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by Jess Weatherbed on (#63P19)
Asking your Amazon Echo speaker questions could now result in ads rather than actual answers or advice. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge A new Alexa feature has been announced at the Amazon Accelerate conference called “Customers Ask Alexa,” which allows brands to submit their own answers to questions you may ask the device.One such example was “How can I remove pet hair from my carpet?” which would usually provide generic tips or advice pulled from the web. Now, as reported by TechCrunch, brands can submit their own answers (presumably in the form of recommending their own products) and link the inquirer to their Amazon storefront.Voice interactions from Echo devices are already being used to target consumers with adsPopping ads into top search results is nothing new, of course. It’s a huge part of Google’s business, and Apple has grown more aggressive with... Continue reading…
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
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| Updated | 2025-11-09 22:47 |
by Jay Peters on (#63NXW)
A custom character in Street Fighter 6. | Image: Capcom Street Fighter 6, the next major entry in Capcom’s long-running fighting game franchise, will let you make your very own fighter that you can use in the game’s single-player and multiplayer modes. That means if you don’t want to play as the super wide Ryu, you can make your own character to take into the ring instead.It seems like there will be a lot of ways to customize your avatar. In a new trailer, Capcom showed off avatars with widely varying heights, skin tones, eye colors, and ages. They all had different clothes, too — I was a big fan of the angel wings on one character.In Street Fighter 6’s World Tour story mode, you’ll then be able to take that character and explore a bustling city, challenge NPCs to fights, and battle... Continue reading…
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#63NXX)
Turtle Beach includes a mobile phone clip with the Recon Cloud controller and claims its battery lasts up to 30 hours on Bluetooth. | Image: Turtle Beach Turtle Beach has a new Xbox controller coming out next month, and it’s adding wireless functionality — though not in the way you might expect. The Recon Cloud is a new version of the Turtle Beach Recon wired USB-C controller, and in addition to a new “blue magma” colorway, it has Bluetooth connectivity for use with Android devices and Windows PCs.The unusual aspect — especially for a controller that costs $99.99 — is that tying it to an Xbox console still requires plugging in a USB-C cable. It’s expected to ship on October 16th, and preorders can already be placed now on Turtle Beach’s site. That’s a much steeper cost than the standard $59.95 Recon, which frequently falls to around $45 when on sale.The Recon Cloud has a built-in... Continue reading…
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by Monica Chin on (#63NXY)
RIP to a real one. | Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Ever since the first Chromebook Pixel hit shelves in 2013, it’s had a special place in the ChromeOS community’s hearts. It wasn’t just a product — it was a sneak peek at what the Chromebook market could become.Unfortunately for those fans, the Pixelbook line is no more. A new Pixelbook (the spiritual successor to the original Chromebook Pixel) was “far along in development and expected to debut next year,” my colleagues Alex Heath and David Pierce reported earlier this week. But the project has been cut “as part of recent cost-cutting measures.”“We are committed to building and supporting a portfolio of Google products that are innovative and helpful for our users,” Google told The Verge in a statement. It would seem that this... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#63NTG)
Zoom went down for around an hour this morning, giving everyone working from home a bonus brief period of time without back-to-back meetings. Users saw plenty of “an error occurred” messages, and most weren’t able to launch meetings. Zoom’s main website, zoom.us, even displayed a 502 gateway error for the majority of the outage.Zoom’s status page revealed there was a “major outage” for around an hour, preventing many people from attending meetings. Zoom eventually addressed the outage at 11:37AM ET. “We have resolved the issue causing users to be unable to start and join Zoom Meetings,” says a Zoom status message.While the Zoom outage affected most users, some Zoom accounts were still able to connect using personal logins, but work and... Continue reading…
by Jay Peters on (#63NTF)
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves | Image: Sony Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which bundles Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: Lost Legacy, will be released on PC on October 19th, Sony announced today. The remaster was released for PS5 in January, and while we knew a PC version was in development to release sometime this year, we didn’t have a definitive launch date until now.The PC version of the collection will have a number of PC-specific enhancements, including a “reimagined UI,” ultrawide monitor support, and the ability to adjust the quality of things like models and textures, as outlined by Naughty Dog’s Rochelle Snyder in a blog post. The game will, of course, work with Sony’s DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers (though you’ll need a wired DualSense... Continue reading…
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by Nicole Wetsman on (#63NTH)
Image: Wiki Commons Telehealth startup Done, which prescribes ADHD medication like Adderall, is under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, The Wall Street Journal reported.The investigation is part of an ongoing crackdown on mental health companies using telemedicine to prescribe controlled substances, a category that includes stimulants like Adderall and addictive painkillers like OxyContin. The DEA is also investigating telehealth company Cerebral over its prescribing practices. That company announced it would stop prescribing drugs in that category in May.Done told The Wall Street Journal that it hadn’t had any direct contact from the DEA and that it is committed to “complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”Before the... Continue reading…
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by David Pierce on (#63NTK)
Unagi’s new Model One Voyager comes in several colors, including a new “Latte.” | Image: Unagi Unagi, the electric scooter maker behind one of the better micromobilty vehicles on the market right now, has a new model ready for you. It’s called the Model One Voyager, and it’s meant to last longer, ride more smoothly, and be easier to use. The only thing is: Unagi doesn’t really want you to buy one. It would much rather you subscribe to one.David Hyman, Unagi’s CEO, is absolutely convinced that subscription is the future of scooters. Not plunking down $1,000 for one and definitely not a ride-sharing one. “It was a total fluke that electric scooters started through ride-sharing,” he says over Zoom from his California home. Bird, Lime, and the rest got people used to the idea that a scooter could be a useful vehicle for getting... Continue reading…
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by David Pierce on (#63NTJ)
The Model Eleven was Unagi’s most ambitious device ever, but it won’t actually ship. | Image: Unagi Last year, the scooter maker Unagi launched an Indiegogo campaign for a vehicle it called Model Eleven. The campaign ultimately raised more than $700,000. Now, the company is saying it has canceled the Model Eleven entirely.The Model Eleven, as Unagi initially described it, was going to be leaps and bounds beyond any scooter you’d seen on the road. The company billed it as “the smartest scooter on Earth” and promised scooter-specific directions via Google Maps, a camera system that could help riders detect obstacles and avoid crashes, a hot-swappable battery, a full suspension for more comfortable riding, and plenty more. It felt like Unagi’s swing at a luxury car and was priced accordingly: the base Model Eleven would start at $2,790.S... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#63NQP)
Lil Nas X. | Image: Riot Games The opening ceremonies for the League of Legends World Championship are traditionally a big spectacle, featuring everything from augmented reality K-pop groups to rapping holograms. But this year’s edition will have an extra special guest: Lil Nas X.Today, Riot announced a collaboration with Lil Nas X, which is highlighted by a performance at Worlds at the Chase Center in San Francisco on November 5th. Though there are no details on what to expect from the show, Lil Nas X confirmed in a statement that it would be “the biggest, coolest, sexiest Worlds in the history of all Worlds.” So it sounds like you might want to tune in.Prior to that, on September 23rd, the artist will be releasing the annual Worlds anthem with a song called “Star... Continue reading…
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by Mia Sato on (#63NQQ)
Snapchat for web allows chatting and video calling on a computer. | Image: Snapchat Snapchat announced a new web app in July, marking the first time the platform was offered beyond mobile. Now, Snapchat says the web version — which was previously only available to paid subscribers — is open to all users.The expanded availability was announced today in a round-up of new features for fall. On Snapchat for web, users can chat and video call with friends, with conversations syncing between devices. In an interview with The Verge in July, Snap’s head of messaging product, Nathan Boyd, said a web version of Snapchat was an “unmet opportunity” for the company.The web version gives users more surface space to chat and video call with friends in the same window. One hundred million users call others using Snapchat every month,... Continue reading…
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#63NQS)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Uber is bringing its upscale electric car service to more cities, announcing the launch of its Comfort Electric feature in 14 additional cities in North America, bringing the total number of markets to 25.In May, Uber launched Comfort Electric in a handful of cities, the list of which has been steadily growing since then. Only premium EVs, like Tesla, Polestar, and Ford Mustang Mach-E, would be considered eligible for Comfort Electric trips. It will sit alongside the company’s other EV product, Uber Green, which gives drivers an extra fee (usually $1) to use electric vehicles.Here are all 25 cities where Uber Comfort Electric is available:
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by Justine Calma on (#63NQT)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Merge, which took place early Thursday morning ET, will cut Ethereum’s energy consumption by an even bigger margin than previously expected, a new analysis finds. It’s also expected to slash the cryptocurrency network’s greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.Ethereum’s electricity use is expected to drop by a whopping 99.988 percent post-Merge, according to the analysis published today by research company Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI). The network was previously using about 23 million megawatt-hours per year, CCRI estimates. Moving forward, it’s expected to use just over 2,600 megawatt-hours per year. To help visualize just how massive this is, the report compares this reduction to the Eiffel Tower shrinking to the size of a... Continue reading…
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by Mia Sato on (#63NQV)
TikTok Now sends a daily notification, just like BeReal. | Image: TikTok TikTok is the latest app to add a dual camera feature, hoping to tap in to the surging popularity of BeReal.In a blog post today, TikTok announced a new feature called Now, which will send users daily notifications to capture a picture or video using their front and back cameras.“We’re expanding our suite of creation tools as we continue to foster authentic and spontaneous connections on TikTok,” the company says in the post. In other words: y’all really seem to like accidentally posting company secrets while you work from home on that other app. What if you did it on TikTok, too?In images shared by TikTok, the new feature has its own dedicated tab right next to the home button at the bottom of the app. Just like BeReal, users have... Continue reading…
by Andrew Webster on (#63NMV)
Ana in her first music video. | Image: Krafton Earlier this year, Krafton — the company best known for the battle royale shooter PUBG — unveiled what it described as a “hyper-realistic” virtual human. Alongside those first images and details were some big plans to turn Ana, as she’s known, into a virtual star. Now we can see what that looks like with a brand-new music video.The video is for a catchy track called “Shine Bright,” and it mixes some fantastical imagery — like Ana falling from the sky and wielding what looks like a magic ring — with the visuals you’d expect from a pop song. Perhaps most interesting are the smaller details, like Ana sneezing, meant to make this virtual creation seem more human. Krafton claims that Ana’s singing, meanwhile, is “completely artificial... Continue reading…
by Casey Newton on (#63NMW)
Nick Barclay / The Verge Ever since TikTok became the most-downloaded consumer app in the world, it’s been an open question when the ByteDance-owned service would face a level of scrutiny commensurate with its status. As of today, it seems clear that moment is now.At a hearing in front of the US Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas faced stern questioning from lawmakers. They had pointed questions about the company’s connection to its parent, its relationship with the Chinese government, and the potential for Americans’ data to be misused. And while on one level it was simply the latest chance for our Senate to grandstand about the tech industry while doing nothing to regulate it, the hearing also showcased... Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#63NJA)
Bose makes a statement with its new $299 buds Continue reading…
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by Victoria Song on (#63NJ9)
... don’t upgrade Continue reading…
by James Vincent on (#63NJB)
A random selection of images created using AI text to image generator Stable Diffusion | Image: The Verge via Lexica Stable Diffusion is a text-to-image AI that’s much more accessible than its predecessors Continue reading…
by Tom Warren on (#63NJC)
Adobe is buying Figma. | Image: Figma Adobe has announced that it’s acquiring Figma, a popular design platform, for around $20 billion in cash and stock. After rumors surfaced early on Thursday about a potential acquisition, Adobe made it official in a press release shortly afterward. It’s big news in the design and development world, particularly as Figma has been competing heavily with Adobe’s XD products in recent years.“Together, Adobe and Figma will reimagine the future of creativity and productivity, accelerate creativity on the web, advance product design and inspire global communities of creators, designers and developers,” claims Adobe. “The combined company will have a massive, fast-growing market opportunity and capabilities to drive significant value for... Continue reading…
by Jon Porter on (#63NJD)
“Who Am I?” | Image: KojimaProductions.com Kojima Productions, the development studio led by Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding director Hideo Kojima, has posted a cryptic teaser on its website that has fans speculating about what the company could be about to announce. The teaser, which data from the Wayback Machine suggests was posted this week, shows a dimly lit silhouette of a woman’s head with the words “who am I?” superimposed over it.Of course, Twitter has been quick to come up with some theories about who this could be. The most convincing is that it could be the actor Elle Fanning, perhaps best known for her role as Alice Dainard in Super 8. But that’s just the first level of the fan theorizing. Taking things a step further is the fact that Fanning also appeared in a... Continue reading…
by Adi Robertson on (#63NG2)
The Facebook logo. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta’s Oversight Board says the company should be more careful with automated moderation tools, criticizing it for removing a cartoon depicting police violence in Colombia. The decision arrived as the board took on a set of new cases, including a question about a video of sexual assault in India.The Oversight Board, a semi-independent body funded by Meta, considered a political cartoon depicting Colombian police officers beating a man with batons. The cartoon was at some point added to Meta’s Media Matching Service database, which meant Meta’s system flagged it automatically for takedown when users posted it. But when users saw their posts removed, they began appealing the decision — and winning. The Oversight Board says 215 people... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#63NC0)
Genji wearing Overwatch 2’s first mythic skin | Blizzard Heroes are now gated behind battle pass progression. Here’s why that might not suck. Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#63NC1)
After a year of console exclusivity on the PS5, Deathloop will release on the Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC Game Pass, on September 20th. The first-person shooter developed by Arkane Lyon was nominated for several game of the year awards after its release in September last year thanks to its captivating mix of action and stealth gameplay, retro sci-fi art style, and interesting time looping structure. Deathloop also released on PC in addition to PS5 last September. There’s no mention of a forthcoming release on last-gen Xbox One consoles.Deathloop’s console exclusivity on PS5 was a slightly weird situation given the game was published by Bethesda, a company Microsoft acquired last year. After the acquisition was... Continue reading…
by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#63N70)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has switched to proof-of-stake, cutting its energy demands. The transition, which has been in the works since 2016, won’t change much for the average Ethereum user, but it sidelines miners.The switchover began on September 6th, when the Bellatrix upgrade was activated. It is now complete after the mining of the Terminal Total Difficulty block, which triggered the Paris upgrade. The technical part is done; now, we get to see what happens.
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by Jay Peters on (#63N24)
The new Skate is expected to offer lots of ways to be creative. | Image: EA EA sees a big opportunity in games that let players create their own content, CEO Andrew Wilson said at a Goldman Sachs conference on Tuesday, as reported by Axios. Games like Minecraft and Roblox with extensive player creation tools have become huge hits with enduring popularity, and it sounds like EA wants to find more ways to let players create content in its own titles.He highlighted a few EA franchises he feels have notable creative aspects already, like The Sims (which will soon be free to play), FIFA, and Battlefield, and talked about how the upcoming live service Skate title will offer many opportunities for player creation.“Just like the real world, where skateboarding leans into fashion and music and automotive and building... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#63N13)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A lawsuit filed in San Francisco by a Tesla owner claims the automaker and its CEO / Technoking Elon Musk are “deceptively and misleadingly” marketing the Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” advanced driver assistance features that are available as paid software add-ons (via Automotive News).The filing claims Tesla and Musk “deceived and misled consumers regarding the current abilities of its ADAS [advanced driver-assistance system] technology and by representing that it was perpetually on the cusp of perfecting that technology and finally fulfilling its promise of producing a fully self-driving car,” and that “contrary to Tesla’s repeated promises that it would have a fully self-driving car within months or a year, Tesla has never been... Continue reading…
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#63MYN)
Matter is a new smart home interoperability standard both Apple and Google helped create. | Image: CSA It’s getting closer. With the drop of the iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 developer betas today, we have confirmation that “Matter Accessories” are on their way to Apple iPhones and iPads. Plus, Google’s Google Home Developer Console, which helps developers add Matter devices to its smart home platform, also went live today.Matter is a new smart home connectivity standard that promises to unify all your connected devices, making it easier for your smart thermostat to talk to your connected door lock and for you to talk to either one using any voice assistant or smart home app you choose. At WWDC this year, Apple announced that iOS 16 would support Matter, and now we are seeing the first implementations. A screenshot of the... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#63MYP)
Opening the door even further for tablets. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has started rolling out a feature that could make judging apps in the Play Store a lot easier — it’ll only show reviews based on the type of device you’re using, be it a phone, tablet / foldable, Chromebook, Android Auto, or wearable (via Android Police). The change, which was announced in August 2021 as coming in “early 2022,” arrives as Google’s getting ready to launch a tablet and wearable of its own.In the reviews section of the Play Store, there’s now a notice to let you know that ratings are “verified,” and that you’re being shown feedback from people using the same type of device as you. I had a colleague look at the reviews for the YouTube app on his foldable, and he was shown a different set of reviews than I was while... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#63MWP)
The HyperJuice 140W is one of the first USB PD 3.1 chargers to become available. | Image: Hyper When Apple released the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros last year, the 16-inch models came with a new kind of USB-C charger — one that can deliver up to 140W of power to the MagSafe 3 port. That’s because Apple’s biggest MacBook Pro charger supports the latest USB Power Delivery specification: USB PD 3.1, which goes beyond the previous 100W limitation for a single USB-C port.The USB Promoter Group published the latest specification of Power Delivery in May of last year, but accessory manufacturers are only now delivering products that support it. And it’s about time because 16-inch MacBook Pro users who swear by fast charging have been stuck with the included non-travel-friendly brick that only has one USB-C port. Now you can get ones... Continue reading…
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#63MWQ)
Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge We’re about to see a lot more electric vehicle chargers in the US.The Biden administration just announced the approval of $900 million in funding to 35 states to install EV chargers across approximately 53,000 miles of highway across the country — the first tranche from a $5 billion pot of money that was included as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year.That means money is about to start flowing to the states to enact their plans to install thousands of new EV chargers, a crucial link in the Biden administration’s goal of getting more people to switch to plug-in vehicles. The president has said he wants to build 500,000 chargers across the US by 2030 in the hopes that an improved charging infrastructure will make EVs a... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#63MTS)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Digital Foundry has released an in-depth look at the upscaling tech that’ll be included with Intel’s upcoming Arc GPUs and compared its performance to Nvidia’s offering, Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). Based on the tests they’ve run so far, Intel’s Xe Super Sampling, or XeSS for short, seems to do a reasonable job of holding its own against more mature technologies — though it’s worth noting that Digital Foundry only ran tests with Intel’s highest-end card, the Arc A770, and mostly in a single game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider.The idea behind XeSS and other technologies like it is to run your game at a lower resolution, then use a bunch of machine learning algorithms to upscale it in a way that looks way better than more basic... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#63MTT)
This isn’t an iPhone Mini, but it’s what the indicator looks like. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Apple released the first iOS 16.1 beta to developers on Wednesday, and it lets iPhone users with an iPhone 13 or 12 Mini, an iPhone 11, or iPhone XR turn on the new battery percentage indicator added in iOS 16, according to MacRumors.Before iOS 16, iPhones with notches couldn’t see their battery percentage in the status bar, but Apple added the feature for some notched phones with its latest major software update. Many of us here at The Verge aren’t a fan of the new design; the indicator puts a number inside a battery icon, which is a smart way to save some space, but there’s no other visual indicator of how full that battery is. That means, for example, that if your battery is at 33 percent, the battery icon will still appear “full.”... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#63MTV)
The MacBook Air equipped with Apple’s M1 processor is our favorite affordable laptop and is often on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. While it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers), that’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now.In addition to the latest deals, we’ll share each discounted model’s best features (and downsides) to give you more clarity during your shopping journey. And if you need to do more research, you can also check out our guides to the best laptops on the market and the top cheap laptops as well. Photo... Continue reading…
by Tom Warren on (#63MSA)
Microsoft loves TikTok. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft liked a TikTok video so much it has put a remixed version of the Teams ringtone into the Microsoft Teams app. Calum Newton, who’s better known as CandyMoore.mp3 on TikTok, created the Teams ringtone remix earlier this year by mixing some funky vocals by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and an electronic dance music take on the sound you hear when your boss wants to talk to you.While Microsoft has dropped the Bill Gates vocals for the version on Microsoft Teams, the end result is nearly identical to the TikTok that earned Microsoft’s approval earlier this year — with Microsoft’s official TikTok account commenting “we like it Picasso” on the video.
by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#63MPS)
A great smart door lock but just an okay video doorbell Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#63MPT)
The new Canva Visual Worksuite could turn the graphic design tool into a full-fledged competitor for Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. | Image: Canva Canva is moving beyond its roots as an online graphic design tool, announcing a new suite of workplace products that expand into other areas of visual communication. The Canva Visual Worksuite will provide design-focused alternatives to products offered by Microsoft and Google, such as Canva Docs and Canva Whiteboards, as well as introduce new features to existing tools within the Canva product family.First up is Canva Docs, a collaborative online document creator and editing tool, enabling you to use all of Canva’s 100 million-plus library of design assets while creating text documents. You can create and embed designs like whiteboards, banners, and brainstorms directly within the Doc as an alternative to exporting your created designs... Continue reading…
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by Adi Robertson on (#63MPV)
California Governor Gavin Newsom | Photo by Jerod Harris / Getty Images for Vox Media California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law aimed at making web platforms monitor hate speech, extremism, harassment, and other objectionable behaviors. Newsom signed AB 587 after it passed the state legislature last month, despite concerns that the bill might violate First Amendment speech protections.AB 587 requires social media companies to post their terms of service online, as well as submit a twice-yearly report to the state attorney general. The report must include details about whether the platform defines and moderates several categories of content, including “hate speech or racism,” “extremism or radicalization,” “disinformation or misinformation,” harassment, and “foreign political interference.” It must also offer... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#63MMB)
Its new short film stars NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo. | Image: Meta Meta’s WhatsApp just released a trailer for its new short film about the story of NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, titled Naija Odyssey. The movie is a short film (12 minutes, according to Variety) focusing on the story of Antetokounmpo’s life.The film appears to essentially be branded content, given that Antetokounmpo signed an endorsement deal with WhatsApp in February that made him the social media platform’s first brand spokesperson. So while this isn’t exactly the same as Apple jumping into film and TV with things like Coda and Ted Lasso, Naija Odyssey could be a sign that WhatsApp is exploring original content in some shape or form — even if it’s just for future branded opportunities.Here’s the fuller description of the film,... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#63MMC)
The Xbox app on PC now launches 15 percent faster. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is updating its Xbox app on Windows with HowLongToBeat integration and faster launch times. The Xbox team has partnered with HowLongToBeat to provide estimates for long it will take to beat PC Game Pass games. HowLongToBeat is a community-based site that lets people track how long a game will take and see if a game is worth buying or playing.The HowLongToBeat integration in the Xbox app on Windows includes estimations for the main story of the game alongside estimates for additional quests, 100 percent completion, and a combination of play styles. You’ll be able to submit your own times and even see community reviews, playthrough notes, and breakdowns by playstyles. Image: Microsoft HowLongToBeat... Continue reading…
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by Monica Chin on (#63MMD)
Could this be the future? | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge If you’ve been following the laptop space over the past two or so years, you’ve probably noticed that the detachable laptop is on the rise. Several high-profile models that were previously traditional 2-in-1s (that is, an old-school-looking laptop that can also bend backward) have slowly but surely been converted to detachable keyboard form factors.This is in no way a new idea — the Surface Pro has been a thing for years on end. But as more and more companies add the form factor to their premium lines, it seems like the space in general is warming up to the idea that Microsoft was right all along.Recent examples include:
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by Cameron Faulkner on (#63MEK)
From certain angles, the M8 Smart Monitor (especially its more splashy colorways) looks like Apple’s latest iMac. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The recent Discover Samsung deals — happening totally coincidentally during iPhone 14 release week — are actually pretty stellar. Whether you’ve been looking for discounts on Samsung’s last-gen Galaxy Watch 4 or price cuts on its latest foldable phones, the sale event continues to perk up our ears. One of today’s discounts is great if you’ve been waiting on a price cut on the interesting M8 Smart Monitor.The M8 is its 32-inch 4K display that’s both a smart TV and a USB-C monitor in one, complete with a magnetically attaching webcam to do video chats, regardless of whether there’s a computer connected to it. While it’s typical to find a $100 discount on this model (it originally sold for $699.99), you’ll be able to grab one for $499.99... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#63MHB)
You can now screate scrapbook-inspired collages with your favorite snaps on Google Photos. | Image: Google Google Photos is redesigning its Memories feature to better display your cherished snaps, featuring new interactions, memory types, and memory sharing. Some creative updates are also coming in the form of a new collage editor and Styles feature to help you curate your images.From today, videos are getting more of a spotlight within the redesigned Memories experience, with Google Photos automatically selecting and trimming down longer footage to focus on key moments. Still images will have a subtle zoom effect applied, which is visually different from the full dynamic zoom featured on Cinematic Photos. A small update is also coming to interactions, adding the ability to swipe up or down to move between Memories in addition to the... Continue reading…
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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#63MHC)
Newegg is handing out free monitors when you purchase an RTX 3060 or 3070. | Image: Gigabyte In a strange turn of fate, it seems that Newegg somehow has too many 30-series graphics cards. Right now, you can get a free 24-inch 1080p gaming monitor when you buy an RTX 3060 for $399.99. Another solid offer bundles a free 27-inch curved QHD monitor with a purchase of an RTX 3070 for $599.99. A deal like this is tough to beat; even if you don’t need the monitor, you’re still getting a 30-series graphics card at close to retail price, which was damn near impossible a year ago. This is likely a response to the leak of 40-series RTX cards that have been making their rounds on the internet.If you’ve been biding your time in adopting one of the 30-series graphics cards, you aren’t going to find many opportunities that are better than... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#63MHD)
Samar Haddad / The Verge Apps are what make the iPhone useful. Without them, you wouldn’t really be able to do much with your smartphone, which is why it’s important to keep them up to date. By making sure to update them, you’ll ensure you’ll benefit from the latest security and feature updates. Luckily, iPhones can automatically update apps for you, or you can manually update one or all of them by yourself — and it’s a pretty quick and easy process, too.Here, we’ll show you just how to update your iPhone iOS 16 apps — automatically or manually — in a few simple steps that should take next to no time.How to automatically update apps on iOS 16First, to save time, you can instruct your iPhone to automatically update any individual app — or all of them — if... Continue reading…
by Andrew Webster on (#63MHE)
Mia Goth as Pearl in Pearl. | Image: A24 When X came out earlier this year, it was a capable, well-crafted homage to ’70s slasher flicks from director Ti West, but there wasn’t much to it beyond that. It turns out the project is much bigger than that one-off story. As was teased at the end of X, we now have a prequel, Pearl, that tells the origin story of its titular bloodthirsty killer. On their own, the two films each offer a satisfying amount of scares and gore. But it’s when you put them together that they become much more intriguing.This review contains spoilers for both Pearl and X.X told the story of a group of young folks attempting to film a porn movie in a rented farmhouse before being steadily killed by the murderous elderly couple they were renting from. Pearl... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#63MHF)
Discord Forum Channels will be available across PC and mobile. | Image: Discord Discord is launching its new Forum Channels feature today in a bid to help server owners organize conversations. Forum Channels act like threaded topics of conversation that direct Discord users to talk about a particular subject. They’ll be useful for busy servers where it’s easy to interrupt ongoing conversations.Forum Channels appear like sub-channels and can be used by server owners to branch off conversations about particular topics or to avoid having to create yet another channel for focused conversations.“Like Threads and Text in Voice before, Forum Channels let focused conversations thrive without hogging a channel,” explains Discord in a blog post. “No more watching an interesting discussion get drowned out, hijacked, or... Continue reading…
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#63MEJ)
The HBO Max and Discovery Plus logos | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images In the coming months, there’s a very good chance that Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max and Discovery Plus platforms are both going to go through massive reinventions meant to bring the streamers more in line with CEO David Zaslav’s vision for their path to success. Much of the speculation about what the future holds for the streaming services has revolved around all of the content being pulled from them ahead of their fusing to become something new, But according to the company’s CFO, customers might also be looking at some noticeable price hikes as Warner Bros. Discovery reconsiders just how much it should be charging people to access its catalog on demand.At this year’s annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, Warner Bros.... Continue reading…
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#63MEM)
The Pixel Buds Pro in their unique, yellowy lemongrass color | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Today marks a lot of things: it’s hump day, it’s iPhone 14 and 14 Pro review day, it’s the second day of our newly redesigned Verge site (don’t worry, I won’t keep counting in every post), and it’s also a day we can bring an exclusive deal just for you, our valued readers.The Pixel Buds Pro wireless earbuds are discounted between now and September 18th at Wellbots for $180 when you use code VERGE10 at checkout. That’s about a $20 savings on Google’s excellent buds with active noise-canceling, great battery life, and multipoint connectivity. The deal covers three of the four available colors the Pixel Buds Pro are offered in: charcoal, fog, and lemongrass (the best color, obviously). Whichever you pick, you get a white case that charges... Continue reading…
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by David Pierce on (#63MEN)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Zoom may be getting ready for its biggest expansion yet: the company is preparing to launch email and calendar apps, The Information reported, and could do so before the end of this year. That would turn Zoom, which has already evolved from a video chat platform to a competitor to Slack and whiteboard apps and even your office phone, into a full-fledged competitor to Google Workspace and Microsoft Office.Getting into other work apps would seem like a departure for Zoom, but it makes sense the company would go after them. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan has long said he prefers to be a partner to other work tools rather than replace them, but as Zoom’s own platform ambitions have grown, so has the company’s desire to own more of the work ecosystem.C... Continue reading…
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