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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#64KGN)
The best deals on gaming accessories you can find during Prime Day Early Access | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Amazon’s Prime Day Early Access Sale is here for another day, so let's scope out some sweet deals on gaming headsets, keyboards, and other cool accessories. Whether you’re gaming on a console or PC, there are plenty of awesome odds and ends to round out your setup at home. For a better view of what’s currently on sale make sure to check out our best deals from Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale.We’re not holding our breath for discounts on next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, but we’re already finding great deals on gaming keyboards from Razer, HyperX headsets, and Bluetooth controllers from 8BitDo. Of course, we’ll be looking out for deals on anything that can make your gaming experience just a little more awesome.... Continue reading…
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The Verge
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| Updated | 2025-11-09 15:47 |
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by Mitchell Clark on (#64NTX)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Dish Network is considering selling its Boost Mobile arm to a company called CONX Corporation, according to a filing with the SEC, spotted by Light Reading. The rub is that CONX is a “company” founded by Charlie Ergen — co-founder and current chairman of Dish Network itself.The filing from CONX (no, I won’t get tired of typing that) says that its far from a done deal, informing investors that “no assurances can be made that the parties [it and Dish] will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement.” And while that’s true for most merger discussions, the fact that Ergen is a higher-up at both companies could help those negotiations go a bit more smoothly.Why start a new carrier when your other company has already... Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#64ME2)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge We’ve entered day two of Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale at Amazon — or Prime Day 2.0, as we like to call it — and the company is offering a ton of hard-to-resist deals on headphones and earbuds from Apple, Beats, Sony, Google, Bose, and more.Whether you’re looking for a new pair of noise-canceling headphones, trying to save on something from our best wireless earbuds list, or just hoping to buy some inexpensive buds, Amazon’s got all the bases covered. And the discounts you’re seeing now could be a good indicator of what prices to expect for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the coming weeks.The best Prime Day deals on noise-canceling headphones and earbuds
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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#64NM2)
Lego sets, Nerf blasters, and other fun goodies are all on sale right now. | Image: Lego The stuff you want isn’t always the stuff you need, and that’s okay. Now and again, it’s nice to treat yourself with something just for you, even if it has little to no practical value. Our collection of the best Prime Day deals on toys for grown-ups is all about filling that void in your soul with all the cool stuff you couldn’t afford as a kid. The bulk of our suggestions for spending that hard-earned disposable income come in the form of Lego sets and Nerf blasters, some of which are perfect for filling that empty space on your curio shelf.If you’re looking for an overview of all the best discounts to be had during Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale, make sure to head over to our main collection of the best Prime Day deals, which... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#64KNP)
Apple’s M1-equipped MacBook Air from 2020 is on sale right now for its lowest price to date. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Think you have to wait until Black Friday to score a good deal on Apple devices? Think again. Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale (aka Prime Day 2.0) has officially arrived, and with it comes some pretty solid Apple deals. Right now, there are stellar deals to be had on Apple’s first-gen AirPods and the latest AirPods Pro, which are on sale for their lowest price to date. If you’re looking for something else, however, there are also deals available on the latest entry-level iPad and iPad Pro, the M1-powered MacBook Air, and more.Below, we’ve listed some of the best Apple deals currently available, all of which are exclusive to Amazon Prime subscribers. To save on non-Apple devices and other kinds of tech, be sure to also check out our... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#64NSM)
Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite starts at $99.99 and makes for a good gift for book lovers. | Image: Chaim Gartenberg Looking to get a head start on your holiday shopping? Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale offers an excellent opportunity to do so ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are currently a bunch of fun gifts you can buy that are on sale at record lows, whether you’re looking to gift a pair of the new AirPods Pro or an instant camera like Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 11. If you’re in need of ideas, we’ve curated a guide to some of the best deals on popular presents you can buy right now. What’s more, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart are matching Amazon’s prices in many instances, meaning you don’t need to be a Prime member to take advantage of the discounts elsewhere.Also, if you want to check out even more deals besides the ones we’ve listed... Continue reading…
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by The Verge Staff on (#64JYF)
Nicholas Barclay / The Verge Amazon Prime Day is no longer a once-per-year shopping event. This year, the company is hosting a second deal extravaganza for Prime members called the Prime Early Access Sale, which kicked off yesterday, October 11th, and runs through today, October 12th. Like the two-day shopping blitz that is Prime Day, it’s filled with some of the lowest prices we’ve seen on 4K TVs, Amazon Echo devices, noise-canceling headphones, gaming accessories, laptops, and more. We also expect to see competing deals at retailers like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, all of which we’ll cover during the 48-hour window.Like we’ve done in the past with Prime Day, we’re rounding up all of the details regarding Amazon’s fall sales event here, including our ongoing... Continue reading…
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#64NRC)
The Apple Watch Series 8 inherits design elements from last year’s Series 7, including the larger display. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge It’s almost time to ring the bell for the cows to come home on Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale, but before that happens we want to note you can still get the Apple Watch Series 8 for $50 off. The best part? This one’s not just exclusive to Amazon or Prime members, as a couple of other major retailers are currently matching Amazon’s price and making it widely available.As for the configurations and colors available, you can get the 41mm Apple Watch Series 8 with GPS for $349 at Amazon (in midnight or red), at Best Buy (in all four colors), or at Walmart (also in all four colors). If you prefer a larger display, you can get the 45mm version of the Series 8 for $379 at Amazon (in red or midnight), at Walmart (in red, silver, or... Continue reading…
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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#64MA8)
Smart plugs are handy gadgets that can help automate older appliances. | Image: iHome Smart plugs are a simple and inexpensive way to automate gadgets around your home that may be a little older or weren’t built with home automation in mind — just plug them into an available outlet and use their corresponding app to link them with your home network. Beyond just allowing you to toggle the power for a specific outlet using virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa, models like the iHome Flow Smart Plug are capable of monitoring the power usage of specific devices over time if you’re looking for ways to conserve energy.Here, we’ve gathered a number of smart outlets that are currently discounted as part of Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale (and competing sales elsewhere). If you’re looking for a broader picture of what discounts... Continue reading…
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#64M8C)
The Roborock S7 vacuum and mop is $270 off during the sale. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge While it’s relatively slim pickings in terms of smart home gear, there are still some good deals to be found during Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale, which runs through October 12th.As always, there’s a slew of robot vacuums getting price drops; we’ve picked the best deals on the best bots we saw. There are also a number of older Echo devices seeing some substantial savings as well as some of our firm favorites, such as the Echo Show 8 and Echo fourth-gen smart speakers.We also found some decent deals on a few of our top picks for smart security cameras, plus savings on smart locks and garage door controllers. Remember, most of the deals on Prime Day are for Prime members only, but if you’re not a member, you can sign up for a free... Continue reading…
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by Monica Chin on (#64M8B)
The MacBook Air has hit a tempting low price. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Amazon is in its second and final day of its Prime Early Access Sale, and we’re here to help you make sense of which deals to buy and which deals to skip. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still to come, they can sometimes be a hectic time to shop. If products you have your eye on show up in the Prime Day Early Access Sale, you can get them earlier and skip the line.We’ve combed through all the laptops that are discounted today, and we’ve picked out the ones that are worth your attention. The items below can make great purchases for yourself, a friend, or a family member this holiday season.The best Prime Day Apple laptop deals
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by Emma Roth on (#64NNA)
Truth Social has been available on iPhone since February. | Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images Truth Social, the social media app created by former President Donald Trump, is now available for download on the Google Play Store (via CNBC). In August, Google banned the app over “insufficient” content moderation policies.Truth Social, which offers a Twitter-like social experience, markets itself as a platform that “encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation.” It first launched on the Apple App Store in February before attempting to offer its app through the Google Play Store.Google said in a statement that it permits apps on the Google Play Store as long as they “comply with our developer guidelines, including the requirement to effectively moderate user-generated content and remove objectionable posts such as those... Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#64KNV)
The Apple Watch Series 8 is $50 off. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Amazon’s back with yet another Prime-exclusive shopping bonanza. It’s day two of its Prime Early Access Sale, and it’s an opportunity to get a head start on your holiday shopping way before Black Friday. That includes some neat deals on smartwatches and fitness trackers if you, or a loved one, are keen on crushing some fitness and health goals (or if you want to spend less time looking at notifications on your phone).While you won’t find deals on some of the newest launches — like the Pixel Watch — just yet, there are great options from brands like Apple, Bose, Garmin, Amazfit, and Mobvoi. This is a smart way to dip your toe into a new category, especially if you’re unsure whether wearables are for you. Quick reminder: you need an... Continue reading…
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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#64KRP)
Monitors and other cool PC accessories are discounted during the Prime Early Access Sale. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge All of the deals on display during Amazon’s Prime Day Early Access Sale give us a chance to highlight some cool accessories that typically won’t find their way into our regular deals roundups. Yes, we know that we’ve already got a roundup of the best gaming deals of Prime’s Early Access Sale, but this one is explicitly for the best discounts we could find on PC accessories. That means we’re not just looking at mice and keyboards, but we’re diving into motherboards, water coolers, and graphics cards, too.While gaming accessories get all the glory, we’re looking at deals on PC gaming components specifically. Whether you’re looking for an ultra-fast external hard drive or a slick-looking PC case, our roundup of PC accessories has got you... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#64NNB)
You can buy the latest Kindle Paperwhite with ads for $99.99. | Image: Chaim Gartenberg If you missed out on all the great Kindle Paperwhite deals we saw in July during the first Prime Day, you still have a chance to save. We’re quickly approaching the end of Amazon’s first Prime Early Access Sale, however, the retailer is still selling the latest ad-supported Kindle Paperwhite with 8GB of storage for $99.99 instead of $139.99 — the same goes for Target and Best Buy. If you prefer to read without distracting ads getting in the way, you can also buy the ad-free version at Amazon for $119.99 ($40 off).The latest Kindle Paperwhite is a terrific e-reader, one with a battery that can literally last months, so you will not need to worry about recharging it. It also offers IPX8 waterproofing so you can enjoy reading by the pool,... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#64KNS)
For a limited time, you can buy the fourth-gen Echo Dot with two smart bulbs for just $24.99. | Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon’s ongoing Prime Early Access Sale is a great opportunity to take advantage of steep discounts on a range of popular gadgets. These include items like Amazon’s Fire TV Omni and Apple’s new AirPods Pro, the latter of which launched less than two weeks ago. That said, many of us wouldn’t consider a $223.24 pair of earbuds to be affordable, even if they are discounted. Thankfully, there are plenty of products currently on sale on Amazon for less than $50, ranging from smart speakers and location trackers to gaming mice.Here, we’ve compiled a list of the top tech deals you can buy for less than $50 so you can truly save money in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And if you don’t mind spending a little extra — or if you want... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#64NNC)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is in the midst of its second Prime Day sale of the year, pitched as a way to get Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals early. But as it courts consumers, the workers who handle the mass amount of packages that flow through Amazon’s facilities, warehouses, and air hubs are demanding better pay and working conditions. The threat of strikes, walkouts, and potentially another unionized warehouse are all looming as Amazon’s about to enter one of its busiest seasons.On Wednesday, workers at Amazon’s ALB1 facility in Albany, New York, started voting on whether to organize with the Amazon Labor Union, the group that unionized Amazon’s JFK8 facility and which is currently negotiating with Amazon for a contract. Another fulfillment center... Continue reading…
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#64NM3)
Craig and Kit expressing their displeasure with another Creek Kid | Image: Cartoon Network Along with making Warner Bros. Discovery a less-diverse place overall, CEO David Zaslav’s latest bit of corporate restructuring is probably going to gut Cartoon Network and turn it into a shadow of its former self.For understandable reasons, Warner Bros. Discovery’s move to fire 82 employees and eliminate 43 open positions from its Television division grabbed headlines when news of the decision broke earlier this week. But the implications of the company’s plan to merge Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios may be much larger than what Warner Bros. Television CEO Channing Dungey recently implied in a company-wide internal memo.According to Dungey’s memo, Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, Warner Bros. Animation, and Cartoon... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#64N4P)
Image: The Verge Warner Bros. Television is laying off 82 of its employees, making up around 19 percent of its workforce, according to reports from Deadline and Variety. The studio has also chosen not to fill 43 open positions — making up 125 (or 26 percent) of its jobs in total — with those in unscripted, scripted, and animation most affected.This most recent round of layoffs comes as Warner Bros. looks to cut costs following its megamerger with Discovery led by CEO David Zaslav. In August, Warner Bros. Discovery eliminated about 70 positions at HBO Max as part of a massive restructuring that also killed the nearly completed Batgirl film and shelved dozens of other shows and movies from the streaming service. As part of the merge, HBO Max and Discovery... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#64NHV)
Energy Dome’s CO2 battery. | Image: Energy Dome There’s a new CO2 battery in the energy game, and it just might be the assist turbines need to harness the full power of the wind. The technology uses carbon dioxide to store energy in the form of pressure and heat. It’s a relatively straightforward solution that gives the CO2 battery some more flexibility than more traditional alternatives, like lithium-ion batteries.Lithium-ion batteries have become ubiquitous companions to solar panels. But the new CO2 battery could have an edge when it comes to storing energy from winds, which can be even more temperamental than the sun. Energy Dome, the company that developed the CO2 battery, announced a new partnership with global wind giant Ørsted last month.The two companies plan to run a... Continue reading…
by Adi Robertson on (#64NHW)
Laura Normand / The Verge Mark Zuckerberg wants to own the future of computing — but not alone. That’s the intended takeaway from this year’s Meta (formerly Facebook, formerlier Oculus) Connect, where the Meta CEO described his plans for a new computing platform. “In each generation of computing that I’ve seen so far — PCs, mobile — there’s basically an open ecosystem and there’s a closed ecosystem,” Zuckerberg said. “I strongly believe that an open, interoperable metaverse built by many different developers and companies is going to be better for everyone.”“Openness” is typically considered a good thing in computing. It can promote competition and let people use tech in creative ways the designers didn’t expect. But Zuckerberg’s definition of an “open... Continue reading…
by Mia Sato on (#64NHX)
Illustration by Beatrice Sala The company behind ultra fast fashion brands Shein and Romwe will pay New York state $1.9 million over a data breach affecting millions of customers. The fine stems from charges that Zoetop failed to secure customers’ data, didn’t properly inform customers of a data breach, and tried to keep the extent of the leak quiet.The penalty comes after an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General into a 2018 hack in which credit card and personal information, like names, emails, and hashed passwords, was stolen. The data breach affected 39 million Shein and 7 million Romwe accounts, including more than 800,000 accounts belonging to New Yorkers.Romwe reset passwords more than a year after it was hacked and told customers they’d simply... Continue reading…
by Chris Welch on (#64NFC)
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Today marks another chapter in the slow demise of the headphone jack. Microsoft has quietly removed the 3.5mm connector from its brand-new Surface Pro 9. The change is confirmed on the tech specs page, which no longer lists a headphone jack among the device’s “connections.” But it’s very much present on the same page for the Surface Pro 8.This seems to be the direct result of Microsoft bringing the Intel and Arm versions of the Surface Pro 9 together in the same chassis. The Surface Pro X has never had a 3.5mm jack, so now, the Intel hardware is coming in line with that design direction.But I’d argue it’s a more controversial omission this time. Why? The new universal outer enclosure is essentially the same size as that of the Surface... Continue reading…
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#64NFD)
The QuietComfort 45 headphones come with a handy carrying case that offers protection. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge We’ll be approaching the closing hours of Amazon’s Prime Day before you know it, but we wanted to highlight one standout deal. The Bose QuietComfort 45 are some of the best noise-canceling wireless headphones you can buy, and they’ve been comfortably sitting at an all-time low price of $229 ($100 off) at Amazon for the duration of the Prime Early Access Sale. One of the best parts of this deal is that anyone (not just Prime members) can buy these. They’re also $229 at Best Buy or $229.99 at Target. In fact, you even get more color options there — blue or gray — over Amazon’s offering of just black or white.What makes the QC45s particularly great at this price is their balance of sound quality and comfort combined with excellent noise... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#64ND1)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft isn’t happy with Sony and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The UK regulator signaled an in-depth review of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard last month, and the CMA has now published its full 76-page report (PDF) on its findings. The CMA says it has concerns that Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal could lessen competition in game consoles, subscriptions, and cloud gaming, but Microsoft thinks the regulator has simply been listening to Sony’s lawyers too much.Microsoft pleaded for its deal on the day of the Phase 2 decision last month, but now the gloves are well and truly off. Microsoft describes the CMA’s concerns as “misplaced” and says that the regulator “adopts Sony’s complaints... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#64ND2)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Signal is beginning to phase out support for sending and receiving standard text messages from its Android app after years of supporting the ability to have them alongside your Signal messages, which are end-to-end encrypted and sent using data. The company says that if you have its app set as your default SMS and MMS client, you’ll have to pick a new app to handle those duties.According to a Wednesday blog post, users will have “several months to transition away from SMS in Signal” and to migrate their messages to a new app. Of course, the post also recommends trying to convert the people you were texting into Signal users. If you do use the feature (you can check by going to Signal’s settings screen, then to Chats > SMS and MMS and... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#64NAC)
Photo by TENGKU BAHAR / AFP via Getty Images The Video Game History Foundation is raising money to win the auction and share these never-before-seen games with the public Continue reading…
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by Makena Kelly on (#64NAD)
Getty Democrats are pressing Texas energy regulators to disclose how much energy crypto mining companies consume from the state’s vulnerable power grid nearly a year after it failed during an extreme winter storm.In the Wednesday letter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and six other Democrats pressed Texas grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, for information detailing how much electricity crypto mining operations have consumed and how much carbon dioxide emissions they’ve released over the last six years.“I’ve been working for the last year to make sure the public understands the economic and climate risks from crypto,” Warren said in a statement to The Verge on Wednesday. “Cryptominers’ energy use rivals that of entire... Continue reading…
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by Emma Roth on (#64NAE)
Samsung’s Knox Matrix is supposed to secure your devices through “multi-layered monitoring.” | Image: Samsung Samsung’s rolling out a new way to keep smart devices secure, and it apparently involves putting them on the blockchain. At the Samsung Developer Conference today, the company announced the Samsung Knox Matrix, a not-yet-released security solution that will include a “private blockchain system” to protect Galaxy devices, TVs, appliances, and more.Samsung is vague about how it will all work but says Knox Matrix protects the smart home ecosystem with “multi-layered mutual monitoring.”The company also claims Knox Matrix can share credentials from one device to another while securing the information shared between them to make logins more convenient without reducing security. Samsung’s example suggests that, with Knox Matrix, your phone’s... Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#64NAG)
The Pixel Watch is a fair attempt at a first-gen smartwatch, but Google has quite a few growing pains to address Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#64N7K)
Mobile cell towers, drones, and helicopters. | Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg / Universal Images Group via Getty Images On September 28th, Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida, lashing the area with category four winds and proceeding to cross through the state and then into the Carolinas and Virginia. As someone with friends, family, and co-workers dotted throughout the sunshine state, I’m used to the fear that comes with seeing photos of familiar places inundated with water and the uncertainty of not knowing when you can expect to hear from the people you care about. Even relatively minor storms can temporarily knock out power and cell service; hurricanes can do so for days or weeks, extending the time spent waiting for the “I’m okay” texts or phone calls.Ian took out its fair share of towers in Florida; according to the Federal Communications... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#64N7M)
Workspaces groups together tabs and lets you share them with a single link. | Image: Microsoft Workspaces is a new feature coming to Microsoft Edge designed to make it easier to organize and share the dozens of browser tabs that you use on a daily basis. The feature has been popping up in Edge’s early preview builds for over a year now, but Microsoft is offering more detail on it today as part of its Ignite conference alongside new security and shopping features for its browser.Screenshots of Workspaces in preview show how users can create groups of tabs by clicking an icon to the left of the tab row. They can add tabs and name and color-code each group. They can then access, edit, and open previously created groups from that same icon. If you’ve ever used a tab manager add-on like OneTab, then Workspaces seems like a neat,... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#64N7R)
Image: Microsoft Microsoft is rebranding its built-in Office apps on Windows to Microsoft 365. While the existing app is mainly used for quick access to Office apps, this new Microsoft 365 one is designed to really leverage Microsoft’s Graph network to provide additional apps, relevant documents, and a feed of meetings and information that might be useful to plan a day ahead.This new app won’t be limited to Microsoft’s commercial customers either, as consumers and students will also be able to take advantage of it. It will include the regular access to Office apps, a feed of recent documents and files, and the ability to browse by meetings.It also now includes all Microsoft apps, not just Office ones, and there’s even a section for third-party apps... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#64N7Q)
Microsoft Teams Premium. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is launching Microsoft Teams Premium today, a new offering designed to boost its chat and collaboration app with some AI-powered smart features. The biggest addition is a new meeting recap feature that essentially adds an AI virtual assistant to each meeting to share highlights and automatically capture all of the important parts. It’s like having your own assistant to take notes for you, even if you’re not there.“Today you get a meeting recap, after a meeting you get a recording and the transcript so you can get all that information, but you spend a lot of time sorting through the information to find ‘what’s pertinent or relevant to me,’” explains Nicole Herskowitz, general manager for Microsoft Teams, in an interview with T... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#64N7P)
Image: Microsoft As part of today’s Ignite conference, Microsoft is launching a new workplace app specifically designed to help with the challenges of hybrid working. The app is called Microsoft Places, and the company says it’s launching “soon” in beta.A screenshot of the app published by Microsoft today shows a dashboard view that tracks what percentage of your team is due to be in the office on a given day and lets you list where you’re working in a given week. As well as tracking people’s locations, the app is also designed to help you organize your work around them by giving “insights and guidance” on travel time as well as helping people navigate to work locations within offices themselves. Image: Microsoft A dashboard... Continue reading…
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by Barbara Krasnoff on (#64N7N)
Scene from The Strangers (2008) | Image: Rogue Pictures It’s October, which means that all the Halloween lawn and store decorations are out, as are all the holiday TV specials, horror movies, and terrifying games. Which to choose for a really good scare?We asked The Verge staff members to tell us about their favorite ways to generate chills, and they came up with a wide variety of Halloween-ish entertainment. Some of their choices are subtly tension-building, some are truly frightening, some are really nasty, and some are just great camp horror.Whatever types of frights you’re into, you should find something here to help you celebrate what may be our favorite fall holiday.Novels and short stories“The Lottery” by Shirley JacksonI first encountered Shirley Jackson’s strange and... Continue reading…
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#64N4M)
Chani and Paul gazing at something together | Image: Warner Bros. Though it’s not yet clear how Marvel’s recent release date reshuffling will impact that studio’s sprawling cinematic franchise, Warner Bros. is taking advantage of Blade being put on hold by bumping up the debut for its upcoming Dune: Part Two from director Denis Villeneuve.IGN reports that Warner Bros. has moved Dune: Part Two’s release date up by two weeks from November 17th, 2023, to November 3rd, 2023, the Friday that Blade was originally supposed to hit theaters on. Though this marks the second time Dune: Part Two’s received a new premiere date, Warner Bros.’ decision to move up its release makes sense, given how the movie will no longer have to compete with a highly anticipated Marvel movie. Continue reading…
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by Monica Chin on (#64N4N)
Chat away on the Surface Pro 9. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft has wrapped up its 2022 Surface event, where it showed off its new Surface Laptop 5, Surface Pro 9, and Surface Studio 2 Plus. The company also showed off new accessories and software, including a Designer app powered by Dall-E 2.In case you didn’t catch today’s live event, you can read about the headline announcements here. We’ve also gotten hands-on looks at all three devices, which you can check out on our site. Image: Microsoft The logo remains unchanged. The Surface Laptop 5 is Intel-onlyThe Surface Laptop 5 will hit shelves on October 25th for as low as $999. Its predecessor, the Surface Laptop 4, also started at that price. The Laptop 4 was an excellent product, but a big part of that was... Continue reading…
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by Monica Chin on (#64G5X)
Microsoft’s invitation for the Fall Event 2022 shows writing that looks to have come from Surface pen. | Image: Microsoft New Surface Laptop, Studio, and Pro 9, plus some surprising integrations with Apple’s services for Windows and Xbox. Continue reading…
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by Nicole Wetsman on (#64N4Q)
A close-up view of a portable ankle exoskeleton that helps someone walk | Image: Stanford University A new robotic, boot-like exoskeleton uses wearable sensors to adjust to each person who wears it, marking a significant step forward for robotics. The device, described in a study published today, helps solve one of the big challenges in developing systems that help people walk: that everyone walks differently.“This exoskeleton personalizes assistance as people walk normally through the real world,” said Steve Collins, associate professor of mechanical engineering and head of the Stanford Biomechatronics Laboratory.Exoskeletons as a concept aren’t new — researchers think they could help people with mobility issues or remove some of the strain from walking for people in jobs that require constant movement. But so far, devices that... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#64N15)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple Music is finally arriving in the Microsoft Store today. Xbox users will be able to access it immediately, and it will also arrive on Windows next year. Both Apple Music and Apple TV will be available in preview versions soon for Windows, allowing Apple subscribers to access music and TV shows natively on Windows without having to use web versions. Microsoft is also integrating iCloud photos into its built-in Photos app on Windows 11.A new update will see iCloud photos appear in the main Windows Photos app, making it easy for iPhone owners to find photos from their devices on a Windows PC or laptop. All Windows users need to do is install Apple’s latest iCloud Windows app to get this integration. Image: Microsoft... Continue reading…
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by Casey Newton on (#64N16)
The front of the Meta Quest Pro headset. | Photo by Alex Heath / The Verge One mild sunny day last week, I made my first visit to Meta’s campus in Burlingame, CA, to experience the company’s latest big swing in its efforts to build a metaverse. The centerpiece of the day, as well as Tuesday morning’s keynote address at the Connect conference, is the Meta Quest Pro: a $1,499 standalone mixed reality headset, shipping October 25th, that the company hopes will spur a new wave of adoption by professionals and businesses.Yesterday I wrote about what Meta had to prove at Connect: that the metaverse is not only happening, but happening now, and that Meta is better positioned to capture the upside of the coming platform shift than anyone else. Indeed, that was the core theme of Tuesday’s keynote, as CEO Mark... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#64CGZ)
Amazon’s latest ad-supported Kindle Paperwhite is on sale right now for $99.99 instead of $139.99. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge If you missed out on the steep discounts we saw on Amazon devices during Prime Day, it appears you have another chance. That’s because many of the same deals we saw in July are currently resurfacing in the run-up to Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale (aka, Prime Day 2.0).What’s more, Amazon’s current discounts are some of the steepest we’ve seen this year, which isn’t all that surprising given Amazon recently announced a slate of new devices during its fall hardware event. That makes now a good time to snag an older Echo Show model, the last-gen Echo Dot, or even Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite.Like with our Prime Day coverage, we’ve curated a list of the best discounts available on Amazon devices ahead of Amazon’s Prime Early Access... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#64N1A)
The Surface Studio 2 Plus is all about internal upgrades. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge It’s been a long time since Microsoft updated its Surface Studio line of all-in-one PCs. While rumors had suggested a Surface Studio 3 was on the way, Microsoft is debuting its Surface Studio 2 Plus today instead — an upgrade on the Surface Studio 2 that launched four years ago. It includes some important upgrades on the inside, but the exterior is practically the same, and it all starts at an eye-watering $4,299.The Surface Studio 2 Plus will ship with Intel’s 11th Gen Core i7-11370H processor, a chip that’s rapidly approaching two years on the market. We’re about to enter Intel’s 13th Gen era, so it’s hugely disappointing to see Microsoft not move to 12th Gen H series chips or wait for Intel’s latest and greatest.“Our goal was ship... Continue reading…
by Tom Warren on (#64N19)
The Surface Laptop 5 now comes with Thunderbolt 4. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is refreshing its Surface Laptop lineup today with new Surface Laptop 5 models. While the company has offered AMD and Intel chip options for the Surface in the past, this year’s models are pure Intel with the addition of Thunderbolt 4 support.Microsoft hasn’t fully explained why it’s dropped AMD from its Surface Laptop lineup, though. “We focused on shipping Intel 12th Gen,” says Pete Kyriacou, vice president of program management at Microsoft. “We’re great partners with AMD, we continue to work with them on longer term projects but for Laptop 5 we don’t have AMD models.” Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge The new Sage color option (right). As with last year’s Surface Laptop 4 lineup, Microsoft will... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#64N18)
Microsoft announced its Adaptive Accessories back in May 2022, but now we finally have some additional details. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft has announced that its range of Adaptive Accessories will be available to purchase starting on October 25th in select markets. The Adaptive Accessories were first announced in May and are designed to address common issues that can prevent people from getting the most out of their PC, especially if they have difficulty using a traditional mouse and keyboard.The wireless system includes a programmable button, an adaptive mouse, and the Microsoft Adaptive Hub, which connects up to four Microsoft Adaptive Buttons to as many as three devices. The mouse is a small, square-shaped puck that can clip into a palm rest with a removable tail and thumb support. The mouse and button can be customized using a range of modular components,... Continue reading…
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by James Vincent on (#64N17)
Microsoft Designer will let users type text prompts to generate new images. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is adding AI-generated art to its suite of Office software with a new app named Microsoft Designer.The app functions the same way as AI text-to-image models like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion, letting users type prompts to “instantly generate a variety of designs with minimal effort.” Microsoft says Designer can be used to create everything from greeting cards and social media posts to illustrations for PowerPoint presentations and logos for businesses.Essentially, AI-generated imagery looks set to become the new clip art.Microsoft is rolling out this software slowly and carefullyThe app isn’t ready for a full launch though, and Microsoft is only offering a limited web preview. “We’re inviting people to try it out, give us... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#64MYR)
Image: Square Enix Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, a battle royale spinoff of the ever-growing FFVII universe, will be shutting down next year. Square Enix confirmed that the shooter, which is available on both iOS and Android, will end service on January 11th.“Despite all our efforts to bring you regular updates with fresh and exciting content, we haven’t been able to deliver the experience that we were hoping to, and that you all deserve, so we have made the extremely tough decision to end service for Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier,” the developer said in a statement.The First Soldier, which served as a prequel of sorts, launched last year as part of an ambitious expansion of FFVII following the successful launch of FFVII Remake in 2020.... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#64MYS)
It all started when Mrwhosetheboss saw that the battery in his Galaxy Note 8 had expanded. | Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Arun Maini, also known as the tech YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss, recently discovered a worrying trend. Maini was looking through his collection of more than 600 smartphones while preparing for a video about Samsung when he found that the battery on his Galaxy Note 8 had swelled up and split open the phone. Soon, he noticed the batteries in his Galaxy S6 and S10 had swelled as well.Maini wasn’t alone. When he tweeted about the bulging batteries, he heard from several other reviewers that their Samsung phones were starting to swell, too. Maini published a YouTube video about his findings late last month, making a strong case that this was something that primarily affected Samsung phones. And after the video, he heard from even more people... Continue reading…
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by The Verge Staff on (#64MWD)
Illustration by Vincent Kilbride / The Verge The biggest vulnerability is always the human element.It’s a truism in the security world, but we rarely dwell on what it means. You can patch a software flaw completely, but there’s no perfect fix for an accounts payable clerk who approves a phony invoice or an executive who falls for a spear-phishing attack. Human beings are complex, and keeping them safe is even more complex. It’s the hardest problem in security; in a sense, it’s the only problem.So for the next two weeks, we’re taking a look at some cybersecurity stories with the human element at the center, whether it’s scammers dangling bogus job offers or people facing the difficult choice of who to trust when seeking an abortion. These difficult situations are at the heart of... Continue reading…