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You can tell maps if you have a petrol, diesel, hybrid, or electric car. | Image: Google Google is expanding Maps’ eco-friendly routing mode, rolling the feature out in dozens of European countries and making it even more powerful by letting you pick what type of fuel your car runs on.The feature, originally launched in the US and Canada last year, will highlight routes that use less energy if they have a similar ETA to other alternate routes. Google says that starting today, it is rolling out to users in “nearly 40” European countries, including France, Ireland, Poland, Spain, and the UK. (It was introduced in Germany last month.) Gif: Google Telling Google what type of car you drive could let it give you even more efficient directions. Google’s also adding the ability to tell Maps if your car... Continue reading…

The Huawei Mate 50 might have just edged out Apple in the space-texting race. | Image: Huawei Huawei has announced the Mate 50 series, a day ahead of Apple’s September event and with a feature that the iPhone 14 is expected to offer: the ability to send texts via satellite communication. The Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro will be able to send short texts and utilize navigation thanks to China’s global BeiDou satellite network, allowing for communication in areas without cellular signal.The flagship Mate 50 series includes 4G-only versions of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset with 8GB of RAM. The 50 Pro comes with a slightly bigger 6.74-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the Mate 50 offers a 6.7-inch, 90Hz OLED panel. Both include a 50-megapixel main rear camera with a variable aperture lens with stops from f/1.4 to... Continue reading…

Sundar Pichai. | Laura Normand / The Verge Verbatim search Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Why more platforms need to close the stochastic terrorism loophole Continue reading…

Computer equipment used by an Ethereum miner on October 20, 2021 in Vilassar de Mar, Spain. | Photo by Manuel Medir/Getty Images Ethereum just set The Merge in motion — and the stakes are huge for the planet. The Merge is arguably one of the most anticipated events yet in cryptocurrency history, when the Ethereum blockchain will switch from a disturbingly energy-hungry method of validating transactions to a new strategy that uses a fraction of the electricity as the network gobbled up before.The transition is supposed to slash Ethereum’s energy consumption by a whopping 99.95 percent. That’s a seriously big deal since, just last week, the cryptocurrency network was estimated to use as much electricity annually as the country of Bangladesh. All that energy, of course, comes with a lot of carbon dioxide pollution that’s exacerbating climate change. Ethereum’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is expanding its 5G home internet service to 64 cities in several states in the Northeast, reaching residents in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.This latest expansion in coverage gives more than 9 million homes access to T-Mobile’s internet, the company says. However, as our review last year showed, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be consistent everywhere. T-Mobile warns that even if your city is on the list (available below), it’s not ready to go everywhere yet. However, some people may be eligible for 4G LTE service. Currently, the service is $50 a month for AutoPay customers and $30 for families with Magenta MAX, T-Mobile’s phone plan.Launched in April 2021, the Home Internet... Continue reading…

Image: Qualcomm Qualcomm’s next generation of mobile processors should help bring flagship features to more midrange devices. The chipmaker announced two new chips — the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 — that come bundled with AI enhancements and hardware to support 5G.The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is the more powerful of the pair, with the ability to shoot pictures at up to 200 megapixels and HDR video capture. It also comes with “intuitive AI assistance” that can help suggest apps and settings based on your activity. Qualcomm says the SoC’s (system on a chip) CPU performs up to 40 percent better than the Snapdragon 695 it released last year, while its GPU performs up to 35 percent better.The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, on the other hand, seems less... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is rolling out patches to fix some Pixel bugs after the phones received the latest Android 13 update last month. The September 2022 monthly update is being delivered throughout the week to most devices, addressing issues like unexpected battery drain and disabled wireless charging.The patch won’t arrive on Google’s newest phone, the Pixel 6A, until later this month. The Pixel 6A has one fix specifically included in the list, addressing its fingerprint scanner’s recognition “in certain conditions.” As noted by Consumer Reports, some owners of the new phone have found it will unlock using a finger they hadn’t registered or for the fingerprint of an entirely different person. Screenshot: Richard Lawler / The Verge... Continue reading…

Image: CD Projekt Red CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a new performance mode for Xbox Series S, an official tool for installing and making mods, and a big improvement to outfits via the 1.6 Edgerunners update, which was announced alongside the Phantom Liberty DLC pack. Like the DLC, it seems like most future updates to the game will be for next-gen consoles only; the company says 1.6 will be “the last major update” for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.The update is available to download today for all platforms (though the modding tools are limited to the PC), including those last-gen consoles. On the Xbox Series X, it’s a 39.6GB download. Image: CD Projekt Red You can create up to six outfits and switch between them at... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Juul will pay $438.5 million to settle an investigation by dozens of US states into the marketing practices blamed for kicking off the teen and youth vaping crisis.“JUUL’s cynically calculated advertising campaigns created a new generation of nicotine addicts,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in a statement announcing the deal Tuesday. The two-year investigation found Juul marketed to underage users, had misleading packaging that hid the amount of nicotine in its devices, and created a product that could be easily concealed.The settlement also puts restrictions on its marketing practices going forward: the company said it won’t fund education programs, include people under 35 in marketing, sell merchandise, or give out... Continue reading…

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge If you have Xbox friends that like to breathe heavily into their microphones, blast loud music in the background, or click loudly on their controller, the new Xbox noise suppression feature is here to save you. Xbox Series X and S owners are getting an update today that has noise suppression during party chats to remove annoying clicks, background music, and breathing.Noise suppression is enabled by default, but Microsoft notes that it’s easy to toggle on or off. “If you want to keep some types of background noise in your parties, like music, you can also turn noise suppression off,” explains an Xbox support note. “Just open the guide, scroll to Parties & chats, and select Options. There you can enable or disable noise suppression.”X... Continue reading…

Image: Titmouse In AMC’s Pantheon, being online is an entirely new kind of hell Continue reading…

Image: MelGeek This Lego-friendly mechanical keyboard from MelGeek lets you swap out more than just its keycaps and switches (via Gizmodo). If you happen to have a bunch of Lego bricks sitting around, you can redesign the entire case thanks to the Lego studs planted across the sides and bottom of the board.The keyboard is, fittingly, called the Pixel, and while it’s not officially licensed by Lego, you can build out just about any design — and maybe even incorporate an existing set — right on the case. It sports a tenkeyless design, making it a step down from full-sized boards, as it doesn’t come with a number pad. Image: MelGeek You can frame your keyboard with a sweet Lego design. But the case isn’t just the only thing... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge We’ve got some good news for both Marvel and sports fans: you can save $60 while watching both Marvel’s new Thor: Love and Thunder and football this week as a part of Hulu’s latest sale. In honor of the NFL season kicking off this Thursday, September 8th, Hulu is offering both new and returning customers a Hulu with Live TV subscription for $49.99 instead of $69.99 per month for three months.The monthly subscription grants members access to over 75 live sports, news, and entertainment channels and access to Hulu’s streaming library (albeit with ads). But (confusingly — and randomly — enough) it also means you’ll be able to access ESPN Plus and Disney Plus, so you can stream Marvel’s latest theatrical release as well as Disney’s... Continue reading…

New Meta hardware is on the horizon. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta has announced that its Connect Conference will be livestreamed on October 11th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. In a post on the Oculus blog, the company says it’ll cover the progress it’s made on the metaverse and offer “a look at what’s to come in the near and far future.” The announcements can’t measure up to last year’s Connect, where the company changed its name from Facebook to Meta, but the company has said we’ll see information on the Horizon Worlds virtual reality app and hinted that the high-end “Project Cambria” headset will show up as well.Last month, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the company is announcing a new VR headset in October, and on Tuesday, he backed up that idea with an image he posted to Facebook. The device he’s wearing in... Continue reading…

Both tablets are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Just like with Thanksgiving, sometimes the leftovers are the best part. Sifting through some of the remaining deals from the Labor Day weekend, we’ve found some excellent discounts on Samsung’s S8 lineup of tablets. Both the standard Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and S8 Plus, for instance, are discounted by $100 at Best Buy, bringing the prices of the 128GB configurations down to $599.99 and $799.99, respectively.Both the S8 and S8 Plus bring some excellent upgrades to Samsung’s tablet lineup with the inclusion of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU, Wi-Fi 6E support, and 8GB of RAM. The S8 and S8 Plus also come loaded with Android 12 out of the box and are slated to receive updates to Android 13 down the line. They both also come packaged with... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is trying to clean up the messy state of crypto copyright. Last week, the company introduced what it dubs “Can’t Be Evil” licenses: a series of agreements that let creators grant non-fungible token owners partial or near-complete rights to NFT art. It’s fighting a problem many experts have called out — one that’s persistently undercut claims that NFTs let you “own” a work.The “Can’t Be Evil” licenses (named after a common claim about blockchain businesses) are based on the Creative Commons (CC) copyright framework. But unlike Creative Commons, which provides blanket licenses to wide swathes of people, a16z’s licenses lay out the relationship between an NFT buyer and the person who created... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The controversial creator became a thorn in YouTube’s side — then a glaring omission Continue reading…

Sony’s PlayStation hardware chief retires on October 1st. | Image: Famitsu Sony’s longtime PlayStation hardware chief is retiring on October 1st. 60-year-old Masayasu Ito, who led the engineering for both the PS4 and PS5, is retiring, as reported by Bloomberg.According to Sony communications manager Cathy Liu, responsibility for the PlayStation platform, which includes hardware engineering, security, product strategy, and design, among other things, is still led by senior vice president Hideaki Nishino. Nishino was promoted to that role in March 2021, and reports directly to SIE president Jim Ryan. Current director Lin Tao is taking over Ito’s role as deputy president and representative director of Sony’s Japan operation. Sony announced the changes in a brief press release today.Ito originally joined Sony in... Continue reading…

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty | Image: CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077 is getting its first DLC. CD Projekt Red has announced Phantom Liberty, an adventure taking place in a new district within the sprawling Night City.The trailer doesn’t reveal much — only that your protagonist, V, is taking an oath of allegiance to serve the New United States of America. Johnny Silverhand returns as the ghost in your head warning you that swearing yourself to the New United States is a “bad idea.” But just how bad could it be when you get to explore a mysterious part of the city and get awesome new weapons like a totally badass electric whip?Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red informed us that new DLC would be forthcoming but not until 2023. In the meantime, fans can scratch their Cyberpunk 2077 itch with a... Continue reading…

Image: Anker Anker’s making its smallest charger even smaller and cheaper at $22.99. The new Anker 511 Nano 3 charger is a 30-watt single USB-C charger that’s designed for fast charging an iPhone or iPad and can even power a MacBook Air — all with a charger that’s about the size of Apple’s old 5W charger it used to include with iPhones.Just like last year’s model, the Nano 3 is a gallium nitride (GaN) charger that can output more power from smaller and cooler packaging. It doesn’t use the company’s new GaNPrime tech introduced in July, but the Nano 3 does have foldable blades that make pocketing it less stabby. Image: Anker Compared to Apple’s 30W USB-C charger, the new Nano 3 is about 70 percent smaller, according to Anker. It... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge Apple’s next event is just around the corner, and die-hard fans have been scouring the latest invitation for clues about what new products and features may be in the cards. It’s a long-held belief that Apple hides things inside its event invitations, but we wondered whether this search for secrets ever bore any fruit (sorry) — and if it did, what sort of hints there are.To find out, we scoured every invitation over the past 21 years and compared them against the various products subsequently announced at each event. And it turns out, again and again, Apple buries clues in plain sight. But discerning their meaning is not so simple. Apple appears to use several frequently varied approaches to leaving hints that are often difficult to... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Brazilian government isn’t happy about Apple’s decision to stop including chargers starting with the launch of the iPhone 12 and has responded by suspending local sales of iPhones that don’t come packaged with chargers. In addition to halting some iPhone sales, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security also ordered Apple to pay a fine of R$12,275,500 (about $2.3 million USD) and canceled the iPhone 12’s registration with Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications agency that is similar to the FCC.Brazil’s ban comes just one day ahead of Apple’s Far Out event, where it’s expected to reveal the new iPhone 14 (which likely won’t come boxed with a charger). Apple can still appeal its decision to ban certain iPhone sales in the country,... Continue reading…

Image: Sony Next up on Sony’s list of colorways to coat its PS5 accessories is gray camouflage. The company released a YouTube video allegedly showing off a DualSense, Pulse 3D headset, and console covers, all clad in camouflage. I say “allegedly” because I’m taking Sony’s word for it. I can’t see the accessories, so the camo must be working.Preorders for these accessories will begin on Thursday, September 15th, and Sony details in its blog post that the DualSense and console covers will release on October 14th through its official online store in several regions. They’ll make their way to other retailers starting October 28th. The Pulse 3D headset will release in December. Hey, if you want to preorder these gadgets sight unseen, be our guest.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Signal officially has a new president.For the newly created position, the company behind the encrypted messaging app has hired Meredith Whittaker, a former Google manager and co-founder of the AI Now Institute.Whittaker made the announcement herself in a post on the Signal blog, where she outlined the strategic nature of the role in guiding the organization towards long-term sustainability.“As President I will dedicate myself to helping Signal build a long taproot so it can grow and thrive in dynamic climates,” Whittaker wrote. “In this role I will be working with Signal’s CEO and leadership, with a particular focus on guiding Signal’s strategy, ensuring our financial sustainability, sharpening and broadening Signal’s public... Continue reading…

Concept art for “The Very Pulse of the Machine” | Image: Titan Books A new book explores the visual styles behind all three seasons Continue reading…

Photo: Buick Buick is offering to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reports.In an interview with WSJ, Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred said that all 2,000 Buick franchise dealers in the US will be given the opportunity to take a buyout. Taking the buyout means the dealer will no longer be affiliated with the Buick brand and can no longer sell Buick vehicles, although they can still sell other General Motors vehicles.Buick is in the midst of rebranding as EV-only, with the goal to make the switch to 100 percent electric sales by the end of the decade. That will require dealers to spend a lot of money on upgrades, like chargers and EV-specific repair equipment.... Continue reading…

The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini is a shrunken-down version of the rumored Hero 11 Black. | Image: WinFuture GoPro’s rumored Hero 11 Black may not be the only camera the company releases this year. Leaked images shared by WinFuture indicate that GoPro’s preparing a smaller surprise that seems like a modern iteration of the now-discontinued Session action cams.The device, supposedly called the Hero 11 Black Mini, tracks with GoPro’s goals of expanding its camera lineup. It features a large camera sensor on the front alongside a single button for Bluetooth connectivity as well as folding “fingers” on the bottom for mounting. As its name implies, the Mini looks like a shrunken-down version of the upcoming Hero 11 Black, only it doesn’t come with any displays on the front or back of the device. Image: WinFuture GoPro’s line... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is considering partnering with pharmacies in Japan to deliver medications starting in 2023, according to a report from Nikkei.The plan is for Amazon to build a platform where patients can get information about the drugs they’ve been prescribed and also sign up to get those drugs delivered, Nikkei reported, based on interviews with unnamed sources involved with the project. Amazon would not operate pharmacies itself — just provide the online system.Amazon Japan declined to comment to Nikkei.People in Japan will be able to order prescriptions online after online doctor visits for the first time next year. Major pharmacies and other Japanese companies are also working on similar programs that would give patients digital access to... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge One of the new features introduced in Android 12 was the ability — if you had a Pixel phone — to automatically match your phone’s color palette to that of your wallpaper, including what Google calls Themed icons — icons that, instead of using their own colors, take on the color palette you’ve chosen as a theme.Back then, you could only theme icons that were offered by Google apps. So, for example, when I tried it out on a Pixel 3 using Android 12 beta, it changed some, but not all, of the icons on my home page into black designs against a hued background. (Quite honestly, I thought the normal multicolored icons looked much better.) Third-party icons, like the one for Slack, remained as they were.In Android 13, the ability to have your... Continue reading…

Image: Insta360 / WinFuture Insta360 is currently teasing the announcement of its “next camera” on September 8th, but WinFuture seems to have the details early. The German-language site has images and specs for the company’s new X3 360-degree action camera, which drops the “One” name from its branding and sports a larger display than its predecessor, the Insta360 One X2.WinFuture suggests that the Insta360 X3 will be rocking the same 5.7k resolution found on both previous generations of the camera, though updated image sensors should achieve 4K resolution in single-lens mode, up from the 1440p resolution featured on the One X2. Timelapse videos can be made in 8K and still photos can be taken at resolutions up to 72 megapixels.The circular touchscreen display has... Continue reading…

Apple Watch Pro size comparison based on leaked cases. | Image: Sonny Dickson (Twitter) The Apple Watch Pro leaks continue with Sonny Dickson returning with a size comparison, this time sharing images of purported cases for the 49mm Apple Watch Pro next to cases for the smaller Series 7 and upcoming Series 8 watches. The Apple Watch Pro looks much larger than the 45mm or 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 devices the company currently sells, as well as the rumored Series 8 also expected to be announced on Wednesday.The size comparison follows the leaked cases and CAD drawings from yesterday, which showed a new button to the left of the flat Apple Watch Pro display, along with a new protrusion to the right housing a mic, button, and Digital Crown that now appears to be better protected from accidental presses — something that could... Continue reading…

Streaming TV is great! Streaming ads are a mess. | Image: Peacock For the last few months, Parks & Recreation has been my go-to background show. It’s what I watch while I’m doing the laundry, trying to catch up on email, or playing a video game I’d rather not listen to. The show’s seven seasons are all on Peacock, which is handy, because so is The Office — my other background show. All of this is to say, I watch a lot of Peacock.At one point today, while half-watching another Parks & Rec episode, an ad came on that I suddenly realized I knew. And I didn’t just know it, I knew every single word of it. The jingle, especially, which ends in a sing-songy “CroppMetcalfe is the one with five stars!” That jingle has been stuck in my head for weeks, and it may never go away.I don’t blame CroppMetcalfe,... Continue reading…

Jaws is old, but it still rules | Photo: Universal Pictures This Saturday was dubbed “National Cinema Day,” in which theaters around the US cut their ticket prices to $3 in an effort to keep bringing people back to the movie theater. And it worked! More than 8.1 million people went to the movies on Saturday, Variety found, compared to 1 million the day before and 1.7 million the day after. National Cinema Day brought the biggest crowds to theaters of any day in 2022, which leads to one inevitable conclusion: people will go to movies when movies only cost three bucks. Who knew!One thing not needed to get the butts back in the seats? New movies. August has been a month-long movie doldrums, the result of so many pandemic shutdowns and general supply chain issues. Tom Cruise always has the answer,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has fined Meta €405 million (about $402 million) after an investigation into how it handled teenagers’ data. The decision and fine were finalized last Friday, DPC spokesperson Caolmhe McGuire tells The Verge, and “full details of the decision will publish next week.”The DPC’s deadline for making a final decision on this matter was the end of this week. The investigation leading started almost two years ago, and focused on two ways in which the company allegedly breached GDPR rules. The first was Instagram allowing young users, ages 13-17, to set up business accounts on the platform, which made those users’ contact information publicly available. (Users sometimes switch to business accounts because... Continue reading…

Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok is denying reports that it was breached after a hacking group posted images of what they claim is a TikTok database that contains the platform’s source code and user information (via Bleeping Computer). In response to these allegations, TikTok said its team “found no evidence of a security breach.”According to Bleeping Computer, hackers shared images of TikTok’s alleged database to a hacking forum, saying they obtained the data on a server used by TikTok. The hackers claim the server stores over 2 billion records and 790GB worth of user data, platform statistics, code, and more.“We have confirmed that the data samples in question are all publicly accessible and are not due to any compromise of TikTok systems, networks, or... Continue reading…

Imagine this, but with an 11 on the side. That’s the Hero11 Black, apparently. | Image: Becca Farsace / The Verge GoPro is reportedly getting ready to launch its next camera, but don’t hold your breath for a big redesign. Instead, according to images and specs first spotted by WinFuture, it appears the GoPro Hero11 Black will look virtually identical to the Hero10, and all the important tweaks will be on the inside.The biggest upgrade sounds like a new sensor offering the “widest ever field of view on any GoPro,” which WinFuture says will be capable of 27-megapixel still images and 24.7-megapixel stills grabbed from videos. (The current Hero10 Black, for comparison, shoots 23-megapixel photos.) Video resolution doesn’t sound like it’s changing, though: the new model will reportedly still cap out at 5.3K at 60 frames per second, or 4K at 120 fps.... Continue reading…

The sun sets behind electric power lines as the California Independent System Operator urged conservation to avoid blackouts in Redondo Beach, California on August 31, 2022. | Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Thousands of Colorado residents found themselves locked out of their smart thermostats during sweltering temperatures last week in an effort to prevent power demand from overwhelming the grid.About 22,000 Xcel customers lost control of their smart thermostats for hours on August 30th, Denver7 News reports. That led to backlash on social media as some people said the temperatures inside their homes reached as high as 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Outdoor temperatures climbed into the 90s that day across parts of Colorado as much of the western US grappled with sweltering heat.All of the customers affected had enrolled in an energy-saving program, called AC Rewards, that’s meant to ease the strain on the power grid during heatwaves. Xcel can... Continue reading…

Nick Barclay / The Verge Gadgets galore Continue reading…

Image: Netflix Arcane, the popular Netflix animated series based on the League of Legends video game has won the award for Outstanding Animated Program at the Emmys’ Creative Arts ceremony, on top of the three other animation-related trophies it earned earlier this year.This marks the first time that a streaming-exclusive show has won the award, despite growing competition in recent years. Arcane beat another streaming exclusive, Marvel’s What If…? (available to watch on Disney Plus), as well as non-streaming offerings from Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, and Rick and Morty to the punch. Previous years have seen entries from other Netflix animated shows, such as Big Mouth and BoJack Horseman, nominated for the award.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating Amazon’s plans to acquire robot vacuum maker iRobot and the 1Life healthcare company behind One Medical, according to reports from Politico and The Wall Street Journal. Amazon announced a $3.9 billion deal to buy One Medical in July and said it would acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion just weeks later.One Medical serves as a sort of Netflix-for-healthcare subscription service that gives customers access to in-person and virtual appointments at 125 clinics across the US for $199 per year. Meanwhile, iRobot’s known for its line of Roomba robot vacuums that have only grown more adept at understanding users’ homes and their habits with the rollout of iRobot OS.The acquisitions of both... Continue reading…

HBO is tempting new subscribers to its streaming service with a free sample of House of the Dragon. | Image: HBO Max HBO has made the first episode of its Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon available to watch for free on YouTube, a marketing move that amusingly coincides with the release of Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Friday last week.Life is good for fans of epic fantasy right now, with House of the Dragon drawing in the largest audience ever for a new HBO series (and seemingly bricking the streaming service in the process). At the same time, The Rings of Power attracted 25 million global viewers the day it premiered, which also happens to be Amazon Prime’s biggest debut.10 million people tuned in for the House of the Dragon premiere.The success of Amazon’s Tolkien adaptation is likely at least... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google Chrome users on Windows, Mac, and Linux need to install the latest update to the browser to protect themselves from a serious security vulnerability that hackers are actively exploiting.“Google is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2022-3075 exists in the wild,” the company said in a September 2nd blog post. An anonymous tipster reported the problem on August 30th, and Google says it expects the update to roll out to all users in the coming days or weeks.A serious security vulnerability that hackers are actively exploitingThe company hasn’t released much information yet on the nature of the bug. What we know so far is that it has to do with “Insufficient data validation” in Mojo, a collection of runtime libraries used by... Continue reading…

Apple’s ‘Far Out’ event is being held on Wednesday, September 7th | Image: Apple Apple’s next big product event is set for September 7th. It’s the company’s third live event of the year, and we’re expecting to see quite a few big announcements, from the iPhone 14 lineup to a new “Pro” Apple Watch model to the next generation of AirPods Pro — plus a bunch more.The event is being held in person for select members of the media, but it’s also going to be streaming online for everyone else. Here are the details for you to watch the event from wherever you are.When does the Apple event start? The Apple event is set to begin September 7th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.Where can I watch the Apple event?A livestream for the Apple event will be available on Apple.com, Apple’s YouTube channel, and the Apple TV app. We’ve also... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge If you’re an Xbox owner in the UK or Europe it might be time to look at what energy mode your console is using. Rising energy costs across the UK and Europe mean the consoles’ Instant On standby mode could cost up to £5 per month next month for many households, as the energy cap on prices jumps a massive 80 percent in the UK alone.Microsoft offers two power modes on its Xbox consoles. Instant On keeps Xbox One S and Xbox Series S / X consoles in a standby mode that consumes between 11-13 watts (depending on the model) and lets players instantly resume games. Energy Saver mode, by comparison, only consumes around 0.5 watts, but means you have to fully boot up the Xbox before resuming play. Photo by Tom Warren / The... Continue reading…

OpenAI has added a new “outpointing” function to its text-to-image AI model DALL-E that lets the system generate new visuals that expand the borders of any given picture.In the example above, you can see how DALL-E, with the help of human prompting, “imagines” what’s outside the frame of Johannes Vermeer’s portrait “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Note, how, even from the limited information provided by the portrait, the system is able to match Vermeer’s style, mimicking the shadows and highlights of the original.In the timelapse below, you can also see how the artist responsible, August Kamp, had to expand the image in small sections at a time, often redoing DALL-E’s generations in order to get the outcome she wanted. Not seen in this... Continue reading…

Apple Watch Pro CAD drawings showing protected Digital Crown and new button on left. | Image: 91mobiles Images of purported third-party accessories and CAD drawings for the rumored Apple Watch Pro are making the rounds this morning, and boy do I hope they’re legit. The cases show cutouts for another physical button added to the left of the watch face, while CAD drawings released separately by 91mobiles align with the cutouts. The drawings also show a completely flat display and a new button on the left side below a redesigned speaker vent, with a new protrusion on the right that houses the mic, button, and Digital Crown which looks to be better protected from accidental presses.Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman later chimed in on the authenticity of the Apple Watch Pro renders published by 91mobiles. “This is indeed it,” he wrote on Twitter.If... Continue reading…

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 is getting some Z Flip 4 features. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Older generations of Samsung foldable phones and smartwatches will soon be eligible to update to the latest versions of One UI, granting new features such as multitasking gestures, optimizations for large-screened devices, first-party app enhancements and a PC-like taskbar for phones, and new watch faces and customizations for Galaxy smartwatches.Samsung’s One UI 4.1.1 is based on Android 12L and first appeared on devices such as the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4. Samsung has already started to roll out the UI 4.1.1 update globally today to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 devices, which should reach all users within the next few days. The Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Z Flip, and Galaxy Z Fold have also been confirmed to receive the... Continue reading…

Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images Instagram has removed the official account for PornHub as pressure from campaigners against the site grows.The news was first reported by Variety, which notes that at the time of its removal, PornHub’s Instagram account had some 13.1 million followers and 6,200 posts. The account posted safe-for-work content that promoted PornHub’s various videos and performers. PornHub still operates popular accounts on other social media platforms like Twitter.It’s not clear exactly why Instagram’s parent company Meta removed the account, though screenshots shared by anti-PornHub campaigner Laila Mickelwait suggest the account was taken down for violating Instagram’s community guidelines. The Verge has reached out to Meta for confirmation and... Continue reading…

Image: LG Just months after Samsung announced that it’s bringing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to its TVs, now LG’s doing the same. The company’s new NFT marketplace, called LG Art Lab, lets you “buy, sell and enjoy high-quality digital artwork” from your TV.For now, only users in the US with an LG TV that runs webOS 5.0 or later can access the app, which is available to download from the TV’s home screen. Through the portal, you can buy and sell digital works made available through LG’s NFT drops. The first one of these drops is set to occur on September 22nd and features a set of metallic-looking NFTs from sculptor Barry X Ball.Since I just so happen to own a compatible LG TV, I downloaded and tried out the app for myself... and there’s not much... Continue reading…