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The iPhone 14 Plus. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge A battery replacement on the iPhone 14 will cost you $30 more than previous models (via 9to5Mac). The cost estimator on Apple’s iPhone battery service page says replacing the battery on any iPhone 14 model runs $99, a fairly steep increase from the $69 price for past generations (except the iPhone SE, which has battery replacement priced at $49 across the board).Apple still hasn’t revealed the battery capacity in the iPhone 14, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max models but vaguely touts that it comes with the company’s “longest battery life ever.” However, we do get a glimpse of what to expect in a filing on the hazardous materials database, Chemtrec, spotted by 9to5Mac. Image: Emma Roth / The Verge Battery replacement on... Continue reading…

Lutron’s new Caséta Diva smart dimmer and smart switch sport a more traditional look. | Image: Lutron Lutron Caséta has added two new smart switches to its lineup. The switches are modeled on its existing non-smart “Diva” paddle switch style, giving its distinctive smart switch line a more traditional look. Lutron Caséta is probably one of the most reliable DIY smart lighting systems available today; it uses a proprietary protocol powered by Lutron’s smart hub rather than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.The new $69.95 Diva smart dimmer is a wired paddle switch with a toggle slider for dimming, and the $59.95 Claro smart switch is a standard wired on-off switch. Both products look like traditional paddle switches, and other than a small LED light, there’s nothing to single them out as “smart.” As with the existing Caseta smart dimmer, the new Diva... Continue reading…

Meta Quest Pro | Image: Ramiro Cardenas Images and, later, a video of a “Meta Quest Pro” virtual reality (VR) headset surfaced online, posted on Facebook by Ramiro Cardenas, who claims the device was left in a hotel room (Thanks, Peter! via Reddit). The device shown resembles the Project Cambria headset Meta has been publicly teasing since late last year and looks like the one spotted in leaked setup videos.The video (embedded above) shows Cardenas removing the device from its packaging, revealing a black headset and controller with what looks like an updated design. While the headset has three cameras on its front, the controllers feature a design that drops the hollowed-out loop design that houses the sensors for something more solid.The packaging has the “Meta Quest Pro”... Continue reading…

The Roku OS 11.5 update is coming soon. | Image: Roku Roku is mostly leaving its hardware lineup untouched for the fall — with a couple exceptions. Today, the company is introducing an enhanced Roku Express that now includes dual-band Wi-Fi for more robust, dependable streaming performance. Still priced at $29.99, the device is available for preorder now and will be in stores on October 16th.The Express is Roku’s introductory streaming device and accordingly sticks to 1080p quality; you need to move up to the Roku Express 4K Plus — which already includes dual-band connectivity — if you want to watch 4K / Ultra HD content. The basic Express comes with Roku’s simplest remote, so you’ll need to use the company’s mobile app if you want to use the private listening feature with connected... Continue reading…

Now, it’s called Zoom Team Chat. Big difference. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Many of us have been on a lot of Zoom calls during the pandemic, but you might not know that Zoom also has its very own Slack- and Microsoft Teams-esque product called Zoom Chat. On Monday, Zoom announced a small change to the name of the product — it’s now called Zoom Team Chat — alongside a handful of other handy updates coming to the collaboration software.Let’s start with the name change. Zoom is adding “Team” because customers were getting confused about the difference between the chat you can use in Zoom meetings with the separate communication suite. Renaming the product to Zoom Team Chat “helps make the distinction that it is a full collaborative hub product,” Sharvari Nerurkar, Zoom Team Chat’s head of product, said in an... Continue reading…

Tesla doesn’t need to prove that its Full Self-Driving system is safer than human driving before releasing it to the public. But what if it did? | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Would a European-style regulatory system improve safety? Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge At least one of Intel’s forthcoming 13th-generation CPUs will be able to run at 6GHz at stock, Tom’s Hardware reports. The detail was shared in a slide onstage at Intel’s Technology Tour 2022, which also says it’ll be capable of hitting 8GHz when overclocked. Other improvements promised for this new generation, which is named Raptor Lake, include a 15 percent improvement in single-threaded performance, and a 41 percent improvement in multi-threaded performance.Intel’s 6GHz claim is a shot across the bow at competitor AMD, which recently said that its upcoming flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X will be capable of boosting up to 5.7GHz. Although raw clock speeds aren’t the be all and end all when it comes to performance, breaking the 6GHz... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk has sent a third letter to Twitter attempting to terminate his $44 billion acquisition of the company. Musk’s legal team cited Twitter’s multimillion dollar severance payment to former security chief and whistleblower Peiter Zatko as a violation of the merger agreement and a reason to end the deal. The letter, dated September 9th, was sent to Twitter’s chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and was included in a filing Twitter made with the SEC on Friday (which you can read at the bottom of this article).Twitter responded to Musk and Co on Monday September 12th, saying, “As was the case with both your July 8, 2022 and August 29, 2022 purported notices of termination, the purported termination set forth in your September 9, 2022... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Football fans struggled to watch the first NFL Sunday Ticket game of the season due to issues with DirecTV’s website and app. While some users (including myself) reported seeing an error page when trying to access the Sunday Ticket website, others said they couldn’t even sign in.But that’s not all — users reported a range of other issues, too, with some getting locked out of the stream and receiving an error message that says they’re located in an NFL stadium and can’t watch the stream. It’s unclear what exactly caused the issues with the Sunday Ticket stream, which started several hours leading up to the game and continued throughout the afternoon.

Image: From Software Elden Ring developer FromSoftware is making the game’s music soundtrack available to stream online in case you want to relive Malenia’s boss fight more than you’ve already replayed it. As announced in a Playstation blog post, you can listen to the 67-track album on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and more (you can view the whole list of services here).I, for one, did not even realize that there were 67 different songs in Elden Ring but maybe that was because I’ve been too busy yelling to notice the difference. The post also features an interview with FromSoftware lead sound design and composer Tsukasa Saito, who explains what actually went into making some of the game’s music, which is arguably one of the more... Continue reading…

Matternet’s Model M2 drone delivering for the Swiss Post. | Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images Matternet has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its Model M2 drone delivery drone design. In a press release, Matternet explains that the Model M2 is the first non-military unmanned aircraft to achieve Type Certification by the FAA, which determines that an aircraft’s design meets regulatory standards.The California-based Matternet has been testing its Model M2 drone over the past four years in the US as part of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) program. Matternet says getting the green light from the FAA could help streamline the process of “implementing new networks and getting approvals.” Image: Matternet Matternet’s Model M2 delivery drone. Matternet partnered with... Continue reading…

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge Comcast plans on bringing multi-gig internet speeds to 34 cities across the US by the end of this year, and will later expand its reach to more than 50 million households by the end of 2025. According to a press release, the company has already started rolling out 2-gig speeds over its broadband network in Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, GA; Panama City Beach, FL; and Philadelphia, PA.Customers in these cities will also get to take advantage of upload speeds that Comcast says are five to 10 times faster than what it currently offers. The upload speeds appear to max out at 200Mbps, even with the new Gigabit x2 plan, but Comcast intends to change that. It’s launching multi-gig symmetrical speeds next year, which will enable multi-gig... Continue reading…

Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft shared a ton of information on the projects, known and never-before-seen, during its Ubisoft Forward event. Here are the highlights.Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of HopeUbisoft showed off new gameplay footage of the latest installment in the Mario + Rabbids franchise. We got a deeper look at the world of Tera Flora where Mario, Peach, Luigi, and their weird-ass Rabbid counterparts work together to bring down a corrupted wiggler train. The gameplay trailer emphasizes synergy and teamwork, in which combining each character’s unique powers unleash devastating attacks. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches on the Nintendo Switch on October 20th.Skull and BonesThe release of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft’s open-world pirate adventure... Continue reading…

Assassin’s Creed Mirage. | Image: Ubisoft After a string of leaks, Ubisoft has officially unveiled the next major Assassin’s Creed game. As expected, it’s called Mirage and will shift the time-traveling series to 9th-century Baghdad, where players will take on the role of a budding assassin named Basim. (Fans might remember that name from an appearance in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla; Mirage takes place two decades before that game.)Notably, Ubisoft says that the game will get back to the action-adventure roots of the series, which means that the RPG mechanics from more recent games will not be present. Mirage is expected to launch sometime in 2023. Also of note: in an inspired bit of casting, Shohreh Aghdashloo will be voicing the role of Basim’s assassination mentor.But that’s... Continue reading…

Samuel L. Jackson in Secret Invasion | Image: Marvel Disney held its semiannual D23 event this weekend, where it showed off a whole lot of trailers, teasers, and brief scenes from all the Disney stuff coming this year and next. Particular attention was paid to shows and films coming to Disney Plus, and new entries in its Star Wars and Marvel franchises.A ticket and in-person attendance were required to see some of the coolest sneak previews, which means you’ll probably have to wait to get your first look at Ironheart, Indiana Jones, or Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania. But the company still took the time to drop a few teasers and trailers for the rest of us.WillowThe sequel to the 1988 film about a wizard who few believe in, yet who saves the world from an evil sorceress with the help of... Continue reading…

The Mandalorian S3 teaser trailer | Image: Disney / Lucasfilm Disney showed off a teaser trailer for the third season of The Mandalorian at its D23 event on Saturday. While we don’t have an exact date for when the series will arrive on Disney Plus, the streamer previously said it will premiere in February 2023.This is our first glimpse at the show’s upcoming third season and showed off not only Pedro Pascal’s title character, The Mandalorian, and his Force-using charge, but other familiar characters like Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Omid Abtahi as Dr. Pershing, Emily Swallow as The Armorer, and Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto.Disney released season two back in 2020, which has left those of us who already completed the first two seasons waiting a whole two years to see more... Continue reading…

During the D23 Expo on Saturday, Lucasfilm revealed the final trailer for the Star Wars: Andor series that takes place before the events of the 2016 Rogue One film. Diego Luna will once again take on the role of the titular Cassian Andor, with the show set to follow his journey from a thief to a rebel.Andor arrives on Disney Plus with a three-episode premiere on September 21st. Its first season is supposed to have 12 episodes in total, but we don’t know the release schedule for these episodes just yet.Lucasfilm also teased its animated series of shorts, Tales of the Jedi, which debuts on Disney Plus on October 23rd. It also announced a January 4th, 2023 release date for the second season of its Clone Wars spinoff, The Bad Batch.D... Continue reading…

The second-gen AirPods (left), second-gen AirPods Pro (middle), and third-gen AirPods (right). | Image: Apple At its “Far Out” event on Wednesday, Apple introduced a new pair of AirPods Pro alongside the upcoming iPhone 14 lineup and long-rumored Apple Watch Ultra. The second-gen AirPods Pro are set to arrive on September 23rd, bringing with them a new H2 chip that Apple claims should cancel “up to twice as much noise” as its predecessor, as well as swipe-based controls and a number of other features.This means that, as of this week, the official AirPods lineup consists of the following models: the second-gen AirPods, the third-gen AirPods, the second-gen AirPods Pro, and the AirPods Max. Also, while Apple no longer sells them, you can also still buy the first-gen AirPods Pro from a number of retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and Target.T... Continue reading…

The 2021 iPad Mini might be considered the middle child, but it’s still plenty capable. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple’s new iPhone lineup may have grabbed everyone's attention, but our weekend deals post is fixed on everything Apple ignored during its “Far Out” event earlier this week. For starters, Apple’s 64GB iPad Mini with Wi-Fi is currently matching its best price ever at Amazon and Best Buy, where you can pick it up for $399.99 ($100 off). If you need more storage, you can also find the 256GB model with Wi-Fi discounted to $549.99 at Amazon and Best Buy, down from its usual price of $799.99.The 2021 iPad Mini brings several welcome changes to Apple’s smallest tablet, including a larger screen that ditches the home button and replaces Apple’s Lightning connector with a USB-C port. In addition, the Mini features an 8.3-inch display, 2266 x... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has just rolled out the first Android 13 quarterly platform release beta, and developers have already uncovered code that hints at a pair of upcoming devices: the rumored Pixel foldable and a new “Pro” tablet (via Android Police).In a thread on Twitter, developer Kuba Wojciechowski shares screencaps of code that refers to the unfolded and folded states of a device called “Felix.” It mentions the cameras that the device uses as well, which may include a 64-megapixel (MP) Sony IMX787 primary sensor and a 10.8MP Samsung S5K3J1 telephoto lens on the back of the phone. The device could also house an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor (the same one used by the Pixel 6A) on the inside and another Samsung S5K3J1 around the front.

The always-on display is a great addition to iPhone’s arsenal of features. But it’s not new. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge For some reason, people like to take sides on things that really don’t need to have sides at all. You’re a fan of iPhones? Cool. You’re more comfortable with Android phones? Use it in good health.But we live in a competitive society, and so the one company that produces iOS-based phones and the myriad brands that make Android-based phones always feel that they need to explain why their product is more spectacular, more flexible, more secure, more fun, and more whatever than the ones powered by the other OS. As a result, whenever a company introduces a feature that’s new to its OS, it proclaims it as innovative, wonderful, and never seen before. Anyone who has attended or watched a product introduction — from Apple, Google, or Samsung —... Continue reading…

My favorite garbage-bot. | Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge WALL-E, Pixar’s 2008 masterpiece, is being added to the Criterion Collection, a curated list of movies that are deemed to be “important classic and contemporary films.” Its induction means that the movie is getting a special-edition 4K Blu-ray release, which comes with a bunch of extras.It’s not the first time the film’s been available in 4K, but — and I’m sorry for being this person — the box art for the Criterion version is just so much better than the standard 4K Blu-ray’s, in my opinion. It may also have a slightly better HDR master (it comes with Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 Plus versions, vs standard HDR10 for the regular release), and its three-disc set includes things like a student film made by director Andrew Stanton, a d... Continue reading…

A screenshot of a Yankees game in my camera roll. But here’s what the TV experience could look like. | Image: Andrew Marino Apple introduced the rugged Apple Watch Ultra this week — with a bigger, brighter 49mm screen, an additional hardware button, a bigger battery, and better speakers — made for more extreme outdoor conditions. But I believe the $800 smartwatch can be used another way: to watch TV.Wait, wait, wait, hear me out; it’s not a new idea. In 1982, Japanese watchmaker Seiko debuted a wristwatch that could receive UHF and VHF channels, albeit the actual receiver was in a huge belt pack you had to connect to the LCD screen on your wrist. The idea never really caught on (besides in the James Bond film Octopussy), but it introduced an exciting and futuristic television experience we still haven’t nailed yet. Image: Seiko The... Continue reading…

Don’t drop it! But if you do, it’s not the end of the world. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge If you’re the kind of person who’s always dropping your phone, AppleCare Plus may have just become a much better deal. As MacRumors points out, the service now covers “unlimited repairs for accidental damage protection.” According to an archived version of the AppleCare Plus page from last month, you used to be limited to “two incidents of accidental damage protection every 12 months.”Before you toss your phone in the air in celebration, though, do note that the service fees and deductibles are still around — a screen or back glass repair will cost $29, while “other accidental damage” will run you $99. Also, Apple’s fine print clearly notes that the damage has to be caused by “unexpected and unintentional events” to fall under... Continue reading…

If you don’t want to take apart your own Steam Deck, Valve’s new repair centers can do it for you. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge If something’s broken with your Steam Deck and you don’t want to try to fix it yourself, Valve now has a new option for you: you can send your handheld gaming PC to one of the company’s new repair centers to get it fixed.Repairs for anything that’s covered by the Steam Deck’s warranty (which is one year in the US) will be free, Valve says. If your device is out of warranty, the company will offer to fix it up for a cost. If you don’t want to pay that fee, you can decline the repair and ask to have your Steam Deck sent back.

Joining iPadOS in being pushed back | Image: Apple Apple is delaying the release of iOS 16’s iCloud Shared Photo Library feature, saying it’s “coming later this year” instead of when the mobile operating system refresh launches on September 12th (via AppleInsider). An archived version of the iOS 16 webpage shows the notice about the delay was added sometime this week.When it does launch, the feature will let you and up to five other people automatically share a collection of photos, with the option of including all the photos in your personal library, photos from after a specific date, or that include specific people.It’s not particularly unusual for Apple to withhold features from the initial release — last year, iOS 15 launched without SharePlay, Universal Control, and better Find... Continue reading…

This new game with Captain America and Black Panther doesn’t yet have a name, but I definitely want to play it. | Image: Skydance Disney just wrapped up its Disney and Marvel Games Showcase at D23, and the event was packed with news and announcements about games from the entertainment company’s many franchises. The show was a lightning-fast deluge of trailers for a wide variety of games, including titles that are out right now, like Disney Dreamlight Valley, and ones that are a bit farther off.Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest news from the show. And if you want to watch the 23-minute showcase in full, you can catch it on Marvel’s YouTube channel.Tron Identity is a new visual novel from the maker of Thomas Was Alone Image: Bithell Games I didn’t know I wanted a Tron visual novel, but now I REALLY want it. Disney revealed a... Continue reading…

iPhone 14 Pro trades the notch for a Dynamic Island | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Every Wednesday and Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where our editors make sense of the week’s most important technology news. On Fridays, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.This week, Apple held its annual hardware event at the Steve Jobs Theater, debuting new iPhones, new Apple Watches, and new AirPods Pro. Nilay and David were able to attend the event in person and get a hands-on look at the new products. The crew discussed everything that happened at the event, first impressions of the phones and watches, and their expectations for Apple’s features in... Continue reading…

Instagram users would reshare posts onto their feeds. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you can believe it, Instagram is testing a new feature that mimics other social networks. TechCrunch reports Instagram confirmed tests of “reposts” to bring someone else’s content onto your own timeline. It’s similar to Twitter’s retweets or the kind of reshares that are common on Tumblr and Facebook and are also in testing on TikTok.TechCrunch writes the “repost” feature was spotted by Matt Navarra, a social media consultant who posted images in a Twitter thread on Wednesday. However, Alessandro Paluzzi noticed it in development back in May, showing Instagram has been working on it for a while.

Image: Apple One of the new features of iOS 16, and something that was again highlighted during Apple’s event on Wednesday, is personalized spatial audio. Once you’ve installed the latest iOS release on your iPhone beginning September 12th, you’ll be able to create a custom sound profile that should improve the sense of immersion and overall spatial audio experience you get from AirPods.To produce this personalized tuning, Apple uses the iPhone’s front-facing TrueDepth camera to scan your ears. The process, which involves holding your iPhone about 10 to 20 centimeters from the side of your head, takes under a minute, and the resulting data is then used to optimize spatial audio for your unique ear shape. “The way we all perceive sound is unique,... Continue reading…

President Biden speaks in Ohio following the groundbreaking ceremony for Intel’s new $20 billion semiconductor plant. | Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images President Joe Biden traveled to Ohio on Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking of Intel’s new $20 billion semiconductor plant, one of the first domestic chip-making facilities to come out of the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act.Intel’s Friday groundbreaking ceremony kicked off construction of what the company has called the “largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet.” It’s part of Intel’s plans to invest $100 billion in Ohio over the next 10 years. The company has said that the project could take more than 7,000 workers to build the facility that is expected to house two separate factories and, once finished, employ 3,000 workers.“We need to make these chips right here in America to bring down everyday costs and create... Continue reading…

Lestat and Louis are the masters but Claudia runs the show. | AMC On October 2nd, the TV adaptation of Interview with the Vampire will debut on AMC Plus, and it’s got a new trailer. It further highlights the big departures from the source material and features the exquisite torment of the show’s protagonist, vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac.This is the second trailer for Interview, and it presents a luxurious and sumptuous tale centered on desire, seduction, and, ultimately, betrayal.In this adaptation, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) is a Black entrepreneur in 1910s New Orleans. The trailer hops between Louis’ memories of the past and the present day, in which he spills his guts to Daniel Molloy, a journalist played by Eric Bogosian. Louis tells Daniel his tale about being hunted by the... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you haven’t been able to land Sony’s next-gen console yet, both Sony and Walmart are currently offering up another chance. Sony is once again selling the PlayStation 5 Horizon Forbidden West Bundle for $549.99, while Walmart is selling the same configuration for $549. If you’re not familiar with the package, the apt-titled Horizon Forbidden West Bundle comes with the disc-based PS5 as well as a digital code to download a copy of Guerrilla Games’ excellent Horizon Forbidden West. Best of all, unlike Sony’s recent restock events, you don’t need to enter an online queue to check out at either retailer — just log in with your PlayStation Network ID or Walmart credentials and check out (seriously).While we obviously can’t guarantee... Continue reading…

It’s a familiar look. | Image: Tecnoblog It seems increasingly likely that Google’s going to be announcing a budget Chromecast at its hardware event on October 6th, and Brazilian site Tecnoblog has posted purported pictures of the device, which the publication says showed up in documents from the National Telecommunications Agency. The device looks pretty much identical to the white model of Google’s current Chromecast with Google TV, but leaks from earlier this week suggest it’ll only be able to stream in 1080p instead of 4K and that it’ll be around 40 percent cheaper than the current model (which is normally $50 but is currently on sale in the US for $40).The images posted by Tecnoblog show the device with a label saying “Model G454V.” That’s the same name that showed up in... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Controlling smart lighting with your voice is one of the most useful features of a smart home. Saying, “Hey Siri, turn off the lights” from the comfort of your bed or the couch without having to get up or pull out your phone is really a great experience. And, if you have some Philips Hue smart light bulbs and an iPhone, it's really easy to connect them to Apple’s HomeKit smart home platform to put Apple’s Siri voice assistant to work for you.With this set up you can also sync your smart lighting to other connected devices in your home. This lets you create automations that do things like have your lights turn on and your music start playing in the morning when a motion sensor is triggered or set a Movie Time scene that adjusts your... Continue reading…

In-game Roblox High School. | Image: Roblox Roblox rode a wave of pandemic-era growth to a seven-fold value increase, an exploding user base, and a wildly popular Lil Nas X concert with tens of millions of attendees. That success largely all came thanks to Roblox’s core user base of young and highly engaged players.Now, those kids are getting older, and Roblox is trying to grow up, too. The all-ages, user-generated gaming platform is announcing plans today to add age guidelines to its games and significantly expand its advertising business as it works to court an older demographic, expand its revenue streams, and still support the needs of its millions of young players.The changes are a major step in how Roblox thinks of its users and how the company approaches advertising.... Continue reading…

Quentin Tarantino’s NFT page. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and studio Miramax have settled a lawsuit over non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, based on Pulp Fiction. A new court filing indicates the sides will request to dismiss the suit in the coming weeks, and they offered a joint statement, as reported by Deadline. “The parties have agreed to put this matter behind them and look forward to collaborating with each other on future projects, including possible NFTs,” they said. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.Tarantino introduced his NFT lineup last year at the height of NFT mania, promising each one would unlock a “secret” about his 1994 film. Tarantino said the NFTs were linked with media from the screenplay, which he retained rights to, but Miramax sued on... Continue reading…

So green. | Image: Acer Acer is adding a Chromebook to its Vero lineup, which it says is meant to offer laptop buyers an “eco-conscious” option. Like the (rather disappointing) Windows laptop that came before it, the Chromebook Vero 514 is made using recycled plastics, has a chassis that’s 99 percent recyclable, and comes in packaging that’s 90 percent recycled paper, according to the company. Acer’s press release even suggests that part of the Chromebook’s packaging can be “transformed into a multi-purpose triangular laptop stand,” if you’re loathe to throw anything away.Before we go over the recyclability, though, let’s quickly go through the specs — it weighs in at just a hair over 3 pounds, which is reasonable for a laptop with a 14-inch screen, and is... Continue reading…

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Image: Activision Blizzard Activision has announced a showcase that it says will reveal the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Dubbed Call of Duty Next, the showcase will take place at 1PM ET on September 15th, broadcast on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.According to the press release, the showcase will focus on the upcoming sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare as well as what it’s calling Warzone 2.0 and the new Warzone mobile experience.Though it’s the premier jewel in Activision’s crown, Call of Duty has been underperforming lately. Activision Blizzard’s proposal for a $68.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft revealed Call of Duty: Vanguard badly underperformed and did not meet its Q4 expectations. As a result, according to a report by Bloomberg, next... Continue reading…

Illustration by Carlo Cadenas / The Verge The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is now slowly moving back to capacity after a ransomware attack launched over Labor Day weekend, which prompted an unprecedented shutdown of computer systems in an attempt to contain the effects of the malicious software. The attack on LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the US, put officials on high alert, with fears over lockouts from school management systems and unauthorized access to student data triggering a response from federal, state, and local partners.But it’s not the first time LAUSD systems have been exposed to ransomware — and not the first warning the district has received about ransomware. The same systems narrowly avoided being hit with another similar attack in... Continue reading…

The new Apple Watch Series 8 | Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Wednesday’s Apple event opened with a warning. The video montage at the start of the event highlighted times when people in emergency situations had their lives saved by the Apple Watch. They used it to call 911 and make phone calls. It flagged dangerous heart conditions. Without the watch, they might not have made it out alive. The implication being: without a watch, you might not make it out alive.Apple has been inching toward that sort of messaging from the very beginning. At the first launch in 2014, Tim Cook called the Apple Watch a health device. In 2018, when Apple introduced the feature that could detect irregular heart rate, Cook called the watch lifesaving. Now, instead of pitching the watch as something that could save a... Continue reading…

It’s one of the easiest things you can do on a Chromebook. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Sometimes you download an Android app to your Chromebook and learn that it simply doesn’t work. Other times your storage is full and you need to clear it up. Or maybe one of your favorite apps just got a PWA equivalent and you want that Android version out of your life.Regardless of the situation, deleting apps from a Chromebook is an essential skill for any ChromeOS user. And it’s easy. Frankly, it’s much less of a pain than it is on Windows.Here’s how to uninstall apps from a Chromebook.How to uninstall apps from a Chromebook

Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are $50 off at Woot. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge If you’re interested in preordering the $249 second-gen AirPods Pro today but their price is holding you back, you may want to check out today’s deal on Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Today, we’ve come across one of the first discounts on the new set of noise-canceling wireless earbuds. Right now, they’re on sale for just $179.99 ($50 off) at Woot with a 90-day limited warranty.In terms of audio, they sound better than some of the top earbuds on the market, including the first-gen AirPods Pro and Google’s Pixel Buds Pro, and they manage to offer remarkable clarity and a wide soundstage. Their noise cancellation is also efficient, and we enjoyed how much smaller and more comfortable they are compared to their predecessor.Like all... Continue reading…

United says its purchase of 200 air taxis from Eve Air is conditional. | United Airlines United Airlines is investing $15 million in Eve Air Mobility, an electric aviation startup owned by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. As part of the deal, United will purchase 200 of Eve’s electric air taxis, which can seat four passengers and take off and land vertically like a helicopter.This is the second major investment from United in the nascent world of electric air mobility after investing an undisclosed amount of money in Archer last year. These companies propose to develop small, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that can fly from rooftop to rooftop in a dense city as a taxi service. But so far, none have received clearance from federal aviation regulators to fly passengers.But Eve may have to... Continue reading…

The new Fujifilm X-H2 and XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR. With yesterday’s announcement of the new X-H2 mirrorless camera, Fujifilm is trying to fill a hole in its lineup between its APS-C offerings and its medium format GFX line by putting a 40.2-megapixel sensor in its latest X-series body. This may seem like a bit of a compromise since Fujifilm doesn’t have a full-frame system, but one benefit of sticking with its smaller sensors and just adding resolution is having a camera that’s still fairly compact. I got to briefly try out a preproduction version of the new X-H2 and the recently released X-H2S at Fujifilm’s X-Summit NYC event, and there may be a lot to like here if you’re a loyal Fujifilm user. Here are some initial thoughts and finer details learned from the short time with these... Continue reading…

Apple’s second-gen AirPods will run $249 and launch on September 23rd. | Image: Apple Apple’s “Far Out” event on Wednesday introduced a number of devices to Apple’s existing product lineup, including the iPhone 14, a ruggedized Apple Watch, and an updated version of the AirPods Pro. The second-gen AirPods Pro will launch on September 23rd for $249.99 and are available to preorder now. Apple will continue to sell the entry-level AirPods at their original price of $179; however, it appears Apple is discontinuing the original AirPods Pro with the release of the second-gen model.Not much has changed aesthetically from the previous iteration of the AirPods Pro, with the new model donning the same pearly white exterior as the original model from 2019. The noise-canceling earbuds also retain the MagSafe-compatible charging case... Continue reading…