The Verge

Welcome to the 27-inch club, Asus. | Image: Asus Asus is one of many brands jumping into making smaller OLED gaming monitors for 2023. Acer and LG took their shots. Now, the model Asus had been teasing is real, and it’s got a clunky name: the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM. Screen-wise, what it’s offering matches the others; it’s a 27-inch, 1440p, matte-coated OLED that runs at a fast 240Hz refresh rate with a .03-millisecond response time. But it does have one big difference: a heatsink to keep it cooler and prolong its lifespan.I haven’t seen this one in person yet, but its display seems like a delight to look at. It covers 99 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, so digital artists and other creators might be able to use it — when they aren’t gaming, that is. Like other OLEDs, this one... Continue reading…

Henrik Fisker is facing a make-or-break year for his startup. | Image: Henrik Fisker In a wide-ranging interview, the Fisker Inc. CEO talks about avoiding production hell, making an actually affordable electric car, and why 2023 will be a pivotal year for EVs. Continue reading…

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at Manhattan federal court on January 1st, 2023, in New York City. | Photo by Gotham / GC Images CNBC reports that Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the eight criminal charges he’s facing, accusing the former crypto billionaire of committing fraud and money laundering. Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, appeared in a New York City courtroom nearly two months after his crypto exchange FTX declared bankruptcy.Now, billions of dollars from investors and customers are missing, and the Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have all accused his empire of operating as a fraud practically from the very start.Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas last month before being extradited to the US to face these charges and is currently living with his parents... Continue reading…

Graphic by James Bareham / The Verge A Louisiana law requiring age verification for adult websites has kicked in, renewing long-standing concerns about online privacy. The policy, Louisiana HB 142, requires sites composed of “thirty-three and one-third percent” or more of pornographic content to verify that people accessing them are 18 or older. That includes services like Pornhub, which has started requiring a government-issued ID for access.Pornhub didn’t confirm the new policy, but video posted to Twitter apparently demonstrates what users see in Louisiana. It asks users to verify their age with AllpassTrust, which works with the Louisiana digital ID service LA Wallet. Vice confirmed the report using a VPN service, adding that other adult sites like XVideos didn’t... Continue reading…

Dell’s 32-inch 6K display comes with a 4K webcam and other handy features. | Image: Dell With Dell’s new 32-inch 6K UltraSharp monitor, the Apple Pro Display XDR is no longer in a category of its own. Dell’s new monitor does things a little differently, though, blending elements from Apple’s $4,999 monitor and the $1,599 Studio Display, providing a possible best of both worlds when it comes to productivity and performance.Though the UltraSharp 32 matches the Pro Display XDR for size and resolution, it doesn’t quite have the same specs and construction. Dell’s 6144 x 3456 pixel monitor uses the LG Display-developed IPS Black technology, which allows for better contrast and deeper blacks, and provides up to “1.2 times better color accuracy” when compared to conventional IPS monitors. It supports 1.07 billion colors and 99... Continue reading…

Here are a bunch of Zephyri. | Image: Asus Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14 is one of the hottest mainstream gaming laptops around, and its 2023 iteration is sure to be one of the most anticipated releases of this upcoming year. Not only is it one of a few gaming laptops that can provide all-day battery life but also it’s one of very few 14-inch gaming rigs that can achieve competitive frame rates on many modern games.It’s hard to imagine how Asus could improve on what was already such a successful package. But the company has found perhaps the one thing the G14 was really missing — and frankly, it’s been a long time coming. This year, the 14-inch Zephyrus will have a Mini LED display option.Mini LED should really be in more laptops by now. Unlike typical LCD screens, which use the same... Continue reading…

The Strix G18 (right), and Strix Scar 18 (left) are both equipped with 18-inch displays. | Image: Asus Asus is announcing a pair of new ROG gaming laptops equipped with 18-inch displays at CES 2023 today: the Asus ROG Strix G 18 and ROG Strix Scar 18. While it’s not uncommon to see gaming laptops with displays up to 17.3 inches, these new additions are taking portable displays to a new level.The 18-inch models of both laptops will have configurations available that use Asus’ new Nebula HDR technology that’s capable of up to 1,100 nits of brightness and is Dolby Vision compatible. You’ll also have the option to pick between either 165Hz or 240Hz refresh rates for both models. Image: Asus The Strix G 18 will also have configurations with transparent WASD keys. Beyond the impressive new displays, there are... Continue reading…

The Alienware AW2524H is a 24.5-inch, 500Hz, 1080p monitor. | Image: Dell If you’re having a strong sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone — last January, I brought you word of the first prototype 500Hz gaming monitor, and Asus announced what should have been the first actual 500Hz gaming monitor nearly seven months ago. But today, I’m here to tell you about the Alienware AW2524H, which could well be the first 500Hz gaming monitor you can actually buy.See, we hadn’t heard a word about the Asus monitor between its original announcement and this very morning — when Nvidia namedropped a “ASUS ROG Swift Pro PG248QP 540Hz 24” 1080p G-SYNC display with Reflex” whose website isn’t yet live as I write these words. But I digress. Image: Dell The Alienware AW2524H. Why would you want to buy a... Continue reading…

The screens on the Blade 16 (left) and the Blade 18 (right) appear to have taller aspect ratios than what I’ve seen on Razer’s previous gaming laptops. | Image: Razer Razer has announced the Blade 16 and Blade 18 gaming laptops at CES 2023, two new sizes that will stock the latest Intel and Nvidia chips. Specifically, they’ll get Intel’s high-end 13th Generation Core i9 HX-class CPUs, with support for up to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 mobile graphics.Several other companies have gone live with similar announcements today. Alienware debuted its new 16-inch X16 and 18-inch M18, and Acer has the Helios 16 and Helios 18, to name some examples.2023’s gaming laptops may have some big changes internally, but it seems like the industry’s major players are dancing to the same beat when it comes to sizing. 16- and 18-inch laptops are in, and companies are moving away from the 15- and 17-inch sizes that were... Continue reading…

The eKinekt BD 3 in “working” mode, allowing the rider to sit upright while typing. | Image credit: Acer In case your New Year’s resolutions include more multitasking, Acer has a new bike desk for that. Called the eKinekt BD 3, the bike desk is meant to allow you to work, exercise, and generate your own clean electricity all at once. Pedaling the bike produces a small amount of kinetic energy that you can use to charge devices from the desk.Cycling at a somewhat leisurely pace of 60 RPM (revolutions per minute) for an hour can generate up to 75 watts of power, according to Acer. Converting that to kilowatt-hours (assuming you use those 75 watts in an hour) and plugging it into the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, you might prevent emissions equivalent to walking rather than driving 0.132 miles in a gas-fired car.In a... Continue reading…

The Helios 16 and 18 look similar in pictures due to each having a tall 16:10 aspect ratio display. | Image: Acer The Predator Helios is at the top end of Acer’s lineup of gaming laptops, and it has some special updates in store for 2023. The Helios comes in two new sizes, including 16- and 18-inch models, just like the latest releases from Alienware and Razer. These new Helios laptops have impressive specs that I’ll dig into below, but I’m most looking forward to trying out one thing in particular: their top-of-the-line 250Hz Mini LED display option.This is big news because Mini LED-backlit displays are still rare, usually reserved for high-end TVs, pricey tablets like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and now some beastly laptops. OLED still delivers better picture quality, but Mini LED is brighter, and it narrows the gap in quality by squeezing more... Continue reading…

Image: Acer Acer is introducing the Halo Swing, a portable smart speaker with glowing lights and a simple display that can show you weather, alerts, and more. The Halo Swing is compatible with Google Assistant, so you can use it to set alarms and control other smart devices with just your voice.Like the older Acer Halo, the Halo Swing stands out because of its unique appearance. The Halo Swing shares the Halo’s RGB-lit base, which emanates colorful lights and thus makes the speaker double as a light source. These lights also respond to the beat of your music, making this a speaker clearly well-suited for parties. Plus, they even change colors while interacting with Google Assistant. Image: Acer The other highlight here is the... Continue reading…

The 27-inch X27U is wall-mountable, while Acer still doesn’t seem to know whether its curved 45-inch OLED will be yet. | Image: Acer PC and console gamers who want brilliant picture quality and contrast will have two more OLED monitor options to consider in 2023, thanks to Acer. Today, the company is announcing a 27-inch flat panel called the Predator X27U and a 45-inch 800R curved ultrawide model called the Predator X45. Both will release in the US and Europe sometime in the second quarter.These OLED 1440p (QHD) gaming monitors are pretty similar to the ones that LG showed off a few weeks ago. Both have a 240Hz refresh rate and an incredibly fast .03-millisecond response time, but the spec similarities aren’t a one-to-one match. Getting the price out of the way first, the X27U is $100 pricier than LG’s similarly sized option, costing $1,099. The X45 will be $1,699 —... Continue reading…

Cync’s new Dynamic Effects Neon Rope lights can be configured into any shape you want. | Image: Cync GE Lighting announced a big expansion of its smart lighting brand Cync’s Dynamic Effects line this week. The new entertainment-themed products position Cync even more squarely as a cheaper Philips Hue and Nanoleaf competitor.New hexagon wall panels, neon-style rope lights that can be shaped how you like, and A19 and BR30 bulbs join the full-color gradient indoor and outdoor light strips Cync launched late last year, which are around $40 cheaper than comparable Hue versions.All Dynamic Effects products can display 16 million colors, tunable white light, and preset and custom lighting effects similar to Hue and Nanoleaf products. The LEDs are addressable and can display multiple colors simultaneously — even the A19 and BR30 bulbs,... Continue reading…

Sprig Shower Infusion System. | Image: Kohler Ever wish you could bring the spa home with you? Well, now you kind of can. Kohler announced a new aromatherapy shower infusion system at CES 2023 that will add a spa-like experience to your daily showers — just get ready to add shower pods to your shopping list.Kohler’s Sprig Shower Infusion System consists of a gadget capable of attaching to any showerhead paired with Sprig Shower Pods. Once the shower is on, Kohler’s Sprig Shower Pods infuse the water stream with a combination of scents, like eucalyptus, chamomile, and lavender, as well as ingredients that are supposed to be good for the skin, like hyaluronic acid and sodium. Kohler says the pods are safe to use on the entire body and should run for “several minutes.”While you can... Continue reading…

Samsung Display’s 77-inch QD-OLED TV panel. | Image: Samsung Display Although Samsung is yet to officially reveal its lineup of QD-OLED TVs for the year, its display division has just teased a couple of key specs: a maximum peak brightness of 2,000 nits, and an increase in power efficiency of up to 25 percent.2,000 nits of peak brightness is around double what Samsung’s debut QD-OLED TV, the S95B, was able to put out last year. It also appears to be higher than the 1,800 nits that an LG spokesperson told FlatPanelsHD that its 2023 G3 model should be able to reach (although LG’s TV may go higher depending on exact picture settings).Although peak brightness isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of picture quality, brighter screens tend to produce better HDR with more impact and vibrancy. And if they’re able to... Continue reading…

The left side of the Flex Hybrid folds, the right side slides. | Image: Samsung Display Samsung Display’s Flex Hybrid is a new prototype device with a display that’s both foldable and slidable. The left side of the concept “smart mobile device” can be unfolded to reveal the display, while the right side can then slide outwards for even more screen real-estate. It’s being shown off at CES 2023 alongside a new 17-inch slidable display, as well as automotive panels designed for self-driving cars.Although there’s no detail on specs like resolution or peak brightness, Samsung Display says the Flex Hybrid can expand from a 10.5-inch 4:3 display to a 12.4-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s not hard to imagine the display eventually being used in a foldable smartphone, allowing the device to be unfolded for a small... Continue reading…

This image shows the pricier 4K InZone M9, but its design is virtually identical to the M3. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The more affordable, lower-spec companion to Sony’s $899 InZone M9 gaming monitor has arrived. The InZone M3 is launching for $529 and is available now, with an identical 27-inch size and a PS5-esque white on black design. This monitor rounds out Sony’s interesting year in making hardware that appeals to more than just core PlayStation fans. It’s attempting to build credentials and popularity in the PC gaming space, which it brands like LG, Samsung, MSI, Acer and many others are the top choice.As for what’s different, the biggest change is its IPS panel’s drop from 4K resolution to 1080p. The PS5 natively supports 1440p, but this monitor doesn’t. The M3’s screen also lacks full-array local dimming, which gave the M9 spectacular... Continue reading…

WebOS has been slightly redesigned and streamlined on the 2023 lineup. | Image: LG Last year, LG cranked the brightness on its G2 and C2 series TVs up to new highs, bringing a meaningful improvement to the company’s already-fantastic OLED lineup. These TVs are considered by some to be the best on the market dollar for dollar thanks to their perfect black levels, incredible contrast, and top-notch gaming capabilities. So how is LG going to improve upon that with the new models it’s introducing at CES 2023?It’s going to push the brightness even higher while also focusing on image processing and software enhancements.The G3 succeeds the G2 and “incorporates brand-new light control architecture and light-boosting algorithms to increase brightness by up to 70 percent,” according to LG’s press release. That number is in... Continue reading…

When I set out to buy my first home security cameras, the Arlo Q was my obvious pick — every reviewer pointed out that it offered seven days of free cloud storage instead of forcing you into a subscription. Heck, Arlo even advertised it on the packaging.But on January 1st, 2024, the company’s killing that feature for many Arlo cams — and reserving the right to eliminate all cloud functionality, including email alerts, push notifications, and other “bundled services or features,” for any camera that hasn’t been manufactured for four years. Image via Chris Rauschnot (YouTube) “Watch Anywhere With 7 days FREE Cloud Recordings,” Arlo advertised. Arlo’s delivering that news in the form of a new retroactive... Continue reading…

After decades of work, the launch is here Continue reading…

Pillars of Creation (MIRI Image) | Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI) As Christmas approached last year, astronomers and space fans around the globe gathered to watch the much-anticipated launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Though a wondrous piece of engineering, the telescope was not without its controversies — from being way over budget and behind schedule to being named after a former NASA administrator who has been accused of homophobia.Despite the debates over the telescope’s naming and history, one thing has become abundantly clear this year — the scientific ability of JWST is remarkable. Beginning its science operations in July 2022, it has already allowed astronomers to get new views and uncover mysteries about a huge range of space topics.The most pressing aim of JWST is one of the most... Continue reading…

One year ago this month, Microsoft announced it would spend $68.7 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard, highlighting how it would get “iconic franchises” including Call of Duty, Warcraft and Candy Crush for that fee. But now that gamers and regulators are worrying Microsoft might keep Call of Duty from appearing on Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s lawyers are suddenly pretending they have no idea why Call of Duty is special.Or even when it came out, for that matter.

The new Matter-ready Mui Board 2nd Gen will arrive later this year. | Image: Mui Labs The smart home has had an interface challenge that goes back to its earliest days with The Clapper. When it comes to simple things, such as turning on your smart lights or adjusting the temperature in your home, voice control can be cumbersome and erratic, smartphone apps are fiddly and distracting, and sensors are not smart enough (yet) to always get it right.What the smart home needs are quick and easy ways to control exactly what you want — from turning on a single light to triggering a completely automated scene. Something more robust than smart switches with their limited interfaces and less obtrusive than smart displays (people don’t want multiple screens in every room). One answer is interfaces that can provide context when... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla delivered just over 1.3 million vehicles in 2022, missing its goal of achieving 50 percent growth year-over-year. The company needed to hit approximately 1.4 million deliveries to meet its target, indicating that transportation and logistics challenges continue to plague the EV company.Tesla said it delivered 405,278 vehicles in in the fourth quarter of 2022, which includes 17,147 Model S and X vehicles and 388,131 Model 3 and Y vehicles. Wall Street analysts had been predicting 415,000 vehicles delivered during the quarter. For the year, the company delivered 66,705 Model S and X vehicles, and 1,247,146 Model 3 and Y vehicles.Analysts were hoping for a robust 1.8 million vehicles delivered for the year, but Tesla needed to... Continue reading…

I feel threatened by the breadth of this monitor. | Image: Samsung Remember the Samsung Odyssey Ark? Of course you do — it was released last year, had a monstrous 55-inch display that towers over you in portrait mode, and used Mini LED tech. In his review, my colleague Cameron Faulkner said that using it “feels like being in VR,” and called its presence “magnetic.” In short, it’s a monitor dialed (literally) so far past 11 that its Multi View mode was barely able to keep up.So of course Samsung went and made something even bigger, with even higher-end specs, and is announcing it at CES. Enter the new Odyssey Neo G9 (ignore the fact that new and neo mean the same thing), a follow-up to Samsung’s $2,499 49-inch Mini LED display of the same name, released in 2021. This time, it has a 57-inch “super... Continue reading…

Samsung claims that the 49-inch Odyssey G95SC is the world’s first 32:9 aspect ratio OLED gaming monitor. | Image Credit: Samsung OLED gaming monitors are everywhere at CES 2023, and Samsung’s lineup is no exception. The company revealed the Odyssey G95SC monitor today, a 49-inch model that it claims is the world’s first 32:9 aspect ratio OLED gaming monitor. It also reminded us that its Odyssey 34-inch G8 QD-OLED monitor that debuted in the fall during IFA 2022 will be releasing “very soon.”What sets these two models apart from what LG recently announced is that they use Samsung’s own QD-OLED tech, not LG Display’s latest panels. Below I’ve embedded a sidebar explaining how QD-OLED differs from OLED, but the TL;DR is that it’s able to produce a more contrast-rich picture at higher brightness levels — one of the few limitations of conventional OLED tech.I have a... Continue reading…

If you need a new battery, now might be the time. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Apple is raising the price of getting a new battery installed in most iPhones, iPads, and Macs, starting on March 1st. The company made the announcement on the devices’ repair pages, in small text under its price estimators, which was noticed by 9to5Mac.How much the price hike is depends on what device you have. For iPhones, it’s simple — Apple’s site says “the out-of-warranty battery service fee will be increased by $20 for all iPhone models prior to iPhone 14.” For phones with a home button, that means the price will be going from $49 to $69, and for Face ID phones that means it’ll be going from $69 to $89. Those prices, by the way, were put in place in 2019, after Apple ran a year-long promotion where you could get a new battery for... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla’s accused of violating national labor laws by allegedly telling employees at its Orlando, Florida location not to talk about pay and working conditions, as first reported by Bloomberg. In a complaint filed in September, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) regional director in Tampa claims Telsa “told employees not to complain to higher level managers about their pay or other conditions of employment” and said “not to discuss their pay with other persons.”The complaint goes on to accuse Tesla of instructing employees not to discuss the hiring, suspension, or termination of employees with others. These incidents occurred from December 2021 to January 2022, the complaint alleges, and violates laws that prevent companies from... Continue reading…

Grubhub has been ordered to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit from the District of Columbia that claims the company misled customers by tacking on hidden fees to their orders. According to a press release, Grubhub must pay $800,000 to DC as a civil penalty, while the remaining $2.7 million “will be paid back to affected customers.”In March, DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against Grubhub, accusing it of falsely promising “free” online orders to customers, as well as “unlimited free delivery” for those who subscribe to Grubhub Plus. The lawsuit alleges this practice is “deceptive” since Grubhub still takes a service fee for non-pickup orders made by Grubhub Plus customers, and charges both delivery and service fees for... Continue reading…

It’s no more. It’s well and truly curtains for 3G, one of the key technologies that helped usher in the age of the smartphone. Throughout December, Verizon has been disconnecting its customers who were still using the tech, cutting off their phones’ ability to use data, make calls, and send texts. It was the last major US carrier to do so — AT&T turned off its 3G service in February, and T-Mobile started winding its old networks down the month after.Verizon customers with 3G devices have had plenty of warning. It previously said the network would be going offline in 2019, but with one delay after another, the date has slowly been pushed back to December 31st, 2022. In the meantime, it’s sent people new, LTE-capable phones, as well as letters... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter will soon let you swipe to switch between different views containing recommended and followed tweets, trends, topics, and more. In a tweet, Elon Musk announced that support for the navigation feature will arrive in January.Musk first hinted at the feature earlier this month, noting the “main timeline should allow for an easy sideways swipe between top, latest, trending and topics that you follow.” The platform already lets users swap between a chronological timeline that shows the latest tweets in order, and the Home timeline, which displays recommended tweets, by tapping the stars icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered by astronomers using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility this year in early March. This fine telescopic image was taken on December 19th. | Dan Bartlett via NASA Here’s something to look forward to in the new year: 2023 could give us a once-in-a-generation chance to see a new comet grace our skies.Stargazers can keep their eyes peeled for Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) throughout January and early February, although they’ll need a telescope or binoculars to spot it at first. As the comet races closer to Earth, however, there’s a chance the comet could become visible to the naked eye under dark skies. If that happens, it’ll be the first comet to reveal itself to the unaided eye since NEOWISE passed us by in 2020.This new comet was discovered last March while it was within Jupiter’s orbit. The comet’s current trajectory should bring it closest to the sun by January 12th. On February 2nd, according to... Continue reading…

Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images The time has come: Dark Sky, the (mostly) beloved weather app for iOS is going to stop working on January 1st, according to in-app warnings. The sunsetting has been in the forecast for a while — Apple announced it was planning on shutting down the service last year after acquiring it in 2020, and it removed Dark Sky from the App Store a few months ago, according to 9to5Mac. But if you’ve been putting off finding a new weather app, now’s the time to finally get around to it.As for what alternatives iPhone users have available (the Android app was axed in 2020), perhaps the most obvious is Apple’s own built-in Weather app. The company even has a support document titled “How Dark Sky users can use the Apple Weather app,” which talks about... Continue reading…