The Verge

Amazon owns a robotaxi company, is experimenting with delivery robots that drive on the sidewalk, and now is considering acquiring a big stake in a robot trucking startup.According to Bloomberg, the e-commerce giant recently placed an order for 1,000 autonomous driving systems from Plus.ai, a California-based company working on driverless trucking technology. Amazon is also considering buying a 20 percent stake in Plus — a move that could have serious implications for how the company moves its products around the world.Amazon is thinking about buying as much as 20 percent of PlusAmazon is thinking about buying as much as 20 percent of Plus, which recently announced plans to go public via a reverse merger with a special purpose... Continue reading…

All the Windows 11 news Continue reading…

A sign is posted in front of the Univision building. | Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images Univision will launch a Spanish-language streaming service next year that sounds like a bit of a hybrid of Peacock and Netflix, with both a free tier as well as a paid plan that will focus on premium originals.The new service will comprise a “vast content scope, expansive library and more Spanish-language originals than any other streaming service,” Univision said in a press release on Monday. The tiered streaming service will effectively pluck the “best” parts of its existing services, PrendeTV, VIX, and Univision NOW and combine them with the company’s latest content haul gobbled up by way of its acquisition of Televisa, an IP and production grab for which Univision agreed to pay $5 billion.The company previously acquired VIX,... Continue reading…

On February 1st, I shed a tear for the future of gaming, when Google decided it would no longer fulfill its promise to build games specifically for the cloud. But Microsoft is about to take up the torch: the company has hired former Google Stadia design director Kim Swift, best known for Valve’s hit game Portal, according to an interview with Polygon.“Kim is going to build a team focused on new experiences in the cloud,” Xbox Game Studios publishing head Peter Wyse told Polygon, adding that Microsoft’s goal was to create “cloud-native games.”She’s now listed as senior director of cloud gamingSwift has spent over a decade in the games industry since her student project Narbacular Drop landed her team jobs at Valve Software, where she... Continue reading…

Image: TikTok TikTok is announcing a new feature that will let users embed mini apps, called Jumps, into their videos. For example, if someone is making a cooking video, they could embed a link to the recipe app Whisk, which would allow viewers to pull up a recipe sheet inside of TikTok with the tap of a button. The feature is currently being tested, with only a select group of creators having the ability to embed a Jump into their videos, but TikTok says it will be rolling out the feature after more testing.When watching a video with a Jump, viewers will see a button near the bottom of the screen, which will then open the content on a new screen within TikTok. Creators making a video will be able to choose a Jump to add and will then be able to... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitch is once again struggling with how to handle sexually suggestive streams from some of the most popular women on its platform. Over the weekend, the service banned two top female streamers — Amouranth and Indiefoxx — who had been broadcasting ASMR streams from their beds. Both streams involved the creators licking a microphone while wearing what appeared to be the TikTok-famous leggings known for making your butt look great. It’s just the latest instance of Twitch making itself the arbiter of what counts as too sexy for its audience and advertisers.As usual, Twitch declined to explain why either streamer was banned. But the reason seems to be a breach of Twitch’s restrictions on “sexually suggestive” content. The rules ban... Continue reading…

Photo by James Devaney/Getty Images Roc-A-Fella Records (RAF), co-founded by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, has sued fellow co-founder Damon Dash for allegedly hawking a non-fungible token of Jay-Z’s 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt.The lawsuit claims Dash partnered with platform SuperFarm to auction an NFT of Reasonable Doubt, following a well-trodden path of selling art ownership via NFT. It quotes a purported SuperFarm press release calling the sale “one of the most significant NFT auctions to date,” since it would transfer “the rights to all future revenue generated by the album from Damon Dash to the auction winner.” That’s an unusually sweeping promise for an NFT. “Selling the copyright to Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt as an NFT is a groundbreaking landmark — both for the crypto... Continue reading…

Netflix announced a new feature film deal with Amblin Partners on Monday, the film studio started by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg. Amblin Partners will produce multiple feature films per year for the streaming service, some of which could theoretically be produced, developed, and directed by Spielberg.Along with the announcement, Spielberg shared his excitement over the new partnership:

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is calling on Microsoft to face the same antitrust scrutiny as other large tech platforms in a letter to the company Monday.In the letter, Jordan asks Microsoft president Brad Smith if he believes the company would be affected by the swath of antitrust bills introduced in the House earlier this month. There are five bills in total, spanning from offering up more money for antitrust enforcers to banning large tech platforms from buying up small competitors.The antitrust package came out of a yearslong investigation into Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. The measures focus on the anticompetitive behaviors of these four companies, and it’s not as clear how they would affect other large companies like Microsoft.... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Clubhouse — which inadvertently sent every other tech platform from Spotify to Facebook scrambling to build out copycat functionality — seems to be taking its first steps away from pure live audio experiences. How do we know this? The company appears to have accidentally leaked a messaging feature, called Backchannel, to some users late last week.Based on several tweets circulating on Friday (including the below screen recording), Backchannel is an apparent means for users to chat via text instead of audio. Apparently the feature was not referenced whatsoever in the app’s release notes of the version, and what was rolled out looks blatantly unfinished. It’s not clear how long this version of Backchannel existed out in the wild, but... Continue reading…

Fans of Apple TV’s hit show Ted Lasso can now buy official merch that lets you rep AFC Richmond, the fictional soccer team featured in the show — and yes, that means you can buy a jersey. The new merch store has opened just about a month ahead of the show’s July 23rd season 2 premiere.A jersey costs $59.95, and you can personalize it with your first and last name. There are professional level kits on the way, too — Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence says they’ll be available in September.

Image: Google A colleague here at The Verge tells this story: “This weekend my wife was like, ‘Google says I’m almost out of storage!’ and I was like ‘We have 2TB with Google One, that’s not possible!’” What was the problem? Well, just because you’ve established family sharing with your Google account, you don’t automatically start to share your extra storage from Google One. You’ve got to turn it on.First, the basics: Google One is essentially the paid version of Google Drive. It gives you extra storage (beyond the free 15GB) to use across Drive, Gmail, and Photos, and lets you share that storage with up to five family members. Plans begin at 100GB for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year. If that’s not enough, you can go up to 2TB for $9.99 a month /... Continue reading…

Staff make their way around the aisles collecting items before sending them to the on-site dispatch hall to be packaged inside one of Britain’s largest Amazon warehouses in Dunfermline, Fife. | Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images Amazon marks millions of unsold products for destruction each year in the UK, according to a new investigation by British television program ITV News. ITV found stacks of boxes marked “destroy” that were filled with electronics, jewelry, books, and other new or gently used items in one warehouse’s “destruction zone.” The news outlet caught the practice on camera while going undercover at the Dunfermline fulfillment center in Scotland. It says it tracked some of the goods to recycling centers and a landfill.About 124,000 items at Dunfermline were labeled “destroy” during a single week in April, according to an internal document obtained by ITV News. Just 28,000 items were set aside for donations during the same period. About half of all... Continue reading…

The trio of Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus is one of the better deals you can get in streaming today, and it’s even nicer when you can watch for free. For a special Prime Day 2021 promotion, Amazon is covering three months of the Disney Plus bundle for customers who purchase one of its hardware devices — and this includes inexpensive products like the Fire TV Stick, which is down to $17.99 for Prime Day. The bundle usually costs $13.99 per month, so you’re saving quite a bit if you can find any use for a new streaming stick.Buy any of the eligible Amazon devices, and you’ll receive three free months of the Disney Plus bundle. The deal is available for new customers but also extends to returning users who have let their previous... Continue reading…

A COVID-19 testing site in Boston, Massachusetts | Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images Google appears to have automatically installed the COVID-19 exposure notification app for Massachusetts on some Android phones, users reported. The system is still only active if users turn it on, Google told 9to5Google.The app, MassNotify, launched on June 15th. Many Android users said that it was silently installed on their phones without any notifications: “Ghost installed on my phone without my consent. While I believe in what this app was meant to do, installing it without so much as a notification is extremely alarming,” one user wrote in a Google Play Store review.The feature was “automatically distributed,” Google said in a statement to 9to5Google, but users still have to actively opt in to send and receive exposure... Continue reading…

A new version of Windows is on the way Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon Prime Day 2021 is here. It’s the annual two-day mega sale when Prime members get exclusive access to some of the year’s best deals on everything, including technology that rarely sees a discount. After getting delayed to October last year due to the pandemic, this year’s Prime Day sales are back to their regular summer slot, taking place today, June 21st, and tomorrow, June 22nd.Instead of showing you every slight price cut under the sun, we’re collecting only the best deals on products that we think you’ll love. From video games and 4K TVs to laptops and headphones, you’ll be able to get a big haul for less if you’re a Prime member. If you’re fast enough on the draw to get these deals, you might be able to check off quite a few... Continue reading…

The classic title running in 16:9 without stretching. | Screenshot: Super Mario World Some purists might sneer at the idea of playing retro games in anything other than their original 4:3 aspect ratio. But for anyone else, a new widescreen hack for Super Mario World means you can now enjoy the 1990 game on modern displays, without having to put up with black bars or a weirdly stretched image.Super Mario World Widescreen is the work of ROM hacker Vitor Vilela, and works by modifying the original game’s ROM when played through the bsnes_hd emulator. It means the game’s original 256x224 internal screen size can be adjusted to 352×224 to give it the correct aspect ratio for a 16:9 display. As well as 16:9, the patch also supports 16:10 resolutions, and ultrawide 21:9 support is planned for the future.

Facebook Facebook’s Clubhouse competitor, Live Audio Rooms, is making its way stateside. The company announced today that some US-based public figures, as well as certain groups, can start hosting rooms through the main Facebook iOS app. (People can join, however, from both iOS and Android.) Anyone can be invited up as a speaker with up to 50 people able to speak at once. There’s no cap on the number of listeners allowed in — a major shot at Clubhouse, which imposes room size limitations.It’s also introducing other nifty features, like notifications when your friends or followers join a room, as well as live captions. There will be a “raise a hand” button to request to join the conversation, and reactions will be available to to interact... Continue reading…

As expected, Cyberpunk 2077 has returned to Sony’s PlayStation Store today, more than six months after it was removed. The game has returned with a big warning for PS4 owners, though. “Users may continue to experience some performance issues with the PS4 edition while we continue to improve stability across all platforms,” admits CD Projekt Red. “The PS4 Pro and PS5 versions of the game will provide the best experience on PlayStation.”Sony’s listing for Cyberpunk 2077 has a similar warning, and it goes a step further to try and dissuade PS4 owners from purchasing the game. “Purchase for use on PS4 systems is not recommended,” says Sony’s listing. “For the best Cyberpunk experience on PlayStation, play on PS4 Pro and PS5 systems.”

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Last week OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said in a forum post that the company will “further integrate” with Oppo, but didn’t elaborate on how that’d work in practise. Now, leaker Evan Blass has obtained a document that serves as a talking points memo for use by OnePlus PR, and it explains the integration in plainer terms.“With the integration, OnePlus becomes a brand within Oppo, however will continue to function as an independent entity,” reads the most pertinent answer. The memo also says that Lau’s role as chief product officer at Oppo will make him responsible for the product strategies of both Oppo and OnePlus.This isn’t particularly surprising. Here’s what I wrote last week following Lau’s post:

Right now, you can pick up the 1st-gen Echo Show 5 for nearly half the initial list price. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon Prime Day, the retail giant’s two-day blitz of deals and promotions, officially lands tomorrow, June 21st. The annual shopping event is taking a place a few weeks earlier than it has in the past, and Amazon has already kick-started the event with a slew of deals for Amazon Prime subscribers, discounting everything from the last-gen Echo Show 5 to the latest pair of Amazon Echo Buds. More deals are set to live during the main event, too, with retailers such as Walmart and Target joining the shopping fray with deals of their own, many of which will rival Amazon’s offerings.Below, we’ve rounded up the best early Prime Day deals. In most instances, all you need to do is sign up for Amazon Prime to take advantage of the deals,... Continue reading…

The USWNT won four World Cups but were still being paid less than their male counterparts | Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images So I completely devoured Hacks (fantastic), watched the season four finale of The Handmaid’s Tale (wow) and episode two of Loki (fun!) and I still feel like there are a lot of shows I’m missing? But, I have to sleep sometime. I encourage you to read Emily VanDer Werff’s excellent analysis of Handmaid’s very good fourth season in Vox, this excellent New Yorker piece about what it’s like to be Jean Smart, and Vulture’s insightful recap of Loki ep. 2. I’m now counting the days until the Ted Lasso season two premiere.We have a lot of strong women in this week’s trailer roundup, along with a music documentary produced and directed by Questlove, a new Titans trailer, and a flick with Nicolas Cage and his pet truffle pig (yet another sentence... Continue reading…

Image: FEMA The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it has combined two categories of text message alerts into one: the “Presidential Alerts” and alerts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The two will now be in a new “National Alerts” category, active on all devices that receive Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).The goal of the alerts is to warn the public of natural disasters and other crisis situations, “and are of ever-increasing importance given the emergencies and disasters Americans have faced in recent years,” the FCC said in a news release (pdf). The false alert in Hawaii in 2018, where residents were warned of an imminent ballistic missile threat that wasn’t real, highlighted the need for improvements to its... Continue reading…

Airspeeder Airspeeder says its electric “flying” race car, the Alauda Mk3, has had its first unpiloted test flights in southern Australia. The craft, an electric vertical takeoff multicopter (abbreviated eVTOL for electric vertical take off and landing) was remotely controlled and the test flights took place under the supervision of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.The ultimate goal for Airspeeder and Alauda Aeronautics (the former is the racing series, the latter is the manufacturer), both founded by entrepreneur Matthew Pearson, has been to build flying vehicles for the purpose of racing them, which the companies say is the next step. According to Airspeeder’s website, the “successful execution of these flights means that uncrewed... Continue reading…

The Nest Thermostat | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Texas’ energy grid, which failed spectacularly over the winter during a stretch of historically cold weather, will be put to the test again this weekend, as temperatures across much of the state are forecast to be in the upper 90s. Despite assurances from Gov. Greg Abbott that “everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas,” earlier this week the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) urged customers to adjust thermostats to 78 degrees or higher and cut back on electricity use for several days.Texas residents with smart thermostats are eligible for a number of programs, sweepstakes, and discounts which effectively allow energy providers to adjust their thermostats remotely during periods of high... Continue reading…

For $399, it doesn’t do enough to stand apart from the less expensive 4G-only version Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The facial recognition program used by some two dozen US states to to verify people seeking unemployment benefits is working inconsistently, leading to many people being denied benefits or having their applications put on hold, Motherboard reported.The identity verification service ID.me is intended to help reduce unemployment fraud, and uses biometric data and official documents to verify people. But according to Motherboard, some who have applied for unemployment have reported that ID.me has failed to identify them correctly, and that they have had difficulty reaching someone at ID.me to remedy the problem.In a lengthy email response to The Verge, ID.me CEO Blake Hall said the company uses “1:1 Face Matching to match the selfie... Continue reading…

illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Following a recommendation from its Oversight Board, Facebook says it will update its community standards to be clearer about how it handles satirical content, the company said in a blog post.“We’ll add information to the Community Standards that makes it clear where we consider satire as part of our assessment of context-specific decisions,” according to the post. “This change will allow teams to consider satire when assessing potential Hate Speech violations.”The update comes after the Oversight Board determined that Facebook was wrong to remove a user’s comment with a reference to the Turkish government, based on the two buttons meme. The Oversight Board described it:

Pedestrians walk through NYC on June 16, the day before COVID-19 restrictions lifted in the state. | Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress With COVID-19 restrictions lifting in some places and outbreaks popping up in others, the pandemic has officially entered the weird zone.Okay, there’s nothing official about it, but the entire world is in a strange transition time right now — and likely will be for a while. Unlike the jump-cut into the pandemic, or even the suspenseful vaccine ramp-up, this time is more hopeful, less frantic, but also stretched out in an uneven mess. Places, populations, and even industries are moving at different paces as they move back to some semblance of normality.It’s like the entire globe is playing by a perverse version of “yes, and.” Yes, more people are vaccinated in the US than before, and immunocompromised people are still at risk. Yes,... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Next week is when Prime Day 2021 begins. We’ll be here early on Monday and continue scouring deals through Tuesday night, bringing you the best deals on the tech we know you’ll like. However, before that, on Sunday, is Father’s Day. If you’ve already gotten a gift for the dad in your life, hopefully you‘ll be able to celebrate together in some manner. But, if you haven’t yet, it’s never too late to get one through our thoughtfully-curated gift guide.Get $150 off Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad ProBest Buy is offering a rare discount on the Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (that fits even the latest M1-equipped version). Normally $349, it’s $199 for all of Saturday. Usually, it’s just the 11-inch model that sees... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge PayPal said Friday it is raising fees for some of its newer products “to better align our pricing with the value that our products and services provide,” according to a blog post by senior vice president Dan Leberman. The changes will affect how much PayPal merchants pay per transaction, and take effect August 2nd.“PayPal has become more than just a button or payment processor to be a full commerce platform capable of driving growth for businesses,” according to the blog post. “Consumers are nearly three times more likely to complete their purchase when PayPal is available at checkout.”In the past, PayPal has had a flat rate for sellers processing payments, charging 2.9 percent of a transaction price, plus a 30-cent fee. The new,... Continue reading…

Photo by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images for BMI If you’ve spent some time playing Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, you might feel like you’re playing a blockbuster family-friendly action movie — and that’s not just because of the game’s many perfectly timed set pieces. Rift Apart is also backed by a sweeping score composed by the legendary musician Mark Mothersbaugh.You might recognize Mothersbaugh as the co-founder of the band Devo or as the composer of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats. But I suggest you also scroll through his IMDb page. He’s been a jaw-droppingly prolific composer with work stretching back to the 1980s, and he has credits on films (The Lego Movie, Thor: Ragnarok), TV series (What We Do in the Shadows, Dawson’s Creek), and even other video games (Skate 3, The Sims 2).“Something... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google may be working on turning Android phones into a hivemind capable of finding lost devices, similar to Apple’s Find My network, according to analysis done by 9to5Google. A toggle for the feature showed up in a beta of Google Play Services, with code referencing the ability for phones to help locate other devices, potentially signaling that Android phones could soon become easier to find.According to Google’s support page, the current Find My Device system can only find phones that are powered on, have a data or Wi-Fi signal, and have location services enabled. At this early stage, it’s unclear which, if any, of those limitations the relay network feature — apparently called Spot — would solve, but when you’re looking for a lost... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The YouTube app on iOS will be getting picture-in-picture support, allowing all users to watch videos while doing other things on their iPhones and iPads. A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge that the feature is currently rolling out to Premium subscribers, and that a launch for all iOS users (including the free ones) in the US is in the works.Apple added support for picture-in-picture video for iPads with iOS 9, and brought it to iPhones with iOS 14. Since then, YouTube’s support for the feature on iPhones and iPads has been spotty — it works for iPad if you’re using Safari (though some have reported it doesn’t work for non-Premium subscribers); iPhone users have only been able to access the feature periodically.That complication... Continue reading…

Image: ZatzNotFunny We may have gotten our first look at Ring’s dashcam, courtesy of The Tape Drive, which posted an image of a Ring-branded camera that looks like it’s made to fit on a car’s dashboard. Based on a support article which Zats Not Funny discovered (and claims may have been published inadvertently) Ring’s Car Cam will have Alexa integration and the ability to start recording if you tell it you’ve been pulled over.The Car Cam was originally announced by the Amazon-owned company in September as a dashboard-mounted device which would record both the inside and outside of the vehicle, and was priced at $199. However, the support article about the Car Cam that’s been posted on Ring’s site says that the camera attaches to the windshield as well.... Continue reading…

Tesla’s been talking up its Model S Plaid as “the quickest production car ever” claiming it can go from 0-60 in a blistering 1.99 seconds. It’s a claim that’s drawn a lot of raised eyebrows from car enthusiasts and experts. Can it really go that fast? Turns out, it can. But only under some incredibly specific Tesla-dictated conditions.That’s what Motor Trend found when it got an exclusive chance to test out the Model S Plaid. Instead of letting the publication put the car through its paces on its usual test track, Tesla’s PR insisted that their drivers use a specific test track, and drive that track in a particular way. Under Tesla’s conditions, Motor Trend went 0-60 in 1.98 seconds, running a quarter-mile in just 9.25 seconds.The... Continue reading…

A fountain in Leipzig, Germany on June 18, 2021 | Photo by Sebastian Willnow/picture alliance via Getty Images The amount of heat trapped by Earth’s land, ocean, and atmosphere doubled over the course of just 14 years, a new study shows.To figure out how much heat the earth was trapping, researchers looked at NASA satellite measurements that tracked how much of the Sun’s energy was entering Earth’s atmosphere and how much was being bounced back into space. They compared this with data from NOAA buoys that tracked ocean temperatures — which gives them an idea of how much heat is getting absorbed into the ocean.The difference between the amount of heat absorbed by Earth, and the amount reflected back into space is called an energy imbalance. In this case, they found that from 2005 to 2019, the amount of heat absorbed by Earth was going up. Their... Continue reading…

The Verge Bismuth is a heavy, brittle metal that forms colorful geometric crystals when melted and then slowly cooled. It’s most commonly known as a main ingredient in Pepto Bismol — less commonly known as bismuth subsalicylate. And someday soon, it might be used to help power your electronics.Scientists like Robert Hoye, a lecturer in the department of materials at Imperial College London, are using bismuth-based compounds in photovoltaics — materials that convert light into energy. Bismuth has unique electronic properties that not only make it a good candidate for solar cells, but make it great for indoor use — a place where traditional photovoltaics don’t perform too well. That means it might one day replace the need for batteries in billions... Continue reading…

Photo: Elon Musk The Boring Company has been pitching potential clients on a much wider tunnel than any it has built so far, Bloomberg reported, which could be used to transport freight. Since its inception in 2016, the Elon Musk-helmed tunneling startup has been focused on tunnels that would transport passengers, with a goal to “solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic” in cities. But the new pitch deck Bloomberg obtained shows how wider tunnels could be used for transporting freight, something that would greatly expand Boring’s potential business.According to Bloomberg, the company’s new pitch includes tunnels that are 21 feet in diameter, nearly twice the size of the 12-foot tunnels the company has built so far, which could accommodate two... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Prime Day 2021 is kicking off in just a few days. Prime members will get to enjoy exclusive tech and gaming discounts on Amazon. In addition, other retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Target will each be having deals of their own that don’t require a subscription. We’ll be covering the deals in-depth starting Monday morning, June 21st, so join us then. We’re collecting the best early Prime Day deals right here, but here are a few more excellent deals to take us into the weekend.Through Sunday, people who sign up for a free My Best Buy account can get $150 off most of Apple’s last-gen iPad Pro in both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes. This limited-time price cut results in the best prices we’ve seen for the Wi-Fi and LTE-connected... Continue reading…

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.In this episode, the show is split into three sections. First, Nilay and Dieter talk to Verge senior editor Tom Warren about this week in Microsoft: leaks of the Windows 11 UI, announcements from E3 2021, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella doubling as the company’s chairman.

AMD helps bring OLED to the mainstream Continue reading…

The Destiny Toaster in all its glory. | Image: Bungie A year after Bungie said it would explore making an official Destiny Toaster during a charity livestream, our bread-based dreams are finally becoming a reality. The Destiny Toaster is now available to preorder from Bungie’s online store for $84.99. It’s not due to ship until at least December, but Bungie says that once it does it’ll toast the game’s Tricorn logo into every slice of bread it touches. Does it also make normal toast? We have no clue.If you’re a little lost as to why the developer of Destiny would go to the effort of making a toaster (because lord knows I was), PCGamer has you covered. Apparently “getting that bread” is in-game slang for getting a good loot drop, and there’s also a gun in the game that’s the spitting image... Continue reading…

Image: Bandai Everyone’s favorite digital pet, the Tamagotchi, is being reinvented for its 25th anniversary. The new Tamagotchi Smart puts the creature into a colorful smartwatch, allowing you to strap your digital pet — and all the chores that come with it — directly to your wrist. Kotaku reports that the new device features a touchscreen for petting your little friend, voice recognition for chatting, and a pedometer. Oh, and it can also display the time. Neat.After their original release of the Tamagotchi in the late 90s, there was a global flurry of enthusiasm, leading to a spin-off anime series, video games, and a movie. The Tamagotchi Smart is fundamentally very similar to the 90s toys, but benefits from 25 years of tech progress. Its screen is... Continue reading…

Photo by Tunahan Turhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Last year, Taiwan was held up as a model example of how to control the pandemic. Now, with a rising case-count threatening the country’s vital tech industry in the middle of a global semiconductor shortage, its government is letting its powerful corporations buy COVID-19 vaccines on its behalf. It’s an unusual workaround, but one that makes sense given Taiwan’s complaints that China scuppered earlier deals.As reported by Nikkei Asia and Reuters, the Taiwanese government said on Friday that it would allow chipmaker TSMC and Terry Gou, billionaire founder of tech assembly giant Foxconn, to negotiate on its behalf with vaccine makers. Both TSMC and Gou (who will be working through his Yonglin Education Foundation) said they hope to buy... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Spotify has acquired Podz, a startup whose technology generates preview clips of podcasts, the streaming service has announced. Unlike other services podcasters can use to manually create clips, TechCrunch says Podz automates the process of finding key moments from episodes using machine learning trained on over 100,000 hours of audio.The acquisition is aimed at improving podcast discovery, letting users browse short clips rather than 30-minute plus podcast episodes. Spotify says this will make it “easier for listeners to find the content they want to listen to, and for creators to be discovered and build a fan base.” Podz tells TechCrunch that users on its platform typically follow up to 30 podcasts, up from an average of seven.M... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook is rolling out its v30 update to the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets. As previewed earlier this week by Mark Zuckerberg, v30 includes a new multitasking interface for Infinite Office that lets you put multiple apps side by side, including the browser, Oculus TV, Oculus Move, the store, and so on.Like many new Oculus Quest features, it’ll be found in the Experimental section of the settings menu at first. Once multitasking is enabled, apps can be dragged up from the menu bar or the apps library and snapped into position.The v30 update also enables Air Link for the original Quest headset. Air Link came to the Quest 2 in April and allows you to stream VR games from your PC to your headset wirelessly, as opposed to Oculus... Continue reading…

Microsoft Flight Simulator | Microsoft Just in time for the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox Series consoles next month, developer Asobo Studios has added some extra details that players will appreciate. World Update V is focused on the Nordic region (specifically Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden), bringing stunning vistas to an already visually impressive title.A brief trailer shows the payoff for some extra attention on landscapes (so many fjords) and urban areas with detailed architecture for you to fly around showing off everything from ancient castles to modern stadiums, towers and bridges. According to the team, the new areas include “100 airports and 77 carefully selected points of interest.” You can see Lego House and Frederiksborg Castle in... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google Meet, Google’s answer to video calling services like Zoom, is getting a collection of helpful tweaks to its hand-raising feature as part of ongoing updates to Workspace. The new changes, spotted by 9to5Google, include a new hand-raising animation, notification sound, and adjustments to how hosts are made aware of raised hands.While the update is minor, for anyone who uses Google Meet in a large group setting or regularly attends webinars, the tweaks will be helpful — plus, the new animation really is nice. Image: Google The new hand-raising animation. Here’s Google’s breakdown of the changes you’ll notice as the update rolls out to Workspace users: