The Verge

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images Tech reporters are descending on Cupertino, California, today for Apple’s product launch event, where they’re expecting a first look at new iPhones and Apple Watches. They’ll also be hot — really hot. There’s a suffocating heatwave across the whole state, including in the Bay Area, where temperatures hit all-time highs.

Nintendo Switch OLED Model Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Edition | Image: Nintendo Seems like whenever a new flagship Nintendo game is about to release, it gets a special edition Switch to go with it. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are no exception, as today, Nintendo has revealed the orange and grape-flavored OLED Switch that will accompany the release of the next major Pokémon title.Burdened with the especially cumbersome name — The Nintendo Switch – OLED Model: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Edition — the OLED Switch launches on November 4th and retails at $359.99, making the fancy paint job featuring Scarlet and Violet’s new legendaries Koraidon and Miraidon worth $10 extra bucks than the regular stark white SWOLED.In addition to the new SWOLED, Nintendo also released a new trailer for ScarVi (my new name for the game... Continue reading…

At least, in terms of reading and battery life Continue reading…

An Xbox Elite 2 controller. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is bringing its Xbox Elite 2 controllers to the company’s Xbox Design Lab later this year. Xbox owners will be able to order custom color variants of the Xbox Elite 2 in the same way they currently can for existing Xbox Series S / X controllers.“Player choice has always been at the core of the elite series design philosophy. That is why we’re also excited to announce that we will be bringing Elite Wireless Series 2 Controllers to Xbox Design Lab later this holiday,” explains Daniel Ruiz, senior marketing manager for Xbox accessories. “We’ll have more details to share at a later date.”The announcement that Xbox Elite 2 controllers are coming to Design Lab arrives just as Microsoft announces a more affordable Xbox Elite 2 Core... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s new Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is announcing a new Xbox Elite 2 Core controller today, and it’s priced at $50 less than the existing Xbox Elite 2. The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core (yes, that’s the full name!) is available for preorder today for $129.99, but it doesn’t include the usual interchangeable components — you’ll have to purchase those separately.The Xbox Elite 2 Core, as we’re calling it, offers the usual adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wraparound rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks, and it now comes in white. It’s the same white controller we saw in leaked video footage last month, and it’s essentially designed to be a more affordable Xbox Elite 2 controller. Image: Microsoft The new Xbox Elite... Continue reading…

Image: Nintendo And now it has a killer single-player campaign, too Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images A Delaware court has denied billionaire Elon Musk’s attempt to push back the October trial over his abortive Twitter acquisition, but it agrees that he can incorporate claims made by former Twitter security chief Peiter “Mudge” Zatko into his case.The decision follows a hearing yesterday afternoon that saw Musk’s attorneys argue for a “meager” few weeks to review new information before the trial’s October 17th start date. Twitter, meanwhile, accused Musk of trying to drag out the trial and “sow chaos” with more document requests — claiming at one point that its lawyers had been forced to pause responding to international law enforcement requests.Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick said that Musk should be granted wide latitude to amend... Continue reading…

All of Tesla’s vehicles are rated five stars by the Euro NCAP. Tesla extended its five-star rating streak in Europe with the Model Y, the company announced. The electric crossover SUV earned top marks during safety tests conducted by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), receiving the highest overall score among any vehicle tested under the agency’s more stringent test protocol.The testing measures four areas: the vehicle’s ability to protect adults; its ability to protect children; the protection it provides vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians; and its safety assistance features. The Model Y, made at Tesla’s new gigafactory in Berlin, scored a 97 percent in Adult Occupant Protection and a “near-perfect” 98 percent in Safety Assist, with full points for its lane... Continue reading…

Asus’ excellent ChromeOS machine is $100 off at Best Buy today. | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge In need of a new laptop but working with a tighter budget? A good Chromebook like Asus’ Chromebook Detachable CM3 is an affordable alternative to consider if you don’t require a lot of power. It’s even cheaper today, too, now that the convertible has returned to its best price in nearly a year. Regularly $369.99, the Chromebook Detachable CM3 is on sale at Amazon with a MediaTek 8183 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage for just $269.99.The CM3 is our favorite detachable Chromebook, one that features a dual-folding kickstand that allows it to stand up like a laptop or fold horizontally. Plus, it comes with a detachable keyboard, a magnetic cover, a built-in USI stylus, and an excellent battery that should last you nearly 13... Continue reading…

Destiny 2’s new Eruption mode. | Image: Bungie Bungie’s new Eruption mode for Destiny 2 is the most exciting thing that’s happened to the game’s player-vs-player (PvP) Crucible for years. If you remember Cranked from Call of Duty, this is Destiny 2’s version. You run around eliminating players in the Iron Banner playlist to build streaks, and then you’re hunted by the entire opposite team in an elaborate game of cat and mouse.After a few frustrating years of Destiny 2 PvP, Eruption is fast-paced, rewarding, and very fun. I’m hooked.Destiny 2 is known for its space magic and abilities, and Eruption cranks this up into a truly thrilling back and forth, whether you’re experienced at PvP or not. Eruption is Clash with energy boosts based on kill streaks. It’s like a mix of the Mayhem... Continue reading…

Ring’s battery-powered video doorbells —including the Ring Video Doorbell 4 — now work with end-to-end encryption of video and audio. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Ring is now offering end-to-end encryption of video and audio on its battery-powered video doorbells and security cameras, over a year after it added the option to its hardwired and plug-in devices. End-to-end encryption lets users of the company’s video cameras keep their footage locked down, making it accessible only on their enrolled iOS or Android device. Separately, Ring is also making it easier to save recorded videos when an owner sells or disposes of a Ring deviceWith end-to-end encryption enabled, no one but the camera’s owner can access recorded footage. Even if law enforcement asked Ring, or its parent company Amazon, for the video, they couldn't provide it. Only the enrolled mobile device can unlock the video.By default,... Continue reading…

The Apple Watch is an excellent fitness device, but its wrist computer potential is still out there. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Nothing will kill the iPhone, but the Apple Watch is ready for the spotlight Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Android 13 has new features that aim to improve the experience of using a single device for both work and play. According to Google, Android 13’s redesigned “work profiles” build upon last year’s enhancements to keep an employee’s personal data separate from their work data and make the user experience better and more productive, all while still adhering to an IT department’s admin policies.One improvement in Android 13 lets employees specify if an app should be opened in their personal or work profile. This can be useful to keep corporate videos out of personal YouTube watchlists, suggests Google in one example. Employees can also have two photo galleries on their devices (one for personal use and the other for work) for a more curated... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Sony is rolling out a new PS5 system software update that includes 1440p resolution support, a new gamelists feature, and UX and social improvements. Testing for 1440p on PS5 first started in July, and now all PS5 owners will be able to access the software update.The new 1440p option allows PS5 owners to pick this resolution on compatible TVs and monitors. If games fully support 1440p then they’ll natively output at this resolution, otherwise 4K games will improve anti-aliasing by using supersampling down to 1440p output. The only drawback is that Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) won’t be supported at 1440p, and will only work at 1080p and 4K on the PS5.This new PS5 update also includes a gamelists feature, which is essentially folders for... Continue reading…

The new PS5 (1200) internals. | Image: Austin Evans (YouTube) Sony has totally revamped the internal design of its latest PS5 models. A revised PS5 model started appearing in Australia last month, and now YouTuber Austin Evans has taken a look at the internals and discovered a lot of changes. Sony is using a new, smaller motherboard for the PS5, different cooling, and has even changed the SSD enclosure.All of these changes add up to another weight reduction, but no obvious changes to the exterior of the PS5. The real big change is the updated motherboard in the PS5. It has shrunk by around two inches, and the cooling for the PS5 is slightly different thanks to an additional heat pipe at the rear and a smaller heatsink.This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a redesigned cooling solution on the PS5.... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google has started sending out invites for its fall hardware event, which is set to take place on Thursday, October 6th, at 10AM ET. The event will launch the upcoming Pixel 7 phones, as well as the Pixel Watch — the company showed off both devices at its I/O event earlier this year, announcing they’re coming in the fall. Google also says it’ll use the event to announce new additions to the Nest smart home portfolio.Google’s announcement comes just one day before Apple’s Far Out event, where it will reveal the iPhone 14 — you can follow all the news about those announcements here. Since Google’s last event, purported leaks have revealed even more about the devices, with both the Watch and phones seemingly making their way into people’s... Continue reading…

You can tell maps if you have a petrol, diesel, hybrid, or electric car. | Image: Google Google is expanding Maps’ eco-friendly routing mode, rolling the feature out in dozens of European countries and making it even more powerful by letting you pick what type of fuel your car runs on.The feature, originally launched in the US and Canada last year, will highlight routes that use less energy if they have a similar ETA to other alternate routes. Google says that starting today, it is rolling out to users in “nearly 40” European countries, including France, Ireland, Poland, Spain, and the UK. (It was introduced in Germany last month.) Gif: Google Telling Google what type of car you drive could let it give you even more efficient directions. Google’s also adding the ability to tell Maps if your car... Continue reading…

The Huawei Mate 50 might have just edged out Apple in the space-texting race. | Image: Huawei Huawei has announced the Mate 50 series, a day ahead of Apple’s September event and with a feature that the iPhone 14 is expected to offer: the ability to send texts via satellite communication. The Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro will be able to send short texts and utilize navigation thanks to China’s global BeiDou satellite network, allowing for communication in areas without cellular signal.The flagship Mate 50 series includes 4G-only versions of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset with 8GB of RAM. The 50 Pro comes with a slightly bigger 6.74-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the Mate 50 offers a 6.7-inch, 90Hz OLED panel. Both include a 50-megapixel main rear camera with a variable aperture lens with stops from f/1.4 to... Continue reading…

Sundar Pichai. | Laura Normand / The Verge Verbatim search Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Why more platforms need to close the stochastic terrorism loophole Continue reading…

Computer equipment used by an Ethereum miner on October 20, 2021 in Vilassar de Mar, Spain. | Photo by Manuel Medir/Getty Images Ethereum just set The Merge in motion — and the stakes are huge for the planet. The Merge is arguably one of the most anticipated events yet in cryptocurrency history, when the Ethereum blockchain will switch from a disturbingly energy-hungry method of validating transactions to a new strategy that uses a fraction of the electricity as the network gobbled up before.The transition is supposed to slash Ethereum’s energy consumption by a whopping 99.95 percent. That’s a seriously big deal since, just last week, the cryptocurrency network was estimated to use as much electricity annually as the country of Bangladesh. All that energy, of course, comes with a lot of carbon dioxide pollution that’s exacerbating climate change. Ethereum’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is expanding its 5G home internet service to 64 cities in several states in the Northeast, reaching residents in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.This latest expansion in coverage gives more than 9 million homes access to T-Mobile’s internet, the company says. However, as our review last year showed, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be consistent everywhere. T-Mobile warns that even if your city is on the list (available below), it’s not ready to go everywhere yet. However, some people may be eligible for 4G LTE service. Currently, the service is $50 a month for AutoPay customers and $30 for families with Magenta MAX, T-Mobile’s phone plan.Launched in April 2021, the Home Internet... Continue reading…

Image: Qualcomm Qualcomm’s next generation of mobile processors should help bring flagship features to more midrange devices. The chipmaker announced two new chips — the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 — that come bundled with AI enhancements and hardware to support 5G.The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is the more powerful of the pair, with the ability to shoot pictures at up to 200 megapixels and HDR video capture. It also comes with “intuitive AI assistance” that can help suggest apps and settings based on your activity. Qualcomm says the SoC’s (system on a chip) CPU performs up to 40 percent better than the Snapdragon 695 it released last year, while its GPU performs up to 35 percent better.The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, on the other hand, seems less... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is rolling out patches to fix some Pixel bugs after the phones received the latest Android 13 update last month. The September 2022 monthly update is being delivered throughout the week to most devices, addressing issues like unexpected battery drain and disabled wireless charging.The patch won’t arrive on Google’s newest phone, the Pixel 6A, until later this month. The Pixel 6A has one fix specifically included in the list, addressing its fingerprint scanner’s recognition “in certain conditions.” As noted by Consumer Reports, some owners of the new phone have found it will unlock using a finger they hadn’t registered or for the fingerprint of an entirely different person. Screenshot: Richard Lawler / The Verge... Continue reading…

Image: CD Projekt Red CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a new performance mode for Xbox Series S, an official tool for installing and making mods, and a big improvement to outfits via the 1.6 Edgerunners update, which was announced alongside the Phantom Liberty DLC pack. Like the DLC, it seems like most future updates to the game will be for next-gen consoles only; the company says 1.6 will be “the last major update” for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.The update is available to download today for all platforms (though the modding tools are limited to the PC), including those last-gen consoles. On the Xbox Series X, it’s a 39.6GB download. Image: CD Projekt Red You can create up to six outfits and switch between them at... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Juul will pay $438.5 million to settle an investigation by dozens of US states into the marketing practices blamed for kicking off the teen and youth vaping crisis.“JUUL’s cynically calculated advertising campaigns created a new generation of nicotine addicts,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in a statement announcing the deal Tuesday. The two-year investigation found Juul marketed to underage users, had misleading packaging that hid the amount of nicotine in its devices, and created a product that could be easily concealed.The settlement also puts restrictions on its marketing practices going forward: the company said it won’t fund education programs, include people under 35 in marketing, sell merchandise, or give out... Continue reading…

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge If you have Xbox friends that like to breathe heavily into their microphones, blast loud music in the background, or click loudly on their controller, the new Xbox noise suppression feature is here to save you. Xbox Series X and S owners are getting an update today that has noise suppression during party chats to remove annoying clicks, background music, and breathing.Noise suppression is enabled by default, but Microsoft notes that it’s easy to toggle on or off. “If you want to keep some types of background noise in your parties, like music, you can also turn noise suppression off,” explains an Xbox support note. “Just open the guide, scroll to Parties & chats, and select Options. There you can enable or disable noise suppression.”X... Continue reading…

Image: Titmouse In AMC’s Pantheon, being online is an entirely new kind of hell Continue reading…

Image: MelGeek This Lego-friendly mechanical keyboard from MelGeek lets you swap out more than just its keycaps and switches (via Gizmodo). If you happen to have a bunch of Lego bricks sitting around, you can redesign the entire case thanks to the Lego studs planted across the sides and bottom of the board.The keyboard is, fittingly, called the Pixel, and while it’s not officially licensed by Lego, you can build out just about any design — and maybe even incorporate an existing set — right on the case. It sports a tenkeyless design, making it a step down from full-sized boards, as it doesn’t come with a number pad. Image: MelGeek You can frame your keyboard with a sweet Lego design. But the case isn’t just the only thing... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge We’ve got some good news for both Marvel and sports fans: you can save $60 while watching both Marvel’s new Thor: Love and Thunder and football this week as a part of Hulu’s latest sale. In honor of the NFL season kicking off this Thursday, September 8th, Hulu is offering both new and returning customers a Hulu with Live TV subscription for $49.99 instead of $69.99 per month for three months.The monthly subscription grants members access to over 75 live sports, news, and entertainment channels and access to Hulu’s streaming library (albeit with ads). But (confusingly — and randomly — enough) it also means you’ll be able to access ESPN Plus and Disney Plus, so you can stream Marvel’s latest theatrical release as well as Disney’s... Continue reading…

New Meta hardware is on the horizon. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta has announced that its Connect Conference will be livestreamed on October 11th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. In a post on the Oculus blog, the company says it’ll cover the progress it’s made on the metaverse and offer “a look at what’s to come in the near and far future.” The announcements can’t measure up to last year’s Connect, where the company changed its name from Facebook to Meta, but the company has said we’ll see information on the Horizon Worlds virtual reality app and hinted that the high-end “Project Cambria” headset will show up as well.Last month, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the company is announcing a new VR headset in October, and on Tuesday, he backed up that idea with an image he posted to Facebook. The device he’s wearing in... Continue reading…

Both tablets are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Just like with Thanksgiving, sometimes the leftovers are the best part. Sifting through some of the remaining deals from the Labor Day weekend, we’ve found some excellent discounts on Samsung’s S8 lineup of tablets. Both the standard Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and S8 Plus, for instance, are discounted by $100 at Best Buy, bringing the prices of the 128GB configurations down to $599.99 and $799.99, respectively.Both the S8 and S8 Plus bring some excellent upgrades to Samsung’s tablet lineup with the inclusion of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU, Wi-Fi 6E support, and 8GB of RAM. The S8 and S8 Plus also come loaded with Android 12 out of the box and are slated to receive updates to Android 13 down the line. They both also come packaged with... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is trying to clean up the messy state of crypto copyright. Last week, the company introduced what it dubs “Can’t Be Evil” licenses: a series of agreements that let creators grant non-fungible token owners partial or near-complete rights to NFT art. It’s fighting a problem many experts have called out — one that’s persistently undercut claims that NFTs let you “own” a work.The “Can’t Be Evil” licenses (named after a common claim about blockchain businesses) are based on the Creative Commons (CC) copyright framework. But unlike Creative Commons, which provides blanket licenses to wide swathes of people, a16z’s licenses lay out the relationship between an NFT buyer and the person who created... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The controversial creator became a thorn in YouTube’s side — then a glaring omission Continue reading…

Sony’s PlayStation hardware chief retires on October 1st. | Image: Famitsu Sony’s longtime PlayStation hardware chief is retiring on October 1st. 60-year-old Masayasu Ito, who led the engineering for both the PS4 and PS5, is retiring, as reported by Bloomberg.According to Sony communications manager Cathy Liu, responsibility for the PlayStation platform, which includes hardware engineering, security, product strategy, and design, among other things, is still led by senior vice president Hideaki Nishino. Nishino was promoted to that role in March 2021, and reports directly to SIE president Jim Ryan. Current director Lin Tao is taking over Ito’s role as deputy president and representative director of Sony’s Japan operation. Sony announced the changes in a brief press release today.Ito originally joined Sony in... Continue reading…

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty | Image: CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077 is getting its first DLC. CD Projekt Red has announced Phantom Liberty, an adventure taking place in a new district within the sprawling Night City.The trailer doesn’t reveal much — only that your protagonist, V, is taking an oath of allegiance to serve the New United States of America. Johnny Silverhand returns as the ghost in your head warning you that swearing yourself to the New United States is a “bad idea.” But just how bad could it be when you get to explore a mysterious part of the city and get awesome new weapons like a totally badass electric whip?Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red informed us that new DLC would be forthcoming but not until 2023. In the meantime, fans can scratch their Cyberpunk 2077 itch with a... Continue reading…

Image: Anker Anker’s making its smallest charger even smaller and cheaper at $22.99. The new Anker 511 Nano 3 charger is a 30-watt single USB-C charger that’s designed for fast charging an iPhone or iPad and can even power a MacBook Air — all with a charger that’s about the size of Apple’s old 5W charger it used to include with iPhones.Just like last year’s model, the Nano 3 is a gallium nitride (GaN) charger that can output more power from smaller and cooler packaging. It doesn’t use the company’s new GaNPrime tech introduced in July, but the Nano 3 does have foldable blades that make pocketing it less stabby. Image: Anker Compared to Apple’s 30W USB-C charger, the new Nano 3 is about 70 percent smaller, according to Anker. It... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge Apple’s next event is just around the corner, and die-hard fans have been scouring the latest invitation for clues about what new products and features may be in the cards. It’s a long-held belief that Apple hides things inside its event invitations, but we wondered whether this search for secrets ever bore any fruit (sorry) — and if it did, what sort of hints there are.To find out, we scoured every invitation over the past 21 years and compared them against the various products subsequently announced at each event. And it turns out, again and again, Apple buries clues in plain sight. But discerning their meaning is not so simple. Apple appears to use several frequently varied approaches to leaving hints that are often difficult to... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Brazilian government isn’t happy about Apple’s decision to stop including chargers starting with the launch of the iPhone 12 and has responded by suspending local sales of iPhones that don’t come packaged with chargers. In addition to halting some iPhone sales, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security also ordered Apple to pay a fine of R$12,275,500 (about $2.3 million USD) and canceled the iPhone 12’s registration with Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications agency that is similar to the FCC.Brazil’s ban comes just one day ahead of Apple’s Far Out event, where it’s expected to reveal the new iPhone 14 (which likely won’t come boxed with a charger). Apple can still appeal its decision to ban certain iPhone sales in the country,... Continue reading…

Image: Sony Next up on Sony’s list of colorways to coat its PS5 accessories is gray camouflage. The company released a YouTube video allegedly showing off a DualSense, Pulse 3D headset, and console covers, all clad in camouflage. I say “allegedly” because I’m taking Sony’s word for it. I can’t see the accessories, so the camo must be working.Preorders for these accessories will begin on Thursday, September 15th, and Sony details in its blog post that the DualSense and console covers will release on October 14th through its official online store in several regions. They’ll make their way to other retailers starting October 28th. The Pulse 3D headset will release in December. Hey, if you want to preorder these gadgets sight unseen, be our guest.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Signal officially has a new president.For the newly created position, the company behind the encrypted messaging app has hired Meredith Whittaker, a former Google manager and co-founder of the AI Now Institute.Whittaker made the announcement herself in a post on the Signal blog, where she outlined the strategic nature of the role in guiding the organization towards long-term sustainability.“As President I will dedicate myself to helping Signal build a long taproot so it can grow and thrive in dynamic climates,” Whittaker wrote. “In this role I will be working with Signal’s CEO and leadership, with a particular focus on guiding Signal’s strategy, ensuring our financial sustainability, sharpening and broadening Signal’s public... Continue reading…

Concept art for “The Very Pulse of the Machine” | Image: Titan Books A new book explores the visual styles behind all three seasons Continue reading…

Photo: Buick Buick is offering to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reports.In an interview with WSJ, Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred said that all 2,000 Buick franchise dealers in the US will be given the opportunity to take a buyout. Taking the buyout means the dealer will no longer be affiliated with the Buick brand and can no longer sell Buick vehicles, although they can still sell other General Motors vehicles.Buick is in the midst of rebranding as EV-only, with the goal to make the switch to 100 percent electric sales by the end of the decade. That will require dealers to spend a lot of money on upgrades, like chargers and EV-specific repair equipment.... Continue reading…

The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini is a shrunken-down version of the rumored Hero 11 Black. | Image: WinFuture GoPro’s rumored Hero 11 Black may not be the only camera the company releases this year. Leaked images shared by WinFuture indicate that GoPro’s preparing a smaller surprise that seems like a modern iteration of the now-discontinued Session action cams.The device, supposedly called the Hero 11 Black Mini, tracks with GoPro’s goals of expanding its camera lineup. It features a large camera sensor on the front alongside a single button for Bluetooth connectivity as well as folding “fingers” on the bottom for mounting. As its name implies, the Mini looks like a shrunken-down version of the upcoming Hero 11 Black, only it doesn’t come with any displays on the front or back of the device. Image: WinFuture GoPro’s line... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is considering partnering with pharmacies in Japan to deliver medications starting in 2023, according to a report from Nikkei.The plan is for Amazon to build a platform where patients can get information about the drugs they’ve been prescribed and also sign up to get those drugs delivered, Nikkei reported, based on interviews with unnamed sources involved with the project. Amazon would not operate pharmacies itself — just provide the online system.Amazon Japan declined to comment to Nikkei.People in Japan will be able to order prescriptions online after online doctor visits for the first time next year. Major pharmacies and other Japanese companies are also working on similar programs that would give patients digital access to... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge One of the new features introduced in Android 12 was the ability — if you had a Pixel phone — to automatically match your phone’s color palette to that of your wallpaper, including what Google calls Themed icons — icons that, instead of using their own colors, take on the color palette you’ve chosen as a theme.Back then, you could only theme icons that were offered by Google apps. So, for example, when I tried it out on a Pixel 3 using Android 12 beta, it changed some, but not all, of the icons on my home page into black designs against a hued background. (Quite honestly, I thought the normal multicolored icons looked much better.) Third-party icons, like the one for Slack, remained as they were.In Android 13, the ability to have your... Continue reading…

Image: Insta360 / WinFuture Insta360 is currently teasing the announcement of its “next camera” on September 8th, but WinFuture seems to have the details early. The German-language site has images and specs for the company’s new X3 360-degree action camera, which drops the “One” name from its branding and sports a larger display than its predecessor, the Insta360 One X2.WinFuture suggests that the Insta360 X3 will be rocking the same 5.7k resolution found on both previous generations of the camera, though updated image sensors should achieve 4K resolution in single-lens mode, up from the 1440p resolution featured on the One X2. Timelapse videos can be made in 8K and still photos can be taken at resolutions up to 72 megapixels.The circular touchscreen display has... Continue reading…

Apple Watch Pro size comparison based on leaked cases. | Image: Sonny Dickson (Twitter) The Apple Watch Pro leaks continue with Sonny Dickson returning with a size comparison, this time sharing images of purported cases for the 49mm Apple Watch Pro next to cases for the smaller Series 7 and upcoming Series 8 watches. The Apple Watch Pro looks much larger than the 45mm or 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 devices the company currently sells, as well as the rumored Series 8 also expected to be announced on Wednesday.The size comparison follows the leaked cases and CAD drawings from yesterday, which showed a new button to the left of the flat Apple Watch Pro display, along with a new protrusion to the right housing a mic, button, and Digital Crown that now appears to be better protected from accidental presses — something that could... Continue reading…

Streaming TV is great! Streaming ads are a mess. | Image: Peacock For the last few months, Parks & Recreation has been my go-to background show. It’s what I watch while I’m doing the laundry, trying to catch up on email, or playing a video game I’d rather not listen to. The show’s seven seasons are all on Peacock, which is handy, because so is The Office — my other background show. All of this is to say, I watch a lot of Peacock.At one point today, while half-watching another Parks & Rec episode, an ad came on that I suddenly realized I knew. And I didn’t just know it, I knew every single word of it. The jingle, especially, which ends in a sing-songy “CroppMetcalfe is the one with five stars!” That jingle has been stuck in my head for weeks, and it may never go away.I don’t blame CroppMetcalfe,... Continue reading…

Jaws is old, but it still rules | Photo: Universal Pictures This Saturday was dubbed “National Cinema Day,” in which theaters around the US cut their ticket prices to $3 in an effort to keep bringing people back to the movie theater. And it worked! More than 8.1 million people went to the movies on Saturday, Variety found, compared to 1 million the day before and 1.7 million the day after. National Cinema Day brought the biggest crowds to theaters of any day in 2022, which leads to one inevitable conclusion: people will go to movies when movies only cost three bucks. Who knew!One thing not needed to get the butts back in the seats? New movies. August has been a month-long movie doldrums, the result of so many pandemic shutdowns and general supply chain issues. Tom Cruise always has the answer,... Continue reading…