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Did you know you can buy over-the-counter molecular COVID-19 tests? OTC molecular tests combine PCR accuracy with the convenience of rapid antigen tests Continue reading…

Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. | Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images The Bitcoin mining boom in New York state hit a roadblock as the state Senate passed a bill that will halt new permits for certain fossil fuel power plants to be used in Bitcoin mining. The measure, which also initiates a study on the environmental impact mining facilities are having in the state, passed in the state Assembly earlier this year.Promising new jobs, the crypto industry had split Senate Democrats on whether the moratorium would come with greater environmental or economic costs. Talks languished until late in the evening as the state Senate neared its legislative deadline.The bill will face another test as it heads to Governor Kathy Hochul to sign or veto. Hochul received a $40,000 donation last month from a chief... Continue reading…

Sony Sony’s latest State of Play showcase gave a glimpse into what games will support the launch of the PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) headset. Neither a price or release date has been shared yet for the headset, but at least we know what kind of games we can look forward to. For what it’s worth, Sony committed to launching the headset with 20 “major” games, so it’s still got a bit of work to do to fill the gaps. We’ve covered the main highlights below, including trailers.Horizon Call of the Mountain continues to look goodGuerilla Games showed off some combat and traversal gameplay for its upcoming PSVR2 exclusive game, Horizon Call of the Mountain. Like the console game, there seems to be a heck of a lot of climbing, and the visuals look... Continue reading…

The last time we saw Stray, the open-world cyberpunk game where you play as a cat, it had been delayed. But now we have a new release date, and it’s soon: the game is coming out on July 19th. (It was originally slated to launch in early 2022.) It’ll be coming to the PS4 and PS5, as well as PC. And if you’re not sure what all of the fuss is about, there’s a brand-new trailer above showcasing all the futuristic feline action. It looks equal parts adorable and stressful, and I swear that if anything happens to that little kitty, I will absolutely lose it.I mean, come on... Continue reading…

Square Enix If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, today’s State of Play is for you. Today, Square Enix has revealed a bit more information about Final Fantasy XVI.In the new trailer, we get our first glimpse of combat, which features high-speed real-time action that looks reminiscent of what Cloud and the gang get up to in Final Fantasy VII Remake. The trailer also features more of the mysterious Eikons, powerful monsters that resemble the summons of Final Fantasies of yore and seem to reside in human controllers called Dominants. It seems like befriending or fighting these Dominants will be at the heart of the game’s story.Final Fantasy XVI was revealed in 2020 with a bloody trailer that was unlike anything the usually bright and hopeful series usually... Continue reading…

Sony announced during its June 2022 State of Play showcase that Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered from Insomniac Games is coming to PC on August 12th, 2022. This title debuted on PS5 as a launch title. The company didn’t share a price for the PC version, but like previous games, it’s coming to Steam and Epic Games Store. In a follow-up blog post, Insomniac Games confirmed that Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is coming to PC sometime in the fall.There’s likely much more news to come — at least for spec nerds. The remastered edition of the game contains all DLC, and on the PS5, it came with some impressive graphical features, including ray tracing. Suffice to say, similar settings should be coming to the PC version, too. Sony showed off... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Photo Courtesy Meta Meet the most powerful exec in social media you’ve never heard of Continue reading…

Capcom is continuing its trend of remaking classic Resident Evil games with the fourth mainline entry in the survival horror series. A remake of Resident Evil 4 will be hitting the PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and PC on March 24th, 2023, bringing the action-focused game to modern platforms. Capcom also says the game will feature some kind of support for the next iteration of PlayStation VR. You can check out the first trailer above to see what a next-gen Leon Kennedy looks like.“We aim to make the game feel familiar to fans of the series, while also providing a fresh feeling to it,” Capcom wrote in a blog post. “This is being done by reimagining the storyline of the game while keeping the essence of its direction, modernizing the graphics... Continue reading…

The Call tab will be available at the bottom portion of the user interface in the Messenger app | Image: Meta Meta is rolling out a new ‘Calls’ tab globally in its Messenger app for iOS and Android users. The new tab will keep track of each call you make or receive in the app in one place and make it easier to connect calls with one tap. Also, for people who don’t regularly use the feature, it adds a clear reminder that they can use the app for voice or video calls in addition to text-based messaging.In 2014, Facebook pulled messaging out of the main Facebook app, pushing mobile users to download a separate one to continue using the feature as part of its push to make Messenger a singular experience. The video call feature arrived in 2015, followed by cross-app messaging with Instagram and eventually cross-app group chats. Most recently, it a... Continue reading…

We don’t know any official specs for the Pixel Watch, but the rumor mill is rife with speculation. | Image: Google While Google confirmed last month that a Pixel Watch is on its way, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the device, like its hardware specs. The rumor mill has been buzzing, however, and the gist is the device will purportedly feature a 300mAh battery and Samsung’s last-gen wearable processor. The latest report from 9to5 Google claims that the watch will get around 24 hours of battery life on a single charge and that fast charging isn’t in the mix. It might be tempting to cry doom and gloom, but if this pans out? These numbers are par for the course.Battery life remains one of the biggest challenges for smartwatch makers. Try to pack in a larger battery to get more juice and end up with a gargantuan watch that excludes anyone with... Continue reading…

Image: BMW BMW has redesigned its X1 compact SUV and is introducing an all-electric version of it. The new iX1 xDrive30 is the company’s latest EV option built on its fifth-generation eDrive platform, the same one that the new BMW i4 is built on. Unfortunately, BMW spokesperson Jay Hanson tells The Verge there are currently no plans to offer the iX1 in the US.The German automaker will be building the new X1s in Regensburg, where gasoline, diesel, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, and all-electric versions of the vehicle will be built on one assembly line. BMW is calling the refreshed X1 vehicles compact SAVs, or “Sports Activity Vehicles,” in an effort to better differentiate the entry-level compacts from the rest of the X line. Noticeable changes in the... Continue reading…

Tumblr users who don’t want a specific post to be reblogged by others will now have the option to turn off the reblog setting. In a blog post, Tumblr says it will start rolling out reblog controls today on web and iOS, with Android to come soon.When composing a post, users can choose between two reblog options. One option allows anyone on the platform to reblog the post to their own blog. A new option will let users disable reblogs on that post, making it so nobody can reblog it.In the post, Tumblr says that the feature comes at the request of users who say controlling reblog settings would create a sense of safety. Even if a user blocks someone else after the post is made, the blocked user still would not be able to reblog the post,... Continue reading…

BioWare Wardens, Inquisitors, Champions, it’s time to break out the whisks. Today, in a surprise announcement, BioWare revealed the name of the next installment in the Dragon Age series: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.

Kristen Radtke / The Verge What will Apple’s next OS bring? Continue reading…

Fingers crossed for a summer rich in PS5 console availability. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Update June 2nd, 4:02PM ET: Walmart has sold out of both PlayStation 5 consoles and bundles for today’s restock.We’re still seeing short or no supply of PlayStation 5 consoles at many retailers and going weeks between new nationwide restocks. Hopefully, this summer will prove more fruitful, especially now that retailers like Amazon are taking invite requests to buy a PS5. As for a more imminent restock, Walmart has a scheduled one that’s happening now.If you’re a Walmart Plus subscriber, you can queue up right now for the standard $499 disc drive-equipped PS5, the $399 PS5 Digital Edition, and the new $549 PS5 bundle containing Horizon Forbidden West — as well as a similar bundle with the PS5 Digital Edition for $449.This is yet... Continue reading…

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention in Miami. | Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images On Thursday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed suit against Gemini Trust Company, a cryptocurrency business founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. The commission alleges that Gemini misrepresented key details of its exchange and futures contracts in meetings with regulators in 2017.As punishment, the commission is calling for civil monetary penalties and an order blocking Gemini and its affiliates from trading commodities or soliciting investments.“We look forward to definitively proving this in court.”The complaint puts particular focus on Gemini’s Bitcoin Futures Contract, one of the first financial instruments allowing investors to trade on expectations of a cryptocurrency’s future value. Because the futures... Continue reading…

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge | Image: Universal Studios Hollywoord Universal Studios Hollywood and Nintendo are slowly cranking up the volume about the first Super Nintendo World theme park located in the US. Now, they’re narrowing its opening window to “early” 2023 while posting a few pictures and a video trailer of its signature ride: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.The augmented reality on rails ride is already a highlight of the experience at Super Nintendo World in Japan, which we visited early last year, offering an interactive experience where riders in four-seat Mario Kart vehicles can steer to collect coins and also throw shells to defeat Team Bowser, which also allows for different outcomes to the ride. Image: Universal Studios Hollywood Image: Universal... Continue reading…

Google Tasks briefly looked like the answer to Google’s problem with reminders, but... nope. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google appears to be dropping two features from its Assistant’s reminder-setting capabilities. It’s ditching support for assignable reminders — “remind Anna to bring in the trash cans this morning” — and location-based ones — “remind me to call Becca when I get to the office.” Google didn’t announce either change, instead opting to bury one in a support page and another in a pop-up in the Assistant app. Both features still work but evidently won’t for much longer.Chalk this one up to the latest in a long, long history of Google doing a terrible job of turning Reminders into an even remotely useful system.The list of chaotic Google product offerings is long, but I submit that none make less sense than Reminders. You can set reminders in... Continue reading…

Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images Tim Hortons used its mobile app to collect “vast amounts of location data” from users, including tracking when they visited competing coffee shops, says Canada’s privacy watchdog. Yesterday, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released the results of a 2020 investigation into the coffee and donut chain, demanding it delete any remaining location data and limit future collection. Tim Hortons, the commission says, has agreed to implement the regulations.The full report outlines a sweeping, invasive attempt to deduce Tim Hortons customers’ behavior in order to target advertising at them — although the company apparently never actually used the data for that purpose. It notes that in May 2019, Tim Hortons updated its mobile app... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A day after Sheryl Sandberg announced she is leaving as Meta’s COO later this year, the company is losing another executive amid a reorganization of its artificial intelligence group.Jerome Pesenti, Meta’s VP of AI for the past four years, will leave later this month as the company closer integrates his AI teams across various product groups rather than have AI function as a centralized organization. AI is already used for everything from ordering what you see when you open Facebook and Instagram to the software powering the Oculus VR headset. The change is meant to “leverage the newest AI technology at scale” across the company, said Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth in a post announcing the reorg.The AI research team led by Yann LeCun,... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference only a few days away, the leaks and rumors are starting to come fast about Apple’s upcoming software plans. And iPad owners may be in for a treat: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that some of the biggest announcements of the year will be for iPadOS 16, including an expansion to the iPad’s multitasking system.Apple has steadily, if somewhat tepidly, improved the way iPads multitask. As it stands, you can have two windows open side by side, with another in the slide-over view on the side. It works, more or less, but it can be finicky to set up, and it’s not obvious how to move apps around or change their arrangement.Gurman reports only that iPadOS 16 “will expand upon that interface,” which... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In Q1 of 2022, it finally happened: Netflix had a bad quarter. It lost over 200,000 subscribers and acknowledged that newer competitors like Disney Plus and HBO Max were effectively putting an end to how the company had been doing business for nearly a decade. Now, Netflix is steering away from the frenetic release pace and midsized films that made it a near-critical darling with a new plan to make “bigger movies” at a less “gluttonous pace” according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.You know, kind of what most of Hollywood is already doing.A major takeaway from The Hollywood Reporter’s piece is that, while it appears Netflix isn’t exactly sure what it wants to make, it just wants to make it more thoughtfully than it has for... Continue reading…

Illustration by Ana Kova Doctors successfully transplanted a 3D-printed ear made from human cells onto a woman born with a rare ear deformity, 3DBio Therapeutics, the regenerative medicine company behind the implant announced today in a press release. The transplant was part of the first clinical trial of the technology, and its success marks a major step forward for tissue engineering.“If everything goes as planned, this will revolutionize the way this is done,” Arturo Bonilla, the ear reconstruction surgeon who led the team performing the procedure, told The New York Times.Around 1,500 babies born in the United States each year have microtia, a condition where one or both ears are underdeveloped or missing entirely. 3DBio Therapeutics has an ongoing... Continue reading…

Image: Blizzard Entertainment The Overwatch League has its first official team relocation. The Paris Eternal, one of the League’s two European teams, will move to Las Vegas for the 2023 season.Rumors of a potential relocation started after an eagle-eyed fan noticed that DM-Esports, the company that owns the Eternal and its Call of Duty League sister team, Paris Legion, filed trademarks for Vegas Eternal and Vegas Legion. Shortly after that, both teams confirmed the rumors were true.

The Gigabyte version of the RTX 3070 has triple-fan cooling the company calls Windforce. | Image: Gigabyte While the chip shortage has touched everything from appliances to cars, one segment of tech that’s seen the most challenges is graphics cards. The latest GPUs have been getting bought up and resold by price gougers since the beginning of the pandemic, but now, after signs began looking up in 2022, we’re getting the occasional deal.Today sees the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 drop to $599.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. This is a $130 discount off its regular price of $729.99 and is the lowest we’ve seen thus far for this model. Now, that is still a little pricier than the base $499.99 Nvidia RTX 3070, but it’s common for manufacturers like Gigabyte to build off Nvidia’s reference design and enhance the specs — like this card’s Windforce... Continue reading…

MSI’s Titan used to be the company’s highest-performance gaming notebook, rivaled only by desktop-adjacent devices like Alienware’s Area-51m in terms of performance and power. Such devices, while impressive, are a fairly niche product, and the company hasn’t refreshed the Titan line in a few years.Today, at its MSIology press conference, the company announced that the Titan line is returning. It looks like the new Titan GT77 will be one of the most powerful gaming laptops you can buy this year (if not the most powerful one), including up to Intel’s desktop-class Core i9-12900HX and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, along with four slots for up to 128GB of DDR5-4800 RAM. The device will reach 250W of combined power delivery to the CPU and... Continue reading…

The Apple Watch comes with a built-in camera remote app. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Most people think of a smartwatch as a fitness gadget or a way to discreetly view notifications. But did you know that you can also use your smartwatch as a camera remote? Instead of scrambling to beat the timer for your next group photo or selfie, you can instead use your smartwatch to control your phone’s camera shutter.Some smartwatches, like the Apple Watch, have this feature built in. Others require you to download a separate third-party app. You’ll also need to be within Bluetooth range, since that’s how smartwatches communicate with your phone. This probably won’t be an issue in most scenarios, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re thinking of using this feature on a more ambitious photo project.In any case, here’s how... Continue reading…

Want to see your Ring’s video history? It’ll cost you more now. | Image: Ring Ring announced a handful of new features for its Ring Protect Basic plan this week. Subscribers will get access to 180 days of video (up from 60), some more alert options, and the promise of a lot of “coming soon” features. The catch? It comes at a cost: the price of the Protect Basic plan is going up starting in July, to $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US. (Until now, it has been $3 a month or $30 a year.) Existing customers will see the price jump whenever their subscription renews after that.For some Ring owners, the increase will be steeper than it sounds. The Protect Basic plan only covers one device, but the next cheapest Ring plan, Protect Plus, covers all your devices and costs $10 a month or $100 a year. For those with... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter appears to be working on a feature called “Search Subscribe,” which will let users opt to receive notifications for new tweets matching a search query. The feature was first spotted by developer Dylan Roussel, and appears to put Twitter’s bell notification icon next to the search box in its app. Tap the bell, and you’ll get notifications for new results.Search Subscribe is only showing up in the Twitter Alpha app for now, so you shouldn’t take this as a sign that it’s imminent or even definitely coming. But it’s an interesting idea, and yet another attempt from Twitter to make it easier for users to find the stuff they’re actually looking for. Right now you can get notifications for individual users, or selectively mute or block... Continue reading…

Neptune Frost. | Image: Kino Lorber The Afrofuturist musical from Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman hits theaters on June 3rd Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Amazon is offering a new and more orderly way for shoppers to buy a PS5. You can request an invitation right here on the console’s product page (it’s to the right, where a “buy” button would normally be located), and the company says that if you’re chosen, you’ll receive an e-mail with a link to purchase one within 72 hours. What’s more, you don’t need to be a Prime subscriber to request an invite.So far, this invite-based system seems to be in place only for the more costly $499.99 version of the PlayStation 5 that features a Blu-ray disc drive, and not the digital version. If you want to boost your chances of getting one (even if you don’t luck out soon), Sony has long offered registrations on a rolling basis to be considered for an... Continue reading…

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Ford announced it will invest $3.7 billion in manufacturing facilities in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri, with the promise to create 6,200 new unionized jobs as part of a major Midwestern expansion. The automaker also unveiled plans for an updated Mustang, Ranger, and a new electric commercial vehicle.In a joint announcement with the United Auto Workers, Ford said it will provide immediate healthcare benefits to all hourly employees “on day one,” and convert nearly 3,000 temporary employees to permanent full-time status ahead of schedule. The company also said it would spend $1 billion to improve working conditions at its US plants.Ford didn’t disclose what type of new electric commercial vehicle it has planned, except to say it will... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Even before its latest soundbar hits store shelves, Sonos is moving closer to the release of its next product — and it’s an eagerly anticipated one. As noted by Redditors and Protocol’s Janko Roettgers, the upcoming Sonos Sub Mini subwoofer has passed through the FCC.The filing leaves no doubt about what product we’re looking at: the Sub Mini was tested in a setup that included a “master device” none other than the Sonos Beam. And a diagram showing the location of the FCC compliance label confirms the cylindrical design that Sonos has previously referenced. Image: FCC The FCC filing confirms the Sub Mini’s cylindrical shape. Last month, The Verge revealed a 3D render preview of the Sub Mini’s overall design.... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Valve shared yesterday that its official docking station made to pipe the Steam Deck’s visuals to a TV or monitor (and connect a couple of USB peripherals) has been delayed yet again. The dock missed its initial launch window of shipping alongside the first batch of Deck reservations in late February, and a mix of ongoing part shortages and COVID-related work stoppages has pushed its release further into the future. Valve didn’t share when it’s aiming to release the dock, though it says it’s “working on improving the situation.”For the many who are still waiting on their Steam Deck reservations to arrive, Valve wants you to know that this dock delay will have no impact on console production. It says that these docks use different parts,... Continue reading…

The TCL Stylus 5G is a low-cost stylus phone on sale now through T-Mobile. | Image: TCL Things looked grim for fans of budget stylus phones when LG dropped out of the mobile market last year, taking its Stylo devices with it. Just when it looked like Motorola was going to run the table with its Moto G Stylus phones, TCL has announced a new device with a built-in stylus: the aptly named TCL Stylus 5G. It’s available starting today, June 2nd, from T-Mobile for $258.The Stylus 5G includes a 6.81-inch 1080p LCD, MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G chipset, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There’s a 4,000mAh battery — quite a bit smaller than the 5,000mAh capacity of Motorola’s stylus phones — plus a microSD slot for storage expansion and a headphone jack.The phone includes a few stylus-centric pre-downloads, including an AI... Continue reading…

Any of my friends will tell you that I’m a terrible liar — it makes me an uninspired poker player. But in Card Shark, a new game about cheating at cards, I feel like I can actually pull the wool over people’s eyes.In Card Shark, which takes place in 18th-century France, you play as a young man who, for story reasons, falls under the wing of Comte de Saint-Germain, a figure inspired by a real-life count. He teaches you various card tricks and cheats so the two of you can swindle people out of money. The cheats start small, like wiping the table in a certain direction to tip off what your opponent’s strongest suit is, but, by the end of the game, you’re stringing together multiple techniques in a row in complex schemes to win a round. If... Continue reading…

One of the first shocks that you may experience when you buy your first Chromebook probably comes when you look at the keyboard. Where is the Caps Lock key? What (if you have a Pixelbook) is that strange-looking key between the Ctrl and Alt keys? What is that key in the top row that looks like a square with two straight lines next to it?Google has tweaked the keyboard of its Chromebooks in ways that emphasize how Chrome OS differs from Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS. And what makes things even more confusing is that the layout of the keyboard can vary depending on the model of Chromebook you are using. For example, if you are using a Pixelbook, you may have a couple of extra keys. In addition, a key that has a “search” symbol on it... Continue reading…

Polestar’s experimental, high-performance one-off for the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed — nicknamed “Beast” — is going into limited production.The Swedish EV maker announced plans to make and sell 270 units of the 476-horsepower fastback sedans, with 47 of those vehicles intended for the US market. The Polestar 2 “BST edition 270,” named for the number of vehicles that will be built, will be available exclusively in Europe, China, and North America.The modified Polestar 2 features a dual-motor configuration that’s been tuned to pump out 476 horsepower, compared to 408 horsepower in the production version. The vehicle’s stance has also been widened by 10 millimeters on both sides, and the ride height was lowered by 2mm to improve... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images “It is a job that’s been an honor and a privilege, but it’s not a job that leaves a lot of time to do much else.” Continue reading…

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Sheryl Sandberg will step down as the COO of Meta Platforms after 14 years as its second-ranking executive, where she helped scale Facebook into the social media juggernaut it is today. Sandberg will leave her post as the company’s No. 2 leader in the fall after spending the next few months working with founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to transition her direct reports. She will retain a seat on Meta’s board.Zuckerberg called the change an “end of an era” and said that he doesn’t plan to replace Sandberg’s exact role in the company’s structure. His current chief growth officer Javier Olivan, already one of the company’s most powerful but lesser-known executives, will take over as COO in what Zuckerberg says is a “more traditional” COO... Continue reading…

An artistic rendering of astronauts wearing next-generation spacesuits on the Moon. | Image: NASA Today, NASA announced that two private companies — Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace — will develop the next-generation spacesuits that future astronauts will wear to conduct spacewalks and eventually traverse the surface of the Moon. It’s a bold new direction for spacesuit development at NASA, with the agency handing the job over to the private sector after years of struggling to develop a new suit of its own.These new spacesuits will play a critical role in NASA’s Artemis program, the agency’s flagship initiative to send humans back to the lunar surface. Currently, NASA is aiming to land the first Artemis astronauts on the Moon by 2025 — a one-year delay from the 2024 deadline originally set by the Trump administration. When the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an insider trading scheme. Chastain was arrested Wednesday morning in New York City and is expected to be presented in court later today.Chastain was publicly accused of insider trading in September and fired from his position at OpenSea — but today’s indictment marks the first criminal charges associated with the scheme.45 token purchases on 11 different occasionsWhile employed at OpenSea, Chastain was responsible for deciding which NFT collections would be featured on OpenSea’s front page, a distinction that typically made the collections skyrocket in value. The indictment describes a pattern of 45 token... Continue reading…

The Sonos Arc and other refurbished Sonos speakers are all on sale. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Everyone might be talking about the recent release of Sonos voice control or the Sonos Ray, but if Sonos’ entry-level soundbar doesn’t seem like a good fit, you can currently find discounts on a range of refurbished speakers in the Sonos catalog. Some of the current deal highlights include the Sonos Arc and Sonos Roam, which are available for $719 and $139, respectively.The Sonos Arc normally sells for $900 new, but this refurbished model is available for $719. The Arc soundbar is perfect for anyone who wants to improve their home audio setup and offers a number of quality of life features in addition to an excellent sound profile. Like other Sonos soundbars, the Arc is compatible with Apple’s AirPlay 2, supports Google Assistant and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is pulling employees off of working on major consumer-facing features like audio Spaces, communities, and newsletters and instead plans to refocus their efforts on user growth and personalization, according to Bloomberg. The changes come as a pending buyout by Elon Musk is already casting a shadow on every move the company makes — and follows just weeks after Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced a pause on most hiring and fired both the company’s consumer product leader Kayvon Beykpour and the leader on the revenue side, Bruce Falck. Bloomberg’s report reveals some of the restructuring happening within Twitter under the direction of Jay Sullivan, the new head of product and interim head of revenue.In a statement to Bloomberg, a... Continue reading…

Users in India reported that Google Messages’ RCS ads feature was being abused. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google Messages users in India have reported receiving a deluge of unwanted ads in recent weeks using Rich Communication Services (RCS), and Google has employed a response strategy: turn them all off. Company spokesperson Kaori Miyake confirmed to The Verge that Google has disabled the feature in India: “We are aware that some businesses are abusing our anti-spam policies to send promotional messages to users in India. We are disabling this feature in India while we work with the industry to improve the experience for users.”The ads in question were delivered by way of RCS’ business messaging feature, which allows verified businesses to send messages to customers that go beyond a typical text, with images and interactive features. G... Continue reading…

Image: Blizzard Entertainment Diablo Immortal’s announcement upset a lot of fans of the franchise who felt a mobile version of their beloved game would come at the expense of a more traditional Diablo gaming experience. After a short time with the game ahead of its release on June 2nd (though the game has been rolling out early in some regions today), I found two things to be true. The first is that Blizzard has created a game that admirably captures the look and feel of a traditional Diablo game. The second is that Immortal is also a game designed to extract the most money out of its players.From the couple hours I’ve played, the map is expansive with many different areas gated by level requirements and many places within those areas in which you can get up to all... Continue reading…

Ed Teach caressing Stede Bonnet’s cheek, as a friend. | Image: HBO Just in time for this year’s Pride Month, HBO has announced that Our Flag Means Death will return for a second season of stories about swashbuckling and love on the high seas. In a statement about Our Flag Means Death’s renewal, series creator David Jenkins expressed gratitude to the show’s fandom for its support and commitment to the unexpected romance at the center of the first season.“We felt the show was special while we were making it, but fans’ open-armed embrace of the inhabitants of the Revenge makes heading into a second season all the more sweet,” Jenkins said. “Thanks to our team at HBO Max, our invested executive producers, and our wildly enthusiastic audience for making another voyage to this world possible.”Our Flag Means... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A newly discovered vulnerability in Microsoft Office is already being exploited by hackers linked to the Chinese government, according to threat analysis research from security firm Proofpoint.Details shared by Proofpoint on Twitter suggest that a hacking group labeled TA413 was using the vulnerability (named “Follina” by researchers) in malicious Word documents purported to be sent from the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government in exile based in Dharamsala, India. The TA413 group is an APT, or “advanced persistent threat,” actor believed to be linked to the Chinese government and has previously been observed targeting the Tibetan exile community.In general, Chinese hackers have a history of using software security... Continue reading…