The Verge

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is currently experimenting with two new methods to warn Windows 11 users that they have installed the operating system on unsupported hardware. In the latest test builds of Windows 11, a new watermark has appeared on the desktop wallpaper, alongside a similar warning in the landing page of the settings app.If the test build is running on unsupported hardware, the desktop watermark simply states “system requirements not met,” and appears alongside the build number that is only shown on evaluation or pre-release versions of Windows. It’s similar, but less prominent, to the semi-transparent watermark that appears in Windows if you haven’t activated the OS. Twitter user Albacore first spotted the settings warning earlier this... Continue reading…

Panasonic has announced its latest video-focused Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix GH6, after a delay. The new numbered entry in the popular GH line was teased almost a year ago alongside the launch of the GH5 Mark II; Panasonic confirmed at the time that it would shoot up to 10-bit 4:2:0 4K at 120fps, 10-bit 4:2:2 4K at 60fps, and 10-bit 5.7K at 60fps.Now the camera has been revealed in full, and while it looks similar to its predecessor and features the same 3-inch articulating screen, the internals are all new. There’s a new 25.2-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor and a new Venus Engine image processor, which together let you shoot photos at 14 frames per second with autofocus locked. It’s the highest resolution sensor ever found... Continue reading…

Amazon is tying two of its big gaming efforts, the Twitch streaming platform and its Luna cloud gaming service, a bit closer together. If you’re looking at a game’s page on Twitch and that game is available on Luna, you might now see a “Play on Luna” button that takes you to the title on the cloud gaming service (via 9to5Google).While the button could be a handy way to hop directly into an interesting game you found on Twitch, there are still a lot of limitations to Luna that make the process of just jumping in and playing a game harder than it should be. Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge We need more people playing Sonic Mania on Twitch. First of all, to see the button at all, it appears you need to be... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is discontinuing some app time limit options and encouraging users to update their settings, according to a report from TechCrunch. Originally, users were able to select a time limit as low as five minutes a day, while the new options begin at 30 minutes and go up to three hours.In screenshots sent to TechCrunch by an Instagram user who had previously set a 10-minute daily limit, a popup now appears at the top of their feed urging them to set a new daily limit value in accordance with an app update. Though the popup says the user can keep their existing limit if they want, clicking the edit button directs them to select a preset option, the lowest of which is 30 minutes. An additional popup on the activity page in the app says... Continue reading…

First Final Fantasy XIV, now Lost Ark. | Image: Smilegate The free-to-play MMO Lost Ark has had a huge debut in the West, hitting the second-most concurrent players in Steam history just 24 hours after its February 11th release. Unfortunately, that popularity has meant that players in Europe have had to wait in long queues to play, though developer Smilegate and the game’s Western publisher, Amazon Games, are working to try and fix things.The long queues were an issue for the Europe Central server soon after launch, and the developers quickly promised to implement a new Europe West server to give players another place to play. While that Europe West server is now active, “the Europe Central region is at capacity and unfortunately there is no way to increase the number of players per world in... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Crypto exchange FTX is launching a new team focused on driving cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (or NFT) adoption in the gaming world, according to a Bloomberg report.The initial offering from the new gaming unit will reportedly be a “crypto as a service” platform through which game publishers can launch tokens and provide support for in-game NFTs.“We are launching FTX Gaming because we see games as an exciting use case for crypto,” an FTX spokesperson told Bloomberg via email. “There are 2 billion+ gamers in the world who have played with and collected digital items, and can now also own them.”The new gaming-focused team from FTX is a sign of the continued push to bring blockchain-based products into the gaming space, as... Continue reading…

Anker continues to impress on value Continue reading…

Steven Thaler and/or Creativity Machine The US Copyright Office has rejected a request to let an AI copyright a work of art. Last week, a three-person board reviewed a 2019 ruling against Steven Thaler, who tried to copyright a picture on behalf of an algorithm he dubbed Creativity Machine. The board found that Thaler’s AI-created image didn’t include an element of “human authorship” — a necessary standard, it said, for protection.Creativity Machine’s work, seen above, is named “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.” It’s part of a series Thaler has described as a “simulated near-death experience” in which an algorithm reprocesses pictures to create hallucinatory images and a fictional narrative about the afterlife. Crucially, the AI is supposed to do this with extremely minimal... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix Final Fantasy XIV is finally getting its free trial back on February 22nd, over two months after Square Enix stopped offering it to reduce player load after the incredibly popular Endwalker expansion. The news comes from FFXIV’s latest Letter from the Producer Livestream from director and producer Naoki Yoshida that took place over the weekend, via NME.Final Fantasy XIV has a generous free trial option for new players, allowing them to play the entirety of the base A Realm Reborn release and the Heavensward expansion for as long as they’d like. Square Enix’s enthusiastic social media hype for the free trial has even become a meme in its own right.

A worthy Note successor that stands alone Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Twitter might be testing an escape hatch for users who don’t want to be part of a thread. On Friday, writer and researcher Jane Manchun Wong tweeted an apparent screenshot of a new “leave this conversation” feature. As described in the screenshot, the feature would untag your username from a Twitter conversation, prevent people from mentioning you in the conversation again, and stop you from receiving notifications about it. (You can still see the thread.)The feature looks different from “mute this conversation,” an existing option that turns off notifications for a thread you’re mentioned in. According to a followup tweet, leaving the conversation will make your Twitter handle appear as plain text in the tweet where you’re mentioned,... Continue reading…

Truth Social’s listing in the App Store. | Screenshot: Apple.com Truth Social, a social media network developed by former president Donald Trump’s new media company, is now live on the iOS App Store in the US. Reuters reports that the iOS app was available to download shortly before midnight, eastern time, prior to Presidents Day on February 21st.The service appears to be closely modeled on Twitter, which was previously Trump’s preferred social media platform. The former president was banned from the platform in early 2021 after Twitter said he was inciting violence in the wake of the storming of the US Capitol building. Image: Truth Social / App Store An image included on Truth Social’s App Store listing. As of this writing, Truth Social’s website is loading... Continue reading…

Madbird claimed to be a buzzy London-based design agency. | Image: BBC News BBC News has just published an investigation into Madbird, a supposedly hip design agency led by a charismatic social media influencer called Ali Ayad. But while the company had dozens of real employees across the world, the BBC reports that much of its existence was faked, and used to lure real people into working for months for no pay in the hope of eventually making money after landing big projects.It’s a remarkable story, not least because of the lengths the company’s founder went to create the illusion of a buzzy and successful London-based design agency. Fake employees reportedly bulked out the company’s Zoom calls, and senior employees listed on the company’s website didn’t appear to work at Madbird at all. Even the photos the... Continue reading…

A live ring in action. | Screenshot: YouTube YouTube is adding a new indicator to show when a channel is live streaming on the platform, its chief product officer Neal Mohan has announced on Twitter. It consists of showing a ring with the word “Live” on it around a channel’s profile picture when they’re live streaming, which you can tap to jump straight into the live broadcast. The feature should make it easier to find currently live content as you browse YouTube.If the feature sounds familiar, it might be because it’s already used on a couple of other services. TikTok uses a similar pulsing ring effect on a channel’s profile picture if they’re live streaming when you scroll past their video in your feed. Instagram also shows a colorful ring around the profile pictures of live... Continue reading…

Image: Zens Zens is expanding its excellent alternative to Apple’s failed AirPower charger, the Liberty wireless charger, with a new model: the Liberty Built-in charger — which, as the name implies, is designed to be integrated directly into your desk itself for an even more streamlined look.The original Zens Liberty charger was released back in 2020 and offered an innovative 16-coil design that allowed you to simply place a Qi-compatible phone or device anywhere on the wireless charging pad instead of having to carefully align charging coils or rely on a MagSafe-style magnetic system. Image: Zens But the original model rather boringly sat on top of your desk, while the new Liberty Built-in charger is designed to be... Continue reading…

Capcom has announced Street Fighter 6, the next major entry in the iconic fighting game franchise, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. A brief teaser trailer was following the season final of the Capcom Pro Tour, where Kawano defeated veteran Daigo Umehara.The trailer doesn’t show any actual gameplay, but it suggests that Street Fighter 6 will have a more realistic art style than previous games in the series — at least, as realistic as you could expect while maintaining Ryu’s formidable proportions. Capcom says more information on the game will be coming this summer.Capcom will be hoping that Street Fighter 6 has a better launch than its predecessor. Street Fighter V looked and played great when it came out for PS4 and... Continue reading…

Whistleblower Aid filed two new SEC complaints on behalf of Frances Haugen. | Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME Facebook is the subject of two new Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaints filed by Whistleblower Aid, the nonprofit that represents Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, first reported by The Washington Post. The complaints accuse Facebook, now Meta, of misleading investors about its efforts to tackle misinformation about climate change and COVID-19.The complaint alleges a prominent presence of climate change misinformationThe first complaint, obtained by The Washington Post, alleges the presence of readily available climate change misinformation on Facebook, making Facebook’s claims that it’s fighting climate denial fall flat. It also contains internal documents detailing employees’ own experiences with climate-related... Continue reading…

Truth Social is expected to be available on February 21st. | Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images Former President Donald Trump’s social media app, Truth Social, is expected to make its debut on Presidents’ Day, according to a report from Reuters. In a test version of the app viewed by Reuters, the outlet saw a post from the network’s chief product officer (CPO) indicating the app’s February 21st launch.“By the end of March, we’re going to be fully operational”“We’re currently set for release in the Apple App store for Monday Feb. 21,” the executive — who goes by “Billy B” on Truth Social — reportedly said in response to a beta tester’s question about the app’s public release date. Truth Social has been open to “invited guests only” as early as December, with around 500 beta testers later gaining access to the network.Former... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple is reportedly gearing up to release several new Macs with an M2 chip later this year, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter. Gurman expects the company to debut a 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, 24-inch iMac, and a redesigned MacBook Air, all outfitted with the rumored M2 chip.The M2 chip will be slightly faster than its predecessorApple hasn’t offered any hints about the potential M2 chip, but Gurman thinks its CPU will be slightly faster than the M1’s, and that it will share the same eight-core architecture. Its graphics cores, however, may jump from seven or eight to nine or 10. Come 2023, Gurman thinks Apple may release Pro and Max versions of the M2 chip — just like it did for the M1 chip — as well... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Saturday, attackers stole hundreds of NFTs from OpenSea users, causing a late-night panic among the site’s broad user base. A spreadsheet compiled by the blockchain security service PeckShield counted 254 tokens stolen over the course of the attack, including tokens from Decentraland and Bored Ape Yacht Club.The bulk of the attacks took place between 5PM and 8PM ET, targeting 32 users in total. Molly White, who runs the blog Web3 is Going Great, estimated the value of the stolen tokens at more than $1.7 million.“They all have valid signatures”The attack appears to have exploited a flexibility in the Wyvern Protocol, the open-source standard underlying most NFT smart contracts, including those made on OpenSea. One explanation... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Barry McCarthy, Peloton’s new CEO, weighs an app store and new subscription model as potential ways to kickstart the company’s stagnant sales, as stated in an interview with the New York Times’ DealBook.“It could be an open platform and part of the creator economy”McCarthy, who served as the former chief financial officer of Spotify and Netflix, says his vision for Peloton may include an app store open to third-party content. “Today, it’s a closed platform — but it could be an open platform and part of the creator economy,” McCarthy tells the NYT. “What other apps would you put on it? Could it be running an app store?”He also downplays the importance of hardware when it comes to Peloton’s fitness equipment. McCarthy suggests the most... Continue reading…

The SEC has responded to Musk’s letter. | Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has responded to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s claims that the agency has subjected him and his electric car company to “endless, unfounded investigations,” first reported by the Wall Street Journal. In a letter to Judge Alison Nathan, the SEC refutes Musk’s allegations that it’s ignoring its commitment to distribute $40 million in fine money to Tesla shareholders, which Musk and Tesla had paid as part of a 2018 settlement.The SEC is still working on a plan to distribute $40 million to Tesla shareholders“Given the complexity of the distribution, it has taken time to develop the plan of allocation,” SEC official Steve Buchholz writes in the letter. “That process is nearing completion and, barring any... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games is hiring its US-based contingent workers full-time and with benefits, Epic confirmed to The Verge. The Fortnite developer is extending the offer to quality assurance (QA) testers, as well as other “eligible” contract-based employees.The news first surfaced in an employee-facing memo obtained by The Verge. In the memo, the company writes it will “offer full-time at-will employment to eligible US-based contingent workers,” and that “many of those offers will be effective April 4th, 2022.” But it also notes that some workers won’t receive the offer, citing “there are a few exceptions in which it makes sense for both the worker and Epic to maintain contingent worker status.”“Most but not all” are quality assurance (QA) testersE... Continue reading…

Look at all the numbers! | Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge Vampire Survivors is an Early Access roguelike on Steam that has completely sunk its teeth into me.Each round starts simply: you have just one weapon to take on a few baddies. The weapon autofires, so you only have to worry about moving your character to avoid enemies and scoop up experience gems. But as you level up, get more weapons, and fight more monsters, your screen quickly becomes filled with a smorgasbord of magical weapons and fearsome enemies covering nearly every inch of the screen. Like so: Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge Despite this apparent chaos, I promise you I felt fully in control. The sensory barrage of colors and sounds can almost feel like being in an arcade or a casino — which is... Continue reading…

The MT3 Susuwatari keycap set on an aluminum Epomaker GK68XS. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge I know Saturdays are usually for sleeping in, but I hope you don’t sleep on this round of deals. Drop has a very special sale on its exclusive collection of MT3 profile keycaps for Cherry-style mechanical keyboards. You can buy two base or ortholinear sets of keycaps and get them for the price of one when you use code MT3FREE until Sunday, February 20th. That may sound like a jumble of confusing jargon for the mechanical keyboard uninitiated, but that’s ok, because we’re here to help people learn as well as save.Drop’s signature MT3 keycaps have a deeply scalloped contour for your fingers to gently rest in as you type. They fit most Cherry MX keyboard switches — the most commonly used type out there — and they’re made of high quality... Continue reading…

Photo by Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images A labyrinth of Facebook groups and right-wing media Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Microsoft shocked the tech and gaming world on January 18th when it announced it would acquire Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal, by far the biggest ever in gaming. Activision Blizzard, one of the most storied developers on the planet, had been reeling for months from multiple scandals, including California’s lawsuit accusing the company of creating a culture of “constant sexual harassment,” an explosive Wall Street Journal report suggesting CEO Bobby Kotick was both aware of that harassment and that he himself was accused of mistreatment by women, as well as labor protests from Call of Duty workers.Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, at the time the company’s Xbox chief, reportedly responded to the accusations from the WSJ article two... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Thursday, I wrote that Twitter was having a rough February after experiencing issues for the second time in a week, and on Friday, the company was dealing with a strange iMessage bug. If you were on an Apple device and texting a tweet to your buddy on an Apple device, the first and last characters in the tweet wouldn’t show up. As reported by 9to5Mac, tweet previews sent via iMessage seemed to be missing the first and last characters of the tweet, making them read oddly.Myself and another Verge writer experienced this bug as well. Here’s how Apple’s Messages app on my iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch displayed a tweet I wrote yesterday: Screenshots by Jay Peters / The Verge Can you guess what letters are missing?... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The story of BitConnect doesn’t include any rapping Forbes bloggers slash money launderers or dubiously-obtained ape JPGs, but this “pyramid-on-Ponzi” case has spawned a court ruling (PDF, embedded below, via @stephendpalley) that should serve as a warning for influencers: they could be held liable for peddling shady crypto investments.In case you’ve forgotten this particular scam, BitConnect’s promoters told its victims that if they handed over their Bitcoin for a period of time, their crypto would be used by an automated trading bot that would return huge profits. None of that was true, and the operators instead paid off older investors with funds from the new ones, bringing in $10 million per week at its peak. All told, the scam... Continue reading…

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images Skype announced this week that its US users can use it to dial 911 from their home computer, and that its software can share their location with emergency services if needed. The US is the latest addition to the list of regions with Skype emergency service calling; until now it was only available in Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the UK.Skype’s move to enable 911 calls comes with a few limitations, but could be crucial for users who still have an adequate Internet connection when they lose access to a cellphone or landline in an emergency.In a “Notice & Disclosures” warning that appears before opting in to location-sharing, Skype cautions that the service doesn’t operate the same as a traditional phone call. Users are encouraged... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Banning cheaters doesn’t always work because they can usually make another account. So games like Call of Duty are increasingly looking for ways to make it less fun for people to exploit their games — and the latest idea gives honest players a cheat of their own. The new “Damage Shield” in Call of Duty Warzone’s new Ricochet anti-cheat software makes a cheater’s bullets bounce right off you, so you can close in while they hilariously flail around and then destroy them yourself.You can see YouTuber TimTheTatman show it off right here, roughly a minute and 13 seconds into this video:In a blog post announcing the feature, Activision says it only activates “when the server detects a cheater is tampering with the game in real-time,” and... Continue reading…

Debuting only a week ago, Lost Ark has shot to the top of the Steam charts, amassing over 1 million concurrent players making it the most played game on Steam (based on number of concurrents) of all time. Developed by Smilegate RPG, Lost Ark is a Korean MMO that debuted there in 2018 before being localized in English and brought to the west via a partnership with Amazon Games. Though it’s only been around in the US and Europe for a short time, it has over 200,000 viewers on Twitch right now and has beaten games like Dota 2, CS:GO, and PUBG in all-time number of concurrent players on Steam.So what the hell is a Lost Ark anyway? I spent a week investigating this new gaming hotness, eager to see if it has what it takes to become my newest... Continue reading…

Equipment installed as part of the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project stands at the NRG Energy Inc. WA Parish generating station in Thompsons, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 before it closed in 2020. | Photo by Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images Carbon capture tech that’s often sold as a solution for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from heavy industry — the most difficult sector to decarbonize — is still far off track from accomplishing that, according to a recent analysis by financial services firm ING.The pipeline of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, which aim to remove CO2 from power plants’ and industrial facilities’ emissions, is growing. But the majority of projects expected to come online this decade don’t tackle industrial pollution. Instead, the biggest growth is expected to be in carbon capture paired with fossil fuel power plants, similar to how the majority of the 40 million metric tons of CCS capacity the world has today is used in natural gas... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Salesforce employees are protesting the company’s reported plans to launch non-fungible token (NFT) services. Thomson Reuters Foundation News reports that around 400 employees signed a letter that’s circulated within the cloud software company’s messaging channels, calling on it to abandon crypto plans it apparently discussed internally last week. The letter cites the negative environmental effects of NFTs as well as their status as “unregulated, highly speculative financial assets.”CNBC reported last week that Salesforce plans to launch an “NFT cloud” sales platform that could let users create and release token-based content, potentially even competing with the dominant OpenSea NFT marketplace. Salesforce market strategy director... Continue reading…

Google has a new version of its Roboto font, and it’s bringing serifs back: the aptly named Roboto Serif, designed in collaboration with Greg Gazdowicz of Commercial Type to create a more readable serif companion to its Roboto Sans typeface.The new font isn’t just the old Roboto letters with some serifs slapped on, though: rather, each letter was redrawn from scratch to create a font that “thinks about Roboto, but is a new and original design,” according to Google UX manager Rob Giampietro. The new font still uses the same vertical proportions of Roboto Sans, making it possible to mix the serif and sans-serif versions in a single design.It probably also helps that chunkier, retro-styled serif typefaces are coming back in style in a... Continue reading…

Google Nest camera users have been complaining about cold-weather charging issues. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Has your Google Nest Doorbell been draining its battery faster than normal or stopped working altogether, even when hooked up to your doorbell wires? That’s because it doesn’t like being left out in the cold. A new support page published this week by Google, confirms that Google’s newest smart video doorbell, the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery), and its Google Nest Cam (Battery), can’t charge at temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.The update comes on the heels of complaints by users in the Google Nest forum that their Nest Doorbells were draining their batteries faster than normal this winter, even when hooked up to doorbell wiring to maintain their charge. Cold weather will also affect the batteries in the new Google Nest Cam. But... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The medical journal Health Affairs spent years planning its special issue on health and racism, which it published at the beginning of February. The journal wanted to reach new readers by promoting the issue through targeted advertisements on Twitter and YouTube.That’s why it was so frustrating when Twitter and Google blocked its ads before they could go up, says Patti Sweet, the director of digital strategy at Health Affairs. The journal’s Google ads account was also suspended. Sweet wrote a blog post outlining that frustration last week, saying she thought the use of the word “racism” was the trigger for the rejections.But Twitter and Google say the ad rejections didn’t have to do with the language around racism — rather, they were... Continue reading…

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images Former President Donald Trump’s upcoming social network, called Truth Social, is currently listed on the App Store with an “expected” February 21st launch date (Presidents’ Day), but The New York Times reports that the release has been pushed to March.Based on screenshots on the App Store, Truth Social looks like it will be quite similar to Twitter, which was Trump’s preferred social network before he was permanently banned following the January 6th riots at the US Capitol. Truth Social will be his second attempt at making some kind of new platform; he launched a blog in May, but it was shut down in less than a month. The new app is being made by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), Trump’s media company helmed by former US... Continue reading…

Photo: Portuguese Navy A bunch of burning lithium-ion batteries could complicate the recovery of the massive, abandoned cargo ship in the Atlantic Ocean containing thousands of Porsches, Volkswagens, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis.The batteries of an unknown number of electric vehicles have caught fire aboard the ship, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas, which is the nearest port to the ship’s location, told Reuters. It’s unclear at this time whether the batteries are what sparked the fire. Experts in putting out battery fires will be needed to extinguish the blaze.“The ship is burning from one end to the other... everything is on fire about five meters above the water line,” Reuters quotes Cabeças saying.“The ship is burning from one end to the... Continue reading…

Photo by Jay Peters / The Verge Platform-exclusive content is one of the best ways to juice hardware sales, and Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, announced via Instagram that his next album, Donda 2, “will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube.”While Ye’s reasoning is separate from other artists who’ve recently spoken out about Spotify’s Joe Rogan situation and the stark difference between his $200 million deal vs. how much it pays them, the conclusion is the same. As he wrote in another post, “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.”The album is... Continue reading…

Photo by Jay Peters / The Verge There’s more to consider beyond specs and price Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / 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.In today’s episode, Nilay and Dieter, along with managing editor Alex Cranz and reviewer Monica Chin, discuss all the phones, laptops, and GPUs announced and reviewed this week — including Monica’s review of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and some previews of Mobile World Congress 2022.In the second half of the show, senior reporter Ashley Carman updates the crew with the latest podcast industry news, including Spotify reportedly paying $200 million for Joe Rogan’s podcast and buying two of the most prominent podcast marketing and ad... Continue reading…

The 8BitDo Pro 2 is one of the best controllers you can currently buy for the Nintendo Switch. | Sam Byford / The Verge The Nintendo Switch is a great console, but its Joy-Con controllers aren’t exactly made for traditionalists looking for a more familiar controller design. Thankfully, there are excellent third-party alternatives like 8BitDo’s Pro 2, which is currently on sale at Amazon for $44.99 instead of $49.99 when you clip the on-page coupon located below the price.We called the 8BitDo Pro 2 the best Switch controller you can buy when we reviewed it last year, one that takes a cue from the original Super Nintendo controller and offers some added functionality over Nintendo’s Switch Pro Controller. 8BitDo’s Pro 2 lacks some of the features found on Nintendo’s first-party offering — including HD rumble and Amiibo support— but it includes hand grips... Continue reading…

A no-frills gaming headset that works great on anything thanks to its 3.5mm cable Continue reading…

Image: Snapchat Snapchat users will have a new way of keeping tabs on friends. The company announced today it would introduce real-time location sharing, meant to be used as a temporary buddy system while friends and family are en route to a date or headed home, for example.The feature is similar to the Find My app on iOS, where users who’ve opted in can see and share precise location. The Snapchat setting can be enabled for 15 minutes or a few hours with individual users, and is only available between mutual friends on the app. In order to lower the risk of stalking or being pressured to constantly share location, users can pause sharing without sending the other party a notification, Snapchat says. The feature is off by default and there is no option... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you’re a member of GameStop’s PowerUp Pro Rewards program, you can grab an Xbox Series X bundle if you head down to your local GameStop. This exclusively in-store event begins when their doors open, and while some GameStop stores don’t open until 11 AM local time, some can open as early as 9 AM, so check the hours of your local participating GameStop to plan accordingly.The bundle being offered includes the console, a pair of wireless controllers, three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and a $50 GameStop gift card. And while GameStop didn’t reveal the price of the bundle, it should cost around $655, the total of all the accessories when paired with the console.There are a number of best practices we recommend with every restock,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Mainstream adoption means being listed in the App Store Continue reading…

A flight trying to land at the London airport. | Screenshot: Big Jet TV As Storm Eunice batters the walls of my flat in South London, I’m taking solace in the fact that I don’t have to do anything difficult like land a plane on a day like today. So naturally I, along with roughly 180,000 other people, have been gripped by a live stream from London’s Heathrow airport, where Big Jet TV is using a Panasonic HC-VX1 with 24x zoom to show the difficulties pilots are facing as they come in to land against gale-force winds.Each landing is genuinely hair raising, with aircraft routinely approaching the runway sideways as they’re buffeted by the wind measuring in excess of 60mph. But what would already be an interesting live stream is made fascinating by Big Jet TV’s host, who pivots between knowledgeable... Continue reading…

FX chairman announcing the series in 2020. | Screenshot: Disney FX’s upcoming TV series based on the Alien films will be set on Earth “70-odd years from now” which is before Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley character in the franchise’s timeline, FX chairman John Landgraf tells The Hollywood Reporter.The show is being headed up by Noah Hawley, who previously won acclaim for his Fargo TV series inspired by the Coen brothers movie of the same name. Filming for the Alien TV show is due to take place after season five of Fargo, which will be filmed “this winter.”Landgraf previously confirmed that the Alien TV show would be set on Earth when the project was announced in late 2020. But knowing the show’s time period means we can have some fun speculating about how it might tie into the rest of the... Continue reading…