The Verge - All Posts

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled for the sixth time this year - and the fix won't involve an easy software update.Tesla voluntarily issued a recall for approximately 2,431 Cybertrucks manufactured between November 6, 2023 and July 30, 2024. The issue is related to something called the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, or MOSFET, in which the inverter has the potential to stop creating torque, resulting in a loss of propulsion for the truck.A loss of propulsionThere isn't any warning prior to the loss of propulsion, but a visual alert will appear on the center touchscreen instructing the driver to pull the truck over to the side of the road. Tesla is sending notices out to affected Cybertruck owners and plans to... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In the last couple of months, some people have started watching YouTube on their phones to find something a little different: an endless, TikTok-like feed of videos underneath. These weren't Shorts, but full-length videos, the ones YouTube tends to refer to as longform." If you swiped up, instead of returning you to the homepage, another video would start playing. Swipe again: another video.So far, this is just a small test of a possible feature, the kind YouTube runs all the time. This one has been live since August and is one of several ongoing tests of new ways for users to find content on YouTube. If you're a viewer in the experiment," a forum post describing the test says, these new discovery experiences could include a mix of... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge As Google continues to navigate its relationship with publishers, regulators, and news readers, the company is starting a pretty drastic test: it will remove news articles from European Union-based publishers from Search.While the test" is supposed to determine how it will impact traffic and the overall search experience, it won't show up for everyone. Google will only remove EU news articles from search results, Google News, and Discover for one percent of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.Google says it's running the time-limited" test because EU regulators and publishers have asked for additional data about the effect of news content in Search." The company says it will... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Just Eat is selling off Grubhub to fancy food hall delivery startup Wonder in a deal worth $650 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. Wonder is owned by businessman Marc Lore, the former Walmart e-commerce CEO and part-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves.Wonder started as a multi-restaurant food truck service delivering fine dining and evolved into food hall hubs where staff quickly cook pre-prepared foods crafted by big-name chefs like Bobby Flay. Customers can order from upwards of 30 restaurants" from the Wonder app, combining them into one delivery.With Grubhub coming under Wonder's belt, the company plans to integrate the delivery app into its platform. In a... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Short-form posting platform Bluesky crossed the 15 million user mark today amid a recent surge of user signups in the wake of the US presidential election. That's according to a stat-tracking site put together by Bluesky developer Jaz, using the Bluesky API.The platform, which rests on the decentralized AT Protocol, added about a million new users in the last week. Bluesky COO Rose Wang recently told The Verge that the majority" of new users flocking to the platform have been from the US. The Bluesky app is currently at number one in the iOS app store, followed by Threads, ChatGPT, and the Google app. Screenshot: iOS App Store Bluesky is the number one free iOS app this morning. Meta's Threads is still... Continue reading...

Photo: Wes Davis / The Verge The Vision Pro VR headset is such an Apple product - meticulously designed and packed with incredible tech, but designed to be used Apple's way, whether you like it or not. For many, that means the headset is aggressively uncomfortable to wear due to its weight distribution. For the last several days, though, I've been testing a solution Apple now sells that's so simple, so obvious, that I'm actually miffed at Apple for not including something like it from the very beginning: the Belkin Head Strap.Belkin's strap works in tandem with Apple's Solo Knit Band. The Solo Knit Band wraps around your head with an elastic cushion, clamping the headset to your face but putting a lot of strain on your neck. Belkin's strap gives you more support... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Subscriptions are the main way creators on Patreon make money, as they must build an audience willing to shell out a few dollars a month to access their writing, podcasts, or videos. The company announced today that creators and their fans can now give away gift memberships, which could be a powerful way for creators to grow their subscriber base.Patreon said earlier this year it was working on a gifting subscription feature similar to what already existed on other subscription-powered platforms like Substack (which, incidentally, has been pushing deeper into the creator space beyond newsletters). Gifting is also a core part of Twitch's streaming platform, where fans and streamers often give away subscriptions based on specific goals... Continue reading...

Image: Capcom The Monster Hunter franchise is bringing, well, monster hunting to your smartphone. Capcom has announced that it's teaming up with TiMi - the studio behind games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Unite - for a spinoff called Monster Hunter Outlanders. It's described as an open-world survival game" that's playable either solo or co-op with up to four players. It sounds like Outlanders will feature the core aspects of a MonHun experience (namely, the exploring, hunting, and crafting) but with live service and social elements typical of a mobile game.MonHun has become a huge global franchise since the launch of Monster Hunter World in 2018, which went on to become Capcom's bestselling game. Since then, there's been a live-action movie,... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by STR / NurPhoto, Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead what he calls the Department of Government Efficiency - yes, the acronym is DOGE - to pave the way" for his administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."The department will somehow operate outside of Government" and work with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget, according to the statement posted on Truth Social. Musk and Ramaswamy have until July 4th, 2026, to complete their work, the statement says.Trump had said during his presidential campaign that he would appoint Musk to head up a government efficiency commission if he was elected.... Continue reading...

Image: Freevee Amazon is going to shut down Freevee, its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service. The service's content has already been migrated over to Prime Video and new episodes of Freevee shows will be available to people who don't pay for Prime, Deadline reports. The brand will be phased out over the coming weeks," Deadline says.Freevee originally launched out of Amazon-owned IMDb in 2019 as IMDb Freedive and was rebranded a few months after launch to IMDb TV and then to Freevee in 2022. The service had some of its own original content, like Bosch: Legacy and Jury Duty, Amazon also added some Prime Video content to the service starting in 2023.But Adweek reported in February that Amazon was planning to sunset the brand -... Continue reading...

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Where will we all hang out next? Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge For months now, there have been rumors about a smart home display Apple is supposedly working on. Now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the display will be wall-mounted and control smart home devices, attend video calls, and more, similar to the Amazon Echo Hub, and works on its own but requires an iPhone to complete the initial setup.The iPad-like device, which will reportedly be available as soon as next March, has a six-inch display with thick edges, a built-in camera, a rechargeable battery, and speakers, according to Gurman. The plan is to have Siri and Apple Intelligence voice control support as well.If the rumors are true, the smart display will offer a centralized way to control HomeKit-compatible lights, security cameras, sensors,... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is testing a new feature that will let creators use AI to restyle" licensed songs for their shorts. The small group of creators with access can enter a prompt to change up different elements in a song, such as its mood or genre, and the expansion of YouTube's Dream Track AI feature will generate a reworked 30-second soundtrack.YouTube:

Eufy's new hardwired floodlight camera can record all day long. | Image: Eufy Eufy's new Floodlight Camera E30 attaches a 2K camera that can tilt and pan 360 degrees to a pair of 2,000-lumen LED floodlights and throws in local video capture without subscription fees. Although Eufy, the smart home brand of Anker, sells similar products with batteries and solar panels offering more flexibility on where they can be mounted, most homes already have a floodlight. That makes the hardwired E30 an easy replacement that is available now through the company's website and Amazon for $149.99,There are alternatives we currently recommend in our floodlight camera buyer's guide, but for $150, the Eufy E30 offers several premium features without requiring ongoing fees to actually use them.Being hardwired also means the E30,... Continue reading...

Image: Rivian Volkswagen and Rivian have crossed all their T's and dotted all their I's in their new $5.8 billion joint venture, which officially kicks off its work on November 13th, the companies announced today.Last June, VW said it would invest $5 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that's focused on developing a new electrical architecture and vehicle software for future models, including subcompact cars, with the first planned for 2027. Now that investment has grown to $5.8 billion.Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC"The new joint venture, dryly named Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC," will be led by Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid and VW Group chief technology engineer Carsten Helbing. Teams will be based in Palo... Continue reading...

Image: BioWare EA has shared a lengthy blog detailing all the technical work that went into rendering hair in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.While it used to be, and in some cases still is, a struggle to find a game with a character creator that included a diverse range of hairstyles, newer games are getting better at providing styles to represent folks on the kinky / curly hair spectrum where a lot of people of color reside. However, the new struggle is getting those hairstyles to look and act natural. I remember looking at all the hairstyles in Horizon Forbidden West and being bemused that the dreadlocks on Varl looked like they were made out of foam, while his beard was simply straight hair without an ounce of kink a Black man like him typically has.... Continue reading...

Get your red cup delivered straight to your door. | Photo: Starbucks A new way to spend $10 on a 12-ounce coffee just dropped. Starting today, Starbucks is accepting delivery orders right inside its app. Delivery is handled by DoorDash, and right now, it's limited to participating stores" in the US and Canada. But if you're in the delivery area and willing to pay a small fortune in fees, getting your Starbucks order into your hands has never been easier.Starbucks has been offering delivery through DoorDash in the US since early last year, but only within Doordash's app. Previously, order ahead options in the Starbucks app were limited to in-store and drive-through pickup. Now, you can toggle between pickup and delivery. Placing a delivery order brings up an interface identical to the one on DoorDash's... Continue reading...

Image: Nintendo Nintendo games rarely see big discounts, but the holiday shopping season always proves a good opportunity to save on some contemporary classics. After initially offering special holiday bundles of its Switch consoles, Nintendo has also announced a Black Friday sale on various games and controllers set to begin November 24th and run through the 30th.Major Nintendo titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and more will be $20 off at retailers like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart once the sale commences. Additionally, Switch accessories like Joy-Con controllers and Nintendo's Pro Controller will also be $20 off, along with a slick Tears of the Kingdom carrying case getting a $10 discount.... Continue reading...

The Zefiro is a tiny USB-C MIDI controller that can be played like a wind instrument. | Image: Kickstarter An Italian startup called Artinoise has created an unusual USB-C accessory for mobile devices that turns them into playable musical instruments. The Zefiro looks like a flash drive or a tiny vape, but by gently blowing into one end, it can be used to play simulated instruments with even less skill than what was needed to play those plastic recorders in grade school.The Zefiro is being made available through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign looking to raise just over $5,300 to fund production. According to the company, We have been developing and manufacturing musical instruments for years; now we just need to collect pre-orders for our latest creation and kick off manufacturing!"Those backing the campaign early can preorder a... Continue reading...

If you need the latest and greatest, we're already seeing (slight) discounts on Apple's newest iPad Mini. | Photo: David Pierce / The Verge While the best iPad deals usually land during major sale events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many great iPad deals are attainable outside those times. The day-to-day discounts may come and go like changing winds, but there's often something to be saved, particularly on the more affordable iPads. The most recent iPad Pro and iPad Air are causing prices on older models to drop even further, and now that Apple has a new iPad Mini, we're seeing regular discounts on the last-gen Mini as well.It's difficult to know where exactly you can find the most notable iPad deals unless you're scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that's often what our deal hunters at The Verge are doing each and every day, so let us help you out.... Continue reading...

Image: Sony Sony is cutting the price of the slim" PS5 digital edition by $70, making it more affordable for the holiday season. Typically, that PS5 model costs $449.99, but it will start at $379.99 through December 24th, according to a new ad.This holiday deal brings the slim PS5 digital edition just under the original $399.99 price of the launch version of the PS5 digital console. The footnote at the end of the ad specifies that this price is only for the disc-free console, so it seems like the model with a disc drive already attached will still start at $499.99. But the holiday pricing also means that by buying a digital PS5 slim and one of Sony's separate $79.99 PS5 disc drives, you can make your own PS5 with a disc drive and save about $40.A... Continue reading...

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge If you've been looking to replace your Android phone's camera app with one that doesn't overprocess photos to alter lighting and detail in sometimes extreme ways, now there's an option. Zerocam is a barebones app that promises to shoot in RAW and process your photos to remove all artificial effects, delivering soft, pleasant-to-eye images."We've been talking about the definition of a photo for years, and we're not the only ones complaining about HDR processing that sometimes makes images seem flat because they lack contrast between light and dark.This app's approach is similar to the Process Zero feature Halide offers within its iPhone camera app, but Zerocam goes a few steps further. This app doesn't even have much of an interface:... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge The iOS version of Google's Chrome browser is getting upgraded with several features from the Android iteration, including simultaneous Google Lens image and text search. Chrome for iOS could already use Google Lens to search for a picture on your iPhone or one taken from the camera, but now you can add words along with it to narrow your search in one go.For instance, you can upload a picture of a t-shirt design you like into Lens and type the name of a color that you prefer into search, and it will try to find the shirt you want. This update comes as Apple launched its own Visual Intelligence search, which only works on iPhone 16 and 16 Pro. GIF: Google Search a picture of a snowboard design you like, but see if... Continue reading...

Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) on October 29th, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. | Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Artificial intelligence is top of mind for President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY). Zeldin plans to help unleash US energy dominance" and make America the AI capital of the world," he said in a post on X today.The EPA regulates emissions that pollute the air and cause climate change, giving it a huge role to play in how much the rise of energy-hungry AI leads to a jump in power plant pollution. From the looks of it, though, the EPA's incoming leader is prioritizing making sure environmental protections don't get in the way of doing business - particularly when it comes to expanding AI data centers.Environmental advocates are already concerned about Trump's plans... Continue reading...

The Verge Microsoft is planning to no longer support the Windows Mail, Calendar, and People apps later this year. The software giant has been moving existing users of these apps over to the new Outlook for Windows app in recent months, and now it has set an end of support date for the Mail, Calendar, and People apps of December 31st.Once the apps reach end of support later this year, Microsoft warns that users who haven't moved to the new Outlook app will no longer be able to send and receive email using Windows Mail and Calendar."Microsoft has been rolling out the new Outlook for Windows app for years, with it officially reaching the general availability stage in August. The new web-based Outlook is designed to eventually replace the full... Continue reading...

Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images Waymo is ditching its waitlist in Los Angeles, much like it did before in Phoenix and San Francisco, making its fully autonomous vehicles available to anyone who downloads the company's Waymo One app.There are still some geographic limitations with which to contend: Waymo only operates within 80 square miles of Los Angeles County, which includes neighborhoods such as Hollywood, Chinatown, Westwood, Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, and Playa Vista.Still, it was a sign of the company's growing confidence in its technology, especially after securing a record $5.6 billion investment round, led by its parent company, Alphabet, to help fund its next phase of growth. Waymo recently said it was conducting 150,000 paid trips and driving over 1... Continue reading...

Image: Epic Games Fortnite is going old school once again. Epic has announced that the throwback mode Fortnite OG, which brings back the battle royale's original island, will become a permanent fixture of the game starting on December 6th.OG first launched last November as a limited-time event, which turned out to be a big hit and was designed explicitly to bring back lapsed players to the game ahead of the release of Lego Fortnite. Its return means iconic Fortnite elements like Tilted Towers and the Baller will now be a standard part of the experience.Epic is currently attempting to replicate the success of OG. Fortnite is in the midst of Chapter 2 Remix, which - as the name implies - takes the game's second chapter and tweaks it. The big shift this... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Earlier this year Microsoft's Edge browser automatically started up on my PC and imported my Chrome tabs without consent. Microsoft refused to explain why this behavior had occurred, and then quietly addressed the problem in a Microsoft Edge update. Microsoft hasn't given up on trying to get your Chrome data though, as a new update is rolling out that automatically starts Edge and offers to import your Chrome tabs.My colleague Richard Lawler noticed that Edge started automatically on his PC last week at boot and offered up a new prompt to enhance your browsing experience." The pop-up has a bring over your data from other browsers regularly" option ticked by default, and encourages people to confirm and continue with a big blue button.... Continue reading...

There's no better pair of AirPods you can buy for under $100. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge If you're looking for a good opportunity to upgrade from an older pair of AirPods, then some of the early Black Friday sales going on right now are where you want to be. Walmart, for example, has chopped down the price of a pair of Apple AirPods (third-gen) with a Lightning charging case to $94, which is a massive $75 off and easily the lowest price we've seen to date.The fourth-gen AirPods are out now - with slight audio quality and comfort improvements, plus the option to get them with active noise cancellation and a wireless charging case bearing its own speaker - but the third-gen AirPods are still rock solid for routine music, podcasts, calls, and other listening needs. The charging case adds 24 hours of playtime to the earbuds'... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge The European Union has accused Apple of unlawfully discriminating against EU customers after finding the Cupertino company's geo-blocking measures may be violating the bloc's consumer protection rules.Announced via a press release on Tuesday, the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) said a joint investigation had identified several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices" that Apple applies to its App Store, iTunes Store, Arcade, Books. Podcasts, and Apple Music services. Issues include restricting consumers to payment methods issued in the same country where their Apple account was registered, preventing app downloads offered in other EU/EEA countries, and having restrictive, region-specific... Continue reading...

LG Display's stretchable screens can now stretch up to 50 percent. | Image: LG Display LG Display has recently announced a new version of its unique stretchable display with improved elasticity and durability. The 12-inch prototype can now be stretched up to 18 inches without being destroyed in the process, opening up new possibilities for where screens can potentially be installed.The company first demonstrated a prototype of the display in 2022, but at the time it could only be stretched from 12 to 14 inches, or about 20 percent of its length. The latest prototype features a new wiring design structure" and an improved silicon substrate - similar to the material used to make contact lenses - to expand the panel's stretchability to up to 50 percent.Built using micro LEDs, the new prototype is capable of displaying full... Continue reading...

You can customize Particle, but AI does most of the work. | Image: David Pierce / The Verge It is, you might say, a complicated moment for news online. There are the efforts to erode the First Amendment, the dominant platforms that aren't sending traffic like they used to, the complexities of an ever-changing ad business, and on and on the list goes. Maybe most of all, there's the rise of AI, and platforms that ingest an internet's worth of news, abstract it away into a mush of semi-true information, and then serve it up to anyone who asks their chatbot what's new. Into that fray comes Particle, a long-in-the-works new platform from a couple of former Twitter product leaders that is designed to help people find and make sense of the news a little more easily. With a lot of AI.Particle's plan is to use AI to do two particularly... Continue reading...

Apple Intelligence is just doing the best it can. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge iPhones, iPads, and Macs with Apple Intelligence now have a unique AI feature that summarizes notifications for you. Starting with iOS / iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1, when multiple notifications pile up for a given app, the tiny LLM that Apple has crammed into our stuff tries its hardest to algorithm up a brief overview for you. (Part of a group text with lots of people? It'll try to tell you what they're discussing.) This is sometimes good. It is very often funny.I like the way the summaries handle some of my Apple Home notifications - like when I read Garage changed status multiple times; recently closed" in lieu of a stack of messages about my garage door. The wording changes, but without fail (so far), it's been right about whether... Continue reading...

UN climate chief Simon Stiell delivers a speech during the opening of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 11th, 2024. | Photo by Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images Governments around the world agreed to triple renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade during pivotal United Nations climate talks at a summit in Dubai last year. As the annual climate negotiations kick off again this week, there's been some progress on that goal - but not nearly enough.An assessment of national energy plans says that countries are on track to double global renewable energy capacity by 2030. There's a lot of opportunity for growth with the falling cost of wind and solar, but whether policymakers are ready to ditch fossil fuels is a trickier question.Renewables markets have moved, but governments' ambitions have not."Renewables markets have moved, but governments' ambitions have not," Katye Altieri,... Continue reading...

Image: Nvidia Nvidia is officially launching its Nvidia app on PC today, designed to overhaul and replace the GeForce Experience app. The Nvidia app originally went into beta earlier this year, and it's now feature complete enough for the beta label to be removed and for the app to soon be bundled with GeForce drivers.The Nvidia app includes a redesigned and improved overlay, with support for 4K 120fps AV1 video capture, Nvidia's AI-powered RTX game filters, and an improved customizable statistic overlay. Image: Nvidia The new Nvidia app also gives you access to a bunch of other Nvidia apps. Just like GeForce Experience before it, the Nvidia app includes optimal playable settings for games and it even includes a number of... Continue reading...

A pretty book that costs a pretty penny. | Image: Apple Music / Assouline You can now buy a physical version of the 100 Best Albums list that Apple Music released this year - if you have some serious cash to burn, that is. Apple Music: 100 Best Albums, a 208-page coffee table book produced by luxury print company Assouline, is available to preorder today for $450, with an estimated shipping date of November 25th. Shipping itself is thankfully free.One explanation for the high price tag is that availability is extremely limited - only 1,500 copies are up for grabs, each numbered on the rear and inside the book. The design of the book itself is also very luxurious, featuring a custom-designed translucent acrylic slipcase etched with the Apple Music logo" that protects the white linen hardcover, and gold... Continue reading...