 |
by Wes Davis on (#6DJXP)
With an electrified cargo bike, I can move faster and farther without straining under load. The conversion is tedious but not difficult if you have the right tools. Just expect the unexpected. Continue reading...
|
The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-07-04 09:02 |
 |
by Chris Welch on (#6DJXR)
With sound quality worthy of Technics' name and unique three-way multipoint, the EAH-AZ80 are a comprehensive package worth their $300 price. Continue reading...
|
by David Pierce on (#6DJXQ)
POV: You're being attacked by someone much better than you at Super Rumble. | Image: Meta What are the ethics of repeatedly targeting an eight-year-old in a video game? What if that eight-year-old is demonstrably better than you at the game but is currently being forced to talk to his mom and isn't really paying attention, and this is your best and probably only chance to mount a comeback? How much trash can you talk after you kill the eight-year-old a few times? What if that eight-year-old has been talking trash to you for the better part of the last hour while gleefully shouting Expecto Patronum" every time they fire their shotgun?These are the kinds of questions you're forced to answer in Super Rumble, the new game for the Meta Quest. (They're the same kinds of questions you'll find anywhere in the metaverse and on most... Continue reading...
 |
by Wes Davis on (#6DJVR)
Image: The Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) met yesterday with representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to confidentially discuss resuming talks, but the meeting ended without a definite agreement to resume negotiations (via Deadline). After the AMPTP withdrew to consult with their member studios," the WGA sent an email to its members disclosing the particulars of the discussion, saying studios had leaked details of the meeting to the press.In the Friday talk, according to WGA's letter to its members, the AMPTP said it was willing to offer more for a few writer-specific TV minimums," and was willing to discuss studio AI use, but wouldn't consider success-based residuals or preserving writers' rooms. (D... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Richard Lawler on (#6DJKW)
Image: The Verge In news that isn't very surprising given the recent history of Twitter, which Elon Musk is currently rebranding to X, the company won't be able to make some promised payments on time. The X Support account says that because its Ads Revenue Sharing" program is so popular, We need a bit more time to review everything for the next payout and aim to get all eligible accounts paid as soon as possible."From the linked support page:
|
 |
by Sean Hollister on (#6DJJR)
Threads.net, as of August 2023. | Image by Meta; Screencap by Sean Hollister / The Verge If you go to Threads.net to access Meta's popular Twitter clone, you'll still find a spinning placeholder galaxy - but that should change in the next few weeks, according to a new tweet from CEO Mark Zuckerberg.Search and web coming in the next few weeks," he tweets, saying he's excited about the team's pace of shipping."Meta took a gamble on launching a barebones Twitter alternative at breakneck speed while Twitter continued to crumble, and it may have paid off - my colleague Alex Heath recently wrote that Threads hit 100 million signups faster than any consumer software product in history.But more than half of those users didn't stick around, according to Reuters, and while that may be expected for any software product,... Continue reading...
|
by Umar Shakir on (#6DJH7)
Google's sample of the code scanner API auto-zoom. | Image: Google You might soon not have as much trouble reading far away QR codes on your Android phone. Google is working on a new code scanner that automatically detects a QR code in the camera frame, zooms in, and reads it. The feature isn't quite making its way to devices just yet - but it's in the latest APIs Google is making available to developers.Specifically, it's Google's code scanner API that's been updated with the new ability. It works in Google's QR Code Scanner system app, but can also be implemented into other apps.If developers implement the code scanner API, users won't have to grant camera permissions - saving developers time by not having to build a custom experience. The API leverages Google's on-device machine learning to... Continue reading...
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6DJH8)
Illustration: The Verge The government's antitrust case against Google just got significantly smaller. In a filing on Friday, a US district court judge dismissed several of the claims that the Department of Justice and a coalition of states brought against the company, including allegations that Google Search harms competing services.The decision stems from a pair of lawsuits that the DOJ and a group of 38 state attorneys general filed against Google in 2020. While the DOJ and states originally filed separately, the suit has since become mostly consolidated. The suit accuses Google of anti-competitive behavior on a number of fronts, including designing its search engine to disadvantage competitors like Yelp, Expedia, and Tripadvisor.However, Judge Amit Mehta... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6DJF0)
Jon Hamm as Orson. | Image: Lionsgate Lionsgate's new dark comedy from director Joachim Back plays more like a lengthy ASMR video starring Jon Hamm. Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6DJF1)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube's higher-quality 1080p option is now available for all Premium subscribers on desktop globally, spokesperson Paul Pennington confirmed to The Verge. The company officially launched the enhanced bitrate" 1080p in April on iOS after an earlier test.I don't pay for Premium, but I've seen the enhanced bitrate option on a handful of videos on Friday as I browsed YouTube in Chrome on my MacBook Air. When I try to click the enhanced bitrate, YouTube prompts me to subscribe to Premium to be able to use it. (If you decide to subscribe to Premium to get the better bitrate, you should know that the service is a bit more expensive than it used to be.) Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge An ad for the Meta Quest 3... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Ash Parrish on (#6DJF2)
Image: Blizzard Callingreintroduces Overwatch fans to Sojourn, a central figure in Overwatch's expanding narrative. Continue reading...
|
by David Pierce on (#6DH4E)
You've never seen anyone Excel the way the pros Excel. | Image: The Financial Modeling World Cup/David Pierce It's the Sheeter Bowl! The VLookup Cup! Merge Madness! Whatever you want to call it, the Excel World Championship is coming back to ESPN this week. On Friday morning at 7AM ET, as part of ESPN's annual The Ocho" event, a few of the world's foremost Excel experts will battle to solve puzzles on the biggest stage in sports.The Ocho is an ESPN event designed to show off otherwise un-televised sports - Excel is on the docket alongside 2023 Slippery Stairs," the Pillow Fight Championship," and competitions in everything from belt-sanding to sign spinning - but it's still a big deal. When competitive Excel showed up on the network last year, the sport found a whole new audience. More than 800,000 people have since watched the full 2.5-hour... Continue reading...
 |
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6DJC6)
Photo by Sjoerd van der Wal / Getty Images VanMoof, the e-bike company that declared bankruptcy in the Netherlands last month, is for sale. A number of buyers are rumored to be circling the popular Dutch brand, but the one potential bidder making the most noise is also the one least likely to be successful.The two administrators who were chosen by the Dutch court as trustees for VanMoof are telling the local press that several bids have been made. In the coming days, the bids will be compared with each other and discussed with the stakeholders," said curators Jan Padberg and Robin de Wit, according to Bright. The aim is to reach a final agreement within a few days.In the coming days, the bids will be compared with each other and discussed with the stakeholders."The... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6DJC7)
Image: Canoo Ulrich Kranz, the Apple car executive who served as the former CEO of the EV startup Canoo, is facing some legal trouble. On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Kranz and former Canoo chief financial officer Paul Balciunas over claims they provided unreasonable revenue projections" to investors, as first reported by Bloomberg.As outlined in the lawsuit, the SEC states that Kranz and Balciunas told investors Canoo would make $120 million in 2021 and $250 million in 2022. However, the SEC alleges that the pair should have known that these projections were unreasonable" because the projects it used to calculate these amounts were unlikely to materialize." The SEC also claims that Kranz failed to... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Barbara Krasnoff on (#6AGY5)
Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge While my personal computers have mostly been Windows and my phones Android, I do use a Mac for work, and I've always been envious of the ease with which people in the Apple ecosystem can move files from one device to another using AirDrop. Google introduced a similar feature called Nearby Share in 2020, but it only shared files between Google products. Now, Windows has finally introduced its version of Nearby Share, allowing you to easily move files between Windows and Android systems.When it first appeared, I installed the beta of Nearby Share to a Windows 11 system and used it to move photos between that and my Pixel 6, and it worked like a charm. Now that it's official, here are some step-by-step instructions on how to set up Nearby... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6DJ93)
That's right, my phone and I have had an important relationship talk. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Lately, I have been playing a game with myself, and I'd like to invite all of you to play with me. It's called the Phone Challenge.As readers of this fine blog establishment know, I spend all day reading the entire internet and writing some of it. During what I think of as the High Pandemic Era (2020-2021), I was surprised to discover that despite gazing at my laptop screen all day and rarely leaving the house, I was still somehow spending four hours a day on my phone.Seemed like a lot, to be honest.Since then, I've been trying to see how low I can go without sacrificing my social relationships. Sure, I have internet friends - or, as I think of them, the people who live inside my phone. But I also stare at a laptop all day! And yes, I... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Victoria Song on (#6DJ94)
My Gudetama plushie is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Supposedly. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Have you ever wondered what the temperature of your desk surface is? Me neither, but the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 says it's a balmy 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The other day, it said my cat's fluffy belly was 88 degrees. My arm was apparently 86 degrees, and a cup of tea, Earl Grey, hot, was roughly 112 degrees. Just before I sat down to write this, it said my stainless steel fridge door was 79 degrees. The inside of the fridge was merely Low."Why am I telling you this? Well, last year, Samsung introduced an infrared temperature sensor on its Galaxy Watch 5 lineup but didn't really do anything with it at launch. This year, it's promoting Thermo Check - a third-party app that lets you check the temperature of various things - as a way to... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6DJ96)
Image: Emme Hall Cadillac's attempt to dethrone Rolls-Royce as the top dog in ultra-luxury vehicles now has its own price tag.The 2024 Cadillac Celestiq, the automaker's bespoke, customizable, electric fastback sedan, will start - start! - at $340,000. And that's before all the pricy options and add-ons that one may consider, meaning the Celestiq will very likely sell for beyond $400,000 in most cases.Hey, if you want to challenge Rolls-Royce, you best come with Rolls-Royce-level prices!Hey, if you want to challenge Rolls-Royce, you best come with Rolls-Royce-level prices!Cadillac said the first round of Celestiq customers are already at work customizing their orders. As with other hand-built vehicles, customers can opt for custom paint, leather,... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Sheena Vasani on (#6DJ97)
Apple's AirTags remain the best Bluetooth trackers you can get if you're an iPhone user. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Whether you often travel for work or are college-bound, Apple's AirTags are a useful gadget that can help you keep track of your belongings. Unfortunately, we don't often see them dip below their full MSRP of $29, which is why today's deal is such a standout. Right now, you can buy a single AirTag for just $25 at Amazon and Walmart. If you require more, retailers (Amazon / Walmart) are also selling a four-pack for $88.99 ($11 off).We highly recommend AirTags over other Bluetooth trackers for iPhone owners. That's because AirTags are equipped with Apple's Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip and tap into Apple's vast Find My Network system, which allows for exceptionally precise tracking. Plus, once iOS 17 officially launches this fall, you'll be... Continue reading...
|
by Jay Peters on (#6DJ98)
Image: Meta Meta's Quest 3 VR headset might be available to purchase sometime soon. A new Meta-made VR headset has just shown up in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) database, meaning the device can be sold in the US.As noted by UploadVR, an image of the FCC label on this device doesn't actually include the words Quest 3." But given that Meta has already announced the Quest 3, promised to share more about the device at its September Connect event, and that this new headset has its FCC label in basically the same spot as the Quest 2, it seems like a pretty safe bet that this listing is for the Quest 3. And one improvement we can already tell from the filings? The new headset will support Wi-Fi 6E.Meta is promising that the Quest 3... Continue reading...
 |
by Umar Shakir on (#6DJ99)
Illustration: The Verge Google is offering its employees a new incentive to come into its Mountain View, California office: discounted hotel stays. The company is promoting $99 per night rates for its on-campus hotel to help remote employees transition into a hybrid working schedule, according to a report from CNBC.Materials sent to Google employees, which were viewed by CNBC, paint a rosy picture of having no commute with an extra hour of sleep and less friction" when getting to work.Google started requiring workers to return to the office for three days per week last year and has continued pushing for employees to adopt hybrid work schedules since then. In June, CNBC reported that Google updated its policy to include badge tracking and said in-person... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Ash Parrish on (#6DJ60)
Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images Evo 2023 - the world's premier fighting game tournament - kicks off today at 1PM ET and lasts until Sunday night. This year is shaping up to be the tournament's biggest year ever, with several games, including Street Fighter 6, breaking their all-time records for number of participants. Whether you're watching from home or live in Las Vegas, here's when, where, and, most importantly, what to watch at Evo 2023.As in previous years, Evo's tournaments are split between several stages and Twitch / YouTube channels. Typically, a game's first, second, and third rounds are broadcast from smaller stages, while a game's finals take place on the main stage and broadcast from the main Evo Twitch and YouTube channels. You can see the full schedule h... Continue reading...
|
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6DJ2F)
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge It seems to be a day of Google deals. In addition to sales on the Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds Pro, the recently launched Google Pixel Tablet is seeing its first discount. You can get Google's 11-inch tablet, complete with its included magnetic charging / speaker dock, for $439 ($60 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Google.The Pixel Tablet has the same processor as the flagship Pixel 7 phones, Google's Tensor G2 chip, which is powering an 11-inch slab-style tablet here. There are no foldable displays or folio cases and keyboards to speak of, just a fine LCD screen with 2560 x 1600 resolution. The tablet's big trick is that its magnetic charging dock has speakers to turn it into a smart display (sort of). It doesn't turn into a full Nest Hub... Continue reading...
|
by David Nield on (#6DJ2G)
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Most of us are used to managing notifications (or trying to) on our smartphones, but Windows can throw up plenty of pings and alerts of its own as well. Some of those will be useful and necessary, but if you're trying to get stuff done, regular interruptions are likely to throw you off track and get in the way. So it's worth exploring the notification controls that Microsoft's operating system offers - and there are quite a few of them.Spend a few minutes tailoring Windows notifications to suit your requirements, and you can get yourself a much calmer and less disjointed computing experience while still ensuring you don't miss out on any vital alerts.App notificationsLike Android, iOS, and macOS, Windows lets you control notification... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Tauriq Moosa on (#6DJ2H)
The Haunting of Hill House | Image: Netflix Our curated list of 10 series that are either complete or have a promising future ahead of them. Perfect for those long, hot summer nights. Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6DJ2J)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Coinbase is asking a judge to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit against it. In a motion filed on Friday, Coinbase maintains that it doesn't trade securities, rendering the SEC's arguments invalid.The SEC sued Coinbase in June, alleging that the crypto exchange broke securities laws by operating as an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency. It also accused the company of selling unregistered securities through its staking-as-a-service program, which rewards users with crypto by participating in the proof-of-stake process on the blockchain.
|
by Casey Newton on (#6DJ2K)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge This is Platformer, a newsletter on the intersection of Silicon Valley and democracy from Casey Newton and Zoe Schiffer. Sign up here.Today let's talk about a right we currently take for granted that may soon disappear: the ability to browse and post to most websites anonymously.In May, Utah became the second state to enact a law requiring adult websites to verify the identities of their users. The law requires websites that host porn to use one of several methods to ensure visitors are 18 years or older, including state-issued digital IDs and third-party age verification services. Those services use a range of verification tools, including age estimation based on the user's face and uploading a government ID.The law originated from... Continue reading...
by Sheena Vasani on (#6DJ2M)
The Google Pixel Watch is a terrific smartwatch for Android users, with Fitbit integration and a beautiful display. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Yes, there's a new and improved Android smartwatch in town: the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. It's a good wearable, but because certain features like EKGs are limited to Samsung phone owners, it's not the best option for everybody. Thankfully, if you're looking for a terrific Android watch that doesn't require you to chain yourself to Samsung's ecosystem, the Google Pixel Watch is on sale in the base configuration at Wellbots for $289.99 ($60 off) when you use offer code VERGEPIX60.Google's first-gen wearable can't measure body composition, skin temperature, or irregular heart rhythms like Samsung's can; however, unlike Samsung's newest watch, the Pixel Watch offers health and fitness-tracking features powered by Fitbit. As a result, you can... Continue reading...
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6DHZ9)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok users in Europe will be able to switch off the personalized algorithm behind its For You and Live feeds as the company makes changes to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). According to TikTok, disabling this function will show users popular videos from both the places where they live and around the world" instead of content based on their personal interests.These changes relate to DSA rules that require very large online platforms to allow their users to opt out of receiving personalized content - which typically relies on tracking and profiling user activity - when viewing content recommendations. To comply, TikTok's search feature will also show content that's popular in the user's region, and videos under the... Continue reading...
by Jon Porter on (#6DHZA)
Image: Fisker Fisker showed off a series of prototype vehicles at its first Product Vision Day" event, outlining the EV startup's wide-ranging roadmap for the coming years. These included the sub-$30,000 Pear SUV, the Ronin sports car, Alaska pickup truck, and a new off-road package for the Ocean SUV that Fisker just started delivering a few short months ago.Although the company had teased a few of these vehicles beforehand (and even opened reservations for the Pear last year), TechCrunch notes the event marked the first time they were all shown off in prototype form. Fisker hopes to put more than one of the cars into production within the next couple of years - an ambitious target given, as Reuters notes, the supply chain disruptions the small... Continue reading...
 |
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6DHWW)
Great news for Android users who are still mourning the loss of Google Inbox. | Image: Shortwave Shortwave - an email app for iOS and the web that serves as the spiritual successor to Google Inbox - has fully arrived on Android devices following 18 months of beta testing. Version 1.0 of Shortwave is available to download via Google Play. The basic version is free to use, though you'll need to pay a $9 monthly subscription to unlock premium features.Shortwave was specifically developed by a group of former Google employees to fill the gap left after Google shut down its innovative Gmail alternative in 2019. Inbox was fairly radical for its time compared to rival email clients, providing features like Bundles (which automatically organized your email by type) and Delivery Schedules to control when those Bundles would arrive in your... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6DHJH)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Every single one" of Amazon's businesses has multiple generative AI initiatives going right now," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on the company's Q2 2023 earnings call on Thursday. The company offers infrastructure and services via AWS that can help power many generative artificial intelligence applications, which Jassy did discuss on the call, but he also stressed just how important AI is across the company as a whole.Here's more from Jassy about those generative AI initiatives:
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6DHH2)
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is facing mounting criticism in the wake of last month's attack on Azure. In a post on LinkedIn, Amit Yoran, the CEO of the cybersecurity company Tenable, says Microsoft's cybersecurity track record is even worse than you think" - and he has an example to back it up.On July 12th, Microsoft disclosed a major breach targeting its Azure platform, which it traced to a Chinese hacking group known as Storm-0558. The attack affected around 25 different organizations and resulted in the theft of sensitive emails from US government officials. Last week, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to the US Department of Justice, asking it hold Microsoft accountable for negligent cybersecurity practices."
|
by Chris Welch on (#6DHEV)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge This April through June quarter is almost always Apple's most boring financial stretch of the entire year, and today's earnings release shows this year was no exception. The company reported revenue of $81.8 billion, down from $83 billion last year. With the new iPhone 15 series still a month and change away, last year's lineup is sagging in consumer demand somewhat and was down 2 percent compared to a year ago. That's not terrible considering how close we are to a new refresh. The smartphone industry is tough in the US right now," Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC.The rest of Apple's hardware portfolio wasn't as resilient. Mac sales were down year over year with no major new products announced except for a refreshed Mac Studio and... Continue reading...
 |
by Ash Parrish on (#6DHEW)
Image: Larian Studios There's a lot of ground to cover for such an expansive game, but here are some tips to get you started in your adventure. Continue reading...
|
 |
by Umar Shakir on (#6DHEX)
Wolfenstein: The New Order. | Image: Bethesda Bethesda's popular Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein games are making their way onto the GeForce Now cloud gaming service this month, Nvidia announced in a blog post. While Nvidia didn't reveal the specific titles in each franchise (although the post teases an image of Wolfenstein: The New Order), you must have the Ultimate or Priority membership to get access when they drop.The new additions are the first Bethesda titles available for streaming on GeForce Now and stem from a 10-year agreement between Nvidia and Microsoft, which owns Bethesda, that brings Xbox PC games onto the platform. Microsoft made the deal as part of its efforts to appease regulators as it moves closer to acquiring Activision Blizzard. The new Bethesda game additions... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6DHEY)
Photo by Arturo Holmes / Getty Images Three of Reddit's biggest communities are no longer focused entirely on John Oliver in a form of protest against Reddit. The subreddits had made the switch in June to push back on Reddit's API pricing that ultimately made some popular third-party apps shut down, but now, they're operating pretty much as they did before the protests.One of the subreddits, r/aww (which has more than 34 million subscribers), posted a long explanation for the change. While the r/aww community did vote overwhelmingly" for the John Oliver rule, it was never intended to be permanent," a moderator wrote in the post, which was published earlier this week. More than a month has passed, and as things on the internet go, the passion for the protest has waned and... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Sheena Vasani on (#6DHBH)
Sony's WF-1000XM4 are our favorite noise-canceling earbuds. | Image: Sony Whether you work from home or are trying to crank out a paper from a dorm, a good pair of noise-canceling wireless earbuds will help you focus. Sony's WF-1000XM4 are an excellent option that's hit a new all-time low. Right now, you can buy the earbuds for $169.95 in their lighter color ($110 off) at Amazon.Despite some battery drain issues the new Sony's WF-1000XM5 are supposed to fix, these are still otherwise excellent wireless earbuds for a ton of reasons. For one thing, they offer a terrific balance of superb sound and voice call quality. For another, they boast powerful noise cancellation along with multipoint support, too, so you can connect the earbuds to two Bluetooth devices at once. Sony's new WF-1000XM5 are more comfortable... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jay Peters on (#6CRS4)
Image: Universal Pictures The Super Mario Bros. Movie is officially available to stream. Starting today, you can watch the box office giant exclusively on Peacock.The movie has been an absolute smash hit, breaking $1 billion at the box office less than a month after it hit theaters. And with good reason: it's a new gold standard for video game films. I have to imagine that means it'll be a popular movie when it hits Peacock, too - though if you want to own a copy for yourself, you can currently buy it on digital platforms or on Blu-Ray.The Super Mario Bros Movie isn't the only video game adaptation available on Peacock. Twisted Metal, a TV series based on the PlayStation vehicular combat series, debuted at the end of July. And the spooky-looking Five Nights At... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Emma Roth on (#6DH7Y)
Image: Google Google is making it a lot easier to find and remove your contact information from its search results. The company will now send out notifications when it finds your address, phone number, or email on the web, allowing you to review and request the removal of that information from Search.All this takes place from Google's results about you" dashboard on mobile and web, which it first rolled out last September. With the update, you can find your information on Google without actually having to conduct the search yourself. Once you input your personal information, the dashboard will automatically pull up websites that contain any matches, letting you review each webpage it appears on and then submit a request to remove it. ... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Makena Kelly on (#6DH7Z)
Graphic by James Bareham / The Verge Pornhub operator MindGeek has blocked all users in Arkansas from the site after the state's new age verification law went into effect on Tuesday.The Arkansas law, SB 66, doesn't ban Pornhub from operating in the state, but it requires porn sites to verify that a user is 18 by confirming their age with identifying documents. On Wednesday, Pornhub blocked all traffic from IP addresses based in Arkansas in protest, arguing that the law, which was intended to protect children, actually harms users.While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at... Continue reading...
|
by Jay Peters on (#6DH80)
Image: Disney / Pixar In June, Apple finally revealed its long-rumored Vision Pro headset, which lets users see immersive 3D worlds on an extremely premium device. There's just one problem: someone needs to build those worlds, and building them requires a lot of work.But that's not only going to be on Apple; the company's also looking to developers to make great apps for the headset. So to help make it easier to build that 3D content, Apple has teamed up with a bunch of big companies working in 3D tech to announce an alliance that could change the way 3D projects are made.The Alliance for OpenUSD - a group formed by Apple, Pixar, Adobe, Autodesk, and Nvidia - aims to standardize and develop a technology called Universal Scene Description (USD) that was... Continue reading...
 |
by Umar Shakir on (#6DH81)
Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images Starting next year, most US taxpayers will be able to file their taxes completely paperless with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The move will precede the agency's initiative of getting to total paperless processing by the 2025 tax season, saving 200 million sheets of paper annually and cutting tax processing times in half.This isn't some IRS tax preparation service that kicks services like TurboTax from your life - although the agency plans to test its own free tax prep service for some taxpayers next year. However, taxpayers can switch to paperless filings in 2024, which could speed up their refund time by several weeks."Digital filings can reduce headaches for taxpayers and IRS staff since correspondence like document... Continue reading...
|
by Richard Lawler on (#6DH82)
Image: EA More than four years after its explosive launch shook up the battle royale market, Apex Legends is looking for yet another fresh start (no, that fresh start doesn't include any updates about cross-progression or 120fps on consoles) when its new season, Resurrection, launches on August 8th at 1PM ET.In the new season, the Apex developers are undertaking a campaign to rework and revisit existing elements, starting with one of the game's older characters, Revenant.Season 17 added a well-received new character in Ballistic and brought some needed changes to maps like World's Edge, plus a new firing range area to train in. Unfortunately, it also added enough scoring changes to the ranked system that an unprecedented number of players... Continue reading...
 |
by Jon Porter on (#6DH83)
Nothing may only have been around for a short couple of years, but the startup is already launching an affordable sub-brand. Speaking during the company's latest community update, Nothing CEO Carl Pei said that the company's new CMF by Nothing" brand aims to offer a new range of products that make better design more accessible."The first pair of products carrying the branding will be a new pair of earbuds and a smartwatch. Both will arrive later this year, with more details promised in the coming months. In case you're wondering, CMF" apparently stands for Color, Material, and Finish" in reference to the design philosophy of a similar name. While the main Nothing brand will focus on design innovation" that's premium" and uses the... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Jess Weatherbed on (#6DH4B)
Brave Search will still redirect users to alternative services for more advanced image and video search capabilities for now. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Brave, best known for its privacy-focused web browser, is adding image and video search to Brave Search that now relies on the company's own private index instead of Bing or Google.In a press release published on Thursday, Brave says this new image and video feature for Brave Search - the default search engine used by the Brave browser - is designed to preserve user privacy and be resistant to censorship. Certain capabilities like advanced filters for license type and aspect ratio will not be immediately available but will be added soon," according to Brave. Image: Brave Now, any images retrieved while using Brave Search (as pictured) will utilize the company's own index instead of relying on third-party APIs.... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6DH4C)
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. | Image: Paramount Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a classic retelling of its pizza-obsessed heroes' origin story that's elevated by phenomenal art direction. Continue reading...
|
 |
by Mia Sato on (#6DH4D)
Image: The Verge Two simultaneous issues with payments on Patreon are causing problems for both creators and fans.Some Patreon creators are unable to access their earnings due to an issue with a payout provider. The issue first began earlier this week with creators saying their payout attempts were failing.At the same time, some Patreon subscribers are getting notices that their payments are being flagged as fraudulent by their banks. As a result, fans are seeing canceled subscriptions, with some saying they're unable to see the list of creators they were subscribed to before. On Reddit, one creator said they suddenly lost hundreds of subscribers on August 1st.Patreon spokesperson Ellen Satterwhite says the two issues are unrelated. Satterwhite says... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6DH4F)
Image: 8BitDo Nobody likes stick drift in their game controllers, but everybody loves a good deal. So this sale on the 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller and its drift-free Hall effect sticks is a perfect solution. You can get the white version of the controller with its included charging / receiver dock for $55.99 ($15 off) at Amazon.8BitDo's Ultimate controllers come in a few flavors (both wired and wireless), but this Bluetooth version is made for the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows PCs. It's got some pro-level software features - like button remapping, stick and trigger response curves, and custom profiles - that you can tweak via an app, and it even has two mappable rear buttons. But its biggest strength is its magnetic Hall effect... Continue reading...
|
 |
by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#54306)
Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge Wired or wireless, stripped-down or packed to the gills with buttons or RGB or both, these are the best gaming mice you can get right now. Continue reading...
|