The Verge

Lille Allen / The Verge I’ve always wanted a skeleton key — not a real one, but the kind you would see in a cartoon that opens any door immediately. The idea of just being able to slip in anywhere, smoothly and discreetly, has always been a secret dream for me.Of course, time changes and so do keys. Your front door might still use a metal key, but offices and industrial facilities are more likely to use some kind of wireless keycard, whether it’s NFC, RFID, or some other radio signal. So what does a tappable skeleton key look like?What is it?The ChameleonMini is a tool that allows you to emulate and clone high-frequency contactless cards and read RFID tags. It functions as an NFC emulator and RFID reader and can sniff and log radio frequency (RF) data. From... Continue reading…

Bravo to OnePlus for dropping the gimmicky macro camera. | Image: OnePlus OnePlus is bringing its signature fast charging feature to a lower price bracket in the Nord N300 5G. It includes 33W wired charging (with a charger in the box!) and will sell for $228 — an appealing proposition since most flagship phones don’t even include charging that fast. The N300 also bears a striking resemblance to parent company Oppo’s K10 5G, released in India earlier this year. It makes a few tradeoffs to hit its low price point, and we’ll be curious to see how they pan out.The Nord N300 uses a midrange MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset with 4GB of RAM, which is a shift from the Snapdragon processors used in its previous Nord devices sold in North America. The N300 also breaks away from previous budget OnePlus devices by opting... Continue reading…

Apple’s collaboration with U2 included special edition iPods. | Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images In a new memoir, U2 frontman Bono has spilled the beans on the internal discussions that lead to two of the band’s high-profile collaborations with Apple. The first saw the band star in one of the company’s iconic iPod ads, while the second is much less fondly remembered, and involved Apple pushing the band’s newly released album into the hands of everyone with an iTunes account. The anecdotes appear in Bono’s upcoming book, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, extracts of which have been published by The Guardian.According to Bono, the Vertigo music video came about after members of the band met with then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs in October 2004 to pitch its upcoming song “Vertigo” as the soundtrack to one of the iPod’s silhouette commercials.... Continue reading…

Rupert Grint in “Dreams in the Witch House.” | Image: Neflix An eclectic mix of eight short stories from some of the best directors in horror Continue reading…

Thomas Hedger / The Verge Automakers tout advanced driver-assistance systems like adaptive cruise control and emergency braking as a solution to the epidemic of traffic fatalities. But what if they’re just convenience features? Continue reading…

Lindelof at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards. | Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for WGAW You can add another name to your list of filmmakers attempting to develop the next Star Wars film: Damon Lindelof. Deadline reports that Lindelof, who rose to prominence as the co-creator of Lost and more recently won multiple Emmys for his work on HBO’s TV adaptation of Watchmen, is developing and co-writing the film, although it’s unclear who his writing partner could be. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who worked on several episodes of Ms. Marvel, is reportedly in talks to direct.The Star Wars franchise has been absent from the big screen since 2019’s Rise of Skywalker, with various in-development efforts coming to nothing (so far). Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has been working since 2017 to create a new trilogy of new Star Wars movies... Continue reading…

Easier to use and stable. But let’s check in again after a few months. Continue reading…

Apple’s 2019 Mac Pro. | Photo by Avery White for The Verge The next Mac Pro is rumored to come with chip options “that are at least twice or four times as powerful” as the not-yet-released M2 Max. That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who says Apple has ramped up testing of the high-end Mac in preparation for its expected launch next year.In his Power On newsletter, Gurman says the machine will feature new and more powerful in-house chips, nicknamed the “M2 Ultra” and “M2 Extreme.” The two variations pack 24 and 48 CPU cores, respectively, along with 76 and 152 GPU cores, and 256GB of memory. That’s compared to the base M2, which comes with 8 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, and the rumored M2 Max, which will supposedly feature 12 CPU cores and 38 GPU cores.Gurman also shares a Mac Pro... Continue reading…

PopSocket’s battery bank isn’t a small accessory. | Image: Mitchell Clark / The Verge We’re smack in the middle of new phone season and getting close to the time when some of us are going to have to start worrying about wish lists and stocking stuffers, so I want to look at an accessory that may be on some people’s radar: the PopGrip JumpStart, a $35 battery bank that attaches to your phone via PopSocket’s quick release mechanism and provides around a 50 percent charge via a built-in Lightning or USB-C cable.When I first heard about it, I hoped that the JumpStart would be both a good battery bank and a good way to hold my phone. Unfortunately, I found that it was relatively mediocre at the first job and worse at the second, making it a bit unclear who exactly this product is for.I will say a few nice things before I... Continue reading…

The Verge After Facebook’s Bitmoji-style avatars invaded Instagram and Messenger, now they’re coming to Whatsapp, too. According to a report from WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is rolling out support for customizable avatars in the latest 2.22.23.9 beta on Android, but only for some users.Those with access to the feature will see a new “Avatar” category in their settings menu that they can use to customize the digital version of themselves. Just like on Meta’s other apps, WhatsApp will then generate a sticker pack with the avatar in various poses, which users can use to express themselves when messaging family and friends.

Ecobee’s next product could be a video doorbell. | Image: ZatzNotFunny Ecobee, a company best known for its line of smart thermostats, may be working on a video doorbell. A leaked image from ZatzNotFunny shows what looks like an Ecobee-branded video doorbell with rounded corners and a button outlined in blue.As noted by ZatzNotFunny, the doorbell features a green light status light, as well as two small holes, one of which could be a microphone, placed directly beneath the camera. Its overall design seems to glean elements from existing doorbells on the market, such as the bright blue light used by the Amazon-owned Ring and Blink, and the rounded edges featured on Arlo and Nest devices.But aside from this one picture, we don’t know much else about the device, including whether it will be wired or... Continue reading…

The Kerbals prepare for liftoff After several delays, Kerbal Space Program 2 is finally entering early access on February 24th, 2023. Developer Intercept Games initially announced that it was working on KSP2 back in 2019, but only revealed the early access release date for the Kerbal Space Program sequel last week, outlining its expectations in a roadmap leading up to the eventual 1.0 release. KSP2 is currently available to wishlist on Steam and will also be available on the Epic Games Store for $49.99.The original Kerbal Space Program is a brutal, rewarding, and occasionally hilarious simulation of the complexities of space flight that allows you to construct your own rockets, shuttles, rovers, and other interstellar vehicles. All manned by the ambitious Kerbals,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Republican National Committee (RNC) is suing Google for allegedly sending “millions” of campaign emails to users’ spam folders (via Axios). According to the lawsuit filed in California’s Eastern District Court on Friday, the RNC accuses Google of “throttling its email messages because of the RNC’s political affiliation and views.”For months, the RNC has been complaining about Google’s alleged spam filtering bias, claiming it disproportionately puts Republican-backed political emails in spam folders when compared to messages sent by Democrats. The RNC’s frustration was only exacerbated by a North Carolina State University study that suggested Google was sending RNC emails to spam folders more frequently, leading a group of... Continue reading…

There is nothing else like this on the market Continue reading…

Apple’s second-gen trackpad is compatible with Windows or Apple devices via Bluetooth | Image: The Verge Happy Saturday, everybody! Everyone on the Verge Deals team is enjoying their weekend and we hope you are, too. If you were looking to engage in a little retail therapy or do a little window shopping, we’ve collected a handful of deals we think you’ll want to check out.Normally $129.99, you can currently pick up Apple’s second-gen Magic Trackpad at Woot right now with a 90-day warranty for just $84.99, which matches the peripheral’s lowest price to date. The clever trackpad makes for an excellent addition to any desktop or laptop setup thanks to its comfortable glass surface, which provides you with more real estate than the trackpad found on MacBooks and brings multi-touch gesture controls and Apple’s Force Touch technology to your... Continue reading…

TiVo OS looks like other interfaces you might be familiar with. | Image: Xperi Remember TiVo? It still exists, even if you probably haven’t used a TiVo device in quite awhile. (Unless you’re one of the few who tried the company’s Android TV dongle.) Even though the vast majority of people have since moved to TV software that is built into their device or runs on a dedicated piece of hardware like the Apple TV, TiVo owner Xperi is getting into the TV software game with TiVo OS.Yes, that means there will be yet another company vying to run the software that powers your TV. But TiVo’s angle with TiVo OS is to be a “first-of-its-kind neutral platform,” which means in part that equipment manufacturers will have more control over the experience.Right now, the US TV software market is largely dominated by Roku, which... Continue reading…

And you might actually want to keep it on your phone, solving the issue of having to carry it around and remember it Continue reading…

Image: HBO House of the Dragon’s season finale is apparently following in Game of Thrones’ footsteps, leaking onto the internet a few days before it was meant to air. In a statement given to IGN and Variety, HBO says it’s “disappointed that this unlawful action has disrupted the viewing experience for loyal fans of the show” and is “aggressively monitoring and pulling these copies from the internet.”For fans, this could mean that spoilers will be floating around social media — though a colleague who watches the show tells me that’s not necessarily a new thing, given that it’s hewn pretty close to its source material, George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. Still, it’s easier to avoid a Game of Thrones wiki than someone tweeting about something that... Continue reading…

If you’ve noticed some changes, you’re not the only one. | Image: Twitter Twitter is introducing a brand-new look for the icons used across the social network, the company confirmed in a thread on its design account on Friday. To my eyes, the icons use slightly thicker lines, and everything feels a bit more angular.“The goal was to create a cohesive set of icons that are bold in shape and style yet still relatable and a little cheeky where possible,” Twitter said in the thread. Two tweets from the thread make it easy to see what’s changed. This one shows what they looked like before and now. The one after shows a whole bunch of them in one picture.

At the base of an Icelandic volcano, Climeworks’ direct air capture plant sucks carbon dioxide from the air and turns it to rock, locking away the main culprit behind global warming. | Photo by HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP via Getty Images Swiss company Climeworks plans to phase out the first-generation technology that made it a pioneer in the business of carbon removal. The move is part of Climeworks’ pivot away from selling its captured carbon dioxide to companies like Coca-Cola. Instead, Climeworks says it will focus on efforts to store the CO2 underground permanently.Climeworks became the first company to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and sell it as a product back in 2017. That’s when its direct air capture (DAC) plant called Capricorn opened in Hinwil, Switzerland. Beyond being foundational to Climeworks’ continued growth, Capricorn’s mere existence was a major milestone for the brand-new carbon removal industry. Five years later, Capricorn is essentially... Continue reading…

It’s basic wireless plan ABC’s: Always Be Confusing. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Yesterday, Verizon announced new prepaid phone plans with lower prices — but thanks to some clever shuffling of plan discounts, they’re not actually getting any cheaper. While the published prices on its unlimited and 15GB prepaid plans are indeed $5 lower, the company will no longer let you apply autopay and loyalty discounts — meaning the lowest price on each plan stays exactly the same.Here’s how it adds up: the “standard” price on Verizon’s top-tier prepaid plan, Unlimited Plus, is now $70 per month, reduced from $75. After the first month, you can apply a $10 / month autopay discount to bring that cost down to $60. Image: Internet Archive Previously, you could combine a $5 autopay discount and $10 loyalty... Continue reading…

From left: Mbambi Mbungu and Jacob Chiza lead the march during “Justice for Black Lives” at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 6th, 2020. | Image: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images The journal Nature published a special issue on racism in science this week. In it, Black and Indigenous scientists, doctors, and researchers share how they’ve experienced racism in their work. Many of them experienced discrimination as they entered their chosen fields, then faced backlash as they called out wrongdoing in those same places. It takes bravery to share this kind of pain so publicly. Their stories are raw and revelatory.This special issue of Nature came about as part of the journal’s own efforts to grapple with racism. After the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in 2020, there was an upswell of voices calling out systemic racism in all areas of society, including in academia and science. Ahead of a “Strike for... Continue reading…

LG’s 32-inch 4K Smart Monitor with Ergo Stand. | Image: LG LG’s new 4K monitor can pull double duty if you work from home and don’t have the energy (or space) to flop over to the couch to engage in binge-watching. The $499 LG Smart Monitor (32SQ780S) (via HomeKit News) has a 31.5-inch display, a built-in USB-C hub providing power and ports for your work laptop, and comes with a desk-mounting and height adjustable Ergo Stand that’s similar to the one that comes with LG’s unusual taller-than-it-is-wide DualUp monitor.What makes the LG Smart Monitor more like a TV is that it supports the company’s Bluetooth Magic remote (though it’s unfortunately sold separately), and it runs webOS just like LG smart TVs, along with support for Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. It’s similar in concept to the StanbyMe... Continue reading…

Image: Ebb Software In Scorn, the survival horror game that slithered onto Game Pass last week, it’s just another day at the flesh factory. A couple of hours in, that’s what it feels like. I’m just a guy, clocking in at H.R. Giger & Sons to hit buttons, stick my fingers into prehensile holes, and scoop the innards out of screaming human meat things. Just all in a day’s work for a blue collar working stiff like me.I wanted to try Scorn because, well, it’s on Game Pass, which obliterates my usual hesitation in trying weird games that look like they’ll trigger the shit outta my misophonia. I also wanted to try it because it’s the high holy days of Spooky Season, and Scorn itself generated a lot of buzz on social media despite receiving little fanfare or... Continue reading…

The Oura Ring is the only smart ring that’s found any real commercial success. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Smartwatches stole the spotlight from phones this fall, but there’s another wearable form factor waiting in the wings: smart rings. Korean outlet Naver recently reported that Samsung has filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a smart ring of its own, complete with EKG and smart home control. And while it’d be awesome if Samsung did kick down the doors next fall with a new wearable, the reality is it’ll be a long, long time before this kind of futuristic smart ring is ready for prime time.It’s easy to see why smart rings are an attractive prospect. Compared to smartwatches, they’re more discreet, fingers are better for heart rate measurement, and rings are way more comfortable to wear 24/7. They’d be ideal health... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If your workplace (or organization, or friends group, or whatever) is anything like mine, and you’ve used Slack for more than, say, a month, you have no doubt amassed a lot of channels (also known as conversations). This can result in a lot of scrolling — I mean, a lot of scrolling — to find the channel you want to use. You can also spend a lot of time trying to figure out which channels you need to pay attention to now and which ones you can save until later.Luckily, there are several ways you can organize that long list of channels on the left side of your Slack app to make it at least somewhat easier to deal with. Unluckily, this is only available in paid versions of Slack. Normally, we try to only describe free features; but perhaps... Continue reading…

The Pixel Buds Pro are a sharp-looking pair of earbuds, especially in this lemongrass color. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge You feel that? It’s Friday, and it’s time to take some good deal vibes into the weekend. Wellbots is currently discounting a bunch of great tech from Google, including the Pixel Buds Pro, Nest Audio, Nest Hub Max, and the latest Nest Hub and Nest Mini — and frankly, they’re all bangers.First up are the excellent Google Pixel Buds Pro, a pair of wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation and a mic that can combat the stiff winds of an NYC ferry. Now through October 29th, they’re on sale for an all-time low of $149.99 at Wellbots when you use promo code VER50 at checkout, which knocks $50 off their regular price of $199.99. The Pixel Buds Pro are the ideal earbuds if you just got a Pixel 7 phone, as they offer great sound quality and... Continue reading…

Nick Barclay / The Verge The person in charge of the physical look and feel for Apple’s iPhones, Macs, and everything else is leaving the company, as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman first reported. Industrial design vice president Evans Hankey will only remain with Apple for another six months. Hankey took over hardware design three years ago after longtime chief design officer Jony Ive exited to start his own design firm.No replacement or next step for Hankey has been publicly announced. However, Bloomberg reports her departure was announced internally this week and quotes a statement from an Apple spokesperson saying, “The senior design team has strong leaders with decades of experience. Evans plans to stay on as we work through the transition, and we’d like to thank... Continue reading…

The SwitchBot Blind Tilt can tilt your blinds automatically. | Image: SwitchBot SwitchBot, the smart home company that takes robotics to places no one imagined, has come up with another ingenious gadget. The new $69 SwitchBot Blind Tilt launches today on Kickstarter, with orders expected to ship before Christmas. And, yes, it looks as ugly as you’d expect. But as an inexpensive way to replicate the benefits of smart shades, it’s a promising product.Automated motorized shades and blinds are something of a luxury as they’re generally very expensive — starting at around $300 to $400 per window and rapidly rising from there. The benefits, though, are quite impressive: energy savings, convenience, security, and smart lighting.Smart blinds can automatically adjust to keep your home well-lit throughout the day, keep... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Last night, I was casually wondering (as you do) which songs from Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada’s seminal debut album, Music Has the Right to Children, use audio samples from Sesame Street? It’s the sort of idle fact-checking that humans in the 21st century are blessed to indulge in, and so (as you do), I whipped out my smartphone to Google it.Thirty seconds later, I got so annoyed, I downloaded the Wikipedia app instead.The problem I faced is not a new one. Many people have noted the slow degradation of Google’s search in recent years, partly a result of macro changes to the web’s structure and partly Google’s own fault for relentlessly privileging its own ads and services. And in this particular case, when I searched for... Continue reading…

A pokémon trainer getting ready to catch a pokémon. | Image: Nintendo The first truly open-world Pokémon games feel like what Game Freak and Nintendo have been building toward this whole time Continue reading…

Kratos and Thor face off in God of War Ragnarök. | Image: SIE Lead combat designer Mihir Sheth explains how the team at Santa Monica Studio approached the PS5 sequel Continue reading…

Microsoft’s PC Manager app. | Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is working on a PC Manager app that’s designed to boost your computer’s performance. Much like CCleaner, a beta version of Microsoft’s PC Manager includes storage management and the ability to end tasks quickly and control which apps start up with Windows.Much of this functionality is already baked into Windows, but this PC Manager app puts it all in one useful location. There’s even a browser protection section that makes it easier to change default browsers than what exists in Windows right now. Image: Tom Warren / The Verge You can easily switch default browsers with this app. The storage manager feature includes the ability to manage apps or remove those that are rarely used, and there’s also a... Continue reading…

Who’s whispering in Elon Musk’s ear? | Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge Look, I’ve been avoiding talking about Elon Musk’s meddling in international affairs largely because I am not expert enough in international affairs to say much of anything. But now we’ve got Fiona Hill, formerly an advisor to Donald Trump who gave testimony at his first impeachment hearing, out here suggesting that Musk is “transmitting a message for Putin.”This shit’s weird, dude, even for me. Musk set off an international shitposting incident by tweeting a peace proposal for the war in Ukraine. In response, sitting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy polled Twitter about whether users preferred a pro-Russia or pro-Ukraine Musk; sitting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda likened Russia’s actions to someone stealing the wheels... Continue reading…

EVs are perfect for off-roading, but how will other nature lovers react? | Image: Rivian Everyone knows off-road vehicles are loud, obnoxious, and polluting. But what this article presupposes is, what if they weren’t? Continue reading…

A new beta client update will list the factory-installed components within Steam Deck handhelds. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Valve is rolling out a fresh batch of beta updates for its Steam Deck, one of which could help with servicing and repairs for the handheld gaming PC by listing internal components and saving owners from cracking the device open themselves to find out.The new component lookup view will display the model and manufacturer of each major hardware element within individual Steam Decks. However, the list is only a snapshot of factory-installed components, and so won’t recognize or update for any fresh hardware that users install themselves. Users who have enabled beta client updates can access the new component lookup via Settings > System > Model/Serial Numbers button.The feature will list factory-installed componants, but not recognise new... Continue reading…