The Verge

Webcams and other home office equipment were in short supply during global Covid lockdowns due to the shift towards working from home. Now, it seems the market is stabilizing, with Logitech sales falling by 22 percent YoY. | Image: Logitech Logitech published its quarterly financial results today, revealing that the company’s third-quarter sales fell 22 percent compared to Q3 last year. The decline confirms most of the preliminary results announced by the computer peripherals maker on January 11th, indicating a slowdown in customers buying home office and business equipment amid growing global inflation and the lifting of covid restrictions.Logitech’s revenue for the third quarter ending December 31st, 2022 fell to $1.27 billion, compared to the company’s preliminary figures showing that sales had fallen to between $1.26 and $1.27 billion. The company noted a decline in sales across all categories, with gaming falling 16 percent, video collaboration (conferencing... Continue reading…

Remember this logo? I bet you don’t. | Image: ZenKey Do you remember ZenKey, the app that AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint (gone, but not forgotten) pushed as the future of logging in to services without a password? If you do, you may be one of the only ones — as LightReading points out, it appears as though the joint venture quietly crumbled after the service started rolling out in 2019.Originally announced as “Project Verify” in 2018, ZenKey was meant to be a single sign-on system, similar to the sign in with Google or Apple buttons that you see on various websites. The idea was that each carrier would offer an app that could verify your identity, then act as a pass whenever you went to log into a supported website or carry out something like a bank transfer. In theory, it could be... Continue reading…

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Elon Musk insists that 420 isn’t a joke to him.In testimony during his ongoing securities fraud trial on Monday, Musk argued that the $420-a-share price he proposed back in his infamous “funding secured” tweet from 2018 wasn’t a weed joke but actually just a coincidence — with a dash of karma.Musk was asked about the proposed share price by Nicholas Porritt, an attorney for a class of Tesla investors who are suing the billionaire CEO for the loss of millions of dollars that they say resulted from his bungled attempt to take Tesla private. And it prompted an eyebrow-raising response from Musk regarding what he considered a serious proposal despite nearly everyone else taking it as an obvious reference to cannabis.“You rounded up to... Continue reading…

One of the first Lightyear 0s being made. | Image: Lightyear Electric vehicle company Lightyear has announced that it’s halting production on the Lightyear 0, its €250,000 (around $270,000 USD) solar-powered car that the company started making just three months ago (via Electrek). The setback is part of a “strategic restructuring,” according to a Monday blog post, and the company will instead focus on making the Lightyear 2, a car that it says will cost under $40,000 and go into production in late 2025.The company says it didn’t take the decision lightly, given that it’ll impact its employees, as well as “investors, clients, suppliers and the government.” It’ll also presumably have an impact on Valmet Automotive, the company Lightyear contracted to build the 0 (and which announced potential... Continue reading…

While there’s still much progress to be made when it comes to queer comics representation, it isn’t very hard to find lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters saving the world, falling in love, or simply existing in graphic novels these days. In fits and starts, mainstream and indie publishers alike have come to embrace queer stories, and the comics space as a whole is more vibrant for it. This hasn’t always been the case, though, and documentarian Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines wants us to understand how the queer comic books of today wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the radical creators of the past who changed history with their art and voices.Inspired by editor Justin Hall’s 2013 Fantagraphics anthology by the same name,... Continue reading…

An artist’s rendering of NuScale Power’s small modular nuclear reactor plant. | Image: NuScale For the first time, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has certified a design for an advanced small modular reactor (SMR). The certification allows utilities to choose the advanced reactor design when applying for a license to build and operate a new power plant.The NRC’s certification is a significant stamp of approval for a potential climate solution that’s still controversial among environmental advocates. Essentially, it’s a green light for an entirely new generation of nuclear reactors.“SMRs are no longer an abstract concept,” Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff said in a Department of Energy press release.“SMRs are no longer an abstract concept”Whether these advanced reactors can overcome challenges... Continue reading…

The new Mac Mini may look like most models before it, but it’s got some big updates inside and to its port selection — particularly on the M2 Pro model. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Well, this is convenient timing. Our review of the new M2 Pro Mac Mini just went up, and you can save up to $100 on a preorder of it. The new Mac Mini in both its base M2 configuration and its more powerful M2 Pro version can be preordered at Adorama for $549 ($50 off) and $1,199 ($100 off), respectively, when you use code APINSIDER at checkout (hat tip to Slickdeals). These preorders are set to start shipping tomorrow, January 24th, which is launch day for the new M2-ified MacBook Pros as well. But you might want to jump on this deal quickly, as we’re not sure how long it may stick around.It’s rare to save anything on Apple stuff the moment it comes out (it’s even less common for preorders), but this is a great opportunity to get the... Continue reading…

With two processor choices — one for everyday computing, the other for conquering creative work — Apple’s littlest Mac has never been more appealing. Continue reading…

Slightly worse battery life aside, I’m a big fan of almost everything Sony did to improve on the already-great DualSense. Continue reading…

Apple’s new MacBook Pro 16 with M2 Max has exactly one significant upgrade from the 2021 model: a more powerful chip. Continue reading…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Spotify will lay off 6 percent of its workforce globally, the company’s CEO Daniel Ek announced in an all-staff memo today. Spotify had just over 9,800 full time employees as of its last earnings report, meaning today’s layoffs affect a little under 600 staff. Dawn Ostroff, head of content and ads who has been instrumental in growing Spotify’s podcasting business, is also leaving the company.The layoffs make Spotify the latest tech company to cut its workforce in the midst of a global economic downturn. Google announced plans to cut around 12,000 jobs just last week, following similar layoffs at Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta.Ek announced the layoffs as part of an organizational restructure, which is aimed at increasing efficiency,... Continue reading…

NieR: Automata Ver1.1a, the anime based on PlatinumGames’ action RPG, has seen its release interrupted by the ongoing impact of the covid pandemic. The show’s official Twitter account has announced that the release of the rest of the series has been indefinitely delayed. Unusually, this announcement has come after the first three episodes of the show were already released on Crunchyroll following a January 7th premiere.“Due to the impact of COVID-19 on production, we have decided to postpone the broadcast and distribution of episode 4 and all subsequent episodes,” the statement reads, adding that an updated release schedule will be announced on Twitter soon. “We apologize for any inconvenience and concern this may cause our fans who... Continue reading…

Amazon’s Kindle Kids is on sale right now for $84.99 instead of $119.99. | Image: Kindle Kids Buying a kid a Kindle is great for two reasons. First off, it encourages them to read at a young age. Second, it serves as a great distraction that might save your sanity when you're both stuck inside on a rainy day. That’s why you might want to take a look at today’s deal on the kid-friendly version of the Kindle, which has dropped to a new all-time low. Regularly $119.99, you can currently buy the latest model for $84.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.The Kindle Kids is exactly like the standard Kindle. It touts the same high-resolution, 300dpi display and a dark mode, along with USB-C support and marathon battery life. However, the kid-centric model lacks ads, comes with one of three vibrant covers, and provides a few additional... Continue reading…

Sanding down those rough edges doesn’t come cheap. Continue reading…

Soon you may be able to more-or-less set one of the tabs as default. Twitter’s next update should make it less insistent that you use the “For You” algorithmic timeline, according to a tweet from Elon Musk. He says the app will “stop switching you back to recommended tweets,” and remember if you left it on the reverse-chronological “Following” timeline or a pinned list.Musk’s promises should be taken with a grain of salt, but I hope the company delivers on this one. Until last month, Twitter had a button that let you set a preference on which version of the timeline you wanted to use. That option went away when the company rolled out a UI that let you swipe between the two timelines, with the app defaulting to opening on the algorithmic one.

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk will never stop posting, no matter who tells him to stop.That was one of the takeaways from his brief testimony during his securities fraud trial, which took place in a San Francisco courthouse Friday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs peppered Musk with questions about his tweets as they work up to his infamous “funding secured” tweet from 2018 at the center of this case. Musk is being sued by a class of Tesla investors who claim his bumbling attempts to take Tesla private that year cost them millions of dollars.Musk wasn’t asked about that tweet yet, though. He took the stand for a little over 30 minutes before the trial recessed until next Monday. But the plaintiff’s lawyers got in plenty of questions about his Twitter habits,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok has confirmed to Forbes that some of its US employees have the ability to boost videos in order to “introduce celebrities and emerging creators to the TikTok community.” The statement comes as part of a report about TikTok’s “Heating” button, which Forbes says can be used to put selected videos onto users’ For You pages, helping boost views by sidestepping the algorithm that supposedly drives the TikTok experience.Jamie Favazza, a spokesperson for TikTok, told Forbes that increasing views to particular videos isn’t the only reason for heating. TikTok will also “promote some videos to help diversify the content experience” (read: make sure your feed isn’t entirely made up of one or two trends), he said. Favazza also suggests... Continue reading…