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Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge Not all gadgets are meant to make life easier.Some gadgets break things, exploiting cracks in our digital systems, prying them open, and crawling inside. Most often used by penetration testers — a kind of white-hat hacker hired to test a company’s security by breaking in themselves — these gadgets serve as a kind of road map to the most common vulnerabilities in our digital world.For the most part, they’re commercialized versions of tech that already existed in a scrappier form, leaning on open-source software projects and decades of work developing attacks. But most importantly, they’re available, so if you decide you want to try out one of these attacks, the equipment is only a click away.Please use them only for good. Continue reading…

Harrison Ford will appear in the next Captain America movie. | Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images The rumors are true: Harrison Ford will be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’ll be taking over the role of General Ross in the fourth Captain America movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ross was previously played by William Hurt, who died earlier this year.Ford will join Anthony Mackie in Captain America: New World Order. Mackie will reprise his role as Sam Wilson and, after the events of the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America. The new movie is currently scheduled to debut on May 3rd, 2024.Ford has had something of a resurgence in tentpole movie franchises over the past several years, though many of his appearances have been reprisals. He came back to play Han Solo in Star Wars:... Continue reading…

The G Cloud Gaming Handheld from Logitech has a launch price of $349.99. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Happy Monday, campers, the Verge Deals team is back in action. While we aren’t seeing quite the same amount of exciting discounts we saw during last week’s Prime sale, there are still plenty of deals to take a look at. Starting off, if you’re excited about the impending release of Logitech’s new G Cloud Gaming Handheld, today is your last chance to preorder one and save $50 off the launch price at Best Buy, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld Our review of the Logitech handheld makes it clear that cloud gaming has an awful lot of potential in this form factor, even if it isn’t a perfect device by itself. The G Cloud differs from conventional gaming handhelds like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck in that... Continue reading…

Sony Electronics announced new over-the-counter hearing aids. | Image: Sony Electronics Hearing aids are now available over the counter for the first time in the United States. They’re on sale at places like Walgreens and Walmart, and companies like Sony have already developed new hearing aids for this new regulatory turn.The Food and Drug Administration announced the rule change allowing over-the-counter hearing aids in August. They go into effect Monday, opening up cheaper and more accessible options to people with mild to moderate hearing loss.Prescription hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars a pair. In contrast, Walmart will offer over-the-counter hearing aids at a price point ranging from $199–$999 per pair. “Offering easy access to OTC hearing aids — something that seems quite small — is a solution that can... Continue reading…

Wargaming Sydney helped to develop gaming architecture used by online titles and MMOs such as World of Tanks. | Image: Wargaming Video game developer and publisher Riot Games has announced its acquisition of Wargaming Sydney, a gaming software development studio that’s part of Cyprus-based Wargaming, the publisher behind titles such as World of Tanks and World of Warships. Riot did not disclose the price of the purchase.Wargaming Sydney is one of the largest games studios in Australia, formed under its original name of BigWorld back in 2002. It was by Wargaming in 2012. The studio has created game development tools and other software architecture required to develop online games such as MMOs. After the acquisition by Riot, Wargaming Sydney will be renamed Riot Sydney and will assist in the development of Riot games such as Valorant and League of Legends.W... Continue reading…

Speeds are going up for many plans. | Image: Comcast Comcast is upgrading internet speeds for more than 20 million Xfinity customers, the company announced Monday. The changes, which will affect “most of our customers” across the country, according to a statement from Bill Connors, president of Xfinity for Comcast Cable, roll out beginning this week. Speeds will go up at no extra charge.Here’s which plans are impacted and how much they’re changing, per a press release:

Persona 5 Royal is just as good as you might have hoped on Nintendo Switch. | Image: Atlus The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic machine for role-playing games; it’s something Nintendo has been aware of from the very start. The hybrid nature of the Switch makes it easy to settle in for hours-long sessions on your TV or, when you have just 15 minutes to spare on the bus, tackle a mission or battle in handheld mode.More than five and a half years in, the Switch has a robust library of RPGs, both new and old. But this month, two modern classics join that collection — including Persona 5 Royal, which is just as good as you might have hoped.Everything that made Persona 5 such a hit is intactI first played through Royal in 2020 on the PS4, and to me, the Switch version feels nearly exactly the same. Everything that made Persona 5... Continue reading…

Ye at Paris Fashion Week. | Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images Kanye West, the musician now known as Ye, is buying Parler, a social media platform that styles itself as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter. The acquisition was announced by Parler in a press release, which said that it has entered into an agreement in principle with Ye that’s expected to close later this year.“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” said Ye in a press statement.

The Chromecast with Google TV 4K, originally released in 2020. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Android 12 is rolling out for the 4K model of the Chromecast with Google TV, 9to5Google reports. The update for the 2020 streaming dongle follows the release of Google’s cheaper HD model last month, which shipped with Android 12 out of the box. To download the update on the 4K dongle, navigate to the profile icon at the top right of the interface, then hit Settings, System, About, and select System Update.The update doesn’t add any major new features to the two-year-old streaming dongle, but it contains a couple of new settings that should improve playback in certain situations. FlatPanelsHD reports that the biggest is a new frame rate matching feature that should cut down on judder by allowing the Chromecast to match the frame rate of... Continue reading…

Image: G4 TV Comcast is shutting down G4 after attempting to relaunch the gaming channel last year, according to a report from Deadline. The channel first appeared on linear cable back in 2002 until it met its demise as the final studio shows were axed in 2012, and it was eventually replaced by the Esquire Network.Dave Scott, the CEO of Comcast’s Spectacor division, announced the shutdown in an internal memo obtained by Deadline before it was even sent, saying that the channel has had low viewership and has not “achieved sustainable financial results.”

The EQE SUV will be out by 2023. | Image: Mercedes-Benz The Mercedes-Benz EQE has been SUV-ified. The German automaker revealed a higher riding, more utility-focused version of its EQE sedan, and while the price is still being kept under wraps, the EQE SUV is expected to hit US dealerships starting in 2023.We’ve known that we’d be getting an SUV version of the EQE sedan since it was first revealed last year. Mercedes did the same for its flagship EV, the EQS, coming out with the SUV version earlier this month. It’s the fourth EV to be built on the automaker’s new EV platform.Mercedes says the EQE SUV will be “the most spacious representatives of its class”With the EQE SUV, we’re getting three trim levels — one rear-motor and two dual-motor versions — as well as an AMG performance... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Microsoft failed to properly protect Windows PCs from malicious drivers for nearly three years, according to a report from Ars Technica. Although Microsoft says its Windows updates add new malicious drivers to a blocklist downloaded by devices, Ars Technica found these updates never actually stuck.This gap in coverage left users vulnerable to a certain type of attack called BYOVD, or bring your own vulnerable driver. Drivers are the files your computer’s operating system uses to communicate with external devices and hardware, such as a printer, graphics card, or webcam. Since drivers can access the core of a device’s operating system, or kernel, Microsoft requires that all drivers are digitally signed, proving that they are safe to use.... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple is working on a dock for the iPad that would allow the device to function as a smart display and speaker, according to a report to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The company reportedly plans on introducing the capability as soon as next year, converting the iPad into an Amazon Echo Show-like device that you can set atop a counter or nightstand.Amazon already does something similar with its Fire tablets, as the company lets users place the devices into a charging dock to prop them up like a smart display. Even Google announced a docking accessory for its upcoming Pixel Tablet last week, which is supposed to serve as both a magnetic charging station and speaker. Once the tablet’s in place, it’ll function like a Nest Hub Max, letting you... Continue reading…

This Xbox version of the Hammerhead HyperSpeed is the definitive version, so says Razer. It can work with PlayStation and Xbox, while the PS-specific version can’t work with Xbox. | Image: Razer To stand out from the many over-ear headsets that Razer has released for consoles, the company is bringing a new version of its Hammerhead wireless earbuds to PlayStation and Xbox in November for $149.99. Each console is getting its own color treatment of the Hammerhead HyperSpeed (white with blue accents for PlayStation, black with green for Xbox). This model features active noise cancellation — and of course, Chroma RGB lighting effects. Included with each is a USB-C audio transmitter along with a USB-C-to-A adapter since the Series X / S consoles don’t have a USB-C port.As you might have anticipated, each version handles connectivity a little differently but both support 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.2 for pairing with mobile... Continue reading…

$399.99 is an aggressive price for a promising Android handheld that has a 6.8-inch OLED screen with 144Hz refresh rate. | Image: Razer Razer is finally showing off the Edge, its portable Android gaming handheld. Good news: it looks a lot better than the last time we saw it in December 2021. There’s a lot to go over with this one. The Edge will release in a Wi-Fi-only version for $399.99 in January 2023, followed by a 5G-ready version through Verizon in early 2023. It’ll support the carrier’s ultra wideband and sub-6GHz networks. Razer’s following the Steam Deck reservation model, allowing people to pay $5 to reserve an Edge.It’s meant to be a great device for cloud game streaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia GeForce Now. Razer says that the Edge supports up to 144 frames per second through the Steam Link app when you’re streaming PC games locally. The Edge runs... Continue reading…

Image: Meta Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social universe set in virtual reality (VR), is reportedly struggling to gain and keep users. According to internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Horizon Worlds currently has around 200,000 monthly active users, a dip from the 300,000-user milestone Meta confirmed it hit back in February.Horizon Worlds lets users create (or visit) spaces where they can hang out, play games, meet other people, and chat with friends. The platform’s userbase actually increased tenfold following its expansion to all Quest users in the US and Canada last December, something the popularity of Meta’s Quest 2 headset during last year’s holiday shopping season likely contributed to as well.But now it looks like Meta’s... Continue reading…

Google’s Pixel 6 was a great value at $599, but a $200 discount makes it even more attractive. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge As expected, the sun has set on Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale, along with the litany of counter sales running elsewhere. Despite this, however, there are still plenty of solid deals to check out at Amazon and Best Buy, many of which are holdouts from earlier in the week. Some of these products may not be available for their lowest prices ever, true, but they’re still worth a look if you missed them earlier this week.A bit of housekeeping before we dig in, though. While there are plenty of other deals available today, you can also sign up for our sweepstakes for a chance to win a sack full of free gear hand-picked by The Verge’s deals team. Just head over to this page and sign up before the morning of October 19th to throw your hat in... Continue reading…

Jeff Sheldon’s desk is a well-known thing on the internet – now he’s trying to upgrade it. Ugmonk started as a T-shirt store — now founder Jeff Sheldon is trying to turn it into something much more ambitious. But as he knows, hardware is hard. Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AT&T Illinois will pay $23 million after it admitted to making payments to former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan’s political ally in return for his “vote and influence over a bill,” according to a Friday press release from the Department of Justice (via Ars Technica). The company will also have to cooperate with the government’s investigation into the alleged misconduct and will have to set up a compliance and ethics program that the government will receive reports on. If the company keeps up its end of the bargain, the government will dismiss its prosecution.According to the DOJ, in 2017 AT&T paid one of Madigan’s allies $22,500 through a lobbying firm that it worked with. AT&T employees tried to make it seem as if... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge Workers at Apple’s Penn Square store in Oklahoma City have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, with 56 yeses, and 32 nos. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election, all regular full-time and part-time employees at the store were eligible to vote, 95 in total.The election was only the second one carried out for a US Apple store. In June, workers in Maryland voted to unionize in association with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Another election was scheduled to happen in Atlanta, but the CWA called it off, claiming that the company had made a fair election “impossible” by intimidating workers.Apple has faced several complaints about anti-union... Continue reading…

A burst of tweets from women who, as children, modeled for relaxer brands is one of the latest instances of the Black Twitter community finding an unexpected connection and reminiscing over a shared experience.

The company was accused of faking a video that showed its truck driving | Getty Images Trevor Milton, founder and former CEO of electric and hydrogen vehicle company Nikola, has been found guilty on three counts of fraud after a jury decided that he lied to investors to increase the startup’s stock. An indictment filed in 2021 accused the company of staging a video that purportedly showed its Nikola One semi driving under its own power, when it was actually rolling down a hill.Milton was also accused of misleading investors about where the batteries in its vehicles came from, the development process for its pickup truck, and about how far the vehicles were in development, according to Reuters. He stepped down from his role as CEO in September 2020.Milton’s charges include one count of securities fraud, and two counts of... Continue reading…

SmartThings hubs will be among the first devices to be Matter certified. | Image: Aeotec An over-the-air update coming later this month will turn Samsung’s standalone SmartThings hubs into controllers for the new smart home standard Matter. The v2 hub will control Matter devices over Wi-Fi and ethernet, while the current hub and SmartThings dongle will also act as Thread border routers. Samsung is the first company to publicly announce Matter certification.Jaeyeon Jung, Samsung Electronics corporate vice president and head of SmartThings’ mobile experience business, told The Verge in an interview that the company received its Matter certification early on Wednesday, October 12th, a week after Matter launched. Michelle Mindala-Freeman of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which oversees Matter, confirmed that it started... Continue reading…

The CF Industries fertilizer complex in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on June 30th, 2022. | Photo by Emily Kask for The Washington Post via Getty Images A massive effort to capture the pollution causing climate change is marching forward in Louisiana, and it’s becoming a major flashpoint in the debate over how to clean up an “energy state” speckled with fossil fuel and petrochemical plants.This week, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced an “unprecedented” collaboration between two oil and gas giants, ExxonMobil and EnLink Midstream, and leading ammonia producer CF Industries. In what they’re calling the “largest-of-its-kind commercial agreement,” the three companies will attempt to capture 2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, transport the gas across the state, and bury it underground.Three companies will attempt to capture 2 million tons of carbon dioxide... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge We all want everything to work just fine all the time. But sometimes they just don’t. Your Windows app slows down. You get the dreaded “this program is not responding” pop-up. Your whole computer freezes.In cases like this, the best option is often to force quit the unresponsive app. This means your computer will force the program to close, regardless of what it’s in the middle of doing or trying to do. There are several ways you can do this on a Windows PC. Here they are.

Image: Nvidia Nvidia is pausing the launch of its upcoming 12GB RTX 4080 graphics card. After originally unveiling the 12GB RTX 4080 last month alongside a much more powerful 16GB model, Nvidia now admits it messed up with the naming. “The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right,” says Nvidia in a blog post. “Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing.”Nvidia is now pausing the launch of the 12GB RTX 4080 model but will still go ahead and launch the 16GB version on November 16th.Criticism had been building over Nvidia’s decision to label the 12GB model as an RTX 4080, particularly when the 16GB model was so different. The RTX 4080 12GB was supposed to start at $899 and include 7,680 CUDA Cores, a 2.31GHz... Continue reading…

A Seabin at work in one of the Great Lakes | Image: Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Waste capture devices collect thousands of pieces of trash in the Great Lakes each day. Can they also motivate humans to stop putting waste in the water in the first place? Continue reading…

It took me 10 attempts to get this shot. You’ll have much better luck if you remove the straps, but even then I wouldn’t call it reliable. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Google’s official line is that the Pixel Watch does not support Qi charging or reverse charging from a phone. However, in the last few days, many users have anecdotally reported that these wireless charging methods do, in fact, work. Curious, I tried it out for myself, and I’m sorry to say that, while it does sort of work, it’s simply not reliable.First off, I decided to try charging the Pixel Watch using my Pixel 7 Pro review unit. I turned on the Battery Sharing feature, plopped the watch on the back of the phone, and it worked! For a grand total of 10 seconds. While the charging animation popped up, it never actually maintained a stable-enough connection to meaningfully charge. Sometimes I got it to work for as long as a minute, but... Continue reading…