The Verge

The Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s flagship console that’s remained a challenge to get until recently. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Xbox Series X has been one of the most challenging-to-find gaming gadgets since its late 2020 release. While always a little easier to get a hold of than Sony’s PlayStation 5, getting one has all but required keeping track of restocks from multiple retailers on a day-to-day basis — lest you turned to purchasing one from price gougers.But now, we can say (with fingers crossed) that those days may be behind us. The Xbox Series X is readily available at a few retailers — and has been for the past handful of days. What’s more, you don’t need any paid memberships or pricey bundles to be able to get one. This, coupled with the lowering costs and better availability of some desktop GPUs, is great news for gamers who want to upgrade to new... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series S is on sale for $249.99 for a limited time. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you’d prefer a more affordable console to the Xbox Series X — or one that’s more readily available than the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Digital Edition — you can once again buy Microsoft’s Xbox Series S at its lowest price to date. Regularly $299.99, Adorama is currently selling the entry-level Xbox for $249.99 when you use the promo code XBOXS2250 at checkout.While the Xbox Series S lacks a disc drive, it can play the same games as the Series X and is backward compatible with original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games. It also targets a 1440p resolution and up to 120fps in supported games (with 4K upscaling), though many games still run at 1080p right now. The console also only offers 512GB of internal storage. However, unlike the... Continue reading…

Not a bad router for $14 a month. | Image: Comcast Comcast announced on Tuesday that it’s starting to send out the xFi Advanced Gateway, a Wi-Fi 6E router the company announced at CES 2022, to customers that subscribe to Xfinity Internet Gigabit and Ultrafast plans. Until this point, many routers that support the new, higher bandwidth Wi-Fi standard have been far too expensive for most budgets (think $500 to $1,500, though there are now some in the $300 price range) — but Comcast’s is $14 per month, the company’s standard fee for equipment rental.The xFi Advanced Gateway also has some smart home tricks up its sleeve. It includes built-in support for Zigbee, and Comcast has also said it will support Matter, a smart home standard slated to come out later this year.ISP-provided routers... Continue reading…

TORONTO, ON - AUGUST, 30 Diana Carradine with Ecobee smart thermostat in her home in the Eglinton and Avenue road area. The province is launching the Green Ontario Fund, bankrolled with $377 milion in cap-and-trade revenues, to help homeowners and businesses with programs to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The first move is offering free smart thermostats to eligible homeowners, so they can more easily turn down the heat or air conditioning when they’re not home — saving on natural gas and electricity. | Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images Smart devices have a role to play in the move from dirty to clean energy, according to a major new climate report released this week. People need tools that help them better understand where their energy comes from, see how much they’re using, and pitch in to make a more resilient power grid.“Digital technologies can contribute” to the fight to stop climate change, the report released yesterday by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says. That contribution can include smart appliances that make homes more energy-efficient or rooftop solar panels that work in tandem as “virtual power plants.” Those technologies have the power to cut down greenhouse gas emissions and transform the electric grid.Smart... Continue reading…

CBS To answer the question of why we should care about Paramount Plus, the service is going back to the well of nostalgia and snagging some of our favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation characters to be featured in season 3 of Star Trek: Picard.A brief trailer for the news shows just Patrick Stewart in his role as Jean-Luc Picard but uses voiceovers to tease the upcoming appearances of LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner.Without showing them, it’s unclear if we’ll see the use of often-controversial de-aging technology applied to the stars or if there’s any other plan to deal with the impact of time and plot circumstances. Guinan’s return in season 2 has included both Whoopi... Continue reading…

Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Ahahahahahaha fine. Longtime shitposter Elon Musk, who has a side gig as the CEO of Tesla, is on the board of Twitter, a newly minted meme stonk, after filing the wrong form with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tremendous content.A different style of billionaire might elect to buy a national newspaper with a storied past and re-invest in it, just like he might secretly test his dick-shaped rocket for many years before publicly taking a ride on it. But despite owning Amazon, Jeff Bezos is somehow less internet-poisoned than the meme lord of Dogecoin. The true platform for brain worms isn’t The Washington Post, despite its op-ed writers’ best efforts. It’s Twitter.The platform’s top shitposter already has the keys to the castleN... Continue reading…

Photo by Ryan Loughlin The rumored DJI Mini 3 Pro may come with some substantial upgrades over its non-Pro predecessor, including obstacle avoidance sensors and a larger battery, as indicated by leaked images and a video of the new drone (via TechRadar).Self-described DJI investigator Jasper Ellens posted the leaked pictures and video to Twitter. There are two large sensors on the front of the device to help avoid obstacles, as well as two downward-facing sensors to prevent ground collisions. If true, this is a welcome addition to the beginner-friendly drone series — the DJI Mini 2 only has ground detection sensors.

Russia says it will end cooperation with other nations on the International Space Station until the sanctions put on the country are lifted. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, announced in a thread on Twitter that the “restoration of normal relations between partners” on the ISS and other projects is only possible with the “complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions.”In translated versions of his tweets, Rogozin says he appealed the sanctions in letters to NASA, the European Space Agency, as well as the Canadian Space Agency. Rogozin also posted images of what appears to be each country’s response — The Verge reached out to NASA, the ESA, and the CSA to confirm their authenticity but didn’t... Continue reading…

Note that the white-colored model is $699.99, while the other three are $729.99. | Samsung One of the best deals of the week is on a product that isn’t even out yet. If you preorder Samsung’s 32-inch M8 4K smart monitor, starting at $699.99, before April 17th, you’ll get a $100 Samsung credit to use on future purchases. Just a heads-up, though, that the white-colored model that costs $699.99 is currently set to deliver in early May. Other colors, like green and pink (which cost $30 more) will ship by April 18th. There’s a blue option, but it’s not available for preorder yet.The M8 monitor has some features that many others don’t. I wrote about them all here, but if you want the skinny, here goes: it can run smart TV apps, like Apple TV Plus, Netflix, and more, even if you don’t have a computer or streaming device to connect... Continue reading…

Oops. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitch has paused its Boost Train feature, which launched last month and let people pay to promote streams, after porn ended up on users’ homepages with the label “promoted by the streamer’s community” slapped onto the NSFW thumbnails (via Kotaku).Several Twitter and Reddit users (NSFW links, by the way) shared screenshots of pornographic thumbnails that showed up at the front of their “Live channels we think you’ll like” sections. The thumbnails indicate that the streams showed up there thanks to an experimental feature that Twitch first announced last year. The feature has changed since it was first introduced, but the basic concept remains the same — users can spend money to get a stream in front of people’s eyes. In this case, it... Continue reading…

Apple’s Magic Mouse doesn’t deserve the name. | Photo by Nick Statt / The Verge And it hasn’t changed since 2017 Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Activision Blizzard is officially lifting its vaccine mandate for US corporate employees, and workers have announced they plan to walk out in protest. The company confirmed to The Verge that it has already ended the mandate, and A Better ABK, an organization of Activision Blizzard employees advocating for better working conditions, announced Friday that employees will walk out of work on April 4th at 1PM ET in protest.Jessica Gonzalez, a former Activision Blizzard employee and a founder of A Better ABK, originally revealed that the company was changing its vaccine policy on Twitter Thursday evening. In a series of screenshots, she shared the text of an email sent by Brian Bulatao, the company’s chief administrative officer. “Effective... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Starting next week, users of Barnes & Noble’s Android app will no longer be able to buy digital books in the app, and it seems to be due to a Google Play policy deadline that’s been more than a year and a half in the works. And it’s not just Barnes & Noble that’s affected; you aren’t able to buy Amazon’s Audible titles with a debit or credit card in the latest version of its Android app, either.The changes appear to stem from Google’s insistence that apps use Google Play’s billing systems. Developers have long criticized Apple and Google for requiring the use of their own billing systems, in large part because of the so-called “app store tax” on many transactions.Google updated its policies in September 2020 to clarify which types of... Continue reading…

The Oversight Committee is demanding answers. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has launched an investigation into Amazon’s labor practices around severe weather events, focusing on the company’s Illinois warehouse where six people died in a tornado strike last winter.The committee is seeking documents and communication records from Amazon within the next two weeks, according to a letter signed by Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Cori Bush (D-MO) and sent Thursday to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.The letter cites reports that Amazon threatened to fire employees if they left work as the tornado bore down on the area and that delivery dispatchers weren’t allowed to call drivers back without Amazon’s approval, even when there was an active... Continue reading…

Square Enix If you’re like me and still recovering from the emotional devastation of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, take heart; it’s time for a Newfound Adventure. Patch 6.1 Newfound Adventure is the first major content patch for Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. In a Live Letter developer presentation, game director Naoki Yoshida revealed details about the patch, including new mounts, new hairstyles, new PvP battles and, of course, a new story.Newfound Adventure picks up where Endwalker left off. Your friends, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, have scattered across Eorzea doing their own thing now that they’ve prevented the end of all life in the galaxy. Events conspire to reunite the gang for some good old-fashioned low-stakes adventuring.While I’m... Continue reading…

NASA’s Space Launch System on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center | Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge For the next three days, NASA is staging an elaborate dress rehearsal with its massive new rocket, the Space Launch System — practicing all of the major steps the agency will have to perform when the vehicle launches for the very first time. It’s a major milestone for the rocket’s development and one of the last major tests it must undergo before the vehicle can be cleared to fly sometime this summer.The Space Launch System, or SLS, is the agency’s new flagship rocket, designed to carry people and cargo into deep space. It’s meant to play a lead role in NASA’s Artemis program, the agency’s initiative to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon by the mid-2020s. Capable of lifting nearly 60,000 pounds of cargo to... Continue reading…

Workers at Amazon’s Staten Island fulfillment center voted whether to unionize | Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York City have voted to unionize, an historic first for workers at the e-commerce company. The final tally was 2,654 yes votes, and 2,131, with 67 challenges. The workers at the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island will join the Amazon Labor Union, as the number of challenges is not sufficient to affect the outcome.The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined in January that unionization efforts at the facility had “reached a sufficient showing of interest” to hold an election. The facility employs roughly 5,000 people.In a statement posted to its website Friday, Amazon said it was “disappointed with the outcome of the election because we believe having a direct relationship with the... Continue reading…

Cannabis bill to decriminalize gets a vote in the House | Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images The US House of Representatives voted Friday to approve a bill that would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. It’s a first step toward making the drug legal and attempting to undo some of the damage caused by punitive drug laws, particularly among communities of color. The voting happened along party lines, with 220 votes in favor and 204 opposed. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, but advocates say with Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, they’re more hopeful that the legislation will finally become law.The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (or MORE Act) would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and add a federal tax on cannabis products. It would also... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In the past few years, the phrase “HIPAA violation” has been thrown around a lot, often incorrectly. People have cited the law, which protects patient health information, as a reason they can’t be asked if they’re vaccinated or get a doctor’s note for an employer.But asking someone if they’re vaccinated isn’t actually a HIPAA violation. That’s a fine and not-illegal thing for one non-doctor to ask another non-doctor. What is a HIPAA violation is what U. Phillip Igbinadolor, a dentist in North Carolina, did in September 2015, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. After a patient left an anonymous, negative Google review, he logged on and responded with his own post on the Google page, saying that the patient missed... Continue reading…

Save $100 on the Samsung Galaxy S22 at Best Buy for today only | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge We’re kicking off April Fools’ Day with a deal that’s dead serious. For today only, Best Buy is knocking $100 off the price of the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S22. The 128GB and 256GB models of the S22 are currently discounted to $699.99 and $749.99, respectively. Just note that this discount only applies to the standard model of the S22, not the S22 Plus or Ultra. You don’t have to activate this phone when you purchase it either, just make sure to select “activate later” before adding it to your cart. This is the first discount we’ve seen on the latest model of Samsung’s smartphone since its release, making this a prime opportunity to upgrade.The S22 features an impressive array of specs, including a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a 50MP main... Continue reading…

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg unveiled stricter fuel economy standards today that he said would save Americans money at the pump, as well as help reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change.“When these standards take effect, Americans buying a new vehicle will spend less on gas than they would have if we hadn’t taken this step,” Buttigieg said at a Friday news conference in Washington, DC. “We estimate that today’s rule will prevent 5.5 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide from going into our atmosphere between now and 2050.”By 2026, the average new vehicle in the US will get 49 miles of travel per gallon of gasoline (mpg) under the revised Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, Buttigieg said. The new standards will... Continue reading…

The Apple Watch has several heart-related health features. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Modern smartwatches have a wide array of heart-rate monitoring features. That includes passive all-day monitoring as well as spot checks for specific metrics. Some will even alert you if your heart rate suddenly spikes when it shouldn’t. The most advanced devices also have FDA-cleared electrocardiograms that may help detect atrial fibrillation.These are impressive features considering that, just a decade ago, smartwatches were basically pedometers. In practice, heart rate monitoring can be a helpful tool for people hoping to understand more about their bodies or measure their fitness progress over time. For instance, some athletes prefer to train in heart rate zones — which is hard to do unless you can check it in real time. There have... Continue reading…

An example of what a co-authored tweet could look (though, confusingly, in this example both accounts are the same). | Image: Alessandro Paluzzi / Twitter Twitter has confirmed it’s “exploring” a new feature that would allow two account to co-author a single tweet, TechCrunch reports. App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi has been posting evidence of the feature’s development since at least December, but more recently discovered what appears to be an official dialog box from Twitter about how these tweet collaborations could work.A co-author feature wouldn’t be a stretch for Twitter, given competitor Instagram has offered something similar since 2021. There are plenty of reasons why two accounts might want to have their names attached to a single post, ranging from brand partnerships, influencer campaigns, or even just sharing credit for a funny post.

Image: Adrienn Szabo / Paramount Plus The live-action Halo show on Paramount Plus is already onto its second episode this week, but the first one is now available for free on YouTube. As long as you’re in the US, you can access the first episode of Halo on YouTube.The Halo show is nothing like the games, and Verge video games reporter Ash Parrish, a self-confessed Halo lore hobbyist, says it “offers a far more compelling look at the Master Chief than anything the games have done so far.”Halo stars Pablo Schreiber of American Gods as Master Chief, Natascha McElhone of Californication as Dr. Halsey, and Jen Taylor, the voice actress for Cortana in the Halo games, as Master Chief’s AI assistant. The show has already been renewed for a second season, and debuted on Paramount... Continue reading…

Heart Machine, developers of the acclaimed, stylish, and difficult 2D action RPG Hyper Light Drifter, have announced a new game set in the same universe: Hyper Light Breaker.Available via Steam Early Access some time in Spring 2023, Hyper Light Breaker is a 3D title with single player and co-op modes. As per the game’s Steam page, players will:

Dell’s new stylus in action. | Image: Tile Dell’s new stylus, the Premier Rechargeable Active Pen, has a neat trick up its sleeve that makes it easier to find when misplaced. It features built-in finding technology provided by Tile, which means you can use the object-tracing company’s app to make the stylus buzz and flash its LED lights to help you find it when it’s nearby. If you lose it further afield, Tile says its app will be able to show its last known location, and use its network to track it down.The stylus is Tile’s latest foray into building its tracking technology into third-party devices. It’s been working with Intel for a couple of years to help track lost laptops, and says Tile’s tracking network can now help find compatible HP, MSI, and Fujitsu PCs. Its tracking... Continue reading…

Users will have the option of turning the suggestions off. | Image: Google Google Docs could soon suggest ways to improve the quality of your writing in addition to fixing straightforward grammar and spelling errors, the company has announced. A purple squiggly line will appear under suggestions to help make your writing more concise, inclusive, active, or to warn you away from inappropriate words.These new Google suggestions have long been available via third-party services like Grammarly, which is able to integrate with Google Docs and aims to help improve the quality of your writing. Depending on the quality of Google’s native suggestions, it could vastly reduce the need for these third-party services. Does it count as “sherlocking” when someone other than Apple does it? Image: Google ... Continue reading…

Don’t mind me, just enjoying this NFT in my living room. | Image: Samsung Samsung is making good on its promise from CES 2022 to bring NFTs to its TVs, by announcing a partnership with NFT auction site Nifty Gateway. In a press release, Nifty Gateway says that it’s “now integrated with Samsung’s NFT platform,” letting you “browse, display, and interact with NFTs” on the company’s “2022 premium TV product lines such as QLED and Neo QLED TV.” Nifty Gateway will also have an app on Samsung’s The Frame and Micro LED TVs.Basically, you’ll be able to display NFTs on your Samsung TV. And maybe even buy or sell them, according to Decrypt, though it’s worth noting that Nifty Gateway is significantly more strict about who can sell artwork on its platform than OpenSea, the NFT marketplace most people will be familiar... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A major responsibility for tech companies is to monitor content on their platforms for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and if any is found, they are legally required to report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Many companies have content moderators in place that review content flagged for potentially being CSAM, and they determine whether the content should be reported to the NCMEC.However, Facebook has a policy that could mean it is underreporting child sexual abuse content, according to a new report from The New York Times. A Facebook training document directs content moderators to “err on the side of an adult” when they don’t know someone’s age in a photo or video that’s suspected to be CSAM,... Continue reading…

Workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama held their second union vote | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images The votes for the union drive at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, have been counted, but the final result is so close that it will depend on a court hearing yet to come.The vote count announced on Thursday was 993 against and 875 in favor, with 59 ballots counted as void and 416 counted as challenged. Since the challenged ballots are sufficient to swing the election, the result will depend on a court hearing adjudicating the status of the challenged ballots. That hearing has yet to be scheduled but is likely to take place in the next few weeks. Both parties will also have a chance to file objections to the election over the coming month.In a statement posted to its website, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Uber will hold its annual product event on May 16th, during which the company will showcase new products, updates, and features focused on travel and sustainability.It will be Uber’s second product event, after last year’s “Go/Get 2021” gathering presented a host of pandemic-themed announcements, including the ability to book a vaccine appointment in the Uber app. Other features included car rentals, 30-day windows for trip reservations, and multi-stop rides.“We are excited to introduce our latest innovations at Go/Get 2022,” said Uber’s chief product officer, Sundeep Jain, in a statement. “As the world keeps changing, the Uber team keeps building products to serve consumers’ changing needs. We can’t wait to share what’s next.”“We... Continue reading…

If your battery life has been bad, consider updating. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has released iOS and iPadOS 15.4.1, an update that fixes some accessibility bugs, improves security, and fixes a battery drain bug that plagued some people’s phones and iPads after they updated to iOS 15.4.It’s unclear how widespread the issue was (nobody on The Verge’s staff reported notable battery problems), but earlier this month, the Apple Support Twitter account told customers complaining about battery drain that it was “normal for your apps and features to need to adjust up to 48 hours after an update.” Still, over two weeks after the update was released, it’s not hard to find recent posts reporting poor battery life. Hopefully, though, the update will solve those — iOS 15.4 brings the really handy update of being able to... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro There will be no E3 this year. In a tweet, Will Powers, PR for gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer, said that he received an email stating the digital event was canceled. IGN initially reported the news, saying they had also independently viewed the email confirming E3’s cancellation.

Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images Microsoft started testing Minecraft ray tracing on the Xbox earlier this week, and now the software giant says it was mistake and will be removed. A preview version of Minecraft appeared for Xbox testers with optimizations for Xbox Series X / S consoles and the ability to enable ray tracing.“The previous Minecraft Preview build available to Xbox Insiders inadvertently included prototype code for ray tracing support on Xbox consoles,” says the Minecraft team in a tweet. “This early prototype code has been removed from Preview and doesn’t signal near future plans to bring raytracing support to consoles.”

The new feature works on fourth generation or newer Echo smart speakers. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon’s Alexa has launched a new feature that will notify Prime customers up to 24 hours in advance about specific discounts, the company announced today. Amazon says the new feature is designed to help customers save money while saving time.The smart voice assistant will alert Prime members when eligible products in their wish list or shopping cart, or that they’ve marked “saved for later,” are on sale. Customers will then be able to ask Alexa to order the items when the deal is live or send a reminder.Amazon did not elaborate on exactly what it defines as an “eligible” item or if these deals will also include products sold by third parties.Only US Amazon Prime customers who own Echo smart speakers that are fourth generation or... Continue reading…

Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, the Living Vampire. | Columbia Pictures Sony’s latest Spider-Man villain feature will drain you Continue reading…

Dell’s latest laptop dock adds a little something extra: a Qi wireless charging stand that lets you see and charge your phone while also connecting your laptop to monitors and peripherals (via Ars Technica). The Dual Charge Dock can provide 90W to your computer over USB-C and 12W of power to your phone via the fabric-covered wireless charger.In a press release, Dell says that the charging coils in the Qi portion of the dock are widely spread out — meaning that you can charge your phone while it’s in portrait or landscape, and you can even use the charger to juice up a pair of wireless earbuds.Of course, as a dock, it’s also meant to let you plonk your laptop down on a desk, plug in a single cable, and be able to use external displays... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Did I speak too soon? Two days after my one-month check-in with the Steam Deck portable gaming PC, Valve has already addressed a few of the most annoying issues I pointed out.In a pair of updates, one in the stable channel and one only currently available in beta (full changelogs there), Valve has:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The social network touts downranking as a way to thwart problematic content, but what happens when that system breaks? Continue reading…

Kotaku reported on Undead Labs, the developers of the State of Decay series. | Image: Undead Labs Kotaku has published an extensive article about difficult workplace conditions at Undead Labs, a Microsoft-owned game studio known for the State of Decay series, that you should go read. The article details allegations of sexism at the company and a lack of direction that hurt morale, and it arrives amidst several other recent reports and allegations of challenging workplace conditions at game development studios.The YouTube channel People Make Games reported on challenges at three well-known indie studios in a video earlier this month. VentureBeat recently published a long article containing allegations that Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios is an “oppressive” place to work. And as Microsoft is set to acquire mega-studio... Continue reading…

Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch is bringing back some of its most popular seasonal events to celebrate the game’s sixth anniversary. In the Overwatch Anniversary Remix: Volume 1, Overwatch will open its vault, allowing players the chance to participate in the many special events of seasons past and earn “remixed” versions of some of the game’s best skins.The first week of the anniversary celebration starts on April 5th with the return of the Summer Games event and Overwatch’s Rocket League-like game mode Lucioball. If trying to score goals with an oversized soccer ball using nothing but a sound gun wielded by a frog DJ isn’t as appealing to you as it is to me, the next day’s event brings back Halloween Terror and, with it, Overwatch’s very own zombie horde... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is reportedly planning to introduce an Xbox Game Pass family plan this year. Windows Central reports that Microsoft has been contemplating a family plan for Xbox Game Pass for quite some time and that the company is now in the position to announce one in the “near future.”The family plan option will reportedly provide access to Xbox Game Pass for five players and will be priced cheaper than the cost for separate accounts. Microsoft will reportedly integrate its Family Account system, which is what the company also uses for its Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions.Five players will reportedly be able to access an Xbox Game Pass family planIt’s not clear whether there will be separate family subscriptions for Xbox Game Pass, PC... Continue reading…

Despite the United States and Russia’s deteriorating relationship here on Earth, Russia is still considering extending its participation on the International Space Station through 2030, according to NASA. However, it could be a few months before there is a solid update on Russia’s official stance.NASA and Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, have been the two largest partners on the International Space Station for the last three decades. The two organizations have agreed to work together on the ISS through 2024, but at the end of last year, the Biden administration announced its intentions to extend the space station program through 2030. Russia has not formally agreed to the extension yet.“we all understand the importance of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Ana Kova At-home health testing company LetsGetChecked has acquired the genetic testing company Veritas Genetics and spinoff Veritas Intercontinental, it announced Tuesday. It’s the latest pivot for a direct-to-consumer genetics company, most of which have spent the past few years struggling to sell DNA test kits to consumers more and more concerned about genetic privacy.Partnering with an industry like home testing, which grew over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, is one path forward. But that integration could risk conflicts of interest for patients if a company is incentivized to nudge consumers towards tests based on their genetic information, experts told The Verge. With all of these products on board at one company, genetic... Continue reading…

The Nanoleaf Lines Smarter Kit is currently on sale for $179.99 instead of $199.99. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy If you’re on the market for artistic LED lighting to decorate your home with, Nanoleaf’s new Lines are some of the best lights you can buy. At $200, however, they’re also some of the more expensive. Luckily, you can now get these stunning lights as a part of a starter set for a little less. Regularly $199.99, Nanoleaf’s new Lines Smarter Kit — which includes an adapter and nine Lines you can affix to your wall to display colorful lights in a variety of patterns — is on sale for $179.99 at Amazon and Best Buy.Unlike Nanoleaf’s other lighting fixtures, these LED light bars are backlit, making them perfect for sticking behind a gaming monitor or TV. There’s also a music visualizer that uses a built-in microphone to pick up on ambient noise... Continue reading…

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge Today, Samsung announced a new self-repair program that will give Galaxy customers access to parts, tools, and guides to repair their own devices. The program is in collaboration with popular repair guides and parts website iFixit, which has worked with manufacturers such as Motorola and Steam on similar ventures. The Galaxy S20 and S21 series phones and the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus are first in line for the spare parts — but not Samsung’s latest S22 family of phones.“We are working with Samsung to improve their repair guide and DIY parts offerings,” iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens tells The Verge. The new program follows Apple’s recent change of heart in announcing a self-service program and Microsoft’s work with iFixit to manufacture Surface tools.... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google is announcing a whole bunch of Workspace updates intended to improve virtual collaboration. But as a big fan of emoji, I have to say the new feature I’m most excited about is in-meeting emoji reactions in Google Meet.With these reactions, you’ll be able to drop emoji like a heart or a thumbs-up to show how you’re feeling during a meeting. The emoji will show up in video tiles or in a list that floats up on the side of your screen. Here’s a GIF from Google that gives an idea of what to expect: Zoom has a similar feature that I find really useful. It’s a great tool to indicate how I’m feeling about something without having to unmute and disrupt an entire meeting, and I think they’ll be handy in Meet as well. Google... Continue reading…

From left to right: reply from feed, the new reshare menu, and online indicators. | Image: Meta Instagram is giving users a host of new options when sending direct messages (or DMs to you and I) on its platform. The most useful is a new option to quickly reply to a DM directly from your feed without having to go into your inbox and lose your place. There are also new share options as well as the ability to send song previews and conduct polls in group chats.The platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, announced Instagram’s intention to focus on messaging this year in a video posted at the end of December. “Messaging is one of the primary ways that people — actually it is the primary way people connect online at this point,” Mosseri said. “Instagram needs to embrace the fact that messaging is that primary form of communication.” ... Continue reading…