The Verge

Meta Meta is launching its first hardware retail store on its campus in Burlingame, California. The store, which opens May 9th, will let visitors try out and buy Meta’s Portal videophones and Quest virtual reality headsets. They’ll also be able to demo the Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses that debuted last year and get help ordering them online.Meta’s store will include a demo area for Portal where users can test its video calling features with a store employee. There’s a space to test several Quest 2 demos, including Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing, and Supernatural, and visitors will take home a 30-second mixed reality clip showing them playing a game. They can also try on different styles of the Ray-Ban glasses, which capture and share... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge If you're trying to buy a new video game console in 2022, then you probably already know that they’re still in short supply. While the Nintendo Switch (including the new Switch OLED model) and Xbox Series S are generally available throughout the US, it’s a little harder to get something more powerful, and NPD data released today reflects that.Between the Xbox Series S remaining in stock consistently and the increasingly obtainable Xbox Series X (try opening up your Best Buy app in the morning or checking local stores to find one — many have had them in stock lately), Microsoft’s consoles led in terms of hardware dollars for March 2022 and the entire first quarter in the US.This is the most total Xbox units sold in March since 2011

The 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 | Chevy General Motors will release an “electrified” version of the Chevy Corvette next year, followed by a fully electric version of the iconic sports car soon after that, the automaker’s president Mark Reuss said on CNBC Monday.Reuss wouldn’t confirm when the all-electric ‘Vette would make its debut, but did note that “this is coming very quick.” The automaker plans to continue selling gas-powered versions in the meantime.“This is in addition to all the great performance that Chevrolet and Corvette have been known for many, many years with our internal combustion engine, so it’s an addition to [that],” Reuss said.

Image: Blizzard We already knew Blizzard is working on a new entry in the Diablo series that is designed for mobile devices. And today, timed to coincide with Activision Blizzard’s Q1 2022 earnings report, the company announced that Diablo Immortal will release on Android and iOS on June 2nd — and, surprise, on PC, too, in open beta.

The PA147CDV next to one of Asus’ laptops. | Image: Asus The Asus ProArt Display PA147CDV is a 14-inch touchscreen that’s designed to act as a secondary display for creatives. With its small form factor and ultrawide 32:9 aspect ratio, it looks as though Asus has ripped the secondary display off one of its Duo laptops and turned it into an external monitor.The PA147CDV was technically announced last September, but Asus is currently showing it off at the NAB 2022 show in Las Vegas and is announcing plans to release the monitor in Q2 2022 in North America at a price that’s yet to be announced.With its support for Microsoft’s Pen Protocol 2.0 and a built-in dial that’s designed to emulate the functionality of Microsoft’s Surface Dial, Asus is pitching the PA147CDV as an accessory for creatives... Continue reading…

Pixel Watch between a 40mm Apple Watch (left) and 46mm Samsung Galaxy Watch. | Photo: tagtech414 (Reddit) Our first look at what seems to be the Google Pixel Watch comes under strange circumstances: someone supposedly found its prototype lying around at a restaurant and sent pictures of it to Android Central on the condition of anonymity. The images of the purported device match up with what we’ve seen from previously leaked renders, down to the circular watchface and rotating crown. Image: Android Central The watch appears to have a physical crown sitting between two buttons. As shown in the photos, a physical crown sits between two buttons on the side of the watch. If it’s anything like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the two buttons could be used to turn the watch on or off, return to the home screen, or even as a... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Workers at Nintendo’s third-party repair facility reportedly faced a “very stressful” work environment caused by a deluge of Switches sent in for issues related to Joy-Con drift, according to a report from Kotaku. A former supervisor at the New York-based United Radio, the company that partners with Nintendo to repair broken devices, told Kotaku that the large volume of Joy-Con repairs resulted in a high turnover rate and “lots of” mistakes.United Radio is its own company — Nintendo merely acts as the middleman, handling customer communications and leaving the repairing to United Radio, which serves Nintendo customers located in the eastern half of the US. The ubiquity of Joy-Con drift led to “easily thousands” of Joy-Cons that passed... Continue reading…

The Chevy Spark EV ran from 2013 to 2016. | Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images General Motors will reportedly no longer provide battery replacements for the all-electric version of the Chevy Spark, according to a report from EV-Resource (via InsideEVs). The Chevy Spark electric vehicle (EV) was first released in 2013, and GM continued to make new models until 2016.A GM district executive confirmed to EV-Resource that the company is “no longer going to supply that [the Spark EV’s] battery.” GM’s inventory of Spark EV battery packs has reportedly run out as well, and the company doesn’t plan on making any more. The Verge reached out to GM with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.It’s unclear if GM will continue to honor the Spark EV’s battery pack warrantyWith the oldest model of the Spark EV... Continue reading…

This $1,550 robot can mop, vacuum, clean itself, and find you in your home Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple may be cracking down on apps that no longer receive updates. In a screenshotted email sent to affected developers, titled “App Improvement Notice,” Apple warns it will remove apps from the App Store that haven’t been “updated in a significant amount of time” and gives developers just 30 days to update them.“You can keep this app available for new users to discover and download from the App Store by submitting an update for review in 30 days,” Apple writes in the email. “If no update is submitted in 30 days, the app will be removed from sale.” While Apple will remove the outdated apps from the App Store, any previously downloaded apps will remain on users’ devices.

Ubisoft says “Project Q” isn’t the game’s official name. | Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft announced its upcoming “team battle arena game,” with two major disclaimers: it’s not just a battle royale and there aren’t any NFTs. The game company shared the news on Twitter after leakers posted footage of the game, codenamed Project Q, online.“This is not a Battle Royale,” Ubisoft said in a series of tweets. “The game will feature a variety of PvP modes with one single goal in mind: FUN! We don’t have plans to add NFTs to this game, you can find out more by registering and taking part in the upcoming tests!”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Lapsus$ hacking group stole T-Mobile’s source code in a series of breaches that took place in March, as first reported by Krebs on Security. T-Mobile confirmed the attack in a statement to The Verge, and says the “systems accessed contained no customer or government information or other similarly sensitive information.”In copies of private messages obtained by Krebs, the Lapsus$ hacking group discussed targeting T-Mobile in the week prior to the arrest of seven of its teenage members. After purchasing employees’ credentials online, the members could use the company’s internal tools — like Atlas, T-Mobile’s customer management system — to perform SIM swaps. This type of attack involves hijacking a target’s mobile phone by... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram’s testing out a new feature, called Templates, that will let creators make Reels by borrowing formats from other videos on the platform, according to a report from Insider (via TechCrunch). The feature appears somewhat similar to TikTok’s own templates tool, which allows creators to drop their own content into a premade sequence.Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi spotted an early version of Templates in January, while marketing manager and influencer Josephine Hill has already gotten to experience the feature. In a screenshot posted by Hill in March, it looks like users can swap their own clips into preset frames, as well as add their own audio. This could save users from using third-party templates from sites like Canva, or... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Meta held its 2022 games showcase this past week, lifting the curtain on several new virtual reality games in the works for the Quest 2 headset. We’ve got a roundup of the titles that we’re most excited about right here. In celebration of the event, Meta has slashed prices on several VR games that see discounts only on a few occasions each year. So, whether you just bought a Quest 2, or you just want to fill out your library a little more, check out these deals.I’ve highlighted a few deals that I think are particularly good:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The EU has agreed on another ambitious piece of legislation to police the online world.Early Saturday morning after hours of negotiations, the bloc agreed on the broad terms of the Digital Services Act, or DSA, which will force tech companies to take greater responsibility for content that appears on their platforms. New obligations include removing illegal content and goods more quickly, explaining to users and researchers how their algorithms work, and taking stricter action on the spread of misinformation. Companies face fines of up to six percent of their annual turnover for non-compliance.“The DSA will upgrade the ground-rules for all online services in the EU,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a... Continue reading…

Some of the new armor customization options in Halo Infinite’s second season. | Image: 343 Industries Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries is targeting a “late August” launch for the game’s long-awaited network co-op campaign mode, the game’s head of creative Joseph Staten says in a new Halo Waypoint blog post. As part of a new roadmap included in the post, Staten also shared that 343 is targeting an open beta for Halo Infinite’s Forge mode in September.343 Industries announced months ahead of Halo Infinite’s December release that co-op and Forge mode wouldn’t be available at launch. The developer then said it was aiming to ship campaign co-op “with” season 2, and then pushed that target to “later” in season 2.Split-screen campaign co-op, which lets you play the campaign with your friends on the same TV, is even further away. Based... Continue reading…

This is Dorsey’s official image on Block’s “Leadership” website. | Image: Block Jack Dorsey’s new title at Block is not CEO, but Block Head. No, this is not a very belated April Fools’ joke. The company filed an 8-K with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announcing the change — and of course, the new title came into effect on 4/20.Despite the new title (which, in full, is “Block Head and Chairperson”), Dorsey’s job at Block, the company formerly known as Square, will ultimately remain the same: there will be “no changes in Mr. Dorsey’s roles and responsibilities, and he will continue to serve as principal executive officer of the Company.” Block’s bylaws also no longer require that the company to have an officer with the title of CEO and president, which seems to mean that anyone who succeeds Dorsey... Continue reading…

Are we surprised it’ll be called the Pixel Watch? Nah. | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge After years of speculation, we finally know what Google’s first in-house smartwatch will be called. Surprising absolutely no one, a new trademark filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reveals it is... Pixel Watch.The filing (via 9to5 Google) is about as barebones as it gets. The description says the Pixel Watch name is “intended to cover the categories of smartwatches; cases adapted for holding smartwatches; wearable computers in the nature of smartwatches; smartwatch straps; smartwatch bands.” Further on in the filing, it’s noted that while the Pixel Watch name is not in current use, there is an intent to use it. Not to mention, Google recently changed its store to more prominently feature watches. Clearly, Google has... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twenty-one Raven Software QA employees have until May 20th to submit their ballots in a historic video game industry union vote. Today the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decreed that voting for the union would commence and that the voting unit would be composed of those 21 employees, against Activision Blizzard’s argument that the voting unit should be opened to all Raven employees.In a statement to The Verge, Activision Blizzard spokesperson Rich George said:

Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images Twitter levied a new ban today on “misleading” advertisements “that contradict the scientific consensus on climate change.”“We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company said in a blog post today.“Misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis”Its decisions about what’s legit content in regard to climate change will be guided by “authoritative sources,” it says, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC has published a couple of landmark reports on the crisis over the past few months that break down what... Continue reading…

Florida’s governor has signed a bill stripping Disney of its special tax status in the state | Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill stripping the Walt Disney Company of its special tax status in the Orlando area. The move is widely viewed as retaliation against Disney for its criticism of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, a position DeSantis took umbrage at.Disney CEO Bob Chapek apologized last month to employees who protested what they viewed as a failure by the company to support its LGBTQ community. Disney then issued a press release that said its “goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.”DeSantis said Friday he was “just not comfortable having that type of... Continue reading…

A screenshot from Borderlands 3. | Image: Gearbox Software Gearbox Software added crossplay to Borderlands 3 last year, but Sony’s platforms didn’t support the feature at first. That will change soon, as the company announced at PAX East that full crossplay support — including with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 — will be arriving sometime in the spring, GameSpot reports. When the feature is available, PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Stadia players will all be able to play the game with each other.Sony has been resistant to enabling crossplay on some games in the past, originally blocking support for it in titles like Fortnite and Rocket League before eventually coming around. However, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, a Borderlands spinoff, launched in March with support for crossplay on all platforms, i... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Two months ago, my best friend stayed with me and watched all of Emily in Paris on my Netflix account. I have spent the time since flitting past worthless recommendation after worthless recommendation because, while I enjoy a frothy dramedy, my taste is different than hers and Netflix has failed to grasp that.A “forget what you just saw” button on Netflix would fix this. But when you’re using the Netflix app on your phone, tablet, set-top box, TV, or even, if that’s a thing you do, your Facebook Portal, there is no button to forget what you have seen. There is just the ruin of your recommendations after a friend visits or your kid goes on a Cocomelon binge.But, as this tweet pointed out, there is actually a Forget button. Well okay,... Continue reading…

Image: Sony (WH-1000XM4, left), TechnikNews (WH-1000XM5, right) Sony’s WH-1000XM4 noise-canceling headphones have been one of the best options since they debuted in 2020, but it appears the company is gearing up to release the next generation. German tech news site TechnikNews has published some images and specs of the successor, seemingly called the WH-1000XM5 (via Gizmodo).The first thing you might notice is a sleek new design, particularly a thinner headband. The 1000XM3s and 1000XM4s were almost identical, but Sony could change the way things look for the new 1000XM5s.Instead of a shrouded arm that swivels, the arm is exposed, with a single contact point replacing the XM4’s larger folding hinge over the ear cups. That changes the design of the ear cups as well but suggests just a bit more of... Continue reading…

The rotating bezel on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. | Dan Seifert / The Verge While we’re likely months away from seeing Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 lineup, a disturbing report is making its way around the smartwatch rumor mill. According to a SamMobile report, Samsung is considering ditching the Classic model — and possibly the physical rotating bezel along with it.To put it nicely, that is a stupid idea.It is not hyperbole to say that the physical rotating bezel is one of the most beloved features on Samsung smartwatches. It goes back all the way to when its smartwatches were under the “Gear” moniker. The bezel at that time actually looked like a gear — teeth and all. It was a clever design aesthetically, but it was also functional. Being able to rotate the bezel to scroll through widgets, screens, and apps is... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On April 17th, the decentralized finance (DeFi) project Beanstalk Farms was exploited for $182 million after an attacker mounted a lightning-fast hostile takeover, buying a controlling stake of tokens and immediately voting to send themself all of the funds.The incident sparked discussion around “governance attacks,” a way of manipulating blockchain projects that use decentralized governance structures by gaining enough voting rights to reshape the rules.In the wake of the attack, chat logs and video evidence show that the founders were warned about the risk of exactly this kind of attack, but they dismissed community members’ concerns.The Beanstalk exploit was made possible by another DeFi mechanism known as a “flash loan,” which... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Several years ago, I had to deal with a situation that may be familiar to a lot of people: I was slammed with a series of high medical bills that had been denied by the insurance company. The doctor was in network, but according to the insurance company, his bills were coded wrong. Or wait, his facilities weren’t in network or… well, you get the idea. It took over a year and many phone calls to iron out the issue — and I wouldn’t have gotten through it had I not been able to record each phone call I made with the insurance company and the various medical facilities involved.Today, it would be nearly impossible.Federal law in the US says that you can legally record a phone conversation, but only if you are taking part in that... Continue reading…

Amazon’s Smart Thermostat is down to just $47.99 today at Amazon. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge It’s Earth Day, so in honor of the occasion, we’re starting today’s roundup with an excellent deal on Amazon’s eco-friendly Smart Thermostat. Smart thermostats such as Amazon’s can reduce and, in some cases, track your energy consumption. And they’re also a great buy for bargain hunters given that they can lower your monthly energy bill.In honor of the holiday today, some retailers are discounting an array of smart thermostats, including Amazon’s budget-friendly option. Right now, you can buy the Smart Thermostat for $47.99 instead of $59.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Kohl’s, which is its lowest price to date. Plus, depending on where you live, you may be eligible for a rebate of up to $50 from your local energy provider.Despite its... Continue reading…

Twitter is testing a CC button for closed captions on videos. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter said on Friday it’s testing a new “CC” button to turn captions on and off on videos with captions available. The feature is rolling out to some users on iOS and will be coming “soon” to Android, the company says.As shown in a video tweeted by Twitter’s Support account, the button appears in the upper-right corner of a video attached to a tweet.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Sony is aiming to launch its revamped PlayStation Plus tiers in the Americas on June 13th, the company announced Friday. Sony is targeting a launch date first in markets in Asia (with the exception of Japan) on May 23rd, followed by a Japan launch on June 1st, an Americas launch on June 13th, and a Europe launch on June 22nd.Sony first announced the new tiers in March, with the premium options offering perks like access to a collection of games to download or stream and the ability to play classic PlayStation, PS2, PS3, and PSP games. (Unfortunately, if you want to play the retro games, you’ll have to pay for the most expensive tier.) At the time of the original announcement, Sony had said that the tiers would be available first in the... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Now that Apple has several models, there’s more to consider Continue reading…

Apple Cash debit cards may be switching from Discover to Visa. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple Cash, formerly known as Apple Pay Cash, may be transitioning from the Discover payments network to Visa, a new report from MacRumors suggests. Visa has a much larger global network than Discover, which might account for the move.Since its launch in 2017, Apple Pay Cash had a partnership with Green Dot Bank on Discover’s network, but in recent days, users have noticed that Apple Cash virtual cards now have a Visa logo on them. Apple Cash virtual cards live in users’ Apple Pay mobile wallets, and let them send peer-to-peer payments via iMessage. They function like virtual debit cards, and can be linked to a bank account or other debit card. Apple Card customers’ cash back earnings can be paid to Apple Cash accounts as well.Apple... Continue reading…

This is the JetDrive Lite 330 looks like popped out. | Image: Transcend SD card slots have returned to the MacBook Pro in their 2021 iteration, which means it was only a matter of time before we started seeing MacBook-tailored SD cards hit shelves again. Today, in gadgets we’ve seen before but recent events have elevated in relevance, Transcend has announced a new 1TB SD card for MacBooks: the JetDrive Lite 330. The idea is that you can pop this device into a MacBook Pro’s SD slot and it blends right in. It’s the right color so that it doesn’t disrupt the overall look, and it’s the right size so that it won’t add any additional bulk.The video below is pretty convincing:The device is currently listed for $249.99 on Amazon. So let’s do some quick math: Upgrading a MacBook Pro model from 1TB to 2TB of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is reportedly working on a feature that allows users to set a status, codenamed “Vibe.” The possible feature was first spotted by Jane Manchun Wong, a researcher and reverse engineer with a track record of spoiling upcoming app updates.Screenshots shared by Wong show a “Set a status” field above the tweet composer box. A dropdown list has five pre-set vibes, none of which sound that fun, including “shopping grocery” and “driving highway.” It’s unclear if statuses will be limited to presets or if users will be able to add custom updates beyond what Twitter creates.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel discusses the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.We’ve got some big news for The Vergecast today. David Pierce has returned to The Verge as editor-at-large and now rejoins The Vergecast to host the show with Nilay each week. We’ve got a lot of plans ahead for growing the show with David, so stay tuned for that.On today’s episode, David, Nilay, and Verge managing editor Alex Cranz discuss some change-ups in the streaming world this week: Netflix has lost subscribers for the first time in over a decade after contending with more rival services than ever before, and streaming service... Continue reading…

The Large Hadron Collider restarted after three years of upgrades. | CERN Two beams of protons zipped around the Large Hadron Collider on Friday, marking the return of the world’s largest particle accelerator after over three years on hiatus. The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, or CERN, spent the past three years doing maintenance work and making major upgrades to the system. Now, the group is preparing to start on a four-year stretch of data collection scientists hope will reveal new secrets of the universe.“It is going to be two to three times better, in terms of the ability for our experiment to detect, collect and analyze data,” Marcella Bona, a particle physicist from Queen Mary University of London, told BBC.This summer will mark the start of the third run of the LHC, referred to as Run 3.... Continue reading…

Glacier retreat in Greenland. | Image: Google This Earth Day, Google is dedicating its Doodle to how badly we’re messing up our beloved planet. It’s actually kind of a cool Doodle. Four different GIFs show time lapses of dramatic changes driven by climate change.From Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, you’ll see footage of bright corals losing their color under the stress of warmer waters. Corals are living creatures that get their color from algae in their tissues with which they have a symbiotic relationship. Under stress, including rising ocean temperatures, corals lose that algae in a depressing phenomenon called “bleaching.” GIF: Google / The Ocean Agency Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching on Lizard Island, Australia. The images were taken each month from... Continue reading…

Those squid kids finally have a release date. Nintendo has announced that Splatoon 3 will hit the Nintendo Switch on September 9th. The colorful shooter was previously pegged to launch sometime this summer.Like past entries in the series, Splatoon 3 is a four-on-four shooter that’s like a cross between paintball and Call of Duty where teams of humanoid creatures called Inklings and Octolings compete to paint a battlefield a particular color. The lack of violence and vibrant tone have helped differentiate the series from the glut of other competitive shooters. The new entry will introduce the typical new weapons and stages along with an improved co-op experience and what looks to be a much more in-depth single-player campaign.With the... Continue reading…

Nintendo You can’t keep a good Sonic game down. As Sonic fans flail about, overjoyed that Sonic Origins will be launching soon, some fans expressed dismay that the franchise’s blue-headed stepchild Sonic Spinball seems to have been forgotten in all these anniversary bundles and rereleases yet again. Nintendo heard those cries of injustice and is adding the “what if Sonic was a pinball?” game to the Sega Genesis library in the Switch Online Expansion Pack.

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images A fart button? Continue reading…

Changing your default Android web browser or texting app is as easy as changing your wallpaper. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales Android provides you with countless ways to customize your phone, from the color and shape of your app icons to your preferred method of system navigation. That customizability extends to your default app for common tasks like making calls and texting. Maybe you’d prefer to use a web browser with more privacy features or swap Google Assistant out for Alexa. You’re free to download the app of your choice and set it as the default — it just takes a few steps.For reference, these are the types of apps to which you can assign new defaults:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Photography by Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images The city of Blagoveshchensk sits in the far east of Russia, some 3,500 miles from Moscow and further still from Kyiv. Across a river, the Chinese city of Heihe sprawls to the south, joined by the first Sino-Russian road bridge; beside the bridge, there’s little about the city to make the news.But the public affairs of the city are now laid bare for anyone willing to look in the form of 150GB of emails from the Blagoveshchensk City Administration published online by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets — just one of many data sets leaked to the organization since the invasion of Ukraine began.As the war in Ukraine approaches the 60-day mark, leaks from the country have been coming at an unprecedented rate. On April... Continue reading…

An example infotainment screen in the (not currently self-driving) Tesla Model 3. | Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Drivers in the UK will effectively be allowed to watch TV while behind the wheel of a self-driving car, under new rules announced by the country’s Department for Transport. Although drivers are currently restricted from viewing “non-driving related content” on a “television-receiving apparatus,” this rule would be waived under specific circumstances once the proposals come into force. The new rules are set to be introduced into the UK’s Highway Code over the summer, according to BBC News.The ability to watch TV comes with some restrictions. A car will need to be driving itself at the time, and the driver must be ready to take back control of the vehicle if required. Importantly, drivers will only be allowed to view content “through the... Continue reading…

BrightDrop 258.85 miles in the jump seat of one of the world’s first all-electric delivery vans Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has launched a new limited experiment that will see it promote developers’ third-party safety tools natively on its service, TechCrunch reports. The test will initially focus on apps like Block Party, Bodyguard and Moderate, which can help block harassment and other toxic content on the platform.With this experiment, select users will see these services promoted with a new prompt when they mute or block another account on Twitter. It highlights apps featured in Twitter Toolbox, a recently launched initiative that currently promotes third-party Twitter tools in an online hub. “The Twitter Toolbox offers more solutions to improve your experience on Twitter,” the prompt reads, before listing a selection of services.The experiment... Continue reading…

A phone-sized field mixer. | Image: Teenage Engineering’s TX-6 overview video Teenage Engineering, the company behind ultra-stylish synthesizers, speakers, and PC cases, has released a new audio gadget: it’s called the TX-6, and it’s a tiny (in size, not price) field mixer absolutely festooned with knobs. In addition to letting you mix together sound from six stereo inputs and output them to a computer, speaker, or both, in true Teenage Engineering fashion, the TX-6 can also act as a basic synthesizer, drum sequencer, and USB-C audio interface.We gotta talk about those knobs first though. By default they act as controls for a three-band equalizer, letting you tweak the highs, mids, and lows for each input. But a peek at Teenage Engineering’s guide reveals the tons of other things you can do with them, from... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Earlier this week Netflix reported quarterly earnings results that showed its subscriber numbers dropping for the first time in a decade, but not every streamer is experiencing that kind of pullback. Even though AT&T has offloaded HBO and the rest of WarnerMedia to their new home with Discovery, it still had one more set of subscriber numbers to reveal with its own earnings report Thursday morning.The numbers showed HBO added nearly 13 million subscribers last year across both traditional HBO and HBO Max, including growth of three million in the last quarter. Now both services combine for 76.8 million subscribers worldwide, which is still dwarfed by Netflix’s 221.64 million subscribers and even the most recent Disney Plus count of 129.8... Continue reading…

Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images A former president of the United States has their pick of big problems to tackle once they leave office. Jimmy Carter worked on housing. Bill Clinton spent much of his time working to fight HIV and AIDS. Barack Obama, who has been out of office for six years, has so far led a fairly quiet post-presidency. But in recent weeks, he has begun drawing attention to an issue that advisers say has become increasingly important to him: disinformation, and the broader problems with our fractured information ecosystem.In the months after President Donald Trump was dislodged from office, what could feel at times like an all-consuming focus on disinformation in the tech and political press began to fade into the background. The shift is... Continue reading…

A picture of Valve’s official dock. | Image: Valve Valve has quietly updated the specs to its still-unreleased official dock for the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC, as reported by Review Geek. The Steam Deck tech specs page originally said the dock would have one USB-A 3.1 port, two USB-A 2.0 ports, and an Ethernet port for networking, but the page now says that all three USB-A ports will use the much faster 3.1 standard, and it now specifies that the Ethernet port will actually be a Gigabit Ethernet port.According to the Wayback Machine, Valve’s Steam Deck tech specs page listed the original specs as of February 12th, and the accompanying diagram of the dock pointed to an “Ethernet” port for networking. But by February 22nd, the specs were updated to list the three USB-A 3.1 ports. And b... Continue reading…