The Verge

Bloodborne is finally on PC — in a manner of speaking. Fans of 2015’s FromSoftware roguelike have been fervently wishing for a PC port. At long last, their prayers have been answered on the gnarled finger of a monkey’s paw with a PSX “demake” available now for free.

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Tesla’s new vehicles rolling out of the factory will include a bizarre feature designed to prevent abuse of the seat adjustment controls. The new seats will track and measure the amount of adjustments users make and will disable the controls if they detect “excessive” changes. The feature was first identified by @greentheonly, an anonymous hacker and researcher, and subsequently covered by Jalopnik.Tesla recently began installing new seat motors in some of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, in addition to the seats it gets from China’s Yangfeng and the ones it makes in-house. The new motors come from Brose, a 110-year-old German company that supplies a lot of components to the automotive industry.“seat abuse” metricsThe difference... Continue reading…

The smash online word game Wordle has been bought by The New York Times, which will integrate the daily word puzzle into The New York Times Games suite of word games, creator Josh Wardle announced today.Wordle will “initially remain free to new and existing players” once it moves over to the Times’ site, and Wardle says that he’s working with The New York Times to preserve players’ existing wins and streak data once the game heads to its new home. That said, The New York Times’ announcement leaves plenty of room for the company to decide to put Wordle behind its paywall in the future.

Netflix By the end of Disenchantment’s third season, Bean, Elfo, and Luci were all down for the count and left in places that made it seem like they might have been ready to call it quits on their journeys through Dreamland. The gang’s all back in the first trailer for Disenchantment’s fourth “part” (read: season), though, and while things have certainly gotten bad, the story’s not over yet.Disenchantment’s third season closed out on Bean (Abbi Jacobson), Luci (Eric André), and Elfo (Nat Faxon) being split up as the kingdom was coming under siege by ogres, and Bean’s mother Dagmar (Sharon Horgan) reappeared to spirit her daughter away to the underworld. Though Bean struggled with becoming Dreamland’s newly crowned queen when last we saw her, D... Continue reading…

The world’s fastest esports gaming monitors can refresh at 360Hz — that’s 360 times every second — but display panel manufacturer BOE thinks it can do better. This past week, it revealed a 27-inch prototype monitor with a 500Hz refresh rate, according to a Sina.com news report from an account dubbed OLEDIndustry (via Videocardz and Wccftech).It doesn’t use OLED, though: in what little description we have (via Google Translate), BOE is bragging that it’s made “important breakthroughs in the field of oxide semiconductor display technology” and “mass production of copper interconnect stack structures” that, combined with “high refresh rate, high resolution, low power oxide display technology,” can make this 500Hz gaming display possible.... Continue reading…

OIL PLATFORM, GULF OF MEXICO - DECEMBER 10, 2014: | Photo DigitalGlobe via Getty Images via Getty Images Fossil fuel companies’ hopes of sequestering captured greenhouse gas emissions at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico hit a snag last week when a federal court revoked a gigantic oil and gas lease sale the Biden Administration held last November. ExxonMobil was the biggest spender at the time, bidding on nearly 100 leases in shallow waters. Because the areas it bid on weren’t expected to be very lucrative for oil and gas drilling, experts speculated that ExxonMobil would use the areas for storing captured CO2.But late last week, US District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras canceled leases issued during the November sale. The enormous sale, which auctioned off 80.8 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, was challenged in federal court by... Continue reading…

You may be used to trying out furniture in AR. | Image: Pinterest Pinterest is adding a “Try On for Home Decor” feature to its app, letting you see furniture from stores like Crate & Barrel, CB2, Walmart, West Elm, and Wayfair in your house through the power of augmented reality. While it’s certainly not a new idea (Pinterest itself already has a similar feature in its app for cosmetics), it could make shopping in the app a little more enjoyable — and Pinterest seems very into shopping right now.According to the company’s announcement post, you’ll be able to use its Lens camera to try out over 80,000 pieces of furniture from “shoppable Pins.” If you like what you see, you’ll be able to follow a link to the retailer’s website, where you can buy that new chaise or lamp that fits so well next to your... Continue reading…

Troy Baker will no longer be partnering with Voiceverse. | Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for ReedPOP Troy Baker, a prominent voice actor perhaps best known for playing Joel in The Last of Us, is stepping away from an NFT partnership following significant outcry. In the early hours of January 14th, Baker announced on Twitter that he would be partnering with a company called Voiceverse, which creates “Voice NFTs” that each have a “unique AI-generated voice map,” but he now says he won’t continue the partnership.In his original announcement, it seems Baker expected some backlash — perhaps he has seen some of the gaming community’s opposition to NFTs already, like what led to the removal of planned NFTs from the upcoming S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. “You can hate,” part of Baker’s tweet read. “Or you can create. What’ll it be?”O... Continue reading…

Image: Screenshot from Tianwen-1 video on China Xianhu News China’s first Mars orbiter, Tianwen-1, is showing off its journey around the Red Planet in a newly released selfie video ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The brief clip, released Monday by the China National Space Administration, shows a good portion of the spacecraft’s body, engines, and solar array zooming through space, with portions of Mars’ surface appearing in the background.The Tianwen-1 orbiter has been circling Mars for nearly a year now. After launching from China in July of 2020, the vehicle inserted itself into the planet’s orbit in February of 2021. The spacecraft is China’s first mission to successfully reach the Red Planet’s orbit, making the nation one of just a handful of countries to explore Mars robotically.... Continue reading…

Netflix/Legendary All Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface has really wanted deep down is to be unbothered by the outside world and left to his murderous hobbies. But the first trailer for Netflix and Legendary’s upcoming sequel makes clear that almost 50 years later, the iconic serial killer still knows no peace despite his attempts to go looking for it.What the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre lacks in terms of having a unique title, it may make up for with its premise, which directly connects it to director Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 feature of a similar name. Though most everyone living near Harlow, Texas is familiar with the story of how Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré) narrowly managed to escape Leatherface’s (Mark Burnham) clutches, Texas Chainsaw... Continue reading…

Save $100 on the iPad Air | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The 2020 model of the iPad Air has been discounted to its lowest price ever. Normally, this slim tablet costs $599.99 but has been discounted to $499.99 in all colorways at Best Buy. The Verge’s Dieter Bohn praised its excellent screen and overall fast performance, calling it the “best tablet for most people” in his review. This model represents a top-to-bottom redesign over its previous iteration, bringing features like a USB-C charging port, which broadens its compatibility with accessories.Our top pick for the best Chromebook you can get, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, is currently on sale at Best Buy for $499.99, knocking $200 off the regular price of this amazing laptop. In our review from The Verge’s own Monica Chin, she gave... Continue reading…

MLB The Show made its debut on Xbox last year, and it’s now making its way to the Nintendo Switch. MLB The Show 22 will be released on April 5th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S. This is the first entry in the MLB The Show series for Nintendo’s Switch console, and it will include full cross-platform progression, cross-saves, and online multiplayer between PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles.The cover athlete this year is Shohei Ohtani, who had an incredible 2021, hitting 46 home runs and 100 runs batted in. The Japanese baseball star is “the only obvious choice to grace the cover of MLB The Show 22,” says Ramone Russell, brand strategist at Sony’s San Diego studio, on the PlayStation... Continue reading…

Mark Zuckerberg’s lifelike 3D avatar | Meta Facebook parent company Meta is introducing 3D avatars to Instagram Stories and direct messages and updating the avatars in Facebook and Messenger, the company announced Monday. People in the US, Canada, and Mexico can appear as their virtual selves in stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures, and more across Meta’s platforms, including its Quest VR platform. The new avatars will include new facial shapes and assistive devices like cochlear implants, hearing aids, and wheelchairs to be more inclusive of users with disabilities, Aigerim Shorman, Meta’s general manager for avatars and identity, wrote in a blog post.“Since revealing our long-term vision of the metaverse at Connect 2021, we’ve continued building out this next... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced today. The Moderna vaccine joins the Pfizer / BioNTech shot as the second licensed vaccine against the coronavirus in the United States.This is Moderna’s first FDA-approved product in the US. “This is a momentous milestone in Moderna’s history,” said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, in a statement.

XKCD creator Randall Munroe has announced his latest science book: What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, which will delve into new out-of-the-box questions that Munroe attempts to answer with hard scientific facts and research.What If? 2 follows 2014’s original What If? book — which itself was borne out of an XKCD spinoff blog — that saw Munroe examine absurd questions (like whether you could build a jetpack that ran off downward-facing machine guns or if there’s enough paint to cover the entire surface of the earth) with rigorous scientific accuracy, accompanied by Munroe’s signature stick figure comics.The new volume will continue in What If?’s absurd scientific footsteps, attempting to... Continue reading…

XKCD creator Randall Munroe has announced his latest science book: What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, which will delve into new out-of-the-box questions that Munroe attempts to answer with hard scientific facts and research.What If? 2 follows 2014’s original What If? book — which itself was borne out of an XKCD spinoff blog — that saw Munroe examine absurd questions (like whether you could build a jetpack that ran off downward-facing machine guns or if there’s enough paint to cover the entire surface of the earth) with rigorous scientific accuracy, accompanied by Munroe’s signature stick figure comics.The new volume will continue in What If?’s absurd scientific footsteps, attempting to... Continue reading…

Amazon warehouse manager pleads guilty to stealing and reselling computer parts | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Charlotte, North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud after stealing and reselling merchandise from an Amazon warehouse, the Department of Justice said in a news release. Between June 2020 and September 2021, Douglas Wright, Jr., an operations manager at Amazon’s Charlotte warehouse, allegedly stole products with a total value of more than $273,000, using his access to get computer parts like internal hard drives and processors, according to the DOJ. Wright said in court on Friday that he shipped the products to his home, then sold them to a computer wholesale company in California.He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.Wright faces up to 20... Continue reading…

Intel claimed at CES that its new Alder Lake mobile chips would be the fastest mobile chips ever made. We’ve finally gotten to try out the flagship in this line, the 14-core Core i9-12900HK, inside MSI’s GE76 Raider gaming laptop. And it turns out that Intel was right... with some caveats.The GE76 Raider is a monster in both gaming and productivity workloads. It blew every 11th Gen gaming system I’ve ever tested out of the water. And it even beat Apple’s MacBooks in many of our benchmarks, but that comparison is a bit more... complicated.Check out the video above to see the full results of our Alder Lake testing and our impressions of how it compares to the M1 Max. For even more benchmark results, in-depth performance analysis, and... Continue reading…

The gripper is made from a specially cut kirigami sheet that folds up into a 3D enclosure. | Image: Hong et al, Nature Comm (2000) Designing robots that can handle fragile items is a big challenge for engineers. For warehouses, robots have been developed that use soft rubber fingers to grab items like fruit, but what about targets that are even more delicate? Like, say, a raw egg yolk?Well, researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of gripper that could one day help machines pick up even the most breakable items — including yolks. Inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami (like origami, but you fold and cut the paper), their gripper is made from flat sheets of material cut with parallel slits. When the ends of the sheet are pulled apart, the gripper forms itself into a 3D sphere that can be used to gently and precisely grab... Continue reading…

Image: Peloton It’s not a rower or the forthcoming Peloton Guide, but Peloton announced today that it’s releasing a new Bluetooth heart rate monitor. Unlike its existing chest strap, the Peloton Heart Rate Band is meant to be worn on a user’s forearm and features optical heart rate sensors.The Heart Rate Band will be available in small and large sizes and will cost $90. That’s a little less than double the price of its existing chest strap, which retails for $49 on Peloton’s website. It’ll also sport five LED lights that indicate which heart rate zone you’re currently training in, battery level, and Bluetooth connectivity status. It also has a rechargeable battery that gets an estimated 10 hours on a single charge.The device is meant to be an... Continue reading…

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images Walmart doesn’t want a lack of know-how to prevent its customers from buying smart home tech, TVs, and other devices that require installation or assembly. A new partnership with in-home services provider Angi has been announced to help mount TVs, set up smart air conditioners, and complete other DIY projects around your home. Angi says over 150 “common home projects” will be available to order from nearly 4,000 Walmart stores, as well as Walmart’s website.Prices range from $49 for a simple job like furniture assembly, rising to $79 to mount a TV. Some tasks like installing new floors will require custom quotes. The service is due to launch in mid-February.Google and Ring have similar installation partnershipsAngi says that the third... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Busy season is here — but some public accountants aren’t Continue reading…

Microsoft appears to still be working on true 3D emoji for Windows after first teasing it last year and then only shipping 2D versions in Windows 11. Nando Costa, a distinguished designer at Microsoft, revealed recently that the company is still working on making Windows 11’s emoji look more 3D.On Friday, Costa authored a blog post on Microsoft’s new direction for its emoji system, detailing the company’s push towards 3D after a 2020 hackathon. Responding to a tweet from someone wanting 3D emoji in Windows 11, Costa says “We’re working on that,” with a grinning face with sweat emoji. We still don’t know when 3D emoji will appear in Windows 11, but at least Microsoft is still working on bringing its original vision to life. ... Continue reading…

The Mojo 2 can plug into devices like tablets to improve their sound. | Image: Chord British audio manufacturer Chord has announced a successor to the excellent Mojo, a battery-powered accessory that aims to improve the sound of your wired headphones or speakers when paired with your phone, laptop, tablet, or other digital media source. New features for the Mojo 2 include a USB-C input, better battery life, and new tone controls that effectively work like an equalizer to customize the sound it puts out.The Mojo 2 retails for $725 (£449), which is hardly affordable by any measure. However, if it’s as good as its predecessor, then this might be a price worth paying to accompany a pair of suitably premium wired headphones or speakers. It’s available globally starting today.The Mojo 2, like the original Mojo, is... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge LGBTQ dating app Grindr has been removed from the Apple App Store in China, and is also unavailable on popular Android app marketplaces, Bloomberg reports. The app reportedly disappeared from the iOS App Store on January 27th, although it’s unclear when it was removed from the country’s popular Android app stores — which are operated by local companies like Huawei and Tencent in the absence of the Google Play Store.The apparent removals follow the Chinese government’s announcement last week that it would be cracking down on illegal content, pornography, and “ill-natured” activities online, Bloomberg previously reported. The tightening of restrictions comes ahead of China hosting the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which are due to kick off... Continue reading…

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Joe Rogan has issued a response to the ongoing controversy that has seen artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from Spotify because of not wanting to share a platform with his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. In a nearly ten-minute video uploaded to Instagram, Rogan defends his decision to book contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and details how the podcast may change in the future.“These podcasts are very strange because they’re just conversations,” Rogan says. “And oftentimes I have no idea what I’m going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people. And that’s why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I’m literally having them in real time,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple will now let developers distribute unlisted apps through the App Store that only users with a direct link can access (via MacRumors). While unlisted apps aren’t discoverable by the general public through search results, App Store categories, charts, or recommendations, they’re available to administrators via the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.Unlisted apps are ideal for “limited audiences”Apple notes that unlisted apps are ideal for “limited audiences,” such as guests at a special event, members of an organization, research study participants, or a specific group of employees. To make an app unlisted and obtain a link, developers will first need to submit a request to Apple.Apps that have only been approved for... Continue reading…

Screenshot: Halo via Paramount Plus Paramount Plus debuted two new trailers for the long-awaited live-action Halo series, revealing its fast-approaching March 24th, 2022 release date.The first video is a one-minute teaser that previews the longer trailer originally set to debut during tonight’s AFC championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals — it flashes between clips of the live-action series and both teams on the field (via IGN). At around the 52-second mark, you can hear the announcer state the fast-approaching release date.

Image: Joe Rogan Update January 30th, 3:50PM ET: After this post was published, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that Spotify is publicly posting its Platform Rules, and that it will “add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19.”Spotify employees are vocally upset inside the company over the streaming platform’s deal with Joe Rogan due to his views on COVID vaccines, but their executive leadership has mostly stayed quiet both inside and outside the firm. Today, however, Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s head of global communications and public relations, posted a message to the company Slack addressing employee concerns about Joe Rogan’s presence on the platform after Neil Young removed his music in protest.In... Continue reading…

Spotify will now add COVID-19 content advisories to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19 following criticism of the platform’s handling of the controversial content in the Joe Rogan Experience. The advisory will lead to Spotify’s COVID-19 hub, which contains credible and up-to-date information about the pandemic.To increase transparency around its treatment of the issue, Spotify is making its COVID-19 content policy and general platform rules publicly available on its site. Spotify says anyone who breaks the rules may have the content in question removed, with repeat offenders potentially having their accounts suspended or banned. The Verge obtained this policy ahead of the platform’s public release, and an internal memo revealed that... Continue reading…

Brené Brown is the host of popular podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead. | Photo by Rick Kern / WireImage Popular podcast host and author Brené Brown says she’s not going to release any new podcast episodes “until further notice” and didn’t offer a specific reason why. Brown’s pause on her podcasts comes shortly after both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music off Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast series.Brown signed a multi-year deal with Spotify in 2020, and is the host of Spotify exclusive podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead. “I will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice,” Brown wrote on Twitter. “To our #UnlockingUs and #DaretoLead communities, I’m sorry and I’ll let you know if and when that changes.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AT&T has a new Unlimited Max prepaid plan with 5G, and it’s available at Walmart for $45 / month. The plan comes with unlimited 5G data, unlimited talk and text, 100GB of cloud storage, HD streaming, and 10GB of available data when using your phone as a mobile hot spot.AT&T’s lowest-priced unlimited 5G plan available outside of Walmart (which doesn’t even come with HD streaming) will cost you $65 / month. While the Walmart-only Unlimited Max plan does allow for HD streaming, it streams in standard definition by default. You can stream in HD by turning off Stream Saver (a mode that plays video in 480p to save data) on AT&T’s prepaid site, or by calling 611. For comparison, several standard prepaid unlimited 5G plans, like Metro by... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced over $1.2 billion in funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to expand broadband service across 32 states. The FCC calls this “the largest funding round to date,” and notes 23 broadband companies will provide service to more than one million new areas.In addition, the FCC also introduced the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan, which will double the number of audits and verifications performed this year in comparison to 2021. It will also require the FCC to make the results of verifications, audits as well as speed and latency tests public on the Universal Service Administration Company’s (USAC) website.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile will fire corporate employees who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2nd, according to an internal email viewed by Bloomberg. T-Mobile’s head of human resources, Deeanne King, reportedly says employees who’ve only received one dose as of February 21st will be put on unpaid leave.There will be “limited” exceptions for certain employees“T-Mobile’s badge-controlled offices continue to be accessible only to those who are vaccinated against COVID-19,” T-Mobile said in a statement to The Verge, referencing the digital pass system the company uses to keep track of employees’ vaccination status. “We have shared with employees that we are requiring office workers to be fully vaccinated by April 2.” The mobile carrier... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are reportedly looking for alternatives to the controversial facial recognition software ID.me, according to a report by Bloomberg. As Bloomberg notes, the agencies didn’t cite a reason for the possible change, and also didn’t mention any privacy concerns about the service.The IRS can’t establish its own software due to a “lack of funding”“The IRS is consistently looking for ways to make the filing process more secure,” Treasury Department spokesperson Alexandra LaManna said in a statement to Bloomberg. “We believe in the importance of protecting the privacy of taxpayers, while also ensuring criminals are not able to gain access to taxpayer accounts.” LaManna also told B... Continue reading…

Logi’s popular, 1080p webcam is an ace when it comes to picture quality. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend deals! While some of us on the East Coast may be busy shoveling snow this Saturday morning, we hope many of you are having a restful weekend chock-full of deals and discounts.Kicking things off on the deals front is Logitech’s StreamCam, which is currently on sale in its graphite colorway at Amazon for $108. That’s about $62 off the regular price of this excellent webcam, one we consider to be the best webcam you can buy in terms of image quality. The StreamCam is Logitech’s flagship 1080p camera and is able to achieve 60 frames per second, allowing for a smooth, crisp look. The Capture software can also keep you centered in the frame, much like the Center Stage feature found on Apple’s newer iPads, and... Continue reading…

Joni Mitchell has decided to remove all of her music from Spotify, joining Neil Young in protest of Joe Rogan’s podcast that Young says spreads misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines (via The Wall Street Journal).“I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue”“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” The Canadian singer-songwriter writes in a post on her website. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”Mitchell also includes a link to an open letter to Spotify, which was signed by dozens of medical and scientific professionals... Continue reading…

A USB-C power meter cable charging up a Skydio 2 drone. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge While I’m waiting for the adapter that’ll turn my DeWalt power tool batteries into a powerful laptop charger, I thought I might introduce you to another intriguing USB-C trend. You can now buy $20 USB-C cables that come complete with their own wattage meter, letting you see just how fast they’re charging your devices.I bought mine a month ago — it took its sweet time getting here — but so far, I’m impressed! For the past couple of days, I’ve been plugging it into everything to see how much it draws: 18W for my V2 Nintendo Switch, 30-31W for my DJI Mini 2 drone, 2.5-3W for one of my PS5’s DualSense controllers, 54-65W for my XPS 15, all the way up to 99W for a 14-inch M1 MacBook Pro or a Skydio 2 drone. Or, down to 0.5W while... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games may have largely lost its major lawsuit against Apple, but it’s not going out without a fight — and it has some major support in its corner. Soon after the Epic Games v. Apple ruling was issued, Epic appealed, and on January 27th, a large number of organizations filed amicus briefs in support of Epic’s battle, including a coalition of 35 state attorneys general, Microsoft, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).During the fight, Epic was trying to make the case that Apple has a monopoly over iOS apps, and was asking for changes that would effectively force Apple to take a smaller percentage of all the transactions that go through that store. If Epic were successful in pushing Apple to accept alternate payment... Continue reading…

Image: Google Life360, a safety and tracking service that helps its users to keep tabs on the whereabouts of family and friends who also use the app, is scaling back its user data sales business to just two partners: Allstate Arity and Placer.ai (via The Markup). This news comes after the company announced a deal to acquire the item tracker Tile in November and a December report from The Markup said Life360 was the source of precise location data to as many as a dozen data brokers. That report cited sources within the industry who called Life360 one of the largest sources of data.Life360 says Tile data will “never” be monetized or soldAt the time, CEO Chris Hulls pushed back on that assertion, saying that “with approximately 30 million active users,... Continue reading…

The Amazon Labor Union recently announced it would be holding an election. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a complaint against Amazon, alleging that the company illegally threatened, surveilled, and interrogated workers who were trying to start a union at its Staten Island, New York facilities. The company also reportedly hired a union avoidance consultant who told workers that the union organizers were “thugs,” according to Motherboard.The NLRB complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Verge, details other alleged incidents between Amazon and union organizers, including multiple times when security guards kept organizers from distributing pamphlets that discussed unions. The company also allegedly “solicited grievances from employees with an express promise to remedy them if they... Continue reading…

California can enforce its net neutrality law | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that California’s net neutrality law can remain in place, upholding a lower court decision. California’s 2018 law is the toughest in the country, and was signed into law a year after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed the federal Open Internet Order. That 2015 order put into place strict net neutrality rules barring internet providers from blocking or throttling legal apps and websites. It also banned prioritization of paid content by ISPs.California’s law also bars throttling and speed lanes, and not long after the law was passed, the Department of Justice under former President Trump sued the state, arguing that the law was pre-empted by the FCC’s 2017 repeal of the federal... Continue reading…

One of Android’s co-founders is now working as CTO of Android Tablets. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge One of Android’s original founders, Rich Miner, is working on Android tablets, a fact that was recently revealed in a ComputerWorld report digging into Google’s history with tablets. Miner’s LinkedIn page appears to confirm it, listing his current title as “CTO Android Tablets,” and says he’s been in that role since March, 2021. Google told The Verge in an email that his specific role is “leading software development for Android for large screens” in the “Platforms and Ecosystems team.”Given that someone pivotal to Android’s history is now working on tablets, and some job listings Google has posted, it seems like the company may be doing something interesting with Android beyond phones and foldables. Miner worked on Android when it was... Continue reading…

Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK Inc./TV Tokyo While Pokémon Arceus is revealing all new things about the franchise’s past, artist Daniel Arsham’s next collaboration with The Pokémon Company is all about a ruined, fossilized future.Building on the larger themes of his previous two Pokémon projects, “Relics of Kanto Through Time” and “Time Dilation,” Arsham’s upcoming “A Ripple in Time” exhibition opening in Tokyo will feature a variety of Pokémon works of art meant to evoke the passage of time. In addition to paintings, drawings, and Arsham’s signature Pokémon statues inspired by architecture and the concept of fictional archaeology, “A Ripple in Time” will also feature an “animated work” produced by Arsham and Kunihiko Yuyama, former general director of the Pokémon anime who now... Continue reading…

Communications weren’t always solid, but they’re picking back up. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Regulators, carriers, and the airline industry seem to be figuring out the details surrounding the rollout of C-band 5G and its potential effects on air travel. According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s latest statement, “through continued technical collaboration, the FAA, Verizon, and AT&T have agreed on steps that will enable more aircraft to safely use key airports while also enabling more towers to deploy 5G service.”Carriers “have provided more precise data about the exact location of wireless transmitters and supported more thorough analysis of how 5G C-band signals interact with sensitive aircraft instruments,” according to an FAA statement released on Friday, which you can read in full below. Before AT&T and Verizon l... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge I’ve written many times that multipoint support has been a signature feature of Jabra earbuds for a long time now. So it was a little disappointing when the company’s Elite 7 Pro and Elite 7 Active buds were released last year without the ability to connect to two audio sources at once. Jabra had promised all along that it would eventually enable multipoint by way of a firmware update, and today’s the day that new software is making its way to customers.If you own either set of Jabra’s premium 2021 earbuds, you can now head into the Sound Plus app for Android or iOS and update the earbuds to gain multipoint support and a few other new features. Early indications are that multipoint is working as expected.Jabra says the latest firmware... Continue reading…

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg There have been some exciting features announced for the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 15.4, including the ability to use Face ID with a mask and to access some snazzy new emoji. If you can’t wait, you can test them in the first available public beta right now — assuming you’re willing to risk encountering possible bugs. Here, we walk you through the steps for installing the software.Before we get started, here’s the usual word of warning about installing unfinished beta software: these releases may seem stable for general use, but they could contain some bugs. Your experience may differ from others, depending on the apps you use. And finally, if you do decide to install, we suggest backing up your device’s data... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge WhatsApp’s chief has a message for those who have been clamoring for a native iPad app: don’t give up hope.“People have wanted an iPad app for a long time.” Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp at its parent company Meta, told The Verge during an interview this week tied to a new US marketing push for the messaging app. “We’d love to do it.”Like Instagram for the iPad, a version of WhatsApp for Apple’s tablet has long eluded users despite being a heavily requested feature. And while Cathcart wouldn’t go so far as to commit to the release of an iPad version, his comments suggest it’s possible that one will be built in the near future, especially now that WhatsApp has built the underlying technology needed for such a client to work.“If I... Continue reading…

Photo by Gary Miller/FilmMagic Even after departing the platform, Neil Young isn’t done criticizing Spotify yet. Today, the rock legend has published another letter on his website, describing Spotify as a purveyor of “more songs and less sound.” Young says that he “felt better” after pulling his music catalog from the leading streaming music service earlier this week while noting that he’s strongly opposed to censorship and that “private companies have the right to choose what they profit from, just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that disseminates harmful information.”Throughout the latest post, Young — a longtime advocate of hi-fi sound — heavily criticizes Spotify for its lossy audio quality. “Amazon, Apple Music, and Qobuz deliver up to... Continue reading…

The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices’ case is closing its case. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Singaporean employment watchdog has closed an investigation against Ubisoft Singapore that was opened following allegations of a toxic studio culture and says it will not be taking action against the company. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) investigation was opened last summer after Kotaku published an extensive article detailing alleged issues at the company based on interviews with more than 20 current and former employees. The claims included racial pay disparity, sexual harassment, and an HR department that allegedly took little action in response to reports.The TAFEP shared two key findings in a press release sent to The Verge. The first was that “Ubisoft Singapore has a structured... Continue reading…