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Updated 2025-11-10 11:02
Crypto exchange Coinbase is reportedly facing an SEC investigation over securities
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly facing an investigation from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over whether it allowed users to trade unregistered securities, according to a report from Bloomberg. The SEC’s probe hasn’t yet been made public.Sources close to the situation told Bloomberg that the SEC started taking a closer look at Coinbase’s practices after the exchange added over 100 additional tokens to its platform, including Dogecoin, the joke cryptocurrency based on the Shiba Inu meme. These types of coins typically do well after they’re first listed, but they’re very volatile, and their value typically evaporates over time.This investigation is separate from the SEC’s case against former Coinbase... Continue reading…
This website lets you watch US heatwaves in real time
A woman wipes her forehead at the top of the stairs to the Lincoln Memorial during a heatwave on July 22nd, 2022, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images Summers are now so brutally hot that the US government created a new website, heat.gov, to help Americans stay safe during dangerous heat spells. It features maps that show current heat conditions across the country and provides other tools and resources to help people beat the heat.The main goal of the website is to prevent heat-related illness and death by sharing up-to-date information on extreme heat. Heat kills more people in the US than any other weather disaster. Often, it disproportionately harms vulnerable pockets of people, including children, older people, and communities of color who live in urban and formerly redlined neighborhoods designed in a way that traps heat.“We don’t have to accept this. Right? This doesn’t have... Continue reading…
MultiVersus, WB’s free-to-play crossover brawler, launches in open beta
A chaotic battle in MultiVersus. | Image: WB Games MultiVersus, Warner Bros. Games’ free-to-play fighting game starring characters from many WB universes, launched in open beta in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand on Tuesday. The game is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, and PC, and it has crossplay and cross-progression across all platforms.Technically, the open beta went live at 12PM ET, but there have been issues right from the start — I personally haven’t been able to get past the title screen at all. The developers have since put in the game in maintenance mode and are promising that “servers will be back online soon.”
Titanium Blockchain CEO pleads guilty to $21 million crypto fundraising scam
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Michael Alan Stollery, the CEO of blockchain company Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS), has pleaded guilty to securities fraud over a $21 million cryptocurrency scam. The California man admitted to falsifying details around the BAR coin, a crowdfunding token that should have — but wasn’t — registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.The TBIS scam was one of many dodgy initial coin offerings, or ICOs, in the late ‘10s. According to the complaint, between 2017 and 2018, Stollery introduced TBIS as a new company and hyped its coin with a string of elaborate false claims. TBIS touted nonexistent links with companies like Apple, Boeing, and IBM. Some of the “partners” complained, to which Stollery apparently... Continue reading…
Faraday Future delays launch of its debut electric vehicle
Faraday Future’s first car is still a far way off in the future, according to recent regulatory filings.The California EV company that has flirted with bankruptcy more times than I can count said this week that it needs more cash in order to launch its debut electric vehicle, the FF91. As such, the company is pushing back customer deliveries to the third or fourth quarter of 2022.That may not seem so far off, but Faraday Future is not exactly known for its ability to meet deadlines. The company was late reporting its first quarterly earnings after going public through a merger with a “blank-check” company. And, of course, Faraday Future has missed several self-imposed deadlines for the launch of the FF91, which has been in... Continue reading…
Google Pixel 6A review: midrange parts, Tensor smarts
The 6A’s Tensor chipset makes all the difference in this midrange phone Continue reading…
Netflix adds Before Your Eyes to its mobile game lineup
Image: Netflix Netflix is expanding its mobile game offerings with another banger. Hot on the heels of the platform’s launch of Into the Breach, this time, Netflix is serving up the exclusive mobile debut of last year’s critically acclaimed Before Your Eyes.Before Your Eyes (not to be confused with the Netflix noir thriller Behind Her Eyes) tells the story of the recently departed Benjamin Brynn. Using eye-tracking technology, the game allows you to experience Brynn’s memories of life on his journey through death. According to Netflix, the game will utilize your mobile device’s camera to capture players’ blinks and glances. The PC version of Before Your Eyes also had mouse support, but it’s unknown if the Netflix version will have some sort of touch... Continue reading…
Netflix is turning The Gray Man into a cinematic universe
Ryan Gosling in The Gray Man. | Image: Netflix The Gray Man just debuted on Netflix last week, but the streamer already has some big plans for it as a budding franchise. Today, Netflix announced not just a sequel for the thriller but also a spinoff, instantly turning The Gray Man into the company’s next cinematic universe. The company says its plan is to turn it into “a major spy franchise.”Netflix says that the currently untitled sequel is in development and that star Ryan Gosling and directors Joe and Anthony Russo are all set to return alongside co-writer Stephen McFeely. There’s no word on when it might debut. As for the spinoff, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, best known for their work on the Deadpool movies, will serve as writers. According to Netflix “the logline is being kept... Continue reading…
Blood oxygen sensing is finally rolling out on the Oura Ring
Oura’s adding two new metrics that make use of its SpO2 sensors: average blood oxygen and breathing regularity. | Image: Oura SpO2 sensors, which enable blood oxygen monitoring, were one of the marquee upgrades when Oura announced its third-generation smart ring. The only catch was that, even though the new Oura Ring had the necessary hardware, the feature itself was still in the works. Now, roughly nine months after launch, Oura says blood oxygen sensing will finally start rolling out to users this week.Blood oxygen metrics have become increasingly popular when it comes to sleep tracking. It generally works by shining a red LED onto your skin. The amount of light that’s then reflected back is used to estimate how much oxygen is in your blood. The feature works similarly on the Oura Ring Gen 3, which uses a combination of red and infrared LED sensors. But... Continue reading…
Quick fixes: use dictation when you can’t spell a word
Your phone has a way to turn your voice into text. IssueSometimes a word can be so hard to spell that any attempts are too garbled for autocorrect to offer helpful suggestions.Quick fixUse your device’s built-in dictation.The Full StoryWhenever I find myself struggling to spell a word, I double-tap the Command key on my Mac to activate dictation mode. From there, I can say the word out loud, and most of the time, the word I’m looking for will appear on my screen. I can then double-tap Command again to tell my computer to stop listening.Being a terrible speller, I do this trick at least once a week, and it’s the only reason I’m able to spell the word “guarantee” because my brain just cannot retain it.Most devices have a built-in way of doing voice-to-text, but there’s often a tiny... Continue reading…
Samsung’s new art-inspired Frame TV is on sale today for its best price ever
Samsung’s The Frame TV starts at $739.99 instead of $997.99 today only. | Image: Samsung It’s too hot to go outside (at least here in California), so if you – like me – are spending a lot of quality time with the TV while feeling guilty about the lack of culture in your life, you might appreciate today’s deal. Samsung’s latest version of The Frame is a unique 4K TV like no other that, in a way, brings a little bit of the museum experience home that you can enjoy in between binging on your favorite shows. That’s because – when you’re not using it – the gorgeous screen displays artwork that, thanks to the new anti-glare, low-reflection matte coating, bears a remarkable resemblance to an actual canvas painting you see hanging in museums. When turned on, however, it transforms into a QLED TV with a speedy 120Hz refresh rate and... Continue reading…
Shopify is laying off 1,000 employees
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke made the announcement in a memo to employees. Shopify is laying off 10 percent of its workforce, a move that affects about 1,000 of its employees, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. In a memo posted on Shopify’s website, CEO Tobi Lütke says the company “has to go through a reduction in workforce” that mostly affects those working in recruiting, support, and sales.Lütke notes that the e-commerce company is also cutting down on “over-specialized” and duplicate roles as well as “groups that were convenient to have but too far removed from building products.” He attributes the layoffs to a miscalculated bet that the e-commerce industry would continue to grow beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.As pointed out by the WSJ, Shopify’s workforce jumped from 1,900 in 2016 to around... Continue reading…
FDA warnings aren’t stopping illicit weight-loss supplements
Photo by Gabe Souza / Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Warning letters from the Food and Drug Administration aren’t enough to push potentially dangerous weight loss supplements off the market, according to a new analysis published in JAMA.Dietary supplements fall into a regulatory grey area in the United States. They don’t have to be reviewed or approved by the FDA before going on the market, but the agency is still responsible for overseeing the supplements that are sold in the country. To be classified as dietary supplements, these products have to be things like vitamins, minerals, or enzymes — ingredients that are actually part of people’s diets.If groups are making supplements that contain things that aren’t dietary ingredients, the FDA can crack down and issue warning letters,... Continue reading…
Razer’s low-profile DeathStalker keyboard returns with mechanical switches
The Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro. | Image: Razer Razer has announced a trio of new mechanical keyboards today that revives its decade-old DeathStalker range. Unlike the original DeathStalker models, which had laptop-style membrane switches, the new DeathStalker V2, V2 Pro, and V2 Pro Tenkeyless feature low-profile optical mechanical switches, which should be longer lasting, feel more tactile, and respond quicker than the old model. You can read my colleague Alice Newcome-Beill’s in-depth, hands-on review of the DeathStalker V2 Pro right here, or read on for a summary of the whole range.The wireless, full-size DeathStalker V2 Pro is available today for $249.99, while the two other models will follow in the third quarter of this year. The DeathStalker V2 Pro Tenkeyless maintains the... Continue reading…
Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro review: low profile and low ambitions
Old ideas shouldn’t cost this much Continue reading…
Verizon starts selling Xbox consoles as another example of 5G ‘innovation’
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Did you know that Verizon sells game consoles? The carrier has stocked the PlayStation 5 on its online store at times, and today, it announced a partnership with Microsoft that will see Verizon offer both the Xbox Series X and Series S through the All Access monthly financing program.Both will be available starting July 28th, and Verizon is offering deals like 50 percent off an Xbox Elite 2 controller to sweeten the somewhat strange notion of buying an Xbox subscription from your phone company.To Verizon, none of this is strange at all. If you’ll mostly be playing from the couch, the company says its home internet offerings — Fios and 5G Home — are the perfect solution for multiplayer gaming. And if you want to take advantage of Xbox... Continue reading…
Elon Musk’s lawyers say Twitter is making the pretrial process impossible
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk’s lawyers have filed a letter to the Delaware Chancery Court saying, essentially, that Twitter isn’t playing nice in the pretrial process and should be forced to do so. The letter, which you can read in full below, is addressed to Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick — who will ultimately decide the case over whether Musk can get out of his contract to buy Twitter for $44 billion — and also requests that the trial should be scheduled to begin on October 17th.Last week, McCormick decided that the trial will start in October. Twitter had pushed for proceedings to commence as early as possible, arguing that the ongoing shenanigans are hurting the company and that things should be resolved as quickly as possible. (Twitter, of course,... Continue reading…
Xiaomi 12S Ultra field test: an occasionally incredible camera
The 12S Ultra features Leica branding and a bigger than usual sensor. Bringing better hardware to the computational photography fight Continue reading…
Rent the Runway CEO Jennifer Hyman thinks fashion rental is inflation-proof
Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge The company’s roller-coaster journey from COVID crash to wedding boom Continue reading…
Saudi Arabia’s new mirrored city looks like a huge dystopian wall in the desert
The structure is supposed to be 500 meters tall — 50 meters higher than the Empire State Building. | Image: Neom Often, on the internet, completely deranged CGI infrastructure concepts cooked up by bored design students go mildly viral, like those public transit “discs” that ride above traffic on stilts or that idea for a nuclear-powered “flying hotel.” Very rarely these half-baked renders are backed by one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world. Such is the case with Saudi Arabia’s plan to build what looks like a huge mirrored wall in the desert.If you’ve not been following this saga, let me get you up to speed. Saudi Arabia has a lot of money, and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has a lot of ambition. In order to leave his mark on the world, MBS plans to develop a huge city in the desert named Neom, which... Continue reading…
PlayStation VR2 lets you broadcast yourself stumbling around in VR games
Image: Sony Sony is teasing some more details about its upcoming PlayStation VR2 headset today. After detailing the design of PS VR2 earlier this year and some games that will support it, Sony is now confirming that the headset will include a see-through view to see your surroundings, a broadcast mode for filming yourself while you play, and a cinematic mode where you can display non-VR games and media content on a virtual cinema screen.Sony’s PS VR2 see-through view will let players keep the headset on, thanks to cameras embedded in the front of the headset. “It comes in handy when you want to easily check where the PS VR2 Sense controllers are in your room without taking the headset off,” explains Yasuo Takahashi, senior staff product manager at... Continue reading…
Meta’s private messaging app for couples is shutting down
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Another one of Meta’s social experiments is shutting down. It’s called Tuned, and if you’re like me, this is probably the first and last time you’ll ever hear of it (via TechCrunch).Tuned launched in 2020, back when Meta was still Facebook, as an app designed for couples looking to connect even when they’re apart. The app comes from Meta’s New Product Experimentation (NPE) team, which develops experimental apps and services. Through Tuned, couples can privately share their thoughts and moods as well as send notes to one another. There are also games that couples can play to get to know each other better, in addition to Spotify integration for exchanging music.As noted by TechCrunch, Meta has started notifying Tuned users that the app... Continue reading…
Russia says it plans to withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024
Russia announced it has decided to withdraw from the International Space Station partnership after 2024, the Russian state news site TASS reported. Yuri Borisov, the new head of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos, reportedly told President Vladimir Putin the news during a meeting on Tuesday.“Vladimir Vladimirovich, you know that we are working within the framework of international cooperation at the International Space Station,” Borisov said, according to a translated report from TASS. “Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision [on] leaving this station after 2024 [has] been made.”“Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners”The decision seemingly reaffirms statements... Continue reading…
Instagram leader: we’re gonna keep adding more video
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Instagram’s leader wants you to know that the company is going to keep leaning into video. In a short video this morning that seems like it’s aimed at No. 2 Instagram user Kylie Jenner, Instagram head Adam Mosseri lays out bluntly that the app is going to keep shifting away from its photo roots.“I need to be honest. I do believe that more and more of Instagram is gonna become video over time,” Mosseri said.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is as enjoyable as it is inscrutable
Prepare to spend considerable time and brain power playing this game Continue reading…
Leap seconds cause chaos for computers — so Meta wants to get rid of them
Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images Since 1972 there have been 27 leap seconds: additional seconds added to the world’s common clock — Coordinated Universal Time or UTC — to account for changes in the Earth’s rate of rotation. Historically, our concept of time is defined as a fraction of the length of the solar day, but as the Earth’s rate of spin is somewhat irregular (slowing and speeding based on various factors) it means solar time and universal time tend to drift apart. So, in order to compensate, we add leap seconds. And this really confuses computers.I mean, just imagine you’re a computer. You have a very clear sense of time. You know that there are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute: all neat and tidy. Then, on some random day as... Continue reading…
GM just secured enough cathode material for 5 million electric vehicles
General Motors needs a lot of cathode active materials (CAM) if it’s to reach its goal of making enough electric vehicles to become a completely carbon neutral company by 2040. How much is enough? How about 950,000 tons of the stuff.GM now says it’s reached a deal with LG Chem, one of South Korea’s premier battery making firms, to lock down a supply of CAM starting later this year. CAM is basically what makes a battery a battery, consisting of components like processed nickel, lithium and other materials, and representing about 40 percent of the total cost of a battery cell.CAM is basically what makes a battery a batteryThe majority of EV battery cathodes are made with NCM — nickel, cobalt, and magnesium. Cobalt is a key component in... Continue reading…
Samsung’s new Galaxy S22 color is so purple it named it twice
The Galaxy S22, now in purple. | Image: Samsung Samsung’s Galaxy S22 is launching in a new purple color today, which is officially called “Bora Purple.” As the company’s press release helpfully points out, “Bora” is the Korean word for “purple,” meaning that the new color is effectively called “purple purple.” It goes on sale on August 10th for $799.99, the same price as the original Galaxy S22.Since launch, the base model of Samsung’s latest flagship series has been available in a very similar color the company calls “violet.” But this previous color was a lot lighter, verging on pink, and was also two-tone, with gold detailing on the camera bump and around the phone’s frame. The new purple is entirely uniform, with more or less the same color across the phone’s back, camera bump,... Continue reading…
VW starts ID.4 production in Tennessee, promising cheaper EVs
VW The Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover SUV is now being built at the German automaker’s vehicle factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It’s the company’s first EV to be manufactured in the US and signals that a more affordable version of the ID.4 is on the horizon.VW says it plans on ramping up production at its Chattanooga facility to 7,000 vehicles per month “later this year,” with the goal of making even more vehicles per month in 2023. The first customer deliveries are expected in October 2022.The ID.4 is VW’s most popular EV, having delivered 190,000 vehicles to customers globally since its release in 2021. VW CEO Herbert Diess, who is stepping down in September, said in May 2022 that the company was “basically sold out on electric... Continue reading…
Nubia’s latest gaming smartphone has an RGB-equipped fan and ten layers of cooling
From left to right, the RedMagic 7S Pro’s Supernova, Obsidian, and Mercury colors. | Image: Nubia If you’re the kind of gamer who won’t rest until every last component is equipped with RGB lighting, right down to the case fans in their PC, then do I have a smartphone for you. Nubia has just launched its RedMagic 7S Pro gaming smartphone internationally and, much like last year’s RedMagic 6S Pro, some models feature transparent backplates to let you see their internal RGB-equipped fans. These fans aren’t just for show, and can spin at up to 20,000rpm to keep the phone’s internals cool as part of what Nubia calls a “ten-layer multi-dimensional cooling system.”The phones are a mid-year refresh of the RedMagic 7 released in February, indicating there’s enough interest in these handsets to warrant multiple releases per year. Like Asus’s... Continue reading…
Zuck turns up the heat
Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales and Alex Castro / Sculpture: Okamoto Studio Custom Ice As Meta’s growth slows, Mark Zuckerberg is pushing even harder. Will his employees melt under the pressure? Continue reading…
Amazon is raising Prime prices in Europe by up to 43 percent a year
Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images Amazon is raising the price of its Prime subscription across Europe in September by up to 43 percent a year. In an email to customers overnight, Amazon revealed its annual Prime cost will jump 20 percent in the UK from £79 to £95 from September 15th. In France the price hike is even more acute, moving from €49 per year to €69.90 — a 43 percent increase.Amazon will also hike prices in Spain and Italy by 39 percent annually, with the company’s second-biggest market, Germany, seeing an annual 30 percent rise. Amazon’s Prime price increases in Europe come just months after the price of Prime in the US rose to $139 per year, up from the previous $119 annual fee. Amazon Prime typically includes fast shipping, access to sales, and free movie /... Continue reading…
Logitech’s new ‘gender-inclusive’ PC gaming accessories come with the pink tax
The keyboard, headset, and mouse (complete with color add-ons for each) cost a cool $639.97. | Image: Logitech Logitech has announced a lineup of PC gaming accessories that are designed to be more gender-inclusive — and specifically geared toward women — than any of its previous releases. Companies shouldn’t be trying to market consumer technology by gender in 2022 and should instead recognize the wide variety of tastes and physical needs consumers have. But Logitech’s gone and done it anyway.And the gadgets in the Aurora collection do seem cool, and notably, they’re new — not just new colorways of existing products. But aside from a few interesting features across the entirety of the Aurora collection, it still feels like a case of the pink tax at work.With its latest collection of gaming accessories (and the many pricey add-ons you can... Continue reading…
Amazon’s best-selling new charcoal grill is... the Pixel Buds Pro?
Pixel Buds Pro. | Image: Google Prepping for a summer cookout? If you head over to Amazon right now, you can pre-order the retailer’s hottest new charcoal grill: the Google Pixel Buds Pro.Yes, that sentence you just read didn’t make a lot of sense, but Amazon’s search engine thinks it does! The algorithm has apparently decided that not only do the new charcoal colored earbuds count as a “charcoal grill,” they’ve apparently been the best-selling product in that category for over 24 hours now (via Reddit and Mishaal Rahman) without Amazon doing anything about it.See for yourself: Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge One of these things is not like the others. “#1 new release in charcoal grills,” reads the badge provided... Continue reading…
Dell is getting out of the phone syncing game
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Remember when everyone wanted to own your phone and your laptop? Dell’s finally tossing in the towel (via Windows Central).On a support page, Dell announced that it’s discontinuing Mobile Connect, the program that syncs your phone’s texts, calls, and notifications to your computer. While Dell is stopping downloads on November 30th for users in the US, Canada, and Japan, it will no longer be available to use starting January 31st, 2023. The service is shutting down even earlier for users outside these three countries, with downloads stopping on July 31st and a total shutdown occurring on November 30th.Dell Mobile Connect — sometimes called Alienware Mobile Connect — made its debut in 2018 and is, naturally, supposed to work best with... Continue reading…
Best Buy is testing a tiny digital-first store that opens its doors Tuesday
Best Buy’s first digital-first location will open on Tuesday, July 26th, in Charlotte, North Carolina. | Image: Best Buy Best Buy is opening a digital-first, small-format store on Tuesday in Monroe, North Carolina, that takes a very different approach than most of its “big box” retail locations. The 5,000-square-foot location is only about 15 percent as big as the typical 35- to 40,000-square-foot Best Buy location and is even smaller than many smaller Apple Stores, which are typically between 6,000 to 8,500 square feet.Bloomberg reported last year that Best Buy was testing downsized locations of about 27,000 square feet to as small as 15,000 square feet, but this is much smaller, squeezing nearer to the now-closed Best Buy Mobile footprint. This test store is in the Charlotte area, where Best Buy also launched five other test stores last year, trying... Continue reading…
Teenagers spotted the largest gas pipeline spill in US history
A Colonial Pipeline storage site in Charlotte, North Carolina | Photo by LOGAN CYRUS / AFP via Getty Images A giant pipeline spewed millions of gallons of fuel into a nature preserve for more than two weeks until two teens on four-wheelers noticed the spill and alerted authorities.The teenagers discovered the leak in the Colonial Pipeline in August 2020 in the Oehler Nature Preserve outside Charlotte, North Carolina, E&E News reports. Just how massive the leak actually was — about 2 million gallons — came to light recently on Friday, July 22nd.Colonial Pipeline Company was required to give an updated estimate of the damage because of a recent consent order with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The company had previously reported that the spill released 63,000 gallons of gasoline shortly after the spill was discovered.... Continue reading…
Anti-vax dating site exposed data for 3,500 users through ‘debug mode’ bug
Illustration by Carlo Cadenas / The Verge Unsurprisingly, it seems like the type of people who shun vaccinations are not great at preventative cybersecurity either.As reported by the Daily Dot, “Unjected” — a dating site specifically for people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 — failed to take basic precautions to keep users’ data secure, leaving sensitive data exposed and allowing potentially anyone to become a site administrator.The “Unjected” site was set up to leave the administrator dashboard fully accessible to anyone who knew how to look for it. Through this dashboard, an administrator could access user information for any member of the site, including name, date of birth, email address, and (if provided) their home address.The configuration error was discovered... Continue reading…
Genshin Impact’s next major update will add two beautiful new biomes
Image: MiHoYo Genshin Impact’s impending Sumeru update is set to add some beautiful new areas to explore, and the game’s developers shared a look at some of the new zones in a new video.The new areas will be divided into two major zones: a rainforest and a desert, environment artist Jax Huang says in the video. The rainforest is filled with rolling hills, lush vegetation, and towering trees. The desert biome, on the other hand, is more sparse but also contains ruins with intricate architecture. Both look like natural additions to Genshin Impact’s rich and colorful environments.Two mysterious robots can be foundEach biome has some more fantastical elements, too. The forest has a city built on a huge tree and zones with giant, glowy plants, while the... Continue reading…
The Kardashians hate the new Instagram
Image: Instagram If you’ve opened Instagram recently and noticed more Reels on your feed or less engagement on your posts and felt the platform was beginning to look a liiiittle too much like TikTok, you’re not alone. The app’s second most-followed person agrees.Kylie Jenner shared a screenshot of another user’s post on her Instagram Stories today, longing for the good old days of Instagram as a photo sharing app.“Make Instagram Instagram again,” the post says. “(Stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends). Sincerely, everyone.” Her sister Kim Kardashian also shared the same post, which has over 1.1 million likes. The associated Change.org petition has nearly 100,000 signatures. Image: Instagram I... Continue reading…
US resurrects green energy loan program that helped put Tesla on the map
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images The Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which famously helped put Tesla on the map, is set to hand out its first loan in over a decade. The department will announce a $2.5 billion loan to a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution to help fund the construction of a new lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility, the company confirmed. (The news was first reported by Reuters.)The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, or ATVM has attained almost mythical status in the EV startup world thanks to its timely $465 million loan to Tesla, which is credited with helping save the company from an early death. Since then, a number of cash-strapped EV startups have also requested... Continue reading…
The Gollum video game won’t be launching with Amazon’s LOTR show anymore
The game’s going to be releasing “a few months” late. | Image: Sony The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a video game where you play as the titular jewelry fan, has been delayed from its September 1st release date. According to a statement posted on Twitter by the game’s developers, Daedalic Entertainment, it’ll be releasing “a few months” later, with the exact date coming soon.Game delays are exceedingly common these days, but this does make it so the Gollum game won’t be launching alongside Amazon’s Prime Video show, The Rings of Power, which is premiering on September 2nd. While the show is set long before Sméagol ever got his hands on the Ring, it’s easy to imagine the game getting a bit of a boost if it came out a day before a blockbuster show from the same franchise.
Quick fixes: how to download an image from a Google Doc
There is no straightforward “download” option for an image in a Google Doc. IssueThere is no obvious way to download an image from a Google Docs document.Quick fixDownload the document to an HTML file.The full storyLike most online publications, The Verge uses a CMS (content management system) to upload its content to the web. This particular CMS demands that you upload any images you want to use separately from the text — which usually presents no problems. But recently, a writer submitted an otherwise fine story in which they had included the images within the text. The writer had gone on vacation, so I couldn’t ask them to send the images separately — and there didn’t seem to be an obvious way to download the pictures so I could pop them into the CMS.After doing some research, I discovered there are... Continue reading…
Ready or not, the Glassholes are coming back
Google Glass. Every major tech company is working on computer glasses. None of them really want to go first.They all remember how Google Glass, and the “Glassholes” who wore them in public, became the laughingstock of the world. So they’ve been waiting, biding their time, refining their prototypes, and every so often making sure investors know that, no, they’re not going to let the first potentially iPhone-sized opportunity since the iPhone slip by.But now, Google itself is taking the next step. And whether you’ve been dreading the moment when Big Tech’s all-seeing eyes reappear on people’s heads or merely counting the days until you can own a hands-free camera-computer, you should know we’re on the verge of contending with them once again. ... Continue reading…
Facebook will give you ad revenue for putting Post Malone’s music in your videos
Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Coachella Meta launched a new feature on Monday that allows creators to monetize Facebook videos that feature music from major artists like Post Malone and Tove Lo. By incentivizing creators to stay within the legal bounds of music use on its platforms, Meta may be able to reassure the music industry that it takes copyright infringement seriously.Creators will have access to a library of music licensed by Meta and can monetize videos that feature licensed music with ads. Those creators will then get a 20 percent cut of the ad revenue, while Meta and the music rights holders split the rest. But the new system has ground rules: eligible videos must be at least one minute long, and the music cannot be the primary purpose of the video. It also does... Continue reading…
Lego’s new Minifigure Factory lets you create a $12 minifig of yourself
You too can make a Verge-themed Lego minifigure. | Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge Lego is testing a new online Minifigure maker, the Minifigure Factory, that lets you create a Lego person of your very own (via Jay’s Brick Blog, which I promise has no relation to me).In the tool, you’ll be able to select different heads, headwear, torsos, legs, and accessories for your custom Minifig. For the torso, you can go really deep on customization by applying decals and custom text. (Lego will be moderating the designs to prevent users from making inappropriate Minifigs, according to Jay’s Brick Blog.) There are some fun accessories you can pick from, too, like a laptop, a pretzel, and a pizza. Completed Minifigs will cost $11.99, though you can only buy one per household. Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge... Continue reading…
Avatar Studios’ first animated movie will feature very familiar faces
The gang’s all here. | Image: Nickelodeon The first animated movie from Avatar Studios, the team Nickelodeon set up to work on movies and shows in the Last Airbender universe, will feature Avatar Aang and his friends, according to an announcement made during San Diego Comic-Con (via Gizmodo). While there’s no word on casting or a story synopsis yet, some fans have expressed excitement over the possibility of getting to see Team Avatar — made up of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Suki, and, of course, Appa — in something new.According to Polygon, the show will focus on Team Avatar as young adults, giving us a look at some of the events that happen between The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. There are, of course, a fair share of people who were hoping to see something f... Continue reading…
Anker’s new GaNPrime chargers are more powerful and slightly smaller
Anker 733 Power Bank (GaNPrime PowerCore 65W). | Image: Anker Anker just showed off a slew of new gallium nitride (GaN) chargers dubbed GaNPrime, which adopt the latest GaN 3 fast-charging tech to push up to 150 watts of power while taking up even less space than the previous generation. Anker points out that its new flagship 150W GaNPrime charger is 38 percent smaller than Apple’s 140W GaN MacBook Pro charger, and Anker’s 120W version is 39 percent smaller than Apple’s 96-watt MacBook Pro charger, which provides an obvious edge in portability.Compared to Anker’s own previous generation chargers, the sizes are only slightly smaller. But they can still provide more power for more devices. “The new [737 GanPrime] 120W charger is 8 percent smaller in volume than the Anker 736, but can output 20W more... Continue reading…
Overwatch League team loses tournament in embarrassingly hilarious way
Blizzard Entertainment The match capped off OWL’s most exciting week all season Continue reading…
The Apple Watch ‘Pro’ will need a tough design, multi-day battery to stand out
New running features won’t matter without multi-day battery. At this point, a rugged Apple Watch “Pro” has been all but officially confirmed. Not only did we start hearing whispers of this device over a year ago but also the rumor mill has been amping up as of late with new details about potential specs and features. The latest is that the Pro could offer multi-day battery life on a single charge as well as feature the Apple Watch’s first serious redesign... ever. And, if Apple truly wants to compete with the likes of Garmin and Polar, it will need both.The latest news comes courtesy of Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his most recent Power On newsletter. In it, Gurman contends the Pro model will be a “good bit bigger than the standard Apple Watch” — to the point where it might only appeal to a “subset... Continue reading…
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