The Verge

Courtesy of Netflix Even though we’ve seen a few teasers of Stranger Things’ upcoming fourth season, none of them really let on just how much larger and epic in scope this next chapter seems like it’s going to be.While Stranger Things has explored the larger world outside of Hawkins, Indiana, in the past, the show’s fourth season is set to switch things up by splitting its story across a handful of disparate, important locations. Though the story will presumably return to the Upside Down and catch up with Jim Hopper in Russia, Stranger Things’ first season four trailer makes clear that a significant part of its next chapter will unfold in California, where Joyce and the rest of the Byers family have moved.Vol. 1 of Stranger Things season 4 premieres on... Continue reading…

A matte finish makes The Frame’s signature trick even more convincing Continue reading…

QD-OLED isn’t some revelatory improvement, but you can see the difference Continue reading…

The Zium Museum. The Zium Society is creating virtual spaces for digital art Continue reading…

Illustration by Beatrice Sala Cybersecurity firm Webroot claims that competitors’ software infringes on a decades-old patent Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Hi, everyone. Before we get into the news today, I have a very exciting announcement to share.Later this month, Ariel Shapiro will join Hot Pod as our new lead writer. Ariel pioneered the podcast beat at Forbes, where she created the publication’s first top earners list for podcasters, reported on big tech’s swift moves into the space, and broke news about massive audio industry deals. She could not be a better fit, and I’m thrilled to have her joining the team.We have a formal announcement out in The Verge’s newsroom with more details, and… would you look at that, there’s even more news hidden in there: The Verge’s publisher, Helen Havlak, shares that we’ve got some exciting growth plans for Hot Pod this year, including “another hire,... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple is planning an expansion to the iPhone health app this year that would include additional sleep tracking and a tool to remind people to take medication, Bloomberg reported. The company could also add body temperature sensing to the Apple Watch this year and is still working on developing a blood pressure monitor.The new medication tool would let users scan pill bottles and track when they took the medication. Not all planned features would be available at launch.A body temperature sensor could help expand fertility tracking features on the Apple Watch. Body temperature changes over the course of the menstrual cycle, and that data can help predict when someone might get their period or the window when they’re most likely to... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Fiduciary vs. fun Continue reading…

When GoPro said it was going to build more specialized cameras this year, we didn’t quite know what it meant. Today, it’s revealing the GoPro Hero10 Black Bones, a cut-down version of its flagship camera meant explicitly for FPV drone pilots like the one who famously blazed through that bowling alley last year. The idea is that pilots will strap one of these to their drone to film brilliant footage while using a separate low-latency analog camera and a pair of FPV goggles to see where their drone is going.When I say cut down, I mean there’s no screens, no speaker, no door, no waterproofing, and no battery inside this thing: the $500 camera ($350–$400 with subscription) is the first GoPro ever made that requires soldering skills, the... Continue reading…

You’ll probably know whether you need this many buttons on your mouse. SteelSeries has expanded its IP54 waterproof and lightweight Aerox Wireless lineup to include two new options available starting today: the Aerox 5 Wireless and the Aerox 9 Wireless. The Aerox 9 Wireless, pictured above, is SteelSeries’ take on a mouse made for MMO and MOBA games that have myriad commands that you might need to fire off. It has a whopping 12 buttons on its left side, and SteelSeries claims that, at 89 grams, this is the lightest mouse of this type on the market.This mouse is going up against Razer’s Naga Pro, another wireless, many-buttoned option. The Aerox 9 has IP54 waterproofing and impressive battery life claims, but the Naga Pro’s modular nature might make it the preferred option for some gamers. Both mice cost... Continue reading…

Frame.io is now built into Adobe’s video editing software. | Image: Adobe Adobe announced on Tuesday that Creative Cloud subscriptions will now include Frame.io, its software made for collaborating on video projects. It’s building the software into the latest versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects, which have some updates of their own — the company gave its video editing software a visual refresh, and its compositing software will finally be Apple Silicon native.Adobe bought Frame.io last year, so including the service in its video editing subscription makes sense. Frame.io makes collaboration easier for remote editors by letting them quickly download footage or audio captured on set or location and easily share draft edits for comments or approval. The Frame.io subscription included with Creative Cloud... Continue reading…

Ariel Shapiro The Verge today announced Ariel Shapiro is joining the site as the lead reporter for Hot Pod, the preeminent publication covering the podcasting industry. Beginning her role on April 25th, Shapiro will write Hot Pod’s paid and free newsletters. Continuing The Verge’s investment in Hot Pod, she’ll be joined by an additional reporter in the coming months.“We are so excited to have hired the perfect reporter for Hot Pod in Ariel,” says Helen Havlak, publisher of The Verge. “She’ll continue to deliver the breaking news, sharp analysis, and industry scoops that our free and paid subscribers have come to know and love. And we have big plans for Hot Pod this year — another hire, a refreshed look, and more in-person events.”Prior to joining... Continue reading…

Therabody has a new massage gun for your face. It also does LED light therapy. | Image: Therabody Skincare gadgets are all over Instagram and TikTok, and now the company behind the Theragun body massage gun wants in on the action. Today, Therabody announced it’s launching the TheraFace Pro — a facial massage gun that can also deliver microcurrent and light therapy with interchangeable magnetic attachments.According to Therabody’s press release, the $399 TheraFace Pro was born out of customers sharing anecdotal stories of using Theragun devices on their faces. For the record, the company emphasized it does not recommend that particular use case for its devices. However, given the demand, Therabody says it then tasked its engineering and product team to address facial muscle tension, headaches, and jaw soreness.Like the Theragun, the... Continue reading…

The Lectric XP Lite comes in four colors and ships in 4 to 5 weeks. | Image: Lectric Lectric, the US-based maker of budget electric bikes, has a new foldable that costs just $799, before taxes. That’s incredibly inexpensive at a time when transportation costs, combined with chip and component shortages, are driving up prices across the e-bike industry. Better yet, it’s apparently not junk.Electrek’s Micah Toll, who’s ridden more US e-bikes than anyone I know, had the chance to ride the new Lectric XP Lite ahead of production. He says it’s “the #1 electric bike I will recommend to anyone shopping on a tight budget.” High praise.The Lectric XP Lite iterates on the company’s XP and XP 2.0 models, only it’s now lighter (but not light at 53 pounds / 24kg with battery) and more compact, while also being more maneuverable... Continue reading…

A gas pump is seen situated while pumping gas at a Shell gas station on April 01, 2022 in Houston, Texas. | Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images In an attempt to lower high gas prices, the Biden administration wants to turn to a fuel that’s potentially even dirtier than regular gasoline, the White House announced today. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue an emergency waiver that will allow the year-round sale of a fuel called E15, which is banned in most of the US during summer months when smog is a bigger risk.E15 is a gasoline blend with up to 15 percent ethanol — a fuel made with plant material. The move is supposed to save Americans money while reducing dependence on foreign oil supplies because ethanol can be made with domestically-grown corn.The move is supposed to save Americans money while reducing dependence on foreign oilMost gasoline in the US is... Continue reading…

Plex podcast support is ending. | Screengrab: Thomas Ricker / The Verge On Friday, Plex will end support for podcasts, a feature it added in 2018. Plex is also removing the dedicated Web Shows section, but most of this content will still appear elsewhere in the app.Plex doesn’t explicitly say why it’s ending podcast support, only that it’s no longer worth the company’s time. “As part of our ongoing effort to make sure we’re spending our time and energy in ways that best serve our awesome user community, we’ve made the decision to end support for Podcasts and Web Shows within Plex,” reads the announcement from the company. “We recognize this decision will impact several of you greatly, and we apologize for the inconvenience it will cause. You can continue to access these features within Plex until Friday,... Continue reading…

The app will no longer support tracking FedEx packages. | Image: Junecloud The developer of Deliveries, a package tracking app that’s listed as an App Store editor’s choice and that some people here at The Verge rely on, has said that they’re “no longer able to maintain the same service” thanks to a lack of support from delivery companies. In an April 5th post written by developer Mike Piontek, the company says that “Deliveries relies on many different shipping companies, and without their help it’s not possible for the app to continue working the way you expect.”The impetus for the post seems to be the fact that Deliveries is no longer able to track FedEx packages. While the app can usually let users track their package’s progress on a map, or receive notifications if something changes, the app currently... Continue reading…

Image: Amazon A report from Bloomberg details the obstacles hampering Amazon’s efforts to get its delivery drone program off the ground, citing a high employee turnover rate and potential safety risks.According to Bloomberg, there were five crashes over the course of a four-month period at the company’s testing site in Pendleton, Oregon. A crash in May took place after a drone lost its propeller, but Bloomberg says Amazon cleaned up the wreckage before the Federal Aviation Administration could investigate. Amazon spokesperson Av Zammit disputed this, saying that Amazon followed orders it received from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to document the event and move the drone.The following month, a drone’s motor shut off as it switched... Continue reading…

Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Global shipments of PCs declined in the first quarter of 2022 as pandemic-related purchases begin to taper off, according to reports from research firms Gartner and International Data Corporation (IDC). While IDC reports a total of 80.5 million PC shipments last quarter, Gartner cites a lower 77.5 million figure, a 7.7 percent drop when compared to the first quarter of 2021.Gartner says a decline in Chromebook shipments weighed heavily on the market — not counting Chromebooks, the PC market would’ve risen by 3.3 percent year over year. IDC didn’t include any information about Chromebooks but notes a slowdown in purchases from educational institutions, a market that utilizes over 40 million Chromebooks for teachers and students. Lenovo... Continue reading…

Horizon Worlds is testing some monetization options. | Image: Meta Meta is testing new features to let creators make money within Horizon Worlds, the company’s social metaverse platform for Quest VR headsets that is soon coming to mobile phones and possibly game consoles.Most notably, a “handful” of Horizon creators will be able to sell virtual items and effects in the worlds they create for others to explore. The idea is that creators can sell everything from access to a VIP section of their world to virtual items like jewelry or a special basketball, according to Meaghan Fitzgerald, the product marketing director for Horizon. Participants in the US will also be able to earn money from a $10 million creator fund Meta recently set up to reward creators with the most engaging worlds.With this test of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As Activision Blizzard continues to struggle under the weight of multiple PR disasters regarding sexual harassment and union busting, the company has appointed Kristen Hines as its new diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.“I’m excited to join a company that is prioritizing its commitment to DEI and making progress on the ambitious goals it has set for itself,” Hines said in a press release.The company needs all the DE&I help it can get. Last year, Activision Blizzard acknowledged that its ongoing legal troubles have impacted its ability to recruit and retain employees while a breakdown of the company’s representation data revealed women make up 24 percent of the company. Add to that the high-profile departure of Blizzard co-CEO... Continue reading…

Think of it less as a vacation and more as an off-site retreat. | Image: Meta Meta is delivering a new virtual office environment for all of you out there who work in VR. As part of the v39 software update coming to Meta Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets, you can be transported to the “Mountain Study” environment, which positions you within a house in a valley surrounded by mountains.There are a few other small improvements and changes arriving in the update that is rolling out gradually over the next few weeks. You’ll be able to send content from a share sheet on an iOS device to a Quest headset, giving VR users an easier way to access content. Similar support for Android users was already added in early 2022. To use this feature, ensure that your headset’s Bluetooth function is switched on. Image:... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Weeks ago, facing pressure internally to speak out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney CEO Bob Chapek took a surprising approach: he did nothing. His silence angered employees and advocacy groups to such an extent that he eventually backpedaled. But when Chapek finally did condemn the legislation, he provoked politicians and set off a weeks-long bad-faith crusade against Disney by right-wing media. The ensuing chaos is just the latest in a series of public missteps that threaten to overshadow Chapek’s tenure leading one of the most powerful entertainment companies in the world.Chapek replaced beloved Disney boss Bob Iger as the company’s CEO in 2020 — just before the pandemic would shut down Disney’s parks and theaters. Under... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Despite a now-deleted tweet from YouTube’s support account that seemingly indicated otherwise, YouTube Premium subscribers can no longer sign up to test YouTube’s picture-in-picture feature on iOS. Picture-in-picture has disappeared from YouTube’s list of available experimental features, where it was previously listed with an April 8th expiry date. 9to5Google reports that some users are seeing a “the feature you’re trying has been turned off” banner notifying them that the test has ended. Both 9to5Google and iMore add that the feature is still working on accounts that previously signed up for the test.The tweet was posted in response to a user asking about a previous test of the feature, which was available to YouTube Premium... Continue reading…

Amazon has discounted the Surface Laptop 4 to its lowest price ever | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Our collection of deals today proves that Mondays don’t have to be all bad. Our headlining deal on the 13.5-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, for instance, brings the laptop down to its lowest price to date on Amazon. Normally, this configuration would cost $1,299.99, but it’s currently on sale for $949.99. This discount currently applies to the black, silver, and beige colorways, but the blue model is also on sale for $969.99.This configuration includes an 11th Generation Intel Core i5 processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of built-in storage. The 13.5-inch touchscreen features a maximum resolution of 2256 x 1504 and is powered by an Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU. The 8GB of RAM is a bit paltry by modern standards, but the 512GB of... Continue reading…

Kingdom Hearts 4 needs to be a reset.There was a time when news of a new Kingdom Hearts entry would have sent me into paroxysms of joy. But the announcement that Kingdom Hearts 4 is in the works barely inspired a “huh, that’s neat.” I’ve been a faithful devotee of the Church of the Keyblade from the moment I heard Hikaru Utada’s “Simple and Clean.” Kingdom Hearts and KH2 were my games, one of the foundational texts at the core of my identity as a gamer. But the spinoffs began to fragment across consoles I didn’t own, and the story devolved into a quagmire of characters and plot points (Aqua got ‘norted!) that even I, with my years of training in the gladiator pits of weird-ass World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy lore, could not... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Now that Elon Musk will not be the new member of Twitter’s board of directors, it means more speculation about his true intentions and, yes, more paperwork. Musk has, again, updated the required filing (pdf) for investors buying a significant chunk of a publicly traded company, in which investors must explain their intentions.The new form confirms that any arrangement blocking Musk from trying to buy a significantly larger share of the company is gone, and it lays out various ways he may make his voice heard going forward. The result is a piece of evidence for anyone who suspects Musk’s reversal had something to do with the legal requirements that would come with serving on Twitter’s board.Last week, Musk filed a Schedule 13G form with... Continue reading…

It looks like a crossover. | Image: Lincoln Lincoln, Ford’s luxury brand, has announced that it’ll show off a “fully electric concept vehicle” on April 20th as a way to tease upcoming electric offerings. In a short video, the company shows off a partial outline of the vehicle, which will likely be a smaller SUV or crossover, as the company currently doesn’t make any sedans (sad news for anyone like me who would love a Hyundai-esque ’80s Continental revival).There currently aren’t any fully electric Lincolns, though the company does offer three plugin hybrids, as Electrek points out. Last year, the company announced its plans to “electrify its entire portfolio of vehicles by 2030” and promised that its first full EV would “debut” in 2022.

Image: Block Square’s newest version of its popular Square Stand payment terminal has a payments reader built right in, the company announced on Monday. The stand lets businesses slot in an iPad so it can be used as a point-of-sale device, but the previous version needed a separate reader to accept payments from a card or phone.The new version has its card slot and contactless payments reader right next to the display, and like the previous version of the stand (which was introduced in 2013), the device is designed to spin so that you can access those payment options when it comes time to pay.Square, a subsidiary of Block, also says the stand has new software. “New software for Square Stand creates a faster, more transparent checkout process that... Continue reading…

Workers plant saplings outside the Pavagada Solar Park on October 9, 2021 in Thirumani village, Karnataka, India. | Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images Starting today, customers in the US can donate $1 to plant one tree by telling Alexa-enabled devices, “Alexa, grow a tree,” Amazon announced today. Customers will be able to keep track of how many trees they’ve planted in their Amazon Pay account.Amazon also said that it’s donating $1 million to the environmental charity it’s partnering with on the initiative, called One Tree Planted.It’s worth taking these kinds of efforts with a grain of saltThe money will initially go towards four different projects in the US and India. In Centre County, Pennsylvania, the funds will help to reforest land that was razed for mining, logging and agriculture. In California, “hard-working foresters will dedicate time to promote improved vegetation... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix is introducing a new button to help the streaming service curate your homepage with even better recommendations: Two Thumbs Up.The new feature will join the existing Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down controls that already help Netflix understand what to show individual subscribers. But Two Thumbs Up will allow users to indicate that they really liked something, and the company says that it’s been a highly requested feature within the experience.“Members have never had as many great entertainment options as they have right now,” Christine Doig-Cardet, director of product innovation and personalization experiences at Netflix, tells The Verge. “Being able to find the shows and movies that you’re going to love is really important. We want... Continue reading…

The Batman stars Robert Pattinson at Batman and Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle. | Image: Warner Bros. The Batman, the new Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, will be available to stream on HBO Max starting April 18th, WarnerMedia announced Monday. The film first debuted in theaters on March 4th.The quick turnaround shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. While WarnerMedia did release all of its 2021 movie slate simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, the company has moved to a more traditional theater-first release cycle for many films in 2022, though with a shorter 45-day theatrical exclusivity window.If you’re interested in seeing The Batman when it hits streaming, you might want to check out my colleague Charles Pulliam-Moore’s review first — he says the Batman franchise has “seen better days.” But... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge The US Department of the Treasury is exempting telecommunications services from ongoing sanctions against Russia. The move, confirmed late last week in an order, follows requests from advocacy groups who feared a disruption would cut off Russian activists’ access to the outside world. It may not, however, cause companies that voluntarily cut off access to restore it.The new order authorizes business transactions involving “services, software, hardware, or technology incident to the exchange of communications over the internet,” including messaging, domain registration, email, and sharing photos or videos. It does not authorize transactions involving Russian financial institutions or state-controlled entities like the Russian Ministry of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro Here’s everything we know Continue reading…

Key art for Netflix’s upcoming Nimona. | Annapurna Pictures/Netflix Though it once seemed like the animated adaptation of ND Stevenson’s Nimona might end up being stuck in production hell, Annapurna Pictures and Netflix are stepping in to make sure that’s not the case.When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox back in 2019, it also gained ownership of Blue Sky Studios, the animation house behind the Ice Age movies and the previously announced Nimona adaptation. While Disney could have decided to complete Blue Sky Studios’ already in-progress projects like Nimona, the larger company ultimately decided to shutter the studio, leaving 450 employees without jobs and the movie’s future in jeopardy.Today, ND Stevenson took to their Twitter to announce that, after a few setbacks, Nimona — now an Annapurna... Continue reading…

The Vivo X Fold. | Image: Vivo Vivo has announced the X Fold, its first folding phone. The X Fold takes a similar approach to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series and its competitors, with a large 8.03-inch folding screen on the inside for tablet-style use and a more conventional phone-sized screen — in this case, 6.53 inches — on the outside.Like Samsung, Vivo’s folding display uses a layer of Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) produced by Schott, which should help with durability. GSMArena reports that its hinge allows the phone to fold flat or to be propped open at angles between 60 and 120 degrees. According to Android Authority, Vivo advertises that the phone’s screen should survive 300,000 folds, which appears to be a big increase over the 200,000 folds Samsung claimed for its... Continue reading…

Photo by Avery White for The Verge A Fitbit feature that passively monitors users’ heart rhythms was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, the company announced today.The feature periodically checks wearers’ heart rhythms and alerts them if they show signs of atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat that puts people at a higher risk for stroke. Fitbit already had an FDA-cleared EKG app that can do spot checks for the condition, but users had to manually take those readings. The new tool runs in the background.Fitbit ran a study testing the feature in 2020, which found that the tech could correctly identify cases of atrial fibrillation 98 percent of the time. Adding this tool to Fitbit devices brings its heart monitoring tech more in line with the A... Continue reading…

Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images On Monday, Google sued a scammer for allegedly running an online “puppy fraud scheme,” defrauding vulnerable people, including the elderly, out of thousands of dollars with false promises of purebred puppies.The complaint, filed Monday, accuses Nche Noel of Cameroon of using a network of fake websites, Google Voice phone numbers, and Gmail accounts to pretend to sell purebred basset hound puppies to people online. In one instance, a victim paid Noel $700 in “electronic gift cards” to purchase a puppy. After sending the gift cards, Noel continued to string along the victim, telling them that the delivery company needed an additional $1,500. According to the complaint, the puppy never arrived.“Sadly, this scam disproportionately... Continue reading…

Fortnite. Epic’s plans to build a metaverse just got a huge cash injection: today the Fortnite developer announced a $2 billion round of funding, which it says will be used “to advance the company’s vision to build the metaverse and support its continued growth.”The funds come from Sony, which has previously invested in Epic, and KIRKBI, an investment group operated by the Kirk Kristiansen family, which founded the Lego Group. Just last week, Epic and Lego announced a partnership to build a family-friendly take on the metaverse, though with little in the way of concrete detail. According to a press release, both Sony and KIRKBI invested $1 billion as part of the most recent funding round.The nebulous metaverse concept has become a popular... Continue reading…

Food delivery platform DoorDash is adding a new cheaper subscription plan called DashPass for Students. It costs $4.99 a month, half that of its regular $9.99 DashPass subscription, and offers similar benefits including: free delivery on eligible orders over a minimum threshold (generally $12 for restaurants and $25 for grocery orders); 5 percent credit back on pickup orders from certain restaurants; and access to other members-only promotions.DoorDash’s announcement says the student membership will be available to “all undergraduate and graduate students at accredited colleges and universities in the US,” and it’s working with SheerID to verify student status. Its website adds that subscribers are free to “cancel anytime,” with no fees... Continue reading…

Nintendo Nintendo Switch Sports, the follow-up to the wildly popular Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort announced in February, is more imaginative than its boring name might imply. While those Wii titles served as tech demos, of sorts, for Nintendo’s at-the-time new motion controls and Mii characters, Switch Sports feels more like a full game, with more involved controls, better visuals, and a post-launch plan for online modes and in-game cosmetics.Each mini-game looks gorgeous, with detailed venues and more expressive avatars to play as (for those who are curious, you can still use the older Miis on your console, if you really want to get into that Wii Sports mindset). I got to play each of Nintendo Switch Sports six mini-games during my... Continue reading…

Schrödinger’s Cat Burglar is one of the games supported by the fund. | Image: Abandoned Sheep Astra Fund, a venture fund that supports developers making “thinking games,” revealed the first batch of games it’s funding, including an unannounced title from Good Sudoku developer Zach Gage.Let’s first back up and discuss what a “thinking game” is. According to Astra, the term is defined as “cognitively challenging games whose systems and mechanics spark curiosity and require problem solving.” Astra looks for three main features, per its website: “thinky” mechanics, like in Baba Is You and Portal 2; “welcoming worlds,” like in Pikuniku and Thinkrolls; and “compelling narratives,” like in The Gardens Between and Outer Wilds.Here is the list of games:

Yes, it does look like an air purifier. | Image: TP-Link TP-Link has a new “cheap” router. The Deco XE75 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E mesh router that should lower the cost barrier for the new 6GHz wireless technology standard. The new two-pack mesh whole home router is available now for $299.99. It’s certainly one of the first signs of Wi-Fi 6E technology reaching affordable pricing, and, best of all, the Deco XE75 seems to cut very few features.$200 cheaper than the Eero Pro 6EThe Deco XE75 covers about 5,500 square feet with the pair and is $200 cheaper than a two-pack of the recently released Eero Pro 6E that covers just 4,000 square feet. And the Deco claims to have a very fast peak wireless network speed of 5.4 Gbps. Though that’s a bit slower than the Linksys Atlas Max 6E at 8.4 Gbps, the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge What are blockchain bridges, why do they keep getting hacked, and can we ever stop it from happening? Continue reading…

Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Elon Musk is no longer going to join Twitter’s board, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has announced in a message to the company. Last week, Agrawal confirmed that Musk would be appointed to the board following his purchase of 9.2 percent of the company’s shares but now says that Musk has decided against taking up the seat.“We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance,” Agrawal writes. “Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same day that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Players on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita are having trouble accessing their digital purchases after a strange expiration date suddenly appeared on certain games, as first reported by Kotaku. The problem seems to mostly affect classic titles, preventing users from playing Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy VI, as the games are now “expired.”But here’s the odd part: the expiration dates are dated half a century in the past. Twitter user Christopher Foose shared an image of his Chrono Cross download, which shows that the game expired on December 31st, 1969 at 7:20 PM. He says the issue only occurred after redownloading the game, and that he’s now unable to play it on PS3 and PS Vita.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta is following the Oversight Board’s recommendation to remove an exception that permitted users to share a person’s residential address as long as it’s “publicly available,” the Facebook parent company announced in an updated post (via Engadget).Meta’s response comes about a year after the company asked the Oversight Board to weigh in on its handling of private residential information. The Board issued a response in February, calling on Meta to tighten its policies surrounding the sharing of private home addresses over concerns about doxxing.Although Facebook and Instagram already have rules in place to bar users from sharing someone’s home address, the Meta-owned platforms take no action against posts containing “publicly available... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix Kingdom Hearts IV is officially in the works. Square Enix announced the upcoming installment during an event in Japan to celebrate the series’ 20th-anniversary. You watch its trailer in the video embedded above.The trailer doesn’t immediately start with Kingdom Hearts IV — it also includes clips from the newly-announced mobile game, Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, so you’ll have to skip to the 4:09 mark to get a glimpse at Kingdom Hearts IV.Once the trailer opens, you’ll see Sora wake up inside of an apartment as what appears to be a giant heartless sets foot in the city. Sora whips out his Keyblade, parkouring and grappling his way towards the enemy. At the very end of the trailer, Goofy and Donald Duck wander in darkness, coming... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft seized seven domains belonging to Strontium, also known as Fancy Bear or APT28, a Russian hacking group with ties to the country’s military intelligence agency, the company announced in a blog post (via TechCrunch). According to Microsoft, Russian spies used these sites to target Ukrainian media outlets, as well as foreign policy think tanks and government institutions located in the US and the European Union.Microsoft obtained a court order to take control of each domain on April 6th. It then redirected them to a sinkhole, or a server used by cybersecurity experts to capture and analyze malicious connections. The company says it has seized over 100 domains controlled by Fancy Bear before this most recent takedown.“We believe... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has confirmed it reversed a change that altered the appearance of deleted tweets embedded on websites outside of Twitter (thanks to @RuinDig on Twitter for pointing this out). Instead of leaving a blank gap in place of the deleted tweets, the site will go back to displaying the tweet’s original text.“After considering the feedback we heard, we’re rolling back this change for now while we explore different options,” Twitter spokesperson Remi Duhé said in an emailed statement to The Verge. “We appreciate those who shared their points of view — your feedback helps us make Twitter better.”If you head to any third-party webpage with an embedded tweet (like this one from The Verge), you’ll see that you can once again see the tweet’s... Continue reading…