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Updated 2025-09-17 23:18
A new Alan Wake game just launched in Fortnite
Image: Epic Games There's another Alan Wake game in the works - but this one was built inside of Fortnite. Today, Epic Games announced the launch of Alan Wake: Flashback, a Fortnite experience that reimagines Remedy Entertainment's iconic story." It's available for free inside the game right now using the island code 3426-5561-3374.While promotional tie-ins are nothing new for Fortnite, the Alan Wake experience appears much more involved than most, which makes sense given the publishing relationship between Remedy and Epic Games. It also comes at a time when Epic is making a big push for Fortnite's creator-made experiences in an attempt to help the game evolve beyond its battle royale roots.Here's the official description for the new game, which takes... Continue reading...
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review: predictable excellence
With a traveler-friendly design and superb comfort, Bose's latest flagship headphones right the course after the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 - but they don't come cheap. Continue reading...
The world’s power grids, 50 million miles’ worth, need a major overhaul
Workers erect a steel tower at the 220kV line project in Jiangsu Province, China, on October 16th, 2023. | Photo by Costfoto / NurPhoto via Getty Images Governments and utilities need to add or replace the equivalent of virtually all the world's power grids by 2040 to reliably keep the lights on while cleaning up pollution from the power sector. That's 80 million kilometers (nearly 50 million miles) of infrastructure that needs a major upgrade, according to a first-of-its-kind report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) today.Without that overhaul, countries risk missing their climate goals and worsening climate-related disasters like storms and fires that are already walloping power grids. Today's aging grids are often teetering on the edge of power shortages, something that could become an even bigger problem as homes, buildings, and transportation go all-electric.We... Continue reading...
eBay’s early holiday sale brings discounts on Samsung’s The Frame TV and Bose headphones
The latest version of Samsung's 32-inch The Frame can turn itself off to conserve power like larger models. | Image: Samsung Halloween hasn't even arrived yet, but holiday sales are already starting to pop up everywhere. Best Buy and Target held their own last week to rival Amazon's fall Prime Day, and now, it's eBay's turn. Right now, eBay is taking 20 percent off select items as part of its Holiday Head Start Sale" through 11:59PM PT on October 22nd when you apply offer code HEADSTART at checkout.All kinds of items are on sale, including the very well-specced 17-inch LG Gram 17 laptop, which is $839.99 ($660 off), while refurbished headphones like Bose's QuietComfort 45 and QuietComfort II are just $159.20. One of the better deals available, however, is on Samsung's latest 32-inch The Frame TV, which is down to an all-time low of $478.39 ($119.60 off) via... Continue reading...
Apple announces entry-level Apple Pencil with USB-C charging
Image: Apple Apple has announced a cheaper Apple Pencil that comes with USB-C. The iPad accessory will cost $79 and comes with a sliding cap that reveals the USB-C port. It also attaches magnetically to the side edge of an iPad - even the 10th-generation model Apple released last year.The cheaper price means that the Pencil doesn't come with some of the more advanced features as the first- and second-generation accessories. The device doesn't support pressure sensitivity, wireless pairing and charging, or the double-tap feature that lets you switch between tools. However, it still supports hover with M2 models of the iPad Pro. Image: Apple The first Apple Pencil model used a Lightning connector that jutted out of it to plug... Continue reading...
How Ecobee is becoming the smart home company Nest should have been
Smart thermostat manufacturer Ecobee's newest product is a video doorbell that streams to its thermostat. | Image: Ecobee Ecobee's newest video doorbell can show a live view of your front porch on your thermostat. But that's not the only clever synergy the smart home company has up its sleeve. Continue reading...
Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera review: even better with the thermostat
Ecobee's first doorbell camera is also the first that can stream a live view to your thermostat. Yes, it sounds weird, but trust me - it's good. Continue reading...
The Meta glassholes have arrived
Quest 3 in an elevator. | Video: @kukurio59 (TikTok) It's happening: people are once again walking into public places wearing a video-recording face computer on their heads. Only this time, the faceputer is sold by Meta, not Google.Say hello to Meta's Glassholes.
Sam Bankman-Fried was a bad friend, too
What, me worry? | Photo illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Westend61 and Bloomberg, Getty Images Nishad Singh says he tried to get Bankman-Fried to do the right thing -but he wouldn't listen. Continue reading...
Pixel 6 owners who use multiple profiles run into problems with Android 14
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Some Pixel 6 users are reporting strange issues after updating their devices to the new Android 14 OS, which launched on October 4th for Pixel devices. One critical-sounding bug that seems to have spread to multiple users is losing access to internal storage, which ends up in a complete loss of data. Others seem to have other odd issues, like repeat UI launcher crashes. A Verge tipster pointed out the reports, which show a pattern of striking users with multiple user accounts set up on their devices.The original poster reports storage is full" errors once they rebooted following an overnight update to Android 14, while another commenter said they lost access to internal storage entirely. The Android 14 update launched officially last... Continue reading...
Disney’s Gargoyles may live again — for real this time
Image: Disney Gargoyles, one of Disney's weirdest and best '90s cartoon experiments, is coming back. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Gary Dauberman and James Wan, who also made the whole Annabelle series of scary movies, are adapting the series as a live-action show for Disney Plus.Dauberman will write, executive produce, and showrun the series. The series will presumably follow a similar path to the original cartoon, also available on Disney Plus. The cartoon aired from 1994 to 1997 and followed a clan of gargoyles cursed to live as stone. A thousand years pass, and when a billionaire moves them and their castle to his skyscraper in Manhattan, the gargoyles awaken, team up with a local detective, and begin protecting the city from... Continue reading...
Apple rumors of refreshed iPads could mean new chips or new Pencils
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple may have a surprise iPad update announcement in store for this week. 9to5Mac initially said it corroborated a report from Supercharged that Apple will announce spec bumps for three of its iPads - the base model, the iPad Air, and the iPad Mini. Meanwhile, other rumors say we won't get any new iPads, or there is an announcement but it's actually a new stylus, or that maybe there is a new version of the iPad getting announced on Tuesday after all.However, MacRumors points out that the Japanese blog Mac Otakara reports a more likely announcement is a third-generation Apple Pencil instead of new versions of the tablets. Since then, 9to5Mac said its sources indicate only something" iPad-related is landing this week.In a story Sunday... Continue reading...
The New York Times now offers daily hints for its Connections word game
Monday's puzzle was rough - I should have looked at the new hints first. | Image: The New York Times The New York Times will now offer daily hints for Connections, its delightful yet sometimes frustrating daily word game.In Connections, you're tasked with finding four sets of associations between 16 words. Each solution" groups four words together, but the groupings can be tough to figure out. (I only got one correct grouping on Monday's puzzle.) If you're stuck, the new Connections Companion offers a difficulty rating (Monday's was 3.5 out of 5, which I strongly disagree with) and hints you can use to get help without spoiling the entire puzzle.Here's how the hints work. The game's solutions are grouped by color as an indicator of that group's difficulty, though you'll only see these colors after you correctly assemble a group.... Continue reading...
Biden campaign joins Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform
Photo by Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images President Joe Biden's reelection campaign launched its own account on former President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday, as first reported by Fox News.Well. Let's see how this goes. Converts welcome!" the campaign wrote in its first post to the platform on Monday under the handle @BidenHQ.Well. Let's see how this goes. Converts welcome!"Speaking with Fox, the campaign said that it was joining the site in a bid to reach conservative voters and correct any mis and disinformation" related to the president on the platform. So far, the campaign has posted several clips of GOP primary candidates like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley attacking Trump on issues like the federal debt or his comments on the war in... Continue reading...
WhatsApp turns on passwordless logins with passkeys for Android users
Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp users on Android can say goodbye to insecure and annoying SMS two-factor authentication. The Meta-owned company announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it's rolling out support for a passwordless passkey feature to all Android users. The new security option allows WhatsApp users to use their device's face, fingerprint, or pin security to unlock and access their accounts - following Google's lead when it began prompting users last week to create passkeys.Passkeys were previously being tested by WhatsApp in its beta channel, but it's now coming to regular users of the app on Android. We've reached out to Meta about iOS compatibility as well as other questions, but the company has not responded at this time.
About half of Bandcamp employees have been laid off
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge One of the worst tech labor years ever continues with the news that roughly half of Bandcamp employees have been laid off. Bandcamp employees are reporting the news via social media.
How Beeper is trying to make sense of all your messaging apps
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge My phone is absolutely littered with messages. I have a mess of messaging apps: Messages, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, GroupMe, Google Chat, Discord, Slack, Messenger, and Snapchat. Then there are all the apps that aren't necessarily for messaging but still offer it as a feature, like LinkedIn and Instagram and X. Reddit and TikTok both can act like messaging platforms; I get messages through Tumblr sometimes; Skype is still sort of around.Chat is a core part of the modern internet experience, which is why everyone wants a piece: if you can build the app in which people talk to their friends, you've built the stickiest thing in tech. But in reality, all that competition means we spend our days endlessly checking inboxes and trying to... Continue reading...
The Portland Retro Gaming Expo helps keep the classics alive
Sega had their own console?"That was a devastating comment I heard as I sat playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on a Sega Genesis Mini at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE) this weekend. The Sonic games on Genesis were my favorites as a kid; one time, I played so much Sonic that I peed my pants. How could this person not know about Sega consoles?Thankfully, the person's friend was more charitable than I would have been. He used it as a teaching opportunity and showed him the game he was playing. (And I realized later that the person may have been asking about mini consoles.)The whole event was filled with that wonderful spirit about sharing the joy of classic games and generally nerdy stuff. I saw four friends huddled around a classic X... Continue reading...
Netflix tests streaming games to US TVs to take on PlayStation and Xbox
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Netflix is expanding its games streaming beta to the US, the company announced in an update to a blog post. The feature, which lets you play games streamed from the cloud on devices like your TV or a computer, launched first in August in Canada and the UK.In the blog post, Netflix notes that it's a limited" beta test, so it seems like this won't be available to too many people to start. (Netflix used that same limited" language with the initial launch in Canada and the UK.) Like with the original test, the only two games available to stream are Oxenfree from Netflix's own Night School Studio and another game titled Molehew's Mining Adventure.If you have access to the service, you'll need to download Netflix's special controller app f... Continue reading...
What is Wi-Fi 7 — and do you even need it?
Image: The Verge Time to gird your browsers, y'all - Wi-Fi is getting another upgrade very soon. That's right: about four years after Wi-Fi 6 debuted and two years after Wi-Fi 6E followed it up, Wi-Fi 7 is picking up the baton. And as someone who got his start reviewing routers, I am so tired.Okay, but seriously - Wi-Fi 7 could be an even bigger speed boost than Wi-Fi 6E was, thanks in part to the wide open spaces of the 6GHz band that 6E unlocked. It's also supposed to deploy other tricks for speeding things up and bring new ways to cut through interference and drop the latency of your network.Does all of that sound familiar? Probably because the big headlining features of both Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E have been their interference-busting abilities and -... Continue reading...
Twitch adds stories to its mobile app
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TwitchCon Las Vegas is set to begin later this week. In advance of the festivities, Twitch has announced that it's rolling out a new stories feature to the Twitch mobile app.By building stories into the Twitch experience, we've made it easier for you to reach your community directly on Twitch," wrote senior product manager Eduardo Fenili on Twitch's blog. Access to eligible streamers will roll out gradually by the end of the week and on an ongoing basis as streamers meet the minimum eligibility requirements."Stories on Twitch will function just like the feature does on other social media apps. Qualified users can post pictures, text messages, or clips that will disappear after 48 hours. Viewers will be able to see stories from the... Continue reading...
The Google antitrust trial has been frustratingly locked down — the NYT just filed a motion to open it up
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge You would barely know Google is in the middle of one of the most consequential antitrust trials in decades right now. Although some important witnesses have testified in open court and documents have been posted online after a delay, access to the trial is still uncertain and sporadic because Judge Amit Mehta appears to have bought into Google's argument that the particulars of its search business are simply too sensitive to open up.This is, of course, a tough position to hold in a trial that is entirely about the particulars of Google's search business and how it shields that business from competition by striking exclusive deals with various players in the industry - most importantly, Apple. But it appears to have held sway over Judge... Continue reading...
Pokémon Go’s new Party Play feature will turn groups of friends into raid-crushing teams
Pokemon Go's latest set of features aren't quite the fixes that players have been begging Niantic for, but they will give trainers new ways to compete and team up as they dig into a spooky season of shadowy raids.After a little bit of teasing toward the end of last week, Niantic has officially announced the arrival of Pokemon Go's Party Play, a new feature that allows groups of four players to link up and explore together somewhat similar to the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Union Circle. After connecting using either an alphanumeric or QR code, Pokemon Go players (who must be in close physical proximity to one another and at level 15 at minimum) can form teams that receive significant power boosts when taking on raid bosses together.As... Continue reading...
Epic is offering a big incentive for developers to bring older games to its store
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games announced a new program on Monday to try and incentivize developers to bring their older games to the Epic Games Store. Under the new Now On Epic" program, Epic will give developers 100 percent of the net revenue from user spending" for six months on products offered through the program, according to a blog post. Typically, Epic offers 88 percent of revenues while keeping 12 percent for itself, and the revenue split will go back to that level after the six months are up.To be part of the program, developers must commit to releasing at least three games that have come out before October 31st, 2023, and are currently live on another third-party PC storefront (or are included in a third-party subscription service)."... Continue reading...
LinkedIn lays off hundreds of employees for the second time this year
Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images LinkedIn is laying off about 668 employees across various teams, the Microsoft-owned company announced on Monday.It's the second time LinkedIn has announced cuts this year; it laid off 716 employees in May, saying at the time that the move was meant to re-organize for greater agility and growth." This time, the cuts are about streamlining our decision making," according to LinkedIn's statement. Microsoft has also announced multiple rounds of layoffs recently, including 10,000 positions it eliminated at the start of this year.LinkedIn, for its part, is growing. Its revenue surpassed $15 billion for the first time the last fiscal year. And there have been numerous headlines recently about its resurgence. Take, for example, this story... Continue reading...
Meet Rick and Morty’s new voice actors
Morty and Rick taking off in Rick's ship. | Image: Adult Swim The new voices behind Rick and Morty's titular duo sound so uncannily similar to their old selves that it almost seemed like Adult Swim might have simply recreated Justin Roiland's voice using artificial intelligence. It turns out, though, that they're just two relatively unknown voice actors who - much like Kevin It's-a me" Afghani - have landed roles of a lifetime.As new Rick and Morty episodes begin to air alongside reruns, viewers are going to be hard-pressed to differentiate between Roiland's old performances and what newcomers Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty) are now bringing to the table.In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, series showrunner Scott Marder and co-creator Dan Harmon said that was one of... Continue reading...
Google asks Congress to not ban teens from social media
Illustration: The Verge Google responded to congressional child online safety proposals with its own counteroffer for the first time Monday, urging lawmakers to drop problematic protections like age-verification tech.In a blog post, Google released its Legislative Framework to Protect Children and Teens Online." The framework comes as more lawmakers, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), are lining up behind the Kids Online Safety Act, a controversial bill intended to protect kids from dangerous content online.In the framework, Google rejects state and federal attempts at requiring platforms to verify the age of users, like forcing users to upload copies of their government IDs to access an online service. Some states have recently gone as far as passing laws... Continue reading...
Spotify launches hub for artists’ merch
Spotify's new hub recommends merch to users from their favorite artists. | Image: The Verge Spotify introduced a new hub for artist merchandise on Monday that recommends goods like T-shirts, vinyl records, and this brass Lana Del Rey lighter for moody girls. It is the latest effort from Spotify to integrate merch purchasing into the app, which has been a priority for artists who distribute on the streaming service.Merch on Spotify isn't new - the company launched a partnership with Shopify in 2021 and has been making small updates ever since to facilitate shopping. Still, the purchasing does not happen directly in the app; users can browse goods but are then directed to artists' individual merch stores.Spotify does not take a cut from sales, but the merch push does serve a business purpose. It is well known how little artists... Continue reading...
Analogue is making a 4K Nintendo 64
Image: Analogue Analogue, the company best known for modern takes on retro hardware, is turning its attention to the 64-bit era with the Analogue 3D, a reimagining of the Nintendo 64. The company says the new console will have 100 percent compatibility" with N64 cartridges in every region and will even support 4K output. It will also include Original Display Modes featuring reference quality recreations of specific model CRTs and PVMs" for the purists out there, along with Bluetooth support and four controller ports.Today's announcement is mostly a tease. While we have some details, there's no word on price or a specific release date beyond 2024. Analogue isn't even showing the hardware yet - right now, we just have these brief glimpses of what... Continue reading...
The next League of Legends music group is a virtual boy band
Image: Riot Games Riot Games is announcing its next in-universe League of Legends band: a boy band called Heartsteel comprised of the in-game characters Ezreal, Kayn, Aphelios, Yone, K'Sante, and Sett. Riot will debut Paranoia," the first song from the virtual band (which features the real-life musicians Baekhyun, OZI, Tobi Lou, and Cal Scruby), on October 23rd at 11AM ET.I haven't heard the song yet myself, but here's how Riot Games describes Heartsteel's vibe. HEARTSTEEL is a group of dynamic daredevils dedicated to unapologetic individuality and creative expression," the company wrote in a press release. Their mission is to blaze a path to success on their own terms. The group's personality and sound draws inspiration from modern music collectives,... Continue reading...
Volvo’s EX30 with Google built-in passes new EU speed limit warning requirements
Image: Volvo Volvo's EX30 EV with Google built-in has a new in-vehicle speed limit-announcing safety feature that has passed the European General Safety Regulation (GSR) thanks in part to its use of Google Maps data for accuracy. The technology, known widely as Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA), augments the current posted speed limit on the instrument display at all times and warns drivers when they're going too fast.ISA isn't exactly a new feat; many vehicles have had the ability to reproduce speed limit signs for the driver for years. It generally works by vehicles using various visual systems to pick up on posted speed limit signs and often combines that with built-in navigation map data. However, there's plenty of nuance when it comes to speed... Continue reading...
Roborock’s S-series hybrid robot vacuums are up to $290 off
The Roborock S7 may be a last-gen model, but it's still a great hybrid robovac that's now more affordable. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Even with last week's Amazon Prime Day behind us, it remains a pretty good time to buy a robot vacuum - especially if you'd like one that can mop your floors. The last-gen Roborock S7 hybrid robovac is currently selling for $359.99 ($290 off) at Amazon and direct from Roborock. This matches last week's Prime Day price and the bot's all-time low. The S7 may have been outdated by the newer S8 model, but it's still a formidable vacuum that maps your home using lidar and automatically switches between vacuuming and mopping.However, if you want the latest and greatest, the Roborock S8 is also on sale for $599.99 ($150 off) at Roborock and Best Buy (when added to your cart). The newer S8 gets an upgrade in the brush department and now has... Continue reading...
Disney courts TikTokers with a card game and quizzes
TikTok's promotional art for its Disney hub. | Image: TikTok Disney is partnering with TikTok to promote its movies and TV shows through a dedicated hub filled with clips, quizzes, and a collectible card game. It's the first time that TikTok has created a branded space like this for a partner, and it's being used to promote Disney's titles as the company turns 100 today.TikTok is promoting the Disney100" hub in users' For You Pages, but you can also find it by searching for Disney and tapping the banner that pops up at the top. From there, you'll see what looks like a highly customized profile page: there are scrolling banners promoting different Disney titles, a collection of videos with sampleable Disney sounds, and links to all the other Disney accounts you can follow on the platform.
Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines, is retiring after 24 years
Photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images Pete Hines, the head of publishing at Bethesda, is retiring after 24 years at the gaming company. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hines announced that his time at Bethesda has come to an end." Hines first joined Bethesda in 1999 as the senior vice president of global marketing and communications, becoming a well-known figure at the company and the face of Fallout. Last year, Hines became Bethesda's head of publishing.Bethesda has seen some major shifts over the past couple of years. Microsoft completed its acquisition of the Skyrim developer in 2021. In August, Bethesda released the space exploration RPG Starfield following the rocky launch of Redfall in May.
Intel’s new 14th Gen CPUs arrive on October 17th with up to 6GHz out of the box
Image: Intel Intel is launching its 14th Gen desktop processors this week, promising boost frequencies of 6GHz out of the box for its flagship Core i9-14900K. Known as Raptor Lake Refresh, Intel is maintaining pricing for its 14th Gen Core i9, i7, and i5 processors this year, sticking to the same retail pricing as the 13th Gen when these new chips launch on October 17th.The 6GHz boost on the new Core i9-14900K makes it the fastest desktop processor at volume," according to Intel, referring to its special-edition 13900KS that first broke the 6GHz barrier at stock speeds last year but didn't ship at volume. The more interesting 14th Gen processor in this refresh could be the Core i7-14700K, though, thanks to a significant bump to its efficiency... Continue reading...
Apple has an edge over its competitors in the fight againstclimate change
Apple CEO Tim Cook talks to an employee at a solar farm in Hanstholm, Denmark. | Photo by Christoph Dernbach / picture alliance via Getty Images A new report compares climate initiatives by Apple, Dell, Google, HP, Microsoft, and Nvidia. Apple's far from perfect, but so far, it's ahead of the pack, according to today's report.It's the only company among the six tech giants that has set targets for its suppliers to switch to renewable energy. Other brands need to send similarly clear signals to their suppliers," Gary Cook, global climate policy director for the nonprofit Stand.earth that published the report, said in a press release.To be sure, a completely separate report published by a different environmental group last week casts some doubt on Apple's recent carbon neutral claims. Stand.earth's new report, however, puts Apple's broader climate initiatives in perspective by... Continue reading...
Lakers legend Rick Fox built a house that can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere
Laker legend-turned-actor Rick Fox has a new passion: sustainable concrete. | Image: Partanna A new house in the Bahamas is built with an alternative concrete that sucks CO2 out of the air. It's a home that's supposed to help in the fight against climate change, and the plan is to build 999 more like it.That's the slam dunk NBA Lakers legend-turned-actor Rick Fox is working toward now on the small island nation where he grew up. Fox is the CEO and co-founder of the sustainable building materials startup Partanna that unveiled its first home today. If they're successful in the Bahamas, the goal is to make its alternative concrete an everyday building material that could cut down pollution from construction.I shut down my entire career that was in Hollywood to pursue and create [climate] solutions," Fox tells The Verge. I had... Continue reading...
Minecraft has sold over 300 million copies
Image: Mojang Minecraft already has the distinction of being the bestselling video game of all time. Today, it adds more down to that particular feather in its cap with the announcement that it has sold a staggering 300 million copies.As we approach the 15th anniversary, Minecraft remains one of the best-selling games of all time, with over 300 million copies sold, a milestone no one could have dreamed of when we were all placing our first blocks," Helen Chiang, head of Mojang Studios, said in a statement.The new milestone was announced during Minecraft Live 2023, a Minecraft livestream event that shares news and community updates and features a neat voting event in which players can vote on which new creature should be added to the game. This... Continue reading...
Apple’s cheaper Vision Pro follow-up still won’t be cheap
Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Mark Gurman writes in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg today that the more affordable follow-up to the Apple Vision Pro will likely" ditch the external display to help it reach an internally-discussed price point between $1,500 and $2.500. Gurman also reiterates what he wrote in June - that the more affordable version will probably run on an iPhone-grade chip, have fewer cameras, and get lower-resolution screens inside.Ditching the external display means Apple would lock one of the Vision Pro's marquee features - EyeSight - behind the paywall of the more expensive versions. EyeSight is the thing that lets you see an on-the-fly render of the wearer's eyes so they can look" at you when you're talking to them, and so you can tell,... Continue reading...
Everything you need to track your movies, music, books, and more
Illustration: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 10, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, hooray! I'm so happy you're here, and also, you can catch up on all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) We made it through 10 weeks! It's been so fun to make this every week and to talk to you all about the cool stuff you're into. Thanks for being part of the Installerverse (we're gonna make that a thing, it's gonna happen), and as always, tell me everything you think we can do to make it better!This week, I've been reading about Marvel's plan to fix its TV shows and all the wild testimony from the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, making lots of deranged art in the improved Bing Chat, watching the David Beckham... Continue reading...
Caltech ends its Wi-Fi lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom
Illustration: The Verge Caltech has had some ups (winning $1.1 billion) and some downs (losing the $1.1 billion award and being ordered to a trial on damages) since suing Apple and Broadcom in 2016 over Wi-Fi patents. Reuters reported this week that Caltech is dropping its yearslong lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom, about two months after the companies came to a potential settlement."Caltech wrote in a filing with a US District Court in California that it would drop its claims with prejudice," meaning it can't refile its case, and asked that Broadcom do so as well, stating later that Broadcom does not oppose this request." Caltech also writes that it will dismiss its claims against Apple - again, with prejudice."The filing then says that Caltech... Continue reading...
AMD’s Anti-Lag feature is getting gamers banned from Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2 players could get unceremoniously banned for using Anti-Lag Plus. | Image: Valve Counter-Strike 2 developers strongly warned players in a post that they'll be banned if they turn on AMD's Anti-Lag feature for CS2. According to the post, the features from the most recent driver updates are implemented by detouring engine dll functions," adding that when AMD updates the drivers, the team will work on identifying affected users and reversing their ban."AMD added support for Anti-Lag Plus in CS2 in the Adrenaline Edition version 23.30.1 driver. The feature is exclusive to Radeon RX 7000-series GPUs, so older hardware shouldn't be affected. We emailed AMD for a statement on the issue. Engadget notes that you can disable the feature by pressing Alt+L, and points out that you can verify the hotkey assignment in AMD... Continue reading...
X accused of illegally firing employee who criticized Elon’s return-to-work plan
The Verge CNBC reports that the National Labor Relations Board alleged, in a complaint filed Friday, that X violated labor law when it fired an employee who criticized the company. Elon Musk bought the company, then known as Twitter, in October and threatened to fire workers who didn't return to in-person office work. After Yao Yue encouraged others in the company's Slack to let the company fire them instead of quitting, she was fired for breaking an unspecified company policy.CNBC writes that in the complaint, the NLRB accuses X of keeping workers at the company from exercising their legal labor rights. Yue alleges the company laid her off in retaliation for her attempt to organize her co-workers not to resign, so they would have better legal... Continue reading...
LG’s desk-friendly C3 OLED has dipped below $1,000 for the first time
LG's 42-inch C3 OLED TV might not be big enough for your living room, but it will look great on your desk. | Image: LG Welcome to the weekend, dear readers! Although we've spent the past week pummeling you with deals from Amazon's fall Prime Day event - some of which are still available, to be sure - our Saturday roundup is mostly concerned with the discounts that have cropped up in the time since, starting with LG's C3 OLED. Right now, you can grab the 42-inch model at Amazon for $921.48 (about $276 off).Like the much-lauded C2 we reviewed last year, it's hard to go wrong with LG's brilliant C3 panel, regardless of what type of entertainment you watch. The TV features terrific picture quality and many of the same specs that made last year's C2 such a great pick for gamers, including a 120Hz refresh rate and comprehensive HDMI 2.1 support, only with a... Continue reading...
Is your X ad revenue sharing payment smaller than you expected?
Image: The Verge Now that X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has managed to repeatedly send out its ad revenue sharing payments on time without any last-minute delays, engineer Eric Farraro is answering questions from users who still aren't getting the payments they expect. Reasons include: 1) X users only earn ad revenue from other paying X users, 2) advertisers aren't paying much to reach the demographic that the creator attracts, 3) the posts didn't get a lot of replies, or 4) their content is not suitable for ads.That first reason is one that X hasn't exactly hidden. Here's how Farraro puts it in his new explanation:
Apple’s new video reactions are making therapy incredibly awkward
This may not be what you want to see during a video therapy session. | Image: Apple SimplePractice, a company that offers a telehealth platform, is warning patients about Apple's new video reactions feature that might let people unintentionally add heart emoji or virtual fireworks during a telehealth video call. Awkward.As shown in a Mastodon post by Matt Haughey - who says he had a friend who saw the fireworks on a therapy call after giving a thumbs up in response to a question from his therapist - SimplePractice is notifying patients that Apple devices may show emojis during video calls" and that SimplePractice doesn't have control over the settings. SimplePractice also discusses the reactions in an FAQ and has instructions on how to turn reactions off on both iOS and macOS.The video reactions are a big new feature... Continue reading...
YouTube is the latest large platform to face EU scrutiny regarding the war in Israel
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge European Commissioner Thierry Breton sent a letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai reminding him of the company's obligations under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) as a large online platform to keep illegal content and disinformation from being shared on YouTube surrounding Israel's war with Hamas.Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we are seeing a surge of illegal content and disinformation being disseminated in the EU via certain platforms," Breton wrote. He added that YouTube has an obligation to protect children and teens in the EU from violent content on the platform, must promptly take action in response to notices from the EU, and have proportionate and effective mitigation measures in place"... Continue reading...
Comcast cable internet with 2-gigabit uploads is rolling out soon
Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images Comcast is about to roll out gigabit-plus internet speeds for both upload and download without needing fiber upgrades that run all the way to the house. The company will offer a new X-Class" service upgrade that supports up to 2 Gbps downloads and uploads starting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, next week. The city was one of the first places that Comcast launched its 2 Gbps internet service last year, although at that time, it still only supported 200Mbps uploads.Comcast started testing symmetrical multi-gigabit DOCSIS 4.0 technology in 2022 using multiple cable modems and a 10-gig node (which is used for the Xfinity 10G brand name to highlight what's theoretically possible, even if it's not happening any time soon).Comcast says... Continue reading...
Nvidia is raising the price of GeForce Now, but not in the US
Image: Nvidia Enjoying Starfield on GeForce Now, where the cloud gaming service is one of the best ways to play? Starting November 1st, it'll cost you $6 more in Canada, 2 more in the UK, or an additional 2 in Europe per month for the must-have Ultimate plan. Six-month plans are going up by $20 CAD, 10, and 10, respectively.Nvidia spokesperson Jordan Dodge tells me the United States is currently exempt from the price changes. No price change happening in the US," he says.The company says the hikes account for increased operational costs" in the specific countries where they're rolling out, according to a customer help page, and that GeForce Now founders can still pay grandfathered pricing as originally promised. GeForce Now... Continue reading...
Here’s Mario’s new voice actor
Super Mario Bros. Wonder. | Image: Nintendo After months of speculation, conspiracy theories, and false alarms, we finally know the name of Mario's new voice actor: Kevin Afghani. On Friday, Afghani announced the news on X (formerly Twitter), saying, Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom!"
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