The Verge

Twitter Twitter is launching Communities, its rival to Facebook Groups and Reddit, for tweeting with others who share specific interests.Starting Wednesday, Twitter users can be invited to an initial batch of Communities that include #AstroTwitter, #DogTwitter, #SkincareTwitter, and #SoleFood (a group for sneaker enthusiasts). Once people join a Community, they can tweet directly to other members rather than to just their followers. Only members of a Community can like or reply to tweets sent by other members.Similar to how groups on Facebook and Reddit’s subreddits work, each Twitter Community will have its own moderators who are able to set rules and invite or remove people. Twitter invited a handful of users to create the first Communities... Continue reading…

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Google is releasing what it says is the fifth and final version of the Android 12 beta, adding that the official release of the full Android 12 operating system is “just a few weeks away.” The new beta release will also be the first one that Pixel 5A owners will be able to install.People who are already running the beta aren’t likely to notice much of a difference, as its focus is on getting developers ready for the impending official Android 12 release, rather than adding new features. But, for those who’ve gotten their hands on Google’s latest phone, there’s now the opportunity to see what that release will be like before it happens — and without a ton of risk, since the beta has entered its “platform stability” phase.The Pixel 5A l... Continue reading…

A screenshot from The Playroom. | Image: Firesprite Sony announced that it will acquire UK-based studio Firesprite, the developers of The Playroom and The Playroom VR. It’s unclear what Firesprite might be working on in its new first-party capacity, but executives are already hyping what’s to come. “Firesprite’s ability to weave best-in-class gameplay with new technology is exceptional and I think fans will be excited about their creative vision for the future,” Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, said in a press release.Firespite was founded by staffers from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Liverpool studio, so there are already strong connections between the two companies. While Firesprite’s experience with The Playroom VR could suggest that the company is working on a game... Continue reading…

A game that balances horror, heartbreak, and mystery Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple, like many tech companies, has an intimidating employment agreement that it makes employees sign to protect its trade secrets. Though the agreement is in place to prevent workers from sharing internal details of Apple’s products and processes, it is unclear whether they can speak out about working conditions, according to a group of activists and Apple shareholders.Now, that group is pushing the company to add language that makes clearer exception for cases of workplace harassment and discrimination. Apple has refused. Last week, they filed a shareholder resolution to pressure Apple to make the change.“We approached Apple in good faith and encouraged them to take a leadership role here,” says Ifeoma Ozoma, who’s helping to lead... Continue reading…

The Basilisk V3 features more RGB LEDs than the previous iteration. | Razer Razer’s new Basilisk V3 wired gaming mouse has arrived with more features than its predecessor, as well as a slightly lower price. It’s out now at Razer’s online store, Amazon, and Best Buy from $69.99, a $10 price drop from generation to generation.Its scroll wheel houses the biggest improvements, borrowing a trick from Logitech’s G502 Lightspeed and G502 Hero. A button positioned next to the Basilisk V3’s wheel can toggle between a staggered scroll mode that offers tactile feedback and a free-spinning mode that lets you sail down the page freely. There’s also an optional feature within Razer’s Synapse software that automatically switches between the two modes depending on the inertia of your scroll, engaging the free-spinning mode... Continue reading…

It’s not quite as terrifying as the moon falling, but Netflix’s upcoming Don’t Look Up deals with another space-related disaster: a comet that’s on a collision course with the Earth. The twist here is that, after two low-level astronomers (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) discover the problem, no one seems to believe them. That includes a president played by Meryl Streep, with Jonah Hill as her annoying son (and chief of staff).The first trailer looks like a lot of fun, and the cast is similarly impressive; outside of main stars there are also appearances from the likes of Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Cate Blanchett, and Tyler Perry. Don’t Look Up was directed and written by Adam McKay,... Continue reading…

Amazon’s in-house game engine, Lumberyard, can’t normally be used for life-critical or safety-critical circumstances, as stated in the terms of service agreement for Amazon Web Services. Things like medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, crewed spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat are all off-limits.Almost all software and hardware come with extensive mandatory agreements that you need to comply with to use them, so these rules are understandable and probably for the best. At the same time, you should also know that some of those rules will go totally out the window in the event of a zombie apocalypse, should it (hopefully not) ever happen.

Batman x FaZe Clan | DC Comics Ahead of DC’s FanDome event next month, the comics company celebrates Batman Day with a slew of superhero-themed items for fans. That includes a new ten-episode scripted podcast on HBO Max, an augmented reality app, and, of course, a limited-edition comic featuring some of the stars of FaZe Clan.While we didn’t actually see that last one coming, it is a real thing that will be available in comic form on September 24th. According to DC Comics, you can expect to see FaZe Banks, FaZe Apex, FaZe Temperrr, FaZeRain, FaZe Adapt, FaZe Rug, and FaZe Blaze as heroes, all followed by a slew of crossover merch dropping throughout Batman Month.Fulfilling co-owner Lee Trink’s statement on The Vergecast that he believes “gaming is going to drive... Continue reading…

Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet is a capable 2-in-1 that comes with kickstand and keyboard | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Labor Day is in the rearview and the kids are back in school, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still save some nice coin on a versatile Chromebook offering a great value for tackling homework or everyday tasks. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet, one of our top picks across all Chromebooks — not just budget options — is currently $50 off at Best Buy. The 2-in-1 normally punches above its weight class at full price, but with this added discount it may just be one of the best contenders around for light tasks while on the go or general needs at home as a secondary device.A new model with a bigger OLED panel is coming soon, but it will be clocking in at a much higher price point of $430 and up. For now, the Duet’s 10.1-inch display with 1920 x... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Holmes was where the girlboss met Silicon Valley founder worship Continue reading…

Image: Amazon Amazon is bringing its cashierless “Just Walk Out” technology to two new Whole Foods locations next year, the company has announced. One of the stores will be in Washington, DC, while the second will be in Sherman Oaks, California. When they’re open, customers will have the option of paying at a traditional self-checkout or customer service booth, or having the new technology automatically bill them when they leave the store.The move marks Amazon’s latest step towards scaling its cashierless technology, which works by using a series of cameras and sensors to automatically detect what people pick up off shelves, into a variety of larger stores. Just Walk Out originally debuted in small Amazon Go convenience stores, before the company... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Media companies in Australia can be held responsible for defamatory comments left on their social media pages by members of the public, the country’s High Court has ruled.The decision is part of a long-running defamation case that could have huge consequences for Australia’s media industry, forcing news sites to strictly moderate or remove comments on stories shared on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. Writing in The Conversation, David Rolph, a professor of law at the University of Sydney, said the ruling “may mean anyone who runs a social media page can theoretically be sued over disparaging comments posted by readers or random group members — even if you aren’t aware of the comment.”“anyone who runs a social media page can... Continue reading…

Toyota’s electric BZ4X SUV concept. | Image: Toyota Toyota will invest around $13.6 billion in battery tech over the next decade, including a $9 billion investment in production, as it attempts to electrify its vehicle lineup, The Wall Street Journal reports. It reportedly plans to have 10 battery production lines by 2025, eventually increasing to around 70 across an unannounced number of factories around the world. Eventually, it could produce as much as 200GWh of batteries, the company’s chief technology officer, Masahiko Maeda, announced in a press briefing.Toyota’s commitments mirror similar investments planned by others across the auto industry. Volkwagen plans to produce around 240GWh of batteries in Europe alone by 2030, the WSJ notes, while Ford has said it plans to produce... Continue reading…

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Microsoft is acquiring Clipchamp, a browser-based video editing tool, and is hinting that it will be a great fit for Windows. Founded in 2013, Clipchamp lets people create and edit videos in a browser and utilize the full power of a GPU to render the final result. Clipchamp is used by companies like Google, Dell, and Deloitte.Microsoft is now looking to integrate Clipchamp into its Microsoft 365 offerings, and perhaps even Windows itself. “As a web app that uses the full power of your PC, Clipchamp is a natural fit to extend the cloud-powered productivity experiences in Microsoft 365 for individuals, families, schools, and businesses,” explains Chris Pratley, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Office media group.Microsoft says... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge HBO Max will launch in Europe next month on October 26th, the streaming service announced today. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain, and Andorra are the first six countries it’ll be available in, before it expands to the following 14 territories next year: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.The list of territories corresponds to the regions currently covered by HBO Europe, which operates a handful of different streaming services on the continent including HBO España, HBO Nordic, and HBO Go. The company has previously said it plans to transition its European HBO-branded services to HBO Max over the course... Continue reading…

Here’s the Chromebook Duet 5 in “storm grey.” | Image: Lenovo Over a year after it was unveiled, Lenovo’s category-defining Chromebook Duet is getting a sequel. The Chromebook Duet 5 (branded as the IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook outside of North America) is a head-to-toe reimagining of the detachable budget-oriented Duet, with a higher price, a new processor, and — most interestingly — a 13.3-inch OLED screen.Lenovo says the Duet 5 is likely the first of multiple additions to the Duet line, in an ambitious effort to bring the detachable form factor to multiple price points. The company will continue selling the 10.1-inch Duet (for the time being).A 2-in-1 Chrome OS tablet with a detachable keyboardThe new OLED display covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, Lenovo says, and will emit “70... Continue reading…

Typing away on the IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon. | Image: Lenovo Joining an army of OLED laptops that have launched this month is Lenovo’s new IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon (branded as the Yoga Slim 7 Carbon outside of North America). Lenovo claims it’s the lightest 14-inch OLED laptop on the market at 2.37 pounds. (I’m guessing the company is right. The closest competitor I can think of is Asus’ ZenBook 14X OLED, which is 3.09 pounds. It’s also lighter than both the ZenBook 13 OLED and the Dell XPS 13 OLED.)One thing to note is that the OLED panel (from Samsung Display) comes with QHD+ resolution, rather than the 4K resolution that you often see on OLED laptops. This means you won’t get as many pixels as you would on a 4K OLED machine (like the ZenBook 14X), but you may also see better battery life. QHD+ is... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has begun testing the first of its proposed suite of new privacy tools: the ability to remove a follower without blocking them. The remove follower feature is currently being tested on the web and seems to canonize the “soft block” concept as an official Twitter tool.According to the tweet announcing the test, you can remove followers from the follower list on your profile page. You just click the three-dot menu next to a follower’s name, click “Remove follower,” and your tweets will no longer automatically show up in their timeline. Image: Twitter The remove follower option. This is different than blocking someone, which keeps them from viewing your tweets and direct messaging you (and keeps you from... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Hulu’s streaming plans cost $1 more starting on October 8th, with its ad-supported tier going up to $6.99 each month and its ad-free tier going up to $12.99 monthly. According to Variety, the price of Hulu’s live TV service, which also includes access to its streaming content, isn’t increasing. Disney, the majority owner of Hulu, has increased the prices of its other streaming services over the past year, making its bundle that includes all of them look more and more attractive.The price of the Disney bundle, which includes Hulu, Disney Plus, and ESPN Plus, doesn’t appear to be going up along with Hulu’s prices — however, it already went up by a dollar earlier this year when Disney Plus got a $1 per month price hike. It currently costs... Continue reading…

Image: Twitter Twitter has announced that it’s testing edge-to-edge media in tweets on iOS, creating a more full-screen, almost Instagram-like experience for the photos and videos in your timeline.In an email to The Verge, Twitter writes that it’s testing the change because it wants to better support conversations that are both visual and text-based. You can get a sense of what that looks like in a video posted to Twitter’s support account:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Ford has hired away Apple’s car chief, Doug Field, to become its chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer. “Field will lead Ford’s efforts to develop the next-gen Blue Oval Intelligence tech stack to deliver smart, connected vehicles and services that improve over time through constant updates,” according to Ford’s press release. He’ll report to Ford’s president and CEO, Jim Farley.Field was a VP of special projects at Apple, where he was the de facto head of the company’s confused efforts to make an autonomous electric car — known as Project Titan. He had a previous stint at Apple where he was once the VP of Mac hardware engineering, but he left the company in 2013 to become Tesla’s chief vehicle engineer, where he helped... Continue reading…

Bendable glass was supposed to unlock a future straight out of science fiction: phones that fold. But the actual glass we got wound up relying on factory-installed plastic screen protectors to avoid shattering when you fold it. Now, LG wants to cut out the middleman by improving the plastic instead: the company just announced its “Real Folding Window,” a cover material it claims will be as hard as glass but without the whole cracking issue.More PET, less glassWhat’s the secret? Well, LG doesn’t quite say in its press release, only that it’s a “new material” that it uses to coat both sides of a sheet of plastic film — PET film, to be precise. (PET is probably best known as the plastic in your soda bottle.) The idea is that if you apply... Continue reading…

UN Climate Change Conference or COP26 President Alok Sharma during a meeting with India Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi on August 18th, 2021. | Photo by Prakash Singh / AFP via Getty Images Environmental activists, including Greenpeace and the Climate Action Network, around the world are calling on the United Nations to further delay a pivotal climate conference scheduled for this fall. The uneven rollout of COVID-19 vaccines around the world could prevent many delegates and advocates from attending, they say, especially representatives of countries hardest hit by both COVID-19 and the climate crisis.The UK is preparing to host the climate talks in Glasgow in November, a year after they were supposed to take place. But the virus that delayed the talks in the first place is still killing thousands of people across the world daily, many of whom are living in countries where it’s hard to get a vaccine.“Not only unfair but... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Today, Bitcoin is becoming an official currency in El Salvador, and the markets and crypto exchanges seem to be struggling. On Tuesday morning, the price of Bitcoin plunged from around $50,000 down to under $43,000 according to Coinbase — it seems that the country’s official Bitcoin app also hasn’t been able to keep up.CNBC reports that El Salvador’s official crypto app, Chivo, was unavailable for new users to install on Tuesday morning. The country’s president, Nayib Bukele, has since announced that the app would be reopening for signups, though he did call the new uptime a “test.”Major exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken have also reported having issues with payments or transactions not going through or being delayed. Not everyone is... Continue reading…

Ray-Ban Facebook and Ray-Ban are teasing an announcement around their upcoming smart glasses on September 9th. Ray-Ban posted a promotional page with a silhouette of a pair of glasses, the date “09.09 2021,” and the text “sign up now to get your release notification” — although it doesn’t specify whether that’s news about the release or the release itself. Ray-Ban’s homepage also promises that “this is one story you’re going to want to follow,” plausibly a reference to Facebook Stories.The announcement coincides with some apparent teaser videos from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and virtual and augmented reality head Andrew Bosworth. The posts show point-of-view video clips from Bosworth and Zuckerberg, including Bosworth playing golf and... Continue reading…

The Matrix: Resurrections is still a ways off with a premier date of December 22nd, 2021, but you can watch two (and maybe more) teasers for the highly anticipated film today, in advance of a full trailer on Thursday. The teasers appear on the recently revived “What is The Matrix” website, gated by the film franchise’s all too familiar choice — red pill or blue pill?The red pill teaser, after pushing through recognizable threads of vertical green scrolling code, makes immediate callbacks to the revolutionary conflict at the heart of the series, with clips of what looks like returning star Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Keanu Reeves as Neo, and new cast member Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. A voiceover directed at you, the viewer, notes the... Continue reading…

The invite for the next Apple event. | Image: Apple Apple’s next big fall event will take place on Tuesday, September 14th at 1PM ET, the company announced. The event, which carries the tagline “California streaming,” will be another virtual event broadcast from Apple Park.The company typically announces the year’s new iPhones at the fall event, and this year’s entry is expected to be called the iPhone 13. The new series of phones will apparently come in the same sizes as the iPhone 12, but a headline feature for some models could be high refresh rate screens, finally delivering tech that has been available on many Android phones. The new phones are also expected to have smaller display notches and improved cameras. Image: Apple The full invite image for Apple’s... Continue reading…

Microsoft Start is a personalized news feed. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is launching Microsoft Start today, a personalized news feed that integrates into Windows 11 and is accessible online and on iOS and Android. Microsoft Start is very similar to the MSN feed that exists today and to Microsoft News. Microsoft is rebranding these into Microsoft Start and integrating the feed into the Windows 11 widgets section and the Windows 10 taskbar.Much like Microsoft News, Microsoft Start includes news and media channels from more than 1,000 publishers. Microsoft uses AI and machine learning algorithms to sort through which news is presented to users and to personalize content based on interests and how you engage with content. There’s also some “human moderation” involved, but Microsoft did layoff dozens... Continue reading…

Screenshot: YouTube/James Locke Nearly a year after Tesla started testing its controversial “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) beta software with a select group of customers, the company’s CEO Elon Musk said he is aiming for a wider release by the end of September. The news comes as an older version of the software leaked online.Musk said on Twitter that the company would begin rolling out FSD version 10 to customers in its early access program at midnight on September 10th. Then, the software “will need another few weeks after that for tuning [and] bug fixes,” which Musk estimated would take four weeks. At that point, a “public beta button” will be made available to more Tesla customers, which is expected to take the form of a download button for people who purchased the FSD... Continue reading…

Mobileye, the Intel-owned company that specializes in chips for vision-based autonomous vehicles, announced that it will launch a robotaxi service in Germany in 2022. It’s the latest big move by a company seeking to buck the trend in AV development by becoming both a supplier of autonomous driving technology as well as a fleet operator and service provider.The taxi service will be operated in partnership with German rental car company Sixt and Moovit, an Israel-based startup that specializes in mobility data that was recently acquired by Intel for $900 million. Customers can hail a ride through either Sixt’s or Mobileye’s app.But it won’t be a full-fledged robotaxi service at launchBut it won’t be a full-fledged robotaxi service at... Continue reading…

People who own a PS5 console with a disc drive can enjoy some small but noteworthy discounts on exclusive games at Walmart, GameStop, and Amazon. You can get up to $25 off of the Demon’s Souls remake, while Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is $10 off.The new version of Demon’s Souls made for the PS5 was developed by Bluepoint Games, the same studio that tackled the remastering of classics like Shadow of the Colossus, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, and more. Demon’s Souls for PS5 features overhauled graphics and a new orchestral recording of the original soundtrack. And, of course, this one will satisfy if you like difficult games. Normally $70, it’s $45 at Walmart and Amazon, while GameStop is selling it for $50.Insomniac Games’... Continue reading…

Nicholas Quah, Ashley Carman, and Nilay Patel Vox Media today announced it’s entering an agreement to acquire Hot Pod, the preeminent publication covering the podcasting industry, founded by Nicholas Quah in 2014. At Vox Media, Hot Pod will become part of The Verge, with Quah deepening his long-running relationship with New York and Vulture as a full-time podcast critic.Senior reporter Ashley Carman will take over as lead writer of Hot Pod for The Verge, expanding Carman’s must-read coverage of podcasting and audio. The acquisition also marks The Verge’s first paid product as it will continue to publish Hot Pod’s weekly subscriber-only newsletter Hot Pod Insider, laying the groundwork for more paid Verge products in the future.“I can’t think of a better home for Hot Pod than The... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Remote work has made organizing easier Continue reading…

Remedy Entertainment’s 2010 cult classic Alan Wake is getting a remastered version for multiple platforms. Epic Games’ publishing arm will release Alan Wake Remastered across PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series S/X, and the Epic Games Store on PC.Originally an Xbox 360-exclusive title that went through a protracted development period, Alan Wake is a psychological thriller where you play a writer searching for his missing wife in the Pacific Northwest. The game was later released for PC in 2012, but Alan Wake Remastered will mark the first time it’s been available on PlayStation platforms.Epic says the remaster will feature “all-new rendered 4K visuals,” commentary from writer and creative director Sam Lake, and the expansions The Signal and T... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok’s users now spend more time each month watching content than YouTube users, according to a report from app analytics firm App Annie. In the US, ByteDance’s app first overtook YouTube in August last year, and as of June 2021 its users watched over 24 hours of content per month, compared with 22 hours and 40 minutes on Google’s video platform. In the UK the difference is even more stark: TikTok overtook YouTube in May last year and users there now reportedly watch almost 26 hours of content a month, compared to less than 16 on YouTube.The figures only include viewership on Android phones, however, so may not be representative of mobile users as a whole. But caveats aside, they show the extent of TikTok’s meteoric rise over just a... Continue reading…

Diagrams show a very similar accessory to the existing MagSafe iPhone charger. | Image: FCC Apple could have a new version of its iPhone MagSafe charging puck on the way. A new FCC listing for a “Magnetic Charger” first spotted by blogger Dave Zatz shows an accessory with a new model name (A2548) that looks otherwise identical to Apple’s existing charger (A2140). The new charger has been tested with a variety of devices including four marked as “New Phone,” which almost certainly correspond to Apple’s anticipated iPhone 13 models.There aren’t too many hints about what’s new in the official FCC documents. 9to5Mac notes that it’s been tested with all four existing iPhone 12 models (marked as “Legacy Phone”) as well as the four unannounced devices, which suggests this new MagSafe charger should be compatible with both... Continue reading…

A recently-installed Bitcoin ATM. As of today, Bitcoin is an official currency of El Salvador alongside the US dollar, after the Central American country became the first to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender. At three minutes to midnight local time, the country’s populist president Nayid Bukele tweeted that the country was about to “make history” with the move, after previously confirming that it had purchased 400 Bitcoins, the equivalent of around $20.9 million at today’s prices.Supporters argue the move will make it cheaper and easier for migrants to send money home to El Salvador, which is important given such remittances account for over 24 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to figures from the World Bank reported by CNBC. There are... Continue reading…

Who’s ready to for some scratching? | Image: LG LG, the company that maintains an entire lineup of “party speakers” adored by muscle-y guys who buy beer in buckets, is back with a subdued model. The LG Xboom 360 (model RP4) speaker has a design that still says “party,” but with a more wine-from-a-box aesthetic.The portable 360-degree speaker has a 29Wh battery that lasts for up to 10 hours between charges. The speaker can supply up to 120W of power to its 5.25-inch woofer and 2-inch horn tweeter when plugged into the wall, and accepts audio over Bluetooth, USB, or Aux-in sources. The integrated light has ambient, nature, and party presets, and can be further customized in the companion app. It’s available in your choice of beige, burgundy, black, or green fabric coverings. ... Continue reading…

Last year’s M1 MacBook Air is just one of many items on sale this Labor Day weekend. Labor Day is drawing to a close, however, there is still a slew of discounts available on some major hardware and accessories across the tech spectrum. Whether you’re picking up some last-minute gear for school or preparing to hunker down for the fall TV season with your favorite streaming device, this weekend might be the last real opportunity for you to save some serious money on TVs, headphones, and other gadgets until Black Friday and Cyber Monday roll around in November.To make sorting through the abundance of deals easier, we’ve curated a selection of the best Labor Day sales and deals available, the bulk of which are still available. We’ve also rounded up the best Labor Day TV deals, whether you’re in need of an OLED, midrange... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The private email service Protonmail is drawing harsh criticism from its users after providing IP information linked to a French activist who used the service, as first reported by TechCrunch.The data was requested as part of a broader investigation into a group of climate activists who have occupied a number of apartments and commercial spaces in Paris. While the members of the group are anonymous, one had used the address “jmm18@protonmail.com” in online postings. As a result, French police sought to identify any persons linked to the account.“The prosecution in this particular case was very aggressive”Because ProtonMail is based in Switzerland, it is not subject to French or EU requests. But the company is still subject to requests... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge California is poised to pass a new bill pushing back against the productivity measurement algorithms allegedly used in Amazon fulfillment centers, as recently reported by NPR’s Morning Edition and The New York Times. The bill passed California’s lower legislative chamber in May, and the upper chamber is expected to vote on it next week. If passed, the bill would place new transparency requirements on automated quota systems, and block any such systems that could endanger the health and safety of workers.Introducing the bill in July, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) cited a Verge report that found “hundreds” of Amazon warehouse employees had been fired for failing to meet productivity quotas at a single facility in Baltimore... Continue reading…

Photo by Paul Archuleta/WireImage According to Deadline and Variety, Phoebe Waller-Bridge has decided to leave Amazon’s upcoming Mr. and Mrs. Smith series. She was originally set to co-star alongside Donald Glover, but the Hollywood publications report that creative differences between the two have led the Fleabag creator to depart the production.Her exit is described as amicable, and Glover will remain onboard while Waller-Bridge’s role will be recast.Amazon’s Mr. and Mrs Smith series, based on the 2005 film starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, was scheduled to go into production in 2022; in addition to her co-starring role, Waller-Bridge also originally planned to executive produce the series along with Glover.The two previously appeared together in 2018’s S... Continue reading…

Five years after Volkswagen first unveiled its concept for an electric version of its iconic microbus, we’re finally getting our first glimpse of the vehicle on the road. But rather than some throwback to an era of hippies and flower power, the ID Buzz is outfitted with a high-tech suite of sensors and computing smarts for its new role as an autonomous test vehicle.VW says the autonomous ID Buzz will serve as a platform for the automaker’s full-scale commercial ride-hailing and delivery operation that it plans on launching in Germany in 2025. For now, VW plans to deploy the ID Buzz on public roads for testing in Munich, as well as at a private track near the city’s airport. The van made its public debut at the 2021 IAA Mobility Event... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s Top Gun expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator is being delayed to match the movie’s shifted release date. Paramount announced earlier this month that it’s delaying the rest of its 2021 films, pushing Top Gun: Maverick from its Thanksgiving weekend release date to May 27th, 2022.The Top Gun expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator had been planned for later this year, and will now be “released alongside the movie,” according to Microsoft and Asobo Studio. We still don’t have a whole lot of information on what Asobo Studio is planning to add with the Top Gun expansion, apart from some jets and locations from Top Gun: Maverick. “We look forward to sharing more information in the future,” says a blog post from Microsoft’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Automated resume-scanning software is contributing to a “broken” hiring system in the US, says a new report from Harvard Business School. Such software is used by employers to filter job applicants, but is mistakenly rejecting millions of viable candidates, say the study’s authors. It’s contributing to the problem of “hidden workers” — individuals who are able and willing to work, but remain locked out of jobs by structural problems in the labor market.The study’s authors identify a number of factors blocking people from employment, but say automated hiring software is one of the biggest. These programs are used by 75 percent of US employers (rising to 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies), and were adopted in response to a rise in... Continue reading…