performance standards as new Steam Decks. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Steam Deck LCD might be inferior to the newer OLED model, but it's still a great handheld gaming PC, and you can now get a certified refurbished LCD model (with a one-year warranty) direct from Valve for a better price than ever before.The refurbished Steam Deck now starts at $279 for the base model with 64GB of eMMC storage, $70 less than Valve currently charges for it brand-new. If you need more storage, the 256GB NVMe model and the 512GB model with antiglare screen are both on sale, too, for $319 and $359, respectively. That's an $80 savings for the 256GB model and a $90 savings for the 512GB model.The Steam Deck OLED, meanwhile, still starts at $549 for 512GB. That's nearly twice the price of the 64GB LCD refurb.Value says... Continue reading...

Kia's lineup of electric vehicles are growing. | Image: Kia The Kia EV2, the automaker's small, affordable electric crossover, has been spotted on the street in camouflage. It's the first time the model has been seen in the wild, although the EV2 is not currently confirmed for the US.The timing of the sighting is particularly significant given recent news that Tesla may have canned its plans for a $25,000 mass-market Model 2" vehicle. Elon Musk reportedly mothballed the affordable EV in favor of going all in on the company's plans for a fully autonomous robotaxi.No official price has been set for the Kia EV2, but Electrek says it could be 20 million won, or about $15,000. Other reports have it under $30,000 - which would be considerably more affordable than the current average retail price... Continue reading...

Image: Target Target is scaling back the presence of physical media in its stores. A spokesperson for Target tells IGN that the company is transitioning the limited assortment of DVDs" it sells in stores to its website.Moving forward, we'll offer select DVDs in stores when they are newly released or during key times throughout the year when they are more popular, like for gift giving during the holidays," Target says. That will make Target's physical DVD section even smaller and only available during specific times. You'll still be able to buy thousands" of DVDs on Target's website, but I have to wonder how broad its selection will be.Reports about Target backing away from DVDs first emerged on Wednesday, when the X account @PhysicalMedia posted... Continue reading...

Image: Supergiant Games Imagine the most perfect barbecue - a prolific spread of smoked meats, all the right sides, every pie, type of cookie or cake, and even your grandmother's famous dinner rolls. But there's a catch: most of the food is kept behind glass to be unlocked at a later date, and you are starving. That's what it's like playing the Hades 2 technical test.Spoilers for the Hades 2 technical test.Hades 2, like its predecessor, is a roguelike. You play as Melinoe, the long-lost daughter of Hades and sister of Zagreus, the first game's protagonist. Unlike her brother, Melinoe isn't trying to break out of hell. Instead, she's trying to break into it as Chronos, Titan of Time, has taken over, kidnapping Melinoe's mother, brother, and father. Reaching... Continue reading...

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Apple could soon let developers in the European Union use its tap-to-pay technology. A report from Reuters reveals that EU regulators could sign off on Apple's proposal to open the payment system next month, putting a two-year-long legal battle to rest.In 2022, the European Commission accused Apple of abusing its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets." It claimed Apple prevented third-party payment apps from using the iPhone's NFC (near-field communication) hardware to the benefit of its own solution," Apple Pay.The European Commission announced earlier this year that Apple committed to allowing third-party payment providers to freely use the iPhone's NFC capabilities. Apple's proposal would also give developers access to... Continue reading...

Google's latest streaming dongle offers a cheap way to add smart features and apps to any TV. | Image: Google Almost any TV you can buy these days supports streaming in some form or fashion, but what if you don't like its user interface or it doesn't have all of the apps you need? That's where a streaming device like the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) comes in. We usually recommend jumping for the 4K version if you have the budget for it, but the HD model is only $19.99 ($10 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store. It's a great opportunity to see whether a Chromecast is a better fit for you than Amazon or Roku's offerings or to access your favorite streaming apps on a secondary TV in your home.Like its pricier sibling, the Google TV platform it uses offers recommendations across a variety of streaming services and provides an array of... Continue reading...

Image: Post News Post News, a Twitter alternative that emerged in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover, is shutting down. Noam Bardin, the platform's founder and former CEO of Waze, writes that Post News is not growing fast enough to become a real business or a significant platform."The Andreessen Horowitz-backed platform launched in a closed beta in November 2022, but now it's set to shutter within the next few weeks." It serves as a social platform that also offers users ad-free access to paywalled content from publishers such as Fortune, Business Insider, Wired, The Boston Globe, and others. All users have to do is pay a few cents" per article instead of signing up for a subscription to each publication. Screenshot by Emma Roth / The... Continue reading...

Friend or foe? The Jetsons' Rosey the Robot has long been an inspiration for developing home robots. But should it be? | Image: Warner Bros. Television, Hanna-Barbera As a child of the 1980s, my perception of the smart home has been dominated by the idea that one day, we will all have Rosey the Robot-style robots roaming our homes - dusting the mantelpiece, preparing dinner, and unloading the dishwasher. (That last one is a must; we were smart enough to come up with a robot to wash our dishes; can't we please come up with one that can also unload them?)However, after seeing Boston Dynamics' latest droid, Atlas, unveiled this week, my childhood dreams are fast turning into a smart home nightmare. While The Jetsons' robot housekeeper had a steely charm, accentuated by its frilly apron, the closer we come to having humanoid robots in our home, the more terrifying it appears they will be. Not so much... Continue reading...

Image: Riley Testut The launch of the Delta emulator on iPhones is a big deal in a lot of ways. But for users, it's also just really cool. Here's an excellent piece of software that can emulate the NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, GBA, and Nintendo DS so that you can play classic games on a device that's always in your pocket. Even better: even though there's no Delta app for the Apple TV (yet), it's still really easy to use it to play games on your television.This is because Delta supports AirPlay so that you can stream video and sound from your phone to another Apple device, like an Apple TV or computer. For Delta, this means that the game itself plays on the bigger screen while your phone becomes a touchscreen controller. Or, if you connect a Bluetooth... Continue reading...

Photo by Ashok Kumar / TAS24 / Getty Images for TAS Rights Management TikTok has launched a new hub to promote Taylor Swift's new album where you can earn in-app rewards for completing certain tasks, like following Swift's account on the platform. The update comes just days after Swift's music returned to TikTok as the app continues to feud with the singer's record label, Universal Music Group (UMG). Image: TikTok You can access the hub by searching for The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) and then clicking on the banner that appears at the top of the results. There, TikTok displays a list of challenges" to complete, which will let you unlock a TTPD profile frame, among other rewards. TikTok will also give users the chance to show up in its fan spotlight" on the hub by posting a... Continue reading...

A recovery vehicle drives past burned structures and cars two months after a devastating wildfire on October 9th, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. | Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images New details surfaced this week about cascading failures that led to wildfires ripping through Maui last August. While investigations confirming the cause of the blaze are ongoing, officials are recognizing how unprepared agencies were for the inferno.The wildfires killed at least 101 people and scorched some 2,200 structures - most of them residential. Downed power lines, blocked evacuation routes, and poor communications all added to extreme conditions that allowed blazes to grow into a monstrous conflagration.Questions linger about the adequacy of warning systems, evacuation planning, and the preparedness of communities for such extreme events"In the aftermath of this catastrophe, questions linger about the adequacy of warning... Continue reading...

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge Delta, an app for emulating and playing retro games on your iPhone, has been at the top of the App Store rankings for days. Apple spent years keeping apps like this off its platforms before reversing course earlier this month in the face of European regulation and the threat of a whole bunch of new third-party app stores.Obviously, there was huge pent-up demand for Delta. But is this a singular phenomenon or the start of a new more open future for the iPhone? What else might Apple allow in the App Store if it means keeping you in the App Store?On this episode of The Vergecast, we discuss how Delta got into the App Store and what it might mean for the future of the iPhone. We don't really talk about all the thorny legal issues around... Continue reading...

Tesla isn't aware of any collisions, injuries, or fatalities attributed to the defective pedals. | Image: Parker Ortolani / The Verge Tesla has issued a recall for effectively every Cybertruck it's delivered to customers due to a fault that's causing the vehicle's accelerator pedal to get stuck.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Wednesday, the defect can result in the pedal pad dislodging and becoming trapped in the vehicle's interior trim when high force is applied."The fault was caused by an unapproved change" that introduced lubricant (soap)" during the assembly of the accelerator pedals, which reduced the retention of the pad, the recall notice states. The truck's brakes will still function if the accelerator pedal becomes trapped, though this obviously isn't an ideal workaround.The recall impacts all Model Year... Continue reading...

DJI's Power 1000 (left) and Power 500 (right) ready to be worshipped. | Image: DJI DJI just launched its first power stations that feature a new proprietary SDC - aka Smart DC - port that can fast charge (some) DJI drone batteries and supports lots of input and output accessories. The $699 Power 1000 and smaller $379 Power 500 both offer a bevy of AC and DC ports with more available if you're willing to fully commit to living DJI's SDC dongle life.The Power 500 has one SDC Lite port, while the larger Power 1000 has both regular SDC and SDC Lite. Both power stations are fitted with batteries that use LFP chemistry, which is safer and lasts longer (80 percent capacity after 3000 cycles) than traditional NMC, and both offer a 0.02-second cutover making them suitable for use as a UPS on unstable grids. They arrive... Continue reading...

The Meta Quest 2 and its bundled controllers. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Meta Quest 2 has been on sale for nearly a month, and today, Meta's making that price permanent - $199 is the new sticker price for the virtual reality headset, the company announced today. That's half what it originally cost in 2020, and Meta is permanently cutting the price of Quest 2 accessories like the Elite Strap with Battery (which I highly recommend) in half as well.The Quest 2 is currently being supplanted by the $500 Quest 3, of course, but it's still an incredible entry point to VR, one that plays every Quest game except for a single Quest 3-exclusive title announced last month. It doesn't have color passthrough vision or good mixed reality gaming, and I definitely prefer the Quest 3 for comfort and immersion, but I... Continue reading...