The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Black Friday sales are in full swing, and now some popular streaming services are starting to join the party. Through November 29th, both new and returning customers who qualify for the deal can enjoy 12 months of Hulu’s ad-supported streaming service for just $1 per month. Typically $7 per month — or $84 per year — that equates to a $72 discount or about 85 percent off. While you’ll see an ad popping up every now and then with this plan, you can still access all of Hulu’s TV shows and movies on your TV, streaming box, tablet, laptop, console, and other devices. Two people are also allowed to simultaneously stream on this plan as well, and you can have up to six users profiles.While newcomers to Hulu shouldn’t face any obstacles in... Continue reading…

Verge wireframe logomark T-shirt. We relaunched The Verge Merch Store a month ago for our 10th anniversary — and now, we’re giving Verge fans an extra special treat for Black Friday / Cyber Monday.Now through 11:59PM ET on Monday, November 29th, use promo code VERGEBF at checkout to get 20 percent off your purchase on our online store. Treat someone special — including yourself! — to Verge merch this holiday season.We love hearing from all of you about what kinds of items you’d like to see added to the store next, so be sure to leave a comment below with your requests. Coffee mugs? Baby onesies? Tote bags? Bandanas? Mouse pads? You tell us!Check out all of our Black Friday coverage here — and don’t forget to subscribe to our Verge Deals newsletter for all of the... Continue reading…

Tying your content to hardware may not be such a great idea in the long run. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge When gyms and fitness boutiques closed their doors in early 2020, it was fitness tech’s moment to shine. Stuck at home, people needed new ways to stay active — and for many, that meant stepping into the world of connected fitness. Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure was impossible to find. Fitness influencers turned to Instagram to broadcast live workouts. Even big tech companies started getting into wearables or launching their own on-demand fitness services. But no one had a year quite like Peloton.Ironically, Peloton started 2020 as the butt of everyone’s jokes thanks to a terrible holiday commercial gone viral. Nobody was laughing a few short months later. When lockdowns began, Peloton started by offering a free 90-day trial to its app —... Continue reading…

The sticker maker lets you crop out a background, and add extra flourishes like emoji. | Image: WhatsApp WhatsApp’s web version has been updated with a built-in custom Sticker Maker, which lets you turn ordinary images from your computer into stickers that can be sent via the messaging service. To access it, click the paperclip (attachments) icon, select Sticker, and then pick an image to upload. As well as WhatsApp’s web version, the feature is also coming to its Desktop apps in the next week.Once uploaded, images can be edited to turn them into the perfect sticker. An outline can be drawn around a picture’s subject to cut out the background, and images can also be cropped (though always in a square aspect ratio). Emoji, text, and additional WhatsApp stickers can also be layered on top of your sticker creations.Being able to make your... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge If you’re hunting for an Xbox Series X, you might want to check your email inbox. Microsoft has been emailing out special links over the past week to the Microsoft Store, that let you directly order an Xbox Series X bundle. Microsoft says it has a “limited supply of Xbox Series X bundles” that are available to “valued Microsoft customers” in the US.The emails are addressed to Microsoft Store customers, and bundles are available on a first-come and first-serve basis. Microsoft is limiting orders to one bundle per order, or two bundles per 30-day period. The links to order a bundle are unique and tied to a Microsoft Account, and don’t always guarantee that stock is available for a purchase.

The latest game to come to Netflix’s fledgling gaming service is the racing title Asphalt Xtreme, TechCrunch reports. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because the mobile game was originally released in October 2016 but was subsequently pulled from app stores at the end of September 2021. A trailer for the game released on Netflix’s YouTube channel notes that it will be available “exclusively” for the service’s subscribers, with no ads or in-app purchases.It’s an interesting launch that sees Netflix’s gaming service borrowing from its video streaming playbook. Rather than exclusively releasing all-new, original titles, Netflix seems to be bulking out its catalog by licensing previously released games. Same as how Netflix’s video... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has updated its iOS app to prevent those annoying situations where tweets disappear as you’re trying to read them, the company has announced. “Now when you pause your timeline scrolling to look at a Tweet, it should stay put!” the company tweeted.The updates made on iOS follow similar improvements made on the web version of Twitter last week. Twitter explained that tweets can disappear when replies are being added to an ongoing conversation, because this would push existing tweets up the timeline. “We know it’s a frustrating experience, so we’re working on changing it,” the company said in September.

But you need to really hate the look of televisions Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple is planning to partner with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for the production of its own 5G modems for future iPhones, according to a new report in Nikkei. Apple is said to be planning to use TSMC’s 4nm process node, which hasn’t yet been deployed for any commercial product; the modem is apparently being designed and tested at 5nm before moving to mass production in 2023 at 4nm.Apple’s switch to modems of its own design is widely expected to happen in 2023, and TSMC is the natural manufacturing partner. Qualcomm, which is the dominant player in the industry and produces modem components for the entire iPhone 13 lineup, recently said that it expects to account for just 20 percent of iPhone modem orders in two years’ time.A... Continue reading…

Image: JRR Token It seems our prediction that a Lord of the Rings-themed “JRR Token” cryptocurrency was destined for the fires of Mount Doom was accurate — the World Intellectual Property Organization (or WIPO) has declared that it violated a trademark belonging to the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien, and ordered that one of the project’s web domains be transferred to that estate (via the Financial Times).If you’re unfamiliar with JRR Token (not Tolkien), here’s the lore — it was a cryptocurrency project that drew heavy inspiration from The Lord of the Rings. Its tagline was “The One Token That Rules Them All,” its website featured Tolkien-esque imagery of rolling hills and wizards, and there was even a promotional video featuring an actor from the... Continue reading…

Photo by Ethan Swope/Getty Images Holmes confesses to a passion for graphic design Continue reading…

Twitter verified a fake account for Norway’s new Minister of Finance, but apparently, it’s not Twitter’s fault. As first reported by Norwegian tech site NRKbeta, the Prime Minister’s Office and Norway’s Security Authority (NSM) mistakenly passed along a fake account for verification.

Image: BioWare According to a report by Deadline, Amazon isn’t relying on the just-launched Wheel of Time series and its upcoming Lord of the Rings show to pull in sci-fi/fantasy viewers. The entertainment news outlet reports that Amazon is “nearing a deal to develop a series” based on the Mass Effect games.While Electronic Arts and BioWare have not announced a series, there have been more than a few hints. Earlier this year, the project director for EA’s remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition trilogy set told Business Insider that it’s “not a matter of if, but when” a movie or TV show project appears relating to the game.There was also that interesting Instagram post in February from Henry Cavill, who may want to add male Commander Shepard to his... Continue reading…

Samsung already has a presence in Austin, Texas. | Image: Samsung Samsung officially announced a new advanced chip-making plant in Texas, that’s estimated to cost around $17 billion and could create 1,800 jobs, as reported previously by The Wall Street Journal. The new plant will be located in the city of Taylor, roughly 30 miles away from Austin, where Samsung has an existing facility. The new site is roughly 1,200 acres in size, making it larger than Samsung’s Austin plant, the WSJ notes. Image: Samsung Samsung Austin Semiconductor — The new plant will be even larger than this Kinam Kim, the vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division says in a statement that “With greater manufacturing capacity, we will be able to better serve the needs of our... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple’s digital driver’s license / ID feature won’t be coming until “early 2022,” according to an update to Apple’s iOS 15 page that MacRumors noticed. The change comes after news broke that Apple was looking for strict control over how states roll out the feature, which was previously listed as coming late this year.Originally announced at WWDC 2021, Apple says that the feature will let you use its Wallet app to store your digital identification for use at airport security checkpoints. Of course, the system is dependent on your state supporting it — the company announced that Arizona and Georgia would be the first to let citizens add their licenses to their phones (with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah... Continue reading…

Image: Nintendo Chris Pratt’s voice as Mario is “phenomenal,” says one of the men who has the most to gain if that’s true. But Pratt likely won’t be putting on Mario’s familiar fake Italian accent for the majority of the film.When asked to defend the casting of Chris Pratt (a white American man best known as the Guardians of the Galaxy’s Star-Lord) as Mario (a denizen of the Mushroom Kingdom previously voiced by a white American man of French descent attempting to sound like an Italian plumber from Brooklyn at the request of the character’s Japanese creators, just so we’re clear), producer and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri suggested to TooFab that it’s OK because:

Funko Pop is teaming up with ViacomCBS for its latest “Digital Pop” NFT collectibles, with a new series of blockchain-based cards featuring classic Star Trek characters.Funko’s “Digital Pop” NFTs aren’t a new thing: they’ve been around since July, and the new Star Trek ones are just the latest incarnation. And as is the case with the other Digital Pop sets, certain specific rare NFTs cards will also include a free physical Funko Pop figure too, which is a potentially nice bonus.But there’s something uniquely depressing about Star Trek NFTs specifically, given the utopian ideals of the Federation and the very intentionally post-scarcity world in which the franchise is set. Thanks to the ubiquity of advanced technology like replicators... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Now Apple has followed WhatsApp and its parent company Meta (formerly known as Facebook) in suing Pegasus spyware maker NSO Group. Along with promising new information about how NSO Group infected targeted iPhones via a zero-click exploit that researchers later dubbed ForcedEntry, Apple says it’s “seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services, or devices.”Apple: NSO agreed to the iCloud Terms of ServiceSenior VP of software engineering Craig Federighi didn’t mention sideloading this time but says in a statement, “State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change...Apple devices... Continue reading…

Photo by Henning Kaiser/picture alliance via Getty Images PlayStation has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges gender discrimination and wrongful termination, as first reported by Axios. According to the details of the lawsuit, former IT security analyst Emma Majo is seeking to establish a class action suit to represent other women who might’ve been affected by PlayStation’s alleged gender discrimination. The lawsuit claims that “Sony tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees,” alleging that women were denied promotions and weren’t paid equally to male workers who held similar positions.This comes less than a week after PlayStation boss Jim Ryan sent out an email to employees condemning Activision Blizzard’s response to reports of CEO Bobby... Continue reading…

One of 13 remaining copies of the Official Edition of the Constitution. | Image: Sotheby’s The organizers behind ConstitutionDAO have decided to shut the group down after raising $47 million in cryptocurrency and then failing to win an auction for a rare copy of the US Constitution.Many members of ConstitutionDAO had expressed hope that the group could live on, albeit with some alternative goal given that there are currently no other famous copies of the Constitution at auction. Group leaders initially floated launching a new token for members who wanted to take part in the group’s continuation, called We The People tokens, but later backtracked, saying they should have given it more consideration. It was never made clear what, exactly, the group might focus on if it were to continue.“The community has taken all actions that... Continue reading…

The home security experts at Simplisafe are offering big discounts on their home security systems during a Black Friday sale that runs until December 1st. This sale is marking down any new security system by up to 60 percent and will throw in a free indoor camera for your trouble. (If you’re still shopping around, make sure to pay a visit to our Black Friday hub with ongoing coverage of the best early Black Friday deals.)Our own smart home expert, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, says that “Simplisafe is a good, easy-to-use smart security system that doesn’t rely solely on an app — you can manage the whole system from its keypad. It also has a decent selection of smart home devices to add on to your system, including an excellent door lock and... Continue reading…

McMurdo Station in Antarctica | United States Antarctic Program On a volcanic rock just off the coast of Antarctica, McMurdo Station is abuzz with scientific research this time of year. Run by the US National Science Foundation, the station sees up to 1,000 visitors in the Antarctic summer from October to February, who travel here to conduct research on topics ranging from climate to ocean science.But despite its central role in Antarctic research, McMurdo is lacking something most scientists working at 21st-century laboratories take for granted: high-speed internet.McMurdo sits on the only continent that doesn’t have a high-speed fiber optic cable connection to the rest of the world. That could soon change, however.Earlier this year, the NSF began seriously exploring the possibility of building... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Mozilla announced last week via a support article that its Firefox Lockwise password manager app will reach end-of-life on December 13th. The final release versions are 1.8.1 (iOS) and 4.0.3 (Android) and will no longer be available to download or reinstall after that date.What started in 2018 as a small experimental mobile app called Lockbox ended up bringing a way to access saved passwords and perform autofills on iOS, Android, and desktop devices to a small but enthusiastic following of Firefox fans. The app was also later adapted as a Firefox extension. It seemed like it was apt to stick around for the long run. The login screen for the Lockwise app in iOS advertises Mozilla’s other active products like Mozilla VPN... Continue reading…

Polestar teased its gorgeous sedan concept, the Polestar Precept, giving it a new name — Polestar 5 — and a 2024 production date.The company first revealed the Precept in concept form back in February, with sporty intentions, a software system powered by Google’s Android, and an interior chock-full of sustainable material. This week, Polestar posted a video in which we got the closest look at the new car yet.The company first revealed the Precept in concept form back in FebruaryPolestar, which started out as the performance sub-brand of Volvo, has emerged as one of the more interesting EV companies on the market. The company, which is jointly owned by Volvo and Volvo’s parent company, Geely, recently announced plans to go public by... Continue reading…

Image: Asus The Asus ROG Phone 5S and ROG Phone 5S Pro are finally available in the US. You can snag the 5S model with 16GB of RAM for $1,099 on Amazon and Mobile Advance. The 5S model also has an option for 12GB of RAM, but there’s currently no option to order that one on either site.On the higher end of the scale, the 5S Pro packs 18GB of RAM and goes for $1,299 on Amazon and Mobile Advance. Just keep in mind that while you can get the 5S in both black and white, the 5S Pro only comes in black.Both gaming phones have the Snapdragon 888 Plus, which should offer a small boost in performance when compared to the standard Snapdragon 888 that the Asus ROG Phone 5 and 5 Ultimate come with. The 5S and 5S Pro also offer an improved 360Hz touch-sampling... Continue reading…

Photo by Phil Esposito / The Verge But for $140,000, is it worth it? Continue reading…

Photo by Yoon S. Byun/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Fortnite maker Epic Games has announced its latest acquisition: Harmonix, the studio behind iconic music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.In a blog post, Harmonix said that support for existing games like Rock Band and Fuser would continue. The studio also explained its plans to expand into — what else? — the metaverse. “Now, we’ll be working with Epic to once again challenge expectations as we bring our unique brand of musical gaming experiences to the metaverse, and we couldn’t be more excited,” the blog post reads. As part of this, Epic says that the studio will “develop musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite.”Music has become an increasing focus for Epic, following the big success of virtual concerts inside of Fortnite from... Continue reading…

Have you ever played Pokémon Go and thought “I wish this game let you earn small amounts of Bitcoin by engaging with internet finance memes and a cryptocurrency debit card system”? If so, I don’t believe you, but I have good news.Fold AR is a new augmented reality game from Pokémon Go developer Niantic and the financial company Fold. The game — which a press release dubs part of the metaverse — is very loosely modeled on Pokémon Go but themed around cryptocurrency. As explained by Fold CEO Will Reeves, it runs with the metaphor of “mining” Bitcoin. So instead of capturing cute monsters, the central mechanic involves finding cubes of binary code and tapping them like Minecraft blocks until they reveal a prize. The prizes... Continue reading…

The AirPods Pro were recently refreshed with a MagSafe compatible charging case. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The Black Friday season just keeps on rolling, and we keep seeing such exceptional early deals day in and day out. If things keep up at this rate, we may all go broke by the time Black Friday actually arrives — but wow, will we have saved so much money on the coolest tech in the process.As the days go on, we continue to track the latest deals we can find for you. That means we’re constantly updating our ongoing deal coverage while we check new deals that are worthy of your attention.Today is no exception, where we have the best price ever on the AirPods Pro. The latest revision of the AirPods Pro, complete with its MagSafe-compatible charging case, has dropped to a historical low of just $159 at Walmart as well as Amazon. That is a... Continue reading…

An artistic rendering of the DART spacecraft approaching Dimorphos | Image: NASA/John Hopkins APL Takeoff of DART is scheduled for 1:21AM ET on November 24th Continue reading…

Image: Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel Studios Hawkeye is a few different things. It’s a chance to spend more time with one of the lesser-known Avengers, it’s an origin story for an up-and-coming hero, and it’s a detective drama set amidst the backdrop of Christmas in New York City as the MCU adds yet another genre to its all-enveloping fold. Most importantly, though, it’s a Marvel series that doesn’t take itself too seriously — making the first two episodes unexpectedly fun.This review contains some light spoilers for the first two episodes of Hawkeye.Though it’s named after the bow-wielding Avenger, Hawkeye really is a story about two people. Yes, one of those is Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), a surly hero and one-time vigilante who is now doing his best to enjoy life with his... Continue reading…

Electric boat startup Arc has raised $30 million just five months after coming out of stealth mode and has started putting its first prototype through its paces. The Series A funding round was led by Greg Reichow, a partner at Eclipse Ventures and a former vice president of production at Tesla. The round also includes existing Arc investors like Andreessen Horowitz and celebrities like Will Smith, Kevin Durant, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, who first put money into the startup in October through their own funds.Arc aims to sell a limited number of its first electric boat, the 24-foot Arc One, at an extraordinary price of $300,000 before moving on to making more affordable boats. It plans to justify that price by promising a much lower cost of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In the fight against ongoing allegations of harassment, discrimination, and complaints of insufficient action to address such allegations, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors has announced that the publisher is forming a new committee.

Croatian electric bike manufacturer Greyp Bikes has a new majority shareholder: Porsche. The sports car manufacturer’s venture capital arm, Porsche Ventures, has held a stake of around 10 percent in the e-bike company since 2018.Greyp (pronounced like the fruit) was founded Mate Rimac — aka “Croatia’s Elon Musk” — the brainchild behind electric supercar startup Rimac Automobili. The company makes highly connected, extremely powerful electric mountain bikes, including the $10,000 flagship, full-suspension G6. The company sells its bikes in Europe and recently launched its US operations based in San Pedro, Calif.The investment is another sign of Porsche’s confidence in Rimac’s business prowessThe investment is another sign of... Continue reading…

Photo by Reddit Reddit will shut down its short-form video platform, Dubsmash, on February 22nd, 2022. After February, the app will no longer be available on apps stores and will stop functioning on devices that already have the app.A competitor to TikTok, Dubsmash was acquired by Reddit late last year with the purpose of embedding its video creation tools into the larger platform. Now that the integration is nearing completion, Reddit is introducing a slew of new video creation tools to its own TikTok-like video feed, courtesy of the Dubsmash team that came over with the buyout.“Our primary focus, in terms of the acquisition, was around bringing in the expertise from the team, as well as bringing in the technology that we had built over the past five... Continue reading…

2015’s Fairphone 2. | Photo by James Vincent / The Verge Sustainable smartphone manufacturer Fairphone has released an Android 10 update for the six-year-old Fairphone 2, a device that originally launched with Android 5 in 2015. The update is in beta for the time being, but the company says it hopes to release a stable version early next year. Alongside it, the company also plans to start beta testing an Android 11 update for the 2019 Fairphone 3 and 2020 Fairphone 3 Plus.Although getting an Android update two years after its original release wouldn’t normally be cause for celebration, it’s basically unheard of for an Android manufacturer to still be updating a handset six years after its original release. Only Apple comes close to these kinds of support periods and recently released its... Continue reading…

Photo by Spotify Spotify has introduced a new hub that’s home to all the music from Netflix’s shows and movies. A post on Spotify’s newsroom explains that both free and premium users can access the Netflix hub by searching for “Netflix” on Spotify.There, you’ll find official playlists from Netflix TV shows like La Casa de Papel, On My Block, and Bridgerton, along with the official soundtracks from Cowboy Bebop, Bruised, Squid Game, and more. It also includes some of Netflix’s official podcasts, such as Okay, Now Listen, Netflix Is a Daily Joke, 10/10 (Would Recommend), and The Crown: The Official Podcast, all of which you can access from this single location.Spotify has rolled out an “enhanced album experience” for Netflix’s The Harder They FallS... Continue reading…

Microsoft has created an Xbox metaverse museum where you can roam around and discover the history of Xbox consoles. It’s designed to celebrate 20 years of Xbox and includes some infamous mistakes like the Xbox 360 red ring of death or Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Nintendo in spring 2000.As you roam around this Xbox museum, you’ll see fellow Xbox players interacting with the digital exhibits and charting the progress of the original Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and the latest Xbox Series X / S consoles. Each moment in the 20-year timeline has an associated story, usually with a video documenting the milestone. The Xbox museum is a metaverse full of achievements and failures. There’s even a personal Xbox museum, so if... Continue reading…

For years, Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise has been split in half. There’s the game and animated film series built closely around Shinji Mikami’s 1996 survival horror game. Then there’s the live-action series, a half-dozen barely related blockbusters starring Milla Jovovich. But the newly released Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City aims to change that. It’s a jump-scare-filled live-action adaptation of the earliest Resident Evil games, and it plays out like a 107-minute fan film — which isn’t entirely a bad thing.The following includes mild narrative and thematic spoilers.Welcome to Raccoon City, written and directed by Johannes Roberts, merges the plots and characters of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. In the year 1998, the... Continue reading…

Acast Hello, hello. Welcome back to Tuesday; I hope everyone has found ways to keep “working” ahead of the holiday and isn’t daydreaming too much about the hoards of food we here in the US will be eating in just a couple days. Today’s issue is a hodgepodge of things — a nice mix. Today, we’re talking about what happens when a podcast app gets acquired, ExxonMobil “duping” The Daily, and more.EXCLUSIVE: Acast acquired RadioPublic in February; now podcasters say the company has gone dark on themIn February, Acast, the Europe-based hosting and monetization company, acquired RadioPublic, a podcast player and company known for its creator-centric technology. The acquisition was billed to me as a way for Acast to take over the podcast space and... Continue reading…

The $499 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and $579 AMD Radeon RX 6800 are still selling well above MSRP. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Sony, Microsoft, Nvidia and AMD say they’re doing everything in their power to put a console or graphics card in your hands. But judging by eBay resale prices, their best won’t be nearly good enough this holiday season. One year after the next generation of gaming was supposed to arrive (narrator: it did not) people are still forking out hundreds of dollars over MSRP for a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, and and they’re often still paying double what a new PC graphics card was originally supposed to cost.Remember March 2020, when I told you how the two graphics cards in the photo above were worth a combined $2,570 on the open market? That was a shocking leap compared to the $1,660 total they could fetch in December 2020, already well... Continue reading…

Qualcomm reportedly has an exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Windows on Arm licenses. The pair launched Windows on Arm laptops in 2016, and so far we haven’t seen any devices launch without a Qualcomm chip. XDA-Developers reports that Qualcomm has had an exclusivity deal on Windows on Arm, but that it’s set to expire soon.The report comes days after MediaTek held its executive summit with members of the media last week, where it shared its ambitions to build its own chip for Windows on Arm PCs.If Microsoft’s exclusivity deal is about to end with Qualcomm, this could open the door for many more vendors supporting Windows on Arm. Samsung, MediaTek, and even Apple’s M1 chips could eventually support Windows on Arm. P... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s new emoji for Windows 11. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is making its Fluent-style emoji available in Windows 11 this week. A new optional update for the OS is rolling out that includes a number of important bug fixes and the new emoji Microsoft previewed earlier this year. While it’s a totally new style, it’s not the 3D look that Microsoft previously promised — the company opted for 2D instead.The new emoji in Windows 11 includes the return of Clippy, as Microsoft has replaced the standard paperclip emoji with its Clippy character. The emoji have also been redesigned to include bright and saturated colors, but lack the 3D aspects that made them pop.“The new emoji style is only available in Windows 11 and is 2D,” explains Microsoft in a quiet update to its design blog from July.... Continue reading…

The ecosystem isn’t quite ready Continue reading…

Sony just got a restock of the PS5 | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Update November 22nd, 8:25PM ET: Sony appears to have sold out of PS5 consoles for the day. We’ll make sure to let you know when the next opportunity comes up.If you’re still trying to get your hands on a PlayStation 5, lining up at Sony’s digital storefront is one of the more reliable ways to snag Sony’s next-gen console. Sony has reopened the digital queue on its direct store to place orders for the $500 disc-based PlayStation 5, as well as the $400 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition.Provided you’ve already registered and logged into your PlayStation account, you should be able to line up once you’ve hit the landing page. Once you’ve entered the queue, you’ll be given an ETA of when you’ll be able to check out and, once that timer hits... Continue reading…

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Tile popularized marking items and tracking them from your phone with its small Bluetooth tags, but suddenly faces more competition from giants like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung. The company that started out of an incubator and crowdfunding campaign has announced it will be acquired by Life360, which calls itself a “leading family safety platform.” The deal is valued at $205 million and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.Subscribers to Tile and Life360 services can expect some new benefits in their packagesTile has developed its product line over the years with a variety of different trackers and partnerships with other companies to use its technology. It also has a subscription service, Tile Premium, with extra... Continue reading…

Image: Roku Roku says it’s working to fix issues that users have been reporting following its 10.5 software update. TechCrunch reported the problems earlier on Monday, citing posts on Reddit and Roku forums where users said that apps like HBO Max, ESPN, Disney Plus, and more wouldn’t allow them to watch any video content after updating the OS on their smart TVs.According to Roku, “certain older Roku TV models or older Roku Ultra players” are affected by the problematic update. In a post on its forum, the company instructs users with Roku Ultra models 4660, 4661, 4662, or 4670, and users with a Roku TV model 7XXX to manually check for a software update, and tells owners of other devices to subscribe to the thread for future details.

Photo by AMY OSBORNE/AFP via Getty Images “A success was that we had successfully achieved the objectives of the program.” Continue reading…

DoorDash settled with San Francisco for $5.3 million | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Food delivery platform DoorDash has agreed to pay $5.3 million to the city of San Francisco to settle allegations it failed to provide healthcare and paid sick leave to some 4,500 delivery drivers, as the city requires. The company did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, most of which will be used to reimburse drivers who made deliveries in the city between 2016 and 2020, before a new state law covering gig workers took effect.California’s gig workers law, which voters approved in November 2020 as ballot measure Proposition 22, allows companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash to treat workers as independent contractors, not employees. A judge ruled in August that the law was unconstitutional, but it remains in effect pending... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve Verizon Wireless’ purchase of Tracfone in a deal worth more than $6 billion, positioning Verizon to become one of the largest prepaid service providers in the US.Tracfone is the largest reseller of wireless devices in the US and maintains over 20 million subscribers with more than 90,000 retail locations. Verizon’s Tracfone acquisition combines the largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) with the largest wireless provider in the country. When Verizon first proposed the deal last September, the company said that the acquisition would bolster Tracfone’s networks while making low-income wireless services more competitive.“After rigorous review, the Commission found... Continue reading…