The Verge

I would also like several million dollars to study UFOs, if we're just flinging cash around. | Photo by Win McNamee / Getty Images First of all, let's be clear: NASA's new report on so-called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) says there's no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin." They're going to create a director of UAP research anyway, just to get to the bottom of things.UAPs, by the way, are the polite government name for what we normal people call UFOs, or unidentified flying objects. I don't really have a problem with further investigations into UFOs - it seems like a nice jobs program for scientists. But let's be clear about what's happening here: this is a government agency that's noticed UFO boosters are in Congress, and it wants some damn funding.Why do I say that? Well, I read the report, and I noticed this tactful bit:

The Unity pricing debacle has taken an unfortunate, dangerous turn. In a new report from Bloomberg, the company has reportedly canceled a town hall meeting due to what the publication called credible death threats. According to Bloomberg, Unity CEO John Riccitiello was set to address employees Thursday morning, but the companywide meeting was canceled and two of Unity's offices were closed because of the alleged threats.Earlier this week, Unity, makers of a video game engine popular among indie developers, announced that it was making changes to its pricing model. In addition to charging yearly subscription fees, Unity is planning to implement a pay-per-install pricing scheme, charging developers each time a game is installed on a... Continue reading...

Do you need this mug? No. But who cares. | Image: Ember Both of the following things are true: $199.95 is a totally ludicrous price to pay for a mug, and Ember's new Tumbler looks pretty great. The Tumbler is a 16-ounce black travel mug (the biggest one Ember has ever made) that claims to be able to keep your beverage at exactly the temperature you want it for hours at a time. It comes with two lids - a twist-off one with a handle and a sliding one with a mouthpiece - and Ember says it can handle even your rugged commuter lifestyle. The battery lasts three hours, and you charge it by placing the Tumbler on its charger / coaster accessory. It's available for presale now and ships on September 22nd.It's a travel mug, is the long and short of it. A travel mug that pairs with an app that you can... Continue reading...

Image: Supergiant Games We're going to have to wait a little bit longer to play Hades II. The sequel to one of the best roguelikes out there will be launching in early access in Q2 2024, developer Supergiant Games announced on Thursday. You'll be able to get the early access version through Steam or the Epic Games Store.You may be wondering, why can't we launch in Early Access, like, right now?!" the developers wrote in a blog post. The game looked pretty far along in the first trailer! The reason is, Hades II will have at least as much content from day one in Early Access as the original game did back when it launched in Early Access on Steam. And, even though Early Access inherently means a game is not yet complete, we still want to do everything we can to... Continue reading...

Nintendo / Aspyr If you're a fan of the classic Tomb Raider series, today's Nintendo Direct had something special for you. Lara Croft makes her triumphant return to the console with a remaster of her first three games in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft.The three games are all coming to the Switch with improved graphics and, hopefully, improved control schemes. Lara Croft's classic trilogy has been rereleased on PC and mobile, but the PC release suffered from lackluster controls that made it difficult to raid tombs properly.If you've only experienced Tomb Raider through the more recent Square Enix reboots, you're in for a treat. The original Tomb Raider games had every bit of the action, platforming, and puzzle solving as its... Continue reading...

Image: Nintendo Nintendo shared roughly' 40 minutes of information about games coming to Switch this winter. Continue reading...

Image: Nintendo Nintendo is giving Another Code: Trace Memory and its sequel, Another Code: R, a remake for the Switch. Both games will return fully enhanced" as part of the Another Code: Recollection bundle that will release on Nintendo Switch on January 19th, 2024.Another Code: Trace Memory first launched as a point-and-click adventure on the Nintendo DS in 2005. It follows 13-year-old Ashley Mizuki Robbins as she searches for her father on Blood Edward Island, with the DS version prompting you to complete puzzles along the way using the handheld's touchscreen.Its sequel, Another Code: R, came out on the Wii in 2009 but was never released in North America. The sequel takes place two years after the events of the original game and has Robbins... Continue reading...

Nintendo Museum rendering | Image: Nintendo During its September Direct event, Nintendo announced progress on plans to convert its old Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant in Kyoto, Japan, into a gallery displaying its various products. Dubbed the Nintendo Museum, the site is under construction and on track to finish by March 2024. However, an exact opening date hasn't been announced yet.Other than the concept rendering from its original announcement in 2021, Nintendo showed off an iconic question block that's painted on the building's roof, and from the air, you can get an idea of how it will line up with the planned design, at least from the outside. Image: Nintendo Nintendo Museum shown from the air. As far as what's inside, we'll have to wait until closer to... Continue reading...

This Umbra x Nanoleaf collab includes a portable smart light and a color-changing desk caddy lamp. Both are Matter-compatible and use Thread. | Image: Umbra The dust has settled on IFA 2023, Europe's biggest tech trade show, held annually in Berlin, Germany. The Verge was on the ground at the show, which ran from September 1st to 5th, covering all the big news and gadget launches. But now that I'm back stateside, I wanted to call out a few more fun gadgets and intriguing pieces of tech I saw on the show floor (or thereabouts).In case you missed it, I've already written about SwitchBot's cool new twist on a robot vacuum mop that can fill its own water tanks, got some hands-on time with Philips Hue's pricey but pretty new smart security camera system, and listened to Alexa and Google play nicely in a new smart speaker from JBL. So, in no particular order, here are a few more gadgets from the... Continue reading...

Image: Honda In the vast realm of last-mile electric micromobility, Honda's new Motocompacto aims to bridge the divide between scooter lovers and people who prefer to get around riding a carry-on-sized suitcase.I'm joking, of course, but the new scooter does have the appearance of that, or maybe it looks more like an oversized AirPods case. At 41.3lbs, the Motocompacto is probably on the heavier side for electric scooters, but for suitcases, it may be in the sweet spot. With a top speed of 15mph, a maximum range of 12 miles, and a peak output of 490 watts, the delightfully square-shaped two-wheeler is billed as a first- and last-mile solution designed for the new realities of urban mobility."It's also designed as an homage to Honda's gas-powered... Continue reading...

The lightning cable is on its way out. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge This week, Apple confirmed longstanding rumors that it was finally abandoning the Lightning connector for USB-C with the debut of its iPhone 15 and 15 Pro phones. The connector's decade-long run might be over, but that doesn't mean you need to toss out all your Lightning cables - not yet, anyway.There are still a number of products in Apple's vast catalog that haven't made the switch, and it's a safe bet that many of them are due for USB-C refreshes in the near future. Here's a list of everything still using Lightning that we could find new on the company's online store.The Magic Keyboard Image: Wes Davis / The Verge The Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. The standalone Magic Keyboard has been more or less the... Continue reading...

Image: Getty Images Strike fever is about to sweep through the nation's auto industry, with the United Auto Workers preparing to walk off the job on September 14th if the Big Three" automakers - Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler's parent company, Stellantis - don't agree to the union's demands for pay increases, shorter working days, and stronger pensions.A simultaneous strike of all three major automakers has never happened, but it has been brewing since at least the Great Recession of 2008 when union workers agreed to major concessions in their contract to help keep the car companies from filing Chapter 11. Still, a strike could significantly impact the US economy and could trigger a rise in car prices. The union says the cost of not doing a strike... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It's almost time for the third major Nintendo Direct of 2023. It's set to be a big one, as Nintendo promises that the livestream will feature roughly 40 minutes of information" focused on the Nintendo Switch games set to release this winter.Nintendo already has a packed lineup through the rest of the year, so we'll probably get looks at games like Detective Pikachu Returns (October 6th), Super Mario Bros. Wonder (October 20th), WarioWare: Move It! (November 3rd), and the remake of Super Mario RPG (November 17th). Maybe we'll get some information about the new game starring Peach that's scheduled to launch next year. But don't hold your breath for DLC news for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.The September 2023 Nintendo Direct... Continue reading...

A green prototype of the METL tire with the tread applied. You can see the coil of nitinol through the transparent tire. | Image: The Smart Tire Company The Metl bicycle tire is the first consumer product we're aware of to use nitinol, a NASA-developed shape-memory alloy made of nickel and titanium that can be trained with heat to remember its shape. Compared with traditional bicycle tires, Metl tires will never go flat and will last a lifetime - at least that's the promise made by The Smart Tire Company, the former Shark Tank contestants now hailing from Akron, Ohio, which is also home to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.Just be careful: the tires are being sold via a crowdfunded campaign on Kickstarter and that brings along risk, which I'd rate as high for something as cutting edge as this from a small startup.You're also looking at a pledge of $500 for a pair of blue or clear... Continue reading...

It's now easier for Pixel Tablet owners to replace their device's battery, screens, and other components. | Image: iFixit It's now easier for Google Pixel Tablet owners to repair their own device, thanks to the partnership between Google and right-to-repair champions iFixit. As spotted by 9to5Google, genuine Pixel Tablet parts are now available to purchase on iFixit's website, alongside user repair guides that walk you through how to install various components.A rear case replacement is available for $199.99, which includes the Pixel Tablet's volume controls, antennas, power button (including fingerprint unlock), and three microphones. There's no option to select a color preference, however, so users may be limited to the off-white porcelain" option displayed on the webpage. iFixit is also selling a replacement USB-C charging port for $24.99, a battery... Continue reading...

Image: Niantic There are few game titles more literal than Monster Hunter. This is a world filled with monsters, and your job is to hunt them. But what makes the series so engrossing is the gameplay loop tied to those hunts: the way you prepare by collecting the right gear, weapons, and potions; how you spend time studying your target before heading into battle; and finally, using the downed monster to craft better gear so you can take on even more challenging beasts. It's a long and involved process but also one that feels so satisfying when you pull it off.Monster Hunter Now, a collaboration between Capcom and Pokemon Go developer Niantic, attempts to take that formula and streamline it into something that works in short bursts on your phone. In a... Continue reading...

This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.Today I will cover a controversial ad campaign that has raised questions at LAist, a pivot at Clubhouse, and a group of late night hosts who are taking their podcast to Las Vegas.Before I start with the news, one brief side note: Herb Scannell, the head of Southern California Public Radio, announced his retirement just yesterday. Nick Gerda of LAist does a good job of laying out what Scannell's exit means for SCPR - which includes LAist 89.3 (formerly KPCC), LAist.com, and the podcast unit LAist Studio - in a reported piece that I suggest you read.LAist avoids questions on audio ads sponsored by Bari Weiss' The Free PressLAist's... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, and Brave have each issued critical security patches, reports Stack Diary. The patches address a vulnerability that an attacker could use to gain access to or run malicious code on your computer, and the companies acknowledge it's been actively exploited in the wild. NIST classifies the vulnerability as severe. Other companies' applications are affected - the vulnerability is linked to code used to render WebP images, which are widely used.The software version numbers containing the fix are below.

Yes, you can even create a strawberry koala. | Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge You can now create your own emoji combinations directly in Google Search. The company has launched its Emoji Kitchen feature on the web (via 9to5Google), which lets you mash up existing emoji to create different combinations, like an angry pumpkin or a panda wearing a cowboy hat.To start using the tool, all you need to do is type Emoji Kitchen" into Google Search and click on the Get cooking" prompt. From there, you pick from dozens of different emoji to combine or play around with the randomizer. Once you're done experimenting, you can click on the resulting emoji to copy it to your device's clipboard, allowing you to paste it as a sticker into a message or document.The emoji maker also works on mobile browsers and the Google app,... Continue reading...

Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Tech leaders called for regulation that balances innovation and safety as the Senate conducted one of the many insight forums" to inform potential rulemaking.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) invited leaders in the AI space, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Nvidia president Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and X chair Elon Musk to a bipartisan AI Insight Forum.The forum was closed to the public and media, but some tech leaders prepared remarks or spoke to reporters outside the event.Zuckerberg said in prepared remarks that Congress should engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards." He said there are two defining issues for AI: safety and access.M... Continue reading...

Zach Katz, FaZe Nickmercs, and Lee Trink at Parq Nightclub in San Diego, California. | Photo by Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images for FaZe Clan Faze Clan, a merchandising and influencer marketing agency that was once synonymous with the esports space, has fired CEO Lee Trink. CFO Christoph Pachler will take over for Trink on an interim basis, Bloomberg reports.Faze Clan cultivated a lavish and freewheeling image during its early years. The firm maintained teams across many different esports titles, created gaming-adjacent content for social media platforms like Twitch and Snapchat, and sold branded apparel. Trink, who had no esports background when he became Faze's CEO in 2018, aimed to position it as a youth-oriented culture and lifestyle company. We are the voice of this current gaming generation," he said on an episode of The Vergecast in 2019, during which he also compared... Continue reading...

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge Starlink, the SpaceX satellite internet service, generated $1.4 billion in revenue last year, documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal reveal. That's up from $222 million in 2021 but $11 billion short of its original projections, according to the Journal.Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal's report comes the same day SpaceX exec Jonathan Hofeller said at a conference that it's no longer incurring losses for producing Starlink's satellite antennas, reports CNBC. According to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal, profitability took a hit in 2022, but a report by the outlet last month said SpaceX did manage to turn a profit in the first quarter of 2023.In a 2015 presentation to investors, the Elon Musk-founded company... Continue reading...

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Sony is hosting a State of Play presentation on Thursday, September 14th, the company announced on Wednesday. This State of Play will be focused on indie and third-party titles from around the world," Sony said, so don't hold your breath for big new reveals from the company's PlayStation Studios.Tomorrow's broadcast will focus on updates to previously announced games coming to PlayStation consoles," Sony's Shawne Benson wrote on the PlayStation blog. From indie and PSVR2 highlights, to major upcoming titles from our third-party partners, our latest show has something for everyone!" The event kicks off at 5PM ET / 2PM PT.Thursday is quickly shaping up to be a big day for gaming news. Nintendo will be kicking off the day with its next... Continue reading...

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis promoted the Stoner Cats NFTs. | Photo by Axelle / Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic The Stoner Cats NFTs, associated with a cartoon including the voice talent of Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, were actually unregistered securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today. The company behind the NFTs, called Stoner Cats 2, paid $1 million in fines and agreed to destroy all of the NFTs in its possession without admitting guilt.This is the second action the SEC has taken against NFTs, and unlike the last one, it may have broad consequences for the industry. Between the two cases, the SEC is drawing a picture where all NFTs are within their jurisdiction," says Hermine Wong, the former head of policy at Coinbase and a former SEC regulator. The order is likely to have a chilling effect on the industry, she says.... Continue reading...

Every version of the iPhone 15 includes a brighter display and Apple's Dynamic Island feature. | Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge To the surprise of no one, Apple announced the new iPhone 15 during its Wonderlust event on Tuesday, introducing it alongside the new Apple Watch Series 9 and an updated pair of AirPods Pro that come with a USB-C charging case. That means, as of today, Apple's iPhone lineup consists of the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max, as well as the last-gen iPhone 14, iPhone 13, and the third-gen iPhone SE. The iPhone 15 lineup won't be available until September 22nd, but you can preorder the phones on September 15th, starting at $799.Every phone in the new iPhone 15 lineup comes with a USB-C port and does away with the notch in favor of Apple's Dynamic Island feature. Meanwhile, the more premium phones - specifically the iPhone 15 Pro... Continue reading...

Image: Polestar More video streaming, weather, and web conferencing capabilities are coming to Android Auto and cars with Google built-in. And that includes digital key functions as well.It's a bit mix-and-match for this announcement. Android Auto users are getting some new stuff, Google built-in customers getting others, and a lot is dependent on which make and model you own. So bear with me here.Web conferencingAndroid Auto, the system that allows you to mirror your Android-powered smartphone on your car's interior dash display, is getting some new web conferencing features. These include WebEx by Cisco and Zoom - but both are audio only. That means you can join your meetings from the road without being worried about how you appear or about being... Continue reading...

A screenshot from the video game Starfield. | Image: Bethesda Softworks We've never seen a killer app for cloud gaming yet - but Starfield might be the next best thing. It has now arrived on Nvidia's GeForce Now, the first cloud gaming service that might do it justice, and the only one with a completely free trial, no credit card required.Both the Steam and Microsoft Store versions of Starfield are live right now. That means Xbox Game Pass subscribers don't need to purchase a copy, and even if you've already started the game, your savegames should come along for the ride.Why is Starfield such a big deal for cloud gaming? On PCs, the game is notoriously hard on both CPUs and GPUs and requires an SSD to play. It controversially didn't launch with Nvidia's frame rate-enhancing DLSS tech to ease the load,... Continue reading...

A previous IVAS prototype sent to the Army by Microsoft. | Image: US Army The US Army is awarding Microsoft with another order of advanced mixed reality goggles designed for combat situations, Bloomberg reports. Microsoft had sent the Army a batch of 20 updated prototype headsets in late July, which were tested by two squads of soldiers in August who responded positively to improvements in its design: namely, they no longer felt nauseous and pained while wearing them.Microsoft, in the past year, has worked with the US Army to create HoloLens-like mixed reality headsets known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), but initial reports in 2022 indicated it was causing headaches, nausea, and eyestrain in testing. The problematic headsets were part of an order of 5,000 headsets the Army started... Continue reading...

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge EV owners fed up with the often broken, discombobulated charging experience in the US are about to get a lifeline from the federal government.The US Department of Transportation is authorizing $100 million to repair and replace existing but non-operational, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure." The investment comes from a $7.5 billion pot of money for EV charging that was approved as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The department has already approved around $1 billion for the installation of thousands of new EV chargers along major highways in the US.Broken EV chargers remain a major barrier to broader EV adoption. And it tends to mar the experience of owning an EV, as many EV owners told JD Power earlier... Continue reading...