The Verge

Image: Square Enix Making sure an event as large as Games Done Quick (GDQ) runs smoothly is a monumental task. There are lots of technical moving parts, from video equipment, to lighting, sound, and stream overlays, to donation trackers that have to be kept running 24 hours a day for a week straight. The tech team also has to consider the individual needs of over 100 runners playing on consoles that range in age and complexity from the NES to the PlayStation 5.With all of that going on, I wondered which game out of the thousands that have been run at GDQ throughout its 10-plus-year history the tech team hates the most, and the answer surprised me.It's the PSX SquareSoft (remember them??) RPG Chrono Cross.After speaking with GDQ's director of technology,... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge If you get a message from someone at The Verge asking to schedule an interview about cryptocurrency, don't do it. There's a phishing scam going around that attempts to trick users into clicking on a fake Calendly link to schedule" phony interviews in order to steal Discord credentials for a wallet-draining scam.We recently discovered that a bad actor has been impersonating Verge science reporter Justine Calma to carry out this scam. Justine recently changed her handle on X (formerly Twitter) from @justcalma to @justinecalmajourno. The scammer hijacked her old handle @justcalma - which was still present on her Verge profile at the time - and leveraged her identity when messaging users about a fake interview. Screenshot... Continue reading...

Photo: Wes Fish" Chan / Games Done Quick Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 has already raised over $1 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Continue reading...

Image: Google Google might be about to expand the color options for its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Today the Pixel team's social media channels began posting teases for a new mint green color that will be available next Thursday, January 25th. The messaging isn't exactly subtle. This hue will apparently be exclusive to the Google Store and Google Fi, so carriers and retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are unlikely to offer it.

That travel case is $199. | Image: Apple Now that Apple Vision Pro preorders are open, there's a lot more we know about how much accessories will cost, configurations, and other details. And as you might expect, fully kitting out a Vision Pro will make quite the dent in your wallet.For starters, the base model of the Vision Pro with 256GB of storage starts at $3,499. Getting 512GB bumps up the cost to $3,699, and 1TB will cost $3,899. All that moola will get you the Apple Vision Pro headset with a light seal, a light seal cushion, and a solo knit band. Also in the box are a dual loop band, a cover, a battery, an extra light seal cushion, Apple's polishing cloth, and a 30W USB-C power adaptor and charging cable.However, if you want to add Apple Care Plus, that'll be an extra... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Apple will let third-party mobile wallet and payment providers access the iPhone's NFC capabilities in concessions meant to address a European Commission antitrust investigation, the regulator announced today. The Commission is now seeking feedback on the commitments, which would end Apple Pay and Apple Wallet's exclusive access to the iPhone's NFC payment features. It's the latest development in the nearly four year-old investigation.The proposed commitments come a little over one and a half years after the Commission formally accused Apple of using its iOS policies to restrict competition in the mobile payments market in violation of EU law. The Commission takes issue with the decision by Apple to prevent mobile wallets app... Continue reading...

Users can disable the feature within their account settings, and restrict who can contact them when it's enabled. | Illustration: The Verge X (formerly Twitter) is now rolling out its audio and video calling capabilities to Android users following their iOS launch last October. Users may need to update the app to see the feature, according to X developer Enrique Barragan, who also says that any user can receive calls, but only X Premium subscribers can place them.It's unclear how long the rollout will take to reach all Android users, though we've confirmed that at least one of The Verge's Android devices is showing the feature after the X app was updated. X Premium subscriptions start at $3 per month for the Basic" tier, but it isn't clear from X's Help Centre which tier the outbound video and audio calling perk is locked behind. Image: X There are... Continue reading...

Leia co-founder and CEO David Fattal, with his Red Hydrogen smartphone. A 200-person startup named after Star Wars' Princess Leia may have quietly cornered the market on glasses-free 2D to 3D screens - after clawing its way back from one of the biggest gadget flops of the past decade.Remember the Red Hydrogen, the 3D phone that crashed and burned so hard its founder decided it was time to retire? Leia is the company that designed its holographic" screen, and the company has been relatively quiet since that experience. Walking into its private hotel room suite at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, my expectations were not particularly high!So you can imagine my surprise to find five tables full of Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo and MSI products and prototypes, plus a brand-new 3D OLED phone - each featuring a eye-popping... Continue reading...

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple's Vision Pro headset won't have a dedicated Netflix app at launch, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The streaming giant reportedly doesn't plan to launch an app specifically for Apple's headset, nor does it want to make its iPad app compatible with the platform.The move means users won't be able to watch Netflix in a dedicated app - like the other streaming services that have announced support for the headset, including Disney Plus, Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount Plus. Instead, users will have to watch content from Netflix in a web browser, which will make the movies or TV shows wearers are watching far less immersive. It also will prevent users from watching content offline and could put limitations on... Continue reading...

Image: Plex Plex, known for its media server software and as a place to watch ad-supported content, is going to launch a store for to buy and rent movies and TV shows in early February, executives told Lowpass' Janko Roettgers.Most studios" are lined up for the store's launch, and there are plans to complete the catalog soon after," Roettgers says. The store will also integrate with Plex features like its watchlists for movies. Roettgers points out that that Plex has announced plans in both 2020 and 2023 to launch a movie / TV store - hopefully Plex is truly ready to do so this time.The new store will mark a major addition for Plex, especially following the company's layoff of 20 percent of its staff in June 2023. At the time, the company's CEO... Continue reading...

Nilay Patel Just like Netflix, YouTube also isn't building a native app for the Vision Pro. Its iPad app won't support the $3,499 headset, either, as YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby tells The Verge, YouTube users will be able to use YouTube in Safari on the Vision Pro."Those aren't the only major services that won't have dedicated apps on the Vision Pro. A source familiar with the situation tells Bloomberg that Spotify isn't planning to create a new app for the Vision Pro and doesn't expect to enable its iPad app to run on the device," potentially forcing users to access Spotify in a web browser.Spotify spokesperson Grey Munford tells The Verge that the company can't confirm this report and that Spotify has made no announcement concerning... Continue reading...

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge When it comes to filing and paying your federal and state taxes for 2023, there's good and bad news. The good news is that if you live in Maine or Massachusetts, you have until Wednesday, April 17th, because of the Patriots' Day and Emancipation Day holidays.The bad news is: whether you have to file by April 15th or April 17th, you still have to file.If you won't be able to file your taxes by then - because of a family emergency, a large work project, or simple procrastination - what do you do? Well, one thing you don't do is panic. You can file for an extension, and it won't take long.If you're an individual (and let's assume you are), you can file for an extension easily online by filling out Form 4868 using the IRS's Free File... Continue reading...

Image: Klobrille (Twitter / X) Get your first look at the new Indiana Jones game and more. Continue reading...

Figure unveiled its first prototype humanoid robot (pictured) in October 2023, just one year after the company was founded. | Image: Figure Robotics startup Figure has signed a commercial agreement" with BMW to introduce its general purpose" humanoid robots to BMW's manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as it tries to identify use cases in automotive production. The robots are intended to automate difficult, unsafe, or tedious" manufacturing tasks, and if they're found to be viable, they'll then be deployed in the BMW facility in stages.Single-purpose robotics have saturated the commercial market for decades, but the potential of general purpose robotics is completely untapped," said Figure CEO Brett Adcock. Figure's robots will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs, and create a safer and more consistent environment."

Like the rest of the S24 lineup, Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in four color options. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge As expected, Samsung introduced the new Galaxy S24 phone lineup during its Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17th. The Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus start at $799.99 and $999.99, respectively, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,299.99. All of the phones are available starting on January 31st, 2024, though you can preorder them now.We've yet to wrap up our testing, so we can't comment on how well the phones perform in reality. However, in the limited time we've been able to try them out so far, it seems Samsung made mostly minor hardware updates. Along with brighter displays, the new lineup features larger S24 and S24 Plus models, while the S24 Ultra features what should be a more durable titanium frame.It's the new AI features... Continue reading...

Masimo showed up with the Freedom (right), a prototype for a smarter watch featuring its blood oxygen tech. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge In the past few weeks, you've probably heard something about the Apple Watch getting banned. Something to do with a sensor, with some medical tech company accusing Apple of infringing on its patents. That medical tech company is Masimo, and it's known within the medical community for its pulse oximetry technology, used for measuring blood oxygen levels.The company would also like to be known for something else: its brand-new smartwatch, which features the tech that got the Apple Watch in trouble.Masimo isn't traditionally a gadget maker, but its new watch - the Freedom - is meant to be a true consumer device: something that looks stylish on the wrist, can relay your notifications, and will track your health while it's at it. On paper,... Continue reading...

Game developers are overwhelmingly concerned about the ethics of using AI. The organizers of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) have released their annual State of the Game Industry survey, in which 84 percent of the 3,000-plus respondents said they were somewhat or very concerned about the ethics of using generative AI.The survey's results elaborated on why developers are concerned, citing reasons that include the potential for AI to replace workers and exacerbate layoffs or expose developers to possible copyright infringement complaints. Developers are also worried that AI programs could scrape data from their own games without their consent.GDC's survey also broke down developer sentiment regarding AI according to job type.... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple's most outspoken critics aren't thrilled with the company's recent App Store changes. In a statement to The Verge, Spotify spokesperson Jeanne Moran says that the new 27 percent tax on alternative payment methods shows that Apple will stop at nothing to protect the profits they exact on the backs of developers and consumers under their app store monopoly."The company updated its App Store policies to comply with a court order handed down as part of the Epic v. Apple ruling. The change lets developers in the US link to alternative payment methods, but only if they shell out a 27 percent commission for each purchase made outside the App Store.Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was one of the first to call out Apple's changes as... Continue reading...

Image: Bose / Kith Well, this is certainly an unconventional way to introduce what looks like a very unconventional product. Bose just announced the Ultra Open Earbuds, an open-style pair of buds with a very unique design that leaked earlier this month. They're meant to clip onto your outer ear to preserve total environmental awareness whenever you're listening to them. And they're priced at a hefty $300.But here's the catch: this initial offering is an exclusive set designed in collaboration with fashion / lifestyle brand Kith. Kith's brand is etched onto the earbuds and case in Bose's signature typeface. You'll only be able to get the Kith for Bose Ultra Open Earbuds" from Kith's online and physical stores beginning January 22nd. And they'll supposedly... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge We're only a few weeks into 2024, and it's already time for a gaming event. Kicking things off this year is the Xbox Developer Direct 2024, which is described as a deep-dive into some of the biggest games coming to Xbox platforms."Right now, we know that includes at least a few previously announced titles: an Indiana Jones game from the studio behind Wolfenstein, the very intense-looking sequel to Hellblade, the upcoming Obsidian RPG Avowed, and Ara: History Untold, a turn-based strategy game from a new studio founded by Firaxis Games developers.Other than that, there will likely be at least a few surprises. Rumors have been swirling about games like Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush expanding to new platforms, and Starfield is getting a... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Rumors are swirling that Microsoft has been considering bringing some Xbox exclusives to rival PlayStation and Nintendo Switch platforms. Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush have both reportedly been under cross-platform consideration, and when you combine the rumors with recent comments from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox CFO Tim Stuart, it's clear Microsoft is weighing its Xbox strategy now that the Activision Blizzard deal is complete.At a Wells Fargo summit in late November, Stuart detailed what he described as a bit of a change of strategy" for Microsoft Gaming, the division that houses Xbox and Microsoft's overall gaming efforts. Not announcing anything broadly here, but our mission is to bring our first-party experiences [and]... Continue reading...

Images: Rabbit CES 2024 presentation (YouTube) With artificial intelligence being so prevalent across, well, just about everything these days, it's no small feat for AI developers to make their products stand out among the deluge. Very few have managed to capture as much attention as Rabbit, the AI startup that's managed to sell 40,000 units of its standalone $199 R1 gadget within eight days of launching the device at CES in January this year.The AI-powered Rabbit OS behind the Rabbit R1 is essentially a dedicated virtual assistant that's designed to interact with your favorite apps like a kind of universal controller. The OS is built upon a Large Action Model" trained to interact with common apps like Spotify and Uber to get things done; from sending messages, controlling music,... Continue reading...

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Following a lost bid to halt a ban on selling its newest Apple Watches, Apple says it's going to sell the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 without their blood oxygen features beginning tomorrow, January 18th.The revised watches will be available from Apple's website beginning at 9AM ET, and they'll be available in Apple's retail stores as well. If you currently have an Apple Watch with blood oxygen features, Apple says there will be no impact" to those devices.A court filing earlier this week confirmed that US Customs approved versions of the Apple Watches with the blood oxygen features removed. According to Bloomberg, Apple has developed a software workaround.Here is Apple's full statement from Apple spokesperson Nikki... Continue reading...

The Verge Pitchfork, the acerbic music site that defined album reviews in the early blogging era, is being hollowed out. Owner Conde Nast has decided to merge the music magazine with GQ, the men's interest publication, according to a staff memo circulated by Max Tani of Semafor. Launched back when CDs were a thing, Pitchfork outlasted the age of music piracy and mp3s and through the rise of digital streaming. Its future as a brand post-merge is now uncertain.Multiple employees were also laid off on Wednesday, including editor-in-chief Puja Patel. One laid off writer, Matthew Ismael Ruiz, estimated that half the staff" was laid off.Today we are evolving our Pitchfork team structure by bringing the team into the GQ organization. This decision... Continue reading...

Image: EA It's been almost five years since EA announced the third installment of the popular Plants vs. Zombie mobile game, and now it's nearly here. EA has revealed that Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia (PvZ3) has soft-launched in select countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Australia, Philippines, and Ireland.Just like previous installments, PvZ3 is a tower defense game that tasks you with using animated plants to fend off a horde of zombies. EA says the game features new and returning characters," along with gameplay that reflects the classic combat of the first game." PvZ3 will be free to play, but it will still have microtransactions.The original Plants vs. Zombies was released on PC and Mac in 2009 before making its way... Continue reading...

The Galaxy S24 family arrives with new AI features to enhance photography, communication, and search. Here's where you can preorder one. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Following a spat of leaks, Samsung has unveiled its forthcoming set of flagship phones, detailing the new Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra at its latest Unpacked event. The new smartphones officially launch on January 31st and are available for preorder beginning today, with the base model starting at $799.99, the Plus model starting at $999.99, and the high-end Ultra handset going for $1,299.99.In our early hands-on time with them, we haven't noticed anything groundbreaking about the Galaxy S24 family's hardware, though each phone boasts a slightly bigger battery and display than its predecessor. The Ultra now further justifies its premium price tag with a titanium build, and all of the displays are noticeably brighter. Instead of... Continue reading...

Marvel Studios Echo star and Daredevil alum Vincent D'Onofrio says Netflix's Marvel series are part of the MCU's canon, which was obvious if you watched shows or listened to Kevin Feige. Continue reading...