The Verge

Choi Seung-hyun, Lee Jin-uk, Won Ji-an, Park Gyu-young, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Jo Yu-ri, Roh Jae-won, the additional cast members of Squid Game season 2. | Netflix While Squid Game's upcoming second season still doesn't have a hard release date just yet, Netflix has just revealed the final eight new cast members set to join the hit series when it returns.Apropos of Squid Game's cast and showrunners getting together for their first table read of season 2 scripts, Netflix announced today that the show's cast will include Park Gyu-young (Sweet Home, Celebrity), former Iz*One member Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim (Be Melodramatic, Move to Heaven), Lee David (The Fortress, Svaha: The Sixth Finger), Lee Jin-uk (Sweet Home, Miss Granny), Choi Seung-hyun (Tazza: The Hidden Card), Roh Jae-won (Missing Yoon, Ditto), and Won Ji-an (D.P.)Previously, Netflix announced that season 1 cast members Lee Jung-jae, Wi... Continue reading...

The Asus Zenfone comes in an eye-catching red this year. Android phones are categorically ginormous, so every summer over the past few years, when a new Asus Zenfone has come around, it's been kind of a treat for the small phone fans among us. The Zenfone 10 continues the tradition of providing flagship-grade specs in a small" package - and yes, a 5.9-inch screen is considered small these days. We're grading on a curve.This year's Zenfone comes with wireless charging, which was missing from the previous models. It's a little tricky to get working with some stand-style chargers because of its small stature - the charging coil on the phone seems to be just out of reach on my Belkin Qi charger, and I can only get it charging on a Pixel Stand (2nd gen) if I press it up against the middle of the... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google and Facebook alumna Lexi Reese launched her campaign for US Senate in California Thursday - but you won't see that announcement on Twitter.Reese, who previously helped lead advertising for both Facebook and Google, said her campaign won't be using Twitter due to Elon Musk's leadership at the company. Specifically, Reese cited the platform's reported rise in hate speech and racial slurs since Musk's 2022 takeover as the reason her campaign is avoiding it.We should all support - as much as possible - people and businesses with whom we share values and motivations," Reese said in a statement to The Verge Wednesday. Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter has been increasingly divisive, racist, and sexist. It's a dumpster fire and... Continue reading...

The updates should take a week or so to fully roll out across the platform. | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images Warner Bros. Discovery has started fixing the controversial creator" credits section on its recently relaunched Max streaming platform over a month following the company apologizing for snubbing the talent behind films and TV shows. According to Deadline, the entertainment giant began revising the credit sections across its various platforms earlier this week - which currently lump together writers, directors, producers, and more as nondescript creators."This is a credits violation for starters," Meredith Stiehm, president of Writers Guild of America West, said last month. But worse, it is disrespectful and insulting to the artists that make the films and TV shows that make their corporation billions."The updated credit sections... Continue reading...

Image: Netflix The end of an era. Continue reading...

The existing Beats Solo Pro, which were released in 2019. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Weeks after 9to5Mac revealed some initial details of Beats unannounced Studio Pro headphones, the publication has followed up with what appears to be a complete list of specs for the over-ears. They're expected to have a premium price tag of $349 and the Apple-owned audio brand could announce them as soon as next month.Headline specs include a battery life that extends up to 40 hours with active noise cancellation and transparency mode turned off, or 24 hours with either feature turned on. There's support for Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking when used with compatible Apple devices as well as personalized spatial audio, two features that have previously been available with the true wireless Beats Fit Pro. I... Continue reading...

There are still a few hoops to jump through before the EUs AI regulations can take effect. | Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images It's taken over two years for the European Parliament to approve its artificial intelligence regulations - but AI development hasn't been idle. Continue reading...

Image: Netflix We've only had two seasons of The Witcher on Netflix, but the show has already had somewhat of an identity crisis. It started off with a bang, with a big, bloody debut that showed exactly why the books and games before it were so beloved. It was dark yet funny, full of action, sexual tension, and all kinds of cool monsters - plus an excellent Henry Cavill as the gruff and lovable Geralt of Rivia. Season 2, meanwhile, lost some of that personality as it attempted to tell a more grand - and typical - fantasy story while also deviating significantly from the books. Things got even more off-track with the prequel Blood Origin.Now we have season 3, which is being split into two volumes and which will mark the end of Cavill's run as Geralt (t... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit is pressuring moderators who have set their subreddits to private to reopen their communities this week, according to messages seen by The Verge. The company has given moderators deadlines to lay out their plans for reopening but said that they can't stay closed.The timeframes given generally indicate a deadline of sometime Thursday afternoon. Reddit was vague about the exact repercussions but seemed to suggest this was the final warning stage.This community remaining closed to its [millions of] members cannot continue" beyond the deadline, the admin (Reddit employee) account ModCodeofConduct wrote in a note to one of the biggest Reddit communities that's still private.That is not going to continue"After a mod replied,... Continue reading...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appears at court for FTC v. Microsoft. | Photo by Loren Elliott / Getty Images Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he'd love" to get rid of console game exclusives but blames Sony for defining the market and competition. Nadella made the comments as part of testimony in FTC v. Microsoft today, discussing Microsoft's cloud gaming strategy, internal gaming targets, and much more.When discussing the ideal of Microsoft being focused on software across as many platforms as possible, Nadella was asked about Xbox exclusives. Here's what he said:

Image: Plex Plex laid off 37 people on Monday, a figure that represents more than 20 percent of the company's staff, according to a Slack message from CEO Keith Valory obtained by The Verge. The layoffs affect every department," Valory wrote.Plex offers a popular media server app that lets people upload and stream their own content, but in recent years, it's bet big on adding free, ad-supported (FAST) movies and shows and live TV. But like many others in streaming, it seems Plex has found it can be tough to make money in the business right now.Plex's ad business has been significantly impacted" by the downturn in global advertising markets, Valory said, and unfortunately, we cannot know how long ad markets and pricing will continue to be... Continue reading...

The Fold's inner screen - as on any folding phone - is much more susceptible to damage than your typical phone display. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The Google Pixel Fold was only officially released yesterday, and unfortunately, we're seeing some of the first major casualties of Hot Foldable Summer. Reports of broken and damaged screens are starting to trickle in, ranging from Hmm, that might not be great" to Oh dear God, the humanity."First, there's the very unfortunate incident that Ron Amadeo over at Ars Technica experienced: OLED death in no uncertain terms. He reports that a tiny bit of debris likely got into the inner screen's small gutter" between the screen protector and bezels and was smashed into the panel by the two halves of the phone closing. A Fold owner on Reddit is also reporting some small dents in this same area of the screen - they haven't noticed the screen... Continue reading...

Photo by Anthony Wallace / AFP via Getty Images Sony has just revealed lots of highly confidential information about its PlayStation business by mistake. As part of the FTC v. Microsoft hearing, Sony supplied a document from PlayStation chief Jim Ryan that includes redacted details on the margins Sony shares with publishers, its Call of Duty revenues, and even the cost of developing some of its games.It looks like Sony redacted the documents with a black Sharpie - but when you scan them in, it's easy to see some of the redactions. Oops.The court has scrambled to remove the document, but the damage is done; reporters and Sony's competition have already downloaded all the documents while they were in the public domain. Among other things, the document shows that Horizon Forbidden... Continue reading...

The Astra Carta seal | Image: Sustainable Markets Initiative Jony Ive and his team at LoveFrom have made a new design for King Charles III called the Astra Carta" seal. The seal is meant to represent the UK's call to action for public and private sectors to work together on responsible and sustainable use of outer space. It marks his second project for King Charles this year after LoveFrom made a royal emblem to herald the King's recent coronation earlier.The seal, which is animated on the sustainability initiative's official site, is a circular badge with the all-caps Latin words ASTRA CARTA" planted in the middle beneath a crown. In the center, a blue dot represents the planet Earth, while constellations, the Sun, the Moon, and the flowery path taken by Venus surround it. Around the outside... Continue reading...

Image: OpenAI People apparently find tweets more convincing when they're written by AI language models. At least, that was the case in a new study comparing content created by humans to language generated by OpenAI's model GPT-3.The authors of the new research surveyed people to see if they could discern whether a tweet was written by another person or by GPT-3. The result? People couldn't really do it. The survey also asked them to decide whether the information in each tweet was true or not. This is where things get even dicier, especially since the content focused on science topics like vaccines and climate change that are subject to a lot of misinformation campaigns online.Turns out, study participants had a harder time recognizing... Continue reading...

Home Screen will be available for most" Vizio smart TVs from 2016 and later. | Image: Vizio Today, Vizio is announcing a completely overhauled homescreen experience for its TVs that will eventually make its way to models dating back as far as 2016. The new interface looks sleeker and more modern than the company's existing SmartCast OS. And Vizio went the direct route with branding: the new software is just called Home Screen.Take one look at the revamped user experience and it's immediately clear where Vizio drew inspiration from: this basically looks like its own streaming service. All the telltale signs are there. A column of navigation icons on the far left? Check. There's the usual hero slot at the top with immersive artwork, custom typefaces / logos, and autoplaying video.It's much easier to tell at a glance which... Continue reading...

Image: SAG-AFTRA Ahead of SAG-AFTRA's current labor contract with the AMPTP expiring on June 30th, hundreds of the union's members have signed an open letter to leadership warning that they are more than ready to strike if a new deal properly addressing all of their concerns isn't hammered out.Earlier this week, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland posted a curious video update in which they said that they couldn't provide any real details about the union's negotiations with the AMPTP for confidentiality reasons.SAG-AFTRA's members already voted in favor of authorizing a strike earlier this month. But the latest update from the union's leadership raised red flags that over 300 actors, including... Continue reading...

The Shop tab is rolling out today both in the US and globally. | Image: Google Free ad-supported streaming TV is the burgeoning new trend that everyone's getting in on, and we've all got our favorite shows on Netflix and other services, but what about those times when you just want to spontaneously rent or, dare I suggest, buy a movie? If you've got a TV or streaming box that runs Google's Android TV platform, those archaic rentals and digital purchases are about to get a little more convenient - and easier to find. Starting today, Android TV is adding a Shop tab to the main navigation that will appear alongside Search, Home, Discover, and Apps.The shop tab lets you explore movies to buy or rent and make purchases directly on your Android TV," Google wrote in a blog post. So whether you are searching for a new... Continue reading...

LG has released its $99 Smart Cam. | Image: LG Electronics LG Electronics announced today it's releasing a webcam for its TVs called the LG Smart Cam (VC23GA). It's a $99 1080p camera with dual microphones, a physical privacy shutter, and support for webOS's multi-view feature, which shows two apps in a split-screen view on the TV. The webcam is supported on any TV running webOS 22 or webOS 23.LG is pitching this camera as a way to do videoconferencing at home using the webOS RemoteMeeting app, LG's web-based videoconferencing service. On the fitness side, it's compatible with Exercite, which uses the webcam to analyze your movements and give you live feedback, and Flexit, a fitness platform with one-on-one wellness and exercise coaching. There's also a K-pop dance app called Home Dance by 1M,... Continue reading...

Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images FTC v. Microsoft day three was all about Sony's objection to the Activision Blizzard deal, its bet against Game Pass, and a cloudy future. Continue reading...

Technology craves a narrative but often has a short memory for history. As a publication that contributes to that - The Verge lives in the news cycle, after all - we wanted to praise the form of writing that lasts: the book. How else do we move forward if we can't remember the past? So we set out with the audacious goal to define the best books about tech out there.We were less interested in works that are supposedly influential and more in ones that have endured, with ideas that are still relevant today, stories that have captured something essential about technology, and writing that's made us stand up in our seats. These books don't project a single vision of what tech is but continue to challenge what it can be.We imposed a few... Continue reading...

Image: OnLeaks via SmartPrix After OnePlus confirmed that it's launching a foldable phone earlier this year, now we finally have some information about what to expect. A set of leaked specs provided to MySmartPrice by OnLeaks reveals that the device, which may be called the OnePlus V Fold, could come with an impressive 7.8-inch inner display.That's larger than the 7.6-inch inner screens on both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Google Pixel Fold, but it still doesn't beat the China-exclusive Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, which comes with an 8-inch inner display.Both the OnePlus V Fold's 6.3-inch outer display and the larger inside screen are expected to have OLED panels with 2K resolution and 120Hz refresh rates. The leak hints at the addition of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8... Continue reading...

Image: 1Password After years of having to manage 1Password user accounts on the web alone, the company is finally bringing family account management to the app itself. Beginning Tuesday, administrators (otherwise known as Family Organizers") can manage the user accounts connected to a 1Password Family membership from the company's macOS, Windows, Linux, and Android apps instead of having to log in to the website, the company announced in a blog post. The new feature will be coming to the company's iOS app later this week."Administrators can now invite new members or guests to a 1Password Family account by navigating to the Manage Accounts section within the app menu. These users can monitor the status of the invitations they send out, with options to... Continue reading...

Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images It's surprisingly easy for someone to mess with the makeup of Earth's atmosphere, regardless of the consequences that could have for our planet. Now, as part of its plans to address security risks posed by climate change, the European Union is calling for talks on a potential international framework on how to treat deliberately atmosphere-altering technologies, AKA geoengineering.The idea with geoengineering is to deploy new technologies that might be able to cool the planet down. The tactic that's caused the most uproar lately is called solar geoengineering, which are basically attempts to manipulate the planet's ability to reflect sunlight back into space.The issue is that scientists aren't quite sure how much good that would do or... Continue reading...

Sony's latest flagship headphones tout a new design while retaining the superb noise cancellation for which the series is known. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Whether you fully intend to celebrate our nation's independence this weekend or skip it entirely, that doesn't change the fact the Fourth of July remains one of the best times of the year to pick up a smorgasbord of discounted tech. Unsurprisingly, a number of retailers have launched a selection of early sales in the run-up to the holiday - including eBay, which is giving shoppers a chance to save 20 on select gadgets when they use promo code SAVE4JULY4TH at checkout.There are pages upon pages of eligible products - I should know, I combed through 15 of them - but one of the better deals that's still available is for Sony's WH-1000XM5s, which are going for $318.40 (about $82 off) on eBay via Electronic Express. The XM5s continue to be... Continue reading...

GM hasn't provided a price or release date for any of its new Ultium Home products. | Image: GM Energy GM Energy - the energy company created by GM to sell batteries, charging equipment, solar panels, and software to residential and commercial customers - just announced its first batch of energy management products that will be available under its residential business unit, Ultium Home. Three distinct product bundles will be available at launch: two are designed to take advantage of the bidirectional charging capabilities of certain GM EVs, while a third doesn't require an electric GM vehicle at all.Compatible GM EVs equipped with the company's bidirectional V2H (vehicle-to-home) charging tech lets homeowners use their parked vehicle as a backup energy source that can power their homes during outages. For them, there are two Ultium Home... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is improving Windows 11's support for the new passkey standard that aims to replace passwords with a more secure and convenient way of logging in. A recent Insider Preview Build (23486) now lets you use Windows Hello natively to create and sign in to supported applications and websites using passkeys, where you'll be asked to prove your identity using a PIN, fingerprint, or face scan.According to Microsoft, you can set up the feature by going to a website that's added passkey support, creating a passkey in its settings, and then logging out to get the option to sign in with the new security method. On Edge or Chrome, the option to sign in with a passkey should be under the Windows Hello or external security key" option.... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge DoorDash is making a big change to the way couriers get paid. In an announcement on Wednesday, DoorDash says it will start giving couriers the ability to earn hourly rates on top of tips.With the update, couriers will now see the option to earn by time," which offers a guaranteed hourly minimum rate for the time they spend on making deliveries. According to DoorDash, the clock starts as soon as a courier accepts an order and ends when it's dropped off. Image: DoorDash DoorDash couriers will be able to choose the earn by time' option. That marks a big shift from the way things are currently set up, which has couriers earning a base pay based on various factors about an order, like time, distance, and... Continue reading...

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge The European Parliament and Council of the EU have reached a provisional agreement on a new Data Act that aims to regulate how consumer and corporate data can be used and accessed in the bloc. The agreement was welcomed by EU industry chief Thierry Breton, who called it a milestone in reshaping the digital space" that will create a thriving [EU] data economy that is innovative & open - on our conditions."In short, the legislation aims to give end users in the EU more control over the data generated when using connected devices, Reuters notes. As a press release from the European Commission (which proposed the act last year) explains, this includes letting users access the data generated by smart objects, machines, and devices, and... Continue reading...

Image: HMD HMD's Nokia G42 is the company's latest smartphone designed to be easy for users to repair from spare parts and kits sold in partnership with iFixit. The purple version of the device with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is going on sale in the UK from today for 199 (around $255), and will be available in Europe for 249. There'll also be a model with 4GB of RAM sold in select European markets for around 229, but there's no sign of either model coming to the US for now.Like the Nokia G22 announced earlier this year, HMD is focusing on making four key components easy to replace if they break or wear out over time: the phone's battery, screen, charging port, and back cover. HMD plans to make spare parts available from iFixit for five... Continue reading...

Belt drive, removable battery, smooth automatic shifting, and built to be serviced anywhere. This Dutch e-bike checks all the boxes. Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google is laying off employees at Waze, CNBC reported on Tuesday. The company is moving Waze over to Google's ads system, and that change will mean cuts at Waze in sales, marketing, operations and analytics," Chris Phillips, VP and GM of Google's Geo unit, wrote in an email seen by the publication. Phillips' email didn't indicate the number of jobs that would be cut at Waze, which has more than 500 staffers, according to CNBC.Waze confirmed the layoffs in a statement to The Verge. Google remains deeply committed to growing Waze's unique brand, its beloved app and its thriving community of volunteers and users," Caroline Bourdeau, Waze's head of PR, said in the statement. In order to create a better, more seamless long term... Continue reading...

This is a Google prototype, but is it the one Google killed? | Image: Google Last January, we revealed Google was building an AR headset, too - Project Iris" would be the company's bet against the then-yet-to-be-announced headgear from Meta and Apple. But now that its rivals have been revealed, Google is reportedly pulling the plug on glasses-shaped AR: Insider is reporting that Google has shelved its plans for Project Iris, citing three people familiar with the matter."Remember Google's fancy translation glasses from last year's Google I/O that we called vaporware? If true, this report would mean those glasses are no more. It would also likely mean the versions with transcription and navigation features, which Google said it would test in public beginning last July, are also no longer in the works.A... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.Hope everyone is gearing up for the dog days of summer. Today's issue includes a Q&A I did with Chris Morrow, the newly hired head of audio at Plan B - the production company founded by Brad Pitt that has produced films like Women Talking, Blonde, The Big Short, and many others.The now over 20-year-old Hollywood production powerhouse has undergone a few recent changes. Last year, Pitt sold 60 percent of Plan B to French media conglomerate Mediawan in a deal that is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions. The acquisition is a part of Mediawan's strategy to expand to English-speaking markets and acquire more IP, of which audio is... Continue reading...

Image: OpenAI The ChatGPT app on iOS now lets paid users access information surfaced by Microsoft's Bing. In the app's most recent update, OpenAI says subscribers who pay for its $20 per month ChatGPT Plus plan receive up-to-date information from the web.Microsoft, which made a multibillion-dollar investment into OpenAI earlier this year, announced Bing would become the default search engine for ChatGPT during its Build event in May.The integration is already available as a beta to Plus users in the ChatGPT web app, which knows when and how to browse the internet to answer questions about recent topics and events." The free version of ChatGPT, on the other hand, is only capable of surfacing information up to the year 2021.To enable web browsing... Continue reading...

Image: Caltech Caltech has a new RC car-sized robot that can change its shape to drive, fly, and walk to meet the needs of the moment. In its press release, the university compares the M4 - short for Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot, which sounds like a rejected pitch for a '90s kids' show - to a Transformer, and it's not too far from the truth.The robot is packed with electronics, motors, and a small computer that lets it decide what form it should take to get around. The team that made it gave the M4 large wheels that can, in seconds, swing up to become something more akin to a drone's rotors and fly. It can also use its rotors to help it up a steep slope while the back wheels drive it forward from the ground, as described in a paper in Nature... Continue reading...

Photo by Micah Singleton / The Verge Summer is finally here, and we're hoping that we can, at least for a few days, take a breath (at least, as much of a breath as possible with wildfires blanketing Canada and the US with smoke), step out into the sunshine (hopefully, not too much, what with climate change and all), and enjoy a nice, restful vacation (assuming you're not attacked by a drug-crazed bear).Sorry. It's been that kind of year.In fact, because the year has been so... interesting, we asked the staff of The Verge to talk about what type of gear they plan to use to slow down and enjoy their summer. Hopefully, you'll be able to put aside some time to relax and take a break as well.Hats and packsA super sun hatEmma Roth, news writerDoing yard work in the summer... Continue reading...

Image: Apple No, this isn't another Mario Bros. Movie situation - this time, Apple has put up the entire first episode of its post-apocalyptic drama Silo on Twitter so anyone can watch for free. The move comes the same week that the series is set to air its season 1 finale, and not long after season 2 was officially confirmed.You can watch it right here: