The Verge

Sprig Shower Infusion System. | Image: Kohler Ever wish you could bring the spa home with you? Well, now you kind of can. Kohler announced a new aromatherapy shower infusion system at CES 2023 that will add a spa-like experience to your daily showers — just get ready to add shower pods to your shopping list.Kohler’s Sprig Shower Infusion System consists of a gadget capable of attaching to any showerhead paired with Sprig Shower Pods. Once the shower is on, Kohler’s Sprig Shower Pods infuse the water stream with a combination of scents, like eucalyptus, chamomile, and lavender, as well as ingredients that are supposed to be good for the skin, like hyaluronic acid and sodium. Kohler says the pods are safe to use on the entire body and should run for “several minutes.”While you can... Continue reading…

Samsung Display’s 77-inch QD-OLED TV panel. | Image: Samsung Display Although Samsung is yet to officially reveal its lineup of QD-OLED TVs for the year, its display division has just teased a couple of key specs: a maximum peak brightness of 2,000 nits, and an increase in power efficiency of up to 25 percent.2,000 nits of peak brightness is around double what Samsung’s debut QD-OLED TV, the S95B, was able to put out last year. It also appears to be higher than the 1,800 nits that an LG spokesperson told FlatPanelsHD that its 2023 G3 model should be able to reach (although LG’s TV may go higher depending on exact picture settings).Although peak brightness isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of picture quality, brighter screens tend to produce better HDR with more impact and vibrancy. And if they’re able to... Continue reading…

The left side of the Flex Hybrid folds, the right side slides. | Image: Samsung Display Samsung Display’s Flex Hybrid is a new prototype device with a display that’s both foldable and slidable. The left side of the concept “smart mobile device” can be unfolded to reveal the display, while the right side can then slide outwards for even more screen real-estate. It’s being shown off at CES 2023 alongside a new 17-inch slidable display, as well as automotive panels designed for self-driving cars.Although there’s no detail on specs like resolution or peak brightness, Samsung Display says the Flex Hybrid can expand from a 10.5-inch 4:3 display to a 12.4-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s not hard to imagine the display eventually being used in a foldable smartphone, allowing the device to be unfolded for a small... Continue reading…

This image shows the pricier 4K InZone M9, but its design is virtually identical to the M3. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The more affordable, lower-spec companion to Sony’s $899 InZone M9 gaming monitor has arrived. The InZone M3 is launching for $529 and is available now, with an identical 27-inch size and a PS5-esque white on black design. This monitor rounds out Sony’s interesting year in making hardware that appeals to more than just core PlayStation fans. It’s attempting to build credentials and popularity in the PC gaming space, which it brands like LG, Samsung, MSI, Acer and many others are the top choice.As for what’s different, the biggest change is its IPS panel’s drop from 4K resolution to 1080p. The PS5 natively supports 1440p, but this monitor doesn’t. The M3’s screen also lacks full-array local dimming, which gave the M9 spectacular... Continue reading…

WebOS has been slightly redesigned and streamlined on the 2023 lineup. | Image: LG Last year, LG cranked the brightness on its G2 and C2 series TVs up to new highs, bringing a meaningful improvement to the company’s already-fantastic OLED lineup. These TVs are considered by some to be the best on the market dollar for dollar thanks to their perfect black levels, incredible contrast, and top-notch gaming capabilities. So how is LG going to improve upon that with the new models it’s introducing at CES 2023?It’s going to push the brightness even higher while also focusing on image processing and software enhancements.The G3 succeeds the G2 and “incorporates brand-new light control architecture and light-boosting algorithms to increase brightness by up to 70 percent,” according to LG’s press release. That number is in... Continue reading…

When I set out to buy my first home security cameras, the Arlo Q was my obvious pick — every reviewer pointed out that it offered seven days of free cloud storage instead of forcing you into a subscription. Heck, Arlo even advertised it on the packaging.But on January 1st, 2024, the company’s killing that feature for many Arlo cams — and reserving the right to eliminate all cloud functionality, including email alerts, push notifications, and other “bundled services or features,” for any camera that hasn’t been manufactured for four years. Image via Chris Rauschnot (YouTube) “Watch Anywhere With 7 days FREE Cloud Recordings,” Arlo advertised. Arlo’s delivering that news in the form of a new retroactive... Continue reading…

After decades of work, the launch is here Continue reading…

Pillars of Creation (MIRI Image) | Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI) As Christmas approached last year, astronomers and space fans around the globe gathered to watch the much-anticipated launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Though a wondrous piece of engineering, the telescope was not without its controversies — from being way over budget and behind schedule to being named after a former NASA administrator who has been accused of homophobia.Despite the debates over the telescope’s naming and history, one thing has become abundantly clear this year — the scientific ability of JWST is remarkable. Beginning its science operations in July 2022, it has already allowed astronomers to get new views and uncover mysteries about a huge range of space topics.The most pressing aim of JWST is one of the most... Continue reading…

One year ago this month, Microsoft announced it would spend $68.7 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard, highlighting how it would get “iconic franchises” including Call of Duty, Warcraft and Candy Crush for that fee. But now that gamers and regulators are worrying Microsoft might keep Call of Duty from appearing on Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s lawyers are suddenly pretending they have no idea why Call of Duty is special.Or even when it came out, for that matter.

The new Matter-ready Mui Board 2nd Gen will arrive later this year. | Image: Mui Labs The smart home has had an interface challenge that goes back to its earliest days with The Clapper. When it comes to simple things, such as turning on your smart lights or adjusting the temperature in your home, voice control can be cumbersome and erratic, smartphone apps are fiddly and distracting, and sensors are not smart enough (yet) to always get it right.What the smart home needs are quick and easy ways to control exactly what you want — from turning on a single light to triggering a completely automated scene. Something more robust than smart switches with their limited interfaces and less obtrusive than smart displays (people don’t want multiple screens in every room). One answer is interfaces that can provide context when... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla delivered just over 1.3 million vehicles in 2022, missing its goal of achieving 50 percent growth year-over-year. The company needed to hit approximately 1.4 million deliveries to meet its target, indicating that transportation and logistics challenges continue to plague the EV company.Tesla said it delivered 405,278 vehicles in in the fourth quarter of 2022, which includes 17,147 Model S and X vehicles and 388,131 Model 3 and Y vehicles. Wall Street analysts had been predicting 415,000 vehicles delivered during the quarter. For the year, the company delivered 66,705 Model S and X vehicles, and 1,247,146 Model 3 and Y vehicles.Analysts were hoping for a robust 1.8 million vehicles delivered for the year, but Tesla needed to... Continue reading…

I feel threatened by the breadth of this monitor. | Image: Samsung Remember the Samsung Odyssey Ark? Of course you do — it was released last year, had a monstrous 55-inch display that towers over you in portrait mode, and used Mini LED tech. In his review, my colleague Cameron Faulkner said that using it “feels like being in VR,” and called its presence “magnetic.” In short, it’s a monitor dialed (literally) so far past 11 that its Multi View mode was barely able to keep up.So of course Samsung went and made something even bigger, with even higher-end specs, and is announcing it at CES. Enter the new Odyssey Neo G9 (ignore the fact that new and neo mean the same thing), a follow-up to Samsung’s $2,499 49-inch Mini LED display of the same name, released in 2021. This time, it has a 57-inch “super... Continue reading…

Samsung claims that the 49-inch Odyssey G95SC is the world’s first 32:9 aspect ratio OLED gaming monitor. | Image Credit: Samsung OLED gaming monitors are everywhere at CES 2023, and Samsung’s lineup is no exception. The company revealed the Odyssey G95SC monitor today, a 49-inch model that it claims is the world’s first 32:9 aspect ratio OLED gaming monitor. It also reminded us that its Odyssey 34-inch G8 QD-OLED monitor that debuted in the fall during IFA 2022 will be releasing “very soon.”What sets these two models apart from what LG recently announced is that they use Samsung’s own QD-OLED tech, not LG Display’s latest panels. Below I’ve embedded a sidebar explaining how QD-OLED differs from OLED, but the TL;DR is that it’s able to produce a more contrast-rich picture at higher brightness levels — one of the few limitations of conventional OLED tech.I have a... Continue reading…

If you need a new battery, now might be the time. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Apple is raising the price of getting a new battery installed in most iPhones, iPads, and Macs, starting on March 1st. The company made the announcement on the devices’ repair pages, in small text under its price estimators, which was noticed by 9to5Mac.How much the price hike is depends on what device you have. For iPhones, it’s simple — Apple’s site says “the out-of-warranty battery service fee will be increased by $20 for all iPhone models prior to iPhone 14.” For phones with a home button, that means the price will be going from $49 to $69, and for Face ID phones that means it’ll be going from $69 to $89. Those prices, by the way, were put in place in 2019, after Apple ran a year-long promotion where you could get a new battery for... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla’s accused of violating national labor laws by allegedly telling employees at its Orlando, Florida location not to talk about pay and working conditions, as first reported by Bloomberg. In a complaint filed in September, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) regional director in Tampa claims Telsa “told employees not to complain to higher level managers about their pay or other conditions of employment” and said “not to discuss their pay with other persons.”The complaint goes on to accuse Tesla of instructing employees not to discuss the hiring, suspension, or termination of employees with others. These incidents occurred from December 2021 to January 2022, the complaint alleges, and violates laws that prevent companies from... Continue reading…

Grubhub has been ordered to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit from the District of Columbia that claims the company misled customers by tacking on hidden fees to their orders. According to a press release, Grubhub must pay $800,000 to DC as a civil penalty, while the remaining $2.7 million “will be paid back to affected customers.”In March, DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against Grubhub, accusing it of falsely promising “free” online orders to customers, as well as “unlimited free delivery” for those who subscribe to Grubhub Plus. The lawsuit alleges this practice is “deceptive” since Grubhub still takes a service fee for non-pickup orders made by Grubhub Plus customers, and charges both delivery and service fees for... Continue reading…

It’s no more. It’s well and truly curtains for 3G, one of the key technologies that helped usher in the age of the smartphone. Throughout December, Verizon has been disconnecting its customers who were still using the tech, cutting off their phones’ ability to use data, make calls, and send texts. It was the last major US carrier to do so — AT&T turned off its 3G service in February, and T-Mobile started winding its old networks down the month after.Verizon customers with 3G devices have had plenty of warning. It previously said the network would be going offline in 2019, but with one delay after another, the date has slowly been pushed back to December 31st, 2022. In the meantime, it’s sent people new, LTE-capable phones, as well as letters... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter will soon let you swipe to switch between different views containing recommended and followed tweets, trends, topics, and more. In a tweet, Elon Musk announced that support for the navigation feature will arrive in January.Musk first hinted at the feature earlier this month, noting the “main timeline should allow for an easy sideways swipe between top, latest, trending and topics that you follow.” The platform already lets users swap between a chronological timeline that shows the latest tweets in order, and the Home timeline, which displays recommended tweets, by tapping the stars icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered by astronomers using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility this year in early March. This fine telescopic image was taken on December 19th. | Dan Bartlett via NASA Here’s something to look forward to in the new year: 2023 could give us a once-in-a-generation chance to see a new comet grace our skies.Stargazers can keep their eyes peeled for Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) throughout January and early February, although they’ll need a telescope or binoculars to spot it at first. As the comet races closer to Earth, however, there’s a chance the comet could become visible to the naked eye under dark skies. If that happens, it’ll be the first comet to reveal itself to the unaided eye since NEOWISE passed us by in 2020.This new comet was discovered last March while it was within Jupiter’s orbit. The comet’s current trajectory should bring it closest to the sun by January 12th. On February 2nd, according to... Continue reading…

Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images The time has come: Dark Sky, the (mostly) beloved weather app for iOS is going to stop working on January 1st, according to in-app warnings. The sunsetting has been in the forecast for a while — Apple announced it was planning on shutting down the service last year after acquiring it in 2020, and it removed Dark Sky from the App Store a few months ago, according to 9to5Mac. But if you’ve been putting off finding a new weather app, now’s the time to finally get around to it.As for what alternatives iPhone users have available (the Android app was axed in 2020), perhaps the most obvious is Apple’s own built-in Weather app. The company even has a support document titled “How Dark Sky users can use the Apple Weather app,” which talks about... Continue reading…

Google says it’s using “advanced artificial intelligence” to determine if a call is legit. | Image: Google Google has announced that it’s adding a red “suspected spam caller” warning to Google Voice calls if it doesn’t think they’re legitimate. In a post on Thursday, the company says it’s identifying spam “using the same advanced artificial intelligence” system as it does with its traditional phone app for Android.If the spam label appears, you’ll also have the option of confirming that a call was spam — in which case any future calls will be sent straight to your voicemail — or clarifying that it wasn’t, which will get rid of the label for future calls.Google Voice has had the ability to automatically filter calls identified as spam to voicemail for years, and has also allowed you to screen calls before actually picking them up, but those... Continue reading…

Crowds watch as Mexican free-tailed bats are released by Mary Warwick, Wildlife Director at Houston Humane Society at the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony in Houston, Texas, on December 28, 2022. | Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images Hundreds of bats rescued from the winter storm that struck the US over the past week were finally able to return to their homes in Texas last night. The bats nearly froze to death as the storm brought a blast of cold Arctic air down to the Lone Star State and much of the continental US.Mexican Free-tailed bats started dropping from their roosts as temperatures dipped below freezingMexican Free-tailed bats started dropping from their roosts as temperatures dipped below freezing on the evening of December 22nd, according to the Houston Humane Society. At one colony under Waugh Bridge in Houston, the tiny bats plummeted 15 to 30 feet to the pavement. Suffering hypothermic shock, the bats might have perished on the pavement. Weighing in... Continue reading…

LG’s Gram 16 laptop is on sale for $799 at BuyDig. | Image: LG If you’re tired of constantly relying on a second monitor or resizing windows for work because your laptop’s screen isn’t spacious enough, today’s deal on LG’s latest Gram 16 is one you’ll want to consider. Regularly $1,396.99, you can currently buy it with 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and an Intel i5-1240P processor for just $799 from BuyDig until December 31st.This is the 16-inch version of LG’s new Gram 17 we reviewed in October, which is our favorite laptop for fans of big screens. While this model’s display is one inch smaller, both still share a large, high-resolution screen so you can easily open up multiple windows and apps. Yet despite its size, the laptop’s also light enough to carry around while traveling or commuting.... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge I can’t be the only one that’s had this experience: I’ll be passing time scrolling through my Instagram feed when all of a sudden, my iPhone’s screen cranks the brightness up to 11 for a random video clip or reel. It’s worse if you’re in a dark environment or dimly lit bar when this happens because these bursts ignore your brightness settings and can get pretty unpleasant for your eyes.The reason this happens is that people are increasingly sharing HDR (high dynamic range) videos on social platforms — whether they know it or not — and when your fancy smartphone plays them, the display goes into overdrive to showcase, in Apple’s words, the “true-to-life color and contrast” made possible by HDR. But the thing you’ll notice most of all,... Continue reading…

Remember when this guy was in charge of a car company? | Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images Layoffs, lawsuits, delays, Twitter chaos, stock in free fall, factory shutdowns — What happened to America’s favorite electric car company? Continue reading…

India is following in the EU’s footsteps and will require all mobile devices to support USB-C charging by 2025. The country is also looking into a standardized charger for wearables. | Photo by Vlad Savov / The Verge Mobile devices in India will be required to adopt USB Type-C as the standard charging port for electronic products by March 2025, according to a report by Business Standard. This follows similar legislation being passed by the European Union which requires new smartphones and other portable devices sold within the EU to use USB-C charging by December 28th, 2024 in a move meant to combat e-waste.The Indian government is also exploring the possibility of enforcing a standardized charger for wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. “The government will come up with two common types of charging ports for mobiles and wearable electronic devices,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary to the Department of Consumer Affairs. No details... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter appears to be recovering after users spent hours on Wednesday evening reporting various errors, with the app and site throwing up errors about exceeded rate limits, failing to fetch new tweets, or appearing to be completely broken.DownDetector.com showed a spike of around 10,000 outage reports noted for Twitter, with reports starting just after 7:30PM ET. By around 10:30PM ET, that number had dropped to less than 1,000 reports.It’s unclear what caused the issues — the Twitter Support account hasn’t mentioned the glitchiness, though, at around midnight ET, Musk tweeted that the company had rolled out “significant backend server architecture changes” to make the site feel faster.It’s possible the downtime was caused by some... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Last week, just before Christmas, LastPass dropped a bombshell announcement: as the result of a breach in August, which lead to another breach in November, hackers had gotten their hands on users’ password vaults. While the company insists that your login information is still secure, some cybersecurity experts are heavily criticizing its post, saying that it could make people feel more secure than they actually are and pointing out that this is just the latest in a series of incidents that make it hard to trust the password manager.LastPass’ December 22nd statement was “full of omissions, half-truths and outright lies,” reads a blog post from Wladimir Palant, a security researcher known for helping originally develop AdBlock Pro, among... Continue reading…

Image: Amazon Amazon is now delivering orders by drones in California and Texas with the aim to ultimately fly out packages to customers’ homes within an hour, Ars Technica reports.The retail giant’s drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, already dropped a small number of packages via drone in the backyards of customers in the run-up to Christmas in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas.“Our aim is to safely introduce our drones to the skies. We are starting in these communities and will gradually expand deliveries to more customers over time,” Amazon Air spokesperson Natalie Banke told KTXL Fox 40.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave Amazon Part 135 approval to send packages by drone in 2020, as well as filing Final... Continue reading…