by Andrew Webster on (#66NQG)
Death Stranding 2. | Image: Kojima Productions Star Wars, Death Stranding, Street Fighter, Super Mario, and much more. Continue reading…
The Verge
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| Updated | 2026-09-24 16:35 |
by Jay Peters on (#66NQH)
Image: FromSoftware FromSoftware only just released Elden Ring in February of this year, in a trailer at The Game Awards, the famed developer’s revealed that its next big project is Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. It’s set to be released in 2023.It’s difficult to know exactly what to expect based on the Armored Core VI’s esoteric trailer, which featured a lot of lingering shots of giant mechs. But the trailer definitely creates an awesome mood that I hope captures what it’s like to play the game itself. Armored Core VI will be available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam when it’s released next year.
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by Ash Parrish on (#66NQJ)
Image: Square Enix To cap-off the barrage of announcements and trailers unleashed during The Game Awards was a new trailer and release date for the latest single-player installment of the Final Fantasy series. Game director Naoki Yoshida made his first ever appearance at The Game Awards to present Final Fantasy XVI’s newest trailer and shared the game’s release date — June 22nd.The Revenge trailer was very short but very bloody, revisiting one of the first moments of Final Fantasy XVI fans got to see. Because of all the blood, the trailer’s been slapped with a content warning meaning you’ll have to go to YouTube to watch.Because of the covid-19 pandemic, updates on the game have been sparse since its first announcement in 2020. But it seems like the... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66NQK)
Elba plays a new character named Solomon Reed. | Image: CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a major expansion next year, and it will include a major addition to the cast: Idris Elba. His appearance was confirmed as part of a new Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty trailer released during The Game Awards 2022 on Thursday.Elba will play a character named Solomon Reed, as noted in a tweet from developer CD Projekt Red (CDPR). That tweet also included a few details about the new content in Phantom Liberty: it will take place in an “all new district” of the game’s Night City setting, and it will be a “spy-thriller expansion.” And don’t worry, the new trailer also featured the voice of Keanu Reeves, who will be back to play Johnny Silverhand.
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by Ash Parrish on (#66NQM)
Image: Nintendo The Super Mario Bros. Movie was once a mystery, with no more information except the handful of Hollywood hottest stars — and Chris Pratt — who landed a role. But after a new trailer reveal just last week, we’re getting yet another extended look at the movie, this time courtesy of The Game Awards. Keegan-Michael Key came out to introduce the brief clip with an extended bit about Toad’s white and red cap. It was a bit awkward, underscored by the sudden cut to Game Awards audience members who looked bewildered and confused. Funny, but for what feels like the wrong reasons.
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by Andrew Webster on (#66NDJ)
Norman Reedus in Death Stranding 2. | Image: Kojima Productions Death Stranding is back. Hideo Kojima revealed his next game at the Game Awards this evening — and yes, it still has creepy babies. Death Stranding 2 will once again star Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux and it looks just as strange as its predecessor, at least based on the debut trailer. It also appears that DS2 is a working title right now. The game doesn’t have a release date but it’s coming to the PS5.The enigmatic director had been teasing the reveal in the lead up to this evening’s event, going so far as to reveal key cast members like Elle Fanning and Shioli Kutsuna. This will be Kojima Productions’ second major release, following the original Death Stranding, which debuted on the PS4 before expanding to other platforms. The sequel... Continue reading…
by Jay Peters on (#66NDK)
A screenshot from Earthblade. | Image: Extremely OK Games Extremely OK Games, the makers of the beloved indie platformer Celeste, shared a first trailer for the studio’s next game, Earthblade, at The Game Awards 2022 on Thursday.In Earthblade, you play as a character named Nevoa as you explore a “free-roaming, dynamically-loading map,” according to an email sent shortly after the trailer debuted. The game has 2D pixel graphics to Celeste, but Earthblade looks to take place in a more fantasy-inspired world. Image: Extremely OK Games The main character from Earthblade approaches a mysterious mirror. The trailer doesn’t reveal too much about the game itself, but the email has a few details about what you can expect. “We think that this ‘seamlessness’ will likely be E... Continue reading…
by Jay Peters on (#66NDM)
Cal Kestis and BD-1. | Image: Respawn Entertainment Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order, will be released on March 17th, 2023, as revealed at The Game Awards on Thursday. The next game starring Cal Kestis and the adorable droid BD-1 got its first trailer in May, and on Thursday, we got our first look at what it will be like to actually play the game thanks to a new trailer at Geoff Keighley’s big awards show.This new game takes place five years after the events of Jedi: Fallen Order. It looks to be a continuation of everything that made the first game better than expected, and that’s a good thing, in my mind. (You’ll be able to wield two lightsabers!) Jedi: Survivor will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.Jedi: Survivor is once again... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#66NDN)
Capcom Nestled in the pre-show, ahead of the Game Awards’ regular broadcast, Capcom announced the release date for Street Fighter 6 — coming June 2nd. While the date was formally announced during Geoff Keighley’s Winter E3 extravaganza, the date for SF6 leaked early, appearing on Amazon for pre-order with the official date.In addition to sharing when players can expect to get their hands on what is possibly the most colorful entry in the seminal fighting game series, Capcom also debuted new characters. In addition to the old boxer Dee Jay, Street Fighter 6 will welcome the tres chic Manon, the stately looking JP, and the fierce muscle woman Marisa.Described as a fighting game “everyone can play” by game director Takayuki Nakayama, The Verge... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#66NDP)
The first title from Ghost Story Games, a new studio led by BioShock creative lead Ken Levine, has finally been revealed. It’s called Judas, and based on the first trailer, it looks an awful lot like, well, BioShock. There’s no release date yet, but Judas is listed as coming to the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and is described as a “single player, narrative first person shooter.”Here’s the basic story description:
by Jay Peters on (#66NBY)
A screenshot from the first trailer for Hades II. | Image: Supergiant Games Supergiant Games, the makers of Hades and Bastion, revealed their next game at The Game Awards 2022: a direct sequel to Hades called Hades II. This one seems to focus around witches and magic, and the game’s Steam page mentions that it’s “rooted in the Underworld of Greek myth.” You play as a character named Melinoë, the Underworld Princess, which is pretty metal. (She is the sister of Zagreus, the protagonist of the first game, according to Supergiant’s website.)But a lot of what you might know from Hades looks to be back: the same perspective, similar action-focused gameplay, voiced conversations with a lot of different characters, and Darren Korb’s excellent music were all featured in the trailer. Image: Supergiant... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#66NBZ)
Not pictured: someone playing Fortnite. | Owen Grove / The Verge If you’re waiting for Fortnite in VR, don’t hold your breath: Epic Games “has no plans” to build it, CEO Tim Sweeney tells The Verge in our new interview. The reason? Sweeney just doesn’t think it’d work well. “The thing that we do in Fortnite every day as gamers is run through an environment rapidly, and it’s the kind of experience that involves intense motion and doesn’t work as well in VR,” he says.Sweeney also says Epic would be happy to collaborate with a company like Meta on other metaverse projects, though it seems likely that Mark Zuckerberg would disagree about a Fortnite-like game not being suitable for virtual reality. Last year, Meta acquired the developers of Population: One, a game for Oculus that involves a lot of running,... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66NC0)
Image: The Game Awards Among Us’ Hide ‘n Seek mode finally has a release date, and it’s coming really soon. You’ll be able to play the new mode beginning December 9th, developer Innersloth announced at The Game Awards 2022. Innersloth first announced the mode in 2021, and it seems like a delightful new reason to jump back into Among Us if you haven’t played in awhile.The new update won’t just have Hide ‘n Seek; Innersloth also says it will add new “surprises to survive from,” new cosmetics, the ability to pet your pets, and... screaming? The new additions mean I’ll probably be jumping back in with my friends and family over the holidays.
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by Sean Hollister on (#66NC1)
Acknowledge, empathize, redirect. | Image via Daniel Kwan (Twitter) Famous people will often stand by — or worse, dogwhistle — as armies of fans wage war on their behalf. Whether you’re a pop star or a tech bro, it’s part of the playbook. But when Everything Everywhere All At Once co-director Daniel Kwan got wind his fans were raging against critics who snubbed the film in Best Movie lists, he decided he wasn’t going to stand for that.His response is practically pitch-perfect:
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by Jay Peters on (#66MGM)
Former Theranos President Sunny Balwani was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison. | Image: Getty Plus lots of new content for old games. Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66KNW)
Geoff Keighley is once again hosting The Game Awards. | Photo by JC Olivera / Getty Images It’s almost time for gaming’s annual end-of-year awards and announcements extravaganza. The 2022 edition of The Game Awards takes place on Thursday, December 8th, and the opening act kicks off at 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT. While the show itself takes place live at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, you can stream the event for free on platforms like YouTube and Twitch. For a more detailed list of where to stream the show, check The Game Awards website.We don’t know exactly how long The Game Awards will be, but host Geoff Keighley said in a Twitch stream that the main show will last about two and a half hours. That’s a good thing, if you ask me; the 2021 Game Awards, including pre-show, was a nearly four-hour event.Depending on where you... Continue reading…
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by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on (#66KXQ)
A new feature from Alarm.com knows when to arm and disarm your security system so you don’t have to. | Image: Alarm.com Millions of smart home security systems are getting a bit smarter this week. A new feature called Smart Arming brings a little flexibility to Alarm.com systems’ arm and disarm settings, making you less likely to trip the alarm by mistake and more likely to actually use it.Smart Arming is available now on systems powered by Alarm.com, a company that provides both hardware and software to hundreds of local and national home security companies. Instead of a rigid on / off schedule, Smart Arming lets you schedule arm and disarm windows, then uses information from security sensors in your home that you select to determine when to set the alarm or disarm it within those windows. It’s like the difference between a programmable thermostat that... Continue reading…
by Alex Heath on (#66NC2)
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. | Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Sweeney says he’s willing to go to the Supreme Court to fight Apple’s control of the App Store. But first, he’s hoping Congress will act before it’s too late. Continue reading…
by Mitchell Clark on (#66N5T)
Getting close and personal is getting easier. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google’s updating its camera app to give Pixel 7 Pro users more control over its macro mode by adding a toggle that lets them manually turn it off or on instead of having to rely on the auto mode that my colleague Allison Johnson described as “kinda unpredictable.” While the phone can still try to detect if you’re close enough to a subject like it has since launch, it’s nice for there to be an actual menu for those who want finer-grain control.According to Allison’s testing, the new options live in the settings cog accessible in the top-left corner of the camera’s viewfinder. Google’s added a “macro focus” option that lets you choose between off, auto mode, and on. According to 9to5Google, you were previously only able to temporarily... Continue reading…
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by Allison Johnson on (#66N5W)
Motorola skipped a 2022 edition of the G Play and is pole-vaulting straight into 2023. It’s an easy bet that most new phones announced in 2023 will come with 5G, but there’s going to be at least one LTE-only device on shelves next year: the $169 Motorola Moto G Play (2023). It’s the latest edition of Motorola’s budget-tier phone since the 2021 G Play, and it comes with an updated screen and camera array — but nary a 5G band on its spec sheet.The 2023 Moto G Play sticks with a 6.5-inch LCD screen but increases the refresh rate to 90Hz. It’s still a low-res 720p panel, which is likely to have more of an impact on viewing experience than a slight boost in refresh rate. The main camera gets a meaningful boost to 16 megapixels (up from 13 megapixels) with a brighter f/1.22 lens (compared to f/2.0).It comes with a MediaTek... Continue reading…
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by Alice Newcome-Beill on (#66N3B)
That’s ToeJam on the right, alongside Earl, in case you didn’t know. Nothing can possibly prepare us for the all-encompassing funk of a movie starring ToeJam and Earl. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a ToeJam & Earl movie is currently in development at Amazon Studios in partnership with Unanimous Media and Story Kitchen.ToeJam & Earl is just the latest video game franchise getting a movie tie-in. In addition to bigger names like Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog getting contemporary adaptations, we’re also slated to see an anime version of Tomb Raider coming to Netflix as well as a live-action version of It Takes Two, which are also being handled by Story Kitchen. ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is the latest mainline appearance of the extraterrestrial duo. ToeJam &... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#66N3C)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The FTC has filed a legal challenge to try and block Microsoft’s plan to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, according to a press release from the regulator. The lawsuit was filed today after weeks of back and forth between Microsoft, Sony, and regulators over competition concerns and the future of Call of Duty. The FTC argues that the acquisition would “enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.”The vote from the FTC commissioners today means Microsoft now faces significant hurdles to getting its Activision Blizzard deal complete. Regulators in the UK and EU are also scrutinizing the deal closely, despite Microsoft’s repeated... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#66N3D)
Stephen King has granted Mike Flanagan the rights to create a TV show based on his The Dark Tower book series. | Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images Rights to adapt Stephen King’s The Dark Tower books into a TV series have been acquired by director Mike Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy, according to an exclusive interview with Deadline. Within the interview (which explored the horror duo’s production company Intrepid Pictures moving from Netflix to Amazon), Flannagan confirmed that King himself granted them the rights after receiving a “very, very detailed outline” of Flanagan’s plans for the project.The horror duo is best known for creating Shows for Netflix, such as Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House, and have previously worked together to adapt other works from Stephen King, including Doctor Sleep (2019) and Gerald’s Game (2017). The pair acquired the rights for The... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66N3E)
This is what Google’s foldable Pixel smartphone might look like. | Image: OnLeaks and HowToiSolve New leaks appear to reveal what to expect from Google’s long-rumored foldable phone. Leaker OnLeaks has teamed up with the website HowToiSolve to share renders, a 360-degree video, and measurements of the foldable Pixel device.According to OnLeaks and HowToiSolve, the phone will apparently have a 5.79-inch cover screen and a larger 7.69-inch inner screen, meaning it will function more like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, which has a cover screen, than Microsoft’s Surface Duo phones, which do not. Unfolded, the Google’s device will be “roughly” 158.7 x 139.7 x 5.7mm. For comparison, the Z Fold 4 is 155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3mm, so the Pixel foldable could be a bit bigger than Samsung’s.As for the camera, Google’s foldable will apparently keep the... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#66N3F)
Kristen Radtke / The Verge Big tech companies including Microsoft, LexisNexis, and Palantir have helped fuel the militarization of local police forces and the Department of Homeland Security’s demand for high-tech surveillance, according to a new report from The Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE), LittleSis, MediaJustice, and the Surveillance, Tech, and Immigration Policing Project. Researchers working on the project dug into how these companies benefit from a hidden and misunderstood source of funding, which requires states to dump money into law enforcement activities if they want to receive money for things like emergency medical and response services.The report is specifically concerned with FEMA’s Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants, which... Continue reading…
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by Mia Sato on (#66N3G)
Image: Amazon Amazon is the latest tech company to take a page out of TikTok’s playbook. The e-commerce giant announced it was launching a new feed in the Amazon app with photos and videos of items users can purchase, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.The feed, which Amazon is calling Inspire, is the company’s attempt at getting app users to make purchases as they’re seeing products in online content — something other tech companies are also attempting to do. TikTok has long been working on its own in-app shopping features, including livestream shopping, and YouTube added affiliate marketing and shopping to its TikTok copy, Shorts.Inspire will appear as a lightbulb icon in the Amazon app and will roll out to select US shoppers early this... Continue reading…
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by Barbara Krasnoff on (#66MR7)
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Here at The Verge, we are just as eager to take advantage of sales and other good deals as anyone else (more so, perhaps, since we do have a slight interest in cool new stuff). What with inflation and all, the name of the game this year has been how to pick up devices that you need (or just want) for less than it usually costs, whether it’s a special holiday sale like Black Friday or is part of a lightning deal or is just available for less than usual.At this time of the year, there are more of these special prices available than usual. So here, just in case you’re curious, are some of the deals that Verge staffers have picked up for themselves or as holiday gifts throughout the year. They include audio devices, a great camera, and a... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66MNT)
You’ve activated my... Reddit trading card! | Card images: Reddit It’s app recap season once again, and Reddit is getting in on the moment with its second annual personalized recap. This year, your recap will include an autogenerated trading card that represents you and your Reddit experience in 2022.Like other recaps, Reddit’s features a lot of personalized data to help you reflect on your year on the platform. You might see things like your most upvoted comment, how much you’ve scrolled as measured in bananas (well, what Reddit calls “Standard Banana Units”), and whether you’re on team cat or team dog.“Standard Banana Units”But at the end of your recap, you’ll also be given a “Superpower Reddit Ability” and assigned a rare, epic, or legendary rating based on how much Reddit karma you’ve earned,... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#66MNV)
Starling Bank’s virtual debit cards. | Image: Starling Bank UK-based Starling Bank is introducing new virtual debit cards this week that will help customers manage spending, saving, and even security free of charge. These new virtual cards will be linked to a main Starling bank account and use your balance, but they’ll have a unique card number, CVV, and expiry date. That makes them perfect for bundling together payments and tracking how much you’re spending, or using separate cards for security purposes.Not a day seems to go by without a security breach somewhere, and the worst ones can expose your card numbers and details. While Starling Bank has introduced its virtual cards primarily for tracking spending, you could also use them to assign a virtual card to different utility providers or even... Continue reading…
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#66MKY)
It’s one crypto newsroom, Michael. What could it cost? | Micha Huigen / The Verge What happens when a story has impact? Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#66MKZ)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge We finally have a final official deadline for when new phones sold in the European Union — including future iPhones — will have to use USB-C for wired charging: December 28th, 2024.That’s because the EU’s new USB-C legislation has just been published in the bloc’s Official Journal, making it formally binding. Now we know the rules will officially enter into force in 20 days’ time, and individual EU member states will then have a maximum of 24 months to apply them as national law.The date is more or less in line with previous forecasts from politicians, but until now, the exact date has remained vague given the number of stages each piece of EU legislation has to go through. When lawmakers reached an initial agreement on the... Continue reading…
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by Chris Welch on (#66MM0)
The new Symfonisk floor lamp speaker will be available in January. | Image: Ikea Sonos and Ikea today announced the latest addition to their collaborative Symfonisk product lineup: it’s a new floor-standing lamp speaker. The $260 Symfonisk floor lamp speaker will be available from Ikea’s stores and website beginning in January.In terms of design, just picture the second-gen Symfonisk lamp speaker with long legs jutting out of the bottom and extending down to a circular base. There’s really not much to it. If you found the last lamp’s style to be tasteful, you’ll like this one. If you thought it was ugly as sin, the floor lamp version probably won’t change your mind. Right now, the standard Symfonisk lamp is selling for $179.99, so the floor lamp option comes at a premium.“Many people want to have several light... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#66MGN)
Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Twitter Blue may relaunch at two different price points depending on where you subscribe from, according to a new report from The Information. The premium subscription could cost $11 when purchased via Twitter’s iOS app, or a reduced $7 per month if users subscribe via Twitter’s website. The price disparity is likely an attempt to circumvent the 30 percent commission Apple charges on many in-app purchases.The premium subscription originally launched at $7.99 a month in early November, when it was only available via iOS (with no option to subscribe via other platforms like Android or the web). But its rollout was quickly paused after numerous users took advantage of one of its trademark features — access to Twitter’s coveted blue... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#66M6H)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Telegram released a new version of its encrypted messaging app today that allows for account signups using purchasable blockchain-based identities instead of real phone numbers. In addition, version 9.2 includes the ability to auto-delete messages on a timer for new chats, and there’s an upgrade to the forum-like Topics feature.Users had been required to use their mobile phone number to sign up for Telegram, similar to other end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp. While Telegram maintains that your phone number is never visible to unknown people, it’s still an identifier that inherently stops you short of full anonymity.To get an anonymous number, you need to go purchase one through the Fragment blockchain, which... Continue reading…
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by Umar Shakir on (#66K9A)
President Joe Biden at TSMC’s Arizona facility. | Photo: Andy Blye TSMC prepares to manufacture processors in its new Arizona facility, and Call of Duty returns to Nintendo consoles. Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#66M6J)
Photo: Getty Images Ramesh Balwani has been sentenced to 155 months, or just under 13 years, in prison, according to The New York Times. Like his former business partner, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, he’s due another three years of supervised release after he gets out. Balwani will have to surrender to custody on March 15th.In July, Balwani, also known as Sunny, was convicted on 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his actions while he was president and COO of Theranos. Unlike Holmes, who was found guilty of only defrauding investors, Balwani was found guilty of deceiving both investors and patients.Part of Balwani’s role at Theranos was overseeing the labs at the blood testing company. Theranos once claimed... Continue reading…
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by Makena Kelly on (#66M45)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Indiana’s attorney general filed a pair of lawsuits against TikTok on Wednesday, accusing the company of misleading users about its ties to the Chinese government and showing mature content to minors, as first reported by The New York Times.In his first complaint, Attorney General Todd Rokita claimed that TikTok deceived parents on the amount of sexual and drug-related content accessible to young users of the app. In a second complaint, Rokita’s office argued that Chinese-owned TikTok wrongfully misled users about the Chinese government’s authority to view sensitive user data obtained through the app.“The TikTok app is a malicious and menacing threat unleashed on unsuspecting Indiana consumers by a Chinese company that knows full well... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#66M46)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Dish has launched the beta for its Boost Infinite postpaid cell plan, which promises “Unlimited data, talk, and text” for $25 a month. When Boost Infinite was announced in May, Boost Mobile CEO Stephen Stokols pitched the plan as a way to embrace “web 3.0 trends” that would pay its users back and let them convert unused data into “a real digital currency.” Its website currently doesn’t mention any of that, instead mainly focusing on the appealing price.For the $25 a month, a price point that isn’t dependent on having multiple lines, you’ll get 30GB a month of unthrottled data, as well as mobile hotspotting, calling and texting to 80 and 200 countries, respectively, and 1GB of data while traveling in Canada or Mexico. To sign up, you... Continue reading…
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by Ash Parrish on (#66M47)
Image: From Software It’s a dangerous endeavor to boot up Elden Ring right now. There’s a short lull in the holiday release season, so it would be very, very easy for me to be lured back to the Lands Between, where I spent over 100 hours mastering katanas and the art of glintstone pebbling things to death from a great distance. In fact, Elden Ring wasted no time reminding me why it will likely be named Game of the Year tomorrow at the Game Awards because the second I loaded in after months of neglect, I almost got myself killed in the dumbest, funniest way. As I was reacclimating myself to the controls, I accidentally aggro’d one of those Ohioan T-rex dogs off-screen and had to quickly remember which button was dodge, then remember the nuances of dodging p... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66M07)
A screenshot from Fortnite. | Image: Epic Games Epic Games is introducing a new type of account for kids playing its online multiplayer games. The new accounts, called Cabined Accounts, have some restrictions until a parent or guardian gives their approval for certain features. They’ll start rolling out in Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys, Epic said in a blog post on Wednesday.If someone tries to make an account and says they are under 13 years old (or below the age of digital consent for their country), that account will be a Cabined Account. Kids using a Cabined Account will be able to play Fortnite, Rocket League, or Fall Guys, but some key features will be disabled, including text and voice chat, buying items with money, and downloading titles from developers that aren’t... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#66JE0)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Want to stream She-Hulk: Attorney at Law or Andor? Then you might want to quickly sign up for a Disney Plus subscription. On Thursday, December 8th, Disney will debut a new ad-supported tier that’ll cost $7.99 / month. The existing ad-free plan, meanwhile, will increase from $7.99 / month to $10.99.However, the good news is that you can avoid the price hike so long as you subscribe to an annual ad-free plan before the end of today, December 7th. Even better, you don’t need to be a new subscriber, either. Right now, in fact, both new and returning customers can still subscribe to a year of Disney Plus for $79.99 before it increases to $109.99 on Thursday.In case you’re wondering, the ad-free annual plan offers a few extra perks, like... Continue reading…
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by Adi Robertson on (#66KXR)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine has sued Amazon for using drivers’ tips to pay their standard wages, attempting to exact a punishment that federal consumer protection agencies couldn’t.Amazon settled with the Federal Trade Commission last year after a lawsuit asserted it had withheld more than $60 million (or about one-third of total customer tips) from Amazon Flex drivers over the course of two and a half years. But while the FTC took that money to distribute back to drivers, it had no mechanism to issue greater penalties. “Amazon has thus far escaped any other consequences,” Racine’s complaint says. The new suit asks for a DC court to assess further financial damages, aiming to “hold Amazon to full account for its... Continue reading…
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#66KXS)
This isn’t some unofficial recreation — overnight bookings are available for the genuine Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand for the first time ever. | Image: Larnie Nicolson / Airbnb In celebration of the 10th anniversary of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Tolkien fans can finally book to stay at the genuine Hobbiton Movie Set via Airbnb. The Hobbiton set was initially built by Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson on Buckland Road in New Zealand in 1999 and features in both of his Middle-earth movie trilogies. While the location has since become an active tourist destination in New Zealand, this announcement marks the first time that guests will be able to stay overnight.Russell Alexander, whose family owns the farmland on which Hobbiton is built, will host guests on behalf of Airbnb, granting them access to all 44 Hobbit Holes, The Millhouse, and The Green Dragon Inn. “For more than two decades, we’ve... Continue reading…
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by Richard Lawler on (#5NB60)
Apple ‘s plan to scan iOS devices for CSAM imagery has proven controversial | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Why privacy experts are concerned Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#66KVD)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple’s new iOS and iCloud security initiative includes a new way for iMessage users to verify that they’re talking to the person they think they’re talking to. The company claims the new iMessage Contact Key Verification will let people who “face extraordinary digital threats,” such as journalists, activists, or politicians, make sure that their conversations aren’t being hijacked or snooped on.According to a press release on Wednesday, if both people in an iMessage conversation have the feature enabled, they’d get an alert if “an exceptionally advanced adversary, such as a state-sponsored attacker, were ever to succeed breaching cloud servers and inserting their own device to eavesdrop on these encrypted communications.” They’ll also... Continue reading…
by Richard Lawler on (#66KVE)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has ended the development of technology intended to detect possible child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while it’s stored on user devices, according to The Wall Street Journal.That plan was unveiled last fall with an intended rollout for iOS 15, but backlash quickly followed as encryption and consumer privacy experts warned about the danger of creating surveillance systems that work directly from your phone, laptop, or tablet.
by Mia Sato on (#66KVG)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge Instagram will now tell you if your posts are too edgy to be recommended to other users. Creators and businesses will be able to see if their posts are being blocked from appearing in certain parts of the app, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced today.In the settings menu, under account and then account status, professional accounts can now check to see if any of their posts are banned from being recommended to users who don’t follow them. Recommendations appear in places like the Explore page and home feed and have become increasingly central to the platform as parent company Meta attempts to take on TikTok. By the end of 2023, Meta plans to more than double the amount of recommended content users see on their feeds.
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#66KVH)
The 2022 ROG Zephyrus G14 is a bit of a looker, not to mention an excellent value. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The days for holiday shopping are slowly ticking away, but thankfully there are still plenty of great deals to take advantage of — including a few Verge faves. First off, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop is on sale at Best Buy for $1,199.99. This is the latest entry-level model of Asus’ 14-inch laptop — which normally runs $1,649.99 — and Best Buy is currently offering a $450 discount until December 9th.We’ve espoused much praise over the years for the Zephyrus G14, and rightfully so, as it’s a great laptop with solid gaming specs that doesn’t forget about all the other stuff a laptop should do. This entry-level configuration of the latest G14 incarnation packs an AMD Ryzen 9 CPU, Radeon RX 6700S GPU, 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM to... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#66KVJ)
Apple announced some big new security features on Wednesday. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple will finally be adding end-to-end encryption to iCloud backups, the company said as part of a major set of security announcements on Wednesday. Under what it calls Advanced Data Protection, Apple will expand the number of “data categories” protected by end-to-end encryption from 14 to 23, with backups, Notes, and Photos now covered.Based on a screenshot from Apple, these categories are covered when you flip on Advanced Data Protection: device backups, messages backups, iCloud Drive, Notes, Photos, Reminders, Safari bookmarks, Siri Shortcuts, Voice Memos, and Wallet Passes. Apple says the only “major” categories not covered by Advanced Data Protection are iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendar because “of the need to interoperate with... Continue reading…
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by Sean Hollister on (#66KRN)
The Skydio Dock with a Skydio X2 drone. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Skydio is the only company making drones that can largely fly themselves, able to sense and avoid objects so seamlessly you can hand a toddler the controls. But legally and practically, they need a lot of human oversight. Who’s going to charge the drone, update it, download its footage, and be the oft legally required visual observer to make sure it doesn’t crash into anything nearby?But for years, Skydio has been working on the gadget that could eliminate pesky humans from the equation. It’s called the Skydio Dock, and it’s a 72-pound motorized box that can let these drones operate completely autonomously. I drove to Skydio’s headquarters in San Mateo, California, this week to check it out, watch it fly an autonomous mission, and used... Continue reading…