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If you’re a ultimate Transformers fan with deep pockets and the willingness to forgive a few big flaws, your dream toy has arrived. One year after introducing a 19-inch tall Optimus Prime robot that can transform itself, pose and even drive thanks to 27 servo motors, its makers at Hasbro and Robosen have made their vision complete — with a brand-new trailer that can also open up, transform, and reveal its own miniature motorized vehicle that rolls right down the ramp. Image: Robosen The trailer, all buttoned up. Let me be clear: it costs $750 for the robot and $750 for the trailer. This is a $1,500 toy all told, and while I greatly enjoyed playing with a walking, talking, posing Optimus Prime with the voice of... Continue reading…

Climeworks factory with it’s fans in front of the collector, drawing in ambient air and release it, as largely purified CO2 through ventilators at the back is seen at the Hellisheidi power plant near Reykjavik on October 11, 2021. | Photo by HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP via Getty Images Big names in tech and consulting just made a $925 million commitment to purchase captured carbon between now and 2030. The pledge — made by Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, and McKinsey — marks a big investment in carbon removal technologies.Their new initiative, called Frontier, is supposed to scale up deployment of the still-emerging tech, while making it more affordable for other companies who are also looking to purchase captured carbon as a way to make up for some of the planet-heating pollution they produce.The technology is still prohibitively expensiveThere are already facilities that can filter that CO2 out of the air, as well as efforts to store CO2 in rock formations or in the ocean once it’s been captured. But the... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Pegatron, a Taiwanese company that is one of a few companies that assemble the iPhone, has halted production at two plants in Shanghai and one in Kunshan to comply with the Chinese government’s stringent COVID-19 regulations, according to Nikkei Asia. China has put strict policies in place in response to a recent resurgence of COVID-19 in the country.The shutdown could have a significant impact on both Pegatron and Apple. Nikkei Asia reports that those Pegatron plants are its only iPhone manufacturing hubs, and Pegatron is responsible for making “roughly” 20 to 30 percent of all iPhones. Pegatron “hopes to resume production soon,” the publication said, though it’s unclear exactly when that might happen.Apple didn’t immediately reply... Continue reading…

CNN/Warner Media CNN Plus is reportedly struggling to gain viewers just two weeks out from its launch, according to a report from CNBC. People familiar with the matter told the outlet the platform is only raking in fewer than 10,000 viewers per day.As CNBC notes, this is a huge dip from the daily viewership of CNN’s cable network, which saw an average of 773,000 viewers per day last year. But, obviously, CNN Plus is still new — CNN’s TV channel has been around for many years, plus it’s (usually) free for anyone with cable or satellite service.A recent report from Insider doesn’t make these numbers look any better, though. Using data compiled by SensorTower, Insider discovered that the CNN app, which users must download to use CNN Plus, gained just... Continue reading…

When the power goes out or you’re visiting the great outdoors with gadgets in tow, you might carry a portable power station — and Anker might have just released the most advanced one yet. The new $1,400 Anker 757 Powerhouse offers 1500W of power and 1229Wh of capacity from a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery, which it promises is faster to charge, longer-lasting, and might even be safer than the lithium-ion battery packs you’ll typically find in the market.LiFePO4 FTW?LiFePO4 batteries aren’t anything new in the battery space. You’ll find them in some electric cars because they don’t need to be replaced as often and because they don’t turn into a raging inferno when hundreds or thousands of them are badly damaged in an... Continue reading…

The Memento Sessions digital album art, by artist Stephanie Sybydlo. | Image: Scarlet Moon Productions If there’s one thing fans of Atlus’ RPG series Persona always want, it’s more Persona. Thankfully for them, Arizona-based musician and video game music producer Sean Scharfianski is today releasing a five-song EP of Persona 5 songs to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the game’s worldwide launch.The collection of songs from Shoji Meguro’s soundtrack is titled The Mementos Sessions: Music from Persona 5, and it features around 19 minutes of 1970s-inspired funk arrangements performed by a variety of session players and vocalists. The tracklist is bookended by “Last Surprise” and “Beneath the Mask,” some of the most beloved songs from the game. Scharfianski also chose some lesser-known tracks that he felt could use more attention and... Continue reading…

A new 2TB Google One plan from T-Mobile includes unlimited original resolution photo and video backup. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is introducing a new Google One membership option for its customers that revives Google’s unlimited photo storage backup service... for a price, of course. For $15 per month, it includes 2TB of cloud storage, all of the benefits of Google One membership, and unlimited original resolution photo and video backups to Google Photos.When Google brought its gravy train of free photo storage to a halt in 2021, a weary world sighed and looked for new storage options. Sure, the included 15GB of free storage would be enough for many people, but those of us who take a lot of photos and liked the “set it and forget it” nature of unlimited Google Photos backup would need to pony up for a paid Google One membership sooner or later.For a... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon workers only make up a third of US warehouse employees, but in 2021, they suffered 49 percent of the injuries for the entire warehouse industry, according to a report by advocacy group Strategic Organizing Center (or SOC). After analyzing data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the union coalition found that Amazon workers are twice as likely to be seriously injured than people who work in warehouses for other companies.The report considers “serious injuries” to be ones where workers either have to take time off to recover or have their workloads reduced, following OSHA’s report classification (pdf) of “cases with days away from work” and “cases with job transfer or restriction.” The data shows that,... Continue reading…

Image: Bandai Namco The latest Elden Ring speedrun world record is less than 10 minutes now. It involves a metronome, absolutely no fighting, and, in the final seconds of the run, a player torn apart by one of the game’s final bosses. It is deeply silly, and I love it.Distortion2, a popular Soulsborne speedrunner, has claimed the world record in Elden Ring’s any% unrestricted category with a time of 8 minutes and 56 seconds. I’ve been paying decently close attention to Distortion2 and his Elden Ring speedrunner colleagues, fairly certain of what to expect in this nearly 9-minute speedrun. But I started screaming excitedly in the first seconds of the speedrun when Distortion2 shot out of the starting area and bypassed the grafted scion boss, the mandatory... Continue reading…

iMovie 3.0 is available now for iPhone and iPad. | Image: Apple Apple’s new iMovie 3.0 update for iPhone and iPad has a major new Storyboards feature that’s designed to make it easier to create videos in the app with pre-built templates.The app will offer 20 different templates covering many video types, “including cooking tutorials, Q&As, product reviews, news reports, and more,” Apple says in a press release. Storyboards will have shot lists, an “illustrative thumbnail,” and suggestions on how to shoot a clip, according to the release.The new update also adds a feature Apple is calling Magic Movie, which can create videos from photos or images on the fly. “To create a Magic Movie, a user simply selects an album, or any group of photos or images from their library, and Magic Movie instantly... Continue reading…

Photo by TIM VIZER/AFP via Getty Images The Amazon warehouse that collapsed with employees inside during a December tornado outbreak might have harbored a “grave violation” of building code that made the structure extremely vulnerable, according to an attorney representing the family of a worker who died there.A tornado outbreak tore through the Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on December 10th, leveling parts of the building and killing six people. Supporting columns in parts of the warehouse that collapsed might not have been properly secured to the ground, according to a newly unearthed report filed by a structural engineer who was asked by local officials to assess the damage after the tornado.“A peg coming out of a hole”“I became concerned when I... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter announced Tuesday that it has acquired OpenBack, a push notifications company. OpenBack offers “device-side control of push notifications,” according to Twitter’s head of consumer product Jay Sullivan, and Twitter could use the team to pull up timely information even when you're away from the app.“The best push notifications bring people to the conversations they care about on Twitter,” Sullivan said as part of a Twitter thread. “But irrelevant notifications are a distraction. With millions of people visiting Twitter via notifications every day, we want them to be timely, relevant and engaging.”“OpenBack and their talented team joining Twitter will help us improve our ability to deliver the right notifications at the right... Continue reading…

When you flip your monitor, you don’t want your content to be sideways. | Photo by Kaitlin Hatton / The Verge Most of us probably use monitors that are placed in a landscape, or horizontal, configuration — in other words, the top and bottom are wider than the sides. This works fine for most people who are using two or more windows side by side or who are watching videos. But if you’re working on a long document or spreadsheet, or want to keep your Twitter or Slack feed running on a secondary screen, then you may want to try using your monitor in a portrait, or vertical, configuration instead.If you’re lucky enough to have a monitor on a stand or arm that flips from landscape to portrait, you can have the best of both worlds. But when you flip that monitor, you may find that you’re looking at your Twitter feed sideways. Rather than try to twist... Continue reading…

A new feature from Snap will let publishers on Snapchat automatically create posts based on stories published to a website. According to Axios, more than 40 publishers from the US, the UK, France, and India will begin using Dynamic Stories to automatically share published content to Snapchat.Dynamic Stories uses a publisher’s RSS feed to create posts that go directly on a newsroom’s Snapchat Stories. Early partners include CNN, ESPN, The Washington Post, British Vogue, and more.“By tying publishing on Snapchat into our partners’ existing workflow, we’ve created an easy way for them to create daily content and significantly lower costs,” Snap says in an announcement. “This new format will also play a significant role in supporting our... Continue reading…

Image: Beats Beats has announced new colors of its Studio Buds earbuds that will go on sale beginning tomorrow: blue, gray, and pink. They join the existing black, white, and red options that have been available since last year. The price remains unchanged at $149.99.All colors of the Studio Buds can be purchased from Apple, but they’re being divvied up among third-party retailers: Amazon gets gray, Best Buy will have the blue, and Target is selling the pink buds. Beats says the Studio Buds have become “the fastest-selling Beats product to date, globally” in their first year on the market. Alongside some new hues, Beats is also adding new features for Android phone owners. Image: Beats The Studio Buds also remain available... Continue reading…

Spotify is relaunching Greenroom as Spotify Live. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Spotify is rebranding its Greenroom live audio app as Spotify Live and will bring its features into the main Spotify app, the company announced Tuesday. Spotify Live will be available as both a standalone app and a livestream feature in the main app. At present, the main app will include select live content from original programming, and the standalone Spotify Live app will be open to all independent creators.“Listeners will be able to tune in to live programming on Spotify via the creator’s podcast or artist page, and if they want to participate in the chat or join the host onstage, they can head to the Spotify Live app to do so,” according to a blog post on the company’s website.

Nomad’s Base One Max is better-looking than most wireless chargers. | Image: Nomad Nomad is expanding the range of its MagSafe charging accessories with the new Base One Max. The Max follows the Base One from March and adds an Apple Watch charger to the heavily weighted MagSafe pad. It retails for a similarly heavy $149.95 and is available to purchase starting on April 12th.The Base One Max effectively looks like what happens when you double the width of the Base One and add an integrated Apple Watch charger. Unlike the MagSafe section, which remains flat, the Apple Watch charger sits vertically so your Watch can display its nightstand mode and show the time. Made out of aluminum, glass, and soft-touch rubber, the Base One Max weighs a beefy 900 grams (just under two pounds). Image: Nomad The... Continue reading…

Chris Dixon | Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge Plus, why a16z has spent $3 billion on web3 startups Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok is rolling out its augmented reality effects tool to all creators and developers after launching a closed beta test last fall.Effect House allows creators to make their own AR camera effects that can be used by other TikTok users in videos. In an announcement, the company says the effects platform will be open to “all creators, designers, and developers from around the world” and will include tools and learning resources.“Whether you’re teleporting into new worlds with Green Screen or freeze-framing with Time Warp Scan, creative effects empower creators to express themselves, entertain, and share stories through a wide array of engaging and immersive formats,” the company wrote. TikTok says submitted effects... Continue reading…

Interchangeable keycap sets offer an endless range of customization for mechanical keyboards. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge There’s nothing better than some extra clickity-clackity deals on colorful mechanical keyboard accessories — well, to me at least. Drop is once again here with another buy one, get one free deal on base or ortholinear kits of its exclusive MT3 keycaps. This is the return of a deal we saw in February, though there has been a restock of select colorways that quickly sold out of stock last time around, like the Cyber set by designer MiTo. Most keycap sets run $110 to $120 for a base kit that includes your essential keys for most boards. Add two sets to your cart and use the code MT3BOGORETURNS at checkout, and the second set of equal or lesser value becomes free.These sculpted keycaps are designed to fit Cherry-style switches, and they... Continue reading…

Image: DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused browsing app is available in beta on Mac, but you’ll have to join a private waitlist to gain access. Just like the mobile browsing app, DuckDuckGo on Mac uses the DuckDuckGo search engine by default, automatically blocks web trackers, and comes with the famous “Fire” button that burns up your browsing history and tabs in a single click.The browsing app also comes with a new feature that’s supposed to help block those pesky cookie consent pop-ups that appear when you first open a website. DuckDuckGo says it will clear them on 50 percent of sites, while automatically selecting the option that blocks or minimizes the cookies that track you. Image: DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo’s privacy feed... Continue reading…

Last year’s Pixel 5A was a fantastic product, but like the Pixel 4A before it, the phone’s August release didn’t do it any favors. Google’s original A-series budget phones — the Pixel 3A and 3A XL — shipped around the same time as the company’s I/O conference in May, a more sensible mid-year release that gave them more time to shine before the next flagship Pixel arrived.But supply chain issues and remote work challenges pushed both the 4A and 5A deep into the summer. Last year’s $449 Pixel 5A wasn’t even sold by any carriers or retailers other than Google itself.However, it seems like Google is getting things back on track in time for the upcoming Pixel 6A. As noted by Droid Life, the next budget Pixel recently passed through the... Continue reading…

Police pulled over the Cruise vehicle for not having its headlights on. | Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images It’s been a little over two months since Cruise started letting the people of San Francisco catch rides on its driverless robotaxis, and one of its cars already had a run-in with police. In a video originally posted to Instagram last weekend, the user captures the awkward — and somewhat comical — interaction between the San Francisco Police Department and the autonomous vehicle after it’s pulled over for not having its lights on.After stopping the Chevy Bolt-turned-Cruise vehicle, a police officer goes up to its window, tries to (unsuccessfully) open the door, and starts walking back to his cruiser. The autonomous vehicle begins to drive away in what at first seems like the perfect start to a police chase, but then pulls over and puts... Continue reading…

To enjoy 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is to embrace confusion. The game, which originally launched in 2020 on the PS4, is hard to describe, with gameplay that spans multiple genres and a non-linear storyline that involves everything from time travel to android doppelgängers and only gets weirder from there. It demands a lot from players, but the result is one of my favorite science fiction stories in years — and, unsurprisingly, it’s a great fit for the Switch, with a new version for Nintendo’s tablet that launches today.For a more detailed rundown, here’s my review from when 13 Sentinels first debuted. But the short version is: the game is a mix of a visual novel and a real-time strategy game, which follows more than a dozen characters... Continue reading…

Courtesy of Netflix Even though we’ve seen a few teasers of Stranger Things’ upcoming fourth season, none of them really let on just how much larger and epic in scope this next chapter seems like it’s going to be.While Stranger Things has explored the larger world outside of Hawkins, Indiana, in the past, the show’s fourth season is set to switch things up by splitting its story across a handful of disparate, important locations. Though the story will presumably return to the Upside Down and catch up with Jim Hopper in Russia, Stranger Things’ first season four trailer makes clear that a significant part of its next chapter will unfold in California, where Joyce and the rest of the Byers family have moved.Vol. 1 of Stranger Things season 4 premieres on... Continue reading…

A matte finish makes The Frame’s signature trick even more convincing Continue reading…

QD-OLED isn’t some revelatory improvement, but you can see the difference Continue reading…

The Zium Museum. The Zium Society is creating virtual spaces for digital art Continue reading…

Illustration by Beatrice Sala Cybersecurity firm Webroot claims that competitors’ software infringes on a decades-old patent Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Hi, everyone. Before we get into the news today, I have a very exciting announcement to share.Later this month, Ariel Shapiro will join Hot Pod as our new lead writer. Ariel pioneered the podcast beat at Forbes, where she created the publication’s first top earners list for podcasters, reported on big tech’s swift moves into the space, and broke news about massive audio industry deals. She could not be a better fit, and I’m thrilled to have her joining the team.We have a formal announcement out in The Verge’s newsroom with more details, and… would you look at that, there’s even more news hidden in there: The Verge’s publisher, Helen Havlak, shares that we’ve got some exciting growth plans for Hot Pod this year, including “another hire,... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple is planning an expansion to the iPhone health app this year that would include additional sleep tracking and a tool to remind people to take medication, Bloomberg reported. The company could also add body temperature sensing to the Apple Watch this year and is still working on developing a blood pressure monitor.The new medication tool would let users scan pill bottles and track when they took the medication. Not all planned features would be available at launch.A body temperature sensor could help expand fertility tracking features on the Apple Watch. Body temperature changes over the course of the menstrual cycle, and that data can help predict when someone might get their period or the window when they’re most likely to... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Fiduciary vs. fun Continue reading…

When GoPro said it was going to build more specialized cameras this year, we didn’t quite know what it meant. Today, it’s revealing the GoPro Hero10 Black Bones, a cut-down version of its flagship camera meant explicitly for FPV drone pilots like the one who famously blazed through that bowling alley last year. The idea is that pilots will strap one of these to their drone to film brilliant footage while using a separate low-latency analog camera and a pair of FPV goggles to see where their drone is going.When I say cut down, I mean there’s no screens, no speaker, no door, no waterproofing, and no battery inside this thing: the $500 camera ($350–$400 with subscription) is the first GoPro ever made that requires soldering skills, the... Continue reading…

You’ll probably know whether you need this many buttons on your mouse. SteelSeries has expanded its IP54 waterproof and lightweight Aerox Wireless lineup to include two new options available starting today: the Aerox 5 Wireless and the Aerox 9 Wireless. The Aerox 9 Wireless, pictured above, is SteelSeries’ take on a mouse made for MMO and MOBA games that have myriad commands that you might need to fire off. It has a whopping 12 buttons on its left side, and SteelSeries claims that, at 89 grams, this is the lightest mouse of this type on the market.This mouse is going up against Razer’s Naga Pro, another wireless, many-buttoned option. The Aerox 9 has IP54 waterproofing and impressive battery life claims, but the Naga Pro’s modular nature might make it the preferred option for some gamers. Both mice cost... Continue reading…

Frame.io is now built into Adobe’s video editing software. | Image: Adobe Adobe announced on Tuesday that Creative Cloud subscriptions will now include Frame.io, its software made for collaborating on video projects. It’s building the software into the latest versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects, which have some updates of their own — the company gave its video editing software a visual refresh, and its compositing software will finally be Apple Silicon native.Adobe bought Frame.io last year, so including the service in its video editing subscription makes sense. Frame.io makes collaboration easier for remote editors by letting them quickly download footage or audio captured on set or location and easily share draft edits for comments or approval. The Frame.io subscription included with Creative Cloud... Continue reading…

Ariel Shapiro The Verge today announced Ariel Shapiro is joining the site as the lead reporter for Hot Pod, the preeminent publication covering the podcasting industry. Beginning her role on April 25th, Shapiro will write Hot Pod’s paid and free newsletters. Continuing The Verge’s investment in Hot Pod, she’ll be joined by an additional reporter in the coming months.“We are so excited to have hired the perfect reporter for Hot Pod in Ariel,” says Helen Havlak, publisher of The Verge. “She’ll continue to deliver the breaking news, sharp analysis, and industry scoops that our free and paid subscribers have come to know and love. And we have big plans for Hot Pod this year — another hire, a refreshed look, and more in-person events.”Prior to joining... Continue reading…

Therabody has a new massage gun for your face. It also does LED light therapy. | Image: Therabody Skincare gadgets are all over Instagram and TikTok, and now the company behind the Theragun body massage gun wants in on the action. Today, Therabody announced it’s launching the TheraFace Pro — a facial massage gun that can also deliver microcurrent and light therapy with interchangeable magnetic attachments.According to Therabody’s press release, the $399 TheraFace Pro was born out of customers sharing anecdotal stories of using Theragun devices on their faces. For the record, the company emphasized it does not recommend that particular use case for its devices. However, given the demand, Therabody says it then tasked its engineering and product team to address facial muscle tension, headaches, and jaw soreness.Like the Theragun, the... Continue reading…

The Lectric XP Lite comes in four colors and ships in 4 to 5 weeks. | Image: Lectric Lectric, the US-based maker of budget electric bikes, has a new foldable that costs just $799, before taxes. That’s incredibly inexpensive at a time when transportation costs, combined with chip and component shortages, are driving up prices across the e-bike industry. Better yet, it’s apparently not junk.Electrek’s Micah Toll, who’s ridden more US e-bikes than anyone I know, had the chance to ride the new Lectric XP Lite ahead of production. He says it’s “the #1 electric bike I will recommend to anyone shopping on a tight budget.” High praise.The Lectric XP Lite iterates on the company’s XP and XP 2.0 models, only it’s now lighter (but not light at 53 pounds / 24kg with battery) and more compact, while also being more maneuverable... Continue reading…

A gas pump is seen situated while pumping gas at a Shell gas station on April 01, 2022 in Houston, Texas. | Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images In an attempt to lower high gas prices, the Biden administration wants to turn to a fuel that’s potentially even dirtier than regular gasoline, the White House announced today. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue an emergency waiver that will allow the year-round sale of a fuel called E15, which is banned in most of the US during summer months when smog is a bigger risk.E15 is a gasoline blend with up to 15 percent ethanol — a fuel made with plant material. The move is supposed to save Americans money while reducing dependence on foreign oil supplies because ethanol can be made with domestically-grown corn.The move is supposed to save Americans money while reducing dependence on foreign oilMost gasoline in the US is... Continue reading…

Plex podcast support is ending. | Screengrab: Thomas Ricker / The Verge On Friday, Plex will end support for podcasts, a feature it added in 2018. Plex is also removing the dedicated Web Shows section, but most of this content will still appear elsewhere in the app.Plex doesn’t explicitly say why it’s ending podcast support, only that it’s no longer worth the company’s time. “As part of our ongoing effort to make sure we’re spending our time and energy in ways that best serve our awesome user community, we’ve made the decision to end support for Podcasts and Web Shows within Plex,” reads the announcement from the company. “We recognize this decision will impact several of you greatly, and we apologize for the inconvenience it will cause. You can continue to access these features within Plex until Friday,... Continue reading…

The app will no longer support tracking FedEx packages. | Image: Junecloud The developer of Deliveries, a package tracking app that’s listed as an App Store editor’s choice and that some people here at The Verge rely on, has said that they’re “no longer able to maintain the same service” thanks to a lack of support from delivery companies. In an April 5th post written by developer Mike Piontek, the company says that “Deliveries relies on many different shipping companies, and without their help it’s not possible for the app to continue working the way you expect.”The impetus for the post seems to be the fact that Deliveries is no longer able to track FedEx packages. While the app can usually let users track their package’s progress on a map, or receive notifications if something changes, the app currently... Continue reading…

Image: Amazon A report from Bloomberg details the obstacles hampering Amazon’s efforts to get its delivery drone program off the ground, citing a high employee turnover rate and potential safety risks.According to Bloomberg, there were five crashes over the course of a four-month period at the company’s testing site in Pendleton, Oregon. A crash in May took place after a drone lost its propeller, but Bloomberg says Amazon cleaned up the wreckage before the Federal Aviation Administration could investigate. Amazon spokesperson Av Zammit disputed this, saying that Amazon followed orders it received from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to document the event and move the drone.The following month, a drone’s motor shut off as it switched... Continue reading…

Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Global shipments of PCs declined in the first quarter of 2022 as pandemic-related purchases begin to taper off, according to reports from research firms Gartner and International Data Corporation (IDC). While IDC reports a total of 80.5 million PC shipments last quarter, Gartner cites a lower 77.5 million figure, a 7.7 percent drop when compared to the first quarter of 2021.Gartner says a decline in Chromebook shipments weighed heavily on the market — not counting Chromebooks, the PC market would’ve risen by 3.3 percent year over year. IDC didn’t include any information about Chromebooks but notes a slowdown in purchases from educational institutions, a market that utilizes over 40 million Chromebooks for teachers and students. Lenovo... Continue reading…

Horizon Worlds is testing some monetization options. | Image: Meta Meta is testing new features to let creators make money within Horizon Worlds, the company’s social metaverse platform for Quest VR headsets that is soon coming to mobile phones and possibly game consoles.Most notably, a “handful” of Horizon creators will be able to sell virtual items and effects in the worlds they create for others to explore. The idea is that creators can sell everything from access to a VIP section of their world to virtual items like jewelry or a special basketball, according to Meaghan Fitzgerald, the product marketing director for Horizon. Participants in the US will also be able to earn money from a $10 million creator fund Meta recently set up to reward creators with the most engaging worlds.With this test of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As Activision Blizzard continues to struggle under the weight of multiple PR disasters regarding sexual harassment and union busting, the company has appointed Kristen Hines as its new diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.“I’m excited to join a company that is prioritizing its commitment to DEI and making progress on the ambitious goals it has set for itself,” Hines said in a press release.The company needs all the DE&I help it can get. Last year, Activision Blizzard acknowledged that its ongoing legal troubles have impacted its ability to recruit and retain employees while a breakdown of the company’s representation data revealed women make up 24 percent of the company. Add to that the high-profile departure of Blizzard co-CEO... Continue reading…

Think of it less as a vacation and more as an off-site retreat. | Image: Meta Meta is delivering a new virtual office environment for all of you out there who work in VR. As part of the v39 software update coming to Meta Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets, you can be transported to the “Mountain Study” environment, which positions you within a house in a valley surrounded by mountains.There are a few other small improvements and changes arriving in the update that is rolling out gradually over the next few weeks. You’ll be able to send content from a share sheet on an iOS device to a Quest headset, giving VR users an easier way to access content. Similar support for Android users was already added in early 2022. To use this feature, ensure that your headset’s Bluetooth function is switched on. Image:... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Weeks ago, facing pressure internally to speak out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney CEO Bob Chapek took a surprising approach: he did nothing. His silence angered employees and advocacy groups to such an extent that he eventually backpedaled. But when Chapek finally did condemn the legislation, he provoked politicians and set off a weeks-long bad-faith crusade against Disney by right-wing media. The ensuing chaos is just the latest in a series of public missteps that threaten to overshadow Chapek’s tenure leading one of the most powerful entertainment companies in the world.Chapek replaced beloved Disney boss Bob Iger as the company’s CEO in 2020 — just before the pandemic would shut down Disney’s parks and theaters. Under... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Despite a now-deleted tweet from YouTube’s support account that seemingly indicated otherwise, YouTube Premium subscribers can no longer sign up to test YouTube’s picture-in-picture feature on iOS. Picture-in-picture has disappeared from YouTube’s list of available experimental features, where it was previously listed with an April 8th expiry date. 9to5Google reports that some users are seeing a “the feature you’re trying has been turned off” banner notifying them that the test has ended. Both 9to5Google and iMore add that the feature is still working on accounts that previously signed up for the test.The tweet was posted in response to a user asking about a previous test of the feature, which was available to YouTube Premium... Continue reading…

Amazon has discounted the Surface Laptop 4 to its lowest price ever | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Our collection of deals today proves that Mondays don’t have to be all bad. Our headlining deal on the 13.5-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, for instance, brings the laptop down to its lowest price to date on Amazon. Normally, this configuration would cost $1,299.99, but it’s currently on sale for $949.99. This discount currently applies to the black, silver, and beige colorways, but the blue model is also on sale for $969.99.This configuration includes an 11th Generation Intel Core i5 processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of built-in storage. The 13.5-inch touchscreen features a maximum resolution of 2256 x 1504 and is powered by an Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU. The 8GB of RAM is a bit paltry by modern standards, but the 512GB of... Continue reading…