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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6ECHC)
The Deebot X20 Omni - the latest robot vacuum mop from Ecovacs - was on display at IFA 2023 this week. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge The robot vacuum cleaner is undergoing a renaissance this year as all the major manufacturers figure out new and more outlandish ways to make the tiresome chore of cleaning your floors fully automated.At the IFA 2023 tech trade show in Berlin this week, robot vacuums were literally roaming the halls as companies showed off their latest innovations. We saw robot mops that integrate into your plumbing, big advances in navigation, smaller sizes for multi-function docking stations, and a robot mop that can do the splits to clean your baseboards better.Here's a rundown of the latest innovations in robotic floor cleaning we spotted at IFA this week. The X2 Omni is Ecovacs new flagship robot vacuum. It's hip to be square ... Continue reading...
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2026-03-23 11:20 |
by Jay Peters on (#6ECEF)
Image: Bethesda Game Studios 2023 has been packed with some of the biggest games in recent memory, and I'm totally fine with that. For the past little while, it feels like the gaming industry has been more interested in time-sucking live service behemoths, games that never end, rather than satisfying single-player titles. But this year, I'm instead feasting on a delicious platter of great games I can play on my own with a bunch of great courses I haven't even touched yet.
by Emma Roth on (#6ECEG)
Laura Normand / The Verge Donald Trump's election interference trial in Georgia will appear live on TV and the court's YouTube channel. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee made the ruling on Thursday, which also says members of the press can use cellphones and computers inside the courtroom as long as they're not recording, local news outlet WSB-TV reports.We have been livestreaming all of our major proceedings on a Fulton County-provided YouTube channel," Judge McAfee said during the hearing, according to WSB-TV. And our plan was to do that with this case as well. So there's going to be a YouTube feed the entire time."However, there's still a chance that Trump's trial won't occur from the Fulton County courtroom. Some of Trump's co-defendants, including former W... Continue reading...
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6E5PW)
The SwitchBot S10, the company's first robot vacuum for the US market, brings with it some unique features. | Image: SwitchBot Smart home robotics company SwitchBot - of robot finger fame - has come up with another ingenious solution for automating boring chores in your home. This one is a sizable leap toward a Rosie the Robot vision of a fully autonomous robot house cleaner, though without the personality. The SwitchBot S10 is a new robot vacuum and mop that autonomously drains and refills its dirty and clean water tanks using a battery-powered water station that hooks directly into your plumbing.Combined with an auto-empty charging dock that dries the mop, the S10 is the most fully automated floor cleaner I've seen. You won't need to refill its mopping tank, deal with emptying dirty water post-clean, or mess with its mops. The only dirty work you need to do... Continue reading...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6ECEH)
Inaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy. | Netflix Netflix's One Piece succeeds where other live-action anime adaptations have failed by understanding its limits and knowing how to work within them. Continue reading...
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6ECEJ)
If you don't mind refurbished headphones, this is a great deal. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge While Labor Day promotions have already been going on all week (despite the holiday itself still being another three days away), some early deals have been fairly attractive. A noteworthy one is eBay's 20 percent off sale on refurbished items, which is running through September 4th when you use code LABORDAYTWENTY at checkout. You can use this deal twice to save up to $500, and while plenty of crap is on offer, there are some genuinely good refurb deals to be had, many of which include a two-year third-party warranty from Allstate.One such deal is on the Bose QuietComfort 45 noise-canceling headphones, which you can get refurbished for $199.20 ($130 off) through the official Bose store on eBay. The Bose QC45 are one of the best ANC... Continue reading...
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by Monica Chin on (#6ECEK)
It's not quite as powerful as the gargantuan Strix Scar X3D, but it's also not quite as expensive. Continue reading...
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by Jacob Kastrenakes on (#6ECEM)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Zoom is trying to expand its video chat platform into a full-service office suite, and its latest addition hits on the need to create and share documents. The company is adding a feature called Notes that allows users to create, share, and simultaneously edit a text document.Notes will appear alongside a video call where Zoom's chat box usually is. People in the call can hop in to make edits as the meeting is happening, making it easier to keep paying attention to the conversation than if they had to switch over to another screen. Image: Zoom Zoom Notes show up beside a video call. The feature is being pitched as a handy meeting prep and follow-up companion. Zoom wants users to make a doc with a meeting... Continue reading...
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by Kevin Nguyen on (#6ECB6)
Chiaki Kuriyama plays one of the students forced to fight to the death in Battle Royale. | Image: The Criterion Channel Twenty years later, you can still see the bloody fingerprints of one violent Japanese film on pop culture today. Continue reading...
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by Tamara Warren on (#6ECB7)
Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI) is among the prominent voices in Congress advocating for a smooth transition to electric vehicles. Dingell, who was first elected in 2015, represents suburban Detroit, home to a large swath of the American car industry and the labor force that builds those vehicles.I spoke with Dingell, a former GM executive who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, about the pressing issues facing legislators as the country races to make EVs dominant.The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.You've been supportive of laws that have boosted EV investment in this country. Do you think that our government should have moved faster with these kinds of laws?It's a complicated subject.... Continue reading...
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by Jacob Kastrenakes on (#6ECB8)
The Verge Disney has blocked its channels from being accessed by the nearly 15 million subscribers to Charter's Spectrum service, the second-largest cable TV provider in the US. The blackout means that viewers in major markets like New York and Los Angeles can't access ABC, ESPN, FX, Freeform, National Geographic and a dozen other Disney-owned channels.Carriage disputes happen with some frequency when network owners, like Disney, renegotiate contracts with service providers, like Charter. Disney is seeking higher fees, Charter doesn't want to pay them, and so Disney has yanked its programming as a negotiation tactic.Charter says that Disney is demanding an excessive increase" in fees and wants to force customers to pay for channels you may not... Continue reading...
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by Victoria Song on (#6ECB9)
Continuous glucose monitoring still isn't a proven thing for nondiabetics, but you can learn a little about yourself, provided you can pay. Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6EC6D)
The concept phone is designed to have a range of purse straps attached to it. | Image: Honor The V Purse is a new concept phone from Honor that asks what if foldables were more like fashion accessories?" The company showed off the device during a presentation at IFA 2023 alongside the Honor Magic V2, its latest foldable phone announced in China earlier this year.The V Purse is a demonstration of what's possible for folding devices, and Honor hasn't said if it'll ever be released it as a product. Conversely, the company says it plans to release the Magic V2 globally no later than Q1 next year, CNBC reports, but has yet to officially announce pricing outside China.There are two key elements to the V Purse's design. First is a series of interchangeable straps and chains that clip on to the foldable and allow it to be carried... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6EC6E)
Image: Tesla Tesla has announced an upgraded and redesigned Model 3 in Europe, known previously as the Highland. The new design includes changes to the front and rear, a new screen for rear passengers, a redesigned interior, and improvements to aerodynamics and range.The most obvious exterior changes can be found at the front of the Model 3. The bump at the front has been removed in favor of a sleeker design with a single central vent. The headlights also look a lot slimmer with an Audi-like look for the LED daytime running lights.
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by Emma Roth on (#6EC44)
The Yale Smart Outdoor Camera looks on even as the Smart Video Doorbell records a delivery. | Image: Yale Yale has launched a new line of its home security products specifically for the European market. In addition to a new video doorbell, the company revealed the next-gen of its smart alarm system, plus new indoor and outdoor smart cameras - all of which integrate with its line of smart locks.Using the Yale Smart Video Doorbell, you can keep tabs on your doorstep with 1080p footage and a 154-degree field of view. The device comes in wired and wireless options, offering two-way audio talk, live viewing, and night vision. You'll receive a notification when the doorbell detects motion and when someone rings the doorbell. The Smart Video Doorbell itself costs 129.99 / 159.99. Image: Yale The Yale Smart Video Doorbell.... Continue reading...
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by Monica Chin on (#6EC0P)
Here I am, washing a...truck? Every company and its mother seems to be putting out handheld gaming PCs these days, and Lenovo is next to the plate. The company has announced the Legion Go, its first Windows-powered gaming handheld, which will be available for purchase in October. It's got an 8.8-inch QHD Plus screen, an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, and a 49.2Wh battery (which is bigger than those of the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck). Oh, and the controllers pop off, which is neat.While Valve's Steam Deck tends to be the first product that comes to mind when this category is discussed, the Legion Go seems more like a cross between the Nintendo Switch and Asus' ROG Ally. For one, with models starting at $699, the Ally is clearly what Lenovo is trying to match on... Continue reading...
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by Monica Chin on (#6EC0N)
For a meager $4,400, all this can be yours. | Image: Lenovo Lenovo has announced a new Legion 9i, and it might just be the wildest thing I've ever seen from the Legion line. It's coming in October, it starts at a whopping $4,399 (you know, a totally normal price to pay for things), and Lenovo is throwing in all kinds of eccentric stuff.The company is clearly most excited about the fact that the 9i is the first 16-inch gaming laptop with a self-contained liquid-cooling system. This is exactly what it sounds like. Most laptops use air cooling to transfer heat along heat pipes to a radiator; a fluid-cooled device instead does that with water and a pump which, as you might imagine, can handle much more thermal mass. Such a system could theoretically allow the 9i to pull truly massive amounts of... Continue reading...
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by Sean Hollister on (#6EBTV)
A Skydio 2 drone. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If there's a drone flying over your backyard party this Labor Day / J'Ouvert / West Indian Day Parade weekend in New York City, it might be the police - because the NYPD have apparently granted themselves the power to surveil the city that way.If a caller states there is a large crowd, a large party in the backyard, we're going to be utilizing our assets to go up, go check on the party," said assistant NYPD commissioner Kaz Daughtry, at a live press conference earlier today.Lest you think we're taking that out of context, here's the full quote I just transcribed:
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by Tom Warren on (#6E3HM)
PlayStation Portal. | Image: Sony Sony is officially launching its handheld remote player, the PlayStation Portal, on November 15th. The portable device will stream PS5 games over Wi-Fi and features an eight-inch LCD screen running at 1080p resolution at 60fps. Sony says the Portal will launch in the US, UK, and other regions for $199.99 and, on August 31st, made it available to preorder in select countries via Sony's official PlayStation Direct storefront.Preorders for other regions - and from other retailers - will follow on September 29th, according to an updated post on the PlayStation blog.PlayStation Portal will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi, so you'll be able to swiftly jump from playing on your PS5 to your PlayStation Portal," says Hideaki Nishino,... Continue reading...
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by Nathan Edwards on (#6EBRW)
Notepad's getting autosave. Notepad! | Image: Microsoft Microsoft's testing some neat new features for the Windows 11 Snipping Tool and the one and only Notepad dot exe. They're only in the Windows Insider Program for now, but they're there.Anyone who's ever tried to shut down their PC or close Notepad in the past, I dunno, 40 years, will be relieved to know that soon Notepad will finally just close without popping up a dialog box for each text file asking if you want to save changes. Notepad is getting autosave. Tabs, dark mode, a little spinny gear thing, and now this? It's startin' to look mighty modern around here.In the Windows Insider Program blog post announcing the new features, Dave Grochocki writes:
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by Adi Robertson on (#6EBRX)
Image: James Bareham / The Verge A federal judge has blocked a Texas law that would require age verification and health warnings for pornographic websites, calling it unconstitutional and poorly defined. In a preliminary injunction decision released today, Judge David Ezra ruled in favor of the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade association. The ruling prevents Texas from enforcing HB 1181, one of multiple state-level bills that would require age verification for accessing adult content online.Ezra, a Ronald Reagan-appointed district judge, said HB 1181 had numerous problems that could limit internet users and adult content creators' First Amendment rights. The restriction is constitutionally problematic because it deters adults' access to legal sexually... Continue reading...
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#6EBNK)
Samsung's new app, Samsung Food, is designed to be a personalized AI cooking assistant. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Wi-Fi-connected kitchen appliances have struggled to prove their worth, but Samsung's not entirely new app could help realize the potential of connected cooking. Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6EBNM)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge New York's subway pass system has turned off a feature that could enable others to track your travels if they have access to your bank card number. In a statement to The Verge, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesperson Eugene Resnick says the agency disabled the feature" as part of its ongoing commitment to customer privacy."The MTA's OMNY system is a contactless subway pass option that lets you pay for a fare by tapping your phone or bank card at a station. However, a report published by 404 Media on Wednesday found that anyone with your card number and expiration date can see your rides within the past seven days through OMNY's trip history" feature.This feature was meant to help our customers who want access to their... Continue reading...
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by Nathan Edwards on (#6EBNN)
Chrome's new Copy Video Frame tool outputs a high-quality image with no overlay. Too bad I couldn't use it to show the right-click menu! | Screenshot: The Verge Google just made it easier to grab high-quality still images from videos - and it works in a bunch of browsers. In a post on Google's Keyword blog aimed at students, the company announced a new feature built into Chrome that lets you capture a high-quality, non-overlayed frame from the source video. Just right-click on the video when paused and select Copy Video Frame." It might not work on all videos - actually, as far as I can tell, it mostly just works on YouTube - but it does work in a bunch of Chromium-based browsers, not just Chrome.Google's pitching this as a tool for students to grab notes from lecture videos, which, sure! After messing around with the new feature for a few minutes, I can confirm that it does offer much higher... Continue reading...
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by Ash Parrish on (#6EBNP)
Image: Larian Studios It brings me no joy to say this, but I can't play Baldur's Gate 3 for the foreseeable future. Is it because my plate of games is full and will remain so for the next eight years? That's true, but it's not the reason. Or is it because the game has taken over my life such that I ignore my personal and professional responsibilities? Also true - but still not the reason. It's bugs.Bugs in a huge game like Baldur's Gate 3 aren't uncommon, and more often than not, they're tolerable nuisances. My bug encounter rate in Act 1 and 2 was negligible, just minor graphical issues, texture pop-ins, and noticeable delays between when an NPC stops talking and my dialogue choices appear. Ignorable. But in Act 3, I've encountered an apparent bug so... Continue reading...
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by Ash Parrish on (#6EBNQ)
Image: Colin Young-Wolff Though The Guard won Valorant's Ascension tournament, earning them a promotion into the international league, the team will not compete in the 2024 season, and its roster has been dissolved. Continue reading...
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6DWZ7)
Starfield is all about space exploration - potentially like hundreds of hours of it. | Image: Bethesda Game Studios It's been a very busy year for big game releases, with Starfield being one of the biggest titles that has yet to launch. The Xbox and PC exclusive from Bethesda is promising a massive sci-fi world to voyage around, with over 1,000 explorable planets and countless weapon and mod customizations. It's also the first new world that Bethesda has created in over two decades, offering a change of pace from its long-running Elder Scrolls franchise.If what you saw in Bethesda's 45-minute gameplay preview or our review has you hyped enough to preorder Starfield ahead of its September 6th release date or September 1st early-access launch, we've compiled all your options into a one-stop shop. From the $69.99 base game to the $299.99 Constellation... Continue reading...
by Umar Shakir on (#6EBNR)
The Indian Space Research Organisation's Pragyan rover does the twist on the Moon. | Image: ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is riding on the high of its Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission's successful landing, sharing more of it with the world by posting a new video of the lander's imager observing the rover as it rotates on the no-longer-Super-Blue Moon's surface.India's space agency is trying to research the Moon's history on the south pole, where the Chandrayaan-3 probe successfully landed last week.The post describes the rover as a child playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama" in a video captured on August 29th. Chandamama is a term of endearment toward the Moon in Hindi and other regional languages and is also used in nursery rhymes. (My mom used to sing this to me as a lullaby.)
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#6EBJV)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Nvidia and AMD say they face new restrictions in some Middle Eastern countries, Reuters reports. This widens the restrictions on these chips beyond China and Russia. The new licensing requirement applies to a subset" of Nvidia's top-end chips, the company said.In response, the Biden administration said it has not blocked" chip sales to the Middle East, Reuters reports. The Commerce Department declined to comment on whether it had imposed new requirements on specific U.S. companies," Reuters writes. The Commerce Department, Nvidia, and AMD didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.Nvidia announced the new licensing requirement in a regulatory filing. Its statement reads:
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by Ash Parrish on (#6EBJW)
Saints Row. | Image: Volition Volition, makers of Red Faction and Saints Row, is shutting down for good. The news was announced on the company's LinkedIn account at around 12:30PM ET, or right after all the reviews for Starfield went live.In the post, the company explained that the reason for Volition's closure was tied to parent company Embracer Group's new restructuring program.This past June, Embracer group announced a restructuring program to strengthen Embracer and maintain its position as a leader in the video game industry," the announcement read. As a part of that program, they evaluated strategic and operational goals and made the difficult decision to close Volition effective immediately."Back in June, Embracer Group announced this restructuring... Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6EBEY)
Belkin's convertible charger can either stand upright or be used like a traditional pad. | Image: Belkin Belkin is embracing the new magnet-enhanced Qi2 wireless charging standard with a pair of new products being announced at Berlin's IFA 2023 tech show. There's the BoostCharge Convertible Qi2 Wireless Pad to Stand (yes, that's the name), which can either work like a traditional Qi pad or hold a phone upright while it charges - great for the iPhone's new StandBy feature. There's also the BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad with Qi2, which is equipped with a pair of wireless charging pads (one 15W and one 5W) plus a USB-C port for charging a third device like an Apple Watch via an optional dongle.Announced at CES earlier this year, Qi2 is a new version of Qi wireless charging that effectively integrates the magnets from Apple's... Continue reading...
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by Victoria Song on (#6EBEZ)
The ScanWatch 2 will cost $349.95 and features a temperature sensing module. | Image: Withings After nearly three years without a new smartwatch, Withings is kicking off IFA 2023 by announcing not one but two ScanWatch hybrid watches.The $349.95 ScanWatch 2 is Withings' latest and greatest hybrid smartwatch, with a new temperature tracking module that uses a combination of four sensors: a thermistor; heat flux; PPG (the green LED for measuring heart rate); and accelerometer. Data from the four sensors will then be fed into an algorithm that uses movement, heart rate, and skin temperature to deliver health insights. Withings also introduced a slightly pared-down, fashion-first ScanWatch Light for $249.99.Unlike most smartwatches these days, the ScanWatch 2's temperature tracking isn't intended for advanced cycle tracking,... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6EBF0)
Image: Bethesda Softworks The latest release from Bethesda is reminiscent of games like Fallout and Skyrim, but with a new level of wonder and adventure - and a whole lot of polish. Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6EBF1)
Starfield, the new space RPG from Skyrim maker Bethesda Game Studios, is launching today without Nvidia's upscaling technology. AMD is Starfield's exclusive PC partner," with both Bethesda and AMD engineers working together to optimize the game for multithreaded code on Xbox and PC, Ryzen 7000 processors, and Radeon 7000 series graphics cards.It's still unclear what this exclusivity contract means for Bethesda, but AMD made it clear to The Verge last week that there's nothing stopping Bethesda from adding DLSS to Starfield. If they want to do DLSS, they have AMD's full support," said AMD gaming chief Frank Azor. That could mean there's a period of exclusivity where only AMD's FSR 2 technology is supported, or Bethesda could have... Continue reading...
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by Emilia David on (#6EBF3)
Chinese giant Baidu officially launched its chatbot, Ernie Bot, after the government approved its application, alongside that of several other AI companies.Ernie Bot is now available for download from app stores or Baidu's website. Much like its main rival, ChatGPT, users can ask Ernie Bot questions or prompt it to help write market analysis, give marketing slogan ideas, and summarize documents. The company told The Verge Ernie Bot is available globally, but users need a Chinese number to register and log in. The Baidu app is available on US Android and iOS app stores but is only in Chinese.Baidu also opened a plug-in market for Ernie Bot.Company representatives said the Ernie Bot surpassed 1 million users in the first 19 hours... Continue reading...
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by Sean Hollister on (#6EBF2)
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE was one of the first gaming-specific Chromebooks, announced 2022. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The point of cloud gaming is it doesn't require a powerful PC; a Chromebook should do just fine. Today, Google and Nvidia are ready to prove it by giving away a free, no-strings-attached GeForce Now subscription to every modern Chromebook owner.You don't have to buy a new machine, and there's no recurring subscription. You don't have to enter any credit card information, Google spokesperson Peter Du confirms to The Verge. As long as you've got a Chromebook from 2017 or newer, you can simply head over to Google's Chromebook Perks page and hit the Get perk" button to redeem a three-month subscription to the Priority tier of Nvidia's GeForce Now.If you've purchased a gaming Chromebook, the deal's even sweeter: you get three months of... Continue reading...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6EBF4)
Taylor Swift performing onstage. | Photo by Hector Vivas/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management While there are undoubtedly still Taylor Swift fans out there who are salty with Ticketmaster for causing them to miss out on seeing the Eras Tour live, AMC's getting ready to offer them a chance to see their idol in all her glory at movie theaters across the country.Variety reports that AMC is bringing Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour - a filmed recording of Swift's newest show - to every single one of its US theaters for multiple daily showings on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays beginning this October. Along with showings in regular theaters, AMC also plans for The Eras Tour to play in a number of its premium IMAX and Dolby locations. Here in the US, there are also plans in the works for the show to come to more theater chains,... Continue reading...
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by Ash Parrish on (#6EBAG)
Nintendo As people eagerly await Starfield reviews and rev up their Xboxes for the game's early access opening, Nintendo decided that it would not be left out of today's video game news. During today's interestingly timed Mario Direct presentation, Nintendo shared roughly 15 minutes of gameplay from Super Mario Bros. Wonder and announced a new Mario-themed Switch OLED.Despite Nintendo's traditional wholesomeness, I cannot shake the feeling that the thesis of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is just, What if this time, Mario and all his friends just got super high?" In the gameplay presentation, the flowers talk now, the new Flower Kingdom seems a bit more wacky than other Mario locations, and with the power of the Wonder Flowers, Mario can get up to... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6EBAH)
Image: The Verge Threads, the X (formerly Twitter) competitor created by Meta, is working on a way to search through posts using keywords, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced.You can see how Threads' new search feature might work in the image embedded below. While your search for a specific keyword will pull people up with that username (as it does now), pressing the search" button will expand your search to all the posts containing that keyword. This makes it seem like a simplified version of Instagram's search feature. You'll be able to sift through posts with a specific keyword by hitting the search" button. Keyword search isn't available in the US just yet. Instagram spokesperson Christine Pai tells The Verge that Threads is... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6EBAJ)
Image: Nintendo At its most recent Nintendo Direct, the company showed off some fresh gameplay for the upcoming platformer Super Mario Bros. Wonder. But we also got a look at some new hardware - or, at least, a new color for the OLED version of the Nintendo Switch. The tablet is getting a Mario makeover to coincide with the game, with a slick red color scheme, complete with a Mario silhouette and some coins hidden beneath the back panel. It'll be available on October 6th, just ahead of Wonder's launch on October 20th.
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by Thomas Ricker on (#6EBAK)
The Horizon Ultra is bright enough to overcome some ambient light. | Image: Xgimi Home projector upstart Xgimi just announced its new Horizon Ultra model, dubbed the world's first 4K long-throw projector with Dolby Vision." While I wouldn't hold out too much hope for the device to produce an image with jaw-dropping HDR, it's certainly a very bright all-in-one Android TV 11 projector for well below $2,000.The Horizon Ultra uses a new Dual Light" laser and LED hybrid light source to produce 2,300 ISO lumens. That's a 77 percent increase in brightness compared to the reasonably bright (1,760 ISO lumens) Xgimi Horizon Pro projector I reviewed a few years ago. Of course, that brightness is measured at the bulb, and the image brightness falls off considerably the farther away you move the unit in order to grow the... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6EBAM)
Image: The Verge X, the platform previously known as Twitter, is expanding the amount of data it collects on users. The social network has updated its privacy policy to include carveouts for biometric information" and employment history," as spotted by Bloomberg.Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes," the privacy policy reads. It doesn't include any details on what kind of biometric information this includes - or how X plans to collect it - but it typically involves fingerprints, iris patterns, or facial features.X Corp. was named in a proposed class action lawsuit in July over claims that its data collection violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.... Continue reading...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6EBAN)
Photo by Todd Owyoung / NBC via Getty Images Though some Ana de Armas fans have insisted that Universal tricked them into seeing Danny Boyle's 2019 musical Yesterday with trailers featuring the Blonde actor, a US district judge has found that not to be the case.It's unclear how serious Peter Michael Rosza and Conor Woulfe - two Ana de Armas fans from California and Maryland, respectively - were last year when they filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Universal, claiming that the studio misled the public with trailers that made it seem like de Armas played a substantial role in Yesterday. But on Monday, US District Judge Stephen Wilson dismissed the case due to its lack of standing and said that whatever injury the plaintiffs might have suffered from watching Yesterday was... Continue reading...
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by Sheena Vasani on (#6EBAP)
Even the lavender version of Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are on sale right now. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple may release a new set of AirPods with support for USB-C in a matter of weeks, but if you're embedded in the Samsung ecosystem, there are more suitable pairs of earbuds on the market already. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are a great case in point and are on sale starting at $177.99 ($52 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy.The Buds 2 Pro deliver some of the best sound you can get in a pair of wireless earbuds, along with effective noise cancellation and a worry-free IPX7 water resistance rating that makes them more durable than the second-gen AirPods Pro. The wireless earbuds work well with a variety of Android phones, too, though features like automatic device switching and higher bit rate audio are exclusive to Samsung... Continue reading...
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by Thomas Ricker on (#6EBAQ)
People swarm around the S5 at its reveal in March 2022. VanMoof's future is less clear. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge Lavoie is buying bankrupt e-bike maker VanMoof. The e-mobility subsidiary of McLaren Applied announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the VanMoof e-bike business. The announcement gives new hope to the trailblazing brand and the roughly 200,000 people who bought its high-tech e-bikes made from proprietary components.Under the terms of the agreement, the acquisition will see Lavoie and McLaren Applied inject stability into the VanMoof operations," reads a press release, then combining and integrating their premium capabilities to create a next-generation e-mobility business and establish a world-leading premium e-mobility offering."Lavoie announced its first electric scooter in late 2022, with... Continue reading...
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by Mark Wilding on (#6EB77)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge IBM has returned to the facial recognition market - just three years after announcing it was abandoning work on the technology due to concerns about racial profiling, mass surveillance, and other human rights violations.In June 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests swept the US after George Floyd's murder, IBM chief executive Arvind Krishna wrote a letter to Congress announcing that the company would no longer offer general purpose" facial recognition technology. The fight against racism is as urgent as ever," he wrote. IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms,... Continue reading...
by Thomas Ricker on (#6EB78)
The Wonderwagen Neo (left) and Cargowagen Neo (right) are Cannondale's first cargo bikes. | Image: Cannondale Cannondale is announcing its first electric cargo bikes today with the Cargowagen Neo long-tail model launching in the US, and the Wonderwagen Neo front-loader headed exclusively to Europe. They aren't cheap until you compare them to the $12,000 annual cost to own and operate a car, which these heavy haulers are designed to replace.Having the 52-year-old Connecticut-based bicycle maker - owned by Dutch giant Pon Holdings - finally release not one but two cargo bikes is just the latest sign that we're truly entering a golden age for e-cargo bikes.The Cargowagen Neo is coming to the US this winter" with a price that starts at $4,300, or 4,000 when it lands in Europe a bit earlier this fall. It's a long-tail e-cargo bike powered by a... Continue reading...
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by Chris Welch on (#6EB7A)
Image: Jabra With Apple and Samsung both offering earbuds that deliver excellent sound quality and compelling ecosystem tricks, it's getting increasingly harder for regular old earbud makers to stand out. Even mainstays in the category like Jabra can sometimes get lost in the mix - despite having an expansive product lineup. So today Jabra is announcing two new premium earbuds at the same time, with each targeted at very different use cases. The flagship Elite 10 ($249) is intended to be the company's best-sounding and most comfortable pair of earbuds yet, while the fitness-geared Elite 8 Active buds ($199) have reached a new level of durability (with the ratings and certifications to prove it). Both also mark Jabra's embracing of spatial audio.D... Continue reading...
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by Justine Calma on (#6EB79)
A view showing the parts of the world covered by SATLAS using images from Sentinel-2 satellites. | Image: Allen Institute for AI A first-of-its-kind map of renewable energy projects and tree coverage around the world launched today, and it uses generative AI to essentially sharpen images taken from space. It's all part of a new tool called Satlas from the Allen Institute for AI, founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.The tool, shared first with The Verge, uses satellite imagery from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites. But those images still give a pretty blurry view of the ground. The fix? A feature called Super-Resolution." Basically, it uses deep learning models to fill in details, like what buildings might look like, to generate high-resolution images.For now, Satlas focuses on renewable energy projects and tree cover around the world.... Continue reading...
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by Jon Porter on (#6EB48)
The TV neatly folded down into its suitcase. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge LG's StanbyME Go, its bizarre $999.99 27-inch suitcase TV announced for the US earlier this month, is on show in Berlin at a corner of its booth at IFA 2023.We had a poke around the demo model being displayed on the show floor, and couldn't find any of the games that are apparently optimized for its touchscreen. But we were able to get acquainted with its robust articulating design. The TV can be swiveled from portrait into landscape, and set at any angle from straight upwards to straight forwards.The stand mechanism feels nice and sturdy, and you definitely need two hands to move it around. On the back there's a single HDMI port and USB input, as well as a power socket for its built-in battery (LG advertises around three hours of... Continue reading...
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