The Verge

Image: Capcom We’re just a week out from the release of Resident Evil Village, and as part of the game’s promotional campaign, Capcom has uploaded an absolute treat to the YouTube channel for Biohazard (which is the name of the Resident Evil series in Japan): an official puppet show starring characters from the game. Yes, everyone’s favorite tall vampire lady, Lady Dimitrescu, is one of the puppets.The three-minute video is simultaneously adorable and terrifying. The show is entirely in Japanese, so I don’t have any idea what the actual story is — I think all of the puppets are meeting up to paint together, using blood as the ink? But it’s worth watching for some seriously silly puppet antics, like puppet-Lady Dimitrescu gleefully gulping down a... Continue reading…

Harebrained Schemes I woke up feeling a little strange this morning, but I didn’t think much of it. It’s just another day living in the pandemic. But after I got some strange looks at the cafe, I started to get a little worried. On my way home, I took a sip of my coffee and somehow pierced through the paper cup with bottom fangs that I didn’t have yesterday. I ran to the bathroom mirror when I got inside, only to discover that I’d turned into an ork. Awesome!As decreed by the Shadowrun lore (via Twitter user @Gen_Ironicus), April 30th, 2021 is the day of Goblinization. The Shadowrun wiki over at Fandom says that, today, 10 percent of the world’s population will be transformed into orks and trolls for no apparent reason. Guess I just got lucky!I thought... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Trade groups representing some of the largest telecom companies, including AT&T and Verizon, are suing New York over a new state law forcing them to provide cheaper broadband plans for low-income families in the state, as first reported by Axios.Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that would require internet service providers to offer a $15 a month broadband internet option for low-income consumers and families in the state. It’s one of the first laws in the country enforcing such a rule. But groups like USTelecom, CTIA, and the New York State Telecommunications Association argue that the state has no authority to set broadband prices and that the law could impair the companies’ abilities to upgrade their... Continue reading…

Deepfakes use AI techniques to generate or manipulate videos and pictures. | Artist: William Joel Last week, numerous news outlets reported that a string of European politicians had been tricked by a sophisticated Russian plot. Parliamentarians from the UK, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia had all arranged video calls with a hoaxer claiming to be Leonid Volkov, chief of staff to imprisoned Russian anti-Putin politician Alexei Navalny. As the politicians tell it, they fell victim to a digital fake: a doppelgänger using “deepfake” technology created specially to trick them — the latest example of Russia’s misinformation campaigns in the West.But the Russian men who orchestrated the calls say the “deepfake” claim is itself misinformation. Speaking to The Verge, the hoaxers say their imitation Volkov was created using effects no more... Continue reading…

The University of Minnesota’s path to banishment was long, turbulent, and full of emotion Continue reading…

The latest iPad Pros are powered by the M1 chip. | Apple Following the official reveal last week of the new model refreshes for the iMac and iPad Pros, all of which are powered by Apple’s own silicon — the M1 chip — preorders began for all three products today.As spotted first by 9to5Toys, Expercom is offering an incentive if you pre-purchase any of the three new M1 products, with up to $147 in savings available depending on the configuration you select, making this the first time any of these three brand-new products have seen a discount yet.The base M1 iMac is available for preorder at Expercom for as low as $1,233 ($66 off); this configuration includes 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. As noted previously, the configurations vary, but there are price reductions for multiple... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic will put Apple’s business under a microscope Continue reading…

Oh hey, it’s all of my PC games available to play on the Quest 2, wire-free, from within a virtual room. This is getting weird. One of the best features of the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 is that they can be manually linked via USB to your gaming PC so you can play more demanding VR games that couldn’t otherwise be run natively on the headsets. That’s great if you want a way to play games like Half-Life: Alyx, but the obvious downside is that you’re now physically tethered to a PC — so much for the wireless freedom that the Quest platform advertises.Since then, the developers at Virtual Desktop — and, more recently, Oculus itself — have both figured out how to stream the visual feed from your PC to your VR headset while quickly syncing all of your movements over Wi-Fi. Either option will give you the best of both worlds: letting you play the games you want without... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Roku has pulled YouTube TV from its channel store. The distribution agreement between Roku and Google for YouTube TV has expired as of today — and the two sides haven’t been able to reach a new deal. However, Roku says it is “taking the extra step to continue to offer existing subscribers access to YouTube TV on the Roku platform unless Google takes actions that require the full removal of the channel.” New subscriptions from the YouTube TV app have also been switched off “until an agreement is reached.”In an email to customers, Roku warned “it is also important that you do not delete the YouTube TV app as it will not be available for download to Roku devices.” The regular YouTube app is unaffected by this situation and remains freely... Continue reading…

Elon Musk says ‘significant mistakes’ were made in how Tesla calculates solar roof costs. Customers are irate Continue reading…

The new iPad Pro | Apple Apple announced a 2021 refresh to its iPad Pro lineup, which now includes the same powerful and efficient M1 processor that’s in its MacBook Air, Pro, and Mac mini computers. Both the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch models will feature the chip, as well as a Thunderbolt port and optional 5G support. The display on the larger tablet has received a particularly big boost, jumping to a Liquid Retina XDR Mini LED screen. My colleague Monica Chin has gone deeper on more of this year’s big improvements.If you have your eye on the new iPad Pro, preorders begin today, April 30th, with shipping beginning the week of May 21st. Preorders are available at several retailers, including Apple’s direct website and Amazon.Where to buy the 11-inch M1 iPad Pro... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple’s colorful new M1-powered iMacs, refreshed iPad Pros, and updated Apple TV 4K (with a not-terrible-looking remote) are now all available to preorder today from Apple’s website. The company says that the new products will be delivered starting on May 21st —at least for the first wave of orders, although that timing will certainly slip as stock sells out.Customers interested in buying the new iMac should take note that only some of the color schemes will be available in stores: green, pink, blue, and silver models will be sold in-person at Apple Store locations, but the full seven-color spectrum will only be offered through Apple’s website, at least for now.The new iPad Pro also features Apple’s new M1 processor (the same as the... Continue reading…

Photo by Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress Google is redesigning its offices for the post-pandemic world, and The New York Times has a big report full of pictures and videos outlining the company’s plans. But if I had to sum up the tech giant’s approach in two words I would choose “over” and “engineered.” Google has ambitious plans to shake up its offices, but some of them seem needlessly complicated.As the Times notes, the standard for Silicon Valley offices has long been open plan, with designers and developers working by cheek by jowl in the name of “spontaneous collaboration.” (Though this is often a pretext to cut costs by cramming as many workers into pricey real estate as possible.) But, in a cautious COVID-conscious culture neither cramming nor cubicles can cut it:... Continue reading…

An example of the kind of listing that will be prohibited under the new policy. | Image: Google Google has announced new Play Store policies and guidelines designed to make app listings more succinct, accurate, and less of an eyesore. New guidelines affecting the screenshots and videos meant to demonstrate an app’s features and functionality will come into force in the second half of 2021, while specific details about the enforcement of new policies for app titles, icons, and descriptions are coming “later this year.”The new app metadata policies will ban a variety of tricks that app developers use to make their app listings excessively eye-catching. Writing words in all-caps will no longer be allowed unless it’s the name of a brand, and neither will including emoji in app names. App titles will be limited to 30 characters, and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The European Commission is issuing antitrust charges against Apple over concerns about the company’s App Store practices. The Commission has found that Apple has broken EU competition rules with its App Store policies, following an initial complaint from Spotify back in 2019. Specifically, the Commission believes Apple has a “dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through its App Store.”The EU has focused on two rules that Apple imposes on developers: the mandatory use of Apple’s in-app purchase system (for which Apple charges a 30 percent cut), and a rule forbidding app developers to inform users of other purchasing options outside of apps. The Commission has found that the 30 percent commission... Continue reading…

PayPal is now available as a payment method for US Coinbase users. | Image: Coinbase Coinbase has added the option for users to buy cryptocurrency using their PayPal accounts in the US, the company has announced. It says the feature offers a “familiar and trusted” experience for users buying any of the numerous cryptocurrencies that the exchange currently supports, and using PayPal as an intermediary means you don’t have to give your bank account or debit card information directly to the cryptocurrency exchange. The feature will expand to other countries in the coming months.To use the new option, Coinbase says you can add your PayPal account via the “Add a payment method” option, which links to the PayPal login screen. Purchases made via PayPal are capped at $25,000 a day, or 0.46 Bitcoin as of this writing. Debit... Continue reading…

Apple has added a new App Store search suggestions feature in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, that might make it easier to find apps. Now, after typing in a search term, the App Store will attempt to predict what you’re looking for and offer suggested words that, when tapped, will further narrow down your search results and speed up your hunt for specific kinds of apps.Search suggestions actually appeared on some iPhones earlier in April as part of a test, according to MacRumors, but now the feature should be rolling out to all iPhones in the supported regions.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge All the news about the huge trial Continue reading…

I wish I’d had this to test with Samsung’s Odyssey G9 Continue reading…

The Ratchet and Clank cosmetics in Among Us. | Image: Sony The hit social deduction game Among Us is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 sometime this year, Sony announced during its State of Play presentation on Thursday.Like on other platforms, the game will support crossplay and online multiplayer so that you can play with your friends no matter what platform you’re on. But PlayStation players will be the only ones who can get exclusive Ratchet & Clank-themed cosmetics: a skin and hat to dress up like Ratchet and a pet that is an adorable little Clank.

Stratolaunch Stratolaunch, the aerospace firm founded by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, flew its behemoth carrier airplane named ‘Roc’ on Thursday for a second time. It was the company’s first flight under new ownership, coming two years after the twin-fuselage craft’s initial flight test.“Today’s flight, at first review, has appeared extremely successful,” Stratolaunch’s chief operating officer Zachary Krevor told reporters in a call on Thursday. “We accomplished all test points as desired, we have not seen anything anomalous, and we are very pleased with the condition of the aircraft upon landing.”Roc’s wheels were up at 10:30AM ET, and the plane reached a peak altitude of 2.6 miles over the Mojave Desert in California, Stratolaunch... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon had a wildly successful 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and that blazing trail shows no signs of stopping for 2021. The company shared its financial results for Q1 2021, and it brought in $108.5 billion in net sales. That’s a 44 percent increase from the $75.5 billion reported in the first quarter of last year, as the pandemic was beginning to take hold globally.Its profits have exploded year-over-year, as well, increasing to $8.1 billion in the first quarter of this year. At this time in 2020, the figure reported was a meager $2.5 billion. Amazon expects to continue crossing the $100 billion net sales mark next quarter with the figure ultimately landing somewhere between $110.0 billion and $116.0 billion.But as Amazon’s... Continue reading…

Image: Insomniac Games Sony and Insomniac Games debuted 16 minutes of stunning new Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gameplay footage in a new State of Play presentation on Thursday.For part of the video, protagonist Ratchet traversed through a new town called Nefarious City that was packed with detail — it reminded me of a Ratchet & Clank version of Star Wars’ Coruscant. There was a lot of classic Ratchet & Clank gameplay on display, with 3D platforming and crates to smash for screws, but the developers have also added new moves to give you added mobility. There’s now dashing and wall running, for example, and you can also use the new Rift Tether to hook into portals so you can zip from place to place.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google is rolling out a new April update for the Chromecast with Google TV that launched last year. It’s a fairly large update for a streaming device — totaling 166MB on my Chromecast — but includes numerous improvements.Once you’ve installed the new software and restarted your Chromecast, you’ll be able to dig a little deeper into video settings than was previously possible. In the new “advanced video controls” area of settings, you’re now given the ability to choose your preferred dynamic range format. Options include Dolby Vision, HDR, or even SDR if you want to keep it there. You can also manually switch to a ton of resolutions at various refresh rates from this menu:

Years ago, my Verge colleagues convinced me that Dexter got so bad, it’d be a waste of my time to see my favorite TV serial killer reach the end of his story — so when I tell you that Dexter’s coming back this fall, picking up right where the show left off, I have absolutely no clue what that actually means.But if you did emotionally invest yourself enough to see the series through, you have my pity, my respect, and a brand-new teaser trailer to watch, above, as proof of life — an assurance that the series’ widely panned ending isn’t actually the end.The new Dexter will be a 10-episode limited series on Showtime this fall, starring Michael C. Hall, set 10 years after the original show, created by the original showrunner and featuring... Continue reading…

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - 2018/09/01: Upward view of giant sequoias in Sequoia National Park, California, USA. | Photo by Marji Lang/LightRocket via Getty Images More evidence surfaced this week that shows that forests are struggling to do humans’ dirty work when it comes to climate change. Although companies and countries are increasingly relying on forests to draw down their planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions, the math isn’t adding up to show big benefits.California might have oversold the success of carbon offsets used in its cap-and-trade system, which is often billed as one of the world’s most successful market-based mechanisms to tackle climate change. The system appears to be failing because California is actually overcounting how much carbon dioxide forests keep out of the atmosphere, according to a new study by nonprofit CarbonPlan, that’s still under peer review, and reporting by P... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Department of Justice said it has arrested a Russian-Swedish national who allegedly operated a long-running cryptocurrency laundering site. According to a news release from the DOJ, Roman Sterlingov ran Bitcoin Fog, a cryptocurrency tumbler or “mixer”— which hides a cryptocurrency’s source by mixing it with other funds.Bitcoin Fog gained “notoriety as a go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to hide their illicit proceeds from law enforcement,” according to the DOJ. The department says over the course of 10 years, Bitcoin Fog moved more than 1.2 million bitcoin, valued at the time of the transactions at around $335 million.Bitcoin Fog has received a fair amount of coverage from cryptocurrency blogs and news sites... Continue reading…

Image: Dashlane Dashlane has introduced a new $3.99 per month ($2.99 per month when charged yearly) Essentials plan for its password manager that offers some of the most popular features from its $6.49 per month Premium plan at a more affordable price. But the lower price comes with a catch — you might not be able to access your passwords on as many devices as you’d like.Like Dashlane’s Premium plans, the new Essentials offers unlimited passwords, the ability to generate new passwords on the fly, autofill, and access to Dashlane’s Secure Notes feature for storing private text. You won’t have access to Premium features like dark web monitoring, Dashlane’s VPN, or, crucially, support for more than two devices.That means you’ll have to pick where you... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple’s upcoming 2021 refresh of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro — which will feature an M1 processor and a new Mini LED display — will work with the 2020 model of the 12.9-inch Magic Keyboard case after all. But it’s not going to be a perfect fit.According to a newly added note to an Apple support document (spotted by Chris Ball on Twitter) the first-generation Magic Keyboard (model number A1998) will be “functionally compatible” with the updated iPad Pro. But due to the slightly thicker dimensions of the new 12.9-inch model (which is 0.5mm thicker than the 2020 version), Apple warns that “it’s possible that the Magic Keyboard may not precisely fit when closed, especially when screen protectors are applied.” Apple updated the... Continue reading…

Photo: David Roth Another internet meme has sold for big bucks online: Zoë Roth, best known as “Disaster Girl” for the popular image macro taken by her father in 2005 of her smirking at the camera while a house burns down in the background, has sold the original copy of the meme as an NFT for 180 Ether, worth almost $500,000.Roth tells The New York Times that she’ll use the money to pay off her student loans and to donate to charity. And as is the case with many NFT sales, the Roths also retain the copyright to the image and will make 10 percent off any future sales of the NFT.She’s by no means the first meme star to leverage the boom in crytocurrency-based artwork into a small fortune. Chris Torres — the creator of Nyan Cat — sold an NFT of the... Continue reading…

Scammers are hacking into the accounts of Target gig workers and draining their bank accounts, Motherboard reports. Since March 28th, more than 30 employees who work for Shipt, Target’s delivery app, have posted on Facebook about being attacked. The company employs about 300,000 contract shoppers in the United States.In some cases, the scammers are spoofing Shipt’s phone number and pretending to be corporate employees. They say they’ve noticed unusual activity on the worker’s account and ask for the person’s password. Once they get in, they transfer the worker’s earnings to themselves.The scam is made possible in part by an “instant payout” feature Shipt rolled out earlier this year. The feature allows workers to cash out their... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Snap’s diversity report reveals that the company has made slow progress toward overall racial and gender diversity, with 47 percent of its employees being white and 65 percent male. However, there are some areas of significant progress; Snap says it increased the number of women on its board of directors to 50 percent from 37.5 percent.Other improvements were smaller, with a tiny rise in women’s representation across the company (32.9 to 33.1 percent) and a similarly small increase in underrepresented racial groups among leadership (13.1 to 13.6 percent). Meanwhile, Hispanic / Latinx representation decreased from 6.9 to 6.8 percent, and Asian representation in leadership decreased from 16.5 to 14.3 percent.The company is setting new... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Microsoft’s next big Windows 10 update for later this year will include some important audio improvements. The OS will finally get support for Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) over Bluetooth, which will give Windows users even more choice for Bluetooth headphones and speakers. Windows Insiders can test the changes right now.Windows has long only supported SBC and AptX over Bluetooth, but AAC support also unlocks the potential for better audio quality for Apple’s range of headphones and through iTunes or Apple Music on Windows. Apple was previously hiring engineers to build the “next generation of media apps for Windows,” and AAC support would be a solid improvement for any potential Apple Music app, or just streaming through the browser.M... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Just stop. Stop telling us why your 5G network is the very best and fastest and most reliable. Stop running commercials about how life-changing your 5G network is. Definitely stop telling us why your 5G network is better than the other guy’s 5G network because can you even imagine building a 5G network the way they have? Please stop with all of this, it’s been a very long year and we’re tired.It would be one thing to make all of these fantastical claims like you do if any of them reflected any real person’s experience. They don’t. Your 5G networks are just not that good yet. They’ll get better, and that’s nice! But please stop pretending like the 5G train has pulled into the station and all we have to do is get on board to be whisked... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Today’s Dish Network Q1 earnings call took an unexpected turn into Whoville when chairman Charlie Ergen compared T-Mobile to the Grinch. The comparison came up when discussing the “Uncarrier’s” decision to go ahead with its CDMA shutdown, a move that will potentially see millions of Dish’s Boost Mobile customers losing service at the beginning of next year. Ergen made no secret what he thinks of the move: “They’ve become the Grinch.” He went on to add, “the Uncarrier’s become the uncaring carrier.”Dish Network acquired Boost as a condition of the Sprint / T-Mobile merger with the intention of positioning Dish to take Sprint’s place as the US’s fourth wireless carrier. A year later, the company faces a major setback following T-Mobile’s... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Volkswagen’s “Voltswagen” debacle to see how the stunt affected the automaker’s stock price, and whether it broke any securities laws, according to Der Spiegel.The faux rebranding took place on March 29th, when Volkswagen’s American subsidiary “accidentally” published a draft press release about changing its name to Voltswagen in a nod to the larger company’s push into electric vehicles.After some news outlets reported on that apparently errant admission, the company followed up with an official press release on March 30th, which included quotes from Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh claiming the change was really happening.Ultimately, the stunt turned... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Nvidia is trying again to limit the use of its RTX 3060 graphics cards for mining Ethereum, with a new update once again adding a hash limiter to the GPU, via VideoCardz.com.If that sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s not the first time that Nvidia has tried to nerf mining performance on the RTX 3060 — the company first rolled out new drivers that were intended to limit the hash rate of Ethereum mining by around 50 percent in February.“We designed GeForce GPUs for gamers, and gamers are clamoring for more,” says Matt Wuebbling, head of global GeForce marketing at Nvidia, in a blog post announcing the change. The company also announced a new product, the Nvidia CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor), a dedicated GPU meant... Continue reading…

A virtual world leads to IRL excursions Continue reading…

Image: Netflix Sweet Tooth, a new Netflix series based on the DC comic, will debut on the streaming service on June 4th, according to a new teaser trailer that premiered Thursday.Here’s a brief description of the show, from Netflix: “On a perilous adventure across a post-apocalyptic world, a lovable boy who’s half-human and half-deer searches for a new beginning with a gruff protector.” The trailer, which you can watch here or at the top of this post, shows that Gus, the half-human / half-deer boy, isn’t the only human / animal hybrid in this world — I’m pretty sure I spotted a girl with a pig’s snout. And I have to say that by the end, I was already rooting hard for Gus and getting mad at anyone who would dare threaten him.The eight-episode series... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook says it will spend $5 million paying local journalists on a new publishing platform. Reuters reported the news on Thursday, saying independent journalists could begin applying for the program today. The company is prioritizing reporters in areas without an existing news source — sometimes called “news deserts” — who plan to cover “Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian or other audiences of color.”Facebook announced its new local news platform last month. The platform includes a self-publishing tool that lets reporters launch newsletters and charge for subscriptions, as well as integration with existing features like Facebook pages and groups. Reuters reports that Facebook will strike multiyear deals with selected journalists, who... Continue reading…

Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Best Buy and Amazon are is offering the 40mm Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS) for $249, smashing yesterday’s discounted price of $299. This model normally sold for $399, and today’s price drop makes it more affordable than — and superior to — the Apple Watch SE that costs $279. The one downside to this promo is that it only loops in the Product Red model that’s all red, which might not go with your look.At this price, it’s currently about $80 more than 38mm-sized Apple Watch Series 3, yet it provides a sizable boost in power and capabilities. For one, the Series 6 has more internal storage. A few other perks of this discounted watch include its always-on display that’s surprisingly efficient, and its ability to take blood oxygen readings. Y... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by William Joel | Video by Daniel Valls The New York Police Department has canceled its trial of a robot dog made by US firm Boston Dynamics after receiving fierce criticism regarding the “dystopian” technology.“The contract has been terminated and the dog will be returned,” a spokesperson for the NYPD told the New York Post. John Miller, the department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told The New York Times that the machine was “a casualty of politics, bad information and cheap sound bytes.” Said Miller: “People had figured out the catchphrases and the language to somehow make this evil.”The NYPD began leasing the machine nicknamed Digidog last year. “This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal,”... Continue reading…

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is finally getting ready to sell tickets for seats on its suborbital New Shepard rocket.No details on price or timelines yet, but the company tweeted a video on Thursday featuring a cowboy-hat-wearing Jeff Bezos driving an electric Rivian truck through the Texas desert right after Blue Origin’s 15th New Shepard test flight on April 14th. “Guys, how exciting is this, c’mon,” he said before stepping out to inspect the company’s crew capsule, which had just landed under parachutes (without a crew inside).

Two days after the DC insurrection, as the country was still processing the aftermath, MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson posted his second tweet of the past three years. Anderson attached the thinking emoji to an amateurish Photoshop render of Donald Trump, sitting in one of his typically garish offices, with his browser opened to Myspace. “‘MYSPACE TOM’ ABOUT TO GET A NEW FRIEND,” reads the caption, saliently predicting that with the entire internet industry mobilizing to hastily deplatform the president, Trump’s only access to the public might come from a long-zombified social media company. Anderson must’ve found the meme funny enough to log back on, disrupting a truly unprecedented offline streak for the average tech mogul. He... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Ford has sold more than 7,000 Mustang Mach-E SUVs so far, and it says 70 percent of those buyers have never owned one of the company’s cars.For comparison, Ford told The Verge that 39 percent of people who bought the more affordable 2020 Escape were new to the brand.So what does that 70 percent figure actually mean?Well, if Ford keeps up the pace and meets its goal of selling 30,000 Mustang Mach-Es in the US in 2021, then it’s a promising sign the company is doing important work in attracting new customers. It’s also evidence that a really capable electric car can help Ford carve out new market share, and that some early production issues haven’t scared away unfamiliar buyers. That could be good news for the all-electric version of... Continue reading…

Steve Carell in The Office. | Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank Comcast said that The Office and WWE were to thank for its new-ish streaming service, Peacock, adding 9 million signups during the first three months of 2021. Peacock now has 42 million members total in the United States. That looks strong compared to HBO’s 44.2 million US customers, but it comes with a huge caveat: Peacock has a free tier, and Comcast doesn’t say how many customers are paying.Still, Peacock got a sizable boost during a quarter when other streaming services notched smaller growth. HBO added 2.7 million subscribers in the US, and Netflix added 4 million subscribers globally. (Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.)Two big names contributed to this quarter’s growth. The Office became... Continue reading…

Lime’s bright green electric mopeds are coming to New York City. The company that’s better known for its electric kick scooters will initially roll out 100 mopeds in Queens, Brooklyn, and Lower Manhattan.It’s the second US market for Lime’s mopeds, after first launching them in Washington, DC. (The company is also operating a fleet in Paris.) Lime was also recently approved to deploy 1,000 electric scooters in the Bronx as part of New York City’s inaugural shared scooter pilot.It’s the second US market for Lime’s mopedsThe mopeds are manufactured by NIU, a Chinese company that also supplies mopeds to New York City-based mobility company Revel. NIU’s mopeds typically get between 25–100 miles of range. Lime’s mopeds will be speed... Continue reading…

Microsoft is announcing today that Halo Infinite will support crossplay and cross-progression when it launches later this year. This will allow PC and Xbox players to match together and play the Halo Infinite campaign, and the support also extends to multiplayer. Any multiplayer customization and progress will sync across both PC and Xbox.Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode will also be free to play when it launches later this year, with support for up to 120fps in the arena mode on Xbox Series X. Microsoft is also ensuring all of the customizations PC players expect are available inside Halo Infinite. This includes support for ultrawide monitors, triple keybinds, advanced graphics options, and other customizations.We’re now waiting to... Continue reading…

Spotify’s redesigned Your Library features dynamic tabs and an easier way to sort your downloaded content. | Spotify Spotify is trying again to make its Your Library tab easier to navigate. It’s introducing dynamic filters, a new grid view, the ability to pin content, and different sorting options. The changes are coming to all users across iOS and Android over the coming week. The filters will likely be the most useful change, with users being able to filter between album, artist, playlist, or podcast. Premium users can also choose to view only downloaded content, which, up until now, has been hard to find within Spotify without scrolling through every artist and album they’ve saved.Users can also choose to pin four playlists, albums, or podcast shows that’ll show up at the top of their content. To pin, swipe right on what you want to keep at the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is shaking up the world of PC gaming today with a big cut to the amount of revenue it takes from games on Windows. The software giant is reducing its cut from 30 percent to just 12 percent from August 1st, in a clear bid to compete with Steam and entice developers and studios to bring more PC games to its Microsoft Store.“Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms,” says Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios at Microsoft. “A clear, no-strings-attached revenue share means developers can bring more games to more players and find greater commercial success from doing so.”These changes will only affect PC games and not Xbox console games in... Continue reading…