The Verge

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge An ebook subscription platform used by thousands of public libraries in the US and elsewhere is offering Holocaust denial, COVID disinformation, LGBTQ conversion therapy, and other conspiracy theory books, according to a report by Motherboard.Hoopla — a Netflix-like subscription service that libraries use for audiobooks, ebooks, and movies — serves more than 8,500 public libraries in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Titles on Hoopla included antisemitic books like Debating The Holocaust and A New Nobility of Blood and Soil. Unlike physical books, which libraries can order individually, Hoopla sells libraries a subscription to its service, meaning librarians don’t always have control over what is being offered. OverDrive,... Continue reading…

Smart home company Insteon appears to have closed up shop with no warning to its customers. | Image: Insteon Revolv, Iris, Insignia, Staples Connect, Wink, and now Insteon and iHome: the graveyard of dead or dying smart home ecosystems that promised so much yet failed to deliver is getting crowded. Smart home company Insteon has turned off its cloud servers, as first reported by Stacey on IoT, and device maker iHome has also shut down its servers, confirming to The Verge that its iHome cloud services were terminated on April 2nd.This feels like a good time for a reflection on the state of the smart home. Is it all over? Or is this cloud carnage simply necessary to clear the way for a brave new world, one where the smart home is no longer a curiosity but something that actually matters?What those companies mentioned above have in common is a... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is trying to make it easier for Chrome users to install useful extensions without having to scrutinize where they come from. The company says it has begun applying two new badges to extensions. The first, Featured, looks like a prize ribbon and will be displayed on extensions that “follow our technical best practices and meet a high standard of user experience and design.”Google says this is a manual process that involves evaluating extensions for an “enjoyable and intuitive experience,” making sure developers use the latest APIs, and keeping an eye on each extension’s privacy practices and requested permissions. To receive the Featured label, extensions must also have a detailed store page that clearly outlines their purpose.... Continue reading…

Apple retail workers in Atlanta have voted to unionize. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge An Apple retail store in Atlanta has filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The workers at the Cumberland Mall store, which includes salespeople, technicians, creatives, and operations specialists, would be represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). More than 70 percent of the group of about 100 eligible workers signed the union authorization cards, according to a news release — the minimum required is 30 percent.If a majority of the workers vote to unionize, the store would be the first unionized Apple store in the US. Their petition now goes for formal review by the NLRB.“Apple is a profoundly positive place to work, but we know that the company can better live up to their ideals... Continue reading…

Nintendo’s Switch OLED model in white with its updated dock and accompanying Joy-Cons. | Image: Nintendo The Nintendo Switch OLED model is on a special one-day deal from Woot today — the site has dropped the device’s price to the lowest you can find. Woot is selling the white version of the Switch OLED for $324.99 as opposed to its usual $349.99 price point. The deal is set to expire at 1AM ET / 10PM PT. While Nintendo Switch consoles have been readily available for a while now, it’s safe to wager this deal might sell out before time runs out.If you’re familiar with Nintendo prices, you’ll know that these kinds of discounts don’t come frequently, especially on the premium Switch. This sale puts it within $25 of the standard model, and if you haven’t already jumped into Nintendo’s popular console, the improvements on the OLED model are... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In an all-hands meeting with employees on Tuesday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy addressed the mounting efforts to unionize the company’s fulfillment centers. The discussion was sparked by an employee who asked about the company’s position on unions, per a recording of the meeting obtained by The Verge.Jassy argued that unionization would make employees of the company feel less empowered. “One of the things that’s unique about Amazon is that we have unusual empowerment for our employees,” he said. “If they see something they can do better for customers — or just for themselves — to get together, get in a room, decide to change it, and change it, and do it quickly. We encourage that type of speed. You know, you’re part of the union it’s much... Continue reading…

The Sapphire Pulse RX 6400 is one of the first low-profile RDNA2 GPUs. If you’re looking for a serious gaming graphics card, look elsewhere — reviewers absolutely dragged the $199 AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT in January, and today’s GPU entry is even weaker. But if you absolutely, positively need to fit a miniature graphics card in a very small PC, the new RX 6400 might be worth a look.Today, AMD has quietly launched the Radeon RX 6400 with an array of partners including ASRock, Biostar, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX, and we’re actually seeing a few of them retail for that price or close to it, GPU shortage be damned. There’s a $159.99 ASRock Challenger and a $169.99 XFX Speedster SWFT105 in stock at Newegg right now — with a $159.99 Sapphire Pulse card also on the way.Intriguingly, every one of... Continue reading…

Samsung was well-positioned to scoop up a big chunk of the market share LG left behind with its affordable A-series phones. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The Galaxy got even bigger Continue reading…

Meta hosted its 2022 games showcase, which was filled with games that you can expect to play on your Quest 2 virtual reality headset at some point this year. Last year’s surprise announcement was the VR port of Resident Evil 4 (which turned out to be far better than expected), but several standout titles seem like they’ll be must-play experiences when they launch. In case you missed out on the showcase, we’ve rounded up the biggest announcements below.Ghostbusters is coming to VRThe showcase ended with Mark Zuckerberg revealing that a Ghostbusters VR game is in the works for the Quest 2. There aren’t many details (and it’s still in development under a working title) but the game will have players running their own Ghostbusters... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge First, a necessary disclaimer: don’t use artificial intelligence language generators to solve your ethical quandaries. Second: definitely go tell those quandaries to this AI-powered simulation of Reddit because the results are fascinating.Are You The Asshole (AYTA) is, as its name suggests, built to mimic Reddit’s r/AmITheAsshole (AITA) crowdsourced advice forum. Created by internet artists Morris Kolman and Alex Petros with funding from Digital Void, the site lets you enter a scenario and ask for advice about it — and then generates a series of feedback posts responding to your situation. The feedback does a remarkably good job of capturing the style of real human-generated responses, but with the weird, slightly alien skew that many... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge; Getty Images Benny Johnson berated staff, who were often paid late Continue reading…

Two people were killed in an Easter weekend shooting at this Pittsburgh Airbnb rental. | Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images After a shooting at an Easter weekend house party at an Airbnb in Pittsburgh left two teenagers dead and another eight people with gunshot wounds, Airbnb says it plans to pursue legal action against the person who booked the party.“Airbnb strictly bans parties, and we condemn the behavior that is alleged to have prompted this criminal gun violence and the tragic loss of life,” spokesperson Ben Breit said in a statement emailed to The Verge. The booking guest has been permanently banned from the platform, he said. The party was “unauthorized,” Breit added, and was held without the knowledge or consent of the property host.The shooting happened on Easter Sunday just after 12:30AM, according to Pittsburgh police. Some 200 people were at... Continue reading…

The Xbox Series X console is available to buy for its usual price of $499.99. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you’ve been trying to land an Xbox Series X for a while now, today may be your lucky day. Right now, Best Buy is selling the elusive next-gen console for its usual price of $499.99. Even better, anybody can queue up for the Xbox Series X – not just Totaltech subscribers. However, supply is limited to what your local stores have on hand, so results may vary.To enter the digital line, make sure you click the “Add to Cart” and be prepared for Best Buy’s site to ask you to verify your details. To give yourself the best chance possible, sign in to your account while in the queue and double-check your shipping and payment details are accurate. Also, keep in mind that if it looks like the console appears to be sold out, don’t give up. Best... Continue reading…

Best Buy will take away anything from TVs to old laptops. | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images Best Buy’s offering to take away and recycle your unwanted tech and appliances for a $199 fee. The standalone haul-away service includes the pickup of two large items, like a TV or washing machine, as well as an unlimited number of smaller products, from laptops to printers. Best Buy will then send your products off to a “trusted recycling partner,” where they will be repurposed, repaired, or recycled.You can view the entire list of products Best Buy will pick up and recycle on its haul-away service page, separated by what it considers large and small items. Best Buy says you’ll have to do all the disconnecting and disassembling yourself, so technicians can actually move it out of your home.Best Buy’s existing recycling program accepts... Continue reading…

An artistic impression of a micronova explosion on a white dwarf. | Image: Mark Garlick Star explosions can happen on very different scales, from massive supernovae to plain old novae. Now, scientists think they’ve identified an even smaller way for a star’s surface to explode — dubbed the “micronova.” It’s a type of explosion that occurs in just one region on the surface of some stars, lasting for hours at a time but still packing quite a punch.Specifically, micronovae occur on a type of zombie star known as a white dwarf. These odd objects are actually the leftover cores of dead stars, remnants of celestial bodies like our Sun that have used up all their fuel and blown most of their materials out into space. White dwarfs are quite small but incredibly dense, sometimes the size of Earth but with the same mass as the Sun.... Continue reading…

Image: Zoom Zoom’s reaction emoji are one of the platform’s handiest features, letting you quickly applaud a co-worker or send a heart to a friend. With the latest update to its desktop apps, Zoom is making a couple of those reactions easier to find. Its gesture recognition feature will show a thumbs-up emoji in the meeting when you give one to your webcam, or flag a raised-hand emoji when you raise your hand.Gesture recognition won’t be news to those who use Zoom’s iPad and iPhone apps, which have supported the same two gestures since last summer. And those who have used it know that it can be as frustrating as it is helpful. Zoom has a tendency to read “I’m scratching my face” as “I’m raising my hand,” and at least in my experience only responds... Continue reading…

The 2021 iPad Pro and 2020 iPad are discounted to their lowest price ever. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge You came to the wrong house if you’re shopping for weed jokes — we only distribute good wholesome content here on Verge Deals. For instance, both the 2020 version of the iPad Air and the 2021 model of the 11-inch iPad Pro are discounted to their lowest prices ever.The 2020 iPad Air normally costs $749 but is discounted to $599.99 at Amazon. The price will appear to be $649.99, but if you add one to your cart, an extra $50 will get knocked off the final price of this lightweight 256GB tablet.Alternatively, the 11-inch model of the 2021 iPad Pro usually goes for $800 in its 128GB configuration but can currently be found at Amazon and Best Buy for just $699.99. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this tablet since Black Friday.Both... Continue reading…

DuckDuckGo says it’s now preventing AMP tracking. | Image: DuckDuckGo Privacy-oriented search engine DuckDuckGo says it will “protect” against tracking by web pages with Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages framework (or AMP) enabled. “When you load or share a Google AMP page anywhere from DuckDuckGo apps (iOS/Android/Mac) or extensions (Firefox/Chrome), the original publisher’s webpage will be used in place of the Google AMP version,” the company said on Twitter. The technology allows Google to track users, DuckDuckGo notes, and forces publishers to use AMP by prioritizing those links in its search results.

Sega In the lead-up to Sonic’s 31st birthday (feel old yet?), Sega has finally revealed the details behind Sonic Origins, a remastered collection of Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. Don’t expect straight ports of these Sega classics, though. In addition to remastered visuals updated for today’s consoles, Sonic Origins includes new achievements, collectibles, animated shorts, and game modes, putting a fresh pair of sneakers on these old classics.In Sonic Origins, players will be able to choose between playing in classic mode or anniversary mode. In classic mode, players will experience the games in all their original glory and original aspect ratios. Anniversary mode offers a full-screen experience along with... Continue reading…

No battery, no screen, no GPS, no fan, and no metal housing? There’s a lot of stuff missing from the new GoPro Hero10 Black Bones. But then again, a normal GoPro isn’t well-suited for the acrobatics of an FPV drone. So when GoPro sent us a review unit of its new stripped-down Hero10 Black designed for drone pilots, we recruited FPV drone pilot Reza Kurniawan to see if it’s up to snuff — and you can see his flying skills on full display in our video review above.Kurniawan is the kind of drone enthusiast who inspired the Bones to begin with. He’s been de-casing Hero10 GoPros to decrease their weight from 154 grams all the way down to about 33 grams. The demand for so-called “naked GoPros” has been high enough that it has become a service... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge If you mainly use your Windows 11 computer at home, and you don’t have curious children or roommates who might mess with it, then having to sign in with a password can be a pain in the neck — especially if you have a long, secure, and complicated password.Thankfully, you have alternatives. If you do take your Windows laptop out occasionally, there are several other ways you can sign in to your laptop that are a little simpler. We’ll also show you how to remove your password altogether (although, to keep your device secure, we recommend that you go with one of the options above rather than eliminating any kind of sign-in).You also have the option to use a physical security key (usually a USB key) to sign in, but you’ll have to purchase... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony has released an app for Windows 11 and 64-bit Windows 10 computers that lets you update the firmware of its DualSense PS5 controllers. Previously, the update process required you to connect a controller to a PS5 console, which many people don’t yet have the luxury of owning due to the ongoing chip shortage and intense demand. This new app is particularly helpful for PC gamers who want to buy a DualSense to use as a Bluetooth controller.The app, suitably called “Firmware updater for DualSense wireless controller,” can be downloaded here. And, just like the process on the console, you’ll need to connect the DualSense to your PC with a USB cable. What you’ll see when you plug in a DualSense that isn’t in need of an... Continue reading…

The iPhone 13 Mini and iPhone 13. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge When will we see a new iPhone with a totally unimpeded display? In 2024, according to a prediction from well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. By then, says Kuo, Apple could be happy to move both its front-facing camera and Face ID under the screen for its high-end devices, which would make the iPhone 16 Pro the likely first candidate for such an upgrade.Kuo made this prediction in a pair of tweets, linking back to comments he’d made last month saying Apple was unlikely to release any new iPhones with under-display fingerprint readers in the next two years. (Kuo previously predicted this could happen sometime in 2023 at the earliest.) The reason? Well, Kuo’s framing is that demand for the return of Touch ID was mostly a response to the... Continue reading…

If you set out to design the most deluxe version of The Lord of the Rings books imaginable, I think you might end up close to The Folio Society’s latest edition. They’re hardback, obviously, and quarter bound in burgundy leather with silver page tops — the perfect accompaniment for an apartment that smells of rich mahogany.Most importantly, however, they feature illustrations by Alan Lee, whose conceptual design work on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films helped establish the visual style of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world on the big screen. His work on The Return of the King won him an Oscar in 2004 for Best Art Direction. Lee has contributed a preface to The Folio Society’s edition of these books and has hand-signed each of the 1,000... Continue reading…

Illustration by Melissa Mathieson / The Verge Computers can see details that humans can’t Continue reading…

The Garmin Vivosmart 5 adds a practical button to the tracker line. | Image: Garmin If there’s one thing that Garmin seems to understand better than other wearables companies, it’s that athletes like buttons. And, it looks like the company’s finally added a practical button to its latest fitness tracker, the $149.99 Vivosmart 5.The Vivosmart 5 is a refreshed version of the Vivosmart 4 that was first launched in 2018. It keeps much of the same design as Vivosmart 4, but instead of an elegant vibe, it opts for a more practical, sportier look. The band itself has a rounded edge, and there’s no more metal border surrounding the display. In its press release, Garmin also emphasized that the display is 66 percent bigger and has larger text so that it’s easier to read. But the biggest difference is that the Vivosmart 5 has a... Continue reading…

Tesla’s Shanghai factory previously produced about 2,100 cars a day. | Xinhua/Ding Ting via Getty Images Tesla is restarting production at its massive Shanghai factory as the city of 25 million begins to ease lockdown restrictions following a substantial COVID outbreak.According to a report from Bloomberg News that cites internal company memos, the factory will re-open in what’s being called a “closed-loop system” — an approach encouraged by Shanghai authorities to get people back into the workplace while maintaining the country’s zero-covid strategies. Essentially, this means nobody goes in or out: employees will live and work at the factory, with the first “shift” entering earlier this week and expected to stay until May 1st under the city’s current COVID policies.The Shanghai factory is Tesla’s largestAccording to the Telsa memo... Continue reading…

The latest Pixel Watch render leak looks familiar. | Image: Evan Blass / 91Mobiles We’ve been hearing rumors about Google’s Pixel Watch for years now, but it does finally seem like pieces for the project are finally falling into place. A purported render of the device shared by Evan Blass over at 91Mobiles lines up with past leaks and rumors, showing a device with a familiar circular design, physical crown, and Fitbit integration.Of course, there’s also a lot missing from the render. The image doesn’t include the watch’s lugs (which would show how the strap will connect to the face) or give any idea of its overall build. If the image looks a bit funny, though, it’s perhaps because of the watch’s rumored bezel-less design (also seen in mock-up renders shared last year by Jon Prosser).Interestingly, though, we have... Continue reading…

Image: Disney Over the last day or so, Disney Plus subscribers may have noticed that certain episodes of their favorite shows are missing. The folks at What’s on Disney Plus collected a list of some of the shows with known missing episodes early Tuesday, and it’s a long one, including favorites like Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Once Upon a Time, and many others.Disney commented to Deadline that the “purge” is an accidental glitch it’s working to fix, and we’ve noticed that episodes have been restored for some series, like season one of Agent Carter. Meanwhile, others like DuckTales, or Rocket & Groot, are still incomplete. Image: Richard Lawler via DisneyPlus.com An occasional hiccup on a streaming platform is to be... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge I thought it was really strange when Apple kept selling the original $299 HomePod months after it got discontinued. But now, it’s starting to make sense — not only are some people still willing to pay a premium for the somewhat smart speaker, they’re willing to pay more than Apple charged for it.We took a look at eBay sales numbers after spotting 9to5Mac editor-in-chief Chance Miller’s tweet, and we soon discovered it wasn’t just a joke: on average, an Apple HomePod fetched $375 this past week. That’s 25 percent more than Apple charged.Of course, some HomePods are worth more than others — a used speaker with no box might only net you $220 before eBay fees, but we’ve seen a few factory sealed non-refurbished HomePods sell for over... Continue reading…

And it may not be in a notch. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple’s next iPhones could have an improved selfie camera, with autofocus capabilities and a wider aperture, according to a prediction by well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Unlike Apple’s current fixed-focus design, an autofocus-enabled front-facing camera could let the iPhone 14 take clearer pictures even if you’re closer or further away from the camera. A wider aperture — Kuo predicts f/1.9 vs. the iPhone 13’s f/2.2 — would add a touch of background blur and let in more light, making it slightly better for nighttime selfies or FaceTime portrait mode.Kuo and others have predicted that Apple will be getting rid of the notch on the iPhone 14 Pro, instead opting for a hole-punch design. While that does mean that Apple would have to fit the... Continue reading…

Ads could be coming to Netflix in the next few years. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After years of rejecting calls for an ad-supported streaming tier, Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said on Tuesday’s earnings call that the company is “quite open to offering even lower prices with advertising, as a consumer choice.”Apparently, the company is now looking into the option and “trying to figure out over the next year or two.” Hastings admits that introducing an ad-supported tier would be a big change in thinking for the company, saying that he’s historically been “against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription.”Hastings now pitches the idea of an ad-supported tier as something that “makes a lot of sense” for “consumers who would like to have a lower price and are... Continue reading…

In 2008, the fast-talking expletive-spewing video game reviewer Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation coined the phrase “The Glorious PC Gaming Master Race,” joking about how snobbish PC gamers allegedly looked down upon their “dirty console playing peasant” counterparts. (I remember it being quite funny at the time.)Then, something unfortunate happened: the PC gaming community decided to brand itself that way. “PC Gaming Master Race” became the community’s biggest subreddit, and in 2014, some guy also decided he’d use it to sell mousepads, mice, and keyboards to people, Nazi-era connotations be damned.Some guy has now realized the error of his ways — and so his company, “Glorious PC Gaming Race,” is ditching the name. It’s just “Glorious” now;... Continue reading…

Governor Kevin Stitt is bound by a non-disclosure agreement, preventing him from revealing the company’s name. | Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma called on lawmakers to approve an enormous financial incentives package that’s supposed to coax an unnamed company with ties to the electric vehicle (EV) industry to the state, according to a report from Fortune and local media outlet News 9. A non-disclosure agreement barred Governor Stitt from revealing the name of the company and the amount of money pledged to the package — but there’s good reason to believe that this company may be Panasonic.“Tens of billions of dollars are going to be invested over the next five to seven years in this space, and we want Oklahoma to be the spot that these folks land,” Governor Stitt said in a press conference. “But I’ll tell you this, if I don’t get it passed, it’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Chris Novak, Xbox’s head of research and design who has been at Microsoft for nearly 20 years, is leaving the company, he announced Tuesday on LinkedIn. In his current role, which he’s had for more than five years, he led the user experience for things like Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Live, according to his LinkedIn. At Microsoft, he also held the roles of design architect and design director.“I have loved my time with Xbox,” Novak said in a post on LinkedIn. “Building end-to-end experiences for gamers is a privilege. There are very few things one gets to work on in life which evoke such passion in people around the world. I adore listening to gamers and envisioning that next moment of unexpected delight. Gaming is... Continue reading…

Photo by Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images Blood tests that screen pregnant people for signs of genetic abnormalities run the risk of giving people false or misleading information, the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday. The agency put out a safety communication stressing that the widely used tests, often called noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPTs), aren’t cleared or approved by a regulatory body.These tests often screen for rare genetic conditions in developing fetuses. But they’re just screening tests, the FDA said in a statement, and a positive result does not guarantee a fetus has a genetic condition. “We strongly urge patients to discuss the benefits and risks of these tests with a genetic counselor or other health care provider prior to making decisions based on... Continue reading…

When Google launched Nearby Share in 2020, Android users everywhere rejoiced. They finally had a tool to rival Apple’s AirDrop, a simple way to move files between devices without having to attach them to an email or upload them to Google Drive just to download them again on a new device.Now, ahead of Google I/O, a few users have noticed an upgrade lurking in Google Play Services that makes Nearby Share even easier. The new “self-share” mode, as spotted by Esper’s Mishaal Rahman (via Android Police), appears to let you send files between your own devices with a single tap. The feature has been rumored for months but now appears to be much closer to being ready.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Tesla is asking a judge to delay a lawsuit filed by California’s civil rights agency that accuses the company of racial discrimination and harassment at its factory in Fremont, California.In a filing in state court in Oakland, Tesla revealed that it is also being investigated by a different civil rights agency into similar allegations, accusing both agencies of conducting a “turf war.” The news was first reported by Reuters.Last February, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a lawsuit against Tesla in which it accuses the company of operating a “racially segregated” workplace.Tesla revealed it is also being investigated by the US Equal Employment Opportunity CommissionIn its court filing this week,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix announced in March that it plans to crack down on password sharing, and in its first quarter earnings letter to shareholders (pdf), it gave a big clue as to why.

Fruit Stand Workers United is organizing at Apple’s Grand Central Terminal location. | Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Fruit Stand Workers United, the union attempting to organize Apple’s Grand Central Terminal store, says that if its drive succeeds it plans on pushing for a $30 an hour minimum wage for the location’s employees (via CNBC). The union updated its website on Monday with its goals, including the wage increase, health and safety research, and better education and retirement benefits.A $30 minimum wage means that a full-time employee would start off making roughly $62,000 a year. The union also wants pay calculated using a “matrix based on role, tenure, and performance.”Fruit Stand Workers United says it also wants to negotiate for increases in vacation time accrual, 401(k) matching rates, and tuition reimbursement as well as more options... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix’s struggle to boost its subscriber count took a dire turn in the first quarter of 2022. The company reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers globally compared to Q4, and it’s forecasting even bigger losses to come. Netflix estimates it could lose up to 2 million subscribers in the second quarter.“Our revenue growth has slowed considerably,” Netflix acknowledged in its letter to shareholders. “Covid clouded the picture by significantly increasing our growth in 2020, leading us to believe that most of our slowing growth in 2021 was due to the Covid pull forward.” Netflix ended the quarter with roughly 222 million subscribers, so it’s still the largest streamer — but it’s facing a slew of challenges.In January, Netflix announced... Continue reading…

Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images The Pokémon Company has acquired Millennium Print Group, a company that prints cards for the hugely popular Pokémon Trading Card Game. Millennium Print Group has been working with The Pokémon Company since 2015.“With this acquisition, The Pokémon Company International aims to further develop Millennium Print Group’s capabilities, infrastructure, and scale to become a premier printer of trading cards, serving the broader industry,” The Pokémon Company said in a press release. “Millennium Print Group will continue to operate as a separate, autonomous organization, but will gain both investment and industry expertise from The Pokémon Company International.”Pokémon cards have been very popular during the pandemic, with The Pokémon Company... Continue reading…

Blizzard Entertainment World of Warcraft is bringing back the dragons. In a livestream, World of Warcraft developers announced Dragonflight, WoW’s ninth expansion in 18 years.Dragonflight will focus on the return of the Dragon Aspects, the magical guardians of Azeroth who disappeared after the events of the Cataclysm expansion 12 years ago. Players will journey to the mysterious and heretofore hidden Dragon Isles to explore five zones, each themed after one of the five dragon aspects. Dragonflight will also add a new race / class combo called Dracthyr Evokers, a race of draconic humanoids (think the Worgen from Wrath of the Lich King) with ranged damage and healing powers related to the Dragon Aspects. Unlike the Worgen, however, Dracthyr can only be the... Continue reading…

I didn’t want to get rid of this handy left-hand search bar either. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge If you’re like me and are using an old-school desktop PC, you probably haven’t been able to install Windows 11. You may also still be running Windows 10 if you’re a business user with a workflow still optimized for Windows 10 or a leisure user who just prefers it. Motives aside, there are a lot of us. And, fortunately, we now have an update available.Windows 10 version 21H2 is now available for broad deployment according to Microsoft (first spotted by Neowin). If you’re not an IT administrator, the changes in this update likely won’t be too interesting to you. It’s stuff like “GPU compute support for the Windows subsystem for Linux (WSL)” and “Wi-Fi WPA3-Personal H2E support.” If you are an IT administrator, Microsoft has an article... Continue reading…

Apple introduced blood oxygen readings on the Series 6. | Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you’ve been hunting for a new smartwatch, you’ve probably come across the terms SpO2 sensors, pulse ox, or blood oxygen levels. SpO2 sensors measure your blood oxygen saturation — or, put more simply, the amount of oxygen you have in your blood. In fact, these sensors and metrics are included in most modern smartwatches and fitness trackers. The only issue is that not every wearables maker uses these sensors in the same way.Some smartwatches measure your SpO2 passively as you sleep while others will let you take a direct measurement. But don’t worry, we’ll get into what SpO2 sensors are, how they work, and their limitations. We’ll also dive into how to set up SpO2 measurements on some of the more popular wearables that support this... Continue reading…

Assassin’s Creed Origins is set in Ancient Egypt. | Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Origins (the one set in Ancient Egypt) is headed to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s Megan Spurr said in a blog post on Tuesday. Spurr said the game will arrive sometime “in the next two months” and will be available to play on console, over cloud streaming, and on PC via the Ubisoft Connect app.We’ve asked Ubisoft if it can share a more specific date for when we might expect the game. Microsoft spokesperson Autumn Fox said the company doesn’t have additional information to share beyond what’s in the blog post.Ubisoft has a few other games on Game Pass already, including Rainbow Six: Extraction, which was available on Game Pass the same day the game was released in January. Ubisoft also plans to bring its... Continue reading…

Meta Meta is updating its mixed reality hand tracking system with support for more types of motion, including gestures like clapping. A new version of its Presence Platform API is launching for everyone after a limited preview with a few developers, promising more sophisticated and reliable interactions on the Meta (formerly Oculus) Quest headset.The Presence Platform update is designed to improve Quest hand tracking — which uses cameras mounted in the headset to replace the default hardware controllers — across the board. In addition to general reliability updates, it focuses on recognizing movement when part of your hand is blocked from the camera’s view. It’s now supposed to catch clapping, high-fives, crossed hands, and other gestures... Continue reading…

Photo by Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the airline has tested out SpaceX’s Starlink technology, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The report calls the tests “exploratory” and says there weren’t any further details, but it does seem like one of the major US airlines is at least interested in Elon Musk’s satellite internet service.In July last year, SpaceX said it was “in talks with several” airlines and that it was trying to “get that product finalized to be put on aircraft in the very near future.” A few months before that, the company sought FCC approval to provide service to moving vehicles such as planes, boats, and trucks. (CEO Elon Musk has said the equipment is currently too big to put on passenger cars, though that hasn’t... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially launched a new center that will forecast infectious disease outbreaks. The Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics is “the equivalent of the National Weather Service for infectious diseases,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday.Along with experts in data analytics and disease modeling, the center will also have communications specialists on staff to interpret the information for the public.Planning for the center began last August. It attempts to correct some of the major deficiencies the COVID-19 pandemic revealed in the United States’ public health infrastructure. The CDC has never had a dedicated infectious disease forecasting program, and it has spent the... Continue reading…