The Verge

Image: Bungie I’m obsessed with a stick in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d utter before the new glaive weapon arrived in the game last week. Released as part of The Witch Queen expansion, the glaive is a powerful and versatile... stick. Or “stabby stabby murder sticks,” as Bungie described the glaives last week. You can melee with it and slay enemies at close range, shoot a projectile from afar, or block an attack.I’ve been hooked on the glaive ever since it dropped at the beginning of The Witch Queen campaign. I feel truly invincible with the glaive in Destiny 2, and it’s the first new weapon type in years that has made such an immediate impact on the way I play the game.When I first started using the glaive, it... Continue reading…

The Xbox Series S is a deceptively small console. It’s about the size of two controllers side-by-side. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge It seems like every time we mention the Xbox Series S, it gets a little cheaper. The entry-level Xbox has slowly gone from dropping $10 to $30 off its regular $299.99 price, and now to a full $50 off. Woot has the Xbox Series S for $249.99 today only, or until inventory runs out. And unlike some previous Woot deals, this one’s not limited to Amazon Prime subscribers. To put it in perspective, that is half the cost of its bigger sibling, the still-elusive Xbox Series X — but to say this is half the console would not do the little white Xbox enough justice.Microsoft’s cheaper Xbox Series S does not feature a disc drive, but it plays the same games as the Xbox Series X at a more modest QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution and up to 120fps in... Continue reading…

The weird world of Fortnite is adding another celebrity to its ranks.Tennis star and noted Overwatch fan Naomi Osaka will be joining the battle royale with two different character skins that go on sale starting March 3rd. One outfit has some clear tennis influences, while the other is called the “dark priestess” outfit, and both come with an assortment of matching accessories. Osaka will be showing off her in-game character a bit early when she streams with Twitch star Berleezy on March 1st at 7PM ET.Real-world stars have steadily been creeping their way into Fortnite, most recently with the addition of Silk Sonic duo Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, along with multiple versions of Tom Holland. When it comes to athletes, Osaka joins some... Continue reading…

MSCHF calls it the MSAT. | Image: MSCHF It’ll cost $52 for you to enter, but you could take home thousands — at least. This is the latest project from art collective MSCHF: a one-off, winner-takes-all, massively multiplayer version of the SATs named the MSAT.The SAT — for non-US readers — is a multiple-choice test taken across the United States for college admissions. Because it’s so widely taken, it’s something of an object of cultural horror. “I actually took the ACT, but as 95 percent of my friends took the SAT, I remember them being out of their minds stressed and spending almost a full 12 months preparing with private tutors and study classes,” MSCHF founder Daniel Greenberg tells The Verge.So, Greenberg and his colleagues made the MSAT. Registration is open for the... Continue reading…

The Huawei MatePad Paper. | Image: Huawei Huawei has announced its first ever e-reader, the MatePad Paper. But this is a little different from a typical Kindle. For starters, it’s compatible with Huawei’s M-Pencil stylus, so it can be used for taking notes in addition to just reading like the reMarkable 2 or Onyx Boox Note Air 2, and there’s also a built-in microphone for voice recording. It also has a larger 10.3-inch E Ink display compared to the roughly 7-inch screens found on most Kindles.These specs mean that the MatePad Paper has the potential to be a productivity device, in addition to a device aimed purely at consumption. It’s almost more like an Android tablet that happens to be equipped with an E Ink screen, right down to the fact that it’s running Huawei’s HarmonyOS... Continue reading…

Toyota will idle lines in several factories, producing about 13,000 fewer vehicles than expected. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A cyberattack has forced Toyota to shut down its factories in Japan, forcing the automaker to lose about 13,000 cars of output, Reuters reports. The attack was directed at a key supplier of plastic and electronic components to the company.There was no immediate information as to who was behind the cyberattack, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida telling reporters that his government would investigate whether Russia was involved. “It is difficult to say whether this has anything to do with Russia before making thorough checks,” he said, according to Reuters.“It is difficult to say whether this has anything to do with Russia before making thorough checks”Japan is backing the US and other Western allies that are seeking to impose... Continue reading…

Samsung’s Note brand will be replaced by the new Ultra line of devices. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Samsung is officially killing off the Galaxy Note... brand name. The news was confirmed by Samsung’s smartphone chief Roh Tae-moon, who told reporters at Mobile World Congress 2022 that “Galaxy Note will come out as Ultra” going forward, referring to Samsung’s recently released Galaxy S22 Ultra, via Dailian.The news isn’t exactly a surprise. Samsung hasn’t released a Galaxy Note device since the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra were released in 2020. And this year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, which featured the return of an integrated stylus, is a Galaxy Note device in everything but name.The convergence of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines of products has been fated for years. When Samsung first launched the Galaxy Note over a decade ago —... Continue reading…

Early access memories Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Three weeks ago, I opened up a cardboard box containing the Steam Deck, Valve’s incredible new gadget that attempts to make PC gaming portable — and sometimes wildly succeeds. Today, you no longer need to read a 4,000-word review or listen to me explain my giant cartoon heart eyes for 30 minutes on The Vergecast to understand my very big feelings: we’ve got a video that shows you the Deck’s biggest wins and its biggest failings.And it starts with an original Nintendo Game Boy.OG Game Boy alertThat’s right: not a Nintendo Switch. My family’s carefully preserved 1989-era Game Boy, previously featured here. You’ll understand why long before you finish.Plus, you’ll see and hear a few things that didn’t fit into my text review. How does... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Is TikTok still a short-form video platform? It seems less and less so, after the company announced today that it’s expanding the maximum length for uploads to 10 minutes. TikTok has been testing ever-longer uploads for years, recently introducing three-minute videos last July, but this latest update is the largest increase yet, and will now roll out globally.“We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience,” said a company spokesperson in a statement given to The Verge. “Last year, we introduced longer videos, giving our community more time to create and be entertained on TikTok. Today, we’re excited to start rolling out the ability to upload videos that are up to 10 minutes, which... Continue reading…

The 11-inch Duet 3’s taller aspect ratio should make it more natural to use in portrait mode. | Image: Lenovo Lenovo has announced a new Chrome OS tablet at Mobile World Congress 2022 that seems like a stellar value, along with a wave of other promising Chromebooks in its IdeaPad productivity lineup. The IdeaPad Duet 3 tablet seems to deliver more of what we liked about the 13-inch Duet 5 tablet, but smaller. It’s an 11-inch tablet, which should make it easier to lug around, and to hold in your hands. Lenovo says it’s the successor to the well-liked 10.1-inch Duet from 2020.Compared to the larger Duet 5, the Duet 3 bumps the screen’s resolution from 1080p to 2K, while providing a slightly taller aspect ratio at 5:3 compared to 16:9 in the Duet 5. This should make the Duet 3 feel a little more natural to hold and view in portrait mode. The most... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Spice DAO’s quest to honor a nonexistent film Continue reading…

Oppo has announced a new 150W SuperVOOC fast-charging standard today which it claims will be able to charge a 4,500mAh battery from 1 percent to 50 percent charge in just five minutes, and to 100 percent in just 15. It’s going to appear first in an unnamed smartphone from sub-brand OnePlus in the second quarter of this year. OnePlus has also offered an update on the global launch of the OnePlus 10 Pro, which came to China earlier this year.OnePlus didn’t offer any more details on the first phone to feature this technology, such as whether it will be a flagship phone or a part of the company’s midrange Nord lineup, but it said the technology will be on display at its booth during this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.Realme is... Continue reading…

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon customers can now connect with healthcare providers through Echo devices, the companies announced today. The service is provided by telemedicine company Teladoc, one of the largest telemedicine companies in the United States.Customers can connect with Teladoc by saying “Alexa, I want to talk to a doctor.” They’ll get a call back on their device from a Teladoc doctor. The service is only for non-emergency visits, like allergies or flu symptoms. At this point, visits are audio-only, but video visits are “coming soon,” according to a press release.“Whether they’re taking care of their sick child in the middle of the night or wanting to ask a doctor about allergy symptoms in between meetings during the day, we hope this... Continue reading…

Qualcomm’s new modem-RF system is the first of its kind to use AI to maximize 5G coverage and speed. | Image: Qualcomm Qualcomm is using Mobile World Congress to show off some new technology that should improve 5G connectivity and wireless audio. These new capabilities — and the chips that make them possible — are likely to land in the next generation of earbuds and high-end Android phones starting in the second half of this year.The Snapdragon X70 5G modem-RF system attempts to improve your phone’s 5G connection with the help of an AI processor. This helps it maximize 5G signal for better coverage — particularly important for mmWave signals, which are short-range compared to the broader coverage of low and mid-band frequencies. Qualcomm says this improvement is limited to situations like stadiums and city blocks, and that it doesn’t address one of... Continue reading…

The Honor Magic 4 Pro. | Image: Honor Honor’s latest flagship smartphone, the Magic 4 Pro, can be fast-charged wirelessly at 100W, allowing it to be charged to 50 percent in just 15 minutes, the former Huawei sub-brand announced today. As well as 100W wireless charging, the phone is also equipped with 100W wired charging, which Honor says can fully charge the device’s 4,600mAh battery in 30 minutes.The Magic 4 Pro has been announced alongside the lower-specced Magic 4, which tops out at 66W wired fast charging and doesn’t support 100W wireless charging. The Magic 4 Pro will start at €1099, while the Magic 4 will start at €899. Both will be available in the coming months, though Honor is yet to share exact release dates or markets.As you’d expect from a modern flagship... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook says it’s dismantled a misinformation network comprised of individuals and sites pushing fake news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.The social network’s parent company Meta said the network was “relatively small,” consisting of about 40 accounts, Pages, and Groups on Facebook and Instagram. It’s not clear how recently the group had started operating, but Meta says it had attracted fewer than 4,000 followers on Facebook and fewer than 500 followers on Instagram.“It’s a sign that while these actors are trying to run these types of influence operations, they’re getting caught sooner and they’re not reaching the audiences that they would have reached even a few years ago,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s head of security policy,... Continue reading…

6: A general view of Dauan Island on March 26, 2021 in Dauan Island, Australia. As sea levels continue to rise, tides have become more destructive and coastal erosion is occurring at a faster rate. New seawalls are being built in different projects around the islands in an effort to hold back rising sea levels. | Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images Relying solely on seawalls and other engineering fixes won’t be enough to keep communities safe from rising sea levels or other consequences of climate change, a major new United Nations report warns. Seawalls might be able to temporarily fend off rising tides and storm surges, but the report’s authors say more “transformative changes in our behaviour and infrastructure” are needed as the climate crisis worsens.Greener cities and healthy ecosystems are just as important as built infrastructure for keeping people safe, the report emphasized. And urban planners might need to give up developing some of the most vulnerable coastal areas, or risk building in places that’ll be inundated with water in the future.Greener cities and healthy... Continue reading…

Realme has announced the GT2 Pro, its latest flagship phone and the followup to last year’s impressive GT. The former Oppo sub-brand describes it as “the most premium flagship ever by Realme,” and it’s difficult to disagree with that assessment.The headline feature of the GT2 Pro is how it looks and feels. Continuing the company’s materials collaboration with legendary Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, the GT2 Pro is the first phone to be made with a “bio-based polymer,” which Realme claims reduces carbon emissions by 35.5 percent during manufacturing.The “paper green” model I’ve been using has a unique matte finish that feels coarse to the touch and doesn’t pick up fingerprints. I can’t speak to Realme’s environmental claims, but... Continue reading…

Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters patrol the streets after the fight in Kharkiv on February 27, 2022 | Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images Google has temporarily disabled live traffic features offered by Google Maps in Ukraine to protect users’ safety as the country is invaded by neighboring Russia.The features use anonymous location data collected from Android smartphones to show where there are traffic delays on roads and which businesses and stores are busy. Experts say such data could offer insight into the progress of the invasion. One open source intelligence (OSINT) expert said he saw signs of the Russian invasion early last Thursday after spotting unusual “traffic jams” at the Ukrainian border on Google Maps.“I think we were the first people to see the invasion,” OSINT expert, Professor Jerry Lewis of the Middlebury Institute, told Motherboard last week. “And we... Continue reading…

Here’s the new ThinkPad X1 Extreme. | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Lenovo has dumped a whole bunch of new ThinkPads into the world, and there’s some exciting stuff in there. We’re getting a brand-new ThinkPad X13s powered by Snapdragon chips, a fifth-generation ThinkPad X1 Extreme with a WQXGA 165Hz screen option, and new additions to the P-series and T-series as well.The news I’m personally most excited about is the screen shape. A few months ago, Lenovo told me that much of its portfolio would be moving to the 16:10 aspect ratio this year. They appear to be keeping their word. Across the board, the new models are 16:10 — taller and roomier than they were in their 16:9 eras.Some news that’s a bit more... intriguing is the all-new ThinkPad X13s, which is the first laptop to feature the Snapdragon 8cx... Continue reading…

Later this year, you can snag the 16-inch model with either AMD or Intel processors. | Lenovo Lenovo has made some hefty updates to its mid-range IdeaPad Gaming 3 lineup for 2022, which includes two Intel 12th Gen- and two AMD Ryzen 6000-series-equipped models, each with a 15.6-inch and 16-inch option. Notably, the 16-inch option for either CPU you opt for has a 16:10 aspect ratio display with the option to go up to 2560 x 1600, like the Legion 5 Pro, which is more desirable because it offers more vertical space for browsing, gaming, or anything else you want to do on a PC. The only thing they’re not particularly great for is watching movies or TV shows, which are traditionally presented in 16:9 aspect ratio.Despite each of these IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptops looking the same across CPU options, the specs differ in some ways... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook has blocked access to a number of accounts in Ukraine, some of which are associated with Russian state-backed media outlets. It’s also reviewing other governments’ requests to restrict access to these accounts in their countries.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple may be working on a device with a 20-inch foldable display, which Apple tracker Mark Gurman describes as an “iPad / MacBook hybrid” in Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter.It’s not expected until 2026Gurman says that Apple is, indeed, exploring the possibility of a folding device of the sort, backing up the claims of Ross Young, the CEO and analyst at Display Supply Chain Consultants. Last week, Young brought attention to Apple’s supposed plans to develop a device with a large, folding screen, and Gurman has added some more depth to this rumor.Gurman claims the device will feature a dual-screen display that omits a physical keyboard and trackpad — navigating and typing on the device will be entirely touchscreen-based. In terms of a... Continue reading…

Von der Leyen announced a ban on the state-backed RT and Sputnik networks in the EU. | Photo by STEPHANIE LECOCQ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Twitter that the European Union will ban Russian state-run media outlets from airing in the EU, as well as bar Russian aircraft from flying in EU airspace.

Here’s the Galaxy Book 2 Pro. Samsung has announced two updates to its premium Galaxy Book line: the Galaxy Book 2 Pro and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360. The devices will start at $1,049.99 and $1,249.99 respectively; they hit shelves on April 1st with preorders beginning on March 18th. A budget-oriented Galaxy Book 2 360, a convertible version of the regular Galaxy Book, will also ship April 1st with a starting price of $899.99.Both Pro models come in 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch sizes, while the regular Book 2 360 is only a 13.3. As you can probably guess from the names, the Galaxy Book 2 Pro is a clamshell while the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 is a 2-in-1 convertible with a touchscreen and S Pen support. Here’s the Galaxy Book 2 Pro’s keyboard, which is backlit... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge This report from The Washington Post details how a team of researchers used a combination of Google Maps and radar imagery to track the movement of Russian troops, tipping them off to an invasion of Ukraine before the general public got word of the situation.

Five affordable 30 Series handsets. | Image: TCL TCL, the Chinese manufacturer best known for its lineup of smart TVs, has announced five new affordable Android smartphones as part of its 30 Series. Unlike the TCL 30 XE 5G and TCL 30 V 5G announced earlier this year for the US market, the five new handsets are focused on Europe, and their starting prices range from €139 to €249.At the top of the new lineup is the TCL 30 5G, the only one of the new phones to support 5G. It’s got a 6.7-inch 1080p OLED display with a 13-megapixel selfie camera in a small teardrop notch, and around back it has a trio of cameras including a 50-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. It’s powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset with a 5,010mAh battery, and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As the invasion of Ukraine enters its third day, Russia has blocked access to Twitter in an apparent effort to stifle the flow of information, according to a report from the internet monitoring group NetBlocks. Beginning Saturday morning, NetBlocks saw failed or heavily throttled connections across every major Russian telecom provider, including Rostelecom, MTS, Beeline, and MegaFon. Russians are still able to access Twitter through VPN services, but direct connections are restricted.198 Ukrainians have been killed in the fightingJournalists on the ground in Russia have confirmed the block. A BBC reporter described access as “severely restricted,” saying “this message got through, but took a while.”The motivation behind the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is putting a temporary hold on advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure the visibility of public safety information.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook is blocking state-run Russian media outlets from advertising and monetizing content on the platform amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine (via Reuters).

When paired with the Hue Hub and the Hue TV sync box, the Philips Hue Gradient Lightstrip is a colorful TV bias light. | Image: Signify Philips Hue smart lighting has long been one of the preferred smart home accessories for passionate aficionados and newbies alike. That’s because the lights are relatively easy to start off your home automation with, expansive enough to build off of, and they just look cool.If you’re already invested in the Hue ecosystem, you can pick up the fancier Philips Hue Gradient Lightstrip for $212.49 at Amazon right now when you clip the on-page coupon for 15 percent off. The discount brings the colorful, 65-inch LED strip down to an all-time low price, saving you nearly $38. Unlike Philip’s standard lightstrips, these can display a multitude of colors simultaneously, making them a great fit for mounting behind your TV as a bias light.Keep... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Valve CEO Gabe Newell is open to Microsoft launching its PC Game Pass service on Steam. In an interview with PC Gamer, Newell says Valve has no plans for an Xbox Game Pass competitor, but that it would be happy to work with Microsoft to bring PC Game Pass to Steam.“I don’t think it’s something that we think we need to do ourselves, building a subscription service at this time,” Newell said. “But for their customers it’s clearly a popular option, and we’d be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam.”Microsoft and Valve have held discussions about bringing PC Game Pass to Steam, but it’s clearly early days and may never happen. “We’ve talked to people there quite a bit about that topic,” says Newell. “If your customers... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Thursday, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian banks, energy and infrastructure companies, and a number of individual Russian elites.The US Department of the Treasury provided the full list in a press release, which divided sanctioned entities into two categories: “major Russian financial institutions” and “elites and families close to Putin.”Among the sanctioned individuals is Vladimir Kiriyenko, CEO of VK Group, the parent company of Russia’s biggest social network VKontakte. While he isn’t being sanctioned specifically for his work with the VK group, the result still forbids one of the country’s most powerful tech executives from doing business with any US entity.T... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Mobile World Congress organizers will ban some Russian companies from the world’s largest mobile technology show which will run from February 28th to March 3rd, Reuters reports.The Russian Pavilion will not exhibit the country’s mobile products this year at the Barcelona-based event because of international sanctions imposed upon Russia after it invaded Ukraine, confirmed the GSMA, the industry trade body that organizes the event.Although the GSMA strongly condemned the invasion in a statement on its website, its chief executive John Hoffman told Reuters there are no plans to cancel or reschedule the conference. However, he added “it’s an evolving situation” that they “will continue to monitor.”While Hoffman also said a “handful, a... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Valve’s $400-and-up portable gaming PC the Steam Deck went on sale this morning... but you didn’t get an email from Valve, I’m guessing? I didn’t either — and as Valve’s just now explaining, that’s because they’re going out in small batches rather than all at once; the next batch won’t be arriving until Monday, March 7th; and then they’ll go out in weekly batches each Monday, presumably through the month of June.Did you have a reservation for Q1 2022? You should see your email by the end of March. Q2 2022? They’ll start in April, when I’ll hopefully get mine since I ordered on the very first day (but who knows, the reservation website had a lot of trouble that morning).And if your reservation says “After Q2 2022,” Valve says stay... Continue reading…

Installing an Ericsson Street Radio small cell | Image: AT&T AT&T today announced it’s field testing new 5G small cell radios that can hide on top of street lamp posts. The new radios were born out of a partnership between AT&T, mobile technology manufacturer Ericsson, and urban solutions provider Ubicquia.“It is virtually unseen from street level,” wrote Gordon Mansfield, AT&T’s VP of mobility access & architecture, in a company blog post. Mansfield touted that these new low- / mid-band 5G radios can be deployed within 15 minutes on street lamps. “No long wires and big, bulky boxes – a true aesthetic improvement,” Mansfield wrote.Anything that helps 5G blend in is a good thing since there’s also “ground furniture” and being a target of vandalism to worry about. These new small cell radios are... Continue reading…

Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images In an open letter published Friday afternoon, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, called on Apple to stop supplying products and services to Russian users as a response to the country’s ongoing invasion.“I appeal to you,” Fedorov wrote in the letter, published through his Twitter account, “to stop supplying Apple services and products to the Russian Federation, including blocking access to App Store!”

Nvidia is confirming to The Verge, Bloomberg, Reuters, and others that it’s investigating an “incident” — hours after The Telegraph reported that the graphics chipmaking giant had experienced a devastating cyberattack that “completely compromised” the company’s internal systems over the past two days.“We are investigating an incident. Our business and commercial activities continue uninterrupted. We are still working to evaluate the nature and scope of the event and don’t have any additional information to share at this time,” reads a statement via Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez.Even The Telegraph’s sources aren’t suggesting that Nvidia has necessarily had any data stolen or deleted, and there’s no current suggestion that the... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.This week is a pretty gadget-heavy episode about some heavy gadgets. Senior reports editor Sean Hollister starts the show with his review of the Steam Deck, the latest portable gaming system. Sean explains how it was the hardest review he's done and why he decided to give it a 6.5 score, despite the amount of fun he had using it.Verge reviewer Allison Johnson continues the gadget talk with her review of Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, including improvements on the camera, using the software, and whether this is the end of the “slab... Continue reading…

Illustration by Micha Huigen The Verge was recognized yesterday by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) with an ASME Award for Photography and Illustration for “Best Digital Illustration” for its “Verge 10” illustration by Micha Huigen. Our “Verge 10” series celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Verge and included more than 20 stories looking back at our last 10 years and ahead to the future. One of those stories, “What The Verge Covered in Our First 120,000 Stories” by Jacob Kastrenakes, received an additional nomination for “​​Best Illustrated Story” for the art by Kristen Radtke.“This is our first ASME award, and we couldn’t be happier it was for the incredible illustration that accompanied ‘Verge 10,’” says Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel. “The... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is giving all users access to the content warning feature it tested last year. The feature lets you obscure individual photos and videos behind warnings for nudity, violence, and “sensitive” content, rather than adding a blanket warning to all multimedia tweets. It’s available on Twitter’s Android and iOS apps as well as its web client.Users can put a content warning on posts by adding a photo or video, tapping to edit it, and then hitting a flag icon that will bring up the options listed above. You can tag multiple warnings for an individual piece of media, and you can add a warning to one image or video in a tweet but not another — although in the latter case, Twitter appears to place a single warning over both of them.

An accessibility feature that was introduced with Android 12 allows you to control your screen using facial gestures: raise eyebrows, smile, open mouth, look up, look left, look right. This feature, called “Camera switches,” uses the phone’s camera to watch for these gestures and allows them to signal simple screen operations. These operations include: go to the next actionable screen object, select an object, go to the previous object, touch and hold, scroll forward, and scroll backward; you can also pause the camera switch itself.It’s not a long list: it only includes six facial gestures and not all that many actions. However, it’s a beginning, and it could be useful if you can’t use your hands to work your phone’s screen.If you do... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is rolling out its latest test build of Windows 11 to its Insiders, and the update is promising to make Bluetooth devices simpler and easier to access. Windows 11 Build 22563 will surface a list of Bluetooth devices right into the Quick Settings menu of the taskbar, complete with visible battery levels for supported devices. This new Bluetooth list allows users to connect to new devices and disconnect to current devices without having to open the full Bluetooth settings menu. It takes a small cue from the way Windows 11’s Quick Settings already handles Wi-Fi networks or selecting an audio source.This is the latest update to come to Windows 11 after just recently bringing new touch gestures and Start menu folders. Bluetooth has... Continue reading…

Most of you playing Elden Ring are probably knee-deep in the Lands Between, getting your shit rocked by that asshole on the horse, but my mind hasn’t left the game’s first menus. Though the many classes present a paralyzing wealth of options, it’s not the question of what class to play that has me stuck. It’s the character creator. I’m stymied by the bizarrely incongruous system that allows for an unprecedented level of control of every minute detail of facial feature but only has one kinky hair option.I didn’t expect much from Elden Ring’s character creator. FromSoftware games have a bit of a reputation for being kinda bad at character creation, especially regarding skin. In Bloodborne, skin colors and textures were distinctly... Continue reading…

I just put up a 4,000-word review of Valve’s Steam Deck portable gaming PC, which just went on sale to the first batch of early adopters today. But the company had a surprise announcement too — Aperture Desk Job, a new bite-size experience set in the Portal universe that’ll be a free download March 1st. It’s designed to introduce new Steam Deck buyers to the handheld’s incredible array of controls, and it involves... toilets and chairs.Assuming you’re not already halfway through the video teaser atop this post, here’s how Valve tries to thread the needle between our rampant desire for Valve to remember how to count to three and the potential disappointment that Valve has not yet managed that feat:

Starbucks workers continue to organize amidst attempted stall | Image: Starbucks Workers United There’s been an interesting development in the ongoing unionization efforts of Starbucks baristas in upstate New York to join Starbucks Workers United. The legal team hired by the coffee chain to upset the organization of its workers experienced something of a hiccup thanks to an unfortunate software malfunction on February 11th according to this report on Huffpost by Dave Jamieson.The firm Littler Mendelson, who has been representing Starbucks’ anti-union efforts, failed to submit a dispute with the National Labor Relations Board on time due to an untimely crash in the firm’s Microsoft Outlook.The dispute, called a statement of position, was aimed at stalling the organizational voting of several upstate New York stores. The dispute... Continue reading…

The announcement of new sanctions against Russia provoked a strong reaction from the head of Russia’s space program, Dmitry Rogozin, yesterday, who seemed to threaten that the restrictions would destroy Russia’s partnership with NASA and lead to the demise of the International Space Station. Though Rogozin is known for his bluster and provocative statements, his comments did spark concern over what NASA would do if the Russians abruptly pulled out of the ISS program — a move that could be a substantial problem.President Joe Biden announced the new sanctions on Thursday in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming the sanctions would “degrade [Russia’s] aerospace industry, including their space program.” A list of the sanctions r... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta has reportedly broken up the around 300-person team tasked with working on an OS for AR and VR headsets, moving some of the engineers to teams working on AR glasses and Oculus (er, Quest) headsets, according to a report by The Information. This comes after recent reports — which Meta denied at the time — that the company had halted work on the team’s project creating a unified custom operating system for its VR and AR headsets.In January, reports surfaced that Meta canceled the “XROS” project the team was working on (XR is a term used to refer to both augmented and virtual reality). After the reports came out, Reality Labs Vice President Gabriel Aul tweeted that the company was “growing this team, not shrinking it,” and included a... Continue reading…