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Updated 2025-07-10 13:18
Android’s audio output switcher may soon let you pick cast devices, too
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google may soon start letting you pick from cast devices when using the audio output switcher on Android 13, according to Esper’s Mishaal Rahman. The output switcher, which was first introduced in Android 11, currently only lets you swap between media playback sessions on paired Bluetooth devices, such as wireless headphones or a speaker.But an update to the Google Cast SDK (software development kit), suggests that Android 13’s output switcher could allow for local-to-remote, remote-to-local, and remote-to-remote transfers. As pointed out by Rahman, “local” refers to transfers involving paired Bluetooth devices, while “remote” refers to cast devices.
Apple Music’s spatial audio is coming to select Mercedes-Benz models
Image: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz announced today that it’s bringing support for Apple’s Music’s spatial audio to certain vehicles. Apple Music launched spatial audio with Dolby Atmos last year on a range of devices, including the iPhone, Mac, HomePod, and Apple TV, but this is the first time it’ll be available natively in a car.As you might have guessed, the integration doesn’t come cheap. Mercedes-Benz started adding Dolby Atmos to its top-of-the-line Maybach, S-Class, as well as electric EQS and EQE models that come with the automaker’s latest MBUX interface and the 31-speaker Burmester 3D or 4D sound system. While the vehicles themselves cost upwards of $100,000, this doesn’t even include the additional $4,550 (3D) or $6,730 (4D) Burmester sound system... Continue reading…
Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV is a more down-to-earth luxury electric vehicle
The EQE SUV will be out by 2023. | Image: Mercedes-Benz The Mercedes-Benz EQE has been SUV-ified. The German automaker revealed a higher riding, more utility-focused version of its EQE sedan, and while the price is still being kept under wraps, the EQE SUV is expected to hit US dealerships starting in 2023.We’ve known that we’d be getting an SUV version of the EQE sedan since it was first revealed last year. Mercedes did the same for its flagship EV, the EQS, coming out with the SUV version earlier this month. It’s the fourth EV to be built on the automaker’s new EV platform.Mercedes says the EQE SUV will be “the most spacious representatives of its class”With the EQE SUV, we’re getting three trim levels — one rear-motor and two dual-motor versions — as well as an AMG performance... Continue reading…
Microsoft’s out-of-date driver list left Windows PCs open to malware attacks for years
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Microsoft failed to properly protect Windows PCs from malicious drivers for nearly three years, according to a report from Ars Technica. Although Microsoft says its Windows updates add new malicious drivers to a blocklist downloaded by devices, Ars Technica found these updates never actually stuck.This gap in coverage left users vulnerable to a certain type of attack called BYOVD, or bring your own vulnerable driver. Drivers are the files your computer’s operating system uses to communicate with external devices and hardware, such as a printer, graphics card, or webcam. Since drivers can access the core of a device’s operating system, or kernel, Microsoft requires that all drivers are digitally signed, proving that they are safe to use.... Continue reading…
Elon Musk says Starlink will keep funding Ukraine’s government ‘for free’ despite losing money
Laura Normand / The Verge SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reversed his decision to stop funding the Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, saying on Twitter that the company will continue to provide “free” satellite internet service to the government even if it means the company loses money.“The hell with it,” Musk writes on Twitter. “Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”
Apple reportedly wants to turn the iPad into a smart display with a new dock
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple is working on a dock for the iPad that would allow the device to function as a smart display and speaker, according to a report to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The company reportedly plans on introducing the capability as soon as next year, converting the iPad into an Amazon Echo Show-like device that you can set atop a counter or nightstand.Amazon already does something similar with its Fire tablets, as the company lets users place the devices into a charging dock to prop them up like a smart display. Even Google announced a docking accessory for its upcoming Pixel Tablet last week, which is supposed to serve as both a magnetic charging station and speaker. Once the tablet’s in place, it’ll function like a Nest Hub Max, letting you... Continue reading…
Razer’s noise-canceling wireless earbuds are coming to Xbox and PlayStation
This Xbox version of the Hammerhead HyperSpeed is the definitive version, so says Razer. It can work with PlayStation and Xbox, while the PS-specific version can’t work with Xbox. | Image: Razer To stand out from the many over-ear headsets that Razer has released for consoles, the company is bringing a new version of its Hammerhead wireless earbuds to PlayStation and Xbox in November for $149.99. Each console is getting its own color treatment of the Hammerhead HyperSpeed (white with blue accents for PlayStation, black with green for Xbox). This model features active noise cancellation — and of course, Chroma RGB lighting effects. Included with each is a USB-C audio transmitter along with a USB-C-to-A adapter since the Series X / S consoles don’t have a USB-C port.As you might have anticipated, each version handles connectivity a little differently but both support 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.2 for pairing with mobile... Continue reading…
Razer’s Edge is one sharp-looking cloud gaming Android handheld
$399.99 is an aggressive price for a promising Android handheld that has a 6.8-inch OLED screen with 144Hz refresh rate. | Image: Razer Razer is finally showing off the Edge, its portable Android gaming handheld. Good news: it looks a lot better than the last time we saw it in December 2021. There’s a lot to go over with this one. The Edge will release in a Wi-Fi-only version for $399.99 in January 2023, followed by a 5G-ready version through Verizon in early 2023. It’ll support the carrier’s ultra wideband and sub-6GHz networks. Razer’s following the Steam Deck reservation model, allowing people to pay $5 to reserve an Edge.It’s meant to be a great device for cloud game streaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia GeForce Now. Razer says that the Edge supports up to 144 frames per second through the Steam Link app when you’re streaming PC games locally. The Edge runs... Continue reading…
The biggest news from Minecraft Live 2022
Art for the Minecraft Dungeons Halloween update. | Image: Mojang Minecraft Live is back for another year, and, just like with past livestreams, the 2022 edition had some notable developments for fans of the inescapable sandbox game. That includes a look ahead at the next major update for the main version of Minecraft as well as details on spinoffs like Dungeons and Legends. If you couldn’t catch the event, ahem, live, here’s the big stuff you missed. Image: Mojang Look at those camels. Minecraft 1.20 will be focused on self-expressionThe next big Minecraft update, which brings the game up to version 1.20, doesn’t have a name or a date attached to it yet — and that’s on purpose. At Minecraft Live, the team spoke about keeping expectations in check by not revealing the full... Continue reading…
Meta’s Horizon Worlds VR platform is reportedly struggling to keep users
Image: Meta Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social universe set in virtual reality (VR), is reportedly struggling to gain and keep users. According to internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Horizon Worlds currently has around 200,000 monthly active users, a dip from the 300,000-user milestone Meta confirmed it hit back in February.Horizon Worlds lets users create (or visit) spaces where they can hang out, play games, meet other people, and chat with friends. The platform’s userbase actually increased tenfold following its expansion to all Quest users in the US and Canada last December, something the popularity of Meta’s Quest 2 headset during last year’s holiday shopping season likely contributed to as well.But now it looks like Meta’s... Continue reading…
Google’s Pixel 6 is only $20 more than it was during Amazon’s recent Prime Day event
Google’s Pixel 6 was a great value at $599, but a $200 discount makes it even more attractive. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge As expected, the sun has set on Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale, along with the litany of counter sales running elsewhere. Despite this, however, there are still plenty of solid deals to check out at Amazon and Best Buy, many of which are holdouts from earlier in the week. Some of these products may not be available for their lowest prices ever, true, but they’re still worth a look if you missed them earlier this week.A bit of housekeeping before we dig in, though. While there are plenty of other deals available today, you can also sign up for our sweepstakes for a chance to win a sack full of free gear hand-picked by The Verge’s deals team. Just head over to this page and sign up before the morning of October 19th to throw your hat in... Continue reading…
One designer’s quest to build the world’s greatest desk accessories
Jeff Sheldon’s desk is a well-known thing on the internet – now he’s trying to upgrade it. Ugmonk started as a T-shirt store — now founder Jeff Sheldon is trying to turn it into something much more ambitious. But as he knows, hardware is hard. Continue reading…
The human threat to abortion seekers
Vincent Kilbride / The Verge In the years before Roe v. Wade, an anonymous group of Chicago-area women known only as The Janes came together to provide safe, clandestine abortions to pregnant people in need. Over the course of several years, the group provided over 11,000 abortions. When they were finally busted by the police in 1972, it wasn’t because of police surveillance or the group’s anti-war activism or even their willingness to provide abortions to the pregnant family members of police officers. It was a family member of a Jane patient who tipped off the police.“Some nosey bitch tried to snitch on someone who needed an abortion,” says Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and executive director of the abortion storytelling organization We Testify.Fifty years... Continue reading…
AT&T ‘committed to ensuring’ it never bribes lawmakers again after $23 million fine
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AT&T Illinois will pay $23 million after it admitted to making payments to former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan’s political ally in return for his “vote and influence over a bill,” according to a Friday press release from the Department of Justice (via Ars Technica). The company will also have to cooperate with the government’s investigation into the alleged misconduct and will have to set up a compliance and ethics program that the government will receive reports on. If the company keeps up its end of the bargain, the government will dismiss its prosecution.According to the DOJ, in 2017 AT&T paid one of Madigan’s allies $22,500 through a lobbying firm that it worked with. AT&T employees tried to make it seem as if... Continue reading…
Apple Store workers in Oklahoma vote to unionize
Kristen Radtke / The Verge Workers at Apple’s Penn Square store in Oklahoma City have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, with 56 yeses, and 32 nos. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election, all regular full-time and part-time employees at the store were eligible to vote, 95 in total.The election was only the second one carried out for a US Apple store. In June, workers in Maryland voted to unionize in association with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Another election was scheduled to happen in Atlanta, but the CWA called it off, claiming that the company had made a fair election “impossible” by intimidating workers.Apple has faced several complaints about anti-union... Continue reading…
A tweet about hair relaxer kits connected models from the boxes with women who grew up seeing them
A burst of tweets from women who, as children, modeled for relaxer brands is one of the latest instances of the Black Twitter community finding an unexpected connection and reminiscing over a shared experience.
Former Nikola CEO found guilty of defrauding investors with lies about hydrogen truck
The company was accused of faking a video that showed its truck driving | Getty Images Trevor Milton, founder and former CEO of electric and hydrogen vehicle company Nikola, has been found guilty on three counts of fraud after a jury decided that he lied to investors to increase the startup’s stock. An indictment filed in 2021 accused the company of staging a video that purportedly showed its Nikola One semi driving under its own power, when it was actually rolling down a hill.Milton was also accused of misleading investors about where the batteries in its vehicles came from, the development process for its pickup truck, and about how far the vehicles were in development, according to Reuters. He stepped down from his role as CEO in September 2020.Milton’s charges include one count of securities fraud, and two counts of... Continue reading…
Spotify survey hints at $19.99 ‘Platinum’ plan that would include HiFi streaming
Nick Barclay / The Verge Is Spotify’s long-delayed HiFi streaming tier finally nearing its debut? A survey served to at least one user suggests that the company hasn’t forgotten about it, and HiFi might be packaged into a new more expensive “Platinum” plan that would come with other perks.Over on Reddit, a former Spotify subscriber shared screenshots of a survey that they were recently asked to take. The questionnaire asked whether they would rejoin / switch to the service based on new plan tiers. The usual free and individual options are shown, but the survey also mentions a $19.99 Platinum tier that would carry over the standard paid benefits while adding HiFi and extra features called Studio Sound, Headphone Tuner, Audio Insights, Library Pro, and Playlist... Continue reading…
Samsung SmartThings is now Matter certified
SmartThings hubs will be among the first devices to be Matter certified. | Image: Aeotec An over-the-air update coming later this month will turn Samsung’s standalone SmartThings hubs into controllers for the new smart home standard Matter. The v2 hub will control Matter devices over Wi-Fi and ethernet, while the current hub and SmartThings dongle will also act as Thread border routers. Samsung is the first company to publicly announce Matter certification.Jaeyeon Jung, Samsung Electronics corporate vice president and head of SmartThings’ mobile experience business, told The Verge in an interview that the company received its Matter certification early on Wednesday, October 12th, a week after Matter launched. Michelle Mindala-Freeman of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which oversees Matter, confirmed that it started... Continue reading…
She-Hulk tried to save itself from Marvel’s finale formula by jumping the shark
She-Hulk having a little chat with the writers of her show in the real world. | Image: Disney Plus / Marvel Studios She-Hulk’s season one finale was a tribute to John Byrne’s fourth wall-breaking comics and a rumination on how formulaic Marvel’s live-action stories tend to be Continue reading…
The best iOS lock screen widget is made by Google
Google’s helpful iOS lock screen widgets are here. | Image: Google Google announced widgets for the new iOS 16 lock screens last month when the OS left beta and went public, but they weren’t quite ready. Now, the company has just released the last of its promised widgets, including one extremely important shortcut: a Google Maps app search for nearby coffee shops. We can all stop searching for the most useful lock screen widget because this is it.Sure, there’s other practical stuff Google’s widgets can do. There are Gmail and calendar widgets that can give you a glimpse of what’s in store for your workday and a Google Lens shortcut so you can quickly answer life’s burning questions, like “what kind of plant did I just buy?” There’s even a shortcut to Chrome’s cute little dino game, which I’ve very... Continue reading…
Google is now testing passkey support for Chrome and Android
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google announced on Wednesday morning that it has taken another step on the journey toward a passwordless future by rolling out support for passkey login to Android and Chrome. Passkeys, which let you use your phone or computer’s built-in authentication systems instead of a traditional password, have support from all the major tech companies, with Apple, Google, and Microsoft pledging to bring the feature to their OSes.Essentially, passkeys are a credential stored on a device, like your phone or computer, that confirms to a website or application that you are who you say you are (though Google is still working on the passkey API for native Android apps). You verify your identity to the device, and it can then securely log in to sites... Continue reading…
Louisiana kicks off one of the US’s biggest carbon capture projects yet
The CF Industries fertilizer complex in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on June 30th, 2022. | Photo by Emily Kask for The Washington Post via Getty Images A massive effort to capture the pollution causing climate change is marching forward in Louisiana, and it’s becoming a major flashpoint in the debate over how to clean up an “energy state” speckled with fossil fuel and petrochemical plants.This week, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced an “unprecedented” collaboration between two oil and gas giants, ExxonMobil and EnLink Midstream, and leading ammonia producer CF Industries. In what they’re calling the “largest-of-its-kind commercial agreement,” the three companies will attempt to capture 2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, transport the gas across the state, and bury it underground.Three companies will attempt to capture 2 million tons of carbon dioxide... Continue reading…
Meta’s Instant Articles for Facebook will be going away
Support will reportedly end in April 2023. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta will be ending support for its Instant Articles format in the Facebook app next year, Axios reports. The quick-loading article format first launched in 2015, but Meta is moving away from it as part of a broader pullback from news-focused products. The company has told its media partners that in six months (or April 2023), Facebook will no longer support Instant Articles, according to Meta spokesperson Erin Miller. After support ends, news links on Facebook will take a user to a publisher’s mobile site.In recent months, Meta has been walking back some of its investments in news. The company shifted resources away from Facebook’s News tab and Bulletin newsletter product earlier this year and, just this month, said that it would be s... Continue reading…
How to force quit an app in Windows
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge We all want everything to work just fine all the time. But sometimes they just don’t. Your Windows app slows down. You get the dreaded “this program is not responding” pop-up. Your whole computer freezes.In cases like this, the best option is often to force quit the unresponsive app. This means your computer will force the program to close, regardless of what it’s in the middle of doing or trying to do. There are several ways you can do this on a Windows PC. Here they are.
Nvidia says it’s ‘unlaunching’ the 12GB RTX 4080 after backlash
Image: Nvidia Nvidia is pausing the launch of its upcoming 12GB RTX 4080 graphics card. After originally unveiling the 12GB RTX 4080 last month alongside a much more powerful 16GB model, Nvidia now admits it messed up with the naming. “The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right,” says Nvidia in a blog post. “Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing.”Nvidia is now pausing the launch of the 12GB RTX 4080 model but will still go ahead and launch the 16GB version on November 16th.Criticism had been building over Nvidia’s decision to label the 12GB model as an RTX 4080, particularly when the 16GB model was so different. The RTX 4080 12GB was supposed to start at $899 and include 7,680 CUDA Cores, a 2.31GHz... Continue reading…
How a fleet of robots could help solve the Great Lakes plastic pollution problem
A Seabin at work in one of the Great Lakes | Image: Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Waste capture devices collect thousands of pieces of trash in the Great Lakes each day. Can they also motivate humans to stop putting waste in the water in the first place? Continue reading…
The Pixel Watch doesn’t offically support wireless charging for a reason
It took me 10 attempts to get this shot. You’ll have much better luck if you remove the straps, but even then I wouldn’t call it reliable. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Google’s official line is that the Pixel Watch does not support Qi charging or reverse charging from a phone. However, in the last few days, many users have anecdotally reported that these wireless charging methods do, in fact, work. Curious, I tried it out for myself, and I’m sorry to say that, while it does sort of work, it’s simply not reliable.First off, I decided to try charging the Pixel Watch using my Pixel 7 Pro review unit. I turned on the Battery Sharing feature, plopped the watch on the back of the phone, and it worked! For a grand total of 10 seconds. While the charging animation popped up, it never actually maintained a stable-enough connection to meaningfully charge. Sometimes I got it to work for as long as a minute, but... Continue reading…
Google now labels ads as ‘Sponsored’ in mobile search results
Google’s new mobile search results, complete with reformatted favicons, site names, and the new “Sponsored” tag. | Image: Google Google is changing how it formats search results on mobile, the company announced today. Paid results will now carry a larger “Sponsored” tag rather than the simple “Ad” tag they had before, and each website’s name is now listed at the top of each search result. The “size and shape” of each website’s favicons are also getting updated to make them easier to see. The new search results format is rolling out now on mobile, and Google says it plans to test a “similar experience” for desktop searches “soon.”In its blog post, the company explains that the new “Sponsored” tag is being introduced to ensure that “ads are clearly labeled” with a tag that’s “prominent and clear across different types of paid content.” Meanwhile, showing site names... Continue reading…
Apple’s mixed reality headset reportedly lets you make payments with your eyes
Apple’s Face ID has long provided biometric logins for the iPhone. | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge Apple’s rumored virtual and augmented reality headset will reportedly use iris scanning tech for logins and payments, according to The Information. The report, which cites two people involved in developing the headset, says the scanning is supposed to make it easier for multiple people to use the headset with their own accounts.The eye-scanning system echoes iOS tools like Apple’s fingerprint or Face ID logins, and it would take advantage of the device’s many cameras. It would also help differentiate Apple’s offering from its main competitor: the Meta Quest Pro, which the company formerly known as Facebook announced earlier this week. The Quest Pro features inward-facing cameras that can track eye and face motion, but it doesn’t (at... Continue reading…
A Paramount Plus annual subscription is 50 percent off with a free Fire TV Stick Lite
Paramount Plus may not be the most popular streaming service, but it has lots of live soccer. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge We may still be picking ourselves up from the Prime Day hangover, but don’t fret, we’ve gotten some rest, fresh pots of coffee, and more deals. For example, you can get half off an annual subscription to Paramount Plus along with a free Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite streaming dongle. This deal makes the 12-month Essential ad-supported plan just $24.99 (normally $49.99) and the Premium mostly ad-free plan $49.99 (normally $99.99). Plus, you get that Fire TV Stick Lite, capable of streaming up to 1080p, which is a value of $29.99.This promo is based around the UEFA Champions League, which is in the midst of its group stages right now, and a one-year subscription would cover you well beyond the scheduled June 10th final in 2023. But if you’re... Continue reading…
Decision to Leave is a gloriously frustrating mystery
Park Hae-il and Tang Wei in Decision to Leave | Image: CJ ENM Park Chan-wook, the director behind Oldboy and The Handmaiden, returns with a film that’s part whodunit, part ill-fated romance Continue reading…
How to choose your YouTube handle
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Handles, usually indicated by an @ sign in front of a name or nickname, are useful for people who want to create an identity, indicate their opinions, or make a joke — and many social networks, such as Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook, have adopted it. Now, finally, YouTube is as well — and not just for its established creators.Until recently, the only people who had YouTube handles — individual URLs that allow people to find your videos — were those who had at least 100 subscribers. The rest of us were using URLs that went something like youtube.com/user/your.handle. Now, YouTube is rolling out handles to all its users — @ names that will be used to identify you in channel pages, Shorts, and other YouTube areas.YouTube is sending out... Continue reading…
Is Microsoft giving up on the Surface Headphones?
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Microsoft introduced several new devices this week including the Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5, and Surface Studio 2 Plus. They’re all fairly iterative updates; you know that’s true when Microsoft’s hype videos emphasize new colors and integrated 5G connectivity (for the Arm-powered Pro 9) as the most exciting “new” features. We finally got a release date for the helpful accessibility kit, at least.But Microsoft didn’t have anything new to share about its personal audio lineup. It’s been two years since the company announced the Surface Headphones 2. And those arrived around two years after the original pair in 2018. But the October hardware event came and went without any news of Surface Headphones 3. So if two years was the cadence... Continue reading…
Big Tech employees are TikToking on the job — and their bosses don’t always like it
Jarett Sitter / The Verge A day in the life of a 20-something on TikTok who works in tech might look something like this: start the day with free breakfast and a latte. Immediately go out for a multihour lunch break. Return to the office and wander around the spacious, light-filled space, visiting the nap room or the Harry Potter-themed meeting space. “Finish up work.” Then head out at 5PM.A LinkedIn employee’s workday includes making face masks for “a little self-care moment,” followed by eucalyptus hand towels and kombucha in the office. A Google employee’s day involves scooters, rooftop views, hanging out with a dog, and meeting up with co-workers.This is the “tech girlie” side of TikTok, where lifestyle vlogging has given rise to a cottage industry of... Continue reading…
It’s time to rethink how we fight election misinformation
Vincent Kilbride / The Verge Last month, all four major online social platforms — Meta, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok — released their plans for combating misinformation and disinformation in the weeks leading up to the 2022 US midterms.Meta will have voting alerts, real-time fact-checking in both English and Spanish, and as it did in 2020, it will also be banning “new political, electoral and social issue ads” during the week leading up to the election. Twitter is focusing on “prebunks,” proactively fact-checking content in users’ feeds based on search terms and hashtags and will have election-themed Explore pages. YouTube is rolling out information widgets on search pages for candidates. And TikTok will have curated election hashtags full of vetted information... Continue reading…
iOS 16 quietly added native Dvorak keyboard support, delighting weirdos like me
Apple’s native iOS keyboard in Dvorak layout. | Screenshot by Jon Porter / The Verge Here’s a fun iOS 16 feature that’s almost completely slipped under our radar: native support for the Dvorak keyboard layout. Ars Technica reported this week that the touch-typing optimized keyboard can now be selected in Apple’s software alongside the more traditional QWERTY, AZERTY, and QWERTZ layouts. Previously, Dvorak on iOS has only been available via an external physical keyboard, or third-party software.Although I’ve gone on the record as being a proud Dvorak user for over a decade, when it comes to touchscreen keyboards I’ve always been happy with QWERTY. The main benefit of Dvorak is the way it shares the workload equally between all of your fingers when touch-typing. It places all the vowels on the left side of the keyboard’s... Continue reading…
Valve’s latest Steam Deck update introduces longer custom boot animations
Valve’s latest beta Steam Deck update enables users to set longer custom startup videos on the handheld. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Valve released its latest Steam Deck beta update yesterday, which includes longer boot animations among the usual array of bug fixes and optimizations. Now, the maximum length of a boot sequence has been increased from 10 seconds to 30 seconds, opening up the possibility for users to create longer custom startups.Some users discovered they could create their own sequences prior to any native support, which as Rock Paper Shotgun reports, have ranged from nostalgic:
SpaceX tells US government that it can no longer pay for Ukraine’s Starlink service
A Starlink terminal in Ukraine. | Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images After providing tens of thousands of Starlink terminals to help Ukraine’s war effort, SpaceX has told the Department of Defense that it may not be able to provide future funding for the service, CNN reports. In a letter dated September 8th, the company’s director of government sales reportedly wrote that SpaceX is “not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.”The terminals have provided essential connectivity to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Putin’s war machine has targeted Ukraine’s communications infrastructure as part of its invasion of the country, but Starlink’s satellite-based internet connectivity has provided an effective way for Ukraine’s... Continue reading…
Microsoft’s DirectStorage 1.1 will soon boost PC game load times with GPU decompression
Image: Microsoft Microsoft is bringing GPU decompression to Windows PC games soon. After launching DirectStorage earlier this year, GPU decompression promises to be the next step in the ongoing effort to improve game load times on PCs. Microsoft says it’s “one of our most highly requested features” from game developers.GPU decompression works by offloading the work needed to decompress assets in games to the graphics card instead of the CPU. Modern games include massive amounts of assets like characters, landscapes, and objects that are all compressed to reduce the total size of a game.“Typically, decompression work is done on the CPU because compression formats have historically been optimized for CPUs only,” explains Cassie Hoef, a senior program... Continue reading…
Did Mark Zuckerberg’s little dance actually show us real metaverse legs?
Image: Meta During Meta’s Connect conference on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg made a huge announcement: the avatars in the company’s Horizon VR app will be getting legs soon. To demonstrate this groundbreaking technical achievement, Zuckerberg’s digital avatar lifted each leg in the air, then did a jump, while Aigerim Shorman’s avatar kicked into the air.It may have all been for show. According to UploadVR editor Ian Hamilton, an unnamed Meta spokesperson said that the “the segment featured animations created from motion capture,” meant to “enable this preview of what’s to come.” To me that reads like what we saw wasn’t actually a demo of what Horizon’s legs will look like, but rather an artist’s interpretation of what Horizon’s legs may end up looking... Continue reading…
The best deals you can still get from Walmart’s competing Prime Day event
The cream-colored Apple Watch Series 8 is still available at Walmart for $349. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Amazon wasn’t the only one offering a deluge of deals earlier this week. If you were looking for alternative places to shop during Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale — perhaps one that didn’t require you to sign up for a premium membership — Walmart was featuring many of the same deals, dropping notable discounts on standouts like the Apple Watch Series 8 and Beats Fit Pro. While many of the sales have ended, Walmart is still offering discounts on a handful of items, none of which require a Walmart Plus membership to take advantage of.Below, we’ve rounded up a selection of the best deals you can still get from Walmart’s “Rollbacks and More” sale. Admittedly, the options are limited, but perhaps a new pair of earbuds or a smartwatch is... Continue reading…
The National Science Foundation won’t rebuild the Arecibo Observatory telescope
The Arecibo Observatory after its collapse in 2020. | Photo by RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images The National Science Foundation (NSF) won’t rebuild the massive Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico following its collapse in late 2020. The agency instead plans to build an education center focused on STEM education and outreach, according to an NSF announcement.The Arecibo Observatory was an important tool for deep-space observation and featured in films such as Contact and GoldenEye. But in August 2020, an auxiliary cable fell, with another cable failing in November. The NSF feared that others might have followed, which would have put Arecibo at risk, and said that it planned to demolish the observatory. But before that could happen, Arecibo collapsed in on itself.The unnamed new center is set to open sometime in 2023. The NSF is... Continue reading…
T-Mobile social media support workers are trying to form a union
The organizers have dubbed it the “T-Force Social Care Alliance.” | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Workers on T-Mobile’s social media customer service team, who respond to customer questions, comments, and complaints on sites like Twitter and Facebook, are trying to start a union. On Wednesday, they announced the creation of the “T-Force Social Care Alliance,” posting a letter tying their decision to pay cuts, layoffs, and management’s lack of response to employees raising concerns about those issues.The letter says that T-Mobile has cut monthly bonuses for T-Force (the carrier’s name for its social media support team), instead replacing them with “micro-raises” and an annual bonus, which the alliance claims there are very few details about. According to the letter, workers may end up with thousands of dollars less per year —... Continue reading…
The best anti-Prime Day deals you can still get at Target
Google’s budget-friendly Pixel 6A is still on sale for $349.99 in all three colorways. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge As expected, Target’s recent “Deal Days” event has officially come to a close. The two-day shopping event — which served as a counter to Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale — brought with it discounts on a variety of tech products, including gaming accessories, headphones, 4K TVs, and a range of other items that were on sale by as much as 50 percent off. However, just because the sale is over doesn’t mean there aren’t still deals to be had. In fact, a number of popular items are still clinging to their Prime Day prices following the event.To help you make sense of what’s still on offer, we’ve sorted through the remains of Target’s recent sales event to compile a list of the best tech deals you can still buy. The current batch of discounts... Continue reading…
Google Fiber is launching 5-gig and 8-gig plans early next year
Google Fiber will soon offer some really fast internet speeds. | Image: Google Fiber Google Fiber will offer 5Gbps and 8Gbps tiers starting in early 2023 (via 9to5Google). The company is pitching these new offerings for people like creative professionals, those that regularly work “in the cloud” or with large data, and households with many people sharing the internet, according to a blog post from director of product management Amalia O’Sullivan.“5 Gig will make it easier to upload and download simultaneously, no matter the file size,” writes O’Sullivan. “And 8 Gig will make sure that everything you are doing online is happening in near real time (without jitter and with low latency).” The tiers each come with a Wi-Fi 6 router and up to two mesh extenders with professional installation, but you can use your own router... Continue reading…
Slack says it’s “identified the cause” of its threading issues, rolls out fix
No, boss, I’m not slacking... and that’s the problem. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you’ve had issues with Slack on Thursday, you’re not alone — for most of the day, the service’s status page has reported that “something’s not quite right” with messaging, apps, integrations, APIs, and connections. The issues, which seem to affect threads, channels, notifications and group DMs, lasted for pretty much the entire workday, starting around 9:40AM ET this morning and getting marked as resolved around 5:40PM.Here at The Verge, the problems manifested themselves differently for different people; one of my co-workers described Slack as acting “funky all morning,” noting issues with threads in particular, while another reported that their notifications weren’t showing up correctly and that threads would load at random. For... Continue reading…
Google built a spam backdoor for Republicans — and they aren’t using it
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge With only weeks until Election Day, the Republican National Committee is escalating its war over Gmail’s spam filters in what critics deem a bad-faith effort to bully Google into letting them spam user inboxes.The GOP has long complained about tech bias, but the latest fight hits the organization’s fundraising apparatus directly. In response, Google has launched a controversial program allowing campaign committees to effectively opt out of spam filters — a huge concession to mounting political pressure from Republicans. But Verge reporting shows the RNC has not taken advantage of the program and made few efforts to alter the core practices that might result in their emails being labeled as spam.A source familiar with the matter... Continue reading…
Samsung’s One UI 5 is coming soon with some very iOS-like vibes
Personalized lock screens are so hot in 2022. | Image: Samsung Samsung’s take on Android 13, called One UI 5, is ready to come out of public beta testing “in the coming weeks,” according to a company press release issued today. Highlights include a more personalized lock screen and new modes to filter out unwanted disruptions based on your activity. Sounds an awful lot like iOS 16, and you know what? That’s fine! These are all great features on iOS, and Samsung is smart enough to copy them.One UI 5’s lock screen customization works about the same way that Apple’s does: long-press your lock screen, and you’ll see options to customize your wallpaper and clockface. There’s an option to create a wallpaper using a short video clip, too. Samsung says there are more wallpapers to choose from for your home... Continue reading…
Twitter is working on an official don’t @ me feature
Keep my name out of your tweet. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is working on a feature that lets you control who can mention you, with the test version discovered by app researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong letting you block mentions completely. Twitter privacy designer Dominic Camozzi confirmed that the feature is in the works in a now-deleted tweet, and solicited feedback on it from the community.Letting Twitter users limit who can @ them would be a pretty fundamental shift in how the platform works, making it so you may not be able to reach out across the platform to a stranger to say hi or point something out to them. Of course, it could also prevent bullying or harassment campaigns and give marginalized users another tool to protect themselves.
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