The Verge

The mission, if successful, will deploy three radio frequency monitoring satellites into low orbit. | Image: Rocket Lab Private spaceflight company Rocket Lab has announced the launch window of its debut Electron rocket mission from US soil. The “Virginia Is For Launch Lovers” mission is set to take off on January 23rd, 2023, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia from 6PM to 8PM ET.If successful, the mission will deploy three radio frequency monitoring satellites into low orbit for Virginia-based company HawkEye 360, the first of 15 to be deployed by Rocket Lab by 2024. This first mission was initially scheduled to launch in December 2022 but was pushed back due to unfavorable weather conditions.

AMD CEO Lisa Su announces the new Ryzen 7040 chip at CES 2023. | Image: David Becker/Getty Images The PC market is in rough waters, and it was for much of last year. Worldwide PC shipments fell by 16 percent in 2022, according to recent analysis by Canalys, while Gartner reported a 28.5 percent year-over-year drop in Q4 — the largest quarterly shipment decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market. Every PC maker except Apple saw year-over-year decline. Laptop sales are said to have suffered the most.This all made for a somewhat uncertain backdrop heading into CES 2023, the annual conference where tech companies show off the products they’ll be releasing in 2023. Throughout the show, executives and representatives from various PC manufacturers acknowledged that the industry has a big task ahead of it this year: keep the laptop... Continue reading…

Samsung uses the microphone in each earbud to record sound just as your ears hear it. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung is bringing a nifty new trick to its Galaxy Buds 2 Pro starting today: whenever you’re recording video, the earbuds will now be able to capture more lifelike binaural 3D audio. “The feature picks up 360-degree sound using a microphone in each earbud, placing viewers at the center of a roaring festival crowd or beside a bubbling brook in the middle of a forest,” Samsung wrote in a press release today.If you share those clips on social media and other platforms, listeners will be placed right in the middle of the sound field and able to hear the audio just as you did; it can make for a more immersive, lifelike experience compared to the standard stereo audio recorded by most smartphones and earbuds. 3D audio sounds as through... Continue reading…

Apple’s third-generation AirPods, released in 2021. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The next generation of Apple’s popular AirPods headphones could launch in the second half of 2024, or first half of 2025, according to a new prediction from noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The lineup will reportedly include a more affordable pair of AirPods priced at $99, as well as a new model of Apple’s over-ear AirPods Max headphones (released in 2020).The rumored $99 AirPods would undercut the price of Apple’s current most affordable AirPods (its second-generation model) by $30. Meanwhile, the third-generation AirPods currently sell for $169 for a model that charges via a wired Lightning cable only, or for $179 with a case that can charge wirelessly via MagSafe. Reducing the price of the entry-level AirPods model mirrors what... Continue reading…

An unofficial render of Samsung’s Galaxy S23. | Image: OnLeaks / Digit Plus, problems at Parler, and rumors of Apple-designed MicroLED displays. Continue reading…

Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty Images A Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS) began leaking coolant early last month, leading to concerns about whether the vehicle would be safe to transport ISS crew members back to Earth.NASA and Russian space agency Roscosmos have now announced they will be sending a replacement spacecraft for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin in which to travel home. A SpaceX Crew Dragon is also available as a contingency option should it be required.Roscosmos will send a replacement Soyuz called MS-23 to the ISS, launching on February 20th so it can be used to return the astronauts to Earth. This mission had been scheduled to launch in March carrying new crew... Continue reading…

The 128GB configuration of the 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro is currently discounted to $800.99 at Best Buy. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Tablets exist in a space between phones and laptops that is becoming increasingly muddled. As phones become more powerful and gain larger displays, laptops continue to get lighter. Tablet manufacturers haven’t been resting on their laurels, though. Many of the more recent tablets we’ve seen are looking to bridge the gap in terms of performance and, in select cases, handle some tasks more efficiently than both phones and laptops.The tablet spectrum is varied, too. Inexpensive models like the Amazon Fire HD 10 make for excellent media streaming devices, while those in Microsoft’s versatile Surface lineup can easily serve as ad-hoc laptops when paired with an optional folio-style keyboard. Then there’s the ubiquitous iPad, a slate that has... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Courts have unsealed Google’s motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit over its search engine — one that could fracture a core Google service in order to increase online competition. In a motion for summary judgment filed on December 12th, the company argues that the complaint misrepresents its agreements with browser developers and Android phone makers, unfairly punishing its success. “Requiring Google not to compete vigorously — or requiring browser developers to alter their product designs and provide a worse experience for their customers,” it says, “would turn competition law on its head.”The US Department of Justice and a coalition of state attorneys general sued Google in 2020, part of a multi-pronged approach to limit the web... Continue reading…

A photo of a Verily building. | Image: Verily Verily, the health-focused company housed under Google parent Alphabet, is laying off staff and announcing a sweeping reorganization, as shared in an email from CEO Stephen Gillett posted on Verily’s blog. “Approximately 15 percent of Verily roles” have been cut, Gillett said, which translates to more than 200 employees, according to The Wall Street Journal.As part of Verily’s changes, the company will be discontinuing development on its Verily Value Suite (which you can read more about on this jargon-filled page) and some “early-stage products,” Gillett wrote. It will be shifting to a centralized product organization with “increasingly connected healthcare solutions.” Gillett also detailed the new leadership team, though noted that the... Continue reading…

An M2 MacBook Air with a screen that doesn’t respond to touch. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Apple is working on Macs with touchscreens, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. While it’s uncertain whether the devices will actually come to market, Gurman says in a tweet that we could see a touchscreen MacBook Pro as early as 2025. The report also notes that the screens may use OLED technology, as opposed to the Mini LED displays that are currently in the 14- and 16-inch models.The project seems to be in relatively early stages, with engineers being “actively engaged,” according to the report. Gurman says that there are no final plans for launching touchscreen Macs and that plans could always change — we’ve seen Apple scrap projects before, and the company has made prototype Macs with touchscreens that never saw the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A database posted online claims to reveal more than 200 million associated Twitter usernames and email addresses. Now, several days after the initial reports, Twitter says the “dataset could not be correlated with the previously reported incident or any data originating from an exploitation of Twitter systems.”According to reports from security researchers and media outlets including BleepingComputer, the credentials in the leak were compiled from a number of earlier Twitter breaches dating back to 2021. According to Twitter, however, there is “no evidence that data recently being sold was obtained by exploiting a vulnerability of Twitter systems.”Its statement addresses the information in the datasets only by saying, “The data is... Continue reading…

Image: Ubisoft Skull and Bones is quickly becoming the Duke Nukem of the ‘20s as Ubisoft has announced, in response to poor overall sales and an economic downturn, that it is yet again postponing the pirate simulator.In a press release and subsequent investor call, Ubisoft said it was “surprised” that Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023 underperformed. As a result, Ubisoft said it would push the release of Skull and Bones to 2024.Delays and Skull and Bones are becoming synonymous with the game being pushed back almost every year since 2018. This latest delay, the game’s fifth overall, will put Skull and Bones — that, according to Kotaku, started in 2013 as Assassin’s Creed DLC — in its 11th year of development. Ironically, Skull and... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Royal Mail says it’s suffered from a disruption to its ability to ship packages or letters internationally, which the BBC says is because of a “cyber incident.” The courier is advising customers to “hold any export items” until it solves the issue.At the moment, it’s unclear whether the incident is an actual attack from hackers or some other technical error, though the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre says it’s working with the Royal Mail “alongside the National Crime Agency, to fully understand the impact.” The BBC also says that regulators have been told about the issue.

Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is giving its US employees unlimited time off. The announcement was made in an email to employees from Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, today in a memo seen by The Verge. Microsoft is calling its unlimited time off “Discretionary Time Off,” and it will apply to all salaried US employees.“How, when, and where we do our jobs has dramatically changed,” explains Hogan in the internal memo. “And as we’ve transformed, modernizing our vacation policy to a more flexible model was a natural next step.”The changes will start on January 16th and mean even new Microsoft employees don’t need to wait to accrue vacation time anymore. Microsoft will offer 10 corporate holidays, leaves of absence, sick and mental heath time... Continue reading…

Movano’s Evie Ring has been in the works for a while. It’s currently going through trials to get FDA clearance. | Image: Movano Every year at CES, you’ll see a lot of fascinating health tech concepts and prototypes — at-home urinary scanners, smartwatches that can noninvasively monitor blood sugar, and a wearable patch to prevent sexual dysfunction. And then, nothing ever seems to make it to market. Or if it does, it only happens years later, and often, the final product isn’t nearly as capable as the initial pitch.There are three letters why: FDA.The Food and Drug Administration is meant to protect public health. One of the many ways it does that is by regulating medical devices. This is a good thing. When human health is on the line, you want medical technology to be accurate, safe, and reliable. You want these devices to have gone through the appropriate... Continue reading…

It’s a small but notable step into livestreaming. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix will live stream the Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards beginning in 2024, the company announced on Wednesday. The news marks another push from Netflix into livestreaming, an effort that already includes a live Chris Rock comedy special on March 4th.The annual SAG Awards recognize actors in movies and TV shows. While you won’t catch this year’s ceremony, the 29th iteration, directly on Netflix this year, Netflix is still involved with streaming it. Instead, you’ll be able to watch the show, which takes place on February 26th at 8PM ET, on the company’s YouTube channel. (You can see the full list of nominees on Deadline.) Next year, the show will be on Netflix, and presumably for many years after, as Netflix and the SAG... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Tired of comparing your behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel on Instagram? (To quote Steven Furtick.) The social network has its charms, but for many, it can be a place that’s littered with envy-inducing photos and videos of everybody else’s “perfect” lives. If you’re not careful, it can trigger all sorts of insecurities — sometimes even to the detriment of your mental health.That’s why it’s important to be mindful of the type of Instagram content you’re consuming on a daily basis. While it’s easy to unfollow accounts from influencers, though, you can’t exactly unfollow or full-on block a friend or a family member without hurting some feelings. That’s where Instagram’s “mute” feature comes in handy: it lets you mute... Continue reading…

Image: LG If you love digital window shopping and you’re in the market for a TV, a gaming console, or a new monitor, then we’ve got a great deal for your perusal. At eBay, you can get an additional 20 percent off a wide range of tech products when you use code NEWYEARTWENTY on a qualifying item at checkout until 11:59PM PT January 15th / 2:59AM ET January 16th.This deal can knock a significant chunk of change off some big-ticket items, like getting LG’s 65-inch C2 OLED for $1,437.59 (normally $1,796.99), the Nintendo Switch OLED for $294.80 (normally $349.99), the LG DualUp monitor for $646.08 (regularly $699.99) or the Logitech G502 X Plus Lightspeed wireless mouse for $127.99 (regularly $159).Now, you’ll notice that those last two aren’t... Continue reading…

Angela Bassett holding her Golden Globe at the 80th Golden Globes. | Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer / FilmMagic After concerns about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s ethics and egregious lack of diversity led to the Golden Globes not being televised in 2022, the long-running awards show returned last night with host Jerrod Carmichael headlining an evening of surprising wins. While the atmosphere in the room appeared to be a bit awkward and, at times, tense as the ceremony unfolded, it was also punctuated by a number of moving, poignant speeches from some of the industry’s brightest stars.While Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans took home the most awards on the film side of things this year, it was Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan who moved the Globes audience... Continue reading…

The NFL star once served as an ambassador for FTX. | Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images Tom Brady’s weighty investment in FTX is on the verge of evaporating. New bankruptcy filings show that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback holds over 1.1 million common shares in the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, while his ex-wife and fashion model Gisele Bündchen holds around 680,000, as reported earlier by Bloomberg and Insider.The NFL star and his then-wife have served as brand ambassadors for FTX since 2021 and even appeared in a series of commercials for the exchange (which really haven’t aged well). According to an estimate from Forbes, Brady’s investment was valued at around $45 million, while Bündchen’s was worth about $25 million. In its report, Insider notes, “During typical bankruptcy proceedings, only bond holders are... Continue reading…

The Texas Gigafactory, constructed last year, serves as the Tesla global headquarters and is the “equivalent to three Pentagons,” according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. | Image: Brandon Bell/Getty Images Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has notified the state of Texas of its plans to spend upward of $770 million expanding its already immense Austin-based factory.According to registration documents filed on January 9th with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (via CNBC and the Austin Business Journal), Tesla intends to construct additional facilities for what appears to be a battery cell testing lab, cathode and drive unit manufacturing facilities, a die shop, and an undisclosed 693,093-square-foot facility called Cell 1.Some of these projects are due to start construction within a matter of weeks. Image: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation The Texas Department of Licensing and... Continue reading…

Image: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images No matter what language you speak or what part of the world you call home, one thing is certain: no one wants to miss out on a good deal.This has proven especially true in China for existing Tesla customers, who are so unhappy about recently announced price cuts to the cars — discounts they missed out on when they bought their cars — they’ve been staging protests across the country for several days now.Reuters and other outlets have reported that hundreds of Tesla owners gathered at showrooms and delivery centers in Shanghai on Saturday to express their anger over major price drops to the Model 3 and Model Y. Moreover, videos posted on social media platforms show protests in other Chinese cities like Chengdu, Henan, Wuxi, Hangzhou, and... Continue reading…

Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images A critical Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) system suffered an overnight glitch, grounding flights across the US. The FAA posted an advisory notice early Wednesday which notes that the United States NOTAM (Notice to Air Mission) system “failed,” but just before 9AM ET, said, “Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually.”NOTAM is a critical system that keeps pilots and other flight personnel informed of the status of airports across the country, Reuters reports. It can offer information on runway closures, bird hazards, and other obstacles.At 7:19AM ET, the agency said it had “ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures” until 9AM ET to give it time to “validate the integrity of flight and safety information.” At least... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is moving some Microsoft Teams features over to its more costly Premium edition. Microsoft Teams Premium has been available as a 30-day trial since last month and will soon have exclusive access to features like live translated captions, custom Together Mode scenes, and virtual appointment options.The Register spotted that Microsoft revealed the changes in a licensing guide update late last month. Microsoft admits “some Teams features will move from Teams licenses to [a] Teams Premium license” once the Premium edition launches fully in February. Microsoft will keep the features inside the regular Microsoft Teams offering for 30 days once Premium launches, though. Here’s the full list of features affected:

The Verge When Tinder launched in 2012, its creators didn’t think much of it. “We put together what would eventually become Tinder in about six to eight weeks and launched it,” says Jonathan Badeen, one of Tinder’s co-founders and inventor of the swipe. The swipe was kind of like Tinder’s secret weapon — it seems obvious now, but a decade ago, swiping transformed mobile dating by turning it into a kind of game.Swiping was fun and compulsive, keeping users on the app for hours on end. It releases dopamine, a chemical in your brain that gives you a sense of pleasure, which, according to Dinesh Moorjani, another of Tinder’s co-founders, kept users hooked on the platform. “We had some users that were using the app north of 30 to 40 times a day.”“You... Continue reading…

A Chevy Silverado EV. | Image: GM Some big names in smart homes, solar power, and electric vehicles launched a coalition yesterday to develop standards and policies for virtual power plants.The effort was initially funded by Google Nest and General Motors and will be spearheaded by the clean energy advocacy nonprofit RMI. The new coalition is called the Virtual Power Plant Partnership, or VP3, and its founding members also include Ford, solar energy companies SunPower and Sunrun, as well as smart electrical panel maker SPAN and several other energy management companies.Virtual power plants (VPPs) tap into the idea that electric vehicles and home solar systems can serve as backup power sources for the electricity gridVirtual power plants (VPPs) tap into the idea that... Continue reading…

Another CES has come and gone. And after spending a few days reflecting on what I saw at the big trade show, it’s clear that 2023 will be a relatively quiet year for TVs on the whole. There were no major breakthroughs or new standards demonstrated at the show — at least none that will make it into your living room this year.Instead, we saw a lot of iterative, predictable evolution of current home theater tech. TCL and Hisense offered up Mini LED TVs with more dimming zones than we’ve ever seen. Samsung and LG are producing the most impressive OLED TVs yet. And nearly TV maker is talking up AI and deep learning gimmicks that cover everything from adding more depth to an image to rethinking the concept of picture modes.Let’s cover some... Continue reading…

Andrew Tate (seen left, holding a book) and his brother Tristan (right of Andrew) lost their appeal against the decision to extend their pre-trial detention from 24 hours to 30 days. | Image: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images A court in Bucharest, Romania upheld the 30-day arrest of controversial influencer Andrew Tate on Tuesday, rejecting his appeal against a judge’s earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days. Tate, 36, a dual British-US citizen, was arrested on December 29th along with his brother Tristan (34) on charges of organized crime, human trafficking, and rape. Two Romanian women were also taken into custody.In a court document obtained by ABC News, the judge said “the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored,” and that they could “leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition.”“I am very disappointed. The measure seems excessive to me,” said Eugen Vidineac, the Tate brother’s lawyer,... Continue reading…

Unofficial renders of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. | Image: Onleaks / Smartprix Samsung’s upgrades for this year’s Galaxy S23 lineup include higher-resolution camera sensors and improved low light photography, according to a pair of teaser trailers posted by Samsung China. The new phones are expected to be officially announced in three weeks on February 1st at Samsung’s first in-person smartphone event since the start of the pandemic.Both teasers show off a trio of camera lenses, which are likely to represent the main, ultrawide, and telephoto cameras that’ll be seen on the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus (rumors suggest the S23 Ultra will have an additional periscope lens). One trailer says that “wow-worthy resolution is coming” with “megapixels that’ll make you say wooow.” The second says “stunning night photos... Continue reading…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple is reportedly working on designing its own in-house MicroLED displays to use in devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The report says that the screens could start showing up on devices as early as next year, following almost five years of planning and development.Currently, Apple uses displays designed and produced by a variety of vendors — the OLED panels for the iPhone 14s are reportedly made by Samsung, LG, and BOE. According to Gurman, Apple will likely still have other companies produce its displays, but they’ll be doing so using Apple’s designs and specifications rather than another firm’s.It’s a similar move to the company using its own chip designs in laptops and desktops,... Continue reading…

A collection of 100 Thieves apparel. | Image: 100 Thieves 100 Thieves, a popular gaming, esports, and lifestyle brand, laid off about 30 employees on Tuesday, according to esports journalist Jacob Wolf. The cuts hit roles in sales, marketing, content and human resources as well as senior positions including chief revenue officer, director of people, director of talent, and head of partnerships, Wolf reports.Matty Lee, the former chief revenue officer, wrote a blog post about his departure on LinkedIn. Other former staffers have been tweeting about being laid off, including one who produced and edited a splashy film released Tuesday hyping 100 Thieves’ 2023 esports jerseys.

RIP to the Twitter star. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is changing how you move between the algorithmically-driven timeline and the reverse chronological one and making the algorithmic feed the default.In a change rolling out to iOS users first, the company has taken away the star button at the top right that let you switch between two feeds. In its place are two tabs — one labeled “For You” and the other “Following” — and when you open the app, you’ll see the For You tab first. Gif: Jay Peters / The Verge What swiping between the two timelines looks like. For You, which shares a name with TikTok’s algorithmically-driven feed, is similar to the old “Home” option, which shows you tweets from the people you follow out of order, interspersed with tweets it... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Parlement Technologies, the parent company of “censorship-free” social media platform Parler, has laid off a majority of its staff and most of its chief executives over the last few weeks. The sudden purge of staff has thrown the future of Parler, one of the first conservative alternatives to mainstream platforms, into question.Parlement Technologies began laying off workers in late November, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. These layoffs continued through at least the end of December, when around 75 percent of staffers were let go in total, leaving approximately 20 employees left working at both Parler and the parent-company’s cloud services venture. A majority of the company’s executives, including its chief... Continue reading…

For over a year, the rollout of C-Band 5G around airports has been contentious. | Photo: Mitchell Clark / The Verge The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a solution to the long-running dust-up between the airline and cellular industries over 5G rollouts: stricter requirements for radio altimeters in airplanes, which would potentially go into effect early next year (via Bloomberg).The piece of safety equipment, which ties into several systems for most commercial jets, operates using radio frequencies that are similar to the 5G C-band radio waves that Verizon and AT&T have been rolling out after acquiring licenses to use the bands for billions of dollars. C-band is almost critical for 5G to live up to all the hype; it’s what allows carriers to offer incredible speeds without the minuscule range of mmWave.In theory, this shouldn’t be a... Continue reading…

You can save money when you buy two Sonos One SL speakers. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Most would agree that Sonos offers some of the best speakers and soundbars currently available. That’s because Sonos makes speakers that — more often than not — boast great sound quality, support for all the major streaming platforms, and simple multi-room functionality. Unfortunately, however, those perks often come at a high price. Sonos products aren’t cheap, and, outside of the occasional rogue discount, they rarely go on sale. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t ways to save at least a few dollars on Sonos gear.You can often, for example, score discounts on even more Sonos devices if you’re comfortable buying refurbished ones. We also occasionally see sales on Sonos’ collaborative series with Ikea and discounted... Continue reading…