The Verge

The iPad and iPhone are growing apart. | Photo by David Pierce / The Verge Apple has confirmed that iPadOS 16.0 won’t be getting a public release and that the tablet-centered OS won’t be coming out until after iOS starts hitting phones. In a statement to TechCrunch, attributed only to “the company,” it said: “we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.”Despite Apple traditionally releasing iPadOS and iOS together, it’s always felt like this decoupling was a possibility ever since Apple split out the iPad’s operating system as a separate entity in 2019. (And indeed, the first version of iPadOS released as 13.1, less than a week after iOS 13’s messy initial rollout.) Still, it’s a pretty big change of pace for... Continue reading…

Adi Robertson using the Quest 2. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Meta will now allow users of its Quest VR headsets to log in with a new Meta account instead of a Facebook account, the company announced on Tuesday. The company had said in July that this change would be rolling out in August, and it marks a shift from an unpopular policy announced in 2020 that required users to log in to their headsets with a Facebook account instead of a separate Oculus account.Users can create Meta accounts through the Meta mobile app using an email address, Facebook account, or Instagram account. Once you create a Meta account, you’ll need to set up a linked Meta Horizon social profile that will be used in VR. As with Facebook accounts before, you’ll need one of these accounts to use a Quest headset.“Our new Meta... Continue reading…

Image: Amazon The latest trailer for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series gives us the best look yet at the mysterious, raggedy dude from the previous teasers. He’s not officially confirmed to be Gandalf, but I’m calling it: that’s Gandalf. That’s Gandalf, ahead of schedule for once, coming to Middle-earth one Age early to hang out with hobbits while the rest of the cast is busy yelling, climbing ice cliffs, swinging swords, forging rings, and getting absolutely bamboozled by hot Sauron. And that’s why the show could be great.

Image: Fitbit Fitbit teased a new wearable that it’ll reveal tomorrow during a special product event. The company posted a shadowy close-up of what looks like a new Fitbit Sense or Versa device on Twitter, and lo and behold: there’s a physical button again.Back in May, a photo of a smartwatch made the rounds online that was purportedly a leaked Fitbit Versa 4. Verge resident wearables tech reviewer Victoria Song laid out why so many athletes and athleisure-wearing workout cosplayers believe it was a mistake on Fitbit’s part to remove the physical buttons on the Sense, Versa 3, Charge 5, and Inspire 2 in favor of confusing touch-sensitive ones. Deputy editor Thomas Ricker had a higher opinion of the Garmin Epix 2’s touchscreen approach, but that... Continue reading…

“Not actual gameplay footage,” unfortunately. | Image: Tilt Five Catan, one of the most critically acclaimed board games ever made and one that averages over a million copies sold per year, is about to leap off the tabletop thanks to a unique augmented reality gaming system that’s been in development for over a decade now. Tilt Five, a startup founded by a former Valve engineer, has just announced that a 3D holographic version of the game, dubbed Catan — Tilt Five AR, will arrive in spring 2023.Unfortunately, the video below doesn’t really give us a look at the game, but the company says you can play it around a table, solo against “classic AI opponents,” or online with other players around the world. And you’ll be able to “interact with the Catan island in new ways using the Tilt Five Wand and... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Hello! I am back from my travels and am in New York only for a bit before flying off to Dallas for Podcast Movement (I just got an “on time” notification from American Airlines, but I am not holding my breath). There will be a fair amount of star power at the conference (Mark Cuban! Audie Cornish!), but I am most looking forward to getting some face time with Hot Pod readers. Also, the gossip — you know I live for the gossip.Today, YouTube is making some podcast moves, and Meghan Markle finally debuts her Spotify podcast.Exclusive: (another) study shows YouTube is the most-used podcast platformI am aware I sound like a broken record, but we really need to be keeping an eye on how YouTube could wield its power in the podcasting space.... Continue reading…

Image: Yelp Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Yelp announced Tuesday that it would add a new consumer notice to crisis pregnancy centers to better distinguish them from clinics that provide abortion services.Starting today, Yelp’s new notices will appear at the top of faith-based and non-faith-based crisis pregnancy center listings in the app, as first reported by Axios. The new feature prominently displays an alert notifying users that these centers “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.”Since 2018, Yelp says it has recategorized “thousands” of business listings that may mislead abortion seekers searching for care online. Crisis pregnancy centers often... Continue reading…

Heads Up! is arriving on Netflix, with exclusive decks based on shows like Stranger Things. | Image: Netflix Ellen’s popular mobile charades app Heads Up! is coming to Netflix today as an exclusive version of the game, set to feature 28 new card decks from popular series like Stranger Things, Bridgerton and Squid Game.More general entertainment decks are also available for genres like anime, true crime, and baking shows, so chances are if you watch any exclusive Netflix content on the regular, you’ll find a category that takes your fancy. The announcement of the new game also states that it will be available to play in 13 new languages on both Android and iOS devices.“Doubling our catalog to over 50 games by the end of the year”Today’s news comes a few weeks after it was revealed that Netflix’s games only see 1.7 million daily users, meaning... Continue reading…

The Home Bridge Hub has been discontinued. It was designed to connect Liftmaster and Chamberlain smart garage door openers with myQ technology — such as this Liftmaster Secure View opener — to Apple’s HomeKit platform. | Image: Liftmaster Chamberlain Group, makers of myQ connected garage door openers, is discontinuing its myQ Home Bridge Hub, a device whose sole purpose was to connect myQ-enabled garage doors to Apple’s HomeKit smart home platform.myQ is a smart garage door controller technology that is built into a garage door opener or a separate retrofit wireless hub and connects your garage door to Wi-Fi. This lets you open and close it from anywhere using the myQ smartphone app.The myQ Home Bridge Hub, which extended that control to the Apple Home app, has been out of stock on Chamberlain’s website for a few weeks, and the company confirmed to The Verge that it’s been discontinued.“As our products continue to evolve, we have decided to discontinue production of... Continue reading…

Image: NASA An early look at the view of Jupiter captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, hinted at how precise and detailed our new view of the planet would be. But this week, NASA released another set of photos showing the cloud cover, rings, and moons of Jupiter in remarkable detail — and it was even better than scientists were hoping for.“We hadn’t really expected it to be this good, to be honest,” said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, professor emerita of the University of California, Berkeley, in a press release. “It’s really remarkable that we can see details on Jupiter together with its rings, tiny satellites, and even galaxies in one image.”The telescope uses a camera with three filters that translate infrared light... Continue reading…

Image: Bungie Bungie is teaming up with Epic Games for a Destiny 2 crossover with Fortnite and Fall Guys. The collaboration will see Bungie and Epic Games create skins for Destiny 2 and Fortnite, along with gliders, pickaxes, back blings, and even a Destiny-inspired creative map for Fortnite. Destiny skins will also be available in Fall Guys.Three Fortnite-inspired skins will appear in Destiny 2, and three Destiny-inspired armor ornaments will appear in Fortnite. The Destiny 2 ornaments will be based on Fortnite’s Drift, Oblivion, and Black Knight skins. In Fortnite, players will be able to run around as Zavala, Exo Stranger, or Ikora thanks to new skins. Image: Bungie Destiny 2 characters in Fortnite. The collab goes even... Continue reading…

Masahiro Sakurai’s final daily screenshot from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. | Image: Masahiro Sakurai on Twitter Masahiro Sakurai will no longer be posting a daily screenshot of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Twitter, he announced Monday evening. He’s already teasing another project of some kind, though it apparently won’t be something we’ll see daily.“This concludes the daily Smash Ultimate screens I’ve been posting since Dec. 2019. Thank you for your support!” he said in a tweet. “However...I’ve been thinking about starting something new. (This time it won’t be daily, though.)” He encourages fans to check back “around this time tomorrow” for more information, so if you want to be the first to learn what’s in the works, you might want to keep an eye on his feed at about 11PM ET.

Image: Bungie Destiny 2 is arriving on the Epic Games Store today. The latest expansion of Bungie’s looter shooter comes just as Epic and Bungie announce a special Destiny 2 and Fortnite crossover that will involve skins, maps, and more. The expansion to the Epic Games Store will also see Destiny 2’s recent 30th Anniversary go free on the Epic Games Store.Bungie will also make The Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and other DLCs free for a week across all available Destiny 2 platforms. Stadia, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC players will all be able to access previous DLCs for the week to coincide with the Epic Games Store launch.Bungie’s move to the Epic Games Store is part of a broader expansion for Destiny 2 across digital game stores and platforms. Destiny 2... Continue reading…

This LG air purifier doubles as a table and a wireless charger and can switch between eight preset “mood lighting” options. | Image: LG LG’s latest attempt to make air purifiers more “innovative” and less of an eyesore has come to fruition with its range of Aero Furniture, a collection of tables with an air purifier, mood lighting, and wireless charging for your gadgets shoved inside.The PuriCare Objet Collection Aero Furniture design features a rounded tower base that houses the air 360-degree purifier and a flat surface atop that contains a wireless charging pad for compatible gadgets such as phones or earbuds. Actual wattage was not provided for the wireless charging, but LG states that fast charging is available for Samsung Galaxy (9-10W) and Apple iPhone (7.5W) phones.“360-degree air purification and user-friendly features”This range is not directly advertised as... Continue reading…

Image: Bungie Bungie first teased its next major Destiny 2: Lightfall expansion more than two years ago, and since then, players have gained control of the Darkness, fought Savathûn and her undead army, and witnessed... The Witness. Now it’s time to shake things up again with the launch of Destiny 2: Lightfall on February 28th, with its new cyberpunk world, new Strand subclasses, and much more.It’s also the final battle of the epic light vs. dark saga of Destiny.At the center of Destiny 2: Lightfall is an unusual new location for Bungie’s franchise that’s heavily cyberpunk. A new hidden Neomuna city on Neptune serves as a dystopian futuristic setting for the continuation of Destiny 2’s storyline, which will see the return of Calus as the main... Continue reading…

Sony’s flagship console is now commonly sold in a bundle with Horizon Forbidden West and is much easier to get. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Sony’s PlayStation 5 has not been nearly as hard to get as it once was. With a mix of increased supply and easing demand, it’s almost easy to get one — even if you don’t yet see rows of them in stock at USA stores. However, Walmart is running another one of its restock events for paying Walmart Plus subscribers. The major retailer will have the standard disc-equipped PlayStation 5 Horizon Forbidden West bundle for $549 today at 3PM ET / 12PM PT.Since Sony itself has been running frequent restocks of the Horizon bundle several times a week, and with some of them having availability windows stretching into the next day, it feels a little backward to pay Walmart extra money just to get the console. Granted, if you already subscribe to... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge The brands are at it again Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Patrick Hillmann, chief communications officer at the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, claims scammers made a deepfake of him to trick contacts into taking meetings.Writing in a blog post titled “Scammers Created an AI Hologram of Me to Scam Unsuspecting Projects,” Hillmann claims that a “sophisticated hacking team” used video footage of interviews and TV appearances to create the fake. Says Hillmann: “Other than the 15 pounds that I gained during COVID being noticeably absent, this deep fake was refined enough to fool several highly intelligent crypto community members.”The only direct evidence Hillmann offers for the claim is a screenshot of a conversation with an anonymous individual who claims to have had a Zoom call with... Continue reading…

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge How long does it take a fledgling hardware startup to deliver a major Android update to its first smartphone? In the case of Nothing, we’re looking at several months and a turn of the calendar into 2023. As noted by Android Authority, the company has confirmed that its impressive Phone 1 will receive Android 13 “in the first half of 2023.” That could disappoint at least some buyers who’d hoped the near-stock Android device would get the latest version sometime this year.“Before releasing, we want to fine tune the software upgrade with Nothing’s hardware,” the company’s statement reads. Android 13 was released for Google’s Pixel lineup last week, with Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, Sony, Xiaomi, Asus, and other companies planning to roll... Continue reading…

The Basilisk V3 Pro looks a lot like the wired model. | Image: Razer Razer has just announced a new model of its Basilisk gaming mouse. Dubbed the Basilisk V3 Pro, the shape and layout of the V3 Pro are virtually identical to the standard V3, with its claw-shaped design and 11 programmable inputs, and includes some of the hardware improvements that we saw with the standard Basilisk V3 — namely Razer’s new optical switches, RGB underglow, and a scroll wheel that can dynamically shift between tactile and free-spin modes based on how fast you spin it. The V3 Pro also brings a couple of new upgrades by including wireless connectivity and a more powerful 30K DPI sensor. The release of the V3 Pro also brings with it Razer’s new wireless charging dock, which adds options for wireless charging and a 4K Hz polling... Continue reading…

Morfydd Clark as Galadriel. | Amazon Studios Almost as if in response to House of the Dragon’s fixation with the brutalization of its female characters, the latest trailer for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a reminder that a woman’s place can also be on the battlefield.Though The Rings of Power’s an ensemble show spotlighting many of the historic figures who rose up to fight Sauron as he first began coming into power during Middle Earth’s Second Age, it’s also an exploration of how Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) became a legend. In the new trailer, it’s the death of Galadriel’s brother — likely her elder brother Finrod (Will Fletcher) — that pushes her to pick up a sword and set out on an adventure that brings her face to face with people like Dwarven Prince... Continue reading…

Hisense’s U8H LED TV is nearly half off today at Best Buy. | Image: Hisense If you’re in the market for an excellent 4K TV — whether to game or enjoy fantasy epics like HBO’s House of the Dragon and the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show — Best Buy is currently selling Hisense’s new U8H Series TV in the 55-inch configuration for just $699.99 ($450 off). This is the best price we’ve seen on one of the more premium offerings in Hisense’s 2022 “ULED” TV lineup, which sits just underneath the brighter U9H Series.In terms of features, the Mini LED TV sports a speedy 120Hz refresh rate and built-in support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can issue voice commands whether you’re embedded in Amazon or Google’s ecosystem. It also includes support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus, along with... Continue reading…

Turtle Beach announced PlayStation versions of its flagship Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max ($199.95) and the slightly less feature-filled Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max ($129.95) wireless gaming headsets. They’re available to preorder now, and they’ll release on October 2nd, 2022. These are almost identical to the Xbox-specific version released earlier in 2022 down to some of the same colorway options, consisting of all black with some silver accents or blue with bronze accents. But there’s one big change in the newer PlayStation-specific versions that I think might actually disappoint some gamers who aren’t in the know: the wireless audio transmitter isn’t compatible with Xbox.Looking back at the Stealth 700 and 600 Gen 2 Max editions for Xbox, the... Continue reading…

CloudKitchens is owned by Uber founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. | Stephen Lam / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images For some budding restauranteurs, CloudKitchens might sound like a great opportunity to get off the ground. The service, owned by Uber founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, promises restaurateurs delivery-only kitchens in rented warehouse spaces with low startup fees. But a report from Insider reveals that many CloudKitchens operators are struggling to keep their business alive due to a lack of both safety and technical support.One restauranteur told Insider she was met with a clogged sink and filthy oven hood during her first day on the job. That wasn’t all — she also had to deal with a clogged toilet, faulty sink, and a pile of garbage in her parking lot, contradicting the on-site maintenance, cleaning, and trash services CloudKitchens... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Volkswagen signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian government to “explore opportunities” to bring some of its electric vehicle battery manufacturing to the country.The move is seen as an effort to ensure that the automaker’s plug-in vehicles qualify for the US’s revamped EV tax credits, which place stricter requirements on where battery and vehicle manufacturing can be done.VW says it plans to build a “dedicated Gigafactory” somewhere in North America, and today’s agreement most likely increases Canada’s chances of being selected as the location.VW says it plans to build a “dedicated Gigafactory” somewhere in North AmericaThe automaker is tasking its battery supply management company, Power Co, with spearheading the... Continue reading…

Laura Normand / The Verge This morning CNN and The Washington Post reported new whistleblower claims by Twitter’s former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, that the company’s statistics on bot activity are misleading, its security approach sucks, and that execs aren’t incentivized to look further.The timing of the report is key, given Elon Musk’s arguments about why he should be allowed to break his agreement to buy Twitter for $44 billion, and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has responded to the charges in an email sent to employees, posted to Twitter by CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan.

Your rings shouldn’t be arbitrary. They should reflect your lifestyle and fitness goals. | Samar Haddad / The Verge Apple makes a big deal out of closing your rings, but sometimes we all need a little help doing that. Whether you’re injured and need a rest day or want to challenge yourself, you can edit your fitness goals directly from your Apple Watch or iPhone.The three rings Apple uses are the red Move ring, the green Exercise ring, and the blue Stand ring. When you set up your Apple Watch, your Move goal is automatically set based on your demographic data, such as height, weight, age, and gender. The default Exercise and Stand goals are 30 minutes and 12 hours, respectively. These rings used to be limited to Apple Watch owners, but starting with iOS 16, Apple’s making the Fitness app available to all iPhone users.These are fine goals, but they... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The days of Twitch partner exclusivity are over. Twitch told partnered streamers in an email this morning that the platform was lifting its long-standing exclusivity agreement that denied partners the ability to stream on other services. Partners will now be able to stream on YouTube, Facebook Live, and other platforms — though in some cases, Twitch still limits what they’re able to do.“Starting today, you are now allowed to create live content on other platforms,” Twitch wrote to streamers.In the email, Twitch recognized that streamers use multiple platforms to connect with their communities and said this move would grant them greater flexibility to grow those audiences off-platform. Content creators can now go live on other platforms... Continue reading…

Don’t let the colorway fool you. The Xbox-styled Nova 7X Wireless works with the same consoles and platforms as the other colorways. | Image: SteelSeries The barrier to entry for SteelSeries’ flagship wireless gaming headset, the Nova Pro Wireless, is quite high at $350. That price will likely be worth it to some people, but if you’re cool with getting just a fraction of that headset’s features in a $179.99 package, the Nova 7 Wireless has your name on it. It’s missing swappable batteries, active noise cancellation, and the handy wireless base station for making quick adjustments. But it keeps some of the Nova Pro Wireless’ most important features, like the simultaneous multisource audio coming in from Bluetooth and its 2.4GHz USB-C audio transmitter.Along with some even more affordable wired headsets that SteelSeries is announcing today, the Nova 7 riffs on the Pro’s refreshed design,... Continue reading…

The mid-tier SteelSeries Arena 7 includes screen-mimicking RGB lighting and a subwoofer (not pictured). | Image: SteelSeries SteelSeries is introducing a new line of gaming-focused desktop PC speakers that provide booming sound and options for RGB lighting and 5.1 surround. The new SteelSeries Arena speakers are split into three different products — Arena 3, Arena 7, and Arena 9 — offering options ranging from simple to more ornate setups. I got to try out the Arena 3 and Arena 7, which I envision most people opting for over the pricey top-tier model. Here’s what they’re all about.Starting at the bottom, the $129.99 Arena 3 is a no-frills two-channel arrangement with four-inch drivers for PCs, Macs, and other devices via its 3.5mm connection. The Arena 7 takes the base speakers and adds programmable RGB lighting, a floor-standing subwoofer, and PlayStation... Continue reading…

Blue jeans are an iconic staple of just about any wardrobe. But all that denim has a dirty secret: the dye that makes blue jeans so ubiquitous is actually made from fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. For thousands of years, when humans wanted to get a deep blue color, they used natural indigo from Indigofera plants. But in 1897, German chemists started selling a cheaper synthetic version for industrial use. Most pairs of jeans today are dyed with synthetic indigo.It’s hard to say just how many jeans are made each year, but most estimates are in the billions. To get that blue color, over 70,000 tons of indigo dye are made each year. When the dye (and garment dyes in general) isn’t handled properly, it can end up polluting waterways,... Continue reading…

YouTube TV’s interface as of February 2021. | Image: Google YouTube TV, Google’s take on cable TV, could soon let viewers watch up to four live streams simultaneously in a new feature called “Mosaic Mode” reports Protocol. That’s according to a non-public presentation Google gave to its smart TV hardware partners, in which the search giant also discussed optimizations coming for YouTube Shorts on the big screen, as well as new YouTube Music functionality.Mosaic Mode brings to mind a similar feature that was available with Sony’s now-defunct PlayStation Vue service. Although it was announced in a presentation for Google TV and Android TV hardware manufacturers, Protocol notes that the feature is likely to eventually arrive on non-Android smart TVs from Samsung and LG given that Google likes to... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft could be preparing to name its next big OS update the “Windows 11 2022 Update.” References to this naming have appeared in near-final versions of the next big Windows 11 release, currently named 22H2. Twitter user XenoPanther spotted the Windows 11 2022 Update naming in the Get Started app that appears when you set up a new PC.The naming could simply be a placeholder, or it could indicate Microsoft is finally simplifying its often confusing update names for Windows. We’ve seen a variety of names over the years, including the Creators Update naming for a big Windows 10 update, more mundane naming like the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, and more recently, the Windows 10 21H2 moniker.Microsoft had considered naming its updates... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta has confirmed that it’s internally prototyping a new Instagram feature that’s suspiciously similar to BeReal, the social media app that’s recently exploded in popularity. The so-called “IG Candid” feature discovered by leaker Alessandro Paluzzi mirrors BeReal by prompting the user to share an authentic photo at a random time each day.My colleague Casey Newton has taken to calling these imitators “murder clones,” because of how they appear designed to neutralize upstarts by imitating their killer features.Paluzzi posted a screenshot with Instagram’s description of how the feature could work. “Add other’s IG Candid to your story tray. And everyday at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a Photo in 2 Minutes,”... Continue reading…

He could face up to 10 years in prison. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Xiaolang Zhang has pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from Apple, where he worked on a self-driving car project from 2015 to 2018 (via CNBC). When he quit his job at Apple, he told his supervisor that he was going to work for Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology, a Chinese EV startup also known as Xpeng.During an investigation, which you can read more about here, Apple determined that he had transferred around 24GB of “highly problematic” data to his wife’s laptop via AirDrop, and had also taken circuit boards and a server from the company’s autonomous vehicle lab.The terms of Zhang’s plea agreement aren’t publicly available, but according to a court document uploaded by CNBC (pdf), Zhang pled guilty to the single theft of trade... Continue reading…

An investigation into the incident is ongoing. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is reportedly installing new air conditioning equipment and additional fans at its EWR9 warehouse in New Jersey, according to a report by NBC News. This comes after Reynaldo Mota Frias, a worker at the facility, died on July 13th, during the Prime Day rush, on a day when temperatures rose to 92 degrees. Amazon reportedly blames Frias’ death on “a personal medical condition” and denies reports that he told managers he was feeling unwell. An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (or OSHA) is listed as ongoing.Another employee at EWR9 told NBC that the warehouse gets hot, even in areas that have fans. The company has faced criticism from workers before about how it handles workloads during the i... Continue reading…

House of the Dragon | Image: HBO Despite glitches for some people trying to watch via Fire TV Sticks, HBO announced that the first episode of its Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon recorded the network’s biggest premiere of all time, recording 9.986 million viewers across linear and HBO Max streaming on Sunday night in the US alone.The original Game of Thrones series closed out its run with 13.7 million live viewers on linear channels for the finale in 2019, clocking over 19 million views with the addition of streaming and video-on-demand numbers. According to HBO, ahead of the Dragon premiere, interest in the original series — with the entire series now available for streaming in 4K on HBO Max — spiked, drawing a weekly average in streaming for August that... Continue reading…

The PlayStation VR2 | Image: Sony Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset is coming in “early 2023,” according to posts the company made on Twitter and Instagram. Sony has been trickling information out about the upcoming headset over the past several months, and now we have at least a timeframe for when we can expect to get our hands on the hardware.While the company released details of the headset’s design earlier this year, it still hasn’t announced a price. It is, however, promising a lot for the PlayStation VR2 — it’ll feature displays that add up to 4K resolution and can run at 90 or 120Hz, have a 110-degree field of view, and use foveated rendering, which renders certain parts of the image as sharper than others to make things easier for the computer (or, in this case,... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge We may need to wait longer for the 3nm MacBook than we’d previously hoped. New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are on the horizon, according to a new prediction from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, but they’re unlikely to be the 3nm process. Refreshes of the excellent professional MacBooks “will enter mass production” in Q4 of 2022, Kuo tweeted this morning.Kuo’s intel indicates that they “may still adopt the 5nm advanced node,” which is the same process node that the recent M2 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models use. That would, if true, mean that Apple’s first 3nm MacBook chips, also rumored to be entering production later this year, will not debut in these machines.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Intel is building what it claims is the “largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet” in Ohio, and it’s going to need 7,000 workers to construct it, according to a report from the Associated Press. However, a labor shortage affecting the construction industry could make it hard to recruit the workers it needs for the $20 billion job, and competition for workers could slow the pace of homebuilding in the area which is needed to support the growing workforce that Intel’s plant is supposed to attract.Intel first announced the Ohio project in January of this year and is on track to begin construction in late 2022. Once finished, the 1,000-acre site will house two factories, or fabs, and employ at least 3,000 people. But it has... Continue reading…

It looks like something out of a video game, but this gadget is real: a portable, mechanical, computerized, laser-guided knife gun that actually throws spinning knives end over end through the air (via Gizmodo).This isn’t some slingshot or spiral Kunai shooter that flings those blades straight ahead, oh no — Quint Builds set out to build a gadget that can accurately throw knives just like a pro, nailing a target 10 times in a row at different distances. That meant painstakingly calculating how to spin a knife the right number of times to land tip-first, again and again and again — and employing a homemade lidar laser guidance system to measure that distance and adjust the knife’s trajectory accordingly.Otherwise, a knife might... Continue reading…

Amazon Alexa’s Routines, which play from devices like this Echo dot speaker, help my family get out of bed and stay on track in the mornings. | Image: Amazon This week, my kids headed back to school. For most parents, that means a weekend spent buying composition notebooks and Ticonderoga pencils and unearthing moldy lunchboxes from last year’s book bag (just me?). In my household, it also means reenabling all my back-to-school smart home routines.I’ve been using my smart home as an extra pair of parental eyes and ears for years now, and I think all parents need some home automation in their lives. The little things the smart home does well — lights that turn on when you walk into a room, a TV you can shut down with just your voice, a doorbell that shows you who’s there — are so much more useful when you are also juggling little people and their various demands.(A caveat to all this: I use... Continue reading…

eBay and TCGplayer logos. | Image: eBay eBay will acquire TCGplayer, an online marketplace for trading cards, the companies announced today. The deal, worth up to $295 million, marks eBay’s latest push into the growing trading card market, which experienced a huge boom during the pandemic.TCGplayer is a popular buying and selling platform for trading card games like Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Magic: The Gathering. The company also provides seller tools and services, including storage and order fulfillment. In announcing the purchase, eBay described trading card games as an “attractive category” with “substantial growth.”“This new chapter allows us to continue operating independently within eBay, while also benefiting from their decades of industry experience and resources to... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge You’re in luck if you’re still trying to nab a PlayStation 5 as Sony is once again selling the console just days after holding its last restock event. Right now, you can buy the standard, disc-based console with a digital copy of Horizon Forbidden West for $549.99. You’ll also get free shipping if you buy either a PS5 game or select controllers with your purchase.Today’s restock event is rare in that Sony typically requires you to enter an online queue prior to making a purchase. In those instances, we recommend that you log into your Sony and PlayStation Network accounts in advance and double-check to make sure your credit card details are still accurate, which should help once you make it through the queue.Don’t get discouraged if... Continue reading…

Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP via Getty Images France’s government increased the size of the subsidy it offers to people who trade in their gas-powered cars for electric bikes to as much as €4,000 (approx. $3,976) per person, according to The Times. The money is meant to incentivize people to ditch their polluting modes of transportation in favor of cleaner, more environmentally friendly alternatives.People who live in low-income households in low-emission urban zones that trade in their cars are eligible for the full €4,000 subsidy to put toward the purchase of an e-bike. (Traditional, non-motorized bikes also qualify for the incentive.) French citizens from higher income brackets can claim smaller subsidies.The French government has said it wants 9 percent of the country to... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are sold on the promise of “ownership,” but a new review suggests many creators and buyers still have no idea what that means. A review from blockchain investment company Galaxy Digital finds that only one of the 25 most valuable NFT projects even tries to give buyers direct intellectual property rights to the underlying art, and many offer confusing or nebulous licenses despite recent efforts to clean up the space.The Galaxy report analyzes the terms of major NFT projects, including the Yuga Labs project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeFriends, and World of Women as well as the “metaverse” social platforms Decentraland and Sandbox. It concludes that “the vast majority of NFTs convey zero... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge If you’re looking for an image that you can repurpose for one of your projects and aren’t able to take a photo yourself, there are a ton of free images you can use online without running into any copyright issues — you just have to know where to look.Here, we’ll go over different places where you can search for free images on the web. It’s worth noting that when searching for free images, you’ll often come across the Creative Commons (CC) license that lets you use an image for free. But depending on the type of CC license an image has, there may be some limitations that require you to credit the original artist or prevent you from making modifications to the image.That’s why it’s always important to read up on the license it possesses... Continue reading…

A variety of changes are coming to both the Chromecast with Google TV and third-party devices. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google has been working on making its TV experience faster, more responsive, and less of a hassle for users. According to a post on its support forums on Monday, the company has been working on improving boot time, general performance, and the number of options for managing storage on both third-party TVs as well as its Chromecast with Google TV streaming puck.The company says that it’s made it so the Google TV homescreen loads faster, reducing the amount of time before you can pick out which content to watch. Google says it achieved the performance improvements “through CPU optimizations and improvements to cache management” and that they’ve started to roll out on third-party devices and are “coming soon” for Chromecasts.It’s faster... Continue reading…

Photo by Alexander Kramer for The Verge Apple’s expanding its DIY repair program to include MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops equipped with the M1 chip. Once the program officially opens tomorrow, you’ll get to purchase genuine parts for the 2020 M1 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the 14- and 16-inch 2021 M1 MacBook Pros from Apple’s Self Service Repair Store.This expands on the repair program Apple launched earlier this year, which initially included parts for the iPhone 12 and 13, such as the display, battery, and camera. While the program is currently only available in the US, Apple plans on bringing it to Europe next.Apple’s making a number of MacBook parts available to start, including the display, top case with battery, Touch ID, and trackpad. Just like Apple... Continue reading…