The Verge

Image: EA Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced during the company's Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. The game launched in April on PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and PC but skipped Sony and Microsoft's older hardware, so with this new release, people who haven't upgraded to the newer consoles will eventually be able to check out the game.However, we don't know exactly when Jedi: Survivor will be coming to older consoles. Here's Wilson's quote about the release: Thanks to the strength of this legendary franchise and community demand, our development team has committed to bringing this Jedi experience to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One."Jedi: Survivor is a sequel to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen... Continue reading...

Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl. | Image: Warner Music Group The music industry was reshaped by streaming. So earlier this year, Warner Music Group put a streaming executive in charge.The company's new CEO, Robert Kyncl, was most recently the chief business officer of YouTube, where he helped transform the platform into one of the biggest names in creator monetization and streaming music. Before that, he was vice president of content at Netflix, working on partnerships as it entered the streaming era.Next month, Kyncl will sit down with Vox senior correspondent Peter Kafka to talk all things music and streaming at the Code Conference. Kyncl has said he wants to prioritize artists and partners at WMG, sees music as being undervalued," and believes the company's next steps may involve AI -... Continue reading...

Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta has begun blocking all news content on Facebook and Instagram in Canada, a change it expects all users in the country to see within the next few weeks." That's in response to the country's Online News Act, which would require tech companies like Meta and Google to negotiate with and pay publishers for their news content.The blocks don't just apply to news publishers with accounts on the two platforms but also to links shared by users. If a Canadian person is friends with someone who lives in Kansas and that Kansan shares a link on Facebook to, say, this Verge article, their northerly friend won't be able to view it.On Twitter, which is currently rebranding as X, journalists for local Canadian publications IndigiNews and The... Continue reading...

Image: Apple Apple Arcade is adding four new games this month, including a new Samba de Amigo game.Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go brings the maraca-shaking monkeys to mobile on August 29th - the same day another Samba de Amigo game, Samba de Amigo: Party Central, hits the Switch and Meta Quest. It seems like the two games are essentially the same, with Party-To-Go simply being a mobile port of Party Central. One perk of playing Party-To-Go on Apple Arcade, however, is that you'll get three exclusive songs from PSY ('memba him?), Lady Gaga, and Fitz and The Tantrums, which, coincidentally, kinda looks like my Friday-night party playlist.According to Apple's announcement, Party-To-Go also features the series' first story mode, where players join Amigo... Continue reading...

Image: Amazon You can now start an Amazon Clinic video doctor visit in all 50 states as Amazon expands its virtual care service, which lets patients connect with multiple telehealth provider groups" who each set their own rates for service. The company says those visits will cost an average of $75. Amazon will not accept insurance for the visits, however.Previously, Amazon only offered a message-based version of this in 32 states that would allow you to get in touch with clinicians on its platform using a secure portal for chatting with them about your medical issues and work out a treatment plan. Message-based care is lower in cost, averaging $35 a session, according to Amazon, but it's only been able to add messaging in another two states; the... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you're in the market for a premium console from either Sony or Microsoft, now is the perfect time to pick one up. For the first time we've seen, both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are on sale - each currently selling for $449.99 ($50 off). The disc drive-equipped PS5 is discounted at Monoprice, while you can get Microsoft's flagship Xbox on sale from Dell.It's refreshing to see both consoles running on deals that don't require bundling with a game or added accessories. After they were so hard to get for around two years thanks to shortages, they're now easily buyable and 50 bucks off - no fuss, no muss.While the PS5 and Xbox Series X have a lot in common (both are capable of playing games in 4K at up to 120 fps, come with... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit has rolled out some changes to the logged-out web experience that are intended to deliver a more consistent, reliable, and fast web experience for people not logged in," according to a post from an admin (employee) who goes by whizlogic. The changes are available globally on mobile web and desktop.The updates could make Reddit better for those who stumble upon it through a search engine, whizlogic said. These people are often looking for community-verified content on their mobile, tablet or desktop devices. While some people in this group know Reddit and are seeking it out specifically, many others visit Reddit infrequently or are just finding it for the first time."Here are just some of the changes:

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Chevy's gearing up to deliver its first models of the Blazer EV SUV. The 2024 AWD RS trim is first up and will arrive at dealerships in August, with a price of $60,215.Chevy is also planning to build the 2LT AWD trim this fall, which will cost $56,715. The automaker had previously announced the prices for other trims, including the RS FWD model for $51,995 and the 2LT FWD model for $47,595 last year.Starting off with more expensive models contrasts current trends of EV price cuts from automakers like Ford, which reduced prices on its Mustang Mach-E SUV, including the Premium AWD trim, which has dropped from $53,995 to $49,995, and the F-150 Lighting truck, which is now up to $10,000 cheaper - as the automaker's seen an increase in... Continue reading...

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Image: Getty Images X Corp., the parent company of the platform once known as Twitter, is suing the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) over claims it embarked on a scare campaign" to drive away advertisers. The lawsuit accuses the CCDH of unlawfully" scraping data from Twitter and using it to create flawed" research studies about the platform.The CCDH is an anti-hate organization that publishes research about the spread of hateful content on social media platforms like Twitter. One recent CCDH study claims Twitter has failed to act on 99 percent of hateful content posted by Twitter Blue subscribers, and another states that the anti-LGBTQ+ grooming" narrative has grown exponentially since Elon Musk's takeover.To create these reports, X... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Apple is adding numerous features to the iPhone with iOS 17, and one of the most notable is Contact Poster - a way for you to create your own digital calling card through images, colors, and text.Here's how it works: when you call someone iPhone-to-iPhone and you're saved in their contacts, your Contact Poster will appear on their screen. It replaces the much smaller notification and thumbnail picture that was previously displayed and gives you an opportunity to get creative with how you want to appear to your friends, family, or colleagues.While you're setting up your Contact Poster, you can also make changes to your Apple ID avatar based on the poster. If you head into Settings on your iPhone or Mac, for example, you'll see your... Continue reading...

JigSpace running in Apple's visionOS. | Image: JigSpace Apple, Adobe, Pixar, Nvidia, and Autodesk are teaming up to promote open standards for interoperable 3D tools and data. In a press release, the companies announced the formation of the Alliance for OpenUSD, which will drive the standardization, development, evolution, and growth" of Pixar's Universal Scene Description (USD) technology.Pixar describes USD as the first open-source software that can robustly and scalably interchange 3D scenes" while incorporating various assets, sources, and animations. The animation company calls it a fundamental requirement" for people creating metaverse content.USD enables the various applications used in 3D content creation - like Maya, Houdini, Autodesk 3ds Max, and Adobe Substance 3D Designer -... Continue reading...

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta is proposing to make some of its personalized, targeted ads an up-front opt-in choice for users in the European Union, reports The Wall Street Journal. If the EU accepts Meta's proposal, the company says it would need three months or more to let users choose whether to allow the company to target ads based on what they do within its social media services.The company's proposal aims to end its ongoing fight with the EU over its use of personal data for advertisements under European privacy laws, the Journal says. Right now, EU users of Meta's platforms can opt out of this sort of targeting rather than choose to opt in. For those who opt out, the company still targets ads using some broader demographics data, such as users' general... Continue reading...

That Lombardi trophy is going to be a sticky kiss this season. | Image: CBS Sports / Nickelodeon The next Super Bowl is going to be a sticky one. CBS Sports announced that it's connecting with Nickelodeon to air an alternate telecast of Super Bowl LVIII that gives the NFL a more family-friendly watching option by adding superimposed characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and animated slime-filled touchdowns.This year's Super Bowl will take place in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Raiders, on Sunday, February 11th, 2024, at 6:30PM ET. At that time, fans can tune in to their local CBS station or the Paramount Plus streaming app for the standard broadcast or let their kids change the channel to Nickelodeon - tricking them into enjoying some good gridiron.

The board wants Meta to patch up the policy loopholes that allowed content promoting gender-based violence to slip through moderation. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta's Oversight Board is urging the company to take a stricter stance against content that normalizes gender-based violence after discovering a Facebook post mocking an injured woman had remained on the platform for almost two years without being viewed by a human moderator. On Tuesday, the board asked Meta to address a gap within its bullying and harassment policy that seemingly permits content promoting gender-based violence by praising, justifying, celebrating, or mocking it" to slip through its moderation practices.An image depicting a woman with visible marks of a physical attack, including bruises on her face and body" was published on Facebook in May 2021, alongside a caption in Arabic that alludes to her husband being... Continue reading...

Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta could launch AI-powered personas" in its services - which include Facebook and Instagram - as soon as next month, giving users a new way to search, get recommendations, and otherwise engage with its products, the Financial Times reports. Citing conversations with three company insiders, the FT notes that the chatbots could come with distinct personalities, including one that offers travel recommendations in the style of a surfer" and another that speaks like Abraham Lincoln.The imminent launch could help Meta compete on two fronts. On the one hand, built-in chatbots could be a way to boost engagement with services like Facebook and Instagram in the face of competition from the likes of TikTok. On the other, the chatbots could... Continue reading...

Two early test images from the Euclid space telescope mission. | Image: European Space Agency Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) showed off the first test images taken from the Euclid space telescope as it approaches its final orbit around the Earth (via Ars Technica). Once in place, scientists at the ESA and its partners in the US, Canada, and Japan hope to gain radical new insights into the very formation and expansion of the universe as well as the role played by dark energy, dark matter, and gravity in all of that.The first test images, captured by the telescope's two onboard cameras - the VISible instrument (VIS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) - are a series of detailed shots of the night sky, showing a vast collection of stars, star clusters, galaxies, and more. Knud Jahnke of the Max Planck... Continue reading...

I don't see much of a point in a second-gen Apple Watch Ultra if there isn't a noticeably better experience. | Photograph by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The next Apple Watch Ultra may come in a darker titanium color. Supposedly. The rumor comes courtesy of Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter - but even Gurman himself doesn't seem entirely sure about it. Besides that, the second-gen Ultra might be a little lighter and feature a faster processor.I hate to say it, but if that's all we can expect to change, perhaps Apple shouldn't release a second-gen Ultra later this year.I say this as someone who's been using the Ultra consistently since it launched. The watchOS 10 beta runs just swell. My Ultra's battery has yet to crap the bed. I have maybe one minuscule nick on the titanium body, and I've gotten used to the weight and size on my petite wrist. Barring new health... Continue reading...

Image: GM Raise your hand if you've tried one of those newfangled hands-free driver-assist systems. Now raise both hands. But for the love of god, keep your eyes on the road!Love them or hate them, hands-free driving systems are becoming more prevalent on the road. Most major automakers offer hands-free driving as an option or a subscription, from GM's Super Cruise to Ford's BlueCruise to Nissan's ProPilot. (Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems are not technically hands-free, a fact that annoys most Tesla owners to no end.)But with more hands-free driving entering the realm of what's possible, more risks inevitably come with it. Last week, GM launched a public education campaign to help customers better understand what... Continue reading...

Coral fragments of wild Florida elkhorn and staghorn in the living gene bank at The Reef Institute. | Image: NOAA; courtesy ofThe Reef Institute. Federal authorities and scientists are scrambling to relocate corals from Florida's coastlines before a killer heatwave wipes them out.The water is unbearably hot for corals, animals whose bodies form the reefs that coastal communities and other marine life depend on. Corals get their color from a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that provide them with the nutrients they need to survive. Unusually high temperatures, as the Atlantic Ocean is experiencing this summer, drive that colorful algae away. It's a problem called coral bleaching that, if it lasts too long, ultimately kills corals.Our hands-on restoration work is now all that stands between these animals and their extinction."Anticipating a mass die-off,... Continue reading...

Amazon's new Echo Pop comes in a unique semi-circular form yet sounds good for its size. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Since Prime Day was an Amazon event, a lot of the best Prime Day deals we saw earlier this month naturally landed on Amazon's smart speakers and displays. While Amazon's deals have since long gone, other retailers are jumping in to give you a second chance if you missed out. Right now, for example, you can buy the latest Echo Dot for $22.99 ($27 off) from Best Buy and The Home Depot. If you prefer a smart display, the latest Echo Show 8 is also on sale at Best Buy for $59.99 ($70 off).Perhaps one of the most notable deals, though, is this one on the new Echo Pop. At the moment, Amazon's newest smart speaker is just $17.99 ($22 off) at Best Buy and The Home Depot. The new speaker stands out from others in the lineup thanks to its... Continue reading...

You get extra keycaps and a combination switch/keycap puller in the box. OnePlus' debut mechanical keyboard, the Keyboard 81 Pro, may be little more than a redesigned Keychron Q1 Pro with a couple of tweaks. But the Keychron Q1 Pro is one of the best mechanical keyboards available today, and the tweaks OnePlus has made to its design range from inoffensive" to actually kind of neat." I wouldn't go as far as to say the Keyboard 81 Pro is better than the Q1 Pro, but it's a nice alternative version with its own strengths.As a reminder, Keychron's Q1 Pro is a wireless version of the Keychron Q1. It's made of a solid aluminum chassis, with a gasket-mounted switch plate that gives it a premium typing feel and is packed with extra features like hot-swappable switches (helpful if you want to change its typing feel... Continue reading...

The N Edition and Fami Edition of the keyboard. | Image: 8BitDo Nintendo doesn't make keyboards, but 8BitDo's Retro Mechanical Keyboard might be the next best thing. The $99.99 device comes in two color schemes: an N Edition," which has the same gray color scheme the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) had in the West, and a red and white Fami Edition" that draws obvious inspiration from the Japanese Famicom. Preorders open today, and the keyboard is expected to ship on August 10th.The keyboard comes with a pair of Super Buttons" - giant red versions of the buttons found on the original NES controller. They're programmable and come equipped with clicky Gateron Green switches that should make them feel suitably chunky to press. The Super Buttons connect to the keyboard via a 3.5mm cable, and there... Continue reading...