The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The co-founders of the failed Three Arrows Capital (3AC) cryptocurrency hedge fund want $25 million to start up a proposed exchange, as reported earlier by The Block and Bloomberg. It will be called “GTX” — according to its leaked pitch deck — “because G comes after F,” and FTX, the once-huge exchange, is now bankrupt.But like the band Mystik Spiral, they might change the name. After a round of kicking on crypto Twitter, investment firm CoinFlex — which is partnering with the former 3AC founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu — tried to quiet the controversy by saying GTX “is a placeholder name.” Let’s hope no one has engraved it on their guitar case or anything.Part of GTX’s pitch is letting people buy and sell bankruptcy claims from failed... Continue reading…

Apple’s Intel-based Mac Pro launched in 2019. | Photo by Avery White for The Verge In the process of updating its Mac Mini lineup, Apple has discontinued the last remaining Intel-based Mac Mini computers. Its online store now lists three main variants of the miniature desktop computer powered by M2 and M2 Pro chips, with no sign of the Intel Core i5-powered model that was listed on the site as of earlier this week.Discontinuing this old Intel-powered Mac Mini means that Apple has just one computer left to transition to its own Arm-based Apple silicon chips: the Mac Pro. The company initially said it expected the transition from Intel to Apple silicon to take around two years when it first announced the initiative in June 2020, meaning it’s missed its self-imposed deadline to transition its entire Mac lineup onto its... Continue reading…

The M1 chip offers more performance headroom than the newer A15 Bionic — plus it’s paired with 8GB of RAM. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple just announced that its MacBook Pro and Mac Mini lineup are getting the latest M2 chips. That’s great news if you need a fast computer, but if you’re in the market for a speedy tablet instead, check out this $100 discount on the 2022 iPad Air that has an M1 processor. You can grab the latest model for $499.99.This might actually be the iPad for you if you’re considering Apple’s 10th-gen base iPad, which starts at $449.99. While they might look similar (that’s intentional), the iPad Air is the better choice in several ways: it’s faster, it supports the second-gen Apple Pencil with wireless charging support, its USB-C charging port supports faster data transfer, and it has a better laminated display. It also has access to a better... Continue reading…

Keychron’s Q1 Pro comes in a 75 percent layout with a volume dial. | Image: Keychron Keychron is launching a wireless version of one of its best keyboards. The new Keychron Q1 Pro has a very similar design to the company’s existing Q1 keyboard — which we think is one of the best off-the-shelf keyboards you can buy — with a gasket-mount design and aluminum case. But the difference with the $194 Q1 Pro is that it can connect via USB cable or Bluetooth, where it offers a battery life of up to 300 hours. It can remember wireless connections to up to three devices.The Q1 Pro is launching on Kickstarter today. As well as the standard fully assembled model, there’s also a bare-bones option that comes without keycaps or switches for $174. Unfortunately, you’ll need to get this bare-bones version if you’re in Europe, as the... Continue reading…

Photo by Naomi Rahim/WireImage Nick Cave isn’t too impressed with ChatGPT’s capacity for music. On his personal blog, the singer-songwriter gave a withering rebuke to a set of lyrics written by the AI chatbot “in the style of Nick Cave.”“What ChatGPT is, in this instance, is replication as travesty,” writes Cave. “ChatGPT may be able to write a speech or an essay or a sermon or an obituary but it cannot create a genuine song ... Songs arise out of suffering, by which I mean they are predicated upon the complex, internal human struggle of creation and, well, as far as I know, algorithms don’t feel.”The lyrics were submitted to Cave by a fan named Mark. The Australian musician thanks Mark but goes on to say — “with all the love and respect in the world, this song is... Continue reading…

Uber is expanding its electric vehicle partnership with Hertz to Europe. The ridehail company says it will make 25,000 EVs — mostly Tesla and Polestar vehicles — for drivers in select European capitals through Hertz by 2025.Uber drivers in London will be the first to get access to the new EVs through Hertz, with drivers in Paris and Amsterdam soon to follow. The ridehail company has announced an ambitious plan to electrify its fleet in the US and Europe by 2030, with the Hertz partnership serving as a vital piece of that effort.“Expanding our partnership with Hertz into Europe will significantly boost our transition to zero-emissions, helping drivers reduce running costs and cleaning up urban transport,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi... Continue reading…

Leaks suggest Google is working on its own first-party tracking tags to use alongside its in-development Finder Network. | Illustration: The Verge Google is reportedly working on a location tracking tag to compete with the likes of Apple’s AirTags and Tile trackers, according to developer (and reliable leaker) Kuba Wojciechowski. Wojciechowski discovered references that indicate Google is working on support for locator tags in Fast Pair — Google’s method for quickly pairing nearby Bluetooth devices — and claims in a Twitter thread that Google is developing its own first-party tracker to use with the feature (seen via Sammobile).The tracker, according to Wojciechowski, is codenamed “Grogu” (the name of the baby Yoda character from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian) alongside the alternate names “GR10” and “Groguaudio,” and is currently being developed by the Google Nest team.... Continue reading…

Samsung’s new sensor, the ISOCELL HP2. | Image: Samsung The Samsung ISOCELL HP2 is a new 200-megapixel camera sensor whose specs precisely match what’s rumored to be in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. These include a size of 1/1.3” and 0.6-micrometer (μm) pixels. It’s been announced just weeks before the Galaxy S23 Ultra is widely expected to be unveiled on February 9th.Samsung has been producing 200-megapixel sensors for years, but so far it’s yet to include such a high resolution sensor on its own flagship smartphones. Last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example, included a 108-megapixel sensor for its main camera, but its new sensor almost doubles the resolution. Here’s my colleague Allison Johnson on why this matters:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Plus new rumors about the fifth Galaxy Fold. Continue reading…

“I know it’s just a hunk of plastic, but there’s just so much you can tell from it.” | Dave2D YouTuber Dave2D posted a video with a plastic mockup of the rumored Pixel foldable. The details are consistent with earlier leaks. Good news for foldables nerds! Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you’ve searched for external SSDs on Amazon.com recently, you may have noticed something weird: mixed in with the 1TB and 2TB drives from brands like Samsung and SanDisk are a bunch of listings for 16TB SSDs, mostly around $100, and with surprisingly high user ratings. Every single one is a scam, even if they’re shipped by Amazon.Josh Hendrickson — Editor-in-Chief of Review Geek — bought one of the “16TB SSDs” and tore it down to reveal a generic 64GB microSD card on a USB 2.0 card reader. Adrian Kingsley-Huges, writing for ZDNet in May 2022, found the exact same thing. Different packaging and different case colors, but the same trick.The Verge confirmed that several fake 16TB drives showed up on the first page of results for... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A judge has ordered a group of laid-off Twitter employees to drop their class action lawsuit against the company, which accuses Twitter of not following through on its promised severance pay package, as reported earlier by Bloomberg and Reuters. In a ruling on Friday, US District Judge James Donato states that the workers must make their case in private arbitration instead, citing the employment contract they signed with Twitter.According to the ruling, Twitter’s contract “expressly” states that arbitration isn’t mandatory, and also provides an option for employees to opt out of the procedure. The judge says employees failed to opt out of arbitration, which would’ve given them a chance to settle things in court. Twitter’s contract also... Continue reading…

Way back before the tudum sound, it was just the sweet sweet sound of a disc spinning up. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix streaming is getting into its angsty teenage years, as today marks 15 years since it launched its streaming services. It’s easy to forget what things were like before the age of streaming, but a decade-and-a-half ago, if you had a Netflix subscription, that meant paying a monthly subscription for a rotation of DVDs mailed to your door.But while things are vastly different today, and Netflix has grown into a juggernaut in the entertainment world, the chatter even then was all about Netflix’s competition — though, in this case, instead of Amazon, Apple, and Warner Discovery: it was Blockbuster.Perusing this New York Times article about Netflix “delivering movies to the PC” at the launch of the service back in 2007 is like peering... Continue reading…

The new AirPods Pro look just like the first-gen model, but what counts are the improvements on the inside. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple’s latest generation of the AirPods Pro are back down to their lowest price, compliments of Verizon. The noise-canceling wireless earbuds are on sale for $199.99 when you click “continue” on Verizon’s site, where the $50 discount is reflected in your cart. This is a great deal for one of the best pairs of wireless earbuds you can buy, but don’t fret if you’re not a Verizon service subscriber — just click “checkout as guest” and anyone can take advantage of this deal.The second generation of AirPods Pro look nearly identical to the original model, but Apple made some significant changes to their performance and handling. They may not be the current noise cancellation champs, but the ANC is much improved over the previous model.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Have you ever wanted to be woken from a dreamy slumber by the sound of your partner screaming at you to get out of bed, or perhaps your parents nagging you to get up for school? Well, Google has just the app update for you. The latest Android Clock app on Pixel devices now lets you record your own alarm and timer sounds. Ideal if you want to be woken slowly to the calming sounds of whales or something a lot more chaotic.XDA-developers reports that Google has made it easier to set custom audio as your alarm sounds with the latest Clock app. While you could set custom audio recordings before, you’d have to copy the files over using a file manager app and then add them using the alarm sound settings. Now you don’t have to do all of that... Continue reading…

A total of $2,642,493 was raised over AGDQ 2023 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. | Image: Games Done Quick Games Done Quick has raised more than $2.6 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation at its first video game speedrunning event of 2023. While falling short of matching the $3.4 million raised during AGDQ 2022 last year, the cash raised at AGDC 2023 brings the total amount raised for charity to date by Games Done Quick to $43 million (seen via Kotaku).The organization, which holds two charity video game marathons each year — Awesome Games Done Quick in January, and Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ), usually held in late June or early July — announced the total sum raised on Twitter, alongside the hashtag “#ThankYouMike.” Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama announced last week that he would be stepping down from the charity after 13 years... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tweetbot is down again. The Twitter client briefly became available in the midst of an outage that locked users out of major third-party Twitter clients.While users could sign in to Tweetbot and browse through tweets, some said they couldn’t post anything to Twitter through the service without getting an error message stating they’ve reached a “data limit.” But now users say they can’t sign in at all.“And now dead again, along with some old unused API keys, which proves that this was intentional and we and others were specifically targeted,” Tweetbot co-creator Paul Haddad writes on Mastodon. “I wouldn’t have swapped out the keys in the first place if there was even a shred of communication.”The client didn’t come back online... Continue reading…

The crease is still pretty noticeable on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 could come with a much less visible crease thanks to a potential design change. According to a report on the Korean site Naver, Samsung could adopt a “droplet”-style hinge that allows the display to form a teardrop shape when closed, making for a much gentler curve that leaves less of a crease (via SamMobile).While Samsung has certainly made improvements to the crease over the years, it’s still pretty noticeable on its fourth-gen foldables. Both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 use a “U”-shaped hinge design that puts the display at a sharper angle when closed. This creates a more prominent crease and also puts more stress on the display.Other folding smartphones have already... Continue reading…

There was a problem accessing your account. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It’s been a few days since pretty much every major third-party Twitter client broke, and developers say they still haven’t heard anything from the company about what’s going on. The issues seemed to begin on Thursday evening, with some users reporting that they were getting errors related to authentication.The silence from the company has been pretty much complete. “Still no official/unofficial info from inside Twitter,” said Tweetbot co-creator Paul Haddad in a Mastodon post. “We’re in the dark just as much as you are,” read a Friday blog post from Iconfactory, the company behind Twitterific.As of Sunday afternoon, there haven’t been any tweets about the plight of third-party apps from either the official Twitter account, the T... Continue reading…

England already has restrictions on plastic straws, drink stirrers, and cotton swabs. | Photo By Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images England’s taking its single-use plastics ban even further by restricting the sale of plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, trays, balloon sticks, as well as certain kinds of polystyrene cups and food containers (via Engadget). According to an announcement on the English government’s website, the new ban will go into effect in October of this year.Once the ban comes into force, people will no longer be able to buy or obtain these single-use plastics from businesses, including retailers, restaurants, food vendors, and other locations.The ban won’t affect the plastic plates, trays, or bowls that come with pre-packaged food items, though, as they’re already included in the country’s Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme. This initiative... Continue reading…

Nova’s H1 Audio Earrings come with an equally stylish charging case. | Image: Nova These may look like your typical pair of earrings outfitted with — rather large — pearls, but they’re more than just jewelry: they actually double as ultra-discrete earbuds (via Gizmodo). The clip-on or stud H1 Audio Earrings from Nova Audio feature two speakers behind both pearls (which are real, by the way) that use directional sound to transmit audio up and into your ears.Nova says the technology adds “a layer of sound” to your environment, allowing you to hear what’s going on around you while still enjoying your audio, similar to Sony’s open-style LinkBuds or Aftershokz’s bone-conduction headphones. That means they don’t have any noise-cancellation properties, which could come in handy for athletes who want to remain aware of their... Continue reading…

Can Tesla remain the leader in the modern electric vehicle market it effectively created?That question has been on the mind of EV buyers, investors, analysts, industry watchers, and Elon Musk stans for months now. That’s especially been the case as questions over demand in China and the US — not to mention the Twitter drama — seemed to cast a shadow on the electric automaker’s success story.On Thursday night, Tesla revealed its answer to this problem, at least for now: steep price cuts on its lineup of cars, which in some cases amount to as much as 30 percent off when the latest EV tax credits are applied as well.Can Tesla remain the leader in the modern electric vehicle market it effectively created?Moreover, some of the price... Continue reading…

House Financial Services chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) announced the new subcommittee on Thursday. | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Republican lawmakers announced a new panel on Thursday that will oversee the cryptocurrency industry, as reported earlier by Politico and CNBC. Led by Representative French Hill (R-AR), the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion aims to provide “clear rules of the road” for federal regulators.Some other duties include promoting financial technology to underserved communities, as well as strengthening “diversity and inclusion” in the crypto industry, which has been subject to increased scrutiny following the stunning implosion of FTX. Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, tells Politico that he created the panel to address a “big hole” in how the... Continue reading…

Saving on a gift card is an easy way to get a slight discount on games that aren’t actually on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Happy Saturday! It’s time to take a load off, and what better way is there than some sweet savings? If you’re in the market for some digital games or DLC for your console of choice, Eneba is running some handy promos that shave a little off the cost. Right now, for example, you can get a digital gift card for either the PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch digital storefront for up to 20 percent off. Here are the details:

The 27-inch smart TV part is merely adequate, especially for $999, but the elegant stand could make it worth it for some people. Continue reading…

A Tesla Model Y at a recent trade show. | Photo by Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images Plus more information on Royal Mail’s ongoing cybersecurity incident, and a neat new Nvidia feature. Continue reading…

Neither of these AE86s take gas. | Image: Toyota The “E” in the name of Toyota’s legendary AE86 was there to designate it as a Corolla, but wouldn’t it be awesome if it stood for “electric” instead? Apparently someone at the company thought so; Toyota is showing off a concept version of what the 80s icon would look like if it were powered by batteries (or hydrogen). The two cars are being exhibited at the Tokyo Auto Salon show, which runs from January 13th to the 15th.The AE86 BEV Concept uses “electrification technologies cultivated by Lexus,” according to Toyota’s website, with parts from a hybrid Tundra and Prius. Mated to the truck motor is something you don’t usually see in electric cars — a manual transmission. I can’t say I’m exactly sure what driving stick with a motor that... Continue reading…

A crew works to replace older EVgo fast charging stations through its new ReNew program. | Image: EVgo When electric vehicle owners take longer trips, they often rely on nationwide fast charging providers like EVgo, Electrify America, and ChargePoint to reach their destinations. So it can be more than a minor inconvenience for EV drivers if they arrive at a station with problems like damaged cables, disconnected modems, or annoying error codes.This year, EVgo is looking to leave behind broken and unreliable EV chargers with its ReNew program that bolsters site maintenance efforts across its more than 850 fast charging stations with 1,700 or so charging stalls. It’ll also upgrade older stations with new hardware that enables up to 350kW charging for capable vehicles like the GMC Hummer EV.The backbone of the ReNew program is,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Friday afternoon, Microsoft wrote it’s fully deployed a fix for an issue in Windows that caused application shortcuts in the Start menu or taskbar to disappear. Multiple IT admins detailed the problem on Twitter and Reddit this morning, and Microsoft confirmed it was related to a recent update to the Microsoft Defender threat detections.The problem is affecting businesses and organizations using Microsoft 365 and Defender for protection against malware, viruses, and other threats. In a note to customers, Microsoft said it received reports that a certain attack surface reduction (ASR) rule is causing the problems. Earlier in the day, IT admins tried to work around the issue by setting the “Block Win32 API calls from Office macro” rule... Continue reading…

A promo still for Netflix’s Agent From Above. | Image: Netflix The upcoming Netflix show Agent From Above tried to film its star up close with a drone — and Taiwanese actor Kai Ko got stitches, and possibly worse, when things went wrong (via DroneDJ).We don’t have many confirmed details on what happened during the December 27th shoot other than that they were filming an action scene close-up when the drone hit him in the face, slashing his cheek.“Standard safety guidelines”Ko’s manager told Taiwanese media that the star suffered “serious disfigurement” and needed up to 30 stitches after the drone exploded. Production companies mm2 and Good Films say “there was no explosion or blades shattering as reported in some articles,” claim it was operating “within standard safety guidelines,” and say that... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is testing free ad-supported TV channels that show content from certain media companies, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The concept is similar to services like Pluto TV, Roku’s Live TV channels, or the experiences built into TVs from companies like Samsung, LG, and Vizio — there will be a “hub” that lets you pick what you want to watch.The concept has been part of a profitable business model for some of the other companies in the space, as earnings reports from Vizio and Roku show that they make more profit from advertising and commissions on subscriptions than they do from selling hardware. The most recent reports showed Vizio (PDF) pulls in an average of $27 annually per user, while Roku (PDF) manages to... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Stadia will shut down on January 18th, 2023. Here, you’ll find the latest developments on the service as its winds down as well as pieces from our writers on its impact (or lack of it) on the gaming and tech industry. Continue reading…

Strava, an official price chart would be nice. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge No one likes price hikes, but Strava’s messy rollout has left many customers wondering what’s happening to their subscription. Here’s what’s actually happening: the company is raising prices for the first time in more than a decade, and the new price everyone pays depends on the region they live in, whether they are a monthly or annual subscriber, and whether they purchased their subscription prior to November 23rd, 2022. (Customers who subscribed after that date aren’t affected.) But Strava didn’t make this easy to understand.As spotted by sports blogger DC Rainmaker and r/Strava Redditors, things got confusing when customers started comparing notes on Strava’s price bump. Customers on r/Strava say emails were sent to some, while... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google is launching its final Stadia game today and is promising to release a tool next week to enable Bluetooth connections on its Stadia Controller. The last Stadia game to launch on the service is Worm Game, a test game that was technically available on Stadia before Stadia launched publicly in November 2019. Developers at Google have decided to release the game just before the streaming service disappears next week.“Worm Game is a humble title we used to test many of Stadia’s features, starting well before our 2019 public launch, right through 2022,” says Google in its listing for the newly published title. “It won’t win Game of the Year, but the Stadia team spent a LOT of time playing it, and we thought we’d share it with you.... Continue reading…