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by Verge Staff on (#69NN8)
The Verge Some people work at home with a speaker system droning out their favorite background music. Some sit in an open office with a carefully assembled playlist blasting through their headphones. And some scrub the toilet while singing to the latest pop songs vibrating in their earbuds.While there are people who prefer to work in silence, others feel more comfortable laboring to the beat of their favorite tunes. We asked staff members of The Verge what kind of music — if any — they liked to play while they worked. Here is a sampling of the very varied answers we got.Focus playlists and / or as much noise as possibleMy go-to flow state music for the past five or six years is the 45 Warm Focus playlists from Patrick Ewing’s internet radio... Continue reading…
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The Verge
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| Updated | 2025-12-23 02:03 |
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by Andrew Webster on (#69NNA)
Jason Sudeikis in season 3 of Ted Lasso. | Image: Apple The feel-good sitcom Ted Lasso is based on an absurd premise: an American college football coach takes on manager duties at a small club in the English Premier League, despite knowing almost nothing about soccer. And despite the typically short shelf-life inherent in the job, he managed to keep the gig. People (mostly) love him, the team (eventually) played well, and here we are with Ted (Jason Sudeikis) preparing for his third season in charge. It brings with it a burning question: what the hell is he still doing here?Note: this review is based on the first episode of Ted Lasso season 3, which premieres on March 15th. It includes very light spoilers.The opening episode of Ted Lasso’s third season is best described as an existential... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#69NNB)
The battery-powered Ring Video Doorbell 4 ranks among our favorites. | Image: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Whether you’re looking to improve your home security or just want to make sure nobody steals your Amazon package, a video doorbell like Ring’s Video Doorbell 4 can help. The handy device lets you keep tabs on who’s at the door directly from your smartphone, letting you keep an eye on packages and your home from wherever you might be. Right now, you can buy it for $159.99 ($60 off) at Amazon and Best Buy, which is a new all-time low.If you’re shopping for a battery-powered video doorbell, the Video Doorbell 4 is the one we’d recommend. Not only does it offer clear 1080p video with an HDR option and perks like free quick replies, but it’s also reliable. Of all the battery-powered models we tested, this was the only one that will never... Continue reading…
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by Georgina Torbet on (#69NNC)
Image: NASA As part of its ongoing study of Mars’ clouds, NASA’s Curiosity rover recently captured a stunning image of a Martian sunset. As the Sun sinks over the horizon, its light forms into sun rays that can be seen banding across the sky.Technically known as crepuscular rays, this is the first time the phenomena has been imaged in such detail on Mars. And by studying the way the rays shine through the clouds, scientists can learn more about the Martian atmosphere and weather system.Although Mars’ atmosphere is extremely thin, at just 1 percent the density of Earth’s atmosphere, it is still active and changeable. The planet experiences high winds of up to 60 miles per hour, which can pick up the fine dust particles coating much of the planet’s... Continue reading…
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by Patrick George on (#69NND)
Image: Revel The company that operates its bright blue electric mopeds actually makes more money from its Tesla Model Y-powered ridehail service. But EVs in a city like New York City don’t make sense without adequate charging. Continue reading…
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by James Vincent on (#69NGD)
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge It makes sense that LinkedIn would be the first major social network to push AI-generated content on its users. The Microsoft-owned company is weird. It’s corporate. It’s full of workfluencer posts and engagement bait that ranges in tone from management consultant bland to cheerfully psychotic. Happily, this is the same emotional spectrum on which AI tends to operate.LinkedIn isn’t populating its feed with AI chatbots just yet, but last week began sharing “AI-powered conversation starters” with the express purpose of provoking discussion among users. These posts are “developed” with the help of LinkedIn’s editorial team and matched with human experts who can then offer their thoughts on topics like “how to create a consistent brand... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#69NGE)
Let the boomers in your life know that their dusty record collection is officially trendy now. | Image: Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post No longer just a niche hobby for dads and hipsters, vinyl is experiencing a major resurgence in mainstream music. According to the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) annual revenue report, vinyl records outsold CDs in the US last year for the first time since 1987, selling 41 million units against 33 million for CD.Vinyl record sales have consistently increased over the last 16 years according to the RIAA report published on Thursday, now accounting for 71 percent of all physical music format revenue. The growth margins here aren’t trivial, either — while physical formats as a whole increased by 4 percent, earning $1.7 billion between 2021 and 2022, vinyl sales alone accounted for $1.2 billion, experiencing a 17 percent... Continue reading…
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by James Vincent on (#69NGF)
Image: The Verge The head of WhatsApp says the messaging app will depart the UK if it’s forced to weaken its encryption standards under the country’s upcoming Online Safety Bill.WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart briefed reporters on Thursday (as reported by The Guardian, Politico, and Wired), criticizing the legislation as the most concerning set of online regulations in the Western world.“We’ve recently been blocked in Iran, for example. But we’ve never seen a liberal democracy do that,” said Cathcart, reports The Guardian. “The reality is, our users all around the world want security. Ninety-eight per cent of our users are outside the UK. They do not want us to lower the security of the product, and just as a straightforward matter, it would be an odd... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#69NCD)
Image: Epic Games Fortnite’s new cyberpunk-themed “Mega” season launches Friday, but if you’re on PC, you’ll need to be on Windows 10 or higher to be able to check out its cyberpunk vibes. The change means that Fortnite no longer supports machines on Windows 7 and 8.The shift doesn’t come as a total surprise. Developer Epic Games said in December that it planned to drop support for those older versions of Windows with the release of Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 — which is the specific season Epic is launching today.
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by Andrew Webster on (#69NCE)
Image: Epic Games Fortnite is going even more anime in its new season. Chapter 4 Season 2 of the battle royale kicks off today, and it’s subtitled “Mega.” The big change is a huge biome that covers the bottom quarter of the map and introduces — among other things — a cyberpunk city to the game.The new area includes four main locations: Steamy Springs, Kenjutsu Crossing, Knotty Nets, and Mega City. The latter seems to be the most important, kind of like a futuristic take on the classic Tilted Towers, complete with lots of neon signs, holograms, and rain-slicked alleyways. There are also new ways to get around, including a two-seater bike that looks ripped out of Akira, a car that can drift, and the ability to grind on rails like you’re playing Sunset... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#69NCF)
The limited display on Apple’s most recent HomePod. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple could be preparing to launch a redesigned HomePod in the first half of 2024 equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen, according to a new prediction from noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.According to Kuo the device “could enable tighter integration with Apple’s other hardware products” which would mark “a significant shift in the company’s smart home strategy.” It sounds a lot like it could be designed to act as a smart home controller, similar to what Google offers with its Nest Hub smart displays, or Amazon with its Echo Shows. Apple’s existing HomePods have small circular displays on top, but their functionality is limited and they’re effectively just a fancy status indicator.“A significant shift in the company’s smart home strategy”A... Continue reading…
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by Mia Sato on (#69N4K)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Short-form video creators on Instagram and Facebook will soon lose one way of making money on the platforms.Meta is ending its Reels Play bonus program, which rewards content creators when they hit certain goals for views on their videos. The change, first reported by Business Insider, will affect creators on Facebook and US creators on Instagram. The company won’t offer any new or renewed Reels Play bonus deals, but will honor existing commitments over the next 30 days, according to Business Insider.“We are evolving the test of our Reels Play bonus on Instagram and Facebook as we focus on investing in a suite of monetization solutions to help creators earn steady streams of income,” Paige Cohen, a Meta spokesperson, told The Verge in... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#69N2Y)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit has announced that it’ll be shutting down Reddit Talk, its live audio conversation feature, on March 21st. In an announcement post, the company says it made the decision because “supporting Talk in the short-term requires significant resourcing - more than we anticipated.” The company will also be shutting down its “Happening Now” page, which exists to help you find active Talks and Live Chats.Talk was announced in April 2021, a time when audio chatroom app Clubhouse seemed like a big deal and other social networks were rushing to copy its features. The reason why it’s being sunsetted now is apparently that the third party audio vendor Reddit used for the service is also shutting down. According to its post, the company doesn’t... Continue reading…
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by Mia Sato on (#69N2Z)
Image: Starbucks It’s been more than a year since NFT sales peaked — and then collapsed — but that’s not stopping enterprising multi-billion dollar corporations from trying to get in on the action.Starbucks launched its first paid collection of NFTs today, a group of 2,000 digital “stamps,” each priced at $100. Starbucks calls its NFTs “Journey Stamps,” a less technical-sounding term that the uninitiated might use as a way to explain what they just spent money on. And people did buy them — CoinDesk reports that the “stamps” sold out in under 20 minutes.The coffee company first launched its NFT and Web3 push in December, when it opened up a new membership program called Starbucks Odyssey. An extension of the existing Starbucks rewards program that gives... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#69N0R)
Image: Capcom Exoprimal, the online multiplayer dinosaur destruction derby game that is, for some reason, not a remake of Dino Crisis, finally has a release date. Capcom announced a slew of other news for the game as a part of its March 2023 presentation. Check out the latest trailer here.Though it’s a rough time to release a live-service game with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s release date getting pushed back along with an unfortunate amount of game shut-downs, Exoprimal is slated for release on July 13th. If you can’t wait that long, Capcom also shared that an open beta would be taking place March 17th through 19th — curiously the same dates as the early access open beta of Diablo IV. Check out the website for more details on how to join... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#69MXW)
Image: Capcom Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake launches in just a couple weeks, but you can now try it ahead of launch thanks to a new demo, the “Chainsaw Demo.” The demo, which takes place during the beginning village part of the game, is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and PC (via Steam). You can play the demo as much as you want, and there’s no time restrictions on the demo itself, so you can go at your own pace. (I might need that so I can successfully escape the chainsaw man.)Resident Evil 4 is a huge remake of the 2005 horror classic in the vein of Capcom’s upgraded versions of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, bringing much-improved graphics and updated gameplay. Based on Capcom’s trailer from February, it looks as if the game... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#69MXX)
The Xbox Series X is larger and more powerful than the Series S. It offers a disc drive and can also display games in 4K. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you’ve been waiting to make the jump to next-gen gaming, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X is seeing a rare discount at Verizon right now, where you can pick up the console with free two-day shipping for $449.99 ($50 off).The Series X is essentially a larger, more powerful version of Microsoft’s compact Xbox Series S — which also happens to be on sale right now for $239.99 ($60 off) at Walmart and direct from Microsoft. Unlike the Series S, the bigger Series X supports 4K gaming and a few other enhancements, including faster performance, more storage, and a built-in disc drive. That means you can play both physical games as well as digital titles, whereas you can only play digital games on the Series S. Plus, you can play Xbox exclusives... Continue reading…
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#69MXY)
Michael B. Jordan on the set of Creed III. | Image: MGM Michael B. Jordan might have been speaking somewhat poetically during Creed III’s shooting when he sat Jonathan Majors down to explain how their live-action boxing film was a lot like a shonen anime. But MGM parent company Amazon might be very serious about wanting to follow up on Creed III’s success with an entire cinematic universe that might include, among other things, a Creed animated series.Deadline reports that in the wake of Creed III’s monumental $58 million domestic debut, Amazon’s now in very early talks with director / star Michael B. Jordan about a number of potential follow-up projects set in the same universe as the films that would continue the story of Adonis Creed and his family.While the studio’s yet to lock in on... Continue reading…
by Andrew Webster on (#69MXZ)
Image: Nintendo The final look at The Super Mario Bros. Movie ahead of its theatrical premiere is here. Today, Nintendo and Illumination released what they say is the last trailer for the film, which stars Chris Pratt as the iconic plumber. It’s more of an overview of what to expect, but it includes both a very dark intro and some side-scrolling action. There’s also a good shot of a Mad Max-style battle on Rainbow Road. Good idea for the next Mario Kart.We got our first proper glimpse of the movie last October (as well as a first listen to Pratt’s take on Mario), and since then, there have been a handful of trailers focusing on characters like Princess Peach (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen). The rest... Continue reading…
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by Richard Lawler on (#69MSV)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A letter from CEO Mary Barra sent to GM workers on Thursday offered buyouts to many of its 58,000 employees, saying the company plans to trim $2 billion in fixed costs over the next two years. GM announced its plan to cut costs in January, on the same earnings call where it announced a record income of $14.5 billion for 2022. GM plans to spend billions over the next few years transitioning to building electric cars and making other changes.It’s not alone in making that shift either — Ford announced a split between its gas and electric automotive segments and followed that by laying off thousands of employees in the fall. Ford has said it will spend up to $20 billion reorganizing for EVs on top of the $30 billion it already planned to... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#69MSW)
The Accessibility Assistant will begin rolling out “in the coming weeks” and will eventually replace Microsoft 365’s current Accessibility Checker. | Image: The Verge Imagine if Clippy didn’t suck and instead made genuinely helpful suggestions to ensure the content you create is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. That’s the idea behind a new tool Microsoft announced today at its annual Microsoft Ability Summit. The new “Accessibility Assistant” for Microsoft 365 office software is like a spelling or grammar checking tool that will instruct users on how to prevent and correct accessibility issues in real time when creating content.A new person-shaped icon will be used to flag the location of accessibility issues across your work, such as low contrast between text and background — the most frequent accessibility issue that occurs in Word documents, according to Microsoft. The Accessibility... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#69MSX)
A plane in Washington, DC, on February 16th, 2023. | Image: Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Delta Air Lines laid out a new plan to wean its planes off fossil fuels in an effort to address climate change. The goal, the airline said, is for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to make up at least 95 percent of its fuel consumption by 2050.SAF is made from waste or crops through a process that’s supposed to cancel out much of the greenhouse gas emissions a plane produces. It’s not a perfect system and could create new environmental problems. And with very little SAF produced today, it’s going to be an uphill climb for Delta to hit its 2050 target. Nevertheless, SAF is largely seen by the industry as the most viable alternative to fossil fuels for now.With very little SAF produced today, it’s going to be an uphill climb for Delta to... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#69MSY)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is finally adding a keyboard shortcut to Word that lets you paste something as plaintext, stripping it of any formatting it had when you copied it. It’s the same Control + Shift + V shortcut that’s used in many other apps, and it’s currently rolling out to people using the Word beta on both Mac and PC, according to Microsoft’s Jennifer Gentleman.Word has long let you remove formatting from whatever you pasted after the fact, using the little ribbon that pops up and gives you the option to keep the original formatting, match the formatting of your document, or just use plaintext. Some people may prefer that option — one of my colleagues from the UK said the Ctrl + Shift + V shortcut “isn’t natural at all” for him, confusing all... Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#69MNF)
Peloton says it isn’t too concerned about the ITC ban. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Connected fitness giants Peloton and iFit are facing an import ban on their fitness equipment. The ban was announced today by the US International Trade Commission after a trade judge ruled that the two companies infringed on Dish’s streaming patents. While it’s hard to have connected fitness without streaming, this also isn’t Peloton or iFit’s first patent showdown.Dish and its subsidiary Sling TV initially sued Peloton, iFit, and Lululemon in 2021. The four patents in question stem from Dish’s Hopper set-top box and relate to how the device adjusts the bitrate of a stream in real time to improve video quality. The ITC complaint was separately filed at the same time, seeking a ban on Peloton and iFit’s NordicTrack equipment, as well as... Continue reading…
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#69MGT)
Image: Specialized Specialized shocked the bike world when it announced it would resurrect its defunct Globe brand for an all-new lineup of e-bikes. Here’s how the company went about designing an e-bike for maximum cargo-carrying capabilities. Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#69MGV)
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is making ChatGPT available in its own Azure OpenAI service today. Developers and businesses will now be able to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT model into their own cloud apps, enabling conversational AI in many more apps and services.Businesses could use ChatGPT to power custom chatbots to handle queries from customers, provide summaries of conversations, help automate emails, and much more.Microsoft says Azure OpenAI users can start to access a preview of ChatGPT today, with pricing set at $0.002 for 1,000 tokens. Billing for all ChatGPT usage starts on March 13th as part of Azure OpenAI. Developers will need to apply for special access, as the Azure OpenAI Service requires registration and is “currently only available to... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#69MGW)
Image: KFC / Blizzard Entertainment With Diablo IV right around the corner, Blizzard is teaming up with KFC to give players an early crack at the beta... for the small price of all your daily allowance of sodium. From now until March 18th, you can purchase the KFC Double Down — the chicken sandwich that eschews common sense, good taste, and health considerations by swapping out bread for two pieces of fried chicken — and receive early access to the open beta.
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#69MGX)
The 2021 iPad Pro is very similar to the newer model from 2022, but for much cheaper. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge It’s always tempting to get the latest tech so that it will last as long as possible, but iPads have lofty performance headroom that makes opting for a last-gen model easily viable. Right now, the 11-inch iPad Pro with M1 from 2021 is selling for $599 ($200 off) at Expercom, an authorized Apple dealer. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on this very capable tablet, which is getting increasingly hard to find in stock in new condition.The M1 iPad Pro is a lot like the newer M2 model, which was mostly a spec bump. The M1 processor is still very speedy, even now in 2023, and should easily last over five years (or more), as Apple has a good track record for offering software support. If you’re picking up a 2021 iPad Pro, you’re getting a... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#69MGZ)
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Discord is now using OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology to transform its existing Clyde bot into a talkative chatbot. Clyde is being upgraded next week to answer questions and have conversations with users, much like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Bing chat feature. It’s part of a broader push for AI in Discord, which also includes AI-generated conversation summaries and the ability for Discord admins to leverage AI technology to moderate servers.The Clyde chatbot will be free for Discord users during a public experiment in a very limited number of servers with Discord alpha users next week. Discord admins will eventually be able to add the Clyde chatbot to servers to allow users to summon it into conversations and have it respond to queries... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#69MGY)
Image: Snowman The developers at Snowman, best known for the Alto series of chill snowboarding games, are teasing their next adventure. It’s called Laya’s Horizon... and that’s about all we know right now. The game was announced via a brief teaser, which shows off a charming seaside village among some mountains before zooming out to reveal a caped character. The description simply reads, “A whole new world is just beyond the horizon.”While we don’t know when Laya’s Horizon will be launching or how it will actually play, we at least know where to find it. The game is coming to Netflix, which offers mobile games as part of its subscription. This will be Snowman’s second release on the platform following the unique platformer Lucky Luna, which released... Continue reading…
by Gita Jackson on (#69MDY)
Image: Dale Crosby Close / The Verge Twitter is in a period of decline. The site still functions, people are still using it, but there’s a familiar stink that lingers on the website. It reminds me of the twilight days of two other social media platforms I’ve used: LiveJournal and Tumblr — onetime vibrant communities that grew in popularity until everyone seemed to be using them, which then began a long, slow death.Pop onto LiveJournal and Tumblr today, and you’ll still see inscrutable blogs, endless GIFs, and earnest writing. But something is missing — although there’s still content and posters, the sites no longer feel like the communities they once were.LiveJournal began as an online diary service in 1999, but by the time I signed up for the site in the early 2000s, it w... Continue reading…
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by Allison Johnson on (#69MDX)
The Vivo X90 Pro uses a big 1-inch-type sensor, while the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra goes for maximum resolution with 200 megapixels. Shooting with the Vivo X90 Pro and Samsung S23 Ultra for a week taught me that bigger sensors aren’t always better. Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#69ME0)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games is finally going to let developers self-publish games to the Epic Games Store beginning Thursday. The change could mark a potentially seismic shift for the PC storefront because now that self-publishing is available, a lot more games may show up on the store.The big draw for developers is Epic’s generous revenue share model. Epic takes a 12 percent commission on game sales, meaning developers keep the money earned from the remaining 88 percent. Valve generally takes a 30 percent cut on its competing Steam marketplace, though that cut decreases if your game hits certain sales milestones.Epic also doesn’t necessarily take any cut of in-app purchases. Developers can keep the entire split if they use their own payment system,... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#69MDZ)
Call of the Sea is the free game from March 9th through the 16th. | Image: Raw Fury Epic Games is once again going to give away free PC games every week of the year through the Epic Games Store, the company announced on Thursday. But how does Epic choose which games to give away? The company tells us it’s about timing — and picking some big names.Since the Epic Games Store’s launch in late 2018, Epic has spent millions of dollars to give away games as a way to hook new users and bolster its nascent game store. (Originally, it gave away a free game every two weeks before upping that to every week in June 2019.) Epic’s goal is to have one “tentpole” game every month, Steve Allison, VP and general manager of the Epic Games Store, said in an interview with The Verge. “Those become really big weeks,” he said. For the weeks... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#69ME1)
The Chrome Cleanup Tool has been superseded by Google’s alternative antivirus protection services, effectively rendering it obsolete. | Image: The Verge Google is retiring the Chrome Cleanup Tool, an application for Chrome users on Windows that detects and removes suspicious or unwanted software. The tool will be removed from user systems starting with the release of Chrome 111, at which point users will be unable to scan their device using Chrome Cleanup Tool through the web browser’s Safety Check feature or via the “Reset settings and cleanup” option in chrome://settings on Windows. Google is also removing a Chrome feature that intermittently scans Windows machines for suspicious activity.First introduced around 2015 as a standalone app named Google’s Software Removal tool, the feature was later renamed and integrated directly into the Chrome for Windows browser (with no equivalent... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#69ME2)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Starting March 12th, Verizon says customers can get a free year of Netflix Premium for a limited time when they sign up for a one-year subscription to select Plus Play partner platforms. Those who took advantage of last year’s similar Netflix promotion are not eligible for this deal, however.For the unfamiliar, Verizon’s Plus Play is a hub for Verizon customers that centralizes subscriptions to content services spanning from entertainment to fitness. The pitch is that it makes it easier for customers to manage subscriptions across multiple devices via their Verizon account while also informing them of exclusive deals. But it also gives Verizon useful information about its customers, a cut of the revenue, and another reason why customers... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#69ME3)
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge The Netherlands has made public its plans to restrict the export of key chipmaking tools, a crucial step in the US’s ongoing effort to limit China’s access to high performance semiconductors, the Financial Times reports. The deal — which is expected to include controls on critical chipmaking tech from the Dutch multinational ASML Holding — was reached with the US in January but was made public this week when Dutch trade minister Liesje Schreinemacher wrote to parliament to outline the new measures.ASML is a key player in the global chip supply chain, producing the tools that the likes of TSMC need to produce advanced semiconductors. Without its equipment, any domestic chipmaker in China will face significant challenges producing... Continue reading…
by Umar Shakir on (#69M6Q)
A Wing drone landing zone where it can stop to charge between deliveries. | Image: Wing Wing, the drone delivery company owned by Google parent company Alphabet, is unveiling a new system that enables its drones to dynamically take pickup and delivery jobs back-to-back without needing to report back to an originating base. The ability is part of the company’s new Wing Delivery Network, a decentralized logistics system that can automatically delegate tasks to a fleet of drones throughout a metro area.Wing Delivery Network consists of the drones themselves, pads where drones can take off an land as needed for charging, and Autoloader stations. Autoloaders are installed at retailers’ parking lots, and employees can load a prepared order when ready. Then, an available drone can come and lower a rope to grab it without anyone... Continue reading…
by Thomas Ricker on (#69M6R)
Wind, hills, and baby seats are supposedly no match for this Cowboy 4’s new adaptive power feature. | Image: Cowboy Cowboy’s latest 4 and 4ST e-bikes are being treated to a free software update today that adds a new adaptive power feature meant to automatically overcome any resistance as it occurs, be it a hill, blast of wind, or kid in a baby seat. Cowboy is also adding three new color options for its 4ST step-through model.According to Cowboy, its proprietary software feature works at low and high speeds and doesn’t require any gear changes — good, because the company only sells belt-driven single-speed e-bikes. With the new update, Cowboy says the motor will provide the extra power “seamlessly” whenever a C4 or C4ST senses any extra resistance in the environment.Cowboy’s premium 4-series e-bikes start at $2,990 / €2,990 and are slathered in... Continue reading…
by Jon Porter on (#69M6S)
Humane’s Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, who previously worked at Apple. | Image: Humane Humane, a secretive startup led by two former Apple executives and staffed by several ex-Apple employees, has secured a further $100 million in investment as part of a new funding round, the company has announced. The Series C round includes investments from Microsoft, OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Volvo and LG, and brings Humane’s total funding to $230 million (per Crunchbase). The company appears to be working on a wearable camera device, if an apparent leaked pitch deck from 2021 is anything to go by.But despite the investment it’s generated, and its plans to reveal an “initial product offering” as early as this spring, it’s still unclear exactly what Humane actually plans to do as a company. Its press release notes that it’s hoping to... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#69M6T)
Netflix brings user-adjustable subtitles and closed captions to TV users, allowing subscribers to personalize their viewing experience to best suit their needs. | Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix TV users can now customize the appearance of subtitles and closed captions on the streaming platform, allowing subscribers to adjust the size and style of the text. Announced on Wednesday, the new feature can toggle subtitle text size between small, medium, and large, and alter the overall appearance of the text to make it easier to read.Alongside the default white text, Netflix now also provides three new text style options with contrasting backgrounds to make the text stand out: Light (black text / white background), Drop Shadow (white text / black background), and Contrast (yellow text / black background). Image: Netflix Netflix TV users can now adjust subtitle text size and style to suit their needs,... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#69M2M)
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft’s Bing search engine has passed the 100 million daily active users milestone just weeks after the software maker launched its AI-powered Bing Chat feature. Bing has been steadily growing in recent years, but it appears the new Bing Chat feature is helping Microsoft grow usage with people that have never touched Bing before.Google has more than 1 billion daily active users, so that puts Microsoft’s 100 million milestone in perspective as it seeks to gain market share.“We are pleased to share that after a number of years of steady progress, and with a little bit of a boost from the million plus new Bing preview users, we have crossed 100 million daily active users of Bing,” says Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s head of consumer... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#69KPY)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Silvergate Bank, which had been a cornerstone in the crypto world, announced it’s closing and returning deposits. In a press release, the bank’s holding company, Silvergate Capital Corporation, said it made the decision to shut down “in light of recent industry and regulatory developments.”It’s been clear for a while that the company was struggling along with some of its most high-profile clients like FTX and Genesis. In January, its earnings report revealed that it lost a billion dollars in one quarter after its customers withdrew $8.1 billion. Then, on March 1st, it filed a document saying its financials were even worse than the quarterly report had shown.There are several concerns about what the crypto landscape will look like... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#69KNB)
Imagine this, but with Nintendo Switch graphics. | Image: Activision In a filing (pdf) submitted to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Microsoft shared some details about how it thinks it will be able to get Call of Duty games to run on the Nintendo Switch.Last month, Microsoft signed a binding 10-year agreement to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo players day and date as on Xbox with “full feature and content parity” if its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through. In the CMA filing, Microsoft makes two main points to argue that it’s possible to bring games like Call of Duty: Warzone and “buy-to-play” titles like Modern Warfare II to Switch:
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by Umar Shakir on (#69KNC)
Wii U system on display at the Nintendo Store in NYC. Note the melting joystick — I wonder if it still works... | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge Thinking of dusting off your Wii U real quick before the eShop goes down forever so you can nab a digital copy of Wii Party U while you still can? Well, hopefully, your Wii U is of sound health. Wii U owners on forums and Reddit are finding that their systems aren’t working anymore, with errors many owners suspect are linked to leaving them sitting unused for a long period, as Exputer reports.The issue seems to have come to light based on an account of NeoGAF forums member cireza, whose friend booted up a Wii U system after a long while and got error code 160-0103 on the Game Pad screen, which points to an issue with the on-board memory. Some Twitter users are also reporting the issue. And a similar error 160-2155 was also reported by... Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#69KJ7)
Smart lights can be an excellent tool in building the perfect bedtime routine. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge You don’t have to sell me on the benefits of being an early bird. I’ve seen dozens of articles and studies breaking down how getting up early is better for your health, productivity, and stress levels. But becoming an early riser isn’t easy. Speaking from experience, it’s much harder if you’re naturally a night owl and there’s no particular reason — like getting your kids to school — to be up before 7AM. Plus, alarm clocks and phone alarms don’t always work for the sleepiest of sleepyheads.That said, there are other sleep gadgets and apps that can be a huge help.If you’re an incorrigible night owl trying to masquerade as an early bird, good news. That was me for the past 10 years, and I’ve tried everything from melatonin to those a... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#69KJ8)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft is starting to test a system called File Recommendations in File Explorer, which does exactly what the name suggests — when you visit the home tab, it shows specific files that you may want to open at the top. The feature is still in the very early stages, but it could be a sign of things to come, both good and bad.In a blog post, the company says the current version is only available to some Insiders in its Dev Channel who have installed the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23403 update and will only work if you’re logged in with an Azure Active Directory account (meaning that currently, this feature feels squarely aimed at business users).For those that do have it, it’ll suggest cloud files that you own or that have been... Continue reading…
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by Sean Hollister on (#69KJ9)
Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Two years ago, I wrote a reasonably prescient editorial about how the writing was on the wall for Google’s cloud gaming service Stadia — and how the company was now hoping to sell its white label streaming technology to other companies instead of building out its own Netflix of games.But it seems that, when Google killed off Stadia, it threw away that technology, too.Google executive Jack Buser has now admitted that the company is no longer offering the white label version of Stadia that allowed companies like AT&T and Capcom to let anyone try games like Batman: Arkham Knight, Control, and a demo of Resident Evil Village for free over the internet, not to mention the first game from Peloton.“We are not offering that streaming... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#69KFZ)
Porsche’s Haru Oni e-fuel pilot plant in Punta Arenas, Chile. | Image: Porsche Porsche showed off a new pilot plant in Patagonia, Chile, last month — not one that manufactures cars but, rather, one that makes e-fuel, a synthetic alternative to conventional gasoline made from air and water using electricity. The plant, a joint project with ExxonMobil and other energy companies, “is a symbol of hope in the fight against climate change, for a more sustainable future – and one that might also feature the music of a Porsche engine,” Porsche boasts in a February 14th press release.The dream that car companies like Porsche are selling with e-fuel is that drivers can keep their internal combustion engines and fight climate change at the same time. All they have to do is switch to e-fuel.When it comes to cleaning up... Continue reading…
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by Ariel Shapiro on (#69KG0)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge After spending more than $1 billion on podcast assets, challenging investor skepticism, laying off dozens of podcasting employees, and parting ways with its main podcasting chief, Spotify is establishing its focus for the vertical moving forward: more video, more consolidation, and more splashy names.At the company’s Stream On event in Los Angeles, head of global podcast studios Julie McNamara unveiled new video podcasts that’ll appeal to younger listeners. Video episodes of Distractable from Markiplier, the popular gaming YouTuber, are coming exclusively to the platform. The podcast ranks at number 36 on Spotify’s top podcast chart. Additionally, Spotify original Forbidden Fruits with Julia Fox is going video for its second season, no... Continue reading…