The Verge

Razer Razer’s popular $100 Zephyr mask isn’t a replacement for PPE (because it isn’t PPE), but its announcement of the Zephyr Pro last week spurred a surge of claims that the company had overstated the masks’ protection. Razer responded by scrubbing every instance of “N95-grade” from the mask’s product page late last week (via PCMag).Previously, Razer used N95 in multiple places to describe the filtration and efficacy of its replaceable filters, which were referred to as “N95-grade” because of their 99 percent bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE). Razer now refers to them as “air purification filters.” While Razer claims that testing showed its filters meet a 95 percent particulate filtration efficiency (PFE), the entire mask (not just the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge App Store developers have earned more than $260 billion since the store launched in 2008, according to a Monday press release from Apple. Apple said last January that developers had earned more than $200 billion since the launch of the App Store, so the new figure shared Monday indicates developers earned $60 billion in 2021. The iPhone maker also said that spending on the App Store between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in 2021 grew by a double-digit amount, though it didn’t specify exactly what that number might be.While the new numbers suggest that the App Store continues to be a big moneymaker, developer unhappiness with the store is high at the current moment. Many developers have taken issue with what they see as restrictive... Continue reading…

Apple appears to have quietly discontinued the Beats Pill Plus, with the portable wireless speaker no longer appearing on either Apple or Beats’ websites, as spotted by 9to5Mac.Originally released in 2015, the Pill Plus was the first speaker released under the Beats brand since the music company was purchased by Apple for $3 billion back in 2014. A more refined version of the original Beats Pill speaker, the Pill Plus was an Apple-ified version of the original product, with sleeker monochromatic color options and the addition of a Lightning port for charging.Apple and Beats would continue to go on to build out Beats’ lineup of headphones over the intervening half-decade, with products like recent Beats Fit Pro or Powerbeats earbuds,... Continue reading…

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Genetics testing company 23andMe received Food and Drug Administration clearance for its prostate cancer risk test, the company announced today. It’s 23andMe’s third clearance for a cancer risk report — the company also has tests for genes that predict breast and colorectal cancer risk.The test screens for a specific mutation on the HOXB13 gene linked with an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. Men with the mutation, the G84E variant, have around a three-fold higher chance of developing prostate cancer than men without, one study found. Around one in 70 people of European descent have the variant, according to a statement from 23andMe.The prostate cancer risk report is not yet available to 23andMe customers, the company... Continue reading…

Trucks are seen outside the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, November 17, 2021. | Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images After falling more sharply than at any point since World War II in 2020, US greenhouse gas emissions rebounded from the pandemic in 2021 — likely growing faster than the nation’s economy did last year, according to a preliminary analysis by research firm Rhodium Group. The rise in planet-heating pollution risks putting the US’s climate goals further out of reach, Rhodium warns.Greenhouse gas emissions rose 6.2 percent last year compared to 2020, Rhodium found. That’s slightly higher than initial estimates for economic growth in 2021: a 5.7 percent rise in GDP, according to Goldman Sachs. It’s the latest evidence that as countries return to their old, polluting habits, the pandemic will do little to slow down climate change in the... Continue reading…

The Series 7’s big update was a larger screen, which some found disappointing. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you were hoping for more exciting updates with the Apple Watch Series 8, you might have to start tempering expectations. While it was initially thought that the next-generation watch would have a body temperature sensor, it’s looking like that may not be the case after all.A body temperature sensor for the Series 8 has been heavily rumored for some time now. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman — who has a pretty good track record when it comes to Apple rumors — first hinted a body temperature sensor was coming in June. That was echoed by The Wall Street Journal in September for a potential fertility feature. Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also predicted a body temperature sensor that same month. All in all, there have been several solid... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After nearly a year into Joe Biden’s presidency, new pressure is mounting on the Senate to expeditiously confirm nominations for positions at two of the federal government’s top agencies with control over broadband and data privacy.In new statements issued on Monday, public interest groups Free Press Action and Fight for the Future called on the Senate Commerce Committee to fill the final seats at the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Both Gigi Sohn and Alvaro Bedoya, for the FCC and FTC, respectively, have finished their confirmation hearing processes, but neither nomination has received a final committee vote to set them up for floor confirmation.“Americans are in desperate need of these consumer... Continue reading…

Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images General Motors isn’t done wiping the egg off its face from its misguided decision to back then-President Donald Trump’s failed effort to take away California’s ability to set fuel efficiency standards. In a letter sent to the state’s governor today, the automaker said it “recognizes California’s authority to set vehicle emissions standards” under the Clean Air Act and offers itself up an EV supplier for the state.This represents a reversal of GM’s position three years ago, when it joined Fiat Chrysler and Toyota in supporting the Trump administration’s escalating battle with the state over vehicle emission rules.a reversal of GM’s position from three years agoUnder the Clean Air Act, California has historically been allowed to set... Continue reading…

LinkedIn is planning audio events | Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images The live, Clubhouse-like audio feature LinkedIn confirmed it was working on last year will debut later this month in beta as part of the company’s new events platform, according to a company blog post. Microsoft-owned LinkedIn said last March that it was doing “early tests to create a unique audio experience connected to your professional identity,” which was confirmed in the blog post by Jake Poses, LinkedIn lead for video, creators & events.“This month, we’re taking a big step forward and building on the success of LinkedIn Live broadcasts by launching an entirely new interactive events experience that allows our members to more actively participate in the conversation,” Poses writes in the post. Users cam participate in live... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Last year, Sonos raised its prices for some of its most popular products due to the pandemic’s negative effect on the supply chain. But one of its latest releases, the Sonos Beam 2 soundbar in white, is almost $50 off when you buy refurbished at Best Buy right now. It comes with a 90-day warranty via Best Buy, and the Beam 2 includes all original accessories, including the soundbar itself, a power cable, an HDMI 2.0 cable, and a Sonos optical audio adapter.Sonos touts Dolby Atmos as being the Beam 2’s big spec upgrade over the first-generation model. But my colleague Chris Welch stated in his review that Atmos shouldn’t be the sole reason why you buy it. It does feature wider, more expansive sound than the first iteration, but it’s the... Continue reading…

Photo by Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images Take-Two Interactive, the video game publisher that owns Rockstar and 2K Games, is set to acquire social game developer Zynga in a deal valued at $12.7 billion (via The Wall Street Journal). The cash and stock transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approval.Take-Two Interactive’s acquisition of Zynga marks the company’s foray into the mobile game market. Take-Two is behind some of the most well-known game series, including Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, BioShock, Borderlands, and NBA 2K.Take-Two’s $12.7 billion acquisition is one of the biggest in video game historyMeanwhile, Zynga has a pretty impressive portfolio of its own, defining a genre by planting some of its earliest games,... Continue reading…

Honor’s new foldable, the Magic V. | Image: Honor Former Huawei sub-brand Honor has just announced its first foldable smartphone, the Honor Magic V. It uses a similar folding form factor to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices, combining a large internal folding display with a smaller external display that can be used while the device is folded. Today is the foldable’s Chinese launch, where its price starts at ¥9,999 (around $1,569) for its 256GB storage model. It will go on open sale on January 18th.The Magic V’s flagship feature, its internal folding screen, measures 7.9 inches from corner to corner, has a resolution of 2272 x 1984 with a refresh rate of 90Hz, and an aspect ratio of 10:9. That’s slightly bigger than Samsung’s Z Fold 3, whose internal screen is 7.6 inches with a... Continue reading…

Microsoft appears to be readying a matte black version of the Surface Go 3. Leaked images from Aggiornamenti Lumia on Twitter show the 10.5-inch Surface Go 3 with a new matte black finish. The device looks identical to the Surface Go 3 otherwise, and the marketing images could suggest a launch is imminent.Microsoft first launched the Surface Go 3 in September, with new Intel processor options. The Surface Go 3 can be configured with an Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y or Core i3-10100Y, upgrades over the Surface Go 2, which launched with a Pentium Gold 4425Y or a Core m3 chip. Little else changed with the Surface Go 3 over the previous model, though.

Apple’s Messages app distinguishes between iOS users (in blue) and Android users (in green). | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google has accused Apple of benefiting from bullying as part of a deliberate strategy to make Android users into second-class citizens on the iPhone-maker’s iMessage service.Apple’s messaging service includes a number of iOS-exclusive features, like Memoji, and famously turns texts from Android users green instead of the iOS-native blue. This has turned iMessage into a status symbol among US teens, creating peer pressure for young people to buy iPhones and sometimes leading to the ostracization of Android users. Showing up in a group chat as a green bubble has become, for some, a social faux pas.A recent report in The Wall Street Journal highlighted this dynamic and prompted a response from both the Android team and Google’s head of... Continue reading…

Samsung Display’s new panels combine a self-emissive layer with quantum dots. | Image: Samsung Display Key specs for Samsung Display’s new QD-OLED TVs have been revealed by third-party certification company SGS, the South Korean display manufacturer has announced. According to SGS the new panels are capable of hitting a brightness of 1,000 nits, and can display over 90 percent of the BT.2020 color space, which both represent substantial improvements over current OLED TVs on the market, otherwise known as WOLEDs.The figures are in line with those that were put out by YouTube channel LinusTechTips (LTT) last week, in a video that was sponsored by Samsung Display. So it’s notable that these relatively impressive specs have now been validated by an independent certification company, albeit only partially.LinusTechTip’s video compares the... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta lets you choose from three driving “profiles” that dictate how the car will react to certain situations on the road. Each mode, “Chill,” “Average,” and “Assertive,” varies in terms of aggressiveness (and potentially safety).The feature was included in the October 2021 version 10.3 update, which was pulled two days after it started rolling out due to an issue with left turns at traffic lights. Tesla issued version 10.3.1 one day later, which still includes FSD profiles, as shown on the release notes posted on Not a Tesla App. Based on these notes, FSD profiles are described as a way “to control behaviors like rolling stops, speed-based lane changes, following distance and yellow light headway.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A developer appears to have purposefully corrupted a pair of open-source libraries on GitHub and software registry npm — “faker.js” and “colors.js” — that thousands of users depend on, rendering any project that contains these libraries useless, as reported by Bleeping Computer. While it looks like color.js has been updated to a working version, faker.js still appears to be affected, but the issue can be worked around by downgrading to a previous version (5.5.3).The sabotaged versions cause applications to infinitely output strange letters and symbolsBleeping Computer found that the developer of these two libraries, Marak Squires, introduced a malignant commit (a file revision on GitHub) to colors.js that adds “a new American flag... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Cryptocurrency exchange BitMart promised a full reimbursement to the victims of the platform-wide $200 million hack, but some users still haven’t gotten their money back, according to a report from CNBC. Hackers made off with a variety of tokens on December 4th after using a stolen privacy key to gain access to one of BitMart’s hot wallets, otherwise known as a crypto wallet that’s connected to the internet.Shortly after the incident, BitMart announced that it would use its own funding “to cover the incident and compensate affected users.” However, as CNBC reports, there are still several frustrated users who have yet to see their funds returned.CNBC’s report details the experience of an Iranian refugee who says he stored $53,000 worth... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Roblox shut down the Chinese version of its iOS and Android app, also known as LuoBuLeSi, just five months after its release in China, according to a report from TechCrunch. The app, which was rolled out as a test in partnership with Chinese game company Tencent, will be rebuilt and potentially re-released in the country at a later date.Roblox was officially taken off app stores on December 8th of last year, as announced on a translated version of Roblox China’s website. The post thanks players for testing out the app, and says that developers will “continue to optimize the product.”“A number of important transitory actions are necessary” as devs rebuild the app“Last year, we launched Roblox China also known as LuoBuLeSi with a... Continue reading…

Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images With AT&T and Verizon set to bring their 5G expansion live on January 19th, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has chosen 50 airports (PDF) that will have buffer zones to help prevent flight disruptions (via Reuters and Wall Street Journal). Safety regulators picked airports based on location, traffic volume, and the likelihood of low visibility — all factors that may increase cancelations, delays, and diversions as both carriers roll out 5G C-band service.As pointed out by the Wall Street Journal, notably busy airports like Chicago O’Hare, Orlando International, Los Angeles International, and Dallas / Fort Worth International are included on the list, along with airports in locations that are often impacted by foggy conditions,... Continue reading…

Photo by Northrop Grumman The James Webb Telescope (JWST) has finished unfolding its primary mirror, ending a series of major deployments that took place over the span of two weeks. All of those deployments needed to go perfectly in order for the massive space telescope, which was decades in the making, to function.The JWST has two primary mirror panels on either side that it will use to collect infrared light from the distant Universe. Each of them consists of three gold-plated hexagonal mirrors. Today, the rightmost wing was successfully unfurled, just one day after the leftmost wing was deployed. Now that both sides have been locked into place, this completes the array of 18 mirrors that makes up the 21-foot-wide JWST.

Owners of older Honda and Acura models started up their cars on New Year’s Day, only to find that their vehicles turned into time machines, according to a report from Jalopnik. Instead of seamlessly transitioning to the year 2022, cars’ clocks jumped 20 years back in time, and Honda says a fix could be months away.

Resellers have been a sore spot for consumers during the chip shortage. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Ford is fighting to keep the 2022 F-150 Lightning from being scalped — the company has sent a notice offering to help dealers prevent 2022 F-150 Lightning buyers from reselling their trucks, according to a report from CNET. If a dealer chooses to add a no-sale provision provided by Ford to its contracts, the buyer will have to agree to “not sell, offer to sell or otherwise transfer ownership interest in the Vehicle prior to the first anniversary of the date hereof.” The notice also warns dealers against trying to raise the prices of the trucks themselves.While the move could help stop people trying to turn their reservation for the electric pickup into a payday, some have criticized the move as Ford trying to control what people do with... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge After a string of big shopping holidays, we landed on the first big tech event of 2022. I’m talking about CES 2022, for which The Verge produced dozens of articles. All sorts of new, exciting products were announced, and hopefully, some of them may show up in this deals newsletter once they launch later in the year. As for this weekend’s deals, we’re focusing on some hot products that we think will make your life a little better. Stay warm out there.A specced-out Surface Pro 8 costs $1,599.99 at Best BuyLook, it’s never affordable to get the most high-end version of a sought-after tablet. That’s why most people choose to get the most affordable one and call it a day. However, if you are after a Windows tablet that can offer big... Continue reading…

Image: LG CES had a pretty good year, and that extends to computer monitors, which thankfully were about more than mere ports. What’s better is that this year’s interesting, feature-packed monitors are for more than just gamers. Monitors play an even more important role during the pandemic as the centerpiece of the home office, and manufacturers have responded to that demand with designs that suit a larger audience.We got a quirky-looking, nearly-square creative- and productivity-focused monitor from LG that some people will find useful. Samsung debuted its Odyssey Ark, a 55-inch curved 4K gaming monitor that I’d feel safe floating on when the waters come. Speaking of Samsung, the company’s display division found a suitable monitor to debut its... Continue reading…

Solar panels are installed on the roofs of zero energy model homes, as seen on Thurs. May 17, 2018 in Clovis, Ca. | Photo By Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images California could soon end the perks it has been giving to residents with rooftop solar on their homes, even as it pledges to move entirely to clean electricity. While the move might seem counterintuitive, environmental advocates are divided on whether the changes will help the state meet its climate goals and benefit lower-income residents or harm both efforts.They’re split on a proposal made last month by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that would slash solar incentives for customers of investor-owned utilities, implement a new monthly fee to connect solar customers to the grid, and create a $600 million fund to help underrepresented communities gain access to solar panels and batteries. Industry and some conservation... Continue reading…

Samsung touted its plans for Matter compatibility in its pre-show keynote at CES 2022. | Screenshot by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Two years ago, on the floor of CES 2020, there was a lot of buzz about a chip — not the latest AMD or Intel announcement, but a new alliance of major tech companies that called itself Project Connected Home over IP, or CHIP for short. Its promise was to develop an open-source smart home standard that would make every connected home device work together, simply and securely, regardless of who made them. The buzz was: “That’s never gonna happen.”Fast forward to CES 2022 (yeah, we all skipped 2021) and Matter — as CHIP is now called — was the darling of the show, with a full dance card and a line of admirers that stretched to the virtual Starbucks.Practically every smart home device announcement this week had the tagline “and we announce... Continue reading…

Google has been publicly building tiny radar chips since 2015. They can tell you how well you sleep, control a smartwatch, count sheets of paper, and let you play the world’s tiniest violin. But the company’s Soli radar hasn’t necessarily had commercial success, most prominently featuring in an ill-fated Pixel phone. Now, Google has launched an open-source API standard called Ripple that could theoretically bring the tech to additional devices outside Google — perhaps even a car, as Ford is one of the participants in the new standard.Technically, Ripple is under the auspices of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the same industry body that hosts the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas each January, but there’s little question who’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has changed its PTO policy for workers forced to quarantine, as reported by CNBC and the Wall Street Journal. The policy has shrunk to one week (or 40 hours) off, down from its initial length of 14 days, which is still mentioned on an Amazon hiring page (via Engadget) but had already been shortened to ten days. Engadget’s report includes an excerpt of Amazon’s notice to employees about the change, citing the CDC’s updated recommendations that people who have tested positive for COVID should isolate for five days, as long as their symptoms are gone.Amazon isn’t alone in changing its policies along with the federal government. As Engadget points out, Walmart has also cut down the number of PTO hours employees who contract COVID... Continue reading…

Tesla is raising the price of its “full self driving” software | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company is raising the price of its “full self driving” (FSD) software to $12,000. Musk tweeted Friday that the new price, which is an increase of $2,000, will take effect January 17th for customers “only in the US.” He said the monthly subscription price of $199 for FSD would rise as the software got closer to wide release.Tesla began testing FSD in beta in October of 2020 — when it was priced at $8,000 — with a select group of customers. Tesla increased the price of FSD to $10,000 shortly after. The software does not make Tesla vehicles fully autonomous; Musk himself said during a 2019 earnings call that Teslas with FSD are “able to drive from one’s house to work, most likely without interventions. So it... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Activision Blizzard’s legal troubles just took another potential turn. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is appealing a judge’s decision that denies it from intervening in the $18 million settlement between the game developer and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), according to a document filed Friday.Activision Blizzard and the EEOC settled a lawsuit regarding the developer’s allegedly toxic culture in September, establishing a consent decree that included Activision Blizzard creating an $18 million settlement fund to compensate employees. This case is separate from the DFEH’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard filed in July, which is ongoing.In October, however, the DFEH filed a... Continue reading…

Roku Scott Rosenberg, a prominent Roku executive who helped launch the Roku Channel, is stepping down after nearly a decade at one of the largest streaming names in the business.Rosenberg is currently SVP and general manager of platform business at Roku, a title he’s held since 2017, according to a press release. In addition to his role in the development of the Roku Channel, which is now home to Roku’s original programming, Rosenberg created and scaled the streamer’s advertising business, Roku spokesperson Sarah Novatt confirmed to The Verge.According to the company, Rosenberg was a key player in Roku’s 2017 IPO. Other notable oversight roles listed on Rosenberg’s LinkedIn include partnerships, revenue, product, analytics, payments, and... Continue reading…

The decision will impact “roughly” a quarter of the company’s staff. | Image: Spin Spin, the e-scooter company owned by Ford, announced a major restructuring Friday where it will pull out of “nearly all open permit markets.” More specifically, Spin is beginning to exit “a few” US markets, Germany, and Portugal, and it is “projecting” to close down in Spain as soon as February.Moving forward, Spin says it will focus on “limited vendor markets,” where only a designated number of scooter companies are allowed to compete in a location, in the US, Canada, and the UK. Spin sees “double the revenue per vehicle” in limited vendor markets, according to Ben Bear, Spin’s CEO.“This decision to restructure impacts roughly a quarter of our staff”“This decision to restructure impacts roughly a quarter of our staff,” Bear said,... Continue reading…

This charger can provide a single device with 100W, even with two other devices plugged in. | Image: Satechi Satechi has announced a charger with some interesting specs: it has four USB-C ports capable of supplying 165 watts of power at once, and it will sell for $120. It’s capable of pumping out 100W of power for a single device and can even do that while charging one or two other devices, depending on the power they draw.That’s impressive, given that the 120W Anker brick we wrote about last month (which also had four ports) wasn’t capable of doing the same — it could only charge at a 60W / 30W / 20W split, where the Satechi can do 100W / 30W / 30W. It can also provide two devices with 60W and give the third 45W if you’re more into charging a few lighter-weight computers at a time — for example, maybe a 13-inch MacBook Pro, a Chromebook, and... Continue reading…

Image: Pixar Late last year, movie studios seemed set on returning to theatrical premieres for all movies for the first time since the pandemic started, but now Disney has announced a change of plans for an upcoming family flick, Pixar’s Turning Red. Instead of coming to theaters on March 11th, now it “will premiere exclusively in homes worldwide” on Disney Plus, but still on March 11th.

Meta wants Privacy Center to be the place you go to access privacy and security controls. | Image: Meta Meta (the company formerly known as Facebook) has announced a new version of its Privacy Center, which it says you can use to learn about how it collects and uses data and figure out how to navigate the myriad privacy and security controls available. It says the current version of the tool will have categories covering security, sharing, collection, data use, and ads. While it seems like a good tool to have around, it does feel more like Meta is putting the onus on users to make sure its apps work for them.Meta says that this version of the Privacy Center (it’s had various things called privacy centers in the past) is currently available to “some people using Facebook on desktop” but that it “will roll it out to more people and apps in... Continue reading…

Image: Samsung Samsung is arguably leading the charge on folding phones, and even though the first Galaxy Fold got off to a rocky start, last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 were impressive devices that delivered on the promise of how handy a device with a folding screen can be. But the company isn’t stopping with those form factors; at CES 2022, it showed off a bunch of prototype folding devices that could hint at foldables to come.Take the Flex S, a multi-foldable device that can stretch all the way out to a triple-wide screen. Or the Flex G, a pocket-sized device that folds inward to protect the screen. There’s a device with a right rail that slides out to add some screen real estate. And Samsung even showed off a 17-inch folding laptop that’s... Continue reading…

Binah.ai built a blood pressure monitor into its health platform. Health platform Binah.ai announced this week that it added blood pressure monitoring to the suite of health tools available on its app, which is available through partnered businesses. The company says it can calculate blood pressure using only video of someone’s face through a smartphone or laptop camera — but experts say they need to see significantly more data from the company before they’d trust the feature.Tracking blood pressure without the usual cuff is a longstanding goal for cardiologists and tech companies — it would eliminate a step in the process and could help people monitor their blood pressure at home more easily, which could be useful for people with some heart conditions. “We designed this to replace home cuff devices,”... Continue reading…

After a long trial, former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of four out of the 11 charges brought against her, including three counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud investors in her now-defunct blood testing company. The verdict caps a journey filled with both promises and disappointments, one that ultimately led to the downfall of what could have been one of the most successful companies, and entrepreneurs, to come out of Silicon Valley in over a decade.While the verdict is a milestone in holding startup founders accountable for false promises, it actually further complicates the difference between fraud and the “fake it til you make it” mindset of many startups. The Verge’s deputy editor Liz Lopatto breaks... Continue reading…

Ikea has quietly updated its Sonos-partnered Symfonisk bookshelf speakers with a second-generation version that’s already available in the Netherlands, via Dutch tech website Tweakers.Unlike the recently revamped Symfonisk lamp, which added a brand new design, the second-gen bookshelf speakers are a more minor update: they still feature the same basic shelf-style design and compatibility with Sonos’ speaker network and Apple’s Airplay 2.Tweakers reports that Ikea’s made some internal changes, though, adding a faster processor, more memory, and lowering power consumption when in standby mode. It’s also added a longer power cable, which should be helpful for anyone trying to mount them in awkwardly wired rooms.But the biggest change... Continue reading…

The Verge Awards at CES | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The things that got us most excited, bewildered, and delighted at CES 2022 Continue reading…

Two blindfolded players tackle a game together at AGDQ 2020. | Image: Games Done Quick Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), the annual week-long speedrunning marathon for charity, kicks off on Sunday, and if this year’s schedule is anything to go by, the event promises to be another exciting event of jaw-dropping gaming.The lineup for this year has a great mix of old and new games that players will try to beat as fast as they possibly can. I’m personally excited to see Chicory: A Colorful Tale beat in 35 minutes, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart finished in just over an hour and a half, and the original Halo finished in an hour and 17 minutes on Legendary. Some of the races look like they could be great to watch, too, like the 26-minute three-way Diddy Kong Racing race. (Will they beat Wizpig? Tune in to find out.) And one of the... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Today, let’s talk about a little-discussed story that I worry could someday have big implications: the encrypted messaging app Signal’s introduction of anonymous cryptocurrency payments, and the opportunity it could create for regulators around the world who have been looking for an excuse to eliminate end-to-end encryption altogether.A year ago, Platformer was the first to report that Signal was considering adding cryptocurrency payments to the platform, and it started with MobileCoin. Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike has served as an adviser to the MobileCoin cryptocurrency, which is built on the Stellar blockchain and is designed to make payments as anonymous as cash. As Wired described it in 2017, “the idea of MobileCoin is to build a... Continue reading…

Look familiar? Asus has announced its ROG Flow Z13, which it’s touting as the “world’s most powerful gaming tablet.” Yes, you read that correctly — it’s a tablet for gaming. Not mobile gaming, but PC gaming. It’s got an RTX 3050 Ti inside, and you can hook it up to Asus’ ROG XG Mobile external GPU for even more frames.I will caveat right off the bat that we don’t have a price for this thing yet, and it doesn’t seem like the type of thing we can expect to be super affordable, especially if you tack on the XG Mobile. Asus’ last crack at this sort of form factor, the ROG Mothership, started at $5,499.But even if this ends up being a luxury product, it may be a glimpse into a form factor that will eventually make its way to a more accessible tier (as... Continue reading…

Norton Crypto promises to turn your computer’s idle time into cash. Norton is facing criticism for including a crypto miner alongside its Norton 360 security software. Activists like Cory Doctorow have claimed that the company “sneakily installs cryptomining software on your computer” and skims a commission on profits, and outlets like PC Mag, Krebs on Security, and Digital Trends have also written about users expressing frustration trying to uninstall it. While there’s more than a grain of truth to these claims, we dug into it ourselves and found they’re being blown out of proportion.Last summer, Norton very publicly announced it was adding a crypto miner to its Norton 360 security suite, pitching it as a safer alternative to trying to install complex, “unvetted” mining programs from the internet. It... Continue reading…

James Cridland / Flickr The Swiss army has banned the use of WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and other foreign encrypted messaging services by army personnel, according to Associated Press reports, and instructed staff to use the Swiss-made Threema app instead. The announcement was made in a letter sent to top army staff in December, citing privacy concerns based on US authorities’ ability to access data.The original letter reportedly told army chiefs that “no other messaging service will be authorized,” although a spokesperson subsequently seemed to tone down the strength of the decree, describing it to the AP as a “recommendation.”The primary concern seems to be the ability of authorities in Washington to access data stored by companies that fall under US... Continue reading…

Time to Run launches January 10. | Image: Apple After launching Fitness Plus in December 2020, Apple has continuously added new features, including audio walks with celebrities and new workout programs for pregnant and older users. Today, it’s announcing a few more additions, with the standout being audio running experiences dubbed Time to Run.According to Apple’s press release, Time to Run can help users “become more consistent and better runners,” and each session focuses on a popular running route in a specific location. The sessions will be led by Fitness Plus trainers Emily Fayette, Jamie-Ray Hartshorne, Sam Sanchez, and Scott Carvin — they all also coach the service’s treadmill workouts. Apple will also be adding another running coach, Cory Wharton-Malcolm. Each episode will... Continue reading…

The five matching case and controller colors of the PlayStation 5. | Image: Sony Ever since the PlayStation 5 was announced, opinions regarding its design and styling have been, well, mixed. Many jokes and memes have been made about the gargantuan size of the PS5, and how its two-tone monochromatic color and stretched-out wings are reminiscent of an oversized router. Jokes aside, once Sony revealed that the white covers are user-removable, there has been a demand for replacements. Enough people instantly wanted to own a blacked-out PS5 that a small cottage industry of third-party suppliers cropped up, selling unlicensed accessories until Sony came out swinging with cease and desist letters.Sony finally came around and announced its own official replacement covers for the disc-based PS5 and the Digital Edition in... Continue reading…

The iPad mini 6 (LTE) is selling for $629.98 today. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you’ve been waiting for a deal to drop on Apple’s latest iPad Mini, today is your lucky day. Discounts on the LTE- and 5G-ready version of the iPad Mini are rare, but Amazon has the 64GB model (usually $649.99) for $629.98. That is a small discount, but for context, it’s actually $1 shy of its best price we’ve seen yet for this model. The tablet, which released in 2021, is equipped with Apple’s A15 Bionic processor, a 12MP rear camera, and USB-C support. It also comes with Apple’s Center Stage feature, which allows the front-facing camera to digitally pan and zoom in during video calls. Read our review.We’ve got another Apple deal for you, but this one may help you achieve your fitness goals, if you have some. While we’ve been... Continue reading…