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by Sean Hollister on (#683X8)
Image: Dbrand I imagine you have questions.In no particular order:
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-07-08 00:17 |
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by Emma Roth on (#683X9)
Image: Meta Meta’s bringing Messenger’s core customization features to end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) chats on the platform. That means encrypted chats can now incorporate themes, custom emoji, reactions, group profile photos, and a whole lot more.Messenger’s E2EE chats hide your online conversations from third parties, including Facebook itself. It also makes it more difficult for law enforcement and hackers to access the messages you’re sending and receiving. WhatsApp already has E2EE by default, and Instagram lets people switch on E2EE for individual conversations. Image: Meta Previously, Meta didn’t offer any way to customize encrypted chats. As soon as you switched over to (or entered) a secret conversation, all customization... Continue reading…
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#683RM)
The new Mac Mini may look like most models before it, but it’s got some big updates inside and to its port selection — particularly on the M2 Pro model. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Well, this is convenient timing. Our review of the new M2 Pro Mac Mini just went up, and you can save up to $100 on a preorder of it. The new Mac Mini in both its base M2 configuration and its more powerful M2 Pro version can be preordered at Adorama for $549 ($50 off) and $1,199 ($100 off), respectively, when you use code APINSIDER at checkout (hat tip to Slickdeals). These preorders are set to start shipping tomorrow, January 24th, which is launch day for the new M2-ified MacBook Pros as well. But you might want to jump on this deal quickly, as we’re not sure how long it may stick around.It’s rare to save anything on Apple stuff the moment it comes out (it’s even less common for preorders), but this is a great opportunity to get the... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#683RN)
Another big musical act is descending upon Fortnite. Today, Epic announced that the game’s next virtual music experience will feature The Kid Laroi, and it’s kicking off very soon: the “immersive, interactive musical experience” will begin on January 27th at 6PM ET.It will be a little different from the events featuring the likes of Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, however, which took over the Fortnite battle royale island for a massive spectacle. Instead, the Kid Laroi event will take place on a dedicated Creative island purpose-built for the experience. Epic says the event will explore the singer’s “journey from humble beginnings to headlining sold-out performances as a worldwide superstar.”It sounds like something of a cross between... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#683P4)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft says it’s extending its long-term partnership with OpenAI through a new “multiyear, multibillion dollar investment.” The investment comes just weeks after Microsoft was rumored to be investing $10 billion into OpenAI, the creators of popular AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E 2.“We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “In this next phase of our partnership, developers and organizations across industries will have access to the best AI infrastructure, models, and toolchain with Azure to build and run their applications.”The deal will see Microsoft increase its investments in... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#683P5)
Image: Square Enix There’s a fascinating story and incredible parkour action buried under lackluster combat and a game lacking technical polish. Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#683P8)
With two processor choices — one for everyday computing, the other for conquering creative work — Apple’s littlest Mac has never been more appealing. Continue reading…
by Cameron Faulkner on (#683P7)
Slightly worse battery life aside, I’m a big fan of almost everything Sony did to improve on the already-great DualSense. Continue reading…
by Monica Chin on (#683P6)
Apple’s new MacBook Pro 16 with M2 Max has exactly one significant upgrade from the 2021 model: a more powerful chip. Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#683P9)
A new feature is in development that will allow WhatsApp users to send images at their original size and resolution. | Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp could soon allow users to send photos at full quality without having to worry about image compression, if code discovered in the latest beta version of the Android app is anything to go by. WABetaInfo reports on a new option that would allow users to send images in their original quality.Although WhatsApp already lets users pick between “automatic,” “best quality,” and “data saver,” the platform does not currently allow users to send photos in their original size and resolutions. Instead, these images are compressed — even when selecting “best quality” — to provide faster data transfers that take up less storage space.
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by James Vincent on (#683PA)
Earlier this month, OpenAI said it was exploring ways to monetize its AI chatbot ChatGPT, giving users the opportunity to sign up for early access to “ChatGPT Professional.” Now, some users say they’ve been granted access to a pro tier which costs $42 a month.OpenAI hasn’t confirmed this is an official test or made any announcements. We’ve contacted the company for more info, but in the meantime remember that features and pricing could change before ChatGPT Professional launches for real. As OpenAI said earlier this month: “Please keep in mind that this is an early experimental program that is subject to change, and we are not making paid pro access generally available at this time.”With that in mind, what does $42 a month get you?... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#683M2)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Spotify will lay off 6 percent of its workforce globally, the company’s CEO Daniel Ek announced in an all-staff memo today. Spotify had just over 9,800 full time employees as of its last earnings report, meaning today’s layoffs affect a little under 600 staff. Dawn Ostroff, head of content and ads who has been instrumental in growing Spotify’s podcasting business, is also leaving the company.The layoffs make Spotify the latest tech company to cut its workforce in the midst of a global economic downturn. Google announced plans to cut around 12,000 jobs just last week, following similar layoffs at Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta.Ek announced the layoffs as part of an organizational restructure, which is aimed at increasing efficiency,... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#683GP)
Nexo is ceasing its EIP offer to US investors and has begun phasing out all of the products and services it offers in the United States. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The cryptocurrency lending firm Nexo has been sanctioned by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for offering and selling unregistered securities, as part of the latest efforts by regulators to crack down on the crypto industry. Announced via an SEC press release on January 19th, Nexo has been fined $45 million for failing to register the offer and sale of a cryptocurrency lending product, Earn Interest Product (EIP), which promised returns on deposited crypto.According to the SEC’s order, Nexo started offering the EIP around June 2020 and marketed the product as a means for investors to earn interest on their crypto assets. The agency alleges that Nexo used its investors’ crypto assets in a variety of ways, including to fund... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#683GR)
Microsoft is removing Windows 10 Home and Pro downloads from sale later this month. The downloads include license keys for Windows 10 (necessary to activate and use the download), and are being removed more than two years before Microsoft stops officially supporting Windows 10 on October 14th, 2025.Microsoft updated its Windows 10 product pages recently to note the January 31st cutoff date for sales, but it’s not clear how the company will treat similar downloads and license keys available from retailers like Amazon. We asked Microsoft to comment on Windows 10 license keys and downloads from third-party retailers, but the company only confirmed its own plans to remove its own sales.“An update was made to the Windows 10 product page to... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#683DM)
NieR: Automata Ver1.1a, the anime based on PlatinumGames’ action RPG, has seen its release interrupted by the ongoing impact of the covid pandemic. The show’s official Twitter account has announced that the release of the rest of the series has been indefinitely delayed. Unusually, this announcement has come after the first three episodes of the show were already released on Crunchyroll following a January 7th premiere.“Due to the impact of COVID-19 on production, we have decided to postpone the broadcast and distribution of episode 4 and all subsequent episodes,” the statement reads, adding that an updated release schedule will be announced on Twitter soon. “We apologize for any inconvenience and concern this may cause our fans who... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#6834D)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung TV Plus, the app that houses hundreds of free channels, could eventually make its way to other, non-Samsung TVs. That’s according to media tech reporter Janko Roettgers, who writes in his Lowpass newsletter that Samsung’s in talks to bring its streaming app to TCL TVs.Introduced in 2015, Samsung TV Plus is a free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) service that comes preinstalled on newer Samsung TVs. The service gives viewers a way to flip through a collection of channels, much like you would with a traditional TV service.Samsung TV Plus has a pretty strong slate of content for a free app, with Samsung adding popular shows like Top Gear, Law & Order Special Victims Unit, NCIS, and Chicago Fire last August. It also offers a range... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#68331)
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Quordle, the word-solving game that emerged at the height of Wordle’s popularity, has been acquired by Merriam-Webster, as first reported by TechCrunch. The game now lives directly on Merriam-Webster’s website, rather than on its own.“I’m delighted to announce that Quordle was acquired by @MerriamWebster,” a post on Quorlde’s Twitter account reads. “I can’t think of a better home for this game. Lots of news features and fun to come, so stay tuned!”Quordle is just one of many spinoffs that tried to piggyback off of the success of Wordle, which had users posting their scores across Twitter and competing with friends to solve the word of the day with the least guesses. Screenshot: Emma Roth / The Verge Quordle’s... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#68332)
Gulikit’s joystick replacements use Hall effect sensors that make them less likely to wear down. | Image: Gulikit After years of dealing with Joy-Con drift and no satisfactory answers from Nintendo, we may finally have our solution. A company called Gulikit created a set of Switch joystick replacements that promise to banish stick drift once and for all (via Gizmodo).If you’re a Switch owner, you’re probably well-acquainted with Joy-Con drift, which creates annoying false inputs even when you’re not touching the thumbsticks. It’s been a problem ever since the Switch came out and still hasn’t been fully fixed in the new OLED model (although Nintendo says it’s made some “improvements”). While you can send your Joy-Cons away for a free repair at Nintendo (or just buy a new set), the sticks will inevitably start drifting again. Image:... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#68333)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The age of great third-party Twitter clients may be over. After Twitter cut off their API access and changed its rules to bar apps that compete with its own, The Iconfactory has announced that it’s discontinuing Twitterific, Fenix has been pulled from app stores, and Tapbots has posted a memorial for Tweetbot. It’s a loss for all the people who used the apps and, almost certainly, a loss for Twitter itself.As many people have pointed out over the past week, third-party clients helped make Twitter the platform it is today, innovating parts of Twitter we take for granted and, in the early days, helping form the company’s very identity. They’ve also acted as a safe haven from unwanted changes, helping to keep people tweeting when they were... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#68334)
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Apple’s working on a MacBook Air and iMac with an M3 chip built using the more efficient 3-nanometer fabrication process, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. While it’s not clear when the two upgraded devices might launch, Gurman expects the M3 chip to arrive later this year or early next year.Gurman first hinted at this in June of last year, noting that Apple’s working on an M3-equipped 13-inch MacBook Air, 15-inch MacBook Air, and a new iMac. At the time, he added that the M3 chip could appear as early as this year, but that hasn’t happened just yet.Instead, Apple included the new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips with the lineup of MacBook Pros it announced earlier this month, and also added an M2 Pro chip to the Mac Mini.... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#68335)
Image: Square Enix The development of Marvel’s Avengers is coming to a close. In a blog post, developer Crystal Dynamics announced that the game won’t receive any new updates after March 31st, with support ending on September 30th (via IGN).While you’ll still be able to play the game in both single-player and multiplayer mode, Crystal Dynamics says it “can’t guarantee that we will be able to address issues that occur” after support ends.The last — and final — balance update will take place in March, and from then on, all cosmetics, including “every Outfit, Takedown, and Nameplate” will be available for free and without the purchase of credits. Any remaining credits “will be converted into in-game resources,” Crystal Dynamics says. It also provides a... Continue reading…
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by Richard Lawler on (#6827N)
Amazon’s hexagonal MK27-2 delivery drone | Image: Amazon Google’s decision to let go of 12,000 employees was only just announced on Friday, but it extended the recent trend of the “Big Tech” companies cutting jobs in previously unheard-of numbers, and now we’ve seen more reports about where those cuts happened.The Information reports that at Google, layoffs spread through nearly every group, including projects like Chrome, Search, Android, and Google Cloud. Its sources said they affected people who’d previously received “high performance reviews” and some managers making anywhere from $500K to $1 million.One area of the search and advertising giant that was “relatively unaffected,” however, was the Google Brain division run by Jeff Dean, the senior vice president of research and artificial... Continue reading…
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by Allison Johnson on (#682BJ)
The special-edition phone celebrates Pantone’s vibrant color of the year. There’s really no sensible argument for the viva magenta Motorola Edge 30 Fusion. It’s $799 and doesn’t include wireless charging, an IP68 rating, or a telephoto camera. You should get, like, at least two of those things for $800 in 2023. But here’s the thing: it’s fun, and fun is seriously underrated when it comes to smartphones.A lot of that fun factor has to do with the Edge 30 Fusion’s best and most obvious feature: its color. I think it’s pink, but my sources (a lot of people on Twitter) tell me that it is, in fact, red. And not just any red: viva magenta, the official 2023 Pantone Color of the Year.Pantone employs some forced alliteration when it says it “vibrates with vim and vigor.” It also apparently “galvanizes our spirit,... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#6827M)
Amazon’s Kindle Kids is on sale right now for $84.99 instead of $119.99. | Image: Kindle Kids Buying a kid a Kindle is great for two reasons. First off, it encourages them to read at a young age. Second, it serves as a great distraction that might save your sanity when you're both stuck inside on a rainy day. That’s why you might want to take a look at today’s deal on the kid-friendly version of the Kindle, which has dropped to a new all-time low. Regularly $119.99, you can currently buy the latest model for $84.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.The Kindle Kids is exactly like the standard Kindle. It touts the same high-resolution, 300dpi display and a dark mode, along with USB-C support and marathon battery life. However, the kid-centric model lacks ads, comes with one of three vibrant covers, and provides a few additional... Continue reading…
by Jon Porter on (#6827P)
Sanding down those rough edges doesn’t come cheap. Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#6810T)
Illustration: The Verge And it’s all-change over at Netflix. Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#681W1)
Soon you may be able to more-or-less set one of the tabs as default. Twitter’s next update should make it less insistent that you use the “For You” algorithmic timeline, according to a tweet from Elon Musk. He says the app will “stop switching you back to recommended tweets,” and remember if you left it on the reverse-chronological “Following” timeline or a pinned list.Musk’s promises should be taken with a grain of salt, but I hope the company delivers on this one. Until last month, Twitter had a button that let you set a preference on which version of the timeline you wanted to use. That option went away when the company rolled out a UI that let you swipe between the two timelines, with the app defaulting to opening on the algorithmic one.
by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#681RH)
Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk will never stop posting, no matter who tells him to stop.That was one of the takeaways from his brief testimony during his securities fraud trial, which took place in a San Francisco courthouse Friday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs peppered Musk with questions about his tweets as they work up to his infamous “funding secured” tweet from 2018 at the center of this case. Musk is being sued by a class of Tesla investors who claim his bumbling attempts to take Tesla private that year cost them millions of dollars.Musk wasn’t asked about that tweet yet, though. He took the stand for a little over 30 minutes before the trial recessed until next Monday. But the plaintiff’s lawyers got in plenty of questions about his Twitter habits,... Continue reading…
by Mitchell Clark on (#681RJ)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok has confirmed to Forbes that some of its US employees have the ability to boost videos in order to “introduce celebrities and emerging creators to the TikTok community.” The statement comes as part of a report about TikTok’s “Heating” button, which Forbes says can be used to put selected videos onto users’ For You pages, helping boost views by sidestepping the algorithm that supposedly drives the TikTok experience.Jamie Favazza, a spokesperson for TikTok, told Forbes that increasing views to particular videos isn’t the only reason for heating. TikTok will also “promote some videos to help diversify the content experience” (read: make sure your feed isn’t entirely made up of one or two trends), he said. Favazza also suggests... Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#681RK)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Even Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, now believes that the platform put a lopsided emphasis on videos and Reels last year — and traditional photo posts were worse off because of it. In one of the answers from his weekly Q&A with users today, he acknowledged, “I think we were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos.” Mosseri said that Instagram has since worked behind the scenes to restore a more even balance, and internal metrics show that it’s working.“Things like how often someone likes photos versus videos and how often someone comments on photos versus videos are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced,” he said. “To the degree that... Continue reading…
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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#681PJ)
Humble Bundle’s Winter sale goes live today | Image: Humble Bundle Here’s your PSA to remind you that the Humble Bundle Winter Sale has started, knocking up to 90 percent off a variety of titles until February 7th. The sale features discounts on a plethora of AAA and eccentric indie games, but we’ve put together a short list of highlights that we can personally vouch for. Buying a game off the Humble Bundle store allows you to donate a portion of your purchase to the charity of your choice once you’ve set up an account.The majority of the games on sale are unlocked via your Steam account, but a handful may require an Epic Games Store or Ubisoft Connect account.
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by Justine Calma on (#681PK)
A long exposure photo shows stars in the night sky over the Santa Ruins in Trabzon, Turkey, on January 20th, 2023. | Image: Hakan Burak Altunoz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The brightness of the night sky has risen by an average of 10 percent each year, according to new research. That’s a significantly higher number than estimates made using satellite data — which put that figure at closer to a 2 percent increase annually.In other words, light pollution — which makes sleep and many everyday tasks harder for people and other living things — has worsened at a much faster pace than expected. And just as LED lighting has become popular around the world, the satellites typically used to measure light pollution have been unable to fully track it.At the rate we now know light pollution has grown — a result of human light pollution — the brightness of the night sky doubles about every eight years. A child born... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#681PM)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Nintendo is planning to increase production of the Switch for the upcoming fiscal year beginning in March, according to a Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources. The news arrives on the same weekend as the company’s first big release in 2023, Fire Emblem Engage, and ahead of the long-anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which will go on sale in May.Nintendo reportedly has pinged its suppliers and assembly partners about increasing production without putting a firm number on its expectations. In November, the company had decreased its Switch sales forecast for the current year to 19 million units (down from its initial 21 million projection in May) due to ongoing component shortages, but the sources said the number... Continue reading…
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by Mia Sato on (#681PN)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge CNET will pause publication of stories generated using artificial intelligence “for now,” the site’s leadership told employees on a staff call Friday.The call, which lasted under an hour, was held a week after CNET came under fire for its use of AI tools on stories and one day after The Verge reported that AI tools had been in use for months, with little transparency to readers or staff. CNET hadn’t formally announced the use of AI until readers noticed a small disclosure.“We didn’t do it in secret,” CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo told the group. “We did it quietly.” CNET’s pop-up disclosure before it was rewritten last week. CNET, owned by private equity firm Red Ventures, is among several websites that... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#681JN)
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre | Image: Netflix Part of what makes Junji Ito’s work so terrifying is how it sticks with you. The mind behind iconic horror manga like Tomie and Uzumaki takes an idea — whether it’s a schoolgirl who can’t die or a small town obsessed with spirals — and steadily pushes the concept as far it can go, usually toward some kind of disturbing body horror that forces you to look away. Before you know it, the idea has lodged itself in your brain, his carefully crafted black-and-white images flashing even after you close the book.The new Netflix anthology Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, which adapts a number of Ito’s stories into animated episodes, captures some of that terror. The ideas are still there, the horrifying imagination that can make... Continue reading…
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#681GP)
Yesterday’s flagships are today’s bang-for-the-buck deals when you can get them for prices like this. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge It’s Friday, which means it’s time for some Frideals (sorry, not sorry). First off, the last-gen Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro have fallen to their lowest price yet. Right now, you can get the wireless earbuds for just $99.99 ($100 off) in all colors at Best Buy or in white at Amazon.Now, these buds from early 2021 may not have the lightweight, refined design and fancy 24-bit audio potential that the newer Galaxy Buds Pro 2 have, but they’re still an excellent pair of noise-canceling earbuds two years later. And as good a replacement as the newer Buds Pro are, they launched at a higher price of $229.99, making this discount on the last-gen model all the more worthwhile for anyone that wants some good buds on a budget. Read our review. ... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#681GQ)
Image: Samar Haddad; Allison Johnson / The Verge If you have a guest over to your house for any amount of time, there’s a fair chance they’ll ask you for the Wi-Fi password, which may begin a dreaded dance of you trying to remember what it is or read out a complicated string of numbers, letters, and symbols.Of course, you could always buy a Wi-Fi password sign or write it on a sticky note that you can quickly point guests to, but that’s not always the most convenient solution; if your password is long or contains hard-to-read symbols (is that an O or a 0?), it can be a pain to get your friends and family connected.It’s worth noting that if you frequently have people you don’t know very well or large groups over, you should really look into setting up a guest or temporary Wi-Fi... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#681CH)
The breach went undetected for over a month before T-Mobile detected the malicious activity. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile has revealed the company’s second major breach in less than two years, admitting that a hacker was able to obtain customer data, including names, birth dates, and phone numbers, from 37 million accounts. The telecom giant said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it currently believes the attacker first retrieved data around November 25th, 2022, through one of its APIs.T-Mobile says it detected malicious activity on January 5th and that the attacker had access to the exploited API for over a month. The company says it traced the source of the malicious activity and fixed the API exploit within a day of the detection. T-Mobile says the API used by the hacker did not allow access to data that contained any social security... Continue reading…
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by Becca Farsace on (#681CK)
The Nikon Z9 has a new full-frame 45.7MP stacked CMOS sensor. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge At nearly three pounds, or 1,340g, the $5,500 Nikon Z9 is a brick of a mirrorless camera with more buttons and features than I have been able to test in the nearly two months I have had with it. It has a new full-frame 45.7MP stacked CMOS sensor that, thanks to the new Expeed 7 image processor, can shoot RAW photos at 20fps for over 1,000 frames (assuming you are using a fast enough card). And the video specs put flagship specs from Sony’s A1 and Canon’s R5 to shame. They include 12-bit 8K 60fps or 4K 120fps both in N-RAW, Nikon’s RAW video format. You can also shoot in ProRes RAW up to 5K 30fps. Photo by Amelia Krales / The Verge Photo by Amelia Krales / The Verge Photo by... Continue reading…
by Victoria Song on (#681CJ)
The Ignite 3 looks like a sleek, modern smartwatch but acts like a tracker from five years ago. Continue reading…
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by Thomas Ricker on (#6819Q)
Image: Winnebago Winnebago’s name is synonymous with vanlife, which makes its new all-electric eRV2 notable for an industry built on top of diesel engines. It’s just a prototype, but this one is fully operational and actually on the road with a fleet of customers for six months of field testing. Input from those early experiences will ultimately inform the eRV’s final design and help kick off an era of #eVanlife in the process.The eRV2 is a follow-up to the eRV concept announced last year. It’s built around the Ford E-Transit chassis with a range of 108 miles (174km) from its 68kWh battery. Yes, that’s paltry for a vehicle that will be used by adventure seekers far away from EV charging networks but fine for field testing a prototype, I guess. Winnebago... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6812T)
The new OGL 1.2 is subject to community feedback known as playtesting, which will be addressed on or before February 17th. | Image: Wizards of the Coast In an announcement on the DnD Beyond website, Kyle Brink, executive producer of D&D, has introduced OGL 1.2, the latest version of the Dungeons and Dragons Open Gaming License. Brink highlighted that this version of the license doesn’t contain any of the ownership, royalties, and revenue reporting requirements found in the more restrictive OGL 1.1 that leaked last week.Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) — the Hasbro-owned publisher of Dungeons & Dragons — released the new draft ahead of its self-imposed deadline of Friday, January 20th. Unlike the previously leaked draft, OGL 1.2 will be subject to community feedback known as “playtesting” in the tabletop gaming community.
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by Tom Warren on (#6812V)
Microsoft is copying features from a popular third-party audio tool for Windows. In the latest test build of Windows 11, a new volume mixer can be enabled that looks a lot like EarTrumpet. The new Windows 11 feature provides quick access from the taskbar to switch audio outputs and control individual app volumes.That’s exactly what EarTrumpet was built for nearly five years ago. The awesome utility has improved audio in Windows for years, and I once called it “the Windows 10 volume control app Microsoft should have created.” How ironic.Former Microsoft engineer Dave Amenta and Microsoft MVP Rafael Rivera created EarTrumpet, and Rivera pointed out the similarities of Microsoft’s new Windows 11 feature on Twitter this week. “Oh snap.... Continue reading…
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by James Vincent on (#6810V)
Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images Google is cutting approximately 12,000 jobs — the latest technology firm to initiate significant layoffs as inflation rises and global markets brace for a downturn.Google SEO Sundar Pichai announced the cuts in an email to staff on Friday and a blog post. The job losses constitute around 6 percent of Google’s global workforce, compared to recent layoffs at Microsoft (10,000 jobs or 5 percent of the workforce), Amazon (18,000 jobs / 6 percent), and Meta (11,000 / 13 percent). Earlier this month, Google’s parent company Alphabet announced much smaller cuts at Verily, its health-focused subsidiary, and Intrinsic, a subsidiary developing software for industrial robots.In his blog post, Pichai said the layoffs marked a moment to for the... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#6810W)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Genesis, a crypto lending and trading conglomerate of more than 200 businesses, has filed for bankruptcy following the meltdown of the FTX exchange, the Financial Times reports. Genesis, one of FTX’s biggest lenders, had previously suspended withdrawals in November, and cut 30 percent of its staff earlier this month, BBC News reports. Genesis is part of the Digital Currency Group (DCG), which also owns cryptocurrency asset manager Greyscale and crypto-focused news outlet CoinDesk.The bankruptcy follows months of uncertainty at the crypto firm. The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Genesis owes its creditors over $3 billion, including almost a billion to the customers of the Winklevoss crypto exchange Gemini. Its Chapter... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#6810X)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The price of Amazon’s Music Unlimited streaming service is increasing in the US and UK from February 21st. In support pages, which we spotted via Billboard, the company says US users will now pay $10.99 per month for a subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited (up from $9.99 previously), while UK listeners will now pay £10.99 (up from £9.99). The discounted student rate is also increasing from $4.99 (£4.99) to $5.99 (£5.99).According to data from market research firm Midia, Amazon Music had around 13.3 percent of the world’s music subscribers, behind Apple Music with 13.7 percent, and Spotify with 30.5 percent, as of mid-2022.“To help us bring you even more content and features, we’re updating the prices of select Amazon Music Unlimited... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#680PE)
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Depending on where you live, the HomePod Mini and the iMac may have just gotten more expensive. The Apple Post noted that the company’s small smart speaker went from £89 to £99 in the UK, and outlets like MacRumors and 9to5Mac have reported a similar €99 to €109 jump in other European countries like Austria, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.In the UK, each pre-made iMac configuration also went up in price by £150. In France, iMac prices went up by €100 for the base model and €110 for the other models, though they stayed the same in Germany and Ireland.It’s hard to find a pattern in the increases. In New Zealand, the HomePod Mini’s price went from NZ$159.00 to NZ$179.00, while it stayed the same in neighboring Australia.... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#680M7)
BP Pulse branded charging stations built by Tritium. | Image: Tritium BP Pulse, the EV branch of oil and gas conglomerate BP, placed a new order for DC fast chargers from electric vehicle power supply maker Tritium. The companies have not specified how many chargers are in the new order, but Tritium calls it its “largest ever order from a single customer.” The transaction means there will soon be even more available chargers as EV adoption grows and government-mandated deadlines to eliminate combustion cars looms closer.“We’re looking forward to putting these chargers to work across three continents,” BP Pulse CEO Richard Bartlett states in a press release. BP Pulse currently operates about 60 charging locations in the UK based on its online map and is working to expand in Australia, Europe, and the... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#680HB)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The era of Netflix password sharing will soon come to a close. Netflix has plans to enforce password-sharing rules “more broadly” toward the end of the first quarter of 2023, the company announced in its earnings report today.“While our terms of use limit use of Netflix to a household, we recognize this is a change for members who share their account more broadly,” Netflix writes. “As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with.”The company also announced that CEO Reed Hastings is stepping down after 25 years of running the company and will pass the baton to Ted Sarandos, who had already been serving as co-CEO, and Greg Peters,... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#680M8)
Samsung Display prototype. | Image: Samsung Display Samsung has a new prototype display that could send its folding phones in a new direction: 360 degrees.Samsung Display, the subsidiary that makes the company’s screens, showed off the new prototype display and hinge at CES 2023. The “Flex In & Out” display can rotate 360 degrees, meaning it can be folded inward and outward, company spokesperson John Lucas told The Verge in an email.In addition, the display comes with a different hinge design that supposedly creates a significantly less visible crease. That’s because the “water-drop hinge” could allow the display to form a looser shape — like a waterdrop — when folded inward. This subtler hinge would also put less stress on the display. Image: Samsung Display S... Continue reading…