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by Chaim Gartenberg on (#5PD4D)
The App Store may never be the same.Today’s ruling from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Epic v. Apple trial mandates that Apple must allow all developers the option to point directly to other payment systems, in addition to Apple’s own in-app purchasing system (IAP). It’s a decision that cuts right to the heart of the roughly $19 billion a year the App Store brings in for Apple, because at the end of the day, the App Store makes most of its money off in-app purchases inside free-to-download games.It’s not a total sledgehammer to the heart of Apple’s walled garden; the ruling still maintains the App Store as the only place that users can go to to buy or download new apps, and doesn’t challenge Apple’s 30 percent cut of those... Continue reading…
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The Verge
Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
Updated | 2025-07-28 10:02 |
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by Dieter Bohn on (#5PD4E)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The pace of change is quickening even as Apple tries to stop it Continue reading…
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by Ian Carlos Campbell on (#5PBWG)
Image: Porsche AG Porsche is taking inspiration from the world of esports and livestreaming for its next racecar concept. The all-electric Porsche Mission R, first introduced at this weeks’ 2021 IAA Mobility conference in Munich, is what Porsche believes is “the future of customer motorsport.”According to Porsche, the Mission R is designed to create “new ways for fans and driver to interact.” The car features a mostly glass roof — reminiscent of consumer EVs like the Tesla Model 3 or Porsche’s own Taycan — so the driver can be viewed from above during the entirety of race. Inside there are mounted cameras for the driver’s helmet, a movable camera on the car’s A-pillar, and a backward-facing dashboard cam so fans can get up close and personal. Porsche... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#5PBWH)
Image: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz has shown off the electric Maybach EQS, an opulent concept car that the company says is a preview of what the future of high-end electric cars may look like. The company revealed the EV SUV at the IAA Mobility show, where it also announced a G-Class SUV concept, and a more attainable electric sedan.When compared to the existing Maybach GLS, the EQS concept doesn’t look particularly outlandish. Mercedes says that the one-off vehicle is based on its modular electric architecture — the same that powers its upcoming EQS sedan. The company says that the concept is meant to show off its vision for “a locally emission-free future,” without giving up the exclusivity and luxury that the Maybach name implies — Mercedes says the... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#5PBWJ)
Houseparty’s Fortnite mode. | Image: Epic Games Epic Games is going to shut down group video chat app Houseparty, the company announced Thursday. The Houseparty app will be removed from app stores “immediately,” according to Epic, though people who already have the app will be able to use it until the service is fully shut down in October. Houseparty’s integration with Fortnite will also continue to work until Houseparty is shut down in October.Houseparty, which was released by the creators of the popular Meerkat livestreaming app in 2016, was purchased by Epic in 2019, and Epic says that “tens of millions of people” have used the app. Going forward, however, “the team behind Houseparty is working on creating new ways to have meaningful and authentic social interactions at metaverse... Continue reading…
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#5PBWK)
Over a dozen vehicles from the 2015 cult classic Mad Max: Fury Road are being put up for a virtual auction. The vehicles will be available for bidding in a series of auctions held by Lloyds on September 25th-26th.Reading through the descriptions of each vehicle — and hats off to the auctioneers, they really did a commendable job describing each lot — really made me want to fire up George Miller’s blood-and-sand-drenched movie for another watch. WITNESS ME!
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by Joey Roulette on (#5PBS8)
Photo by Mark Wilson / Getty Images Amazon slammed Elon Musk’s SpaceX as a serial rule-breaker on Wednesday amid an enduring fight over the two companies’ plans to build rivaling satellite networks. The conflict, waged within lengthy filings to the Federal Communications Commission, is nothing new. But this time, Amazon sent FCC officials a laundry list of Musk’s past troubles with other regulators, mounting its most aggressive attempt yet to push back on SpaceX’s speedy timeline for deploying its broadband satellites.“Try to hold a Musk-led company to flight rules? You’re ‘fundamentally broken,’” Amazon wrote in its filing, referring to the time Musk complained that the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulatory structure slowed down SpaceX’s operations. “Try to hold a... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#5PBS9)
The ‘Orca’ direct air capture and storage facility, operated by Climeworks AG, in Hellisheidi, Iceland, on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. | Arnaldur Halldorsson/Bloomberg via Getty Images The biggest industrial plant yet to suck tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide out of the air came online yesterday in southwest Iceland. Direct air capture plants like this one have been hyped up lately by world leaders and giant corporations — notably Microsoft — that are looking to erase their legacy of greenhouse gas pollution.This particular operation is ideally located to test the emerging technology. The new plant, built by Swiss company Climeworks, is powered by renewable energy from a geothermal power plant nearby. Climeworks also plans to lock the captured CO2 away in basalt rock formations just three kilometers from the geothermal plant. It’s a storage plan that likely bypasses the need for controversial new carbon dioxide... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#5PBSA)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is cutting the number of subscribers you need to be able to make Community posts in half, the company announced Thursday. Starting October 12th, instead of requiring 1,000 subscribers, you’ll need more than 500 subscribers. In a tweet, YouTube said that will open up the feature to “millions” more channels.
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by Chaim Gartenberg on (#5PBKJ)
Spotify is rolling out a new feature called “Enhance,” which will automatically spiff up your playlists with recommended songs that (theoretically) fit in with your music’s existing style and theme.The feature works through a new Enhance button that now appears at the top of playlists. Tap it to toggle it on, which causes Spotify’s algorithm to automatically add recommended songs that it thinks will fit into your playlist. Enhance-recommended songs will be marked with a bright green sparkles icon to indicate that they weren’t part of your original list and can be added permanently by tapping the plus button that appears next to the song.Spotify’s algorithm is here to spice up your playlists with new songsSongs added through Enhance... Continue reading…
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by Alex Heath on (#5PBKM)
Hands-on with Facebook and Ray-Ban’s first pair of smart glasses Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#5PBKN)
Image: Lego Lego’s latest Mario-themed set is a giant homage to Super Mario 64, a giant question mark block that unfolds to reveal four levels from the Nintendo 64 game: Peach’s Castle; Bob-omb Battlefield; Cool, Cool Mountain; and Lethal Lava Trouble. The “Lego Super Mario 64 ? Block set,” to use its official title, is made up of over two thousand pieces and will cost $169.99 when it goes on sale in Lego’s stores on October 1st.From the trailer released today, the set looks great: four blocky dioramas of a game that itself looks pretty blocky by modern standards. But I have to split hairs and point out that, as far as I’m aware, the question mark block never actually appears in Super Mario 64. Seriously, go back and look at screenshots if you... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#5PBKP)
Microsoft is debuting its first ad campaign for Windows 11 today. The 60-second TV commercial is set to “All Starts Now” by Odessa and features the new Microsoft Store, Master Chief from the world of Halo, Microsoft Teams, and more.Explaining what a new version of Windows will bring to consumers is never easy, and Microsoft has opted for a similar approach to its first Xbox Series X commercial. An actress walks through walls of apps and selects Xbox Game Pass, which triggers Master Chief to appear and blast a Halo banshee out of the sky. Image: Microsoft Master Chief appears and blows up a Halo banshee. The new bloom default wallpaper in Windows 11 also appears, alongside the built-in Microsoft Teams... Continue reading…
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by Cameron Faulkner on (#5PBKQ)
Roll through mazes as an inanimate Sega console because why not? | Sega September 9th marks the anniversary of the US launch of Sega’s Dreamcast, its final console before the company pivoted completely to game development and publishing in the early aughts. Sega is honoring the Dreamcast, along with the Game Gear and Saturn, in the most illogical, but hilarious way by adding them as playable characters in the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.
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by Tom Warren on (#5PBKS)
Stephen Brashear/Getty Images Microsoft is shelving its plans to fully reopen its US offices next month. The software giant had planned to reopen its headquarters on October 4th, but the ongoing uncertainty of COVID-19 and the spike in cases has forced the company to delay its back to the office push. Microsoft isn’t providing a new date to employees, though.“Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, we’ve decided against attempting to forecast a new date for a full reopening of our US work sites in favor of opening US work sites as soon as we’re able to do so safely based on public health guidance,” explains Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of modern work.This latest delay follows a number of postponements this year to fully reopen Microsoft’s offices.... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#5PBKR)
Microsoft Teams with Apple CarPlay support. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is continuing to improve the remote meeting experience in Microsoft Teams with better camera support and other improvements that will let you stay in meetings 24/7, if you choose.After rolling out Together Mode last year, and a vision for the future of meetings earlier this year, Microsoft Teams will soon be updated to support intelligent cameras. These cameras will be supplied by partners like Jabra, Neat, Poly, and Yealink and will enable AI-powered active speaker tracking, multiple video streams, and people recognition.They’re the type of cameras that can actually deliver on some of Microsoft’s promises for the future of meetings, enabling cameras in meeting rooms to use audio, facial movements, and gestures to detect... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#5PB8W)
Google has released a new teaser trailer for its upcoming Pixel 6 that includes several shots of the smartphone being used in the real world. The footage comes a little over a month after Google released its first official images of the upcoming device, which were limited to renders rather than actual photographs.Over on its Instagram page, Google has also teased the phone in a new post which may give some hints about when its official launch might take place beyond “this fall.” As Android Police points out, the clock widgets in these images show the date as “Tue 19th.” And yes, the 19th of October falls on a Tuesday. That’s a little later than when Google announced the Pixel 5 last year (September 30th), but it’s definitely the right... Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#5PB6D)
Image: Roku Roku’s first feature-length film is Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas, a TV movie based off the NBC show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, the company has announced. The film will be available free on the ad-supported Roku Channel in the US this holiday season, as well as in Canada and the UK. The film will be directed by Richard Shepard (who directed the show’s original pilot), and written and executive produced by the show’s creator Austin Winsberg.Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas marks the latest step in Roku’s foray into original content, which kicked off with its acquisition of defunct streaming service Quibi’s library earlier this year. Since then it’s launched its own Roku Recommends show, and has ordered additional seasons of ex-Quibi... Continue reading…
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by Casey Newton on (#5PB6E)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Moderators say smaller groups are helping them block trolls and build community Continue reading…
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by Thomas Ricker on (#5PB3X)
BMW’s two concept e-bikes envision geofencing to limit speeds inside cities. | Image: BMW BMW recently showed off not one, but two e-bike concepts. The announcements are sprinkled with tons of gee-whiz claims that are easy to make when something only lives on paper, not roads. But one idea stood out to me as a real solution: the use of geofencing to limit fast e-bike speeds inside congested cities. Especially since BMW already has a working geofencing solution deployed around Europe.In Europe at least, fast e-bikes known as speed-pedelecs (or Class 3 e-bikes in the US) are capable of going 45km/h (28mph), just like BMW’s new concept bikes, the BMW i Vision AMBY and BMW Motorrad Vision AMBY.BMW sees the i Vision as a pedal-assisted e-bike fitted with a massive 2,000Wh battery that’s “fast charging,” naturally, for a range... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#5PB3Y)
Blocks? Chains? How does this whole thing work? Continue reading…
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by Jon Porter on (#5PB21)
Image: Google Google Photos now lets you order prints of specific photographs and get them shipped to homes in the US for as little as $0.18 plus shipping, the company has announced. Although it’s previously been possible to print individual photos through Google Photos, until now you’ve had to pick them up from a local Walmart, CVS, or Walgreens. Otherwise, getting prints shipped has required paying for Google’s $6.99 a month photo subscription, which sends 10 cardstock photo prints each month.Alongside the new shipping option, Google is also expanding the sizes available. There’s now the option of getting prints in larger 11x14, 12x18, 16x20, and 20x30-inch sizes, in addition to the previously available 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10-inch options. Canvas... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#5PB22)
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Microsoft is starting to test the ability for TV remotes to navigate around the Xbox dashboard. A new version of the Xbox dashboard for Xbox Series S / X consoles is being tested with selected Xbox Insiders, and it enables new HDMI-CEC features that let ordinary TV remote controls navigate around the Xbox dashboard and control streaming apps like Netflix.While the Xbox Series S / X consoles have had some HDMI-CEC features to control TV volume or turn on TVs when an Xbox boots up, these new additions mean you won’t have to reach for an Xbox controller if you just want to watch content from Netflix, Twitch, YouTube, or many other streaming apps.
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by Sam Byford on (#5PAWV)
Facebook and Ray-Ban are set to announce their smart glasses collaboration later today, September 9th, and right on cue Evan “Evleaks” Blass has posted a ton of alleged photos of the product lineup. The glasses are called Ray-Ban Stories, and other than the box it doesn’t look like Facebook branding appears anywhere on the product.Evleaks’ images include three distinct frame styles — Wayfarer, Round, and Meteor — and they all look pretty close to the classic Ray-Ban designs. The difference, of course, is the presence of two cameras by the hinges on either side. There’s also a button along the top of the right temple, which could potentially be used to operate the cameras. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously said of... Continue reading…
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by James Vincent on (#5PAT8)
The dog poop avoiding feature is only available on the new Roomba j7+. | Image: iRobot Using a robot vacuum has always been a bit hazardous for pet owners. Leaving a robovac to do its thing in your absence can be a problem if your less-than-perfectly-trained dog or cat also does its thing while you’re out. A quick Google of “Roomba dog poop” gives you some idea of what the outcome can be, as unheeding robots with spinning brushes barrel into the mess and proceed to spread it liberally around the house.But now, Roomba-maker iRobot say it’s fixed this scatological problem. The company’s latest robovac, the Roomba j7+, uses built-in machine vision and AI to identify and avoid pet messes of all sorts. “It’s a big deal for us,” iRobot founder and CEO Colin Angle tells The Verge. “We’ve been working on it for a long time and... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#5PAPF)
Today, Google released the final Android 12 beta before the OS properly launches, and with it a few of the visual changes and features we saw back when Android 12 was announced. Some of the notable inclusions in Beta 5 are the lovely geometric clock widgets, a redesigned calculator, and a new lock screen shortcut.The clock app has also gotten some tweaks, according to 9to5Google, with an updated design, new animations, and (of course) colors that are responsive to your phone’s theme.9to5Google also reports that Beta 5 brings the promised Material You overhaul for the calculator app as well, complete with pastel colors and more playful buttons. Here’s new vs. old: Image: Google The new design of Calculator 8.0... Continue reading…
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#5PAKV)
Elizabeth Holmes, outside the courtroom | David Odisho / Getty Who is Elizabeth Holmes, really? Continue reading…
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by Sean Hollister on (#5PAKW)
The Nerf Hyper Rush-40. Are these new blasters really the future of Nerf? Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#5PAJ1)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google reached a settlement with a fired employee who the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) claims was let go from the company for his workplace activism, Bloomberg reports. The employee, Laurence Berland, was fired in 2019 allegedly for violating Google’s data security policies. He had been a vocal critic of Google’s work with the US Customs and Border Protection and was terminated amid internal organizing.The settlement was approved in July by the NLRB, though the terms haven’t been revealed, according to Bloomberg. Google hasn’t replied to a request for comment from The Verge.The NLRB has accused Google of violating labor law in firing Berland and four other workers in 2019 over organizing activities and is still battling Google... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#5PAJ2)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Robinhood is rolling out a new feature that lets you automatically invest in cryptocurrencies on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule. The investment app says this service will let you automatically invest in things like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other supported cryptocurrencies without a commission fee.Before we go any further, though, I should warn you that nothing in this article is qualified or expert financial advice. It’s probably wise to talk with an expert who can help you come up with an investment strategy that’s right for you.Robinhood’s approach here is automatic investing, not trading. It won’t sell the crypto for you when an algorithm decides it’d make financial sense to do so. Instead, it’s just steadily building... Continue reading…
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by Ian Carlos Campbell on (#5PAJ3)
Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Netflix Netflix is doubling down on TikTok star Addison Rae with a new multi-picture film deal that could see the social media celebrity bringing even more eyes to the streaming service, As part of the deal, Netflix will develop projects specifically for Rae to star in and executive produce (via Variety).The motivation seems to be the early success of He’s All That, the gender-swapped remake of She’s All That, which was first announced in September 2020. The company projects the film will be watched by more than 55 million households in the first month of release and says it reached #1 on the company’s chart “in 78 countries, including Brazil, France, and Saudi Arabia.” Critical reception to He’s All That has been mixed, from surprisingly... Continue reading…
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by Adi Robertson on (#5PAG1)
Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The Los Angeles Police Department asked officers to gather social media information as a standard part of their interviews with civilians, whether or not the people were implicated in a crime. The practice, revealed in public records obtained by the Brennan Center for Justice, is part of a larger LAPD social media monitoring strategy — one that’s similar to other US police department policies but may go beyond them.As the Brennan Center notes, a 2015 memo from LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck told the department that “similar to a nickname or an alias, a person’s online persona or identity used for social media and communication can be highly beneficial to investigations and possibly even future outreach programs.” Beck said that officers... Continue reading…
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by Justine Calma on (#5PAG2)
Jeff Bezos speaks during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. | Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jeff Bezos’ $10 billion Earth Fund just doled out millions more in funding to groups fighting off climate change. This time, a lot of the cash is going to groups that advocate for communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, which often face the first and worst effects of climate change and fossil fuel pollution.The fund announced a total of $203.7 million in new grants today. Of that, more than $53 million will go toward communications on climate change and efforts to cut emissions from businesses. Another $20 million will go to groups focused on climate justice — a movement to stop climate change from taking a disproportionate toll on already marginalized communities.A movement to stop climate change from taking a... Continue reading…
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by Joey Roulette on (#5PADX)
The James Webb Space Telescope, humanity’s next big space-bound eye on the cosmos, has a new launch date of December 18th, NASA announced on Wednesday. It’s the latest among dozens of other delays for a telescope that was originally planned to go to space as early as 2007.The $8.8 billion observatory, named after NASA’s second administrator, is a tennis court-sized successor to NASA’s famed Hubble telescope. Its 18 hexagonal gold-plated mirrors will allow the spacecraft to view distant planets and the far reaches of the universe with a level of detail that far surpasses Hubble’s capabilities.Astronomers have been looking forward to the telescope’s launch for years, but its development has been set back by years of delays, development... Continue reading…
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by Sean O'Kane on (#5PADY)
Fitness company Whoop has a new tracker that squishes five LEDs, four photodiodes, a pulse oximeter, skin temperature sensor, and more into a package that is 33 percent smaller than its predecessor — all while still offering five days of battery life. But a particular change to the tracker’s battery chemistry is one of the biggest reasons Whoop was able to do all this in the first place.The change was pioneered by a Silicon Valley company called Sila Nanotechnologies, which was co-founded in 2011 by Gene Berdichevsky, one of Tesla’s earliest employees. And it’s one that, if it scales up, could help break some of the biggest limitations currently facing lithium-ion technology.On paper, it’s a simple change: the battery’s anode is now... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#5PABB)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase seems to have some issues with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a planned feature that lets people lend cryptocurrency through its platform. In a Medium post on Tuesday, Coinbase’s chief legal officer wrote that the regulatory agency threatened to sue the company if it launched the feature. Coinbase’s CEO posted a Twitter thread on Tuesday evening saying that the SEC wasn’t clear about what it wanted.According to Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, the company told the SEC about its new Lend feature as a courtesy but didn’t anticipate pushback, based on his impression that similar features exist on other platforms. However, according to Armstrong, the SEC informed the company that the lend... Continue reading…
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by Makena Kelly on (#5PABC)
Kevin Paffrath wants to be the candidate for the /r/wallstreetbets voter Continue reading…
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by Ian Carlos Campbell on (#5PA97)
Image: Appcessori Corporation As cool as videoconferencing hardware can look, it’s often exorbitantly expensive — the $2,000 Series One Desk 27 for Google Meet being a perfect example. Luckily, alongside that expensive Meet machine, Google also announced its “Designed for Google Meet” program and a more affordable first entry, the Rayz Rally Pro. It’s a $200 Nest Mini-like phone speaker that doubles as a microphone for Google Meet calls.The Rayz Rally Pro comes in a gray-tone fabric-covered body that looks a bit like Google’s smart speakers but with a phone dock carveout. The speaker dock comes in two varieties: a Lightning connector iPhone model and a Google Pixel version that should work with any USB-C phone. Both versions can work as a Bluetooth speaker,... Continue reading…
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by Tom Warren on (#5PA98)
Existing Xbox One controllers. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft is starting to test a new firmware update for existing Xbox One, Xbox Elite 2, and Xbox Adaptive Controllers today that will bring some important improvements to existing hardware. The biggest addition is the ability to quickly switch between paired devices on an Xbox controller, and Microsoft is also adding Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to improve input latency on older controllers.This new firmware update includes Bluetooth Low Energy support for compatible controllers. Most of Microsoft’s existing Xbox One controllers include Bluetooth support for use on smartphones or PCs, but the controllers connect to Xbox consoles through the Xbox Wireless protocol. This new firmware will now make it easier to switch between the two,... Continue reading…
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by Alex Heath on (#5PA6A)
Twitter Twitter is launching Communities, its rival to Facebook Groups and Reddit, for tweeting with others who share specific interests.Starting Wednesday, Twitter users can be invited to an initial batch of Communities that include #AstroTwitter, #DogTwitter, #SkincareTwitter, and #SoleFood (a group for sneaker enthusiasts). Once people join a Community, they can tweet directly to other members rather than to just their followers. Only members of a Community can like or reply to tweets sent by other members.Similar to how groups on Facebook and Reddit’s subreddits work, each Twitter Community will have its own moderators who are able to set rules and invite or remove people. Twitter invited a handful of users to create the first Communities... Continue reading…
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by Mitchell Clark on (#5PA69)
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Google is releasing what it says is the fifth and final version of the Android 12 beta, adding that the official release of the full Android 12 operating system is “just a few weeks away.” The new beta release will also be the first one that Pixel 5A owners will be able to install.People who are already running the beta aren’t likely to notice much of a difference, as its focus is on getting developers ready for the impending official Android 12 release, rather than adding new features. But, for those who’ve gotten their hands on Google’s latest phone, there’s now the opportunity to see what that release will be like before it happens — and without a ton of risk, since the beta has entered its “platform stability” phase.The Pixel 5A l... Continue reading…
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by Jay Peters on (#5PA2B)
A screenshot from The Playroom. | Image: Firesprite Sony announced that it will acquire UK-based studio Firesprite, the developers of The Playroom and The Playroom VR. It’s unclear what Firesprite might be working on in its new first-party capacity, but executives are already hyping what’s to come. “Firesprite’s ability to weave best-in-class gameplay with new technology is exceptional and I think fans will be excited about their creative vision for the future,” Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, said in a press release.Firespite was founded by staffers from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Liverpool studio, so there are already strong connections between the two companies. While Firesprite’s experience with The Playroom VR could suggest that the company is working on a game... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#5PA2D)
A game that balances horror, heartbreak, and mystery Continue reading…
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by Zoe Schiffer on (#5PA2C)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple, like many tech companies, has an intimidating employment agreement that it makes employees sign to protect its trade secrets. Though the agreement is in place to prevent workers from sharing internal details of Apple’s products and processes, it is unclear whether they can speak out about working conditions, according to a group of activists and Apple shareholders.Now, that group is pushing the company to add language that makes clearer exception for cases of workplace harassment and discrimination. Apple has refused. Last week, they filed a shareholder resolution to pressure Apple to make the change.“We approached Apple in good faith and encouraged them to take a leadership role here,” says Ifeoma Ozoma, who’s helping to lead... Continue reading…
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by Cameron Faulkner on (#5PA2E)
The Basilisk V3 features more RGB LEDs than the previous iteration. | Razer Razer’s new Basilisk V3 wired gaming mouse has arrived with more features than its predecessor, as well as a slightly lower price. It’s out now at Razer’s online store, Amazon, and Best Buy from $69.99, a $10 price drop from generation to generation.Its scroll wheel houses the biggest improvements, borrowing a trick from Logitech’s G502 Lightspeed and G502 Hero. A button positioned next to the Basilisk V3’s wheel can toggle between a staggered scroll mode that offers tactile feedback and a free-spinning mode that lets you sail down the page freely. There’s also an optional feature within Razer’s Synapse software that automatically switches between the two modes depending on the inertia of your scroll, engaging the free-spinning mode... Continue reading…
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by Andrew Webster on (#5PA2F)
It’s not quite as terrifying as the moon falling, but Netflix’s upcoming Don’t Look Up deals with another space-related disaster: a comet that’s on a collision course with the Earth. The twist here is that, after two low-level astronomers (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) discover the problem, no one seems to believe them. That includes a president played by Meryl Streep, with Jonah Hill as her annoying son (and chief of staff).The first trailer looks like a lot of fun, and the cast is similarly impressive; outside of main stars there are also appearances from the likes of Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Cate Blanchett, and Tyler Perry. Don’t Look Up was directed and written by Adam McKay,... Continue reading…
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by Cameron Faulkner on (#5PA2G)
Amazon’s in-house game engine, Lumberyard, can’t normally be used for life-critical or safety-critical circumstances, as stated in the terms of service agreement for Amazon Web Services. Things like medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, crewed spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat are all off-limits.Almost all software and hardware come with extensive mandatory agreements that you need to comply with to use them, so these rules are understandable and probably for the best. At the same time, you should also know that some of those rules will go totally out the window in the event of a zombie apocalypse, should it (hopefully not) ever happen.
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by Richard Lawler on (#5PA2H)
Batman x FaZe Clan | DC Comics Ahead of DC’s FanDome event next month, the comics company celebrates Batman Day with a slew of superhero-themed items for fans. That includes a new ten-episode scripted podcast on HBO Max, an augmented reality app, and, of course, a limited-edition comic featuring some of the stars of FaZe Clan.While we didn’t actually see that last one coming, it is a real thing that will be available in comic form on September 24th. According to DC Comics, you can expect to see FaZe Banks, FaZe Apex, FaZe Temperrr, FaZeRain, FaZe Adapt, FaZe Rug, and FaZe Blaze as heroes, all followed by a slew of crossover merch dropping throughout Batman Month.Fulfilling co-owner Lee Trink’s statement on The Vergecast that he believes “gaming is going to drive... Continue reading…
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by Sheena Vasani on (#5PA2J)
Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet is a capable 2-in-1 that comes with kickstand and keyboard | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Labor Day is in the rearview and the kids are back in school, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still save some nice coin on a versatile Chromebook offering a great value for tackling homework or everyday tasks. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet, one of our top picks across all Chromebooks — not just budget options — is currently $50 off at Best Buy. The 2-in-1 normally punches above its weight class at full price, but with this added discount it may just be one of the best contenders around for light tasks while on the go or general needs at home as a secondary device.A new model with a bigger OLED panel is coming soon, but it will be clocking in at a much higher price point of $430 and up. For now, the Duet’s 10.1-inch display with 1920 x... Continue reading…
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by Elizabeth Lopatto on (#5P9QP)
Photo Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Holmes was where the girlboss met Silicon Valley founder worship Continue reading…
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