The Verge

Google Wallet might be in the cards for the Fitbit Sense 2 and Fitbit Versa 4. | Photo by Brent Rose / The Verge It’s been more than two years since Google plopped down $2.1 billion for Fitbit, but there hasn’t been much integration between the two companies’ products thus far. That looks like it’ll change this fall. Not only is the upcoming Pixel Watch set to get a shiny Fitbit integration, but it also appears that the rumored Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 might have some kind of Google Wallet integration as well.According to 9to5Google, the latest version of Android’s Play Services shows signs that Google Wallet — which includes Google Pay — is adding Fitbit smartwatch support. That includes a new menu with graphics resembling a “squircle” Fitbit smartwatch. The images are also labeled as a “Fitbit watch illustration.” (You can see the images here.... Continue reading…

Photo by David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images Wayfair saw a spike in sales at the beginning of the pandemic as customers stayed home and took an interest in renovating their space and shopping online but today announced it’s laying off 870 employees. In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the online furniture and home decor retailer indicated that the “workforce reduction” affects 5 percent of its global workforce and 10 percent of its corporate team.In the company’s second-quarter results released on August 4th, Wayfair reported a decrease in active customers, orders per customer, order deliveries, and a slight decrease in orders delivered via Wayfair’s mobile app and in other areas. Overall, Wayfair saw a nearly 15 percent decrease in net revenue compared... Continue reading…

Image: The Pokémon Company This weekend, if you want something to keep on in the background that’s not just infinite reruns of The Simpsons (you know who you are), why not check out these esports-y events: Pokémon World Championships 2022 and Games Done Quick’s Flame Fatales.What is Pokémon World Championships 2022?The Pokémon World Championships started Thursday, where the best players across various Pokémon games compete to be the very best, like no one ever was. (You see, I am Of A Certain Age, so I had to.) Though live Pokémon competitions have been slowly returning, with this year’s regional championships happening in-person throughout North America, Europe, and Latin America, Pokémon Worlds 2022 marks the return of the biggest championship tournament since... Continue reading…

Using in-app browsers could give easy access to your private information. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Did you know you’re potentially being tracked when you load an in-app browser on iOS? A new tool reveals exactly how, showing how applications like TikTok and Instagram can potentially use JavaScript to view sensitive data, including your address, passwords and credit card information, without your consent.The tool can be found at InAppBrowser.com. All you need to do is open the app you want to check and share the InAppBrowser.com URL somewhere within it — such as DMing the link to a friend or posting it in a comment. From there, you can tap the link and get a report from the website on what scripts are running in the background.All you need to do is open the app you want to check, and share the InAppBrowser.com URL somewhere within it... Continue reading…

She-Hulk realizing that she’s about to take a man home for the night | Image: Marvel Studios There’s a running joke all throughout She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s premiere episode that’s hard to imagine Marvel Studios would have been comfortable making a few years ago before “America’s Ass” became a thing. But according to She-Hulk’s creator and head writer Jessica Gao, the joke — which punctuates the first of the series’ weekly post-credits stingers — reflects the exact sort of wild new energy Marvel head Kevin Feige challenged her to bring to the series.This post contains spoilers for the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.Like many people, She-Hulk’s Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is a fan of Steve Rogers who spends a considerable amount of time thinking about whether or not the centenarian ever had sex. Initially... Continue reading…

Things seem to be amiss. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Pixel owners who haven’t upgraded to Android 13 yet, beware: it seems that several people aren’t able to use wireless charging after installing the latest OS, which released earlier this week (via 9to5Google). There have been several posts on Reddit about the issue from people using the Pixel 4, 4 XL, 6, and 6 Pro using a variety of wireless chargers, including Google’s first-party Pixel Stands. For Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners, this could be an even bigger problem — they’re not allowed to roll back to Android 12 after updating to Android 13.According to some users’ reports, the phones do seem to recognize that they’re on a wireless charger, with one user even saying that their 4 XL shows the charging battery icon. However, the batteries... Continue reading…

Image: Asus Did you buy a flagship Asus motherboard for your 12th Gen Intel processor anytime before December 2021? You’d best check if it’s the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero and get it swapped out if so because it could potentially start a fire in your house.In January, a savvy YouTuber figured out that Asus installed one of that $600 board’s capacitors backward, and the company promised to work with government agencies on a replacement program. Today, seven months later, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Asus are finally formally announcing that recall.send it back ASAPAccording to the CPSC’s recall announcement, roughly 10,000 motherboards were affected with serial numbers starting in MA, MB, and MC — a serial number which you can... Continue reading…

Megapixels as far as the eye can see. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge According to a new report from Korean outlet ETNews spotted by Android Authority, it’s looking very likely that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will use the 200-megapixel camera sensor that the company launched last year. That is a whole lot of pixels, and Samsung isn’t alone in this newest megapixel arms race — Motorola beat the company to the punch with the Motorola X30 Pro. Even Apple, a 12-megapixel camera devotee, looks like it will finally move to higher resolution 48-megapixel camera sensors with the iPhone 14.It’s not all about big numbers; moving to higher-pixel-count sensors has real image quality benefits. In this chapter of the megapixel race, it’s all about pixel binning. Samsung already employs this with its 108-megapixel... Continue reading…

The Apple Watch loves to tell you to move but doesn’t acknowledge when you need rest. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge In 2017, I tested out the Apple Watch for several months. One big limitation, I discovered, was that it didn’t acknowledge my rest days. Rest days are essential for building muscle, but the Watch’s goals don’t really acknowledge that.It’s not like Apple hasn’t known about this problem; I’m not the only person to write about it. And the last time I did, I received emails like, “Hey, you know you’re not supposed to lie on the couch on rest days, right?” Yes, but unless I’m deliberately incorporating hills, I don’t usually break 100 bpm when I walk, and the Watch doesn’t read it as exercise.I’ve figured out a way to cheat, but I shouldn’t have toI bought an Apple Watch during the pandemic because the main way I distracted myself was by... Continue reading…

Image: Screaming Villains Sega has released the full list of Sega Genesis and Sega CD games coming to the Sega Genesis Mini 2, and perhaps one of the more notable titles on the list is the controversial Night Trap.Night Trap is a full-motion video game originally released in 1992 that has hallmarks of a B-movie horror film. At the time, it was considered violent enough it was cited in a Senate hearing about violent games that eventually led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It was also pulled from sale from Toys R Us. The game got a 25th-anniversary edition in 2017, and on the Sega Genesis Mini 2, you’ll be able to play a port of the original Sega CD release.The Genesis Mini 2 will have some unreleased games as wellIf you’re a l... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has banned a Florida Republican candidate from the platform after a tweet that encouraged the killing of federal agents, as reported by Florida Politics on Friday.Luis Miguel is campaigning in the Republican primary to represent Florida’s 20th district in the state House of Representatives. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its justification for the ban.Miguel’s threat comes amid intense GOP hostility toward the FBI and IRS, spurred by the federal raid on Mar-a-Lago and Congress’ recent move to increase tax enforcement. But Miguel’s tweet went beyond criticisms of the agencies, calling for armed violence against their employees.“Under my plan, all Floridians will be able to shoot FBI, IRS, ATF,... Continue reading…

Looks like a boat... looks like an SUV... it’s Acura’s precision concept EV. | Image: Acura Acura revealed a chonky new electric vehicle concept this week, apparently taking some inspiration from the shape of luxury Italian power boats.Teased earlier this month, the Acura Precision EV concept represents the company’s “north star” for the direction of its future EVs, focusing on a “modern expression of performance,” according to Acura creative director Dave Marek.The grille area lights up in an aqua blue “diamond pentagon” pattern around the centered Acura logo, while the lower ends of the fascia light up in a prismatic “particle glitch” tessellation that continues the texture onto the 23-inch rims. Image: Acura Acura’s not lying — that’s a boat. The Precision EV has a wide “athletic stance” built by... Continue reading…

Photo by Brandon Bell / Getty Images Leaders on the House Oversight Committee are demanding major social media platforms swiftly address the surge of online threats against law enforcement after the FBI’s search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida last week.On Friday, the lawmakers sent letters to eight major social media companies demanding information detailing the number of threats against law enforcement made on their platforms in recent weeks. The committee targeted its inquiries toward prominent mainstream platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, but also wrote to fringe right-leaning competitors like Gab, GETTR, Rumble, and Trump’s own Truth Social.“threats and incitements of deadly violence are unacceptable and against the law”In... Continue reading…

In both theatrical and extended versions. | Image: Universal Pictures Two versions of Jurassic World: Dominion are coming to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, starting September 2nd. One will be the theatrical cut, which raked in nearly a billion dollars to become the second-biggest movie of the year so far, according to Box Office Mojo. The other will be an extended version, which is 14 minutes longer and will feature “an alternate opening,” according to a press release from Peacock.According to a recent Cinemablend interview with the movie’s director, Colin Trevorrow, the extended edition was cut down to make sure the movie was less than two and a half hours long.While it’s definitely a feather in Peacock’s cap (or tail, I suppose) to be the exclusive streaming home for one of the year’s... Continue reading…

The Lucid Air Sapphire Edition is the automaker’s quickest EV yet. | Image: Lucid Motors Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors unveiled the new Lucid Air Sapphire Edition, a top-of-the-line sedan, which the company says will do zero to 60mph in under two seconds, zero to 100mph in under four seconds, and the quarter-mile in under nine seconds.That’s tremendously impressive in a full-size, fully-electric luxury sedan and potentially makes the new sapphire blue car the most powerful production sedan on the market, beating out the previous record holder, the Tesla Model S Plaid. Power to pavementThe new Sapphire Edition, which was revealed Friday during Monterey Car Week, pairs a number of the features from Lucid’s lower trim models like the Dream Edition and the Grand Touring Performance Edition. First,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram says it wasn’t intentionally trying to stop creators from filming in its app and then exporting their videos to other platforms like TikTok. The Verge reported this week that sound was being stripped from video clips exported from the Instagram Reels edit screen for iPhone users, meaning you had to fully publish a Reel in order to properly save it. Now, Instagram’s owner, Meta, says this was a bug and that it intends to fix the issue.“Due to a bug, the Reels download feature is not working as intended for iOS users and in some cases, audio is missing in downloads — we’re working to fix the issue as soon as possible,” Seine Kim, a spokesperson from Meta, said in an email to The Verge.This fix will be important for creators... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Throughout the pandemic, it has brought me extreme joy to pen articles celebrating that hard-to-find tech is getting easier to buy at retail cost. First, it was the Xbox Series S and Nintendo Switch OLED, then the Series X, and almost all Nvidia and AMD GPUs followed a few months after. We’re getting very close to being able to say that the PS5 will soon join the club.Yesterday, we wrote that Sony had kicked off another one of its once infrequent (but becoming much more frequent) PS5 restocks, and the $549.99 console bundle that includes the PS5 with a disc drive along with Horizon Forbidden West is still in stock about 19 hours later. Even after everyone has had the chance to run through the queue and make a purchase, there’s still... Continue reading…

Photo by Erhan Demirtas / NurPhoto via Getty Images If people around the world were as enthusiastic cyclers as they are in the Netherlands, we could cut an impressive amount of planet-heating pollution. The Dutch use bicycles to get around more than folks in any other country, cycling about 2.6 kilometers (1.62 miles) a day.If that was the trend across the world, it would slash 686 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution a year, according to the authors of a new study published this week in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. That’s enormous — roughly equivalent to erasing one-fifth of CO2 emissions from passenger cars globally in 2015.That’s enormousCleaning up pollution from transportation is a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to slowing down the climate... Continue reading…

Photo by Hutton Supancic/Getty Images for SXSW You’ve probably seen posts from Dan Price, a Seattle-based tech CEO who regularly goes viral for his activism-tinged posts about treating employees well, politics, and how he’s not like other guys when it comes to his leadership style.“An actual good CEO would never do layoffs ever,” reads one. “A male president was so angry he lost that he incited a mob against the U.S. Capitol. I never want to hear again that women would be ‘too emotional’ to be president,” goes another.But for years, Price used the progressive good boss persona he cultivated online to allegedly lure, assault, and abuse women, according to a detailed investigation by The New York Times. Price, who was the head of Gravity Payments, resigned as CEO on Wednesday, the... Continue reading…

Photo by Edward Smith/Getty Images I’ve really tried to meditate. I know it would probably be good for me! But no matter how much I tried (and if my therapist asks, I definitely tried), I couldn’t make the habit stick. So I gave up. And I’m not alone: over the past two years, fewer and fewer people have been using meditation apps like Calm and Headspace, according to some new data from app research firm Apptopia.User sessions at the top 10 meditation apps in the United States peaked in the first half of 2020. That’s not a huge surprise — at the time, we were dealing with the emergence of a global pandemic that upended life around the world and fundamentally changed people’s day-to-day routines. But usage has been steadily falling since then, according to the report. The... Continue reading…

The timer and stopwatch have returned | Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge Google’s handy timer and stopwatch that you can use right from Search have returned. The tools have been unavailable for weeks, but Google public search liaison Danny Sullivan announced that the timer was back in a tweet on Wednesday.To use the timer, just type “set a timer for [however long you need],” and the top result will be a timer that automatically starts to count down. If you want to edit the timer, click on the numbers counting down. To use the stopwatch, Google “stopwatch” and click the “start” button on the box that appears. You can also tab back and forth between the timer and the stopwatch if one of them already appears in your search results.

Tom Sturridge reprises his role as Morpheus / Dream of The Endless in a new bonus episode of The Sandman. | Image: Netflix Netflix has just released a bonus, full-length episode for The Sandman, its critically acclaimed live-action series based on Neil Gaiman’s DC Comics series of the same name. This new episode is split into two parts, each covering a standalone short story from the original dark fantasy comic series.The first is an animated adaptation of “A Dream Of A Thousand Cats,” which features voice acting talents from Neil Gaiman himself, as well as Sandra Oh, Rosie Day, David Gyasi, David Tennant, Michael Sheen, and James McAvoy.The second half of the episode is “Calliope,” starring Melissanthi Mahut in the title role, alongside Arthur Darvill, Nina Wadia, and Derek Jacobi. Tom Sturridge reprises his role as Morpheus / Dream of The Endless for... Continue reading…

All Echo smart speakers and displays can run Alexa Routines. | Samar Haddad / The Verge If you’ve got an Echo smart speaker sitting on your kitchen counter and all you’ve used it for so far is to set an egg timer, play some music, and maybe enjoy the occasional “pull my finger” joke, you’re missing out.Alexa, the virtual assistant built into Echo devices and other speakers (and a thermostat), is a powerful tool, one that can help your household run more smoothly, remind you to take out the trash, and attempt to entertain you — among many other things. All you need to do is set up a few Routines, and Amazon’s digital butler will take care of things for you.An Alexa Routine is a shortcut for all the things — or “actions” — Alexa can do. A Routine can perform one or multiple actions, from playing your favorite Spotify... Continue reading…

More comfortable, much better sound, and improved ANC Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Every Wednesday and Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where our editors make sense of the week’s most important technology news. On Fridays, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.On today’s episode, the crew discusses the Android 13 update, the battle between the vertical video apps, and a lightning round of tech news.Android 13 is here, and newer Pixel phones are able to upgrade to it (my Pixel 3A did not make the cut). The Vergecast discusses why this is Android’s “Snow Leopard” release, how it affects the greater Android phone world, and whether an... Continue reading…

You can reprogram the buttons on the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 series. | Samar Haddad / The Verge Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 offers more customizability at launch than its previous watches. Part of that is the ability to reprogram the home button and back keys to better suit your daily needs or workflows. And now that Google Assistant is available on Wear OS 3, you don’t have to settle for Samsung hard-coding Bixby as your default smartwatch assistant.Out of the box, you can double-press the home button to go to the most recent app you used or long-press to bring up Bixby. The back button will bring you back to a previous screen with a short press and launch Samsung Pay with a long press. If these don’t work for you, you can edit these controls — with the exception of launching Samsung Pay. For whatever reason, Samsung won’t let you... Continue reading…

Image: lootproject.com A year ago I told you about Loot, a collection of non-fungible tokens that had inspired an energetic community to form around it. A series of brief, text-based descriptions of fantasy genre items like swords and amulets, Loot captured the imaginations of builders and speculators who wondered if the underlying NFTs might someday serve as the basis for graphic novels, movies, video games and more — an open-source art project that could eventually become the foundation of a crypto-flavored Marvel Cinematic Universe.Loot was also the first NFT project that I found personally compelling, at least as a subject for journalism. Its creator, Dom Hofmann, was well known to me as a co-founder of the short-form video pioneer Vine and the... Continue reading…

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max is $39.99. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge A streaming stick should definitely be on your back-to-school list if you’re heading back to college. After all, a good one can provide you with hours of budget-friendly entertainment when you need to unwind after studying. Buying one seems especially attractive today now that Amazon’s latest Fire TV Stick 4K Max is at the lowest price we’ve seen since Prime Day.Regularly $54.99, Amazon and Best Buy are selling the streaming stick for $39.99, which is only $5 shy of the device’s all-time low. We think the Fire TV Stick Max is the best streaming stick for those embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem, namely because it integrates quite nicely with Alexa and allows you to reliably make voice commands with the included remote. We also found that it... Continue reading…

The Flip 4 is refined and lovely to use, but it’s not quite finished Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Fifteen years or so ago, the sportswriter Bill Simmons coined the phrase “The Tyson Zone,” which refers to a rare situation in which you would believe absolutely anything someone told you about a person. (The stories about Mike Tyson are still horrifying and wild to read about.) It’s a high bar to clear because for someone to enter the Tyson Zone, you have to be willing to believe the sentence “Did you hear that he ___” no matter how the sentence ends. Charlie Sheen did a stint in the Tyson Zone during his “WINNING” era. Lindsay Lohan was there for a while. Dennis Rodman married himself and then went to North Korea and practically built a house in the Tyson Zone. Nilay Patel, The Verge’s editor-in-chief and my boss, flirts with the Tyson... Continue reading…

In Jetpack Joyride 2, you get a gun. | Image: Apple Jetpack Joyride 2 is the first mobile game I’ve loved in a very long time.I was obsessed with staying on top of the best iOS games in the early days of the iPhone — titles like the original Angry Birds, Hook Champ, and Ridiculous Fishing — but as the vast majority of mobile games have shifted to a time- and money-gobbling free-to-play model, I’ve largely stopped playing them. I have enough entertainment to juggle already; managing yet another free-to-play game just isn’t appealing.But to my surprise, I kept finding myself opening Jetpack Joyride 2 when I had a few minutes to burn. It happened during my Dedicated Video Game Playing Time, too. Over the course of a few days, I just couldn’t stop collecting coins, dodging missiles,... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft’s official PC Game Pass Twitter account has been teasing the arrival of Death Stranding all week, and now it’s official: Death Stranding arrives on PC Game Pass on August 23rd. Spearheaded by Hideo Kojima, the developer best known for his work on the Metal Gear series, Death Stranding originally launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in 2019 before its PC release two years ago.Death Stranding’s arrival on PC Game Pass is a boost to the service, but it doesn’t mean the game is any closer to an Xbox release. Sony published Death Stranding on PlayStation in 2019, but 505 Games publishes the PC port. Sony still controls where Death Stranding lands on console, so it’s unlikely we’ll see it appear on the Xbox version of Game Pass.

Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen. | Image: HBO Max HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel is a history lesson hellbent on recapturing lightning in a bottle Continue reading…

Image: Otter.ai Automated transcription service Otter is making some big changes to its offerings for both free and paying customers. Mostly, the company is downgrading its features — reducing the number of audio imports users can make; the length of audio they can transcribe each month, and so on — though it is giving free users access to some new tools.One of the biggest changes, though, is that free users will no longer be able to access their full back catalogue of recordings. Instead, they’ll only have access to the most recent 25. The rest will be “archived” — that is, they’ll still exist on Otter’s servers, but users will have to either delete other conversations to access them, or pay to upgrade to Otter’s “pro” plan.This and other changes to... Continue reading…

The offending power button on one of Framework’s designs. | Image: Framework Framework, the startup that produces modular laptops that are designed to be repairable and upgradable, says it’s in a spot of legal trouble over the design of one of its power buttons. In a tweet, the startup claims to have been contacted by Lenovo’s legal team, who say the circular design of the power button on one of Framework’s designs is too similar to the stylized “O” Lenovo uses in the wordmark for its “Legion” brand of gaming laptops.“Consumers could believe that Framework’s Broken O Case or the motherboards they cover are produced by, sponsored, endorsed, licensed, or otherwise affiliated with Lenovo, when that is not the case,” a screenshot of the legal letter from Lenovo posted by Framework reads.The offending power... Continue reading…

Most updates are like this now, but that doesn’t make them less important. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Well, here we are again: I’m writing an article to tell you that you should really update your iPhone, iPad, or Mac as soon as possible, because the latest software for them fixes some pretty nasty bugs. The security notes for iOS / iPadOS 15.6.1 and macOS 12.5.1 describe fixes for bugs in the OS’ kernel (basically the core that controls everything) and WebKit that could allow attackers to run malicious code on your device. The notes also warn that the bugs may have actively been exploited.This is, unfortunately, something like the third or fourth time I’m writing a post explicitly asking people to update their iPhones or Macs to patch some pretty serious security flaws. And the truth is, I could’ve written this exact post even more... Continue reading…

The MacBook Air equipped with Apple’s M1 processor is our favorite affordable laptop and is often on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. While it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers), that’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now.In addition to the latest deals, we’ll share each discounted model’s best features (and downsides) to give you more clarity during your shopping journey. And if you need to do more research, you can also check out our guides to the best laptops on the market and the top cheap laptops as well. Photo by... Continue reading…

Image: New Line Cinema Embracer Group’s purchase of Middle-earth Enterprises opens up a wealth of opportunities to put all kinds of new spins on the characters, stories, and places of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. I am a horse girl at heart, and so a video game company purchasing the various rights to the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit universe means my dreams of a horse game involving the Rohirrim are that much closer to fruition. But Embracer didn’t just buy the gaming rights to Middle-earth; it bought (almost) all the rights. What else can Embracer do with all those juicy IPs, and how much of Middle-earth does the Swedish holding group own?Does Embracer Group own The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit?Short answer: no. Long answer: Nooooooo. To be clear,... Continue reading…

Absorbent booms are used to contain aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) from spilling into the surface water in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, on February 7th, 2019. AFFF used in fighting fires can contain PFAS. | Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers / NurPhoto via Getty Images “Forever chemicals” have a reputation for being indestructible, persistent, and just about everywhere — including many places where they shouldn’t be, like our drinking water.But now, there’s excitement about a new way to essentially smash these molecules to bits so that they don’t cause environmental and health problems. It’s described in research published today in the journal Science. There are caveats to the process, but to many experts’ delight, it’s surprisingly simple for such a tough substance.“It truly goes against everything I’ve known for the past 10 years. And that’s really cool because someone else can then take this information and exploit it and adapt it to technologies that we need,” says Shira Joudan, an environmental... Continue reading…

Basically a price hike. | Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge Rivian canceled the entry-level version of the R1T, effectively raising the price of its base model electric truck by over $6,000, according to an online forum for customers and later confirmed by the company.The company said in an email to customers that it was canceling the base “Explore” model, which started at $67,500, in favor of the $73,000 “Adventure” trim. Customers can either upgrade to the more expensive trim level or cancel their orders, the company advised. Rivian has also “discontinued” the less expensive trim for its R1S electric SUV, which is expected to start shipping to customers later this year.In an email to preorder holders, a copy of which was shared with The Verge by Rivian spokesperson Tanya Miller, the company... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Update August 18th, 4:00PM ET: Sony has started another restock event, giving you another change to score a PlayStation 5. Click here to join the queue.It’s been a minute since Sony last offered the PlayStation 5 via its digital storefront. Last month, the company ran public restocks three days in a row, allowing anyone with a PlayStation Network account to line up online for a chance to buy one. And frankly, recent restock events have been fairly easy to breeze through and nab a console. So now is the time to line up, as Sony has a restock going on right now.Once you wait in the queue and your turn comes around (keep your volume on and you’ll hear a chime) you should be able to shop for a PlayStation 5 console and a selection of... Continue reading…

Photo by Nate Smallwood / Getty Images Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman’s campaign to troll Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz into defeat has dominated Facebook and Twitter over the last few weeks. But on Thursday, the campaign announced it is launching an official TikTok account to expand the reach of its already viral videos.The campaign formally launched the TikTok account with a video of Fetterman wearing his signature black hoodie and speaking directly to the camera. In the short video, Fetterman makes an expected jab at Oz and the festering controversy over the authenticity of the Trump-endorsed candidate’s Pennsylvania roots.“I’m on TikTok now. Woo hoo!” Fetterman says at the end of the video.The campaign’s decision to join TikTok comes on the heels of a... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In February, when the Def Con hacker conference released its annual transparency report, the public learned that one of the most prominent figures in the field of social engineering had been permanently banned from attending.For years, Chris Hadnagy had enjoyed a high-profile role as the leader of the conference’s social engineering village. But Def Con’s transparency report stated that there had been multiple reports of him violating the conference’s code of conduct. In response, Def Con banned Hadnagy from the conference for life; in 2022, the social engineering village would be run by an entirely new team.Now, Hadnagy has filed a lawsuit against the conference alleging defamation and infringement of contractual relations.The l... Continue reading…

There are many, many streaming services that people are spending their time with. | Image: Comcast More people spent their TV time watching a streaming service than cable or broadcast last month, according to a report from Nielsen (via The Wall Street Journal). The audience measurement company says that this is the first time ever that streaming services have accounted for the biggest chunk of people’s viewing habits.The report says that services like Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu made up 34.8 percent of people’s watch time, while cable made up 34.4 percent. Broadcast TV made up for 21.6 percent. Added together, traditional TV services still beat streaming, but streaming had the biggest piece of the pie. Image: Nielsen No one streaming service came close to beating cable on its own. Neilson says that part of... Continue reading…

Image: Lego In 1822, Augustin Fresnel invented a lens made of ringed prisms that could concentrate beams of light more effectively than reflectors or huge convex pieces of glass. These days, they’re used in spotlights and even most VR headsets. But originally, he designed them for lighthouses — it’s the invention that’s said to have saved a million ships — and today, Lego has announced a motorized lighthouse with its very own fresnel lens. Image: Lego Make no mistake: it’s a toy — and, at $300 for the 2,065-piece set, a pretty expensive one, too! But Lego’s new light-up Motorized Lighthouse is packed with clever touches, like most of its modern sets aimed at adult budgets. It’ll go on sale on September 1st.I’m particularly... Continue reading…

Image: New Line Cinemas The Embracer Group is a doozy of a media company. It’s 11 parent companies in a massive trench coat that are themselves composed of several more parent companies that own publishers and developers and the rights to video game franchises both AAA and indie. Earlier today, it added a bunch more companies to its roster including Limited Run Games, Maneater developer Tripwire Interactive, and the intellectual property rights to parts of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit universes.To list all of Embracer Group’s companies and assets would take an unreasonable amount of time and space and would get kinda boring. So here are the high points in the company’s portfolio.What video game franchises I’ve heard of does Embracer now own?Embracer... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Google uses TLS (what is called standard encryption) to keep your emails relatively safe in transit. (The service does also have the more secure S/MIME encryption, but it’s only available for business and educational institutions.) There are, however, other ways you can keep your personal data a little safer, and one is by using Google’s confidential mode.Google introduced its confidential mode for Gmail in 2018. The setting allows people to send messages that can expire and prevents recipients from copying their contents, forwarding them to others, or downloading them.You can use confidential mode on a desktop or through the Gmail app on mobile, though whichever you use, you’ll need to activate confidential mode each time you send a... Continue reading…

Image: Krave Nic Flavored gummies are the new nicotine product in the crosshairs of the Food and Drug Administration, which is continuing its years-long crackdown on nicotine use by teens and young adults.The agency announced today that it issued a warning letter to Krave Nic, which sells gummies containing 1 milligram of nicotine each in three flavors — Blueraz, Cherry Bomb, and Pineapple. The company needs FDA authorization to manufacture or sell this type of product, the agency said in its statement.“Nicotine gummies are a public health crisis just waiting to happen among our nation’s youth, particularly as we head into a new school year,” said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a statement.This type of nicotine product is a relatively new entry... Continue reading…

Triller acquired Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz in 2021. | Photo by Paras Griffin / Getty Images for Revolt Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are suing Triller after the short-form video platform allegedly failed to make a $28 million payment for the acquisition of their live music face-off series, Verzuz.The music-producing pair claim Triller hasn’t followed through on any of its required payments since January. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in a Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, Triller allegedly failed to pay Timbaland and Swizz Beatz in January and later agreed to a settlement that would require it to pay $18 million in March and $1 million every month for the next 10 months. But those payments supposedly haven’t come through either.Triller claims it has paid Swizz Beatz and Timbaland “millions in cash and in stock”“To... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge Instagram is tired of creators making their videos in Reels and then heading over to TikTok. While using Reels this week, The Verge discovered that when trying to download an edited clip to an iPhone, the audio from the clip disappeared. This means if you want to export the footage from Reels to use in another app, you have to actually post the Reel first in order to save the sound. As recently as late July, it was possible to download the clip with audio and use it in a separate app — like, say, TikTok — without posting it first.The audio was stripped out on three iPhones we tested, though exports with audio were still possible with Instagram on Android. Instagram did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether this was a... Continue reading…