The Verge

Air conditioner units sit in windows of an apartment building on July 20th, 2022, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images The Senate finally voted to ratify the landmark Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which commits the US to quickly phase down the use of a certain class of refrigerants that also happens to be a super greenhouse gas.Specifically, the Kigali Amendment pushes developed countries to slash the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — found in air conditioning, refrigerators, and fire extinguishers — by 85 percent by 2036 The plan was drafted back in 2016 by delegates from countries seeking to update the Montreal Protocol, which sought to protect and repair the ozone layer back in the 1980s. The Montreal Protocol focused on reducing the use of ozone-depleting substances called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you’re interested in recording audio on your MacBook, there are all kinds of ways to do it. There are a number of third-party apps that can record your voice, but macOS also offers several tools that you can use with no installation required.Before you start recording, make sure whatever mic you’re using is on, connected, and working. The MacBook’s built-in microphones can record as well, but an external microphone may offer better quality.How to record audio on a MacBook using QuickTime Player Literally all you do is click that button.

This is a digital recreation of NBA star Luka Doncic. | Image: 77x NBA star Luka Dončić is launching a digital alter ego created using Epic Games’ remarkable MetaHuman technology.This is some seriously lifelike stuff — check out the pictures below. If I didn’t already know they were showing digital versions of Dončić, I honestly might not have been able to tell. Image: 77x Image: 77x Image: 77x Image: 77x The virtual Dončić was built using Epic’s Unreal Engine 5 MetaHuman tech and “augmented with neural network technologies trained with real-world facial animations from Luka’s performance capture,” according to a press release. The alter ego, dubbed Luk.AI, will be taking over Dončić’s TikTok on Thursday, where he’ll... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The hackers who hit the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) with ransomware over Labor Day weekend have now issued a ransom payment demand, according to the district superintendent.On Tuesday, superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the Los Angeles Times that a demand had been made but that the district had not responded. Carvalho declined to reveal the amount of money demanded.The extortion attempt represents an inevitable escalation in the ransomware attack — which targeted the nation’s second-largest school district just as pupils began to return after the summer break — and raises questions over what sensitive information the hackers may have been able to obtain.The extortion attempt represents an inevitable escalationThough... Continue reading…

The extension rod feature returns from the previous model. | Image: DJI DJI has just announced the latest model in its lineup of smartphone gimbals, the Osmo Mobile 6. Like its predecessors, it’s designed to stabilize videos and photos taken with phones, but it features a new wheel control to make zooming and focusing easier and a status panel to show the gimbal’s battery life at a glance.But perhaps the most interesting new feature is one that DJI is calling “Quick Launch.” It’s only available when using the gimbal with iPhones, but the idea is that the accessory can automatically generate a push notification to quickly launch the DJI camera app when it detects that a phone has been mounted. When combined with the magnetic mount introduced with the Osmo Mobile 4, it should help you get shooting quicker... Continue reading…

Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft may have redesigned its photos app last year to better match the aesthetics of Windows 11, but now it’s testing a new version with a slightly new look and a few other improvements.Perhaps the most noticeable change is a new gallery view, which offers a different way to browse through your photos. In a blog post, Microsoft’s Dave Grochocki says that the updated view is intended to simplify browsing, finding, managing, and consuming the photos you have in your collection. The new app will also offer improvements to the “Memories” feature, though Grochocki’s blog post doesn’t detail exactly what’s different. Image: Microsoft The new gallery view in Microsoft’s redesigned Photos app for Windows 11. You can... Continue reading…

At the base of the Space Launch System, repair crews work to replace a seal on September 8th, 2022. | Photo by NASA / Chad Siwik Today, NASA got its next-generation Moon rocket all tanked up with nowhere to go. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel were loaded into the Space Launch System (SLS) today in an hours-long test of its troublesome fueling system.It was what NASA called a “kinder, gentler” fueling procedure that was being tested after a hydrogen leak stymied the second launch attempt of the rocket and the Artemis I mission on September 3rd. The new procedures were “designed to transition temperature and pressures slowly during tanking to reduce the likelihood of leaks that could be caused by rapid changes in temperature or pressure,” NASA said in a blog post.“I am extremely encouraged by the test today,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch... Continue reading…

A Chromebook for the DIY-minded. | Image: Google Framework and Google have announced the new Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition. As the name implies, this is an upgradable, customizable Chromebook from the same company that put out the Framework laptop last year.User-upgradable laptops are rare enough already, but user-upgradable Chromebooks are nigh unheard of. While the size of the audience for such a device may remain to be seen, it’s certainly a step in the right direction for repairability in the laptop space as a whole. Thin and customizable. Multiple parts of the Framework are user-customizable, though it’s not clear whether every part that’s adjustable on the Windows Framework can be adjusted on the Chromebook as well. Each part has a QR code on it which,... Continue reading…

The Verge Google’s “Results about you” tool, meant to simplify the process of removing search results that contain personally identifying information, is starting to roll out to some users, according to a report from 9to5Google. Google announced the feature earlier this year during its I/O conference, saying that it’d be coming to the Google app.Google already had a way to remove search results that contained your home address, email address, or phone number, along with a host of other types of potentially dangerous or damaging information. That system wasn’t necessarily the easiest to access or use, though. If you found a search result that linked to your sensitive information, you’d have to go to a support page and fill out a form containing... Continue reading…

The company making the VM2 plans to release white- or black-colored models. | Image: Dreamware Enterprises You can find all sorts of strange tech on Indiegogo, but this fundraiser for an improved version of the virtual memory unit (VMU) for the Sega Dreamcast is one of the zanier gadgets I’ve heard about this year (via Notebookcheck). The company, Dreamware Enterprises, is in the process of developing the VM2, which it calls a “next-gen VMU for the Dreamcast.” It’s a one-to-one recreation of a niche accessory made for a failed console that it plans to release in black or white in the summer of 2023.Some of the improvements seem great, like a higher-resolution LCD screen with backlighting, microSD card storage for offloading and injecting saves, a rechargeable battery with USB-C charging, and mini-game support. It’ll ship with PC... Continue reading…

I can hear the sound in my head just by looking at the console. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge I really like my Xbox Series X. It’s a nice-looking, quiet console that puts hundreds of games at my fingertips thanks to Xbox Game Pass. But every time I turn my Xbox on, I scramble to turn down the volume so that the console’s startup sound doesn’t alert everyone in a 50-mile radius that I want to play some Fortnite.Thankfully, Microsoft is testing an Xbox software update that will let you mute the console’s startup sound, so I hopefully won’t have to worry about the sound sometime soon. The new preview update will be rolled out to Alpha ring members of the Xbox Insider program beginning on Wednesday. If you have the preview, you can mute the startup sounds by going to Settings > General > Volume & audio output > Additional options.W... Continue reading…

Here’s how to best use one of the iPhone 14’s new camera features. | Samar Haddad / The Verge One of the new camera features offered by the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro is a somewhat self-explained Action mode. It’s a feature you can enable in video mode to supercharge stabilization for very intense motion, like running behind someone and recording their workout or chasing your kid around a playground, which is its own kind of workout. It’s easy to use, but there are a couple of things to know so you can get the most out of it.I followed these steps on an iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 16.0, but they’re the same on the standard iPhone 14.How to start using Action modeGetting started with Action mode is easy:

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge A lot of people work remotely these days, which makes work apps like Slack crucial for good communication. Slack status updates provide a particularly helpful and easy way to let colleagues know you’re busy — for example, when you’re in a meeting and can’t see each other in person.You can manually update your status with a few clicks of a button, but that takes time and is easy to forget. Alternatively, you can sync your Slack status to your online calendar, and Slack will automatically update your status for you. In this article, we’ll show you how to connect it to Google Calendar, though you can sync it to other calendars like Microsoft Outlook as well.How to sync your Slack status to Google calendar from your desktop or laptop

New Surface devices are on the way. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is holding a Surface event next month. The software giant is officially labeling the event “Microsoft Fall 2022 Event,” where it says it plans to “talk about devices.” The Microsoft event will kick off at 10AM ET on October 12th, just before Microsoft’s Ignite conference begins.Microsoft’s invite to the event includes a wallpaper-like image with watercolors and “save the date” written by what is likely a Surface Pen. The invite comes just hours after rumors of Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 devices emerged. Microsoft is reportedly planning to offer a Surface Pro 9 with the option of Arm or Intel processors, potentially meaning the end of the Surface Pro X line. Image: Microsoft Microsoft’s devices... Continue reading…

The Verge Hackers have really been targeting the gaming industry this week — and seem to have focused on companies linked to Take-Two Interactive.On Tuesday, game publisher 2K Games notified the public that an “unauthorized third party” had compromised its help desk platform and used it to send malicious links to customers. The disclosure came just one day after Rockstar confirmed that development footage from GTA VI was stolen and leaked by a hacker who had broken into its network and downloaded confidential data.There’s no sign (yet) that the 2K hack is linked to the earlier breach of Rockstar, but both Rockstar and 2K are owned by Take-Two Interactive, making it an especially damaging week for the parent company’s security record.

The Litra Beam sitting above a monitor. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge Logitech is introducing a new key light for streamers with a low-profile design that almost makes it look like a regular desk lamp. Rather than using a circular design like Elgato’s popular Ring Light or a square shape like the Key Light Air or Logitech’s own Litra Glow, the new $99.99 Litra Beam has a long, thin shape. The PC accessory manufacturer is announcing the light alongside a new $349.99 XLR microphone called the Blue Sona.I could see the Litra Beam’s low-profile form factor appealing to anyone who’s streaming, podcasting, or making video calls in a communal part of their home. Although devices like Elgato’s Ring Light are excellent at keeping you illuminated while broadcasting, they take up a lot of space. In contrast, the... Continue reading…

The A30 has an onboard mic, letting you chat on phone calls without bringing along its long, detachable boom mic. | Image: Logitech Logitech has announced a new iteration of the Astro A30 wireless gaming headset, a product that’s gone without an update for several years. It’ll cost $229.99 when it releases in October. The new A30 looks like a modern take on the previous version (thankfully, it’s far less shiny), with the return of its customizable speaker tags that magnetically attach to each side as well as the square-ish shape of the speaker housings. The A30 will be available in matte navy or matte white, and each colorway has a cool (or chintzy, depending on your taste) chrome design effect beneath the replaceable speaker tags.It’ll release with two models: one that includes a USB-A wireless transmitter that works with Xbox consoles, PC, macOS, and mobile, and... Continue reading…

Look familiar? Yep, these are practically identical to the UE Fits. | Image: Logitech Logitech thinks that console and PC gamers, not just audiophiles, might appreciate having custom-molded ear tips for enhanced bass and sound quality. The $229.99 G Fits, releasing in October, borrow the same party trick from the 2020 UE Fits: a one-time, 60-second setup that uses LEDs to heat and morph the ear tips to the shape of your inner ear.It’s identical to how we laid it out in the UE Fits review, where Chris Welch notes that the companion mobile app will remind you to firmly hold each earbud in your ear and to stay calm with a relaxed jaw. “During molding, the tips warm up, which is an unusual sensation for something in your ears,” Chris says. It’s far from your average setup process for earbuds, but it leads to a custom (and... Continue reading…

NTSB wants cars that can detect drunk driving and automatically manage speed limits. | Photo by Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency responsible for investigating vehicle and aviation crashes, called on the government to require all new vehicles to include technology that would detect drunk or impaired driving.The recommendation was made in light of a horrific crash that took place in Fresno County, California, on New Year’s Day 2021 that killed nine people, including seven children. The crash was caused by an impaired driver who was speeding.​“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the US annually,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy in a statement. “We need to... Continue reading…

Photo by Roberto Baldwin for The Verge Kia is planning to manufacture its electric vehicles in the US, according to South Korean media sources Maeil Business and SBS (via The EV Officials). The automaker currently builds its flagship electric car and North American sales hit, the Kia EV6, in South Korea at its Hwasung plant. But now, Kia will shift some of its EV assembly to the US by 2024, according to the report.Manufacturing EVs in the US would allow Kia to qualify for new incentives that were included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which requires automakers to build EVs in North America to qualify.Kia and Hyundai combined hold the second-highest EV market share after TeslaKia and its parent company, Hyundai, had threatened legal action against the US... Continue reading…

NASA paused observations with one of the JWST modes. | Photo Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge There’s a kink in one of the instruments in NASA’s powerful James Web Space Telescope, the agency said Tuesday. After around two months of sending back beautiful, precise photos from deep in space, the team behind the telescope detected an issue with one of the four observing modes on JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Observations using that mode are on pause while the team learns more.MIRI, the telescope’s mid-infrared instrument, can see wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye. It’s good for seeing clear details of things like newly forming stars. It was used to take the image of the galaxy group “Stephan’s Quintet,” for example. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI/Handout via Xinhua Images of Stephan’s... Continue reading…

The bag itself is a Timbuk2 Vert Backpack in two-tone light blue / black. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Superman and Batman. Cable and Deadpool. Spider-Man and Wolverine. These are some of the most storied and treasured — if sometimes unlikely — team-ups the world has ever seen. Well, we’ve got another one to add to the list because The Verge and The Strategist are teaming up to offer you a chance to win a backpack filled with nifty tech toys and gadgets.This is one of the biggest sweepstakes we’ve ever offered before, which is only fitting when you’ve got two publications that run the gamut of coverage for tech, culture, and savvy internet shopping. We’ve compiled a bunch of swag and free tech and jam-packed them into a sleek, light blue Timbuk2 Vert Backpack. The value of this giveaway totals out to about $937, including the bag, which... Continue reading…

People relax underneath a blossoming tree during a warm spring day in Central Park in Manhattan. | Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images Thanks to a couple satellite images from NASA, we can see how cool it is to be green — literally. The maps below show that the greenest parts of the Northeastern US with the most lush vegetation have lower surface temperatures. Conversely, the least green regions align almost perfectly with the hottest areas.That’s because trees and plants are crucial for calming down the phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. All the asphalt and big buildings in an urban jungle trap heat. As a result, cities tend to be several degrees hotter than surrounding areas. Within a city, more industrial areas tend to be even hotter. That tends to make heatwaves even more dangerous for low-income households and communities of color, particularly... Continue reading…

Gyms may have reopened, but Ring Fit Adventure remains a good excuse to stay in. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Are you, like me, wanting to get fit but don’t want to, well, actually leave the comfort of your home for the gym? Thankfully, Ring Fit Adventure poses a fun alternative for us lazy energetically challenged folks. The fitness-based RPG encourages you to work out as you explore, fight enemies with exercise reps, and collect items without ever stepping foot outside of your home. What’s more, the clever Nintendo Switch title allows you to adjust the difficulty and track your form, thus ensuring you’re working out correctly.Right now, you can buy the game with a Ring-Con controller and a leg strap at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $54.99 instead of $79.99, which matches the title’s all-time low. Just note the game doesn’t work... Continue reading…

The Nvidia RTX 6000 ADA professional GPU isn’t your run-of-the-mill gaming card. | Image: Nvidia Nvidia has announced the RTX 6000 48GB graphics card, the latest model to join its family of workstation-focused GPUs designed for content creators and enterprise-grade graphics. Nvidia describes the RTX 6000 as the perfect tool for creating content for the metaverse alongside Nvidia Omniverse Enterprise, thanks to its Ada Lovelace generation AI, massively increased raytracing and CUDA cores, and programmable shader technology.While the recently announced GeForce RTX 4090 is the top-end Ada Lovelace generation card for most consumers, the Lovelace-powered RTX 6000 dominates it in regards to raw power. It has 18,176 CUDA cores compared to the RTX 4090’s 16,384, and will ship with 48GB of GDDR6 ECC memory — double that of the RTX 4090’s... Continue reading…

Last year’s Surface Pro 8. | Image by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is widely expected to launch its next generation of Surface devices at an event next month, and over the past week an increasing number of rumors have shed light on what form they could take. Top of the list is a new 2-in-1 device — the Surface Pro 9 — as well as the latest Surface Laptop 5.WinFuture reports that both are expected to be available with 12th Gen Intel CPUs, up from the 11th Gen models seen in last year’s Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop 4. Specifically, it expects to see an Intel Core i5-1235U in the entry level models and a Core i7-1255U at the higher end, which should offer single-core performance increases of up to 22 percent and 12 percent respectively. Storage is expected to top out at 1TB, while up to 16GB... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire this morning at the local utility company PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County, California, as reported by local news stations KSBW Action News 8 and KRON4.The fire started at around 1:30AM this morning, according to PG&E’s operations comm manager, Jeff Smith. No injuries were reported at the scene.Around 7PM PT / 10PM ET, the North County Fire Department and Monterey County Sheriff’s Office lifted the advisory and reopened the roads. In a tweet from the Public Information for Monterey County account, officials reported on the Megapack battery fire at the Elkhorn facility, saying, “While the fire is considered fully controlled, smoke may still occur in the area for several... Continue reading…