The Verge

Google Hangouts’ logo. | Image: Google If you’re a Google Workspace user, the classic Hangouts messaging service will start to disappear next month as part of the transition to Google Chat. Google has announced that it’ll make Google Chat its default chat application beginning March 22nd, meaning users will be redirected to Chat when they try to visit Hangouts in Gmail on the web, or try to use the old Hangouts mobile apps.The shift from Google Hangouts to Google Chat is the latest step in Google’s constantly evolving messaging strategy, which generally gets more confusing the more you read about it. This particular migration kicked into gear in June 2020, and focusses on the messaging service integrated with Gmail. Google Chat should not be confused with GChat, the... Continue reading…

Apple’s AirTag trackers. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The latest beta for iOS 15.4 includes new features designed to prevent Apple’s AirTags from being used to stalk people, 9to5Mac reports. Most notably, there’s a new privacy notice during their setup which warns that using AirTags to track someone without their consent could be a crime, and that law enforcement can request details on an unknown AirTags’ owner. “AirTag is Linked To Your Apple ID,” the notice reads.Apple announced a collection of new safety features for its AirTags earlier this month, after a spate of news reports found they’d been used to track individuals without their consent. At the time, Apple didn’t provide an exact release date for the new safety features, noting only that they’d arrive “later this year.” ... Continue reading…

The iQOO 9 Pro. iQOO, Vivo’s gaming-focused sub-brand, has announced its latest flagship phones for launch in India, the iQOO 9 and 9 Pro. Like previous iQOO devices, they don’t really look like conspicuously gamer-style phones but are focused on performance nonetheless. iQOO is pushing that in its marketing through a tie-in partnership with BMW M Motorsport and a white model with three rally stripes.The iQOO 9 Pro has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, and a 4,700mAh battery. The screen is a 6.78-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED panel, while the camera system includes a 50-megapixel ultrawide, a 16-megapixel portrait camera, and a 50-megapixel main sensor that uses gimbal-style stabilization, like other Vivo flagships. It can be charged at 120W... Continue reading…

Apple store employees will still have to wear masks, however. | Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images Apple will no longer require customers to wear masks in a number of Apple stores across the US, including in Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and other states that have recently dropped local mask mandates, according to a report by Bloomberg. Employees at Apple stores will still be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status, however.Apple is also resuming in-store classesBloomberg says Apple has since updated its website to indicate which stores require masks. When searching for a store using Apple’s retail store locator, the site will tell you if masks are “required,” “recommended,” or “optional” for vaccinated customers at specific locations. Masks are still required in states with more rigid guidelines,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Users are beginning to see Google’s new pitch-black dark mode, 9to5Google reported. The previous dark mode was a gray that was soothing on the eyes, but Google switched to a true black (#000000) that should really pop on OLED and AMOLED displays.Google announced the wider availability of dark mode earlier this month, but thus far, the release has been slow. Few people seem to have it, and 9to5Google reports that some users have received the new theme only to lose it. Google said it was testing a new dark mode in February of last year, and later announced that the new dark theme was available on desktop and mobile in a tweet earlier this month.

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge Frontier Communications is rolling out 2-gig speeds across its existing fiber-optic network, which currently spans six states, including Texas, Florida, California, Indiana, West Virginia, and Connecticut (via Light Reading). The plan comes with symmetrical 2-gig downloads and uploads for $149.99 / month, along with the free installation of a Wi-Fi 6E-compatible router and extender.The first 1,000 who sign up get a free Amazon Fire TVFrontier is offering a free 43-inch Amazon Fire TV and Logitech webcam for the first 1,000 customers who sign up — but it’s not clear if you’ll be getting the Omni or 4-Series Fire TV, and it’s just as vague about the Logitech webcam. The company is holding a promotion for its $79.99 / month single gig... Continue reading…

Image: Daft Punk on Twitter Daft Punk may have announced their split exactly one year ago today, but the famous electronic music duo made a surprise reappearance on the internet Tuesday and streamed footage from a 1997 concert on Twitch. However, if you missed the show, which features the duo before they wore their iconic metal helmets, it seems you won’t be able to catch it after the fact; Pitchfork reported the concert would only air once, and it’s currently not available on-demand on Twitch.The stream featured footage from a concert Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, the two people behind Daft Punk, played at a Los Angeles nightclub near the release of the band’s debut Homework album, according to Pitchfork. Daft Punk also announced a 25th... Continue reading…

Amazon’s new home robot Astro has been spotted in the wild. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Photos and videos of Amazon’s home robot Astro in the real world have begun to emerge as early adopters of the invite-only smart home gadget start to play around with their new bot.Surprisingly, despite the device starting to ship last November, only a couple of videos have emerged so far. Bob Rekieta uploaded this video of his Astro trundling off after being commanded to go to the den with a beer onboard (presumably that someone put there, as this thing does not have hands). Screenshot from YouTube video by Bob Rekieta Astro brings Celeste a beer. Then Astro is told to “find Celeste,” and the robot tilts its screen disarmingly while looking around with its circular “eyes.” It executes the command, finding... Continue reading…

The message that appears on affected Asustor NAS devices. | Image: Reddit user Patrick12289 Owners of various Asustor Network Attached Storage (NAS) device models took to Reddit and the company’s official forum today, alerting others of an active ransomware attack holding hostage their media libraries and other stored data (via Windows Central and Tom’s Hardware). At first, it was suspected that users using Asustor’s EZConnect configuration feature were vulnerable, but according to accounts from some affected Reddit users, they had the service turned off on their NAS.The r/asustor community is keeping track of the available information here, and after cross-referencing the services on affected devices, suspect Plex as one of the possible attack vectors.Asustor is actively investigating the ransomware attack, known as... Continue reading…

MAY 14, 2021: A blast furnace attendant at the EVRAZ ZSMK steel mill. | Photo by Sergei Bobylev\TASS via Getty Images Greenhouse gas emissions need to virtually disappear within the next few decades to avoid the worst effects of climate change, and the most difficult emissions to erase could come from industries like steel and cement set to play a big role in new, green infrastructure. Wind turbines, for example, are made mostly of steel — but, at least until now, it’s been almost unheard of to make that steel using renewable energy.That could start to change if a startup developing a “heat battery” can successfully move from the lab to the real world. It’s what Oakland, California-based Rondo Energy aims to do with $22 million in new funding from Bill Gates’ climate investment fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and utility-backed investment firm... Continue reading…

Play Fall Guys with friends on PC or PlayStation. | Image: Mediatonic Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has significantly expanded its crossplay functionality between PlayStation and PC, developer Mediatonic (which is owned by Epic Games) announced on Tuesday. As part of the game’s season 6 mid-season update, you can now make cross-platform parties in “any of our applicable playlists in Fall Guys—from Squads, to Duos, to Main Show and beyond,” Mediatonic said in a blog post.To party up with your friends, you have to link your Epic Account to Fall Guys. If you haven’t done that yet, Mediatonic says you’ll be prompted to do so when you launch the game.The feature builds on the previously more limited crossplay functionality in the game. Before now, players had to make custom lobbies to play with friends on... Continue reading…

Netflix is testing Fast Laughs on TVs in select English-speaking countries. | Image by Netflix Netflix is testing Fast Laughs, a stream of comedy clips hand-picked by Netflix, on its TV app. The feature lets you sift through a collection of funny short videos — each about 30 seconds or longer — from shows and movies on Netflix, with the goal of introducing you to new content or helping you decide on what to watch. Image by Netflix You can advance to the next clip by selecting the rightmost arrow. Once you’ve opted into the feature (and if you’re part of the test), you can access Fast Laughs by scrolling down on the Netflix homepage until you reach the Fast Laughs row. From there, you can click into the feature, where full-screen clips from Army of the Dead, Big Mouth, Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up special,... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Google says a fix is on the way for Pixel 6 owners who are dealing with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity issues after installing a security patch earlier this month, as reported by 9to5Google. In response to a user on Reddit, Google acknowledges the problem and says it’s bundling a fix in a March software update.“A software fix that will be available in the next Google Pixel Update”“After some investigation, we identified the root cause and determined that it impacts a very small number of devices,” Google says. “Of course, we realize this is a poor experience and immediately developed a software fix that will be available in the next Google Pixel Update, rolling out in March.”Google also says to contact its support team “to explore... Continue reading…

Crestron is launching a line of connected in-ceiling LED light fixtures that can pair with a solar sensor. | Image: Crestron The pro-install home automation company Crestron Home is adding circadian rhythm lighting to its high-end residential platform. This week the company announced its new full-color, tunable downlight LED light fixtures with circadian rhythm capabilities will be available in August. Smart lighting isn’t a new feature for home automation, but lighting that automatically adjusts throughout the day in tandem with the natural changes of the sun is taking it up a notch.Circadian lighting is an option with some off-the-shelf smart lighting, such as Philips Hue light bulbs working with Apple HomeKit’s Adaptive Lighting. Crestron’s competitors in the pro-install space, including Savant and Control4, also offer various wellness-lighting-focused... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Slack was experiencing some issues on Tuesday that made it difficult for users to send and receive messages as well as access the platform altogether. Across social media, users have complained that trying to access work-related chatrooms met long load times and the inability to view threads.The Slack Status Twitter account eventually acknowledged issues with loading the platform. “Some customer[s] may be experiencing issues with loading Slack,” Slack wrote. As of 2:24PM ET, Slack’s status page reports the issue is resolved, and anyone still having problems should be able to connect by refreshing the app.

Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images Elon Musk is escalating his war of words with the Securities and Exchange Commission, accusing the agency of “leaking” information from a federal investigation in retaliation against him for his public criticisms.The accusation is contained in a new letter from Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro to US District Judge Alison Nathan, who oversaw the settlement between Musk and the SEC over his 2018 “funding secured” tweet that got him charged with securities fraud. It was the third letter in the past two weeks in a back-and-forth between Musk and the US government that shows little sign of abating.the third letter in the past two weeksIn the most recent letter, Musk accuses the SEC of leaking information regarding a federal probe into his... Continue reading…

Two weeks after dropping a controversial facial recognition plan, the IRS has given new details about how it plans to replace the system. In a statement on Monday, the agency confirmed that all users of the IRS.gov website will be able to opt out of biometric data collection, offering video interviews as an alternative for this year’s filers and promising a shift to the government-run authentication system Login.gov service in the future.“[A] new option in the agency’s authentication system is now available for taxpayers to sign up for IRS online accounts without the use of any biometric data, including facial recognition,” the statement said. “This is consistent with the IRS’s commitment earlier this month to transition away from the... Continue reading…

Part of a Chinese Long March 3C, shown here, is thought to be the piece of debris about to slam into the Moon in March. But China is casting doubt on that claim. | Image: STR/AFP via Getty Images China claims that a piece of distant space debris that’s about to slam into the Moon does not stem from one of the nation’s lunar missions, as astronomers tracking the object believe. However, it’s possible that China may have mixed up which mission the debris originally came from, as most evidence points to it being an old Chinese rocket.This doomed space object has received quite a lot of attention over the last few weeks, ever since an astronomer and space tracker by the name of Bill Gray first predicted that it would slam into the Moon on March 4th after years of orbiting the Earth. At first, Gray thought the object was a leftover chunk of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched a satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric... Continue reading…

It will be going away this year. | Image: Bethesda Softworks Bethesda is retiring its Bethesda.net Launcher this year and will let people move their games and Wallet to Steam starting in early April, the company announced Tuesday. You’ll be able to access and play games on the Bethesda launcher until May.Any game you own on Bethesda’s launcher will be available for free on Steam. When you migrate to Steam, “you will not lose anything from your Bethesda.net account,” Bethesda says. “Many games will also have their saves migrated, with a few requiring some manual transfers. For games that require it, you will still use your Bethesda.net login to sign in to play.”However, Bethesda is only letting you migrate what’s on your Bethesda Launcher to Steam — you can’t use the switch as an opportunity to... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s flagship Xbox Series X supports 4K gaming and up to 120 frames per second. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Update 2:26PM ET, February 22nd: Best Buy has sold out of its allotment of Totaltech-exclusive Xbox Series X consoles for now.If you haven’t been able to nab an Xbox Series X, today may be your lucky day. Best Buy has the coveted console in stock for its usual price of $499.99, though, the drop is exclusive to paying Totaltech subscribers. If you weren’t already aware, Totaltech is Best Buy’s premium membership, one that combines tech support, product protection, and access to exclusive console restocks for $199.99 per year. It’s an expensive service, though if you feel you’re still struggling to find Microsoft’s next-gen console, it should improve your chances of landing a console.If you are a Totaltech member, make sure you’ve logged... Continue reading…

Photo by Phil Esposito / The Verge Audi of America and Verizon are teaming up to add 5G connectivity to the automaker’s lineup by 2024, the companies announced. The improved connectivity will mean better software performance, enhanced navigation, and faster music and video streaming capabilities.It’s the latest deal to bring faster network speeds to new model vehicles with more advanced software needs than analog cars of the past. It also comes as car companies explore new technologies, such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, that could enhance safety and drive quality in the future.Audi and Verizon say the plan is to bring 5G Ultra Wideband technology to the automaker’s vehicle lineup, starting with model year 2024. The improved connectivity will pave the... Continue reading…

Meta is launching its TikTok-clone Reels worldwide on Facebook, making the feature available through the service’s iOS and Android apps in more than 150 countries.In addition to expanding access to Reels, the social media conglomerate is adding new editing features to the Facebook version of the platform and expanding advertising options. Most of these features are already available on Facebook Reels in the US and elsewhere and in Instagram Reels in the US and more than 50 countries.Facebook Reels users will be able to “remix” others’ videos (duet them) and upload clips up to 60 seconds in length, just as with Instagram Reels. They’ll also be able to save drafts, and Meta will be adding new video clipping tools in the coming months... Continue reading…

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images If you were hoping to use the Slack outage to sneak in a Peloton ride, there’s bad news: the popular connected fitness company is also “currently investigating an issue with Peloton services.”On Peloton’s status page, it appears that users cannot access logins, live classes, on-demand classes, leaderboards, or activate services on Peloton bikes and treadmills. On Twitter, the company said this may also impact users’ ability to access Peloton’s websites. However, as of this writing, the only Peloton site suffering a major outage is the member profile/workout history page. According to DownDetector, people began reporting Peloton outages at around 10AM ET.While the outage isn’t necessarily Peloton’s fault, it does highlight one of the... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge | Photo by MDJ Photography Demystifying the law of the internet with crypto professor Tonya Evans Continue reading…

Check out discounts on MacBook Pros and other awesome tech | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge President’s Day may have come and gone, but there are still plenty of deals still going on now for you to take advantage of. This USA federal holiday is an interesting one: it was originally established to celebrate the birthday of George Washington, but the passage of time transformed it into a day when we distract ourselves from the foibles of our democratically elected leadership by treating ourselves to some of the best deals of the year. It starts a little early, runs through the weekend, and now some deals continue on.Whether you’d still like to get something for yourself or you’re shopping for someone else, there are plenty of great promotions and sales to jump on as the work week picks back up again. Many products — including... Continue reading…

If you’re on the hunt for a budget-friendly OLED TV, one of the best values at this moment is Gigabyte’s 48-inch Aorus FO48U OLED. It costs $800 at Newegg (via Slickdeals), but two steps are required to get this price. First off, enter the code FEB4SALE at the checkout page to knock $200 off the cost. You’ll pay $999.99 today. But make sure you fill out the mail-in rebate before March 29th, 2022, which will then take an additional $200 off (the rebate will come in the form of a prepaid card).While Gigabyte certainly doesn’t have the same (or, frankly, any) brand cache in the home entertainment space as LG, this model packs in many of the same specs as the coveted C1 OLED for a few hundred dollars less. It has two HDMI 2.1 ports that... Continue reading…

Car Thing being used alongside a car’s infotainment system. | Image: Spotify Spotify’s Car Thing, the dashboard accessory that controls Spotify on your phone, is now widely available to buy in the US, the company announced today. The accessory was first made available free of charge as part of an invite-only limited release last April, and in October, Spotify opened up a waitlist for people to get their hands on the device. Now, Car Thing is going on general sale for $89.99 — a $10 increase over the advertised price in October.Car Thing is designed to offer a more convenient way to control Spotify while driving. It doesn’t have a speaker, and it doesn’t have its own data connection, so it’s essentially a Spotify remote that can output to your car’s speakers. It offers a combination of physical controls, a... Continue reading…

Sony has finally revealed the design of its next-generation PlayStation VR2 headset, after it announced it in February 2021, showed off the controllers last March, and confirmed it would be called PlayStation VR2 in January.The new design features a similar white-and-black color scheme as the PlayStation 5 (the company says the two products were designed with each other in mind), and while it features the same broad design as the original PS VR, the new model also brings a few enhancements, including a lens adjustment dial, a new vent design, and a slight reduction in weight. And similar to the PlayStation 5 and its DualSense controller, the PS VR2 has tiny textured PlayStation icons hidden on the front and back bands of the headset.I... Continue reading…

A close up of 2015’s Blackberry Priv. | Image: The Verge OnwardMobility, the startup hoping to revive Blackberry phones with a 5G keyboard-equipped Android device, is ending its work on the phone and shutting down as a company. “It is with great sadness that we announce that OnwardMobility will be shutting down, and we will no longer be proceeding with the development of an ultra-secure smartphone with a physical keyboard,” the company wrote in a statement on its website.The announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise given reports that OnwardMobility’s 5G Blackberry had been cancelled earlier this month. But at the time there was speculation that the company might live on and attempt to produce a 5G keyboard-equipped Android phone without the Blackberry name. Now, however, we know it’s... Continue reading…

An experimental Virgin Hyperloop passenger transport pod on display in Washington, DC in 2021. | Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images Virgin Hyperloop has laid off almost half its staff as the company switches its focus from transporting passengers to shifting freight. Cuts totaling 111 jobs were confirmed by Virgin Hyperloop to The Financial Times, which spoke to former employees at the company. They described the scale of the redundancies as “definitely not expected.”The US-based Virgin Hyperloop is one of the leading firms developing the eponymous technology — an updated version of a centuries-old idea to reduce the energy demands of trains by placing them in vacuum-sealed tubes where air resistance is minimal. The concept was resurrected in 2013 when Elon Musk published a whitepaper on the subject, incorporating magnetic levitation used by bullet trains and... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is currently experimenting with two new methods to warn Windows 11 users that they have installed the operating system on unsupported hardware. In the latest test builds of Windows 11, a new watermark has appeared on the desktop wallpaper, alongside a similar warning in the landing page of the settings app.If the test build is running on unsupported hardware, the desktop watermark simply states “system requirements not met,” and appears alongside the build number that is only shown on evaluation or pre-release versions of Windows. It’s similar, but less prominent, to the semi-transparent watermark that appears in Windows if you haven’t activated the OS. Twitter user Albacore first spotted the settings warning earlier this... Continue reading…

Panasonic has announced its latest video-focused Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix GH6, after a delay. The new numbered entry in the popular GH line was teased almost a year ago alongside the launch of the GH5 Mark II; Panasonic confirmed at the time that it would shoot up to 10-bit 4:2:0 4K at 120fps, 10-bit 4:2:2 4K at 60fps, and 10-bit 5.7K at 60fps.Now the camera has been revealed in full, and while it looks similar to its predecessor and features the same 3-inch articulating screen, the internals are all new. There’s a new 25.2-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor and a new Venus Engine image processor, which together let you shoot photos at 14 frames per second with autofocus locked. It’s the highest resolution sensor ever found... Continue reading…

Amazon is tying two of its big gaming efforts, the Twitch streaming platform and its Luna cloud gaming service, a bit closer together. If you’re looking at a game’s page on Twitch and that game is available on Luna, you might now see a “Play on Luna” button that takes you to the title on the cloud gaming service (via 9to5Google).While the button could be a handy way to hop directly into an interesting game you found on Twitch, there are still a lot of limitations to Luna that make the process of just jumping in and playing a game harder than it should be. Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge We need more people playing Sonic Mania on Twitch. First of all, to see the button at all, it appears you need to be... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is discontinuing some app time limit options and encouraging users to update their settings, according to a report from TechCrunch. Originally, users were able to select a time limit as low as five minutes a day, while the new options begin at 30 minutes and go up to three hours.In screenshots sent to TechCrunch by an Instagram user who had previously set a 10-minute daily limit, a popup now appears at the top of their feed urging them to set a new daily limit value in accordance with an app update. Though the popup says the user can keep their existing limit if they want, clicking the edit button directs them to select a preset option, the lowest of which is 30 minutes. An additional popup on the activity page in the app says... Continue reading…

First Final Fantasy XIV, now Lost Ark. | Image: Smilegate The free-to-play MMO Lost Ark has had a huge debut in the West, hitting the second-most concurrent players in Steam history just 24 hours after its February 11th release. Unfortunately, that popularity has meant that players in Europe have had to wait in long queues to play, though developer Smilegate and the game’s Western publisher, Amazon Games, are working to try and fix things.The long queues were an issue for the Europe Central server soon after launch, and the developers quickly promised to implement a new Europe West server to give players another place to play. While that Europe West server is now active, “the Europe Central region is at capacity and unfortunately there is no way to increase the number of players per world in... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Crypto exchange FTX is launching a new team focused on driving cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (or NFT) adoption in the gaming world, according to a Bloomberg report.The initial offering from the new gaming unit will reportedly be a “crypto as a service” platform through which game publishers can launch tokens and provide support for in-game NFTs.“We are launching FTX Gaming because we see games as an exciting use case for crypto,” an FTX spokesperson told Bloomberg via email. “There are 2 billion+ gamers in the world who have played with and collected digital items, and can now also own them.”The new gaming-focused team from FTX is a sign of the continued push to bring blockchain-based products into the gaming space, as... Continue reading…

Anker continues to impress on value Continue reading…

Steven Thaler and/or Creativity Machine The US Copyright Office has rejected a request to let an AI copyright a work of art. Last week, a three-person board reviewed a 2019 ruling against Steven Thaler, who tried to copyright a picture on behalf of an algorithm he dubbed Creativity Machine. The board found that Thaler’s AI-created image didn’t include an element of “human authorship” — a necessary standard, it said, for protection.Creativity Machine’s work, seen above, is named “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.” It’s part of a series Thaler has described as a “simulated near-death experience” in which an algorithm reprocesses pictures to create hallucinatory images and a fictional narrative about the afterlife. Crucially, the AI is supposed to do this with extremely minimal... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix Final Fantasy XIV is finally getting its free trial back on February 22nd, over two months after Square Enix stopped offering it to reduce player load after the incredibly popular Endwalker expansion. The news comes from FFXIV’s latest Letter from the Producer Livestream from director and producer Naoki Yoshida that took place over the weekend, via NME.Final Fantasy XIV has a generous free trial option for new players, allowing them to play the entirety of the base A Realm Reborn release and the Heavensward expansion for as long as they’d like. Square Enix’s enthusiastic social media hype for the free trial has even become a meme in its own right.

A worthy Note successor that stands alone Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Twitter might be testing an escape hatch for users who don’t want to be part of a thread. On Friday, writer and researcher Jane Manchun Wong tweeted an apparent screenshot of a new “leave this conversation” feature. As described in the screenshot, the feature would untag your username from a Twitter conversation, prevent people from mentioning you in the conversation again, and stop you from receiving notifications about it. (You can still see the thread.)The feature looks different from “mute this conversation,” an existing option that turns off notifications for a thread you’re mentioned in. According to a followup tweet, leaving the conversation will make your Twitter handle appear as plain text in the tweet where you’re mentioned,... Continue reading…

Truth Social’s listing in the App Store. | Screenshot: Apple.com Truth Social, a social media network developed by former president Donald Trump’s new media company, is now live on the iOS App Store in the US. Reuters reports that the iOS app was available to download shortly before midnight, eastern time, prior to Presidents Day on February 21st.The service appears to be closely modeled on Twitter, which was previously Trump’s preferred social media platform. The former president was banned from the platform in early 2021 after Twitter said he was inciting violence in the wake of the storming of the US Capitol building. Image: Truth Social / App Store An image included on Truth Social’s App Store listing. As of this writing, Truth Social’s website is loading... Continue reading…

Madbird claimed to be a buzzy London-based design agency. | Image: BBC News BBC News has just published an investigation into Madbird, a supposedly hip design agency led by a charismatic social media influencer called Ali Ayad. But while the company had dozens of real employees across the world, the BBC reports that much of its existence was faked, and used to lure real people into working for months for no pay in the hope of eventually making money after landing big projects.It’s a remarkable story, not least because of the lengths the company’s founder went to create the illusion of a buzzy and successful London-based design agency. Fake employees reportedly bulked out the company’s Zoom calls, and senior employees listed on the company’s website didn’t appear to work at Madbird at all. Even the photos the... Continue reading…

A live ring in action. | Screenshot: YouTube YouTube is adding a new indicator to show when a channel is live streaming on the platform, its chief product officer Neal Mohan has announced on Twitter. It consists of showing a ring with the word “Live” on it around a channel’s profile picture when they’re live streaming, which you can tap to jump straight into the live broadcast. The feature should make it easier to find currently live content as you browse YouTube.If the feature sounds familiar, it might be because it’s already used on a couple of other services. TikTok uses a similar pulsing ring effect on a channel’s profile picture if they’re live streaming when you scroll past their video in your feed. Instagram also shows a colorful ring around the profile pictures of live... Continue reading…

Image: Zens Zens is expanding its excellent alternative to Apple’s failed AirPower charger, the Liberty wireless charger, with a new model: the Liberty Built-in charger — which, as the name implies, is designed to be integrated directly into your desk itself for an even more streamlined look.The original Zens Liberty charger was released back in 2020 and offered an innovative 16-coil design that allowed you to simply place a Qi-compatible phone or device anywhere on the wireless charging pad instead of having to carefully align charging coils or rely on a MagSafe-style magnetic system. Image: Zens But the original model rather boringly sat on top of your desk, while the new Liberty Built-in charger is designed to be... Continue reading…

Capcom has announced Street Fighter 6, the next major entry in the iconic fighting game franchise, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. A brief teaser trailer was following the season final of the Capcom Pro Tour, where Kawano defeated veteran Daigo Umehara.The trailer doesn’t show any actual gameplay, but it suggests that Street Fighter 6 will have a more realistic art style than previous games in the series — at least, as realistic as you could expect while maintaining Ryu’s formidable proportions. Capcom says more information on the game will be coming this summer.Capcom will be hoping that Street Fighter 6 has a better launch than its predecessor. Street Fighter V looked and played great when it came out for PS4 and... Continue reading…

Whistleblower Aid filed two new SEC complaints on behalf of Frances Haugen. | Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME Facebook is the subject of two new Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaints filed by Whistleblower Aid, the nonprofit that represents Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, first reported by The Washington Post. The complaints accuse Facebook, now Meta, of misleading investors about its efforts to tackle misinformation about climate change and COVID-19.The complaint alleges a prominent presence of climate change misinformationThe first complaint, obtained by The Washington Post, alleges the presence of readily available climate change misinformation on Facebook, making Facebook’s claims that it’s fighting climate denial fall flat. It also contains internal documents detailing employees’ own experiences with climate-related... Continue reading…

Truth Social is expected to be available on February 21st. | Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images Former President Donald Trump’s social media app, Truth Social, is expected to make its debut on Presidents’ Day, according to a report from Reuters. In a test version of the app viewed by Reuters, the outlet saw a post from the network’s chief product officer (CPO) indicating the app’s February 21st launch.“By the end of March, we’re going to be fully operational”“We’re currently set for release in the Apple App store for Monday Feb. 21,” the executive — who goes by “Billy B” on Truth Social — reportedly said in response to a beta tester’s question about the app’s public release date. Truth Social has been open to “invited guests only” as early as December, with around 500 beta testers later gaining access to the network.Former... Continue reading…