The Verge

Photo: Sundar Pichai / Twitter Google is set to debut its first in-house smartphone chipset, the Tensor SoC, in its upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones. And if the latest report from XDA is correct, the Tensor’s rumored CPU setup could be very, very weird — even by Google standards.So far, Google has largely been hyping up the Tensor SoC’s AI performance; but it hasn’t revealed any information on the basic CPU and GPU specs of the chip. Google’s Rick Osterloh would only tell The Verge that “the standard stuff people look at will be very competitive and the AI stuff will be totally differentiated.”Some aspects of the Tensor’s components have already come to light. An earlier XDA report notes that the Pixel 6 will likely use an off-the-shelf Arm Mali-A78 GPU... Continue reading…

Miss Phyllis Omido, a Kenyan environmental activist and Goldman Environmental Prize Winner. In a groundbreaking judgement Kenya’s Environment and Land Court ordered the government and two private investors to pay Kenya Shillings 1.3 billion (12 million USD) as a compensation to the residents of Owino Uhuru affected by lead poisoning. | Photo by James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Climate change was a big theme in Time Magazine’s 2021 list of “Most Influential People,” with a handful of climate scientists and environmental advocates making the list along with celebrities like Dolly Parton and Naomi Osaka.2021 isn’t the first year rock star environmentalists have made Time’s list. Teen activist Greta Thunberg was Time’s “Person of the Year” in 2019. Green New Deal champion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was also among the “most influential” that year. This year’s honorees may not be as widely known, but they’ve had a huge impact on how the world grapples with an existential crisis.“Possibly the greatest challenge humanity has faced”Tackling climate change is “possibly the greatest challenge humanity has faced,” one... Continue reading…

The official Among Us costumes. | Image: Amazon Halloween is just around the corner, and if you still need a costume (smh if you haven’t gotten one yet, Halloween is 46 days away, what are you doing?) might I recommend the new official Among Us crewmate costumes?If you get one of these ridiculous inflatable outfits, you’ll surely fool everyone around you into believing you’re not suspicious in any way whatsoever. Definitely not an impostor, nope. Just see for yourself:

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Whether you’re trading in your old iPhone for a discount on a new one, selling it, giving it away, or recycling it, you’re going to want to erase all of your data first. Not only do you want to keep personal information from falling into the wrong hands, but let’s face it: nobody’s going to want a phone with your old selfies on it.After you’ve transferred all of your data to a new phone (or, if you’re not getting a new phone, backed your data up), here’s how to wipe your iPhone:Get rid of a few identifiable features

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Did the Nintendo Switch’s surprise Bluetooth audio update yesterday make your handheld worse instead of better? That’s what happened to me: instead of inviting me to the magical world of wireless audio, it repeatedly failed to detect my headsets and connect to them reliably.Worse, it suddenly took more than 30 seconds to wake my Switch from sleep! That’s a huge pain in the ass, considering one of the Switch’s single greatest strengths is how you can instantly jump back into a game.But after a whole bunch of testing, I think I know what’s going on — and if you’re seeing the same thing, a full Switch shutdown seems to offer a partial fix.It’s not quite that simple, though, so read on for the details.The Nintendo Switch Bluetooth... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The refreshed Apple TV 4K hit shelves in April, but the anticipated tvOS 15 update that introduces exciting updates to the Apple TV experience was previously only available in beta. That will change next week: Apple has confirmed tvOS 15 will become widely available to everyone on September 20th.Apple confirmed to The Verge that the tvOS 15 update will go live the same day as its other operating system updates, which include iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8. The tvOS 15 update brings a number of new features to the Apple TV experience. SharePlay is arguably the most exciting addition to the experience and will allow FaceTime users to stream titles together in sync across their Apple devices, including on Apple TV. However, Apple c... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A University of California San Diego student named Richard Yuan Li was indicted on August 26th for a SIM swapping scheme that involved stealing phone numbers and accounts and extorting at least 40 people for cryptocurrency and other payments, according to a new release the US Department of Justice shared on Monday.According to the indictment (PDF), Li convinced Apple customer service in 2018 to send him a replacement iPhone 8 for one he claimed was lost in the mail. Li and others then convinced carriers to port victims’ phone numbers to the iPhone 8 to take control of their accounts — and in some cases, drained their crypto wallets directly.A phone number could give you access to many different accounts“Li and his co-conspirators... Continue reading…

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg Apple’s iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are launching officially on September 20th, 2021, but you can test them in the public beta right now if you’re willing to risk encountering possible bugs. Here, we walk you through the steps for installing the software. It’s a similar process for the iPhone and iPad, but we’ve made separate sections for each OS.As expected, Apple announced the release date at its September event, where it also showed off the new iPhone 13, iPad Mini with USB-C charging, and more.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... Continue reading…

A powerful, impressive cargo bike in its own right, but it’s really all about the accessories Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Two top lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee’s panel over consumer protection said they were launching a probe into Facebook after The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the company was aware of the harm Instagram can cause to teenage girls.Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced their investigation into Facebook in a statement released Tuesday. The senators said that they were in touch with “a Facebook whistleblower” and would seek new documents and witness testimony from the company related to the reporting.“It is clear that Facebook is incapable of holding itself accountable”“It is clear that Facebook is incapable of holding itself accountable. The Wall Street Journal’s reporting reveals... Continue reading…

Image: USPS EV startup Workhorse has abandoned its lawsuit protesting the United States Postal Service’s decision to let Oshkosh Defense build the next-generation mail truck. The court accepted Workhorse’s voluntary dismissal late Tuesday — just one day before the first oral arguments were scheduled to begin regarding the USPS’s attempt to dismiss the case.Workhorse filed the protest in the US Court of Federal Claims in mid-June, nearly four months after the USPS announced that it had awarded the contract to build the next-generation mail truck to defense contractor Oshkosh, ending a contest that started in 2015.“We are pleased to learn that Workhorse Group has withdrawn its bid protest of the award of the United States Postal Service Next... Continue reading…

Inspiration4 / John Kraus SpaceX is set to launch the first fully private crew of passengers to space on Wednesday. The Inspiration4 crew, three ordinary people and a billionaire philanthropist who’s funding the mission, will board SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule on Wednesday afternoon and lift off at 8:02PM ET atop a Falcon 9 rocket, speeding toward an orbit 360 miles above the ground — farther from Earth than the International Space Station.If all goes according to plan, the mission will mark a new milestone in the budding commercial space industry, where companies owned by billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have been racing to normalize space travel for people other than government astronauts. The mission also aims to raise $200 million for St. Jude... Continue reading…

Image: Carolina Panthers This past weekend marked the first Sunday of the 2021 NFL season, and while it was full of exciting highlights, one may have towered over them all: the Carolina Panthers’ viral video of a giant virtual panther leaping around Bank of America Stadium.The video is ridiculous. A big virtual cat jumps into the stadium, paces around the field, shreds a New York Jets flag (the Panthers’ Sunday opponents), and hops away with a menacing roar. It’s proved to be hugely popular, with 5.6 million views on Twitter.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook reportedly fielded complaints from political parties saying a major News Feed change pushed them toward negative, polarizing posts. Today, The Wall Street Journal posted leaked reports from Facebook after it boosted “meaningful social interactions” on the platform. While Facebook framed the move as helping friends connect, internal reports said it had “unhealthy side effects on important slices of public content, such as politics and news,” calling these effects an “increasing liability.”The news is part of a larger Wall Street Journal series based on internal Facebook research. Today’s report delves into the fallout of a 2018 decision to prioritize posts with lots of comments and reactions. Facebook allegedly made the change... Continue reading…

Image: Apple If you’ve just upgraded — or are planning to upgrade — to Apple’s new iPhone 13, congratulations! You’re going to want to try out your snazzy new phone as soon as you open that box. But first, you need to get all of the apps and data from your old iPhone onto your new one.It’s actually very easy — in fact, if you haven’t upgraded for a while, you’ll find it easier than ever. The process of moving your data used to require restoring it from an iCloud or iTunes backup. Now, you don’t have to bother with that backup (although backing up your stuff is always a good idea). You can move your apps, data, and ID over to the new phone directly with what Apple calls iPhone migration. (However, if you prefer, you can still restore it from iCloud.)... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple’s new iPhone 13 and 13 Mini mark the official end of the 64GB iPhone era: the company has effectively doubled the storage capacities for its 2021 models while keeping prices the same, so the new smartphones now start with 128GB of storage with options for 256GB and 512GB. (For those who require more space, the iPhone 13 Pro models offer up to 1TB.)While 64GB capacities will still stick around on the legacy iPhone 12, iPhone 11, and iPhone SE models, Apple’s newest hardware will come with a minimum of 128GB now.To which I say, goodbye and good riddance. This change was long overdue. Just 64GB wasn’t enough to cut it in 2018, and the issue has only grown as apps, photos, videos, and games continue to grow in size. Though Apple has... Continue reading…

Sony The Pulse 3D Audio wireless headset that Sony made to take advantage of the PS5’s 3D Audio tech is getting a new color option. It’ll be available in midnight black in addition to white, just like its DualSense controller, for the same $99.99 price that it debuted at last year. Most of the white headset colorway was black already, but now there’s simply more of it, covering the headband in black detailing. You can preorder it now through Sony’s site, and it’ll be available on October 22nd, 2021, but more retailers will likely stock it as well.In the PlayStation Blog, Sony says that this announcement coincides with a new PS5 update that gives Pulse 3D Audio headset owners some new settings to customize the sound. You’ll have three audio... Continue reading…

Here’s why Olivia Rodrigo keeps handing out songwriting credits Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge App Annie, a company that collects and sells information about the performance of mobile apps, has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a securities fraud investigation, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a statement.According to the SEC, App Annie used confidential information from app companies to generate its statistical models of app performance. It told the companies the data they provided would be aggregated and anonymized, and not disclosed to third parties. But the SEC alleged that between late 2014 and mid-2018, App Annie and its former CEO Bertrand Schmitt used data that had not been aggregated or anonymized to make its estimates more valuable to sell to trading firms. And, the SEC alleged, App Annie... Continue reading…

The 32GB HP Chromebook 14 is no powerhouse, but it can nail the basics without breaking the bank. | Image: HP The perfect laptop for the college-bound, this versatile 14-inch Chromebook from HP is available at Amazon for just $236, one of its better prices to date. This device packs a remarkable amount of versatility into a compact and lightweight package. At less than an inch thick and weighing in at less than 3.5 pounds, it's easy to tote around, without it turning into a third wheel. While the 13-hour battery may not provide all-day power, it's more than enough to ensure that it won’t die on you during a crucial lecture.The 32GB of onboard storage provides ample room to back up your documents, too, and the pair of USB-C and single USB-A ports can accommodate a variety of storage options. Equipped with a built-in wide-angle webcam and mic,... Continue reading…

Xiaomi has announced its first tablet in a few years, the Xiaomi Pad 5. (The last one was 2018’s 8-inch Mi Pad 4; Xiaomi recently phased out its Mi product branding.) It’s launching in the company’s European markets.The Xiaomi Pad 5 is an 11-inch tablet with a WQHD+ 120Hz display, quad speakers, 6GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 860 processor — that’s the new speed-bumped version of the 855, Qualcomm’s flagship chip from 2019. Round the back there’s a 13-megapixel camera, and there’s a 8-megapixel sensor on the front.The Pad 5 pretty inescapably looks like an iPad Pro, from the slim bezels and flat edges to the tablet-specific MIUI customizations like the apps dock. The build isn’t as solid, and the screen doesn’t quite sit as flush with... Continue reading…

You no longer need a password for a Microsoft account | Image: Microsoft Microsoft now lets you remove passwords from Microsoft accounts to embrace a passwordless future. Starting today, the software giant will let consumers sign into Microsoft accounts with its Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, a security key, or an SMS / email verification code instead of a password.The new option arrives just months after Microsoft started rolling out passwordless authentication for commercial users in March to help people adjust to the realities of remote work. “When I think of security, I think you’ve got to protect your whole life,” says Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of Microsoft security, compliance & identity, in an interview with The Verge. “It’s no longer enough just to think about work or home... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube TV is expanding its live TV channels to include more Spanish-language content and add-on options.The company announced that beginning today, three new Spanish-language networks — Univision, UniMás, and Galavisión — would be joining the YouTube TV experience at no additional cost to subscribers. Notably, the new networks will include coverage of two events that are just around the corner: the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards premiering on November 18th and the Campeones Cup airing on September 29th. This week’s announcement corresponds with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.CNN Español, Fox Deportes, and more will be offered as a paid add-onLocal programming from Univision and UniMás will also be available to subscribers in... Continue reading…

Xiaomi has launched its 11T series, the headline of which is the 11T Pro and its previously announced 120W HyperCharge fast charging system. The phone has a 5,000mAh battery, and Xiaomi says the bundled 120W charger can fill it from zero to 100 percent in just 17 minutes. A 10-minute charge will get you to 72 percent, meanwhile. That’s even faster than the 120W Mi 10 Ultra Xiaomi released in China last year, and the 11T Pro is coming to Europe and beyond.For more on the 11T Pro’s fast charging technology — like whether it’ll destroy the battery or burn down your house, for instance — you can read my interview with Xiaomi’s Dan Desjarlais from last week.The 11T Pro is an entirely different phone to the Mi 11 flagship released earlier... Continue reading…

5G branding is going to get even more confusing, soon: T-Mobile has announced that it’ll be rolling out a new “5G UC” icon on the upcoming iPhone 13 lineup to let customers know when they’re connected to T-Mobile’s “5G Ultra Capacity” network, instead of the regular old 5G network.The difference here is one of bands and brands: at T-Mobile, an unadorned “5G” icon will soon refer to the company’s low-band network, which it calls “5G Extended Range.” As the name suggests, it’s a slower network (closer to legacy LTE speeds) but it reaches a broader area. From a spectrum perspective, it exists in largely the same areas as LTE but uses 5G technologies and techniques for improved speeds.A “5G UC” icon, though, will mean that you’re either... Continue reading…

Co-founders of Colossal, Ben Lamm (L), CEO and George Church (R) | Image: Business Wire A flashy new biotech startup launched yesterday called Colossal is on a mission to make an elephant-woolly mammoth mashup — with the ultimate goal of promoting biodiversity and combating climate change, it says. The effort has gotten a lot of hype and big-name backers, but scientists who work in conservation are still pretty skeptical.The science behind Colossal is in very early stages and is mired in ethical quandariesThe science behind Colossal is in very early stages and is mired in ethical quandaries. The company won’t actually bring back a woolly mammoth, which hasn’t roamed the Earth in about 10,000 years. Instead, Colossal’s de-extinction effort aims to create a hybrid between a woolly mammoth and its distant relative (the two... Continue reading…

Cameras continue to be one of the biggest differentiators in smartphones, and Apple’s iPhone lineup is no different. Apple says the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini have the company’s “most advanced dual-camera system ever,” while the 13 Pro and Pro Max have “our three most powerful cameras ever.”Which you’d hope for, of course. But this year, Apple really does appear to be making a big push with its cameras, particularly with the Pro models. As ever, the question will be what Apple is able to wring out of its hardware with image processing and software.The iPhone 13 lineup represents the first time Apple has increased the primary camera’s sensor size across the board since the iPhone XS and XR in 2018, though last year’s 12 Pro Max had a 47... Continue reading…

Less “big TV” more “projector replacement.” | Image: LG LG has announced a new lineup of Direct View LED (DVLED) home cinema displays, which range in size from a huge 108-inch HD screen to an obscene 325-inch 8K panel that costs an eye-watering $1.7 million, according to CNET, and weighs in at over 2,000 pounds. The company has previously reserved these displays for commercial buyers, but now it’ll sell them to anyone with pockets deep enough.Obviously, these screen sizes mean the home theater displays aren’t going to fit in a lot of houses, a limitation that’s likely to have a lot to do with the display technology they’re using. Rather than using an LCD layer to create pixels, and lighting it with separate LEDs, these displays just use LEDs (with some using smaller MicroLEDs, according to C... Continue reading…

(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Argo AI) Ford and Walmart are teaming to launch a robo-delivery service in three US cities, using autonomous test vehicles equipped with sensors and software developed by Argo AI. Customers who live in Miami, Austin, and Washington, DC, who order items from Walmart online and live within a specific geographic area may be eligible to have their items delivered by a Ford/Argo vehicle.The companies plan on kicking off “integration testing” for the delivery service this year, with plans to expand the geographic areas over time. Autonomous delivery is seen as a potentially lucrative market, with online grocery shopping growing fivefold over the next decade and American consumers spending upward of $100 billion on food-at-home items by 2025,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge How bad is Instagram for the mental health of its younger users? It’s a hugely important question, especially with Facebook planning to launch a version of the app for children.A new report from The Wall Street Journal suggests the answer is “pretty bad,” based on internal research conducted by Facebook that it’s been unwilling to share with the public. The WSJ recently got access to these in-depth studies, which paint a bleak picture of the detrimental effects Instagram has on its younger users, particularly teenage girls.For this latter group, Instagram is a powerful engine for “social comparison” — when one judges one’s own value, attractiveness, and success based on comparisons with others. Teenage girls are often blasted with... Continue reading…

Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images Amazon is now offering a year of Deliveroo Plus with its Prime subscription in the UK. Amazon Prime customers will be able to access the silver tier of Deliveroo Plus free of charge, enabling free deliveries on orders over £25. Deliveroo normally charges £3.49 a month for Deliveroo Plus, making this a saving of more than £40 per year.Deliveroo Plus includes unlimited free deliveries of food from a variety of participating restaurants. You’ll either need to be eating a lot or ordering for two or more people to really take advantage of the service, though. You’ll need to hit a minimum spend of £25 or more per order to benefit from free deliveries.The partnership comes more than two years after Amazon invested in UK-based food delivery... Continue reading…

My editor put together this image disturbingly soon after I pitched this article. | Image: Thomas Ricker If I were an emoji sommelier, there’s one pairing I’d definitely be recommending after looking at this year’s 37-strong selection of finalized emoji. And that’s a combination of the new “bubbles” emoji with the existing “peach.” The former emoji has just been finalized with version 14.0 of the Unicode Standard, but the collection has been public since earlier this year.The reason is simple. Peach has long pulled double duty as the internationally recognized symbol for the human butt, making “butt bubbles” an elegant euphemism for farts. Sure, you’ve long been able to tell a similar visual story by combining the peach with the gust of wind emoji (which I now see is technically called “dashing away”). But now you’ve got more options. Like... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Nintendo has surprise-announced that Bluetooth audio support has come to the Switch through a software update. The ability to use Bluetooth headphones to listen to game audio has been a conspicuously missing feature since the console launched in 2017, so it’s great to finally have it — though there are some limitations.According to a Nintendo support article, you’ll be limited to using two wireless controllers if you’ve got a Bluetooth headset attached. The system also won’t support Bluetooth microphones, which isn’t necessarily surprising given that Nintendo’s own voice chat system relies on an app running on your phone. Still, it’s a bummer for people who play games with their own built-in voice chat abilities.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple’s “California Streaming” event was packed with announcements, from the iPhone 13 and forthcoming Apple Watch Series 7 to a sixth-gen iPad Mini. We expected much of this, yet, there were a number of things we had anticipated that Apple might announce but didn’t, including new MacBook Pros and next-gen AirPods.However, it looks like there’s still hope they may make an appearance soon, especially given that October is historically when Apple will showcase new Macs. According to Bloomberg’s reliable Apple-watcher, Mark Gurman, Apple will likely hold at least one more online event within the next “several weeks,” which means Apple may still reveal the no-shows from today before the end of 2021. Here are some of the more noteworthy... Continue reading…

David Odisho / Getty But will the technical jargon overwhelm the jurors? Continue reading…

The Apple Watch Series 7 has a larger display, and looks like an Apple Watch. | Image: Apple One of the big rumors heating up before Apple’s “California Streaming” iPhone announcement event about the Apple Watch Series 7 wound up fizzling out as soon as the new smartwatch was unveiled. The speculation was that Apple would perform the most significant overhaul of its smartwatch ever, aligning its design with that of the iPhone 12 and 13 — namely, flat sides and a more squared-off look with a larger display and smaller bezels. We got the larger display and slimmer bezels part, but the Apple Watch Series 7 still mostly looks like its predecessors at casual glance.The biggest change to the Series 7 is indeed physically bigger: the display. Apple increased the screen sizes to 41mm and 45mm, and with a thicker glass top the display... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft has announced that its xCloud service, officially known as Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Remote Play are now available to everyone with the Xbox app on Windows 10 (or 11). These features on PC rolled out to Xbox Insiders as a beta last month, and have been available on phones for a while, but them being officially available on PC is nice to see too. It’s giving you another option for how you want to play, whether the game is running on your personal console or Microsoft’s servers.Xbox Cloud Gaming, which seems like a natural fit for PCs that don’t have the power to run the games themselves, has been available on Windows for a few months through web browsers, but it’s a nice step forward that the service is now in a native app,... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple has announced its new iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, which feature better cameras, 120Hz screens, new processors (which Apple claims are the fastest in a phone, period), better battery life, and smaller notches compared to their predecessors. But should you upgrade from the iPhone 12, and is Apple beating the Android competition? Here’s how Apple stacks up to Samsung, OnePlus, Google, and its own previous devices on paper.One thing to keep in mind before we dive in is that specs don’t tell the whole story. There’s the obvious difficult comparisons (how does an Apple A15 chip stack up against a Snapdragon 888, and how do you compare traditional phones to folding ones), as well as the small details... Continue reading…

Apple introduced an updated version of its MagSafe leather wallet today with new colors and support for an additional feature: tracking in the Find My app. Apple’s location tracking service recently expanded with the addition of AirTags, and now the company is apparently working some version of the same functionality into its more low-tech accessories.That might seem like the continuous tracking AirTags offers, but Apple’s description points to something simpler. The company writes that the wallet “supports Find My, so you can be notified of your wallet’s last known location if it gets separated from your phone.” That’s helpful, but possibly not useful if someone moves your wallet after it’s separated.It seems like MagSafe is the keyA... Continue reading…

Apple The Apple Watch Series 7 was one of the many announcements made during Apple’s “California Streaming” event, sharing the stage alongside the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro, a new iPad Mini with USB-C charging, and more. The watch comes in new 41mm and 45mm case sizing, moving away from the 40mm and 44mm sizing that has been the standard for the last few generations of Apple Watch.As expected, Apple updated its online inventory of Watch bands accordingly for the new sizes. But many of them no longer list options for the 38, 40, 42, and 44mm sizing options for all of the bands. While it might appear at first that Apple has unceremoniously eradicated support for all previous models, don’t worry, it didn’t do that. However, the company did make it... Continue reading…

iPhone XR | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge As a slew of new iPhones come in, several models go out. This year, Apple pulled the plug on a couple of familiar standbys to make room for the iPhone 13, as MacRumors points out.The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have disappeared from Apple’s online store outside of refurb models. This is customary for Pro models when the lineup is refreshed, even though they’ve been shipping for less than a year. If you absolutely must spend more than $1,000 on a brand-new iPhone that isn’t the iPhone 13 (or you love that dark blue colorway), your options today are carriers and third-party retail shops.While the devices are likely to appear as cut-rate options at places like Woot from time to time, Apple’s retail option cuts out the option of buying... Continue reading…

The most 2021 gaming apparel yet | Razer What makes a gamer? I’ll tell you. It’s having the right attitude, the skills to dominate, and of course, the right tech. You won’t get ahead without the best, well, you name it.Razer has already produced gaming monitors, headsets, mice, keyboards, toasters, Chroma-enabled mug holders, chairs, controllers, plush animals, clothing, laptops, desktops, headphones, glasses that are also headphones, and truthfully, a lot more. If you’re still not getting the results you’ve worked for? Don’t worry, the company somehow still isn’t at a loss as to what to put out next to maximize your potential. Razer Pros know that this is elite form The latest essential gamer gear is hardcore thimbles that cost $9.99, with two... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple’s big product event today was all about iPhones, iPads, and the latest generation of its smartwatch — but make no mistake, it also underscored Apple’s increasingly aggressive push to dominate streaming.Apple wasted no time on Tuesday showcasing its quickly expanding and award-winning roster of originals on Apple TV Plus, with Apple boss Tim Cook kicking off the “California Streaming” event with a highlight reel of fall premieres and soon-to-debut titles. Cook gave a nod to the more than 130 wins and 500-plus award nominations for the service’s original films and series since launching in 2019, taking time to specifically herald the success of critical darling Ted Lasso, which recently swooped up a record-breaking 20 Emmy... Continue reading…

The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees, known as CODE-CWA, has filed suit against Activision Blizzard for unfair labor practices.As first reported by Protocol, this new suit, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleges Activision Blizzard engaged in intimidation and coercive tactics as employees fought to openly discuss pay discrepancy and their desire to end forced arbitration. CODE-CWA, a digital workers rights and labor organizer, filed the suit on behalf of A Better ABK — a group of Activision Blizzard employees working toward improving working conditions at what is one of the largest video game publishers in the US.In July, the state of California sued Activision Blizzard for enabling a culture of “constant... Continue reading…

The iPhone 13 lineup. | Image: Apple Apple just finished its “California Streaming” event, and it announced a whole lot of new products, including the iPhone 13 lineup of smartphones, Apple Watches with bigger screens, and new iPads.If you’re looking for a quick recap of the biggest news from the show, we’ve got you covered right here. Image: Apple The iPhone 13. The iPhone 13 has a familiar design with a smaller notch Apple’s new iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini look very similar to the iPhone 12 but have a smaller notch and a diagonal camera array. They’re equipped with the new A15 Bionic chip and have an improved dual-camera system on the back. Apple is also promising longer battery life than the iPhone 12.The iPhone 13 Mini starts at $729, and... Continue reading…

Apple is releasing the next version of its smartwatch operating system, watchOS 8, on September 20th. The company first introduced the new free update at WWDC 2021 and has been testing it in public beta over the summer alongside iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey.watchOS 8 is a modest change to the Apple Watch, but it still has some nice additions. Apple is adding support for new iOS 15 features like Focus mode for more granular control over app notifications and new types of keys and ID cards in Apple Wallet.The new watchOS is also getting new watchfaces to take advantage of the Apple Watch Series 7’s larger screen and new workout types for Pilates and tai chi (along with other updates to Apple Fitness Plus). The Apple Watch is... Continue reading…

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg Apple says it’s releasing iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 on September 20th. The company announced the new free operating system updates at WWDC 2021 earlier in June and offered public betas over the summer.Both of the new versions of iOS and iPadOS offer a grab bag of features. The headliners include changes to notifications like the addition of notification summaries, Focus modes for creating distinct lists of apps and notifications allowed to reach users at different times of the day, improvements to FaceTime that include the ability to invite Android and Windows users to calls for the first time, and a new look for Safari.A features grab bagOn the iPad, iPadOS 15 finally brings iOS 14 features like the app library and resizable widgets, and... Continue reading…

Apple announced its new iPhone 13 Pro handset today during the company’s California Streaming event. It’s the first iPhone to ship with 1TB of storage as an option, allowing owners to store double the maximum capacity of 512GB on the regular iPhone 13.Apple has previously offered 1TB for iPad storage but has kept the 512GB maximum on the iPhone Pro side until today. Rumors had suggested we’d get a 1TB iPhone this year, and it comes two years after Samsung shipped its Galaxy S10 Plus with a 1TB storage option for $1,600.Apple is also bumping iPhone storage on the standard models. The base iPhone 13 model will now ship with 128GB instead of the 64GB storage found on the iPhone 12.Apple’s iPhone Pro 13 will start at $999 and is shipping... Continue reading…

With a design that’s largely similar to last year’s phones, Apple is leaning on big upgrades inside the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro lineups to get people excited. Some of the most substantial improvements to the 2021 iPhones are found in the camera(s), and the company today announced several new features that will produce better still photographs and videos on the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.The first is a new “cinematic mode” for video that replicates the rack focus effect commonly seen in movies. The iPhone 13 smoothly transitions between forefront and background focus based on what’s occurring in the frame. The system is intelligent enough to change focus when a subject looks away from the phone.... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple has announced a Group Workouts feature for Apple Fitness Plus. Fitness Plus will also be coming to 15 new countries, including Brazil, France, Mexico, and Russia, and workouts will be getting subtitles in six languages. There are new workouts, including guided meditation, Pilates, and programs to help you prepare for winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.Group Workouts will let Fitness Plus subscribers do a workout with a friend (or a group of up to 32 people), starting it through an iMessage or FaceTime call. On your screen, you’ll be able to see both the instructor and the people with whom you’re sharing the workout. (Hopefully Apple will include an option to turn your camera off if it gets too embarrassing.) You’ll also... Continue reading…