The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is bringing its Xbox PC games to Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels today, Microsoft president Brad Smith announced the news as it seeks to convince EU regulators to approve its proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition.“Microsoft will be bringing its Xbox games that play on PCs to Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service,” said Smith in a press conference attended by The Verge. “We will also bring all of Activision Blizzard’s titles including Call of Duty to GeForce Now.”You’ll still have to buy games individually before you can play them on GeForce Now; the deal is simply a 10-year agreement for the streaming rights. Microsoft is committing to make its games available to... Continue reading…

The Xbox Series S console is still on sale for $223.99 ($76 off) at eBay via Antonline. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Presidents Day is one of the smaller holidays inexplicably linked to major sales promotions, and while it may be over, the sales sure aren’t. There are still some worthwhile deals you can take advantage of if you missed out over the weekend — and not just on mattresses or whatever your local small businesses are hawking.We’re currently seeing a variety of deals, like $20 off The Last of Us Part I for the PlayStation 5 and $65 off of Ikea’s Symfonisk picture frame speaker. Samsung’s 65-inch S95B OLED TV, meanwhile, is also discounted to half off its original MSRP. There are even some fun, extra-geeky deals to take advantage of, including a Best Buy deal that takes $38 off Nerf’s replica blaster from The Mandalorian. So let’s dive in and... Continue reading…

Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge If you constantly find yourself drowning in piles of tabs, apps, and windows while using your Mac computer, Stage Manager might be able to help. Also available on iPads, Stage Manager organizes your apps as thumbnails on the side of the screen and puts whatever you’re working on front and center. You can have a maximum of one window (or one group of windows) open at a time. The idea is that you can work without distractions while still having access to an easy at a glance view of your other software.When you’ve got Stage Manager open, you can click one of the thumbnails on the side to open that app or group. (This will close the one you already have open.) If you frequently need to use multiple windows at once, you can group them... Continue reading…

Image: Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard has allegedly suffered from a hacking attempt that has potentially exposed sensitive employee information as well as content timelines for Call of Duty.According to a report from TechCrunch, the data was accessed via a phishing attempt on December 4th. A collective of malware and cybersecurity experts known as vx-underground obtained screenshots of the allegedly stolen data that included a Call of Duty content schedule. Another website, Insider Gaming, reportedly confirmed the breach, stating that additional information such as employees’ “full names, emails, phone numbers, salaries, places of work, and more” were also accessed.In an email to The Verge, Activision Blizzard spokesperson Joe Christinat wrote, “On... Continue reading…

Day 588 and the other wall art still hasn’t noticed I am a speaker. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Presidents Day is over, but there are some excellent deals still lingering as well as some fresh ones to accompany them. The Ikea Symfonisk picture frame speaker, which can disguise itself as wall art, is one of the most unusual smart speakers on the market, and it’s on sale for its lowest price of $194.99 ($65 off) direct from Ikea. This 16 x 22-inch speaker is part of Ikea’s partnership with Sonos, so it works natively with Sonos’ Wi-Fi-connected ecosystem. It has good sound quality for the money, about on par with the $219 Sonos One, but no Sonos speaker allows you to free up space on your furniture quite like the Symfonisk picture frame.It may not be everyone’s style, especially if you’re not fond of the cable hanging from it, but... Continue reading…

Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) threw his support behind striking YouTube Music workers in a letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai Tuesday, as first reported by the Austin Chronicle.Sanders’ support comes amid growing tensions between workers on YouTube Music’s Content Operations team and its parent company, Google. The nearly 60 workers are formally employed by Cognizant, a third-party contractor to Google. Last October, they filed for a union election with the 1,300-member Alphabet Workers Union (AWU). But shortly after that request was filed with the National Labor and Relations Board, Cognizant issued a new return-to-office mandate that organizers — and Sanders — argue amounts to an illegal union-busting strategy.“Our request to... Continue reading…

The cockpit comes with a lightweight carbon steel frame and a seat made out of Actifit material. | Image: Logitech Logitech G’s first racing cockpit costs $599 and is designed to fit its even costlier premium gaming wheels and pedals. The company teamed up with gaming chair maker Playseat to create the Playseat Trophy - Logitech G Edition — a rebadged version of Playseat’s fully adjustable Trophy cockpit.Its seat is made with the same Actifit material, which is supposed to conform to your body and keep you cool while you’re on the virtual racetrack. You can also make adjustments to the seat hardness, the position of the backrest, the pedal, and the steering plates. The main difference between this cockpit and the one created by Playseat is that it features Logitech branding and a 37-pound dark gray carbon steel frame instead of black.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The first shots have been fired in a Supreme Court showdown over web platforms, terrorism, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gonzales v. Google — one of two lawsuits that are likely to shape the future of the internet.Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh are a pair of lawsuits blaming platforms for facilitating Islamic State attacks. The court’s final ruling on these cases will determine web services’ liability for hosting illegal activity, particularly if they promote it with algorithmic recommendations.The Supreme Court took up both cases in October: one at the request of a family that’s suing Google and the other as a preemptive defense filed by Twitter.... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Microsoft and Sony’s gaming chiefs are both preparing to meet with EU regulators today in a showdown over Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The closed-door hearing in Brussels will see Xbox chief Phil Spencer and other senior Microsoft executives argue the case for the $68.7 billion deal to proceed, with PlayStation chief Jim Ryan attending to voice Sony’s concerns over the deal.It’s a pivotal moment for Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, which has already seen opposition from regulators in the UK and US. The FTC is suing Microsoft to block its Activision Blizzard purchase, while the CMA published its provisional findings of its investigation earlier this month, warning that the deal could harm UK gamers. The CMA... Continue reading…

The Sonos Era 300. Plus an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto and more lobbying from Microsoft. Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Call of Duty will be available to Nintendo players on the same day as Xbox with “full feature and content parity” under a 10-year agreement between the two platforms, Microsoft’s Brad Smith announced. The deal was announced in early December, but Smith is offering more details today ahead of a hearing in which Microsoft will argue its case with EU regulators to allow its $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard to proceed, Reuters reports.As my colleague Tom Warren wrote back in December, the Nintendo deal is almost certainly part of Microsoft’s attempt to pressure Sony into accepting a similar offer and allay regulatory competition concerns. The PlayStation maker has emerged as one of the chief opponents of... Continue reading…

This was a great moment adapted from a cutscene from the video game — and I didn’t have to fight a single zombie to see it. | Image: HBO Sometimes you don’t need violence and zombies. Sometimes you just need human beings hanging out at the end of the world. Continue reading…

“Brain stimulation system to provide a sense of wellbeing.” | Embraer Commercial air travel is a largely terrible experience, and aviation companies patent a lot of ways to make it either slightly less miserable or an even more dystopian hell. Where does reading passengers’ emotions to offer them transcranial stimulation therapy fall? I’ll leave that up to you.Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer filed a patent application for a “brain stimulation system to provide a sense of wellbeing” back in 2016, and it was granted last year. But I only discovered it thanks to a more recent Mastodon post by attorney Jeff Steck, and I am fascinated. Embraer’s reasonable starting premise is that lots of people become anxious on long car, train, and airplane rides, “turning a short trip into a long one.” From there,... Continue reading…

The Era 300 has a unique design and six drivers for immersive spatial audio. Sonos is continuing to finalize details for a pair of new smart speakers set to launch in the coming weeks, and The Verge has now obtained marketing images of the products and learned roughly how much they will cost. The spatial audio-focused Era 300 is expected to be priced in the ballpark of $450, making it less expensive than the company’s flagship Sonos Five. As such, the Five will likely remain part of Sonos’ lineup after the pending hardware announcements.But the same cannot be said for the Sonos One, which is all but certain to be replaced by the upcoming Era 100. Sonos has discussed pricing that speaker around $250, a slight price increase compared to the $219 One. But customers should be gaining several improvements for the... Continue reading…

Google Chrome’s Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes can extend battery when a device is low on power and reduce memory being hogged by tabs. | Image: Google Google has released optimization features designed to improve battery life and memory usage on machines running the latest version of its Chrome desktop web browser. Chrome’s new Energy Saver and Memory Saver modes were first announced in December last year alongside the release of Chrome 108, and now as noted by Android Police, the two optimization utilities are starting to roll out globally onto Chrome 110 desktops for Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks.Memory Saver mode essentially snoozes Chrome tabs that aren’t currently in use to free up RAM for more intensive tasks and create a smoother browsing experience. Don’t worry if you’re a tab hoarder though, as these inactive tabs are still visible and can be reloaded at any time to pick up... Continue reading…

Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge As Super Nintendo World opens up in Los Angeles, the creator of Mario talks about getting back to his roots, and exploring new creative fields. Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you’ve been on Twitter lately, you might’ve seen a message prompting you to switch away from text message two-factor authentication (2FA). That’s because Twitter’s putting the feature behind a paywall, which means you either have to pay $8 per month for Blue or switch to another authentication method — and I think most of us would choose the latter.Fortunately, SMS 2FA isn’t the only way to secure your Twitter account, with other methods still available for free. The platform’s shutdown of the feature — at least for non-Blue subscribers — is actually a good reminder that we shouldn’t be using it in the first place.SMS 2FA leaves you vulnerable to SIM-swapping attacks, which usually happen when a bad actor uses social engineering or... Continue reading…

How did Mate Rimac build a company like Rimac Automobili in a place like Croatia? It has meant redefining the country’s dated concepts of power and success and a willingness to take on inconceivable projects, like taking over Bugatti. Continue reading…

Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images Microsoft’s Outlook spam filters appear to be broken for many users today. I woke up to more than 20 junk messages in my Focused Inbox in Outlook this morning, and spam emails have kept breaking through on an hourly basis today. Many Outlook users in Europe have also spotted the same thing, with some heading to Twitter to complain about waking up to an inbox full of spam messages.Most of the messages that are making it into Outlook users’ inboxes are very clearly spam. Today’s issues are particularly bad, after weeks of the Outlook spam filter progressively deteriorating for me personally.

Pierce agreed to pay the settlement “without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings.” | Image: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images Former NBA champion Paul Pierce has agreed to pay over $1.4 million in penalties after unlawfully promoting the EthereumMax (EMAX) cryptocurrency to his Twitter audience. In a statement published on Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against the former Boston Celtics player — nicknamed ‘The Truth’ — for making “false and misleading” statements about EMAX and failing to disclose that he was paid more than $244,000 worth of EMAX tokens to promote the cryptocurrency to his social media following.In one example of his illicit activity, the commission claims that Pierce tweeted a misleading screenshot of an account displaying significant EMAX holdings and profits without disclosing that the image did not... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Google Meet’s launching new 360-degree virtual backgrounds for video calls on mobile. While Google first announced the new feature last month, now it’s rolling out on both iOS and Android and uses your device’s gyroscope to move with you.As you can see in the embedded GIF, the 360-degree background will change depending on where your phone or tablet’s positioned. So, if you move your phone left or right, your background will adjust to show different scenery. Google says users can apply “several” new 360-degree backgrounds during video calls, including one that shows a beach and another with a temple. Image: Google While the feature does look pretty cool, I can see how these backgrounds might get distracting if... Continue reading…

Get ready to slay some demons. | Image: Blizzard The open beta for Diablo IV is just weeks away. At IGN’s Fan Fest on Saturday, Blizzard announced that the open beta will kick off on March 24th and last until the 26th, while those who pre-ordered the game will get early access to the game from March 17th to 19th.During the beta, you’ll get to “intimately explore” the early game of Diablo IV, including the game’s prologue and all of Act 1, which takes place in the Fractured Peaks. As you traverse the snowy landscape, you’ll get to complete quests and slay demons for as long as you want, but you can only reach up to level 25.Blizzard also showed off Diablo IV’s opening cinematic, giving us a closer look at the game’s first zone, as well as its robust character customization options.... Continue reading…

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge Starlink’s testing a new satellite internet service it says will let you “connect from almost anywhere on land in the world,” according to a message some Starlink users have received. The SpaceX-owned company calls it “Global Roaming Service” and says it’ll cost $200 per month in addition to the base $599 Starlink Kit.The service, which uses “Starlink’s inter-satellite links (aka space lasers) to provide connectivity around the globe,” comes with a pretty big caveat. In its message to users, Starlink notes that you should expect “Starlink’s typical high speed, low-latency service intermixed with brief periods of poor connectivity, or none at all” but that this will “improve dramatically over time.”

Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp has finally started to roll out picture-in-picture mode for video calls on iOS, as spotted earlier by 9to5Mac. The feature, which WhatsApp first started testing last year, should let you open up other apps during video calls without any disruptions.Just like picture-in-picture mode on FaceTime, WhatsApp will shrink your video call to a small window that sits atop whatever app you switch to. This allows you to partake in the call while reading a relevant document, surfing the web, or perhaps even playing a game.You can gain access to picture-in-picture mode in the latest WhatsApp update on iOS (version 23.3.77), but you might have to wait a bit to use it. WhatsApp says it will roll out the feature “over the coming weeks” and... Continue reading…

Unlike the standard Nintendo Switch, the latest model features a crisp, 7-inch OLED display on the front. | Image: Nintendo Hey, y’all. President’s Day weekend has arrived, and with it comes a slew of phenomenal deals on everything from smart displays and robovacs to some of our favorite pairs of wireless earbuds. We’ve rounded up a smattering of the steepest discounts in our guide to the best President’s Day sales, however, today’s deal roundup will fixate on a few highlights we didn’t include — well, at least not yet.First up is a time-sensitive discount on the Nintendo Switch OLED, which will be available through Tuesday, February 21st. Nintendo discounts are pretty rare, however, right now you can get the OLED Model in white for $303.20 ($46.79 off) on eBay when you use promo code PRESDAY20. Yes, the Nationwide Distributors listing has an above-MSRP... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Microsoft says it’s implementing some conversation limits to its Bing AI just days after the chatbot went off the rails multiple times for users. Bing chats will now be capped at 50 questions per day and five per session after the search engine was seen insulting users, lying to them, and emotionally manipulating people.“Our data has shown that the vast majority of people find the answers they’re looking for within 5 turns and that only around 1 percent of chat conversations have 50+ messages,” says the Bing team in a blog post. If users hit the five-per-session limit, Bing will prompt them to start a new topic to avoid long back-and-forth chat sessions.Microsoft warned earlier this week that these longer chat sessions, with 15 or more... Continue reading…

Photo by Amanda Loman / Getty Images The NBA app is getting a way to overlay yourself on another player in a live game so that it looks like you are that player. Yes, it’s as strange as it sounds.Here’s how it works — at least, as shown in an on-stage demo with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Ahmad Rashad. With the NBA app, you’ll be able to scan the person you want to drop into an NBA game by walking around that person and pointing your camera at them. (It seems as if the scanning works like Epic Games’ RealityScan app, but for people.) Then, from a menu, you can pick which player to inhabit, and when you do, your scan will be overlaid on top of that player as they move around the court.Okay, this still sounds strange. I’d recommend just watching the full... Continue reading…

Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon is making its multiroom audio platform more convenient to control with your phone. A recent update to the Alexa mobile app introduced a new capability that lets users manage and move their music between Echo devices (or groups of multiple speakers) within the app itself. (Previously, you needed to use voice commands to perform some of those actions.)Now, it’s all doable through a menu that lets you move music to any group or Alexa device with a couple of taps — no talking necessary. In our brief time trying it so far, it’s pretty intuitive, and anyone that’s controlled music via AirPlay or Spotify Connect shouldn’t have much trouble figuring this out. Amazon’s current lineup of Echo speakers includes the standard Echo, Echo Dot,... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Putting a timetable on the move it announced in September, Google says users will be able to manage all tasks created across various Google apps from Google Tasks starting in March. Beginning May 22nd, Google will automatically move reminders created in the Google Assistant and Calendar apps to Tasks, though users can voluntarily start doing so ahead of time.Once the process is complete, users will also be able to access and create tasks from Google Workspace web apps like Gmail, Docs, Chat, and Calendar.Now, you won’t have to switch tabs to remind yourself to get to an email later so you can reply to an urgent one right now. You can simply hit a button to add it to your list of tasks. Image: Google Google... Continue reading…

Image: The Verge Apple has let loose public beta versions of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3 equipped with new emoji, web app push notifications on the mobile operating systems, and more. The release comes a day after developers were given access to the new software.New Apple software releases are some of the first places to try the latest emoji sets before all other devices adopt them, and iOS 16.4 is no exception. You’re getting new ones from Unicode 15.0, including the “stop right there”-looking hand and a ginger root, so you can finally ask for a juice blend at the gym cafe using only emoji.Other features it’s testing include transliteration support for South Asian languages Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati, 5G standalone support,... Continue reading…

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge With the F-150 Lightning under a stop production and shipment order, Ford is facing a familiar problem. A decade of expensive recalls and new-car issues leaves the Blue Oval in a tough spot as it builds its EV lineup. Continue reading…