The Verge

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel discusses the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.This week on The Vergecast, Nilay, along with Verge managing editor Alex Cranz and deputy editor Dan Seifert, discusses all the announcements from Apple’s Peek Performance event this week — including an updated iPhone SE with 5G, the new Mac Studio desktop computer, an iPad Air with an M1 processor, and the 27-inch 5K Studio Display monitor.Keep listening for an explainer on the state of 5G in phones like the iPhone SE, a rundown of specs (and ports) in the Mac Studio, and of course, some wild theories about the future of computers.... Continue reading…

Image: Apple The new iPad Air with the M1 processor was just announced three days ago at Apple’s Peek Performance event (preorders went live this morning), but Walmart already has a stellar deal. The retailer has the 64GB Wi-Fi model of the new iPad Air in select colors for $559, a savings of $40 compared to Apple’s price.If you need more storage, the 256GB Wi-Fi model has an even bigger discount of $70, dropping the price to $679 from its normal price of $749. This is not the first time we have seen Walmart come in hot with discounts on a new iPad preorder, but if past occasions are anything to go by, it may not last long.The scheduled shipping date of the new iPad directly from Apple is March 18th, but these discounted preorders have a slightly... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you own Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Duo device and you’re feeling a little experimental this weekend, you can now install Windows 11 on it. Engineering student Gustave Monce has been working on getting Windows 11 on the Surface Duo for months, and he’s now posted a guide to dual-boot Windows and Android on the original Surface Duo.Neowin notes that you’ll need a 128GB variant of the Surface Duo, and you’ll be effectively installing Windows 11 on ARM alongside the original install of Android. If you’re hoping to use Windows 11 as your daily driver, be prepared for almost nothing to work, though. While Windows 11 boots on the Surface Duo, touch controls, networking, cellular data, and the cameras are all non-functional. This... Continue reading…

The Echo Show 5 is ideal for a bedside nightstand. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge It’s Friday, so it’s nearly time to put this busy week in the books. We hope you have a chance for some rest and relaxation this upcoming weekend, and we’ve got a couple deals for you that may help.First off, you can give your bedside nightstand an upgrade with a second-gen Amazon Echo Show 5 for $54.99 at Amazon or Best Buy. It’s just $10 away from its all-time low price, but it’s $30 cheaper than the regular price of $84.99. This little smart display with a 5.5-inch screen can go anywhere around the house (so long as there’s a power plug nearby), but the ideal spot is near your bed where it can show and tell you the weather or news right as you wake up. It’s also a key part of any Alexa-infused smart home setup, because what’s better... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge Brandon Silverman knows more about how stories spread on Facebook than almost anyone. As co-founder and CEO of CrowdTangle, he helped to build systems that instantly understood which stories were going viral: valuable knowledge for publishers at a time when Facebook and other social networks accounted for a huge portion of their traffic. It was so valuable, in fact, that in 2016 Facebook bought the company, saying it would help the institutions of journalism identify stories of interest to help their own coverage plans.But a funny thing happened along the way to CrowdTangle becoming just another tool in a publisher’s analytics toolkit. Facebook’s value to publishers declined after the company decided to de-emphasize news posts in 2018,... Continue reading…

CNN Plus will debut March 29th | CNN/Warner Media CNN Plus, the streaming platform from the cable news giant, will debut in the US on March 29th, the company said Friday in a news release. For early subscribers — those who sign up in the first four weeks of its launch— the service will cost $2.99 per month, and they’ll lock in that price for as long as they subscribe. The standard price will be $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year.CNN unveiled plans for its streaming service last July and has announced programming that includes daily versions of weekly CNN shows, all-new shows, and original series and movies. Subscribers will also have access to CNN’s library of content. The company has said it will continue to have a single CNN app, with a section for CNN Plus subscribers to access the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Lyssa Park / The Verge Mel Martinez’s dad had an unusual (and very much unofficial) title in the Air Force: stitch bitch. Decades later, that title — given to the many men whose duties included sewing — has now become something of a rallying cry for queer sewists like Martinez, who put gender affirmation at the center of their creations. Martinez and many others are updating their craft to subvert status quo designs that don’t quite fit, building, instead, a world of underwear, lingerie, and intimates in which everybody (and body) is welcome.“I have always been really particular about the way clothes fit; I have very sensitive skin and some skin allergies and some sensory stuff,” says Martinez, who uses both they and she pronouns. In the realm of underwear,... Continue reading…

Green phones are having a moment. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge “So, is there some kind of promotional tie-in?” My husband was searching for answers. “No. They’re just green phones.” This was not a satisfying answer, so he continued.“Is it an environmental thing? Like are they made out of recycled plastic or something?”Also no, I informed him. They’re just regular phones, but green.“Oh, I bet it’s for St. Patty’s Day!” It also seemed unlikely that Apple would time the release of a new phone color for what is more or less an unofficial binge drinking holiday in this country, but I conceded that it was possible, given the mid-March timing.Earlier this week, Apple announced some really interesting new hardware, including a new desktop for creatives and a display that doesn’t cost a fortune. It also... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Creators are making their own IRL cards based on Inscryption’s deck-building video game Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Russian officials have called on Instagram to be banned and for parent company Meta to be designated an “extremist organization,” according to Russian news agency Interfax and state-owned news agency TASS.As reported by Interfax, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office says it has filed a petition “to recognize Meta Platforms Inc. as an extremist organization and ban its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.”Separately, TASS reports that the head of the Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, Alexander Khinshtein, has called on Instagram to be banned if reports that Meta adjusted its moderation policies to allow users to call for violence against Russian soldiers are true. State communications agency Roskomnadzor also i... Continue reading…

The new iPad Air comes in five colorways, including a new shade of blue. | Image: Apple As expected, preorders have officially opened up for the newest iPad to hit Apple’s lineup: the 2022 iPad Air. Announced alongside the new iPhone SE and Mac Studio during the company’s “Peek Performance” event on March 8th, the new base model starts at $599 and will be available beginning March 18th. You can, however, preorder the iPad Air starting today, March 11th, from Apple, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and a handful of other retailers.The iPad Air boasts the same M1 chip found in the latest iPad Pro, as well as 5G connectivity and a USB-C port that allows for faster data transfer speeds. Apple says its eight-core CPU is up to 60 percent faster than the A14 Bionic processor in the 2020 iPad Air, too, and its eight-core GPU should provide... Continue reading…

Ezra Miller as The Flash. | Image: Warner Bros. Warner Bros. has done a big reshuffle of its upcoming film slate in a move that sees both The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom delayed to 2023. The Flash is now due to release on June 23, 2022 (over seven months later than its original November 4th opening date) marking the first time Ezra Miller will play the character in a title role, while the Aquaman sequel will open on March 17th, 2023, three months later than its previously planned December 16th release date, Variety reports.Variety notes that pandemic-related production delays are to blame for both films being pushed back. But the delay is just the latest of many to have hit The Flash, which at one time Warner Bros. had hoped to release way back in 2018. The overlapping... Continue reading…

At its “Peek Performance” hardware event, Apple announced the third-generation iPhone SE. It’s similar in many ways to the 2020 version, with a 4.7-inch screen that’s surrounded on top and bottom by thick bezels. Notably, it’s still the only iPhone that Apple sells with Touch ID biometrics. But it has received three big enhancements since the last-gen phone, and you can probably guess one of them from the name: 5G, claims of better battery life than the previous SE, and Apple’s modern A15 Bionic processor that’s in the iPhone 13.We’ll have a full review of the phone on the site soon. But if you’ve arrived at this page, it’s because you want to know how much the iPhone SE with 5G is going to cost, when you can get it, and whether... Continue reading…

The 4-channel Razer Audio Mixer. | Image: Razer Razer’s trio of new products are aimed at making you sound and look your streaming best. While you’re at a desk, Razer’s $249.99 Audio Mixer offers four channels of audio control along with a variety of audio processing options, and the new $299 Key Light Chroma will keep you lit during streams. But if you’re looking for something more mobile and portable, then Razer is also launching a $99 Seiren Bluetooth lapel mic for on-the-go vlogging.The Audio Mixer offers an all-in-one interface for controlling audio during broadcasts, and competes with the likes of TC Helicon’s GoXLR. The bulk of its interface is taken up with four sliders, each controlling one audio channel, which allow you to set the relative volumes of your microphone with... Continue reading…

The top line of the advert placed in the Friday edition of the Dallas Morning News. Google, Apple, and Meta are among more than 60 companies asking Texas governor Greg Abbott to abandon recent legislation that defines gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors as “child abuse.”In a full-page advertisement published in the Friday edition of the Dallas Morning News, the companies call on leaders in Texas to “abandon efforts to write discrimination into law.”“This policy creates fear for employees and their families, especially those with transgender children, who might now be faced with choosing to provide the best possible medical care for their children but risk having those children removed by child protective services for doing so,” states the ad. “It’s not just wrong, it has an impact on our... Continue reading…

WhatsApp says its web interface is growing increasingly popular. | Image: Meta Code Verify is a new browser extension from WhatsApp parent company Meta that aims to improve the security of WhatsApp’s web version, the company has announced. The extension works by verifying that the contents of WhatsApp’s web version haven’t been tampered with. The aim is to make it a lot more difficult for a would-be attacker to compromise data or the privacy of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encrypted messages when using the browser-based version of the service.The extension follows the launch of WhatsApp’s multi-device beta last year. This aims to make using the messaging service from devices other than your primary phone easier and more seamless. Since the feature’s launch, WhatsApp says it’s seen an increase in people accessing its... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google and Meta are being investigated by antitrust regulators in the EU and UK over “Jedi Blue” — a deal between the two firms that critics say allowed them to block smaller tech companies from gaining a foothold in the online ad market.In a press statement, the European Commission said it was concerned that the September 2018 agreement “may form part of efforts to exclude ad tech services competing with Google’s Open Bidding programme, and therefore restrict or distort competition in markets for online display advertising.” It’s therefore opening a formal antitrust investigation.The UK’s Competition Market Authority said it was also investigating the deal, with CMA chief Andrea Coscelli stating: “We’re concerned that Google may... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook and Instagram have instituted a temporary change in policy that allows users in some countries to post content that’s usually forbidden, including calls for harm or even the death of Russian soldiers or politicians. The change first surfaced in a report by Reuters, citing internal emails to moderators. In them, the outlet reports mods are told that calls for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will be allowed, as long as they don’t contain threats toward others or “indicators of credibility” like saying where or how the act will take place.In a statement sent to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily... Continue reading…

Image: Google, The Android Show After seemingly forgetting that Android tablets existed for a while, Google is suddenly very invested in the market. Android 12L is in development to support larger-screened devices, and one of the platform’s co-founders, Rich Miner, has rejoined the team with the title “CTO of Android tablets.” Now, speaking to developers during an episode of Google’s The Android Show, Miner explained the opportunity the company is seeing (via 9to5Google).Miner references the introduction of Android tablets in 2011 and how apps like media players scaled to fit them easily without much investment, but then growth “kind of stagnated.” Now, he cites data showing growth took off pre-COVID in late 2019 and has continued to rise, with more keyboard... Continue reading…

The FLEX rover prototype | Image: Venturi Astrolab Today, aerospace startup Venturi Astrolab revealed its new interplanetary rover designed to transport cargo and people across the surface of the Moon — and eventually Mars. The company says it plans to build a fleet of these rovers over the coming decade to help NASA and commercial companies establish a long-term presence on the Moon.Called FLEX, for Flexible Logistics and Exploration, the rover can crouch down and lift payloads up from the surface of the Moon, carrying them under its belly before depositing them at their intended location. With its “modular payload concept,” it can carry many different types of objects, so long as they are built to an agreed-upon standard of size and shape. In keeping with its name FLEX, the rover can... Continue reading…

Prepaid customers will have to shell out $100 for the 5G gateway. | Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge T-Mobile has announced a new plan for its 5G home internet service, which won’t require applicants to undergo a credit check. The prepaid service will carry T-Mobile’s Metro branding, and customers will be able to sign up for it at Metro retail locations. This brings a prepaid option to T-Mobile’s $50 a month service, which doesn’t have any data caps or contracts, which could be appealing to users who don’t have great internet options available from traditional ISPs.It’s good to see that T-Mobile is offering an option that doesn’t require credit approval (especially given the state of credit reporting in the US). However, there are a few significant gotchas worth noting if you’re looking into the service. With the postpaid non-Metro... Continue reading…

Warzone is coming to mobile phones. | Image: Activision Activision is bringing its hit battle royale shooter Call of Duty: Warzone to mobile phones, the company announced Thursday. “We are creating an all-new, AAA mobile experience that will bring the thrilling, fluid and large-scale action of Call of Duty: Warzone to players on the go,” Activision said in a post on its website.According to the post, this mobile Warzone will be a “large-scale, battle royale experience” that’s built “natively for mobile with cutting-edge technology designed to entertain gamers around the world for many years to come.” However, it seems as if the game is still early in development, as the post advertises several job openings and doesn’t include screenshots, video, or even an estimated release timeframe.... Continue reading…

Grimes and Elon in 2018 | Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Huffington Post Sometimes journalists get lucky and discover information while reporting a story that they did not expect to find — a document or report, maybe even evidence of prior misdeeds. But I can’t recall ever reading a feature where the reporter discovers a previously undisclosed baby, as Devin Gordon did in his Vanity Fair profile of the singer Grimes, the former partner (she says they have split again but remain friends) of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The two welcomed their first child — a son who they gave an unusual name — in May 2020.But as far as the general public was aware, the couple only had the one child. Gordon soon discovers otherwise. As he’s interviewing Grimes in her new home, he thinks he hears crying but brushes it off.... Continue reading…

The sun sets over the horizon highlighting the electricity pylons of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Region, southeastern Ukraine, July 9, 2019. | Photo credit should read Dmytro Smolyenko/Future Publishing via Getty Images Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is increasingly threatening the vital connections between Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and the electric grid. The nuclear sites rely on outside electricity to keep critical safety systems running — but those links are fraying as reports come in about power lines damaged during the conflict.Fuel at nuclear sites generates tremendous heat. Without cooling systems, which typically rely on an external power source to run, that fuel could melt down and catastrophically release radioactive materials. There are several layers of backup systems that would need to fail for such a worst-case scenario to go down. But fighting and power losses in Ukraine have experts increasingly worried about the country’s nuclear... Continue reading…

Image: Rivian Rivian, the buzzy electric vehicle company backed by Ford and Amazon, delivered 909 vehicles to customers in the fourth quarter of 2021, the company said in its second earnings report since its historic IPO last year. The company says it has delivered a total of 920 vehicles in 2021.Rivian said it brought in $55 million in revenue over the course of the year, almost all of which in the last three months. It recorded a net loss of $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter and a net loss of $4.5 billion for the year.With supply chains constrained and the global chip shortage continuing to batter the auto industry, Rivian is maintaining a modest production schedule for 2022. In a shareholder letter, the company said it expects to produce only... Continue reading…

The Roomba i3 now has smart mapping capabilities. | Image: iRobot iRobot’s excellent, more affordable Roomba i3 robot vacuum received a firmware update this week that gives it new powers. Existing users and anyone who picks up the $349.99 Roomba i3 can now use smart maps to tell their robot exactly where to clean.This feature, which lets you send the bot just to vacuum a specific room or rooms rather than everywhere it can reach, was previously only available on the more expensive s9, j7, and i7 Roombas in iRobot’s top-of-the-line range.The update follows through on iRobot’s promise that its iRobot Genius software will make your robot smarter at no extra cost to you. Smart mapping, which is done without a camera, lets the vacuum learn your home’s floor plan, so you can direct it specifically where... Continue reading…

The lock screen of your Android phone can be very useful, showing notifications and letting you access certain features without having to unlock your phone first. (Something that may be even more useful if you’ve got a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro and are still having problems with the fingerprint sensor.)Here are some ways you can tweak the settings for your lock screen. These were tested using a Pixel 6 running Android 12; as always, different Android phones can have somewhat different procedures.Enable lock screen notificationsFirst, you can choose whether you want to show both alerts and silent notifications, show alerts only, or not show any notifications at all.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Android users in Ukraine will get air raid alerts directly on their phones before expected attacks happen near them, Google announced today. In an updated blog post, the company said it’s working with the Ukrainian government to roll out an alert system for Android phones in the country. The feature was first spotted by XDA-Developers.“Tragically, millions of people in Ukraine now rely on air strike alerts to try to get to safety,” Google says in the announcement. The Android pings will be based on the alerts already being sent by the Ukrainian government, and it’s adapted from a system built for quickly sending warnings about earthquakes, according to Dave Burke, vice president of engineering for Android.Google has already been... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge What happens if you’re gaming on your desktop Windows PC but want to continue the game from a different part of the house — or even out of the house? If you’re using Steam, Valve’s PC gaming destination, you can get around the first part of this dilemma by using Steam Link, an in-home game streaming solution that uses your local network. And now, there’s a way around the second as well — with some caveats.While the recent release of the Steam Deck has provided gamers with a new way to play games away from their desktop, the Steam Link feature lets you stream your games from anywhere using an Android or Apple device with an internet connection (R.I.P Steam Link Box). Even though Steam Link has been out of beta for some time, the service... Continue reading…

Microsoft is providing an update on its support for Valve’s Steam Deck today. Most Xbox Game Studios titles will run on the Steam Deck, but Microsoft says Gears 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite, and Microsoft Flight Simulator X are unsupported. These titles don’t work on the Steam Deck due to anti-cheat systems, and it’s not clear if they’ll ever be supported in the future.Microsoft has marked eight games as “Verified,” and six more as “Playable.” The difference between the two can be something as small as a warning appearing or even having to invoke a virtual touchscreen to enter text during a game. While some are only on the playable list right now, they could soon progress to verified status.Microsoft’s list only... Continue reading…

Deals coming at you like goombas | Image: Nintendo March 10th is the unofficial holiday to celebrate all things Nintendo, and a variety of retailers are offering bargains on first-party Nintendo titles and some of the best accessories for the Nintendo Switch. While neither the Switch Lite nor OLED models of the Nintendo Switch are currently discounted, both models are readily available for late adopters or anyone who has been looking to upgrade from the classic Switch (in the case of the Switch OLED model).Games for the Nintendo Switch go on sale fairly regularly, but it's not often that we see substantial discounts on first-party titles, especially the digital versions. The discounts on most of these titles even extend to their Nintendo eShop listings, which will remain on sale until... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is making improvements to its Energy Saver mode on Xbox consoles. While Xbox owners have traditionally had to enable Standby mode to continue getting game and system updates while consoles are powered off, the Energy Saver mode will now support downloading updates in the background.“Now, system and game updates can be downloaded during Energy Saver mode, further saving energy,” explains Dave McCarthy, corporate vice president of Xbox operations. “Energy Saver mode consumes about 20 times less power than Standby mode when the console is not being used or receiving updates.”Microsoft has now made Energy Saver mode the default option when Xbox owners initially set up a console. The Energy Saver mode does mean it’s slower to... Continue reading…

It’s a PopSocket, but the size of a small battery bank. | Image: PopSockets PopSockets has a proposition: what if you could swap out the grip on your phone (which may or may not contain lip balm or a multitool) and stick on a battery bank with an integrated cable whenever you need to charge your phone and keep a solid grip on it? That seems to be the idea behind its new PopGrip JumpStart, a 2,200mAh battery (we’ll get to that number in a moment) that mounts onto the standard PopSocket mount and charges your phone with a pop-out USB-C or Lightning cable (via Gizmodo).It’s a clever idea, to be sure, but I have some... concerns. Standard PopSockets are comfy to use because they seem to be just the right size and shape. As you may have already guessed, though, the JumpStart is quite a bit bigger, given that it’s an... Continue reading…

Niantic’s Captain Doty mascot. | Image: Niantic Niantic is acquiring 8th Wall, a company that helps developers make web-based augmented reality apps, in what it says is its “largest acquisition to date.” The acquisition will help boost Niantic’s Lightship developer platform and to help developers “realize their visions for AR in the real-world metaverse,” Niantic’s Brian McClendon said in a blog post. (The company is a big fan of the term “real-world metaverse.”) Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, and when asked, Niantic spokesperson Jen Stratton said the details were confidential.Niantic, the developer of the hugely popular Pokémon Go, has continued to push into AR, most recently with a Pikmin-themed app. But the company has had some misses, having shut down both Catan: Settlers... Continue reading…

Image: Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood will be the first US park with a Super Nintendo World when it opens its doors next year. Last year, the first Nintendo-style theme park made its debut at a Universal Studios location in Osaka, Japan, despite a number of delays and a global pandemic, and we’ve been waiting since the partnership was announced in 2015 to find out when there would be one in the US.Universal says Nintendo-themed merch will be available in its gift shop soon but didn’t go into much detail about what rides and experiences will be available at the US Super Nintendo World location. To get an idea of what’s in store, you can check out our experience in Japan’s park.

Image: The Verge It’s hard to be too disappointed by the iPhone SE. It’s cute, has great specs for the price, and now has 5G. It, along with the iPhone 13 Mini, fills that small phone niche for people with tiny hands. But as a big phone convert, I’m cheesed that the SE only comes in one size.A cheaper smartphone with a big screen isn’t a novel idea. There are plenty of them out there — but not if you’re on iOS. Right now, if iPhone users want a bigger-than-standard display, they have to turn their wallets inside out for the iPhone 13 Pro Max. If you get the cheapest configuration possible, you’re looking at dropping $1,099.When it came time to upgrade my phone last year, I hemmed and hawed between the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and the 6.7-inch 12 Pro Max. I... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Valve shipped its $400 handheld gaming console, the Steam Deck, before all its promised features were ready — but one of the biggest is now here. You can now install Windows 10 on a Steam Deck and actually expect it to work because Valve has just released the all-important GPU, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers you’ll need to download and play games.Importantly, you’ll need to wipe a Steam Deck to do this, there’s no dual-boot yet, and Valve says you can only install Windows 10 since the Steam Deck’s current BIOS apparently doesn’t include firmware TPM support (which Microsoft infamously requires for Windows 11).No speaker audio yetOh, and your speakers and headphone jack won’t work because there’s no audio drivers yet. Bluetooth or USB-C... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy hasn’t been coy about how he plans to get the struggling fitness company back on course. A few weeks ago, McCarthy both quashed sale rumors and dangled the idea of shaking up Peloton’s subscription models. Now, Peloton says it’ll pilot a new subscription model called One Peloton Club in select states starting Friday.Under the new model, customers will pay a single $60–$100 monthly fee that covers renting the Bike and the cost of classes, according to a Wall Street Journal report. If the customer decides to cancel, Peloton will take back the bike free of charge. The pilot will be available in Texas, Florida, Minnesota, and Denver for a limited time. Customers will have to stop by a local showroom to sign up —... Continue reading…

Supernatural / Within Meta is making another big push for VR fitness. Starting in April, the company will make it possible to see your VR fitness stats from Oculus Move in more places instead of just within a VR app on the Quest and Quest 2 headset. You’ll be able to opt in to see metrics (calories burned, minutes spent working out, and your VR fitness goals) within the Oculus mobile app for iOS and Android.There’s slightly bigger news for iOS users who want all of their fitness data to go into one pot, so to speak: Oculus Move will support integration with Apple Health, so your VR workouts can be tracked in the same app as your standard, non-VR workouts. Meta says that it’s exploring integrations with additional fitness tracking platforms.Syncing your VR... Continue reading…

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images The Biden administration is preparing to extend the mask mandate on airplanes and public transportation, according to multiple media accounts. The mandate, which was set to expire on March 18th, will be extended another month as officials continue to monitor the drop in COVID-19 cases across the country.Airplanes and public transportation are some of the last places where Americans are still required to wear masks. Most states have lifted their requirements for schools and other public places, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new guidelines say that masks aren’t necessary in areas with a low risk for transmission.The mask requirement for air travel and public transit will now extend to April 18thThe mask... Continue reading…

While many Android phones look like each other from farther away, the iPhone SE (2022) looks like many iPhones before it. | Image: Apple The new iPhone SE may look eerily familiar to anyone who has seen an iPhone in the last eight years, but as Apple has shown us with its budget line, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The latest entry-level iPhone is set to come out on March 18th, with preorders going live on Friday, March 11th, and when it does it will be packing a beefy A15 Bionic processor and a slightly higher starting price of $429 with 64GB of storage. That’s the same processor found in the iPhone 13 line, making the SE nearly as capable as other current iPhones. But what if you’re not just shopping in Apple’s world? How does a “budget” iPhone compare to Android phones within a comparable range of value?First off, let’s get the most obvious determining factor... Continue reading…

As opening day for Overwatch League season 5 fast approaches, Blizzard is finally sharing more news on the progress of Overwatch 2. In a developer update, the Overwatch 2 team said closed alpha testing will begin today, with a closed beta to follow in April. The closed alpha will be open to a select group of people, including Overwatch League pros, while the closed beta will feature an expanded group of participants who can request access to the beta by signing up at PlayOverwatch.com, though you might want to wait a bit since the site is experiencing problems.Interestingly, neither the closed alpha nor beta will feature any PvE elements and will instead focus entirely on PvP. According to the Overwatch blog, “We are changing our... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has an enormous goal: the company wants to add another 100 million daily users by the end of 2023 — a growth of about 50 percent from where it is today. To do that, Twitter is going to need to add users at a far faster pace than it has in recent years, launching and iterating on new products and getting users to engage with the app more regularly.To that end, the company has continued to shake up its leadership and structure after appointing a new CEO, Parag Agrawal, in November. On Thursday, the company announced its latest changes, appointing three new consumer product leaders under the unit’s general manager, Kayvon Beykpour: Jay Sullivan, VP of consumer product, Arnaud Weber, VP of consumer product engineering, and Anita... Continue reading…

Facebook adds new tools for Groups to manage misinformation | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook has added new features for Groups aimed at helping reduce the amount of misinformation shared among group members, parent company Meta announced. One of the options allows Group admins to auto-decline posts that third-party fact-checkers have determined contain false information so that the post isn’t shown to other members within the Group.This has been a big problem for Facebook; since many Groups are private, harmful or incorrect information can be spread quickly and with little oversight. Groups have been blamed for helping boost the visibility of COVID-19 misinformation and other conspiracy theories and for providing a place for bad actors to formulate plots to kidnap Michigan’s governor and coordinate parts of the January... Continue reading…

Illustration by Michelle Rohn / The Verge At age 70, the infamous attorney hasn’t changed his mind about violent video games Continue reading…

Rejoice, peasants! Your proletarian gadgets may live another year yet!I refer, of course, to the Mac Studio that Apple recently announced, which hits shelves March 18th. The company made a number of lofty claims about the device’s power and efficiency, using various charts that it did not label in any particularly useful way. Those are just claims until we get our hands on a unit — we’ll need to verify the metrics ourselves.But Apple also showed us pictures of the device. We’ve seen it. And there are two things we know for sure, without a doubt, that it has. Computer, enhance: Imagine the possibilities. Sure, there are some ports for Thunderbolt, Ethernet, whatever. But look at those two little rectangles to the l... Continue reading…

Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill has passed in the Senate Continue reading…

Lego’s interactive Super Mario universe is getting even bigger today with the addition of a Lego Princess Peach starter kit, which adds the Mushroom Kingdom’s ruling royal to the ever-expanding array of modular sets.Like the addition of Lego Luigi last year, the Lego Princess Peach starter kit doesn’t make any major changes from the initial Lego Mario sets from 2020. The broad technology is still the same for all three characters, which uses a combination of an LCD display for animating each character’s facial expressions and a main screen on their chests and a sensor to scan barcodes and react to different colored Lego tiles. The Lego characters can also connect to a companion app over Bluetooth, as well as to each other for two-player... Continue reading…

Nicole Kelner takes climate data and turns it into calming watercolor visualizations. Nicole Kelner’s watercolors bring calm to images of climate change Continue reading…