The Verge

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge Featuring the CEOs of Volkswagen, Ford, and Jeep Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The chairman of NSO Group, the Israel-based company whose spyware has been used to surveil journalists and human rights defenders around the world, has stepped down following allegations that it was also used to monitor Israeli citizens.News of former NSO chairman Asher Levi’s resignation was reported by Haaretz on Tuesday, although Levi told the Associated Press that his departure had been planned months in advance and was unconnected to current news.NSO has been embroiled in a domestic scandal since last week when the Hebrew-language business newspaper Calcalist reported that police in Israel had possessed Pegasus spyware since 2013. Calcalist alleged that the spyware had been used to monitor protest leaders and other anti-government... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Pfizer and BioNTech are launching a clinical trial to test an omicron-specific version of their COVID-19 vaccine, the companies announced today. They’re moving forward with studies of a new form of the vaccine in response to concerns that the original shot isn’t preventing infection with the newest variant of coronavirus or mild COVID-19 illness — even though it appears to be holding up well in terms of preventing hospitalization and death, especially for people who received a booster.The original two-dose series of the gene-based COVID-19 vaccines, made by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, don’t appear to offer much protection against infection with the omicron variant with the virus. A third booster dose restores some of that... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Not all M.2 SSDs are PS5-compatible. They need to be PCIe 4.0-ready and boast a 5,500MB/s read speed (though some slower drives may work, according to our testing), and Adata’s XPG Gammix S70 Blade meets those requirements. The reason why I’m telling you about this one, in particular, is that it’s selling for just $129.99 at Best Buy and Amazon, a $30 price cut. At that price, it’s one of the fastest yet most affordable ways to add storage to your PS5. Similar models from brands like Samsung often sell for about $50 more than this.Whether you plan to use it inside of a PC that has a PCIe 4.0-ready motherboard (it’s backward compatible with PCIe 3.0, just a slower speeds) or a PS5, it’ll be ready to install the moment you open the box.... Continue reading…

Elgato is launching a new Stream Deck Pedal today, alongside official Discord integration. The Stream Deck Pedal is an $89.99 pad that has three pedals that can control software, hardware, and more. It looks ideal for streamers wanting to trigger effects, switch scenes, or even toggle cameras.The Stream Deck Pedal is also great for accessibility, opening up streaming to those unable to use a traditional Stream Deck. As the Pedal extends the power of Stream Deck to more locations, it will likely be used by DJs and musicians to control their streams away from their PC. Image: Elgato Elgao’s new Stream Deck Pedal. Elgato says the Stream Deck Pedal supports multiple actions, so you can string together a bunch of... Continue reading…

Respawn, the studio behind games like Apex Legends and Titanfall, is making a big push into the Star Wars universe. The developer announced that it’s working on three new Star Wars titles, including a sequel to 2019 action-adventure game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.The studio will also be making a currently untitled Star Wars first-person shooter and is partnering with Bit Reactor — a recently announced team founded by former developers from XCOM studio Firaxis Games — on a strategy game. “We are huge fans of Star Wars here at Respawn and we’re thrilled to work with Lucasfilm Games on new titles that we have wanted to make for years,” Respawn founder Vince Zampella said in a statement.Other than that, there are few details on any of... Continue reading…

How is he doing that!? Good. Clean. Honest. Fun.That’s what the iBeer app represented to a generation of early iPhone users, and that, I’m afraid, is very much what’s missing in today’s world of “non-funkable tokens” and “idle orangutans.” Not only was the app a lighthearted parlor trick that brought smiles to the faces of millions, but it was an industrial juggernaut, earning its creator — a struggling 37-year-old magician by the name of Steve Sheraton — up to $20,000 a day. And okay, sure, you might be one of those raking in millions from cryptographical currencies at the expense of others’ financial negligence, but where’s the joy in that? Where’s the magic?Sheraton revealed these earnings in a recent interview with Mel Magazine (which we spotted via the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube NFTs may be in the works. In a letter published today, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki suggested the company is looking to branch into NFTs in the future as another source of revenue for creators.“We’re always focused on expanding the YouTube ecosystem to help creators capitalize on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs, while continuing to strengthen and enhance the experiences creators and fans have on YouTube,” the letter reads.The detail was part of Wojcicki’s latest letter to the YouTube community, which outlines areas the company plans to invest in, like gaming and shopping, and how it plans to support creators. Wojcicki said YouTube is looking to Web3 “as a source of inspiration,” specifically noting the... Continue reading…

A triumph for Intel, but a shrug from us Continue reading…

Image by Plaid Plaid, a go-between for financial apps like Robinhood, Venmo, and Betterment and bank accounts, has created a privacy hub where you can manage all of your financial connections. The hub is a requirement of a lawsuit Plaid settled about its handling of user data.The hub, called Plaid Portal, shows users exactly which apps they’re connected to by Plaid. It can be found by accessing my.plaid.com, where the service will prompt users to set up an account. Then, it’s possible to browse connections and disconnect unused apps from bank accounts. The portal details the kinds of data users sharing through Plaid, as well as which bank accounts are connected. It’s also possible to wipe all of a user’s linked data through the portal.If you don’t... Continue reading…

A render of Amazon’s upcoming store in Mill Creek. | Image: Amazon Amazon is bringing its cashierless Just Walk Out technology to a new format of stores aimed at suburbs, the company announced today. The new stores will use the Amazon Go branding that the company already uses for its locations in city centers, but will instead be located further afield where they’ll sell food, snacks, alcohol, and “a few every day essentials.”They’re convenience stores, basically, and come at a time when a shift to home working means that people are spending more time in the vicinity of their homes rather than commuting into city-based offices. Like its other Just Walk Out stores, Amazon says customers will be able to browse the store, pick up items, and then leave without having to interact with a cashier or... Continue reading…

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images After the gold rush of signing Joe Rogan, Spotify now has to deal with the harvest.The latest difficulty in reaction to Spotify’s controversial star turn comes from singer and songwriter Neil Young, who says he’s extremely unhappy to be sharing a platform with Rogan. “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” Young wrote in an open letter to his manager and record label (which has since been deleted from his website). “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.”The reason? Rogan’s hand in spreading vaccine misinformation. As first reported by Rolling Stone, Young writes: “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to... Continue reading…

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Nvidia is reportedly preparing to give up on its $40 billion purchase of chip designer Arm, according to Bloomberg News. The deal has faced intense scrutiny from regulators and vocal opposition from rivals, forcing Nvidia to adjust its original timeline for the purchase.Now, Bloomberg says Nvidia is telling partners it doesn’t expect the deal to go through at all, while Arm’s current owner SoftBank is reportedly “stepping up preparations” to take Arm public via an initial public offering — which could be an alternative way to profitably rid itself of the firm.Both Nvidia and SoftBank remain publicly committed to the deal, and Bloomberg notes that no final decision has been made. But such rumors are not surprising given it’s long been... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Dutch competition regulator, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), has fined Apple €5 million (around $5.6 million) for failing to let dating app developers use third-party payment methods, the ACM has announced. The regulator says that Apple will continue to be fined €5 million a week until it properly complies with the order, which was publicly issued on December 24th.With a market cap of well over $2 trillion and revenues last quarter of $83.4 billion, Apple’s bottom line is unlikely to be impacted by these €5 million fines. But the Dutch regulator’s actions, like South Korea’s before it, could embolden others to take action against Apple’s App Store policies, as well as Google’s which are also being scrutinized.Apple... Continue reading…

Mission: Impossible Fallout | Photo: Paramount Pictures The release dates of the seventh and eighth installments of the Mission: Impossible series have been pushed back again due to pandemic-related delays, Deadline reported. The two flicks are the latest in a long list of movies to be delayed by the pandemic, which upended Hollywood as it has struggled to deal with closed movie theaters and halted or scaled back productions.The films Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, both co-produced by Paramount Pictures and Skydance, are the latest installments in the film series that began in 1996, starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an agent for Impossible Mission Force.Mission: Impossible 7 was supposed to be released last year on September 30th but is now set for July 14th, 2023, and M... Continue reading…

When you put your Steam Deck into sleep mode, Dynamic Cloud Sync will upload modified save data to the cloud. | Image: Valve Ahead of the Steam Deck’s launch, Valve has detailed a new feature for Steam’s cloud saves that should carry over your progress from your Steam Deck back to your PC (or another Steam Deck) even when you put your Steam Deck into suspend mode without fully exiting a game. Valve has talked about this intriguing idea before, but now it has a name — Dynamic Cloud Sync.Here’s how it should work: when you put your Steam Deck into sleep mode, Dynamic Cloud Sync will automatically upload “all modified save game data” to the cloud, Valve explained in a blog post published Monday. That way, you can pick up your save when you sit down at your PC or another device with Steam. The Steam Deck will also automatically download save updates when you... Continue reading…

Image: British Antarctic Survey/Povl Abrahamsen An iceberg that was once the largest on the planet, dubbed A68a, recently released 152 billion tons of fresh water close to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, potentially impacting the region’s ecosystem, a study published earlier this month found.A68a captured the world’s attention in 2017 when it broke off the Larsen-C ice shelf, located near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The largest iceberg in the world at the time of its formation, it initially floated around the Weddell Sea close to Antarctica before making its way its way across the Drake Passage between southern South America and the northern reaches of Antarctica. As it approached the southern Atlantic island of South Georgia in December 2020, researchers became... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge We’re not out of the woods yet — not even close — but it looks like the prices of Nvidia and AMD GPU prices may finally be coming down. Tom’s Hardware in the US and 3DCenter.org in Germany have been charting eBay and local retail prices, respectively, and they’re each seeing the same thing: a substantial dip for nearly every new graphics card that Nvidia and AMD make.Want an Nvidia RTX 3080? Just two months ago, that might have cost you $1,773 on the street — over two and a half times the manufacturer suggested retail price. As we reported in November with our own chart, that was typical of the hottest graphics cards, and Tom’s Hardware shows things got slightly worse in December. But in January, those prices have dipped 11 percent to... Continue reading…

Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin looks like Square Enix’s biggest departure yet for the long-running Final Fantasy series. Though the name Final Fantasy has been synonymous with RPG for the last 35 years, Stranger of Paradise is an action game focused on challenging and fast-paced combat. With only two months to go before launch, The Verge spoke with its developers to talk about Stranger of Paradise and the unique place it occupies in the Final Fantasy family.More than setting itself apart by being an action game, Stranger of Paradise looks and feels vastly different from its numbered siblings with its bloody aesthetic. Most Final Fantasy games entice by offering a bright world to explore with beautiful people to befriend. S... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter appears to be working on a feature that lets you share tweets with a specific group of people (via Input). If this sounds familiar, it’s because Instagram’s Close Friends feature lets you do the exact same thing — but in Twitter’s case, you’ll be limiting your tweets to your “Flock.”Twitter first gave us a glimpse of the feature last July, which it called “Trusted Friends” at the time. Since then, mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi has been keeping track of Twitter’s progress, and it’s really starting to take shape.

Netflix After years of being trapped in different circles of development hell, co-director Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited take on Pinocchio is finally happening, and the stop-motion feature’s first teaser trailer is here to introduce the world to the story’s minuscule moral center.Set during Benito Mussolini’s fascist reign over Italy in the 1930s, del Toro’s Pinocchio once again tells the tale of a wooden puppet who suddenly comes to life, much to his woodcarver “father’s” surprise. Unlike some of the other Pinocchio tellings you may be familiar with, though, this film’s Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) quickly gets into the sorts of cruel mischief that put him at odds with Geppetto (David Bradley), who loves his son but can’t help but see that he... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro The attorneys general of three states and the District of Columbia are suing Google for the allegedly deceptive collection of location data on Android. The complaints, which build on a 2020 lawsuit filed by the Arizona Attorney General, allege that Google’s “complex web” of settings obfuscated whether users were sharing their location at a given moment. Furthermore, they allege Google pushed Android users with “repeated nudging, misleading pressure tactics, and evasive and deceptive descriptions” to share more information either “inadvertently or out of frustration.”“Google falsely led consumers to believe that changing their account and device settings would allow customers to protect their privacy and control what personal data the... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Did you think the season of giving was over? Not at The Verge! Not only are we continuing to give you a heads-up regarding discounts and sales on the latest gadgets, but we have another mystery bag stuffed full of freebies to give away to one lucky reader.This time, we’ve filled an Alienware M17 Elite Backpack (which typically retails for $99.99) with a whole bunch of goodies. In total, the combined value of the bag and its contents is about $623. We’d be remiss to keep all of these gadgets to ourselves, so we’re offering them to one of you. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Just where did we get all this stuff? Well, The Verge is always trying out and reviewing the latest tech, and sometimes we end up... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Panasonic is due to start mass producing next-generation lithium-ion batteries for Tesla with five times the energy capacity of existing models as early as 2023, according to a report from Nikkei Asia. Although the batteries are being manufactured primarily for Tesla, a Panasonic executive didn’t rule out supplying them to other companies in a November interview. The new batteries promise to boost the range of electric cars, and make them more affordable to produce and sell.In a statement given to Reuters, Panasonic declined to confirm Nikkei’s report. “We are studying various options for mass production, including a test production line we are establishing this business year,” the company said. “We don’t, however, have anything to... Continue reading…

Wisk Aero, the electric air taxi startup, raised $450 million from Boeing in a new funding round that it claims will make it “one of the most well-funded [advanced air mobility] companies in the world.”In its announcement, Wisk highlights the fact that its “a privately-backed AAM leader,” setting up a contrast with a slate of similar startups that have gone public in recent months by merging with special purpose acquisition companies, also known as SPACs or “blank check” companies. Wisk Aero was formed in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, the flying taxi company bankrolled by Google co-founder Larry Page.Wisk says it will use the new funds to undertake a period of rapid growth, adding new employees to its current... Continue reading…

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned the flying of consumer drones by hobbyists. The news comes after a suspected drone attack hit an oil facility and airport in the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi, last week.The ban was announced by the Ministry of the Interior on Saturday and also applies to light aircraft like gliders. The ministry did not mention the recent attacks in its statement, but referenced “misuse spotted recently,” incidents of drone pilots “trespassing into areas where these types of activities are prohibited,” and a need to “ensure the safety of lives and property.”The attack involved ‘ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones’The recent attack on the oil facility and airport in Abu Dhabi reportedly involved both... Continue reading…

Toshihiro Nagoshi, former chief creative officer at Sega, where he led development of the Yakuza series as general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, has announced his next move. He’s started up his own studio, simply titled Nagoshi Studio, which is being wholly funded by Chinese internet and gaming company NetEase.Nagoshi announced his departure from Sega last October, but today’s news also follows a report from Bloomberg back in August that named NetEase as his prospective future partner. Masayoshi Yokoyama, who The Verge interviewed last year about his work on the most recent Yakuza game Like a Dragon, is the new head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and is currently working on the next game in the series.Nagoshi Studio will be headquartered... Continue reading…

Venmo is just one of the many apps that uses Plaid to link your bank account. | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images If you’ve connected your bank account to financial apps like Robinhood, Acorns, Venmo, American Express, Coinbase, and Credit Karma, you may be entitled to some cash, according to a report by Fast Company.Plaid, the financial service these apps (and 5,500 others) use to link your bank account, has settled a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of collecting more financial data from users than necessary. The suit also alleges Plaid obtained users’ bank login information “through its user interface, known as ‘Plaid Link,’ which had the look and feel of the user’s own bank account login screen.” In reality, users were inputting their information “directly to Plaid.” Plaid denies these claims and says it was transparent with its... Continue reading…

Image: evleaks (Twitter) Potential European pricing information for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S22 series has been released by reliable leaker Roland Quandt, as reported by Android Police. Samsung appears to have carried over its prices from the previous S21 lineup, with the only inconsistency being an equally-priced S22 Ultra model that supposedly comes with less RAM than its S21 predecessor.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has extended its deadline requiring online group and event apps to comply with the company’s in-app purchase policy once again, as announced in a post on the company’s developer’s blog (via 9to5Mac). Apps in this category can now use alternate payment options until June 30th, allowing them to skirt Apple’s 15 to 30 percent cut the company takes out of in-app purchases.“In 2020, we chose to support apps and developers that needed to adapt services from in-person to digital as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Apple writes in the post. “Given the recent resurgence of COVID and its continued impact on in-person services, we’ve extended the most recent deadline.”Apple first deferred its rule targeting group event apps in November... Continue reading…

A dangerous remote code execution (RCE) exploit found in Dark Souls 3 could let a bad actor take control of your computer, according to a report from Dexerto. The vulnerability only puts PC gamers who play online at risk and may potentially affect Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and the upcoming Elden Ring. Servers for various Dark Souls games have since been shut down in response.The exploit was seen in action during The__Grim__Sleeper’s Twitch stream of Dark Souls 3 online. At the end of the stream (1:20:22), The__Grim__Sleeper’s game crashes, and the robotic voice belonging to Microsoft’s text-to-speech generator suddenly starts criticizing his gameplay. The__Grim__Sleeper then reports that Microsoft PowerShell opened by itself, a sign... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Thursday, the European Parliament voted to approve the initial draft of a bill that aims to curb Big Tech’s invasive advertising practices (via Bloomberg). The Parliament adopted the draft with 530 votes of approval, 78 against, and 80 absentations.The Digital Services Act, which was first introduced in 2020, will prevent platforms, like Google, Amazon, and the Meta-owned Facebook, from using sensitive information, such as sexual orientation, race, and religion for targeted ads. It will require services to give users the ability to easily opt out of tracking, and pressures platforms to remove illegal content and products online, including hate speech or counterfeit goods.

The fitness company can’t catch a break on TV. | Image: Showtime Spoilers ahead for And Just Like That... and Billions.Peloton really can’t catch a break. Not only did rumors it’s temporarily suspending production of its connected bikes and treadmills send the stock plunging on Thursday, but — in a plot twist worthy of the big screen — a second TV show character has been shown having a heart attack while riding a Peloton. This comes just over a month after a beloved character from Sex and the City was killed off after a workout on one of the company’s bikes.Mr. Big’s ghost rides again to haunt PelotonIn the season six premiere of Billions (available in an early release via streaming, including for free on YouTube, ahead of the show’s usual Sunday night time slot), the character Wags’ Peloton ride... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge WhatsApp might be working on a feature that lets you migrate your chat history from Android to iOS, as reported by WABetaInfo via (Android Central).The feature was first spotted in the latest WhatsApp beta version 22.2.74 for iOS, and appears to corroborate WABetaInfo’s previous discovery in beta version 2.21.20.11 for Android. Both updates point towards a feature that may let you transfer your WhatsApp chats from Android to iOS using the Move to iOS app. Image by WaBetaInfo WABetaInfo also shared a couple of screenshots that show what the feature may look like. Judging by the images, it appears WhatsApp will ask for permission before starting the transfer process, and will then instruct you to keep the app open and... Continue reading…

US athletes have been advised not to bring their phones to the 2022 Winter Olympics. | Photo by Yu Zhiqiang / VCG via Getty Images The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee is telling athletes to ditch their personal phones for burners ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in China, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal (via Android Central).“Every device, communication, transaction and online activity may be monitored”The advisory was reportedly sent out twice last year to warn athletes about the possibility of digital surveillance while in China. “Every device, communication, transaction and online activity may be monitored,” the bulletin states. “Your device(s) may also be compromised with malicious software, which could negatively impact future use.” As noted by the WSJ, Great Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands have also cautioned... Continue reading…

NYC Mayor Eric Adams received his first paycheck in cryptocurrency. | Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images Even in the midst of a crypto slump, New York City Mayor Eric Adams isn’t backing out of his plans to take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin fell beneath $36,000 on Friday — a 47 percent dive from its all-time high in November — dragging the entire cryptocurrency market cap below $2 trillion.If the crypto market continues to trend downwards, Adams’ first check may evaporateAdams officially received his first paycheck yesterday, which was converted to Bitcoin and Ethereum through cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. According to the New York Post, the NYC mayor receives biweekly paychecks of about $5,900, amounting to a salary of $258,750 a year. Adams didn’t reveal how much of his $5,900 check is split between... Continue reading…

New YouTube TV subscribers can pay YouTube TV $54.99 each month instead of $64.99. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Just in time for Super Bowl season, a three-month subscription to the YouTube TV streaming service is a little more affordable. Right now, new subscribers can pay $54.99 each month instead of $64.99 for your first three months. Normally, that would cost you around $195, so that means you’ll pay $165 by the end of this discount period.That’s still expensive, but it’s a welcome discount for a service that significantly gone up in price within the last few years. Nevertheless, it’s a solid streaming app if you want many channels on-demand (with DVR capabilities available), presented in a familiar YouTube interface. For this price, you’ll get access to over 85 major channels, covering live sports, news, entertainment, and more. It also... Continue reading…

Intel Sandy Bridge Chips Hint: It’s not about the chip shortage Continue reading…

Fast wireless charging speeds and a few extras Continue reading…

It goes over the pros of a federally-backed digital currency. | Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images A digital dollar backed by the US government might lead to faster money transfers, and be more accessible than the current banking system, according to a new paper from the Federal Reserve (via CNBC).The paper is meant to act as “the first step in a discussion,” and doesn’t advocate for actually creating a “central bank digital currency” (or CBDC). Still, the creation of a digital dollar would be a massive shift in how big a role the government would play in our finances. Potential downsides could include making commercial banks less attractive to consumers, and affect the Fed’s ability to influence the financial system. The Fed is now inviting comments, including on anything the paper may have missed.There are many other countries... Continue reading…

The NLRB will issue a formal complaint against Amazon unless it settles a case with a fired worker | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The National Labor Relations Board is preparing to issue a complaint against Amazon alleging the company illegally fired a worker at one of its New York warehouses, unless the company settles the case first. At issue is whether Daequan Smith, an organizer with the newly-formed Amazon Labor Union (ALU), was fired for trying to organize.As first reported by Bloomberg, NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado confirmed Friday that the agency’s regional director Kathy Drew King determined allegations by the ALU that Smith was fired illegally had merit and would issue a complaint if the case doesn’t settle. “The complaint would allege a discharge because of union and other protected concerted activities, among other allegations,” Blado said.Amazon... Continue reading…

Paramount Plus Just when it seemed like Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard might have been ready to bid the galaxy farewell, Star Trek: Picard gave the legendary space explorer a second shot at life that raised some questions about just who and what he is now. While first trailer for Picard’s second season doesn’t directly answer any of them, it brings back one of the few characters perfectly suited to help guide Picard and his allies through this next chapter of their journeys.Beyond getting the recently resurrected Jean-Luc and his fellow explorers back aboard La Sirena and in the depths of space they long for, Star Trek: Picard’s second season is also about to send its heroes into the existential deep in as they embark upon a journey spanning across... Continue reading…

Illustration by Maria Chimishkyan Ransomware — malware that prevents you from accessing your files unless you pay the hacker that infected your computer — has been an issue plaguing computer users and businesses for years. Given its prevalence and the fact that a ransomware infection can lead to the loss of valuable files like documents or family pictures, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re protected. Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft has added features to its built-in Windows Security software that can help keep your computer safe from ransomware.As far as ransomware is concerned, there are two levels to Windows Security. The first consists of malware scans, which are on by default, and which you can learn more about here. While this will work to keep ransomware... Continue reading…

Nike’s ACG Gaiadome FlyEase Boot feature toggle laces and a zippered back entry. | Image: Nike For the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, Nike announced Friday that it’s designed inclusive and accessible gear for Team USA Olympians and Paralympians to wear on the medal stand. That includes the new ACG Gaiadome FlyEase Boot, which can be slipped on and secured one-handed. The only issue is it seems to have inherited the FlyEase’s limited availability as well. While the rest of the ‘fit will be available for purchase, the Gaiadome boot will be an athlete exclusive.“For the official Team USA Medal Stand look in Beijing, we worked closely with the disability community, including current and former winter and summer Paralympians, in our design and testing process, and used inclusive design principles and methods to create gear that... Continue reading…

Apple Watch | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Light sensors used to track heart rate in wearable devices like the Apple Watch Series 5 and the Fitbit Versa 2 don’t work as well on darker skin or people with obesity, according to modeling done in a new study.That’s a problem for features currently built into devices — but it’s also a bad sign for efforts to use light sensors for new applications in wearables, like monitoring blood pressure, says study author Jessica Ramella-Roman, an associate professor studying bioimaging sensors at Florida International University.“The architecture of the device has to change,” she says.The study looked at the photoplethysmography (PPG) signal, a technique that uses changes in how light is reflected to measure blood flow, on three wearable... Continue reading…

The DuraSport 5G is one of the few rugged options available Continue reading…

Digital password manager company 1Password announced this week intentions to expand the login features of its services — starting with something the company calls Universal Sign On that it says can make logging into different websites or services even easier.1Password already sells subscription services to small and large businesses looking to control and secure access to various passwords amongst staff — and now it looks to make Universal Sign On work alongside multi-factor authentication products like Duo and single sign-on (SSO) products like Okta (depending on what the enterprise needs are).

Today only (or while supplies last), you can pick up Microsoft’s next-gen console for just $279.99. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge While nabbing an Xbox Series S isn’t as difficult as getting your hands on a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X these days, Microsoft’s pearly white console is still in high demand. Currently, Woot is hosting a deal on the Xbox Series S, reducing its regular $299.99 price tag to $279.99. This isn’t a massive discount by any means but it matches the best price we’ve ever seen for this console. The Series S isn’t quite as powerful as the Series X with some of the key distinctions being a lack of a physical disc drive, less storage space, and a less powerful processor. However, the console is still home to fantastic first-party titles like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite, and is compatible with a massive library of last-gen titles, many of... Continue reading…

There are cat ears on the headset. I wish I was joking. | Image: Razer Razer is known for making some of the best, flashiest gaming gear on the market, from the category-topping Basilisk V3 to the mind-blowingly powerful and portable Razer Blade 14. Today, it’s announcing something, well, slightly different. The company has partnered with Sanrio to release a line of Hello Kitty-themed gaming accessories.You may think I’m making this up, but alas, I am not. Take a look: Image: Razer The gang is all here. There’s a lot to unpack here. As you can see, we’ve got a mouse, a mousepad, Bluetooth headphones, a chair, and a lumbar cushion. It’s not just the kitty herself featured throughout — other franchise characters, including two who, I’m told, are named Badtz-maru and Keroppi, also... Continue reading…

Google denies colluding with Facebook in new court filing | Illustration by Alex Castro Google has filed a motion to dismiss the antitrust complaint filed last week, which alleges it colluded with Facebook to manipulate programmatic ad markets.“State Plaintiffs’ complaint — cheered on by a handful of Google’s rivals who have failed to invest properly, compete successfully, or innovate consistently — might serve the narrow interests of those rivals,” Google argues in the motion, “but it also threatens to stifle the dynamism that drives Google and other firms to deliver the products on which businesses and consumers depend every day.”“The complaint misrepresents our business, products, and motives”Originally filed in November, the antitrust suit has been led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton of Texas and has gradually... Continue reading…