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GM has confirmed that its Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance system will be made available to a total of 22 vehicles globally by the end of 2023. | Image: General Motors General Motors has announced the first vehicles to access its recently-expanded Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance system (ADAS).Super Cruise is available only on certain roads, with GM announcing an expansion to its network back in August. The expansion doubled the size of the Super Cruise network in North America and Canada, which covers over 400,000 miles of roads. Now, GM has revealed the first vehicles to have access to this expansion:

Atari Karts on the Jaguar. | Image: Atari The new retro collection is a cross between an interactive documentary and a virtual museum exhibition. Continue reading…

He did it. | Image: The Pokémon Company The day has finally come: famed pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum is the very best. The moment, 25 seasons in the making, happened earlier this morning in the latest episode of the Netflix series Pokémon Ultimate Journeys, when Ash won the “Masters Eight Tournament of the Pokémon World Coronation Series,” making him the top trainer in the world. The episode aired first in Japan and will be coming to the rest of the world “in the future.”As fans of the Pokémon animated series already know, being the very best, like no one ever was, has always been the goal for Ash and his pal Pikachu since the show debuted in 1997. Just look how happy he looks holding that trophy. If nothing else, the win is a great lesson in perseverance. There’s currently... Continue reading…

A penny for your tweets. | Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Elon Musk seems intent on turning Twitter into a bank, complete with what he describes as a “high-yield money market account,” debit cards, checks, and loans. He described his plans during a last-minute meeting with staff today, and you can read a full transcript of that here.Musk broached the topic of payments during his introduction, saying that “I think there’s this transformative opportunity in payments,” adding that the goal is “enabling people on Twitter to able to send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time. We just want to make it as useful as possible.” He said that the feature, along with “video content and compensating content creators” and improving search, is a “high priority.”Musk says he’ll do a lot of... Continue reading…

Musk spoke to Twitter employees today. | Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images With Twitter staff still reeling from mass layoffs and executive resignations, Musk took questions from employees for nearly an hour. Here’s everything he said. Continue reading…

You actually get two of these. | Image: Tumblr Tumblr has been enjoying a resurgence thanks to some recent policy changes and ongoing chaos at Twitter, and that’s drawn a few real-world celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Lynda Carter to the platform. Unlike most big social networks, though, Tumblr doesn’t verify high-profile accounts’ authenticity. That’s caused a little confusion since, without a link from some known off-platform account, it’s almost impossible to tell if these accounts are real. Fortunately, Tumblr is rolling out a new feature that will do absolutely nothing to change this — and you can buy it for a one-time fee of $7.99.The Tumblr Important Blue Internet Checkmark is the latest of a few joke items Tumblr sells on its web store, and it does about what you’d... Continue reading…

Nick Barclay / The Verge Earlier this year, Google announced a pilot that would allow Spotify (and eventually other apps) to bypass the standard Google Play billing on Android in favor of their own payment systems. Crucially, Google still gets a cut of those payments under this new User Choice Billing initiative, but in Spotify’s words, it still represents progress toward greater “platform fairness and expanded payment options.” And now, the streaming music service has begun actually testing User Choice Billing in select markets.“Going forward, Android users will soon be able to choose how to pay for their Spotify subscription in the way that best suits them,” Spotify wrote in a newsroom post. “Google has taken a bold step to help level the playing field, but... Continue reading…

Amazon might be changing how it thinks about Alexa. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Amazon’s Alexa assistant is under the microscope as part of a major cost-cutting review headed up by CEO Andy Jassy, according to The Wall Street Journal. Alexa has become a major part of Amazon’s devices and smart home strategy, but documents seen by the WSJ indicate that the company’s entire devices unit has had an operating loss exceeding $5 billion in some recent years.As part of the review, Amazon is looking into whether it should “focus on trying to add new capabilities to Alexa,” the WSJ writes. It’s unclear exactly what that means, but it appears the company is considering lessening its investments in a product that seemingly doesn’t bring in much money on its own.In a statement, the company voiced support for Alexa but didn’t... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge Wear OS is much better than it used to be, so there’s never been a better time to consider a smartwatch. Continue reading…

Whoop’s new study shows changes in heart rate variability ahead of delivery. | Image: Whoop Monitoring changes in heart rate in pregnant people may be a way to screen for people who will deliver prematurely, according to new data from researchers working at wearable company Whoop.Preterm birth is risky and can lead to health complications for both the parent and the infant. But it’s hard to predict who might be likely to go into labor early. “Accessible, noninvasive screening options for premature birth can serve as early warning signs for pregnant people, giving them more time to find and administer interventions to improve health outcomes,” said Elizabeth Cherot, chief medical officer of the medical practice Axia Women’s Health, in a statement from Whoop.The Whoop wearable device calculates users’ heart rate variability,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge What if you had access to everything the internet knows about you, and what if you could use it to make your life better? That’s what Mem is trying to figure out. Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk sent his first email to Twitter employees on Wednesday evening, warning of a “challenging economic climate” ahead and the need for the company to launch Twitter Blue verified subscriptions to help “survive the upcoming economic downturn.”After laying off half of Twitter’s workforce and gutting entire teams, Musk is battling advertisers who have paused their ad spend on the service in response to his takeover, chaotic management style, and his own tweets. Musk launched a new Twitter Blue subscription for $7.99 a month on Wednesday, allowing anyone in supported countries to pay for verification.“We need roughly half of our revenue to be subscription,” says Musk in his email to employees, but the verification push is off to a... Continue reading…

Image: KFC Fast food chain KFC sent customers in Germany a message encouraging them to “treat [themselves]” to the restaurant’s food to mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the coordinated anti-Jewish attacks by the Nazi Party many consider to be the beginning of the Holocaust.

COURTESY OF NETFLIX Earlier this year, Netflix dropped a Dragon Age-shaped bomb on me when it announced that it was producing a new miniseries in collaboration with BioWare taking place in the Dragon Age universe. That miniseries, Dragon Age: Absolution, is almost here, due to hit the streaming service on December 9th, and we have a first look at the newest trailer.Dragon Age: Absolution is like Ocean’s Eleven, Dragon Age-style, wherein a group of misfit warriors, outcasts, and ne’er-do-wells team up to steal a mysterious artifact from a powerful mage. The show features the voice talents of Kimberly Brooks, Matt Mercer, Ashly Burch, and Phil LaMarr. But beyond the phenomenal voice actors and slick animation, I’m singularly concerned with one thing, and one... Continue reading…

If you’re worried that John Wick will finally meet his demise in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, the character has some reassuring words for you: “maybe not.”After making its debut with a brief teaser at San Diego Comic-Con, we now have the first proper look at the fourth John Wick film. And while it offers plenty of familiar faces and action, the focus of the clip is the new: most notably, the new management, played by Bill Skarsgård. Apparently, he and John (Keanu Reeves) will have to fight to the death in single combat. As the official description explains, John “uncovers a path to defeating the High Table, but before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro Meanwhile, Musk’s personal lawyer is telling people ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.’ Continue reading…

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Elon Musk has sent his first email to Twitter employees, warning them to prepare for a “dire” economy and putting an immediate end to remote work.In the email sent to Twitter staff late Wednesday evening and obtained by The Verge, Musk warned that a weaker economic environment in the US would mean difficulties for the company’s ads business. “Frankly, the economic picture ahead is dire, especially for a company like ours that is so dependent on advertising in a challenging economic climate,” he wrote. “Moreover, 70% of our advertising is brand, rather than specific performance, which makes us doubly vulnerable!”“Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn.”... Continue reading…

AirDrop in China is now limited to just ten minutes of wireless file-sharing for “Everyone” following its use in protests against the Chinese government. | Image: Bloomberg Apple has placed time restrictions on AirDrop wireless file-sharing across iPhones in China after the feature was used by protesters to share images opposing the Chinese government, Bloomberg reports.The “Everyone” option in Airdrop is now limited to a ten-minute window for users in China. After the ten minutes have passed, AirDrop’s device-to-device sharing will switch back to “Contacts Only,” making it harder to distribute content to strangers en masse. These new time restrictions have been introduced by Apple just weeks after the service was used to spread posters opposing president Xi Jinping.iOS 16.1.1 release notes make no mention of the new limitationsThe AirDrop restriction was included in the public release of iOS 16.1.1 on... Continue reading…

Philips Hue’s new Festavia smart string lights cost $160. | Image: Signify With pumpkins being put out to pasture and turkeys starting to gobble, it's time to think about decorating your home for the winter holidays. Be it Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Solstice, any celebration can be glammed up with some smart lighting, and Philips Hue’s new Festavia string lights look like a good option for a little extra wow.The $159.99 string of smart lights features 250 mini color-changing smart LEDs along a 66-foot / 20-meter cord. These indoor lights are suitable for swirling around your Christmas tree, stringing up your staircase, or draping over your mantlepiece to bring a touch of holiday magic to your home. They’re available to order now at philips-hue.com. Image: Signify The Hue Festavia... Continue reading…

Calorie data can only ever be a very rough estimate. Like many other first-gen devices, the Google Pixel Watch has a lot of quirks. So far, early users have reported that the watch dramatically overreported calorie burn due to a bug. According to Android Police, the Pixel Watch team is aware of the issue and suggests rebooting the device could fix the problem. That said, it’s an apt reminder that calorie burn isn’t a reliable metric.In the Pixel Watch’s case, the bug appears to have impacted how a user’s basal metabolic rate was calculated. Basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is essentially the number of calories you burn every day simply existing. It’s calculated based on factors like your age, weight, sex, and height. If you put in the wrong data, you’re going to get the wrong calorie burn.... Continue reading…

Samar Haddad / The Verge There are a number of legitimate reasons that you’d want to record a phone call. For example, when you’re talking to a medical professional about, say, test results, you may want to make sure that you got all the information right. Or if you’re interviewing somebody for an article or for a job position, you may want to be able to make sure you remember the conversation accurately. Or if an older member of your family suddenly launches into a story about one of your grandparents, it might be nice to have a record of it.Unfortunately, though, it’s become nearly impossible to record a phone call. As I explained in a previous article, federal law in the US says that you can legally record a phone conversation but only if you are taking part... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro Twitter just rolled out the new Twitter Blue with verification, and one unsaid feature is that it will let you see who is paying the $7.99 per month fee for their blue check mark.For as long as I can remember, Twitter has offered additional context about verification check marks when you click on them on someone’s profile. The old context message stated that accounts were verified because they were “notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category,” with a link to Twitter’s support page about verification. Now, clicking someone’s blue check just says that “this account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue,” also with a link to the verification support page.