The Verge

Matter is a new smart home interoperability standard both Apple and Google helped create. | Image: CSA It’s getting closer. With the drop of the iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 developer betas today, we have confirmation that “Matter Accessories” are on their way to Apple iPhones and iPads. Plus, Google’s Google Home Developer Console, which helps developers add Matter devices to its smart home platform, also went live today.Matter is a new smart home connectivity standard that promises to unify all your connected devices, making it easier for your smart thermostat to talk to your connected door lock and for you to talk to either one using any voice assistant or smart home app you choose. At WWDC this year, Apple announced that iOS 16 would support Matter, and now we are seeing the first implementations. A screenshot of the... Continue reading…

Opening the door even further for tablets. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has started rolling out a feature that could make judging apps in the Play Store a lot easier — it’ll only show reviews based on the type of device you’re using, be it a phone, tablet / foldable, Chromebook, Android Auto, or wearable (via Android Police). The change, which was announced in August 2021 as coming in “early 2022,” arrives as Google’s getting ready to launch a tablet and wearable of its own.In the reviews section of the Play Store, there’s now a notice to let you know that ratings are “verified,” and that you’re being shown feedback from people using the same type of device as you. I had a colleague look at the reviews for the YouTube app on his foldable, and he was shown a different set of reviews than I was while... Continue reading…

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge We’re about to see a lot more electric vehicle chargers in the US.The Biden administration just announced the approval of $900 million in funding to 35 states to install EV chargers across approximately 53,000 miles of highway across the country — the first tranche from a $5 billion pot of money that was included as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year.That means money is about to start flowing to the states to enact their plans to install thousands of new EV chargers, a crucial link in the Biden administration’s goal of getting more people to switch to plug-in vehicles. The president has said he wants to build 500,000 chargers across the US by 2030 in the hopes that an improved charging infrastructure will make EVs a... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Digital Foundry has released an in-depth look at the upscaling tech that’ll be included with Intel’s upcoming Arc GPUs and compared its performance to Nvidia’s offering, Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). Based on the tests they’ve run so far, Intel’s Xe Super Sampling, or XeSS for short, seems to do a reasonable job of holding its own against more mature technologies — though it’s worth noting that Digital Foundry only ran tests with Intel’s highest-end card, the Arc A770, and mostly in a single game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider.The idea behind XeSS and other technologies like it is to run your game at a lower resolution, then use a bunch of machine learning algorithms to upscale it in a way that looks way better than more basic... Continue reading…

This isn’t an iPhone Mini, but it’s what the indicator looks like. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Apple released the first iOS 16.1 beta to developers on Wednesday, and it lets iPhone users with an iPhone 13 or 12 Mini, an iPhone 11, or iPhone XR turn on the new battery percentage indicator added in iOS 16, according to MacRumors.Before iOS 16, iPhones with notches couldn’t see their battery percentage in the status bar, but Apple added the feature for some notched phones with its latest major software update. Many of us here at The Verge aren’t a fan of the new design; the indicator puts a number inside a battery icon, which is a smart way to save some space, but there’s no other visual indicator of how full that battery is. That means, for example, that if your battery is at 33 percent, the battery icon will still appear “full.”... Continue reading…

The new Canva Visual Worksuite could turn the graphic design tool into a full-fledged competitor for Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. | Image: Canva Canva is moving beyond its roots as an online graphic design tool, announcing a new suite of workplace products that expand into other areas of visual communication. The Canva Visual Worksuite will provide design-focused alternatives to products offered by Microsoft and Google, such as Canva Docs and Canva Whiteboards, as well as introduce new features to existing tools within the Canva product family.First up is Canva Docs, a collaborative online document creator and editing tool, enabling you to use all of Canva’s 100 million-plus library of design assets while creating text documents. You can create and embed designs like whiteboards, banners, and brainstorms directly within the Doc as an alternative to exporting your created designs... Continue reading…

California Governor Gavin Newsom | Photo by Jerod Harris / Getty Images for Vox Media California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law aimed at making web platforms monitor hate speech, extremism, harassment, and other objectionable behaviors. Newsom signed AB 587 after it passed the state legislature last month, despite concerns that the bill might violate First Amendment speech protections.AB 587 requires social media companies to post their terms of service online, as well as submit a twice-yearly report to the state attorney general. The report must include details about whether the platform defines and moderates several categories of content, including “hate speech or racism,” “extremism or radicalization,” “disinformation or misinformation,” harassment, and “foreign political interference.” It must also offer... Continue reading…

The Xbox app on PC now launches 15 percent faster. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is updating its Xbox app on Windows with HowLongToBeat integration and faster launch times. The Xbox team has partnered with HowLongToBeat to provide estimates for long it will take to beat PC Game Pass games. HowLongToBeat is a community-based site that lets people track how long a game will take and see if a game is worth buying or playing.The HowLongToBeat integration in the Xbox app on Windows includes estimations for the main story of the game alongside estimates for additional quests, 100 percent completion, and a combination of play styles. You’ll be able to submit your own times and even see community reviews, playthrough notes, and breakdowns by playstyles. Image: Microsoft HowLongToBeat... Continue reading…

Could this be the future? | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge If you’ve been following the laptop space over the past two or so years, you’ve probably noticed that the detachable laptop is on the rise. Several high-profile models that were previously traditional 2-in-1s (that is, an old-school-looking laptop that can also bend backward) have slowly but surely been converted to detachable keyboard form factors.This is in no way a new idea — the Surface Pro has been a thing for years on end. But as more and more companies add the form factor to their premium lines, it seems like the space in general is warming up to the idea that Microsoft was right all along.Recent examples include:

From certain angles, the M8 Smart Monitor (especially its more splashy colorways) looks like Apple’s latest iMac. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The recent Discover Samsung deals — happening totally coincidentally during iPhone 14 release week — are actually pretty stellar. Whether you’ve been looking for discounts on Samsung’s last-gen Galaxy Watch 4 or price cuts on its latest foldable phones, the sale event continues to perk up our ears. One of today’s discounts is great if you’ve been waiting on a price cut on the interesting M8 Smart Monitor.The M8 is its 32-inch 4K display that’s both a smart TV and a USB-C monitor in one, complete with a magnetically attaching webcam to do video chats, regardless of whether there’s a computer connected to it. While it’s typical to find a $100 discount on this model (it originally sold for $699.99), you’ll be able to grab one for $499.99... Continue reading…

You can now screate scrapbook-inspired collages with your favorite snaps on Google Photos. | Image: Google Google Photos is redesigning its Memories feature to better display your cherished snaps, featuring new interactions, memory types, and memory sharing. Some creative updates are also coming in the form of a new collage editor and Styles feature to help you curate your images.From today, videos are getting more of a spotlight within the redesigned Memories experience, with Google Photos automatically selecting and trimming down longer footage to focus on key moments. Still images will have a subtle zoom effect applied, which is visually different from the full dynamic zoom featured on Cinematic Photos. A small update is also coming to interactions, adding the ability to swipe up or down to move between Memories in addition to the... Continue reading…

Newegg is handing out free monitors when you purchase an RTX 3060 or 3070. | Image: Gigabyte In a strange turn of fate, it seems that Newegg somehow has too many 30-series graphics cards. Right now, you can get a free 24-inch 1080p gaming monitor when you buy an RTX 3060 for $399.99. Another solid offer bundles a free 27-inch curved QHD monitor with a purchase of an RTX 3070 for $599.99. A deal like this is tough to beat; even if you don’t need the monitor, you’re still getting a 30-series graphics card at close to retail price, which was damn near impossible a year ago. This is likely a response to the leak of 40-series RTX cards that have been making their rounds on the internet.If you’ve been biding your time in adopting one of the 30-series graphics cards, you aren’t going to find many opportunities that are better than... Continue reading…

Discord Forum Channels will be available across PC and mobile. | Image: Discord Discord is launching its new Forum Channels feature today in a bid to help server owners organize conversations. Forum Channels act like threaded topics of conversation that direct Discord users to talk about a particular subject. They’ll be useful for busy servers where it’s easy to interrupt ongoing conversations.Forum Channels appear like sub-channels and can be used by server owners to branch off conversations about particular topics or to avoid having to create yet another channel for focused conversations.“Like Threads and Text in Voice before, Forum Channels let focused conversations thrive without hogging a channel,” explains Discord in a blog post. “No more watching an interesting discussion get drowned out, hijacked, or... Continue reading…

The HBO Max and Discovery Plus logos | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images In the coming months, there’s a very good chance that Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max and Discovery Plus platforms are both going to go through massive reinventions meant to bring the streamers more in line with CEO David Zaslav’s vision for their path to success. Much of the speculation about what the future holds for the streaming services has revolved around all of the content being pulled from them ahead of their fusing to become something new, But according to the company’s CFO, customers might also be looking at some noticeable price hikes as Warner Bros. Discovery reconsiders just how much it should be charging people to access its catalog on demand.At this year’s annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, Warner Bros.... Continue reading…

The Pixel Buds Pro in their unique, yellowy lemongrass color | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Today marks a lot of things: it’s hump day, it’s iPhone 14 and 14 Pro review day, it’s the second day of our newly redesigned Verge site (don’t worry, I won’t keep counting in every post), and it’s also a day we can bring an exclusive deal just for you, our valued readers.The Pixel Buds Pro wireless earbuds are discounted between now and September 18th at Wellbots for $180 when you use code VERGE10 at checkout. That’s about a $20 savings on Google’s excellent buds with active noise-canceling, great battery life, and multipoint connectivity. The deal covers three of the four available colors the Pixel Buds Pro are offered in: charcoal, fog, and lemongrass (the best color, obviously). Whichever you pick, you get a white case that charges... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Zoom may be getting ready for its biggest expansion yet: the company is preparing to launch email and calendar apps, The Information reported, and could do so before the end of this year. That would turn Zoom, which has already evolved from a video chat platform to a competitor to Slack and whiteboard apps and even your office phone, into a full-fledged competitor to Google Workspace and Microsoft Office.Getting into other work apps would seem like a departure for Zoom, but it makes sense the company would go after them. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan has long said he prefers to be a partner to other work tools rather than replace them, but as Zoom’s own platform ambitions have grown, so has the company’s desire to own more of the work ecosystem.C... Continue reading…

These two men are the biggest real estate owners in all of Japan who occasionally do light crimes. | Image: Sega KIRYU-CHAN!! Ahead of the Tokyo Game Show starting on September 15th, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio — developers of the gritty gangster series Yakuza, the noir detective series Judgment, and in sharp and hilarious contrast, the Super Monkey Ball series — shared its upcoming release schedule, and it’s a doozy. Yakuza 8 makes its debut along with several other Ryu Ga Gotoku games that’ll have you up to your eyeballs in hostess clubs, batting cages, crane games, and just a smidge of gangster action as a treat.First, RGG fans will be blessed with the samurai-flavored Yakuza spinoff, Like a Dragon: Ishin! Revealed yesterday during Sony’s State of Play event, Ishin trades fists for swords and ditches the neon-lit streets of Kamurocho in favor of Kochi... Continue reading…

Ford dealers who want to sell EVs can opt in to a two-tier certification system. | Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Ford outlined a series of requirements for its dealers who want to sell the automaker’s electric vehicles, such as setting no-haggle prices and investing upward of $1.2 million in upgrades like charging, according to Automotive News. The company framed the investments as necessary if Ford is to compete with — and perhaps overtake — direct-sale competitors like Tesla.Dealers were given until October 31st to opt in to two EV certification tiers, with varying investment levels into charging and staff training. Dealers in the higher tier, which carries upfront costs of $900,000, will receive “elite” certification and be allocated more EVs, executives said. Those dealers who don’t opt in will be relegated to selling the company’s legacy... Continue reading…

Image: Jess T-R / Flickr Law enforcement officials are investigating an apparent mail-bomb attack on the virtual reality center at Northeastern University after an employee was injured in an explosion Tuesday evening. Authorities say the package was sent in a hard plastic case and triggered to detonate upon opening.The attack appears to be politically motivated by fear of VR technology, as it was accompanied by a rambling note attacking Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and broader academic research on augmented reality devices, per CNN.The employee, who works at the VR center, suffered lacerations to his hands but was not seriously injured.Northeastern University hosts a number of VR-oriented facilities, including an Immersive Media Labs Suite that “includes... Continue reading…

The DJI Osmo Action 3 can be used in temperatures below 0 degrees. | Image: DJI DJI has announced the Osmo Action 3, the latest addition to its family of compact action cameras. This new offering from the world’s leading drone manufacturer features a complete redesign, sporting two touchscreens and a focus on portrait-mode shooting.The Osmo Action 3 bears very little resemblance to its predecessor, the DJI Action 2, which featured a modular design supported by a suite of magnetic accessories. Instead, this latest offering from DJI sports a look that more closely resembles the first model in the series, the original DJI Osmo Action.The camera packs a 1/1.7-inch imaging system capable of shooting in 4K resolution at 120fps with a wide 155-degree field of view. It packs DJI’s RockSteady 3.0 image stabilization that... Continue reading…

Verge reporter Victoria Song wearing the PSVR2. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge And it’s pretty good Continue reading…

The Nothing Phone 1. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge It’s only been on sale for less than two months, but Nothing has already revealed some early sales figures for the Phone 1 in India, where it released on July 21st.Speaking with GSMArena, Nothing’s vice president and general manager for India, Manu Sharma, said the company had sold over 100,000 Phone 1s in 20 days of sales in the country via retailer Flipkart (its exclusive sales partner), and that over 10 million users had signed up to be notified when the phone went on sale. Sharma says the phone was the bestselling handset on Flipkart in the ₹30,000-plus (around $378) price category.Not bad for a first effort, but those figures pale in comparison to the total Indian smartphone market, where analysts IDC report that around 35... Continue reading…

Choose your fighter. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is adding full theme support to its Windows Terminal this week. The customization support allows Windows Terminal users to alter the appearance of tabs, the window, and even background images for the Terminal interface. Microsoft has also tweaked Windows Terminal to always use a dark theme, rather than following the Windows system theme.Creating themes for Windows Terminal isn’t a simple process unless you’re a developer, though. Themes are only editable using a JSON file, and they’ll appear in the theme dropdown in the settings section of Windows Terminal. Microsoft has provided some sample JSON to get people started, and you’re free to get as creative as you want with a combination of colors and background images.Microsoft... Continue reading…

Logitech’s new Brio 500. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge Logitech’s Brio 500 is a new webcam with a compact design that features a neatly integrated physical privacy shutter and a “Show Mode” designed to broadcast what’s on your desk. It’s 1080p rather than 4K, the same as Logitech’s classic C920 webcam. It’s going on sale this month for $129 alongside a new Bluetooth headset called the Zone Vibe 100, which will retail for $99.99.The Brio 500 has a cylindrical design, with its 4-megapixel camera flanked by a pair of beamforming microphones that are designed to reduce background noise during calls. The privacy shutter design is pretty slick and can be brought down by turning a dial on the right side of the webcam. Showing off your desk is achieved by “tilting the camera angle towards the... Continue reading…

Sony Today’s just been a day of pleasant, video game flavored surprises. To cap off a neat but ho-hum State of Play, Sony dropped the story trailer for God Of War Ragnarok.Ragnarok sees the return of Kratos and Atreus as the two seemingly fend off (or, perhaps initiate) the arrival of Ragnarok — the end of the world in Norse mythology. Along the way, it seems like the father-son odd couple make new friends and enemies as they beat the shit out of every living creature in their path.The trailer talks of fate, and features Kratos imparting his hard learned lessons about what it means to defy the fate destiny has laid out at their feet. And Atreus, just like his father, seems to have secrets of his own that will require him to build an even... Continue reading…

A Google G logo. | The Verge A federal judge has allowed crucial elements of an antitrust case against Google to proceed, including allegations that Google illegally monopolized the ad-tech market. However, Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed claims of collusion between Google and Facebook (now Meta) in the “Jedi Blue” program.Castel’s ruling (spotted by Bloomberg reporter Leah Nylen) says states have plausibly alleged Google has a monopoly in ad servers and ad exchanges and that its actions have had anticompetitive effects. It also says Google may have unfairly competed with operations like Project Bernanke, a secret program that allegedly edged out competitors by using Google’s access to data.The suit, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is one of several... Continue reading…

NASA’s Artemis I rocket | Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images NASA’s Artemis I rocket is now set to take off on September 27th, with a “potential” backup date planned for October 2nd if things don’t go as planned. The agency originally considered retrying the launch as early as the 23rd but decided on a later date after “careful consideration of multiple logistical topics.”The Artemis I mission will use NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket to catapult an uncrewed Orion capsule around the Moon as part of the agency’s push to bring humans back to the lunar surface by 2025. While NASA’s first launch attempt was cut short due to an engine issue, the second attempt on September 3rd ended prematurely after the Artemis I team detected a hydrogen leak that engineers couldn’t fix.To ensure things... Continue reading…

This aerial photograph taken on September 5th, 2022, shows flooded residential areas after heavy monsoon rains in Dera Allah Yar, Balochistan province in Pakistan, following months of record monsoon rains. | Photo by FIDA HUSSAIN / AFP via Getty Images “The science is unequivocal: we are going in the wrong direction” when it comes to addressing climate change, a new report from the World Meteorological Organization says. This year’s planet-heating pollution has risen above pre-pandemic levels.All over the world, people are already facing dire consequences from the 1.2 degrees of global warming human activity has caused since the industrial revolution. “Heatwaves in Europe. Colossal floods in Pakistan. Prolonged and severe droughts in China, the Horn of Africa and the United States. They are the price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a press release and accompanying video today.“There is nothing natural about the new scale of these... Continue reading…

The company says it’s changing direction. | Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Patreon is laying off 80 people, around 17 percent of its workforce, and closing offices in Dublin and Berlin. A post from CEO and co-founder Jack Conte says that the cuts are happening because the company is changing its plans after trying to rapidly grow during the pandemic. It’s reducing the size of its teams in charge of “operations, recruiting, and other internal support functions” as well as its budget for sales and marketing.The layoffs are hitting Patreon’s go-to-market, operations, finance, and people teams. Workers in the US will receive three months’ severance pay as well as two extra weeks per half year of tenure they have beyond their first year at the company. European workers get a similar deal, with three months of... Continue reading…