The Verge - All Posts

Jonathan Majors as Killian Maddox in Magazine Dreams. | Tall Street Productions When Jonathan Majors takes to the bodybuilding competition stage in writer / director Elijah Bynum’s arresting new drama Magazine Dreams, it’s impossible not to feel as if the movie’s in direct conversation with the way that its lead star’s fame has become wrapped up in the public’s fascination with his body. Magazine Dreams’ deep dive into the life of an obsessive, aspiring pro lifter longing for a shot at fitness fame is one of the most difficult pieces of cinema to debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. But as it’s breaking your heart and making you sweat, Magazine Dreams is also laying bare many painful truths about what it means to be trapped in a world where objectification and dehumanization are the prices you have to pay... Continue reading…

The Verge How Matter works, when it’s coming, what you’ll need to use it, and how it integrates with Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. Continue reading…

She apparently won’t be the star of the show. | Photo by Dominique Charriau / WireImage Earlier Friday, The Hollywood Reporter said that Amazon is developing a TV series based on the Tomb Raider video game franchise with scripts written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. But that’s apparently not all: later in the day, Deadline corroborated the report about the TV series and added that a new Tomb Raider movie is in the works at Amazon Studios, too.Details are light on these new Tomb Raider adaptations, but THR says that while Waller-Bridge will serve as a writer and executive producer on the show, she won’t be starring. The show is apparently still in the development stages, so we probably shouldn’t expect to see it anytime soon.This new series and movie could end up as more big video game franchise adaptations for Amazon, which... Continue reading…

Comcast revealed that the service lost $978 million in Q4 despite gaining 5 million new subscribers. | Image: Peacock Comcast published its fourth quarter 2022 earnings on Thursday, reporting that the company had managed to exceed analyst projections for the year despite losing broadband and video subscribers and widening losses from its Peacock streaming service.Peacock — the streaming platform for Comcast-owned NBCUniversal — reported a loss of $978 million during the company’s fourth financial quarter, a sizable jump from the $559 million loss reported in the same quarter last year. Comcast expects Peacock’s total losses to peak at around $3 billion. “We believe 2023 will be peak losses for Peacock and, from there, steadily improve,” said Comcast president Michael Cavanagh during a company earnings call (via CNBC).Peacock’s annual revenue has... Continue reading…

Image: Rare Goldeneye 007 and Dead Space both make a return, and Google makes some upgrades. Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge MoviePass is back in control of its founder, Stacy Spikes, and is beta testing a new points-based setup for subscription moviegoing. The company announced everyone who signed up for its relaunch waitlist has been accepted and said it’s reopening the waitlist for other interested subscribers to join but only until January 30th or once it’s full (via Axios).This time around, it also has backing from Animoca Brands, which is well known for its crypto investments, but it’s unclear what the blockchain or the metaverse has to do with this version of MoviePass.Pricing for new MoviePass starts at $10 per month in most locationsIn 2019, MoviePass flamed out spectacularly thanks to a $9.99 per month all-you-can-eat subscription price that... Continue reading…

Image: Mercedes-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz announced that it was the first automaker to receive government approval in the US for a Level 3 driving feature. The company said it had self-certified in Nevada for use of its Drive Pilot feature, in which the car does all the driving but the driver needs to stand by to take control at a moment’s notice.Mercedes certified that its technology meets Nevada’s “minimal risk condition” requirement that requires Level 3 or higher “fully autonomous” vehicles to be able to stop if there is a malfunction in the system.“Nevada law allows all automation levels to operate on public streets,” a spokesperson for the state’s DMV said in an email. “Nevada does not issue any permit or license based on an autonomous vehicle’s level of... Continue reading…

“Hey Siri, make an AR version of the Apple logo.” | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple is apparently working on a way to let you make apps for its long-rumored mixed reality headset using Siri, according to a new report from The Information. Yes, that Siri, the one that routinely messes up basic requests or errors out in frustrating ways, will apparently be able to create entire augmented reality (AR) apps that you’ll be able to share with others on the App Store.The technology behind this app-building tool comes from a 2017 acquisition of a startup named Fabric Software, which The Information is the first to report on. According to The Information, the development tool could “allow users to build an app with virtual animals moving around a room and over or around real-life objects without the need to design the... Continue reading…

There’s more The Last of Us on the way. | Image: HBO The Last of Us will be getting a second season, HBO announced on Friday.There are no details about when we can expect season 2 or how many episodes it might be — HBO only accompanied the announcement with a brief video trailer — but now we know that there’s more of the show to come.

Image: City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Brace yourselves, bear lovers. We have a new star.One special black bear recently discovered a wildlife camera set up by City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), managing to take hundreds of selfies with it.“Of the 580 photos captured [on the camera], about 400 were bear selfies,” OSMP shared on Twitter and Facebook this week, along with a laughing emoji and several of the selfies.

The Disney logo. | Nathan Ingraham / The Verge Less than a day into his second run as Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger told employees last November that he was planning to restructure key parts of the company in order to walk back some of the changes implemented by his predecessor, Bob Chapek. Now, the shape of that restructuring is beginning to become more clear ahead of the company’s next earnings report, and it sounds like a round of layoffs is on the way.Deadline reports that Disney is contemplating how it might consolidate a number of its different TV production arms, as well as merge its marketing departments as part of a larger initiative to get on top of the company’s accounting concerns. Disney’s also reportedly moving forward with its plan to dissolve its Disney Media and... Continue reading…

Isaac Clarke in the Dead Space remake. | Image: EA The Dead Space remake is a very good game, and if (like me) you haven’t sprung for a next-generation console, you’ll need to play it on PC. But Dead Space is a series I’ve found much more fun with a controller than a mouse and keyboard, and I’ve developed an attachment to couch gaming over the past few years — so I’d hoped I might get it to run on my recently acquired Steam Deck, which would easily provide both. Unfortunately, publisher EA has confirmed to The Verge that the remake doesn’t support the Steam Deck, and my own experience backs that up.Steam listed Dead Space’s support level as unknown when I got my review key for the remake, and out of an abundance of optimism, I gave it a try. The game proceeded to protest this decision... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft You may have seen headlines like “DirectStorage causes 10 percent performance hit on RTX 4090 in Forspoken” or “Careful — Microsoft DirectStorage could kill your frame rate,” all based on a single test from German YouTube channel PC Games Hardware. Microsoft’s new DirectStorage feature is designed to boost load times in PC games massively, but it’s not supposed to tank your all-important frame rates.So what’s going on? The reality is that the DirectStorage implementation in Forspoken does not affect frame rate performance at all. It’s a case of bad test data.I saw the headlines and immediately started testing Forspoken on an RTX 4090 rig coupled with Intel’s Core i9-13900KS and a SATA SSD and PCIe 4.0 SSD. While PC Games Hardware... Continue reading…

The PlayStation 5 version of God of War Ragnarök is on sale for just $47.99. | Image: Santa Monica Studio Winter is an ideal time for many things — gaming included. And if you’re currently looking for a PlayStation 5 title to carry you through the cooler months, God of War Ragnarök is on sale via CDKeys for just $47.99, a $22 discount and the title’s steepest price cut to date.Despite its delays and rocky development, God of War Ragnarök was one of our favorite PS5 games of 2022. The blockbuster exclusive is bold and ambitious, much like its 2018 predecessor, with great set pieces, solid combat, and a tearjerker of a story that helped it rack up numerous awards since its debut in November. As my colleague Ash Parrish put it in her review, the third-person action title offers “the very best of what video games can be in both narrative and... Continue reading…

Representative Jake Auchincloss speaks to reporters in 2020. | Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images We’ve reached the political stunt stage of AI-generated text, it seems.As reported by WBZ NewsRadio, CBS Boston, and others, the Democratic Representative for Massachusetts, Jake Auchincloss, has become the first member of congress to deliver an AI-written speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. Appropriately enough, the speech was in support of a bill that would establish a joint AI research center run by the US and Israel.The speech was written using ChatGPT, and is as dull and anodyne as you might expect for a political speech filtered through an AI system based on probabilistic averages. That’s not to say AI text tools can’t generate unusual and creative outputs, but that usually requires a little bit more... Continue reading…

Outside of providing more transparency for its customers, Google is still under pressure to fully comply with the EU’s geo-blocking regulations. | Illustration: The Verge Many of Google’s offerings will soon be updated to provide clear and accurate information in compliance with consumer protection laws in the EU. Announced by the European Commission on Thursday, the Alphabet-owned company has agreed to introduce changes to Google Store, Google Play Store, Google Hotels, and Google Flights following discussions with the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) in 2021.“We see an increasing number of consumers turn to the internet to book their holidays, make purchases, or consult a review. EU consumers are entitled to clear, complete information so that they can make informed choices,” said EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, in a statement. “The commitments made by Google are a step... Continue reading…

That’s not water you see above in those circular windows, but this bicycle garage is definitely under the water. Click here for a larger image. The four-year, $65 million project has everything — and nothing — to do with the automobile. Continue reading…

Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images Announced in 2019, the truck now won’t enter mass production until 2024. Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It seems like Samsung’s planning on charging more for the upcoming Galaxy S23 than it did for the S22, at least in some parts of Europe. Reliable leaker Roland Quandt has been posting prospective prices for the phones at European retailers, and for some models it seems like there will be price jumps of 100 euros or more.As an example, Quandt says the Galaxy S23 will start at €959 in Spain with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while an Ultra with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage will cost €1,589. Compare that to the S22, whose versions of those phones cost €859 and €1,459 respectively when they’re not on sale, according to Samsung’s Spanish site. It’s apparently a similar situation in Germany, and 9to5Google has reported that the phones... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Google isn’t just useful for helping research your next car; it can also help you shop for one while you search. SearchLab initially reported that the search giant has opened up access to a vehicle listings feature that lets dealerships advertise inventory right beside search results (via 9to5Google and Search Engine Land).The listings have been appearing as part of a beta, but SearchLab notes that now all dealerships in the US with a Google Business Profile can add any motor vehicle to their inventory as long as it has a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). That includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs, and more. A support page for dealers shows activity from last year, as well as more recent updates earlier this month. ... Continue reading…

Image: Rare GoldenEye 007 has finally landed on Xbox and Nintendo Switch in a simultaneous dual-release of two titles with some important differences.On Xbox, GoldenEye 007 is a remastered version of the legendary Nintendo 64 title that first launched in 1997. The remaster includes 4K resolution, smoother frame rates, and split-screen local multiplayer, similar to a 2008-era bound-for-Xbox 360 version that was canceled amid licensing and rights issues but leaked out in 2021.Meanwhile, Nintendo has released GoldenEye 007 as part of its Nintendo Switch Online service. N64 games were added to the service in 2021, though you have to splurge on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack tier to get access.

“Me at the Zoo” is still the oldest video. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is setting the record straight: “Me at the zoo” is still the oldest YouTube video.“Me at the zoo,” uploaded on April 23rd, 2005 and featuring YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo, is an important piece of internet history, as it marks the oldest video on one of the most influential video services on the planet. But earlier on Thursday, a video started circulating that, somehow, had an even earlier upload date: April 5th, 2005.Titled “Welcome to YouTube!!!”, the 48-second video definitely looks like something that could have been used to test out a mid-aughts video website. The video has just one image: a low-res graphic with a YouTube logo with the text “Welcome to YouTube!!!!”... Continue reading…

Keep your Incognito tabs away from prying eyes. | Illustration: The Verge Google is rolling out access to a feature that lets you lock your Chrome Incognito sessions behind biometric authentication, making it so someone using your phone won’t be able to open your browser and see what you were looking at privately, according to a Thursday blog post. The feature has been available in the iOS version of Chrome for a while now, but now it’s becoming more widely available on Android (read: won’t require activating via a flag).The Lock Incognito tabs when you close Chrome feature does what its name suggests — you can open Incognito tabs normally, but if you switch to another app, you’ll have to unlock Chrome when you return to get at the hidden tabs. You can do that via your phone’s unlock pin or through biometrics... Continue reading…

A Ford owner getting service at home — and looking ecstatic to not need to drive to the dealership they probably hate. | Image: Ford Ford is ramping up its remote service offerings to save customers a trip to their dealership for things like oil changes and recall repairs. The updated program promises that more Ford owners nationwide can get access to complimentary pickup and delivery of their vehicles, as well as mobile repair options.Mobile services from Ford won’t operate from a central location, though. It will still be up to dealerships to offer remote services and to choose what services to provide at a customer’s home or business. Ford is, however, lending dealers a hand to get the services up and running. “We’ve been working with multiple teams at Ford to offer our customers more ways to personalize vehicle service,” stated Ford National Dealer Council... Continue reading…

Image: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Uber Eats In his State of the City speech Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that Uber and Lyft will be required to be zero emission by 2030. The decision by one of the world’s largest markets for app-based ridehailing has the potential to affect an estimated 100,000 for-hire vehicles.Adams said the move will build on efforts his administration has made to electrify the city’s fleet of vehicles while installing charging infrastructure to power those vehicles throughout the five boroughs. The mayor will likely implement his plan through the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the for-hire vehicle industry, including Uber and Lyft.Uber and Lyft, which normally chafe at new requirements and have been known to sue... Continue reading…

Microsoft president Brad Smith speaks during a climate initiative event in Redmond, Washington, on Thursday, January 16th, 2020. | Image: David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images Microsoft just forged a strategic alliance with a major solar panel manufacturer to try to make good on its clean energy goals. The deal comes as supply chain woes and allegations of labor abuse are making it increasingly difficult to deploy solar energy across the US.The plan is for solar energy heavyweight Qcells to provide more than 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels and related services to developers working with Microsoft. That’s enough to power some 400,000 homes, according to Microsoft, which hailed the collaboration as a “first-of-its-kind.”Supply chain woes and allegations of labor abuse are making it increasingly difficult to deploy solar energy across the USThe company has a goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by “more... Continue reading…

Chiwetel Ejiofor. Rosalie Craig, and Emilia Clarke in The Pod Generation. | Image: MK2 In writer / director Sophie Barthes’ peculiar new sci-fi satire The Pod Generation, there’s little doubt or disagreement about how overworked, hyper-surveilled, and disconnected from nature many people are. Set in a near future where things like freshly 3D-printed toast have become the norm, most everyone understands how deeply messed up it is that their child-obsessed society’s given up on any semblance of a public educational system. People who have quality healthcare through their jobs know that they’re a privileged class, and it’s no secret how that kind of stratification can be harmful. It’s just that people are far, far too enamored with and preoccupied by the beautifully designed technology that controls most aspects of their... Continue reading…

Image: Audi Audi’s been on a run lately with some interesting concept cars, tackling everything from a giant urban people mover to a villainous sedan that drives itself. The latest is the Activesphere, an extremely sleek-looking electric luxury coupe that can transform into a pickup truck with off-roading capabilities.With some truly impressive ground clearance, big 22-inch wheels, and a hatchback that can transform into an open cargo bed at the touch of a button, the Activesphere is described as Audi’s most versatile concept. When you’re tired of cruising the mean streets of whatever city you live in, you can take this rugged spaceship of a car onto the open road without any concern about leaving the pavement behind.The Activesphere is the... Continue reading…

BuzzFeed is the latest digital publisher to adopt the latest AI tools for producing content. | Image: Getty Images BuzzFeed says it’s going to use more AI tools to “enhance” and “personalize” its content, according to a memo sent this morning to staff by CEO Jonah Peretti. News of the memo was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which says BuzzFeed will specifically be working with tools made by OpenAI, creator of the AI chatbot ChatGPT.In the memo, Peretti says AI will be one of the two major trends defining the future of digital media (the other being “creators”). Peretti says that in 2023, BuzzFeed’s “AI inspired content” will launch on the site, “enhancing the quiz experience, informing our brainstorming, and personalizing our content for our audience.”“Our industry will expand beyond AI-powered curation (feeds), to AI-powered creation... Continue reading…

It’s not just you. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As I was browsing Twitter.com this morning, I refreshed the page, and something jumped out at me: the font was different.The change was minor — Twitter hadn’t suddenly switched to a serif font or anything like that. But a quick Twitter search showed that I wasn’t the only one who noticed the shift, and my co-workers did, too.It’s unclear why Twitter changed the font, and the company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. (It has dissolved its press office, so I’m not expecting one.) And the company hasn’t posted anything on @TwitterSupport, where it’s shared a lot of recent product updates.However, some have speculated that Twitter changed the font to make it easier to spot impersonators. Molly White, the author of Web3... Continue reading…

Stock image platforms like Shutterstock and Adobe Stock may be content with AI while it generates cash for them, but they likely won’t be so keen on it being used to steal their assets. | Image: Shutterstock / Phonlamai Photo The already-contentious relationship between AI and the creative industry might soon get even more complicated thanks to a free-to-use service that can completely remove watermarks from images. Watermark Remover.io (as seen via Creative Bloq) is a tool offered by Pixelbin.io that removes identifiable watermarks with a single click and has sparked conversations surrounding copyright protections since being listed on Product Hunt last year.The functionality of Watermark Remover.io isn’t new — similar tools already exist, and you can also remove watermarks using things like Adobe Photoshop’s content-aware fill. However, these aren’t as accessible as Watermark Remover.io (they’re often paywalled), which is completely free, available on the... Continue reading…

Why are so many people in tech getting laid off at once? | Image: The Verge Didn’t they just have record-breaking profits? Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Uber Eats is introducing a feature that will tell you how much of your personal information a courier has access to throughout the delivery process. The feature, called “View as Delivery Person,” is meant to “provide consumers with additional transparency and peace of mind,” especially after potentially awkward or uncomfortable encounters, according to Zach Singleton, Uber’s head of privacy and equity product.The idea is that the Uber Eats app will show you what information a delivery person has about you before they pick your food up, while they’re making the delivery, and afterward. The basic gist, according to Singleton, is that they’ll only have an approximate delivery location until they actually pick up your order. In most cases,... Continue reading…

Isaac Clarke goes back to the USG Ishimura. | Image: EA The new shooter offers low-key but highly effective updates to a great game. Continue reading…

The Blink Mini camera attached to the new Pan Tilt mount. | Image: Amazon Blink’s giving its blocky Mini security camera a new robot body. The new Mini Pan Tilt is a very literally named mounting accessory that converts your existing Blink Mini camera from a stationary device into a controllable camera that lets you look around the room.Setup sounds like it’ll be easy for the Pan Tilt: you connect the Mini camera to the mount, plug in the Micro USB cord, and the camera now has 360-degree movement from the Blink app. You can even install it on a tripod or wall mount (not included), or you can just place it on a table.You can preorder the Mini Pan Tilt mount today on Amazon for $29.99. There’s also a bundle that gets you the mount as well as a Blink Mini camera if you don’t have one already for $59.99. ... Continue reading…

Season: A Letter to the Future. | Image: Scavengers Studio There’s no shortage of games — or any stories, for that matter — about the end of the world. But I can’t think of many that are as calm and soothing as biking around the end times in Season: A Letter to the Future. Instead of fighting for your life or searching for ways to survive an impending apocalypse, you’re documenting the world as it is so future generations have a chance to learn about it when it’s gone forever. It makes the apocalypse almost cozy.The game takes place in a world where the eras of humanity are split into seasons, which can last a few centuries, and when they end, they take almost everything with them. Season starts not long before the next season (sorry), and you play as a young explorer leaving their small town... Continue reading…

If you care about pixel perfect scaling in macOS, the Studio Display is your best option. For everyone else, there are many other monitors to buy. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Apple’s 27-inch Studio Display provides amazing 5K picture quality and great pixel scaling for macOS computers, but it’s notorious in a few ways: its webcam isn’t best in class, its 60Hz refresh rate cap is a bummer, it comes with a tilt-only stand by default (the VESA mount is an added cost), and its usual $1,599 price is steep. However, it’s more sensibly priced right now at Amazon, costing $1,299.99. Costco is offering a similar deal, too (via Slickdeals). Head over to Apple’s refurbished online store if you want to peep discounts on other variations of the Studio Display.It’s good timing on this discount since January 26th marks the release day for Apple’s updated Mac Mini and MacBook Pro models with the M2 and M2 Pro chips.In our... Continue reading…

Unofficial renders suggest the tablet will have an interesting camera bump. | Image: OnLeaks / MySmartPrice Unofficial renders from leaker OnLeaks and MySmartPrice have given us our best idea yet of what OnePlus’ debut tablet might look like when it’s announced alongside the OnePlus 11 next month. The Oppo subbrand has quietly confirmed that it’ll be launching the tablet at its February 7th event by listing the “OnePlus Pad” on the event’s landing page on its Indian website.However, given the same name isn’t present on the company’s US or UK landing pages, the tablet might be exclusive to India for the time being, much like the company’s lineup of TVs.Leaked renders of the OnePlus Pad suggest it’s going to have a similar black hole-inspired camera bump to the OnePlus 11. Interestingly, it seems to be positioned in the middle of the long... Continue reading…

Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images Springer Nature, the world’s largest academic publisher, has clarified its policies on the use of AI writing tools in scientific papers. The company announced this week that software like ChatGPT can’t be credited as an author in papers published in its thousands of journals. However, Springer says it has no problem with scientists using AI to help write or generate ideas for research, as long as this contribution is properly disclosed by the authors.“We felt compelled to clarify our position: for our authors, for our editors, and for ourselves,” Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Springer Nature’s flagship publication, Nature, tells The Verge. “This new generation of LLM tools — including ChatGPT — has really exploded into the... Continue reading…