The Verge

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Charging is a common concern with electric vehicles. But some owners of the brand-new Mustang Mach-E have run into a peculiar problem: their electric SUVs won’t start even when the main battery pack is full.That’s because, The Verge has learned, there’s a problem with some early Mustang Mach-E SUVs that involves how the much smaller 12-volt battery gets charged. It’s the latest in a growing line of small issues that have come to light during the rollout of Ford’s first long-range electric car.As is the case in other electric cars, the Mustang Mach-E keeps its 12-volt lead-acid battery topped up by essentially sipping power from the much larger lithium-ion battery pack. Based on owners’ accounts across multiple forum threads, including... Continue reading…

Some people spent the pandemic writing the next King Lear, others lamenting the fact that they weren’t. It doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of inspiring pandemic projects to go around, but one of the most striking (and brain-breaking) has to be this model train video created by Jason Shron of the YouTube channel Rapido Trains.Shron is a devoted train enthusiast and talented model maker. But his model train project re-creating the Canadian VIA rail line connecting Toronto to Montreal is really a treasure only a lot of time (due to COVID-19 lockdowns) and passion (from a lifetime appreciation of the rail) can create. Just look at this video:That’s footage shot from one of Shron’s model trains, superimposed over the window of a... Continue reading…

Sony Pictures has signed a new deal with Netflix that will see the streamer become the exclusive home of films like Uncharted and Morbius when they finish their theatrical and home video runs beginning in 2022, via Deadline.The new deal sees Netflix replace Starz as Sony’s partner for the “pay one window” for what Deadline says is a “recording-setting price tag.” Netflix is an obvious choice for Sony, given that the company already has a pay one deal for its animated releases. But the new deal is far more comprehensive and will see Sony’s theatrical films from its Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Screen Gems, and TriStar Pictures studios all head to Netflix.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge New filings show both sides’ legal strategies at work Continue reading…

Image: Amazon Amazon is adding a new streaming option to its Luna cloud gaming platform that will cap resolution at 720p to help improve stability for players on slower internet connections.Right now, Luna streams only at 1080p, with 4K coming at some point in the future. Yet even at 1080p, internet connections that struggle to keep up with the high bandwidth demands of cloud gaming might result in latency, lag, and audio issues for the player when using a service like Luna. Now, Amazon says those using Luna in its early access beta — the platform has yet to release to the public — can toggle on the 720p streaming mode in the settings panel to help with performance.“One of the most requested features is the ability to play at lower resolutions to... Continue reading…

Image: AWR Music Productions Square Enix has released a 16-minute trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake Orchestral World Tour, and if you’re a fan of the game’s fantastic soundtrack, I highly recommend watching this video from beginning to end. Watching the songs performed by a live orchestra brought a huge smile to my face.The trailer features three songs: a medley of the game’s opening, including the bombastic title fanfare that still gives me goosebumps; “Stand Up,” the song used during the Honeybee Inn dance scene; and a medley of the classic battle theme, “Let the Battles Begin!”More than 100 musicians perform the arrangements. If you want to try to catch a show for yourself, you can see the schedule of upcoming performances on the tour’s website. Sadly,... Continue reading…

Trevor DeHaas/Twitter Trevor DeHaas is auctioning his 2017 tweet of the “dinner” he received at Fyre Fest as an NFT. But unlike the Fest itself, the tweeted photo of the limp cheese slice on wheat bread with some greens and a sad tomato in a styrofoam container isn’t a grift; as first reported by Axios, DeHaas is hoping to raise $80,000 which he plans to put toward his medical bills.“With how hot the NFT market is right now I figured I’d give it a shot and could hopefully raise enough money that I wouldn’t need to rely on a GoFundMe to pay for my medical expenses,” DeHaas said in an email to The Verge. “The last thing I want is to guilt trip someone into buying the NFT and copyright to pay for my medical expenses but I would like the auction winner to know... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge The wisdom of the crowd Continue reading…

The 8 Pro uses a new 108-megapixel image sensor that could bring better photo capabilities to the midrange class Continue reading…

Photo by Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images As more people get vaccinated against the coronavirus and spring weather coaxes people outside, we’re all thinking about those travel plans we shelved last summer. But with COVID-19 travel restrictions varying by country and by state in the US, it’s difficult to figure out what’s safe and what the latest rules are. Expedia Group — whose online travel agent (OTA) websites include Expedia, Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotels.com, and others — has created a tool to help travelers plan trips while adhering to COVID-19 restrictions at their destinations.“Right now, many people are considering booking trips as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, but at the same time, they’re inundated with conflicting information about where and how they can... Continue reading…

Deathloop has been delayed again, with Arkane’s timed PS5 console exclusive moving from its previous May 21st release date to a fall release on September 14th. The news marks the second big delay for Deathloop, which was originally supposed to be out in the 2020 holiday season alongside the then-newly released PS5.As with the earlier delay, Arkane’s Lyon studio is once again citing COVID-19-related delays, with an increased difficulty in development as it works to ensure “the health and safety of everyone at Arkane.”

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Samsung’s latest Chrome OS laptop, the Galaxy Chromebook 2, came out a couple of months ago. If you are looking to buy this laptop at a more affordable price, Best Buy and Samsung have multiple configurations on sale for $100 off.My colleague, Monica Chin, thinks this laptop is the best midrange Chromebook you can buy right now and notes in her review that this Chromebook has much better battery life than its predecessor.Ghost of Tsushima was released last year, and it quickly became one of the more popular games in 2020, so much so that the game is getting a film adaption. If you have yet to experience this open-world action title, it is back down to its lowest price yet of $40 at several retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, and G... Continue reading…

From left to right, HMD’s Nokia G10, X20, C10, X10, G20, and C20. | Image; HMD HMD is announcing six new midrange Nokia phones today, ranging in price from €75 (around $90) up to €349 (around $415). At the top, there’s the X-series, consisting of the X10 and X20, followed by the G-series G10 and G20, and then finally, there’s the entry-level C10 and C20 from the C-series.HMD’s pitch for these phones is the length of time it’s offering support, with even the cheapest C-series phones due to receive two years of quarterly security updates. Meanwhile, G-series phones will receive two years of Android OS updates and three years of monthly security updates. Finally, the X-series gets three years of OS updates, three years of monthly security updates, and an extended warranty that HMD says should mean it’s covered for... Continue reading…

HMD’s Nokia X20. HMD is announcing six new midrange devices today led by the Nokia X20, a midrange handset priced starting at €349 / £299.99 (around $415). It will release in “select markets globally” such as the UK starting next month, but we’re still waiting on HMD to confirm exact US pricing and availability. I’ve been using the phone running near-final software over the past week, which has been enough to get some rough first impressions about the device.To be frank, the Nokia X20 isn’t the most exciting device. But HMD’s promises about ongoing software and hardware support for the phone make it compelling.The Nokia X20 is specced like a device at this price point is expected to be. It’s powered by a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor... Continue reading…

Bitcoin Mining at Russian CryptoUniverse Farm | Bloomberg / Contributor via Getty Images A newly announced “Crypto Climate Accord” aims to erase cryptocurrencies’ legacy of climate pollution. That’s a tall order considering the enormous amounts of energy that the most popular cryptocurrencies — bitcoin and Ethereum — consume. The loose goals laid out in the plan so far face potentially insurmountable challenges.A 2040 target for the crypto industry to reach “net zero” emissionsThe “accord” is led by the private sector — not governments — and outlines a few preliminary objectives. It seeks to transition all blockchains to renewable energy by 2030 or sooner. It sets a 2040 target for the crypto industry to reach “net zero” emissions, which would involve reducing pollution and turning to strategies that might be able to suck... Continue reading…

Image: Google Having to deal with paperwork is a real pain, whether it’s hardcopy or digital. Tax documents, explanations of benefits from insurance companies, purchase receipts, prescriptions, bills, vaccination cards — the list of daily paperwork goes on and on. And of course, when you suddenly need to find that receipt for your two-year-old laptop, it’s nowhere to be found.Google’s latest experimental app, Stack, is meant to help make that part of your life easier. A product of Google’s Area 120 incubator, Stack is designed to be the place where you can keep PDF copies of all those documents. As mentioned in our initial article, Stack borrows the technology underlying Google’s powerful DocAI enterprise tool for document analysis so it can organize... Continue reading…

Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag Plus, the souped-up version of the company’s Tile-like SmartTag Bluetooth tracker (which was released earlier this year), now has a release date: it’ll be out on April 16th for $39.99.That’s a $10 price increase over the standard SmartTag, which runs for $29.99 — but the SmartTag Plus has one notable improvement. It features an ultra-wideband (UWB) radio, allowing users to track it more accurately when it’s nearby than the standard Bluetooth setup. The UWB radio actually enables a new AR mode, which can help show users exactly where their missing tag is.To use the new UWB mode, you’ll need both a Galaxy SmartTag Plus and a compatible UWB-equipped Galaxy phone, a list that currently includes the Galaxy Note 20... Continue reading…

Image: Lenovo Lenovo’s next gaming phone leaked earlier this week, but now the company is officially sharing details about the new device, called the Legion Phone Duel 2. It’s a beast in every way — with a 6.92-inch screen, this is a gigantic phone that houses two batteries, two USB-C ports, and two actual spinning fans, as well as a camera bump that makes us slightly regret we already used the “that’s no moon; it’s a space station” joke on the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.Some of its features are carryovers from Lenovo’s original Android gaming phone, the Legion Phone Duel, including the twin USB-C ports and a pop-up selfie camera designed for streamers. Like the original Duel, Lenovo also maintains the unusual choice of centering the phone’s other two... Continue reading…

Image: Intel Last month during its virtual GDC presentation Intel announced Bleep, a new AI-powered tool that it hopes will cut down on the amount of toxicity gamers have to experience in voice chat. According to Intel, the app “uses AI to detect and redact audio based on user preferences.” The filter works on incoming audio, acting as an additional user-controlled layer of moderation on top of what a platform or service already offers.It’s a noble effort, but there’s something bleakly funny about Bleep’s interface, which lists in minute detail all of the different categories of abuse that people might encounter online, paired with sliders to control the quantity of mistreatment users want to hear. Categories range anywhere from “Aggression” to... Continue reading…

Satire pages will now be labelled as such, along with public officials, fan pages, and government news outlets. | Image: Facebook Facebook is adding additional labels to posts from Pages that appear in users’ News Feeds in a bid to reduce confusion about their origin. These labels will include “public official,” “fan page,” and “satire page.” The company says it’s already started testing the deployment of these labels in the US, and will gradually add them to more posts.Facebook hasn’t offered any explanation as to why it’s adding these labels, but identifying satire seems particularly important. Take a look at the social shares for any news articles written by well-known satirical sites like The Onion or The Babylon Bee and you’ll find plenty of people taking these stories at face value. In such a context these posts are essentially a type of misinformation, even... Continue reading…

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge Apple has not been spared the effects of the ongoing global component shortage, according to a new report in Nikkei. The publication says that some production of MacBooks and iPads has been delayed, with “a portion of component orders” pushed back to the second half of 2021.The issue with MacBooks is said to be related to the ability to mount certain components on circuit boards ahead of the device’s assembly. Delayed iPad production, meanwhile, is apparently because of a shortage of displays and display components. Bloomberg reported earlier this week on how the squeezed supply of display drivers is causing a bottleneck across the entire tech industry.Nikkei didn’t state which MacBook or iPad models would be affected, nor whether the... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge LG has announced a pledge to issue future Android OS updates to many of its smartphones despite confirming earlier this week that it’ll be leaving the phone business altogether. The Velvet, Wing, and G- and V- series phones from 2019 or later should be getting three Android updates from their year of release, and “certain 2020 models such as LG Stylo and K series” will get two updates.For example, the Velvet came out last year with Android 10, and its Android 11 rollout is currently in progress. That means that it should also be getting Android 12 and 13 at some point, assuming Google continues its yearly cadence. LG variously describes this announcement as a “three-year pledge” and a “three-OS-update guarantee.”The announcement is a... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook is responding to the recent news that data from 533 million accounts leaked online for free, but perhaps not in the way users might have hoped: the company doesn’t plan to notify the users whose data was exposed online, a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters.In the dataset, there’s apparently a lot of information that you might not want floating around the internet — including birthdays, locations, full names, and phone numbers — so it’s disappointing to hear that Facebook doesn’t plan to notify users that might be affected. The company cited two reasons to Reuters as to why it’s not telling users proactively: it says it’s not confident it would know which users would need to be notified, and that users wouldn’t be able to do... Continue reading…

Because the world desperately needed another GPU people can’t actually buy, AMD decided to release a limited-edition “Midnight Black” version of its Radeon RX 6800 XT early Wednesday morning, where it sold out before most people even saw the card was there.You might be thinking: “Why would you release a limited-edition version of something that’s practically a collector’s piece even without a new coat of paint?” (AMD’s recent GPUs are even rarer than Nvidia’s, though both currently command two to three times their retail price on eBay.)Or you might be thinking: “When, exactly, did AMD announce a new GPU? I don’t remember that.” That’s because the company didn’t formally announce it: according to VideoCardz, AMD quietly told its “AMD... Continue reading…

Image: 100 Thieves 100 Thieves, a popular esports organization and lifestyle brand, announced that two of its biggest content creators, Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter and Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, will now be co-owners.“As a streamer and former pro-player myself, I always wanted 100 Thieves to be an organization guided by and built to be a platform for content creators,” Haag said in a statement. “Rae and Jack have been with us since 2018 and 2019, respectively, and are significant contributors to 100 Thieves. They deserve recognition for what they’ve done for the company to date - and we want their strategic input on what we can all do together in the future.”Hofstetter and Dunlop join 100 Thieves founder and CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, rapper Drake,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Google Fi user in Hawaii received a couple text messages Monday night wishing him a happy Easter. The problem is, those messages had been sent on Easter Sunday, but only made it through more than a day later.Google is now informing Fi users who receive text messages through Hangouts that messages sent to them may have gone missing between March 31st and April 5th. The company said there was a service “interruption” that impacted “a small number of people.” Google says it has now resolved the issue and is sending through the delayed messages. Missing messages should appear in Hangouts by the end of today, April 7th.Google has now disabled texting from HangoutsFi users have for years been able to send and receive calls and messages... Continue reading…

Rapper Lil Nas X has just released a free rhythm game that has you twerking to his new song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Yes, the main mechanic is twerking.It’s a free browser game, and you can play it right now at this link. If you want to get an idea of how the game works, check out this video he tweeted. Or just use your imagination. It’s exactly what you think.

OnePlus says the excessive overheating warnings some 9 Pro owners are reporting will be addressed soon with a software update | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge A number of OnePlus 9 Pro owners say they’re getting persistent overheating warnings, often with use of the camera app. Android Police spotted the mounting number of reports, many of which are collected in a thread on OnePlus’ support forum and often mention use of the camera app in connection with the warnings. OnePlus tells The Verge this is a known issue and that a fix will be coming via software updates “over the next few weeks.”Some 9 Pro owners reporting the problem say that the warning appears even with light use of the phone’s still photo or video recording capabilities, and in some cases the phone will prohibit any more photo taking until it cools back down. Others mention the problem arising around or soon after initial... Continue reading…

Adidas has a new version of its Ultraboost DNA running shoes with a unique twist — the company’s iconic three-stripe logo is now made of real plastic Lego bricks, allowing for a pair of more customizable kicks.Officially known as the Adidas Ultraboost DNA X Lego Plates shoes, the new $200 brick sneakers feature transparent plastic slots on the side in the shape of flat two-by-six Lego plates: enough to fit three two-by-two Lego plates in each stripe.The shoes also feature a few other Lego homages, including a Lego logo on the tongue and brick-style detailing on the top and sole of the shoes. The interior lining is also done up in a bright Lego yellow.

Photo by Michele Doying / The Verge Twitter’s already building a competitor to the hot social audio app Clubhouse, but apparently, it’s discussed outright acquiring the company, too. Bloomberg reports today that Twitter held discussions with Clubhouse about purchasing the app for around $4 billion.These conversations have reportedly stalled, and it’s unclear why. It’s also unclear whether Twitter or Clubhouse approached the other first, which could speak to how either platform is feeling about the competition in the social audio space. Bloomberg also reported yesterday that Clubhouse is now looking to raise money at a $4 billion valuation; it’s possible that number came out of these Twitter discussions, or that Clubhouse is shopping that figure around.Clubhouse launched... Continue reading…

Image: Amazon The Amazon Music mobile app is getting a new feature to make it a little bit easier to use while driving. Car Mode is a simplified version of Amazon Music’s interface, featuring larger buttons, suggested playlists and albums, and easy access to Alexa.Once enabled, Car Mode is divided into two sections. The upper part near the top of your phone is devoted to playback controls like play, pause, and skip, while the bottom section features a collection of music suggestions which you can switch between with a swipe or a tap. If a hands-free experience sounds better (and it probably should if you’re trying to drive safely) you can trigger Alexa in the bottom right corner with a tap or by using an Alexa voice command (“Hey Alexa, play Elton... Continue reading…

The first Bluetooth tracker that can work with Apple’s vast Find My Bluetooth network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs is here. But it’s not Apple’s long-anticipated AirTags tracker; it’s the Chipolo One Spot, an updated version of the company’s One tracker that’s designed to exclusively work with Apple’s network.Chipolo calls the One Spot a “special edition” product. While it has the same 12-month battery life (with replaceable battery), 120dB ring, water resistance, and overall design as the regular One tracker, the One Spot only works with Apple’s Find My network.That’s potentially an upgrade for anyone who already uses Apple products, given that a Bluetooth tracking tag is only as effective as the number of users who are on the same... Continue reading…

Image: Facebook Facebook’s experimental app development division, the NPE Team, has released a new Q&A platform that borrows concepts from buzzy, audio-only social network Clubhouse but with dashes of live-streaming thrown in.The platform is called Hotline, and it featured its first Q&A with investor Nick Huber earlier today, according to a report from TechCrunch. A website for the service is online now and allows sign-ins via Twitter, but it features only a waitlist and a tool for applying to host your own show. TechCrunch says Facebook has created designs for mobile versions of the app, though those do not appear to be live at this moment.News of Facebook building its own version of Clubhouse first surfaced in February, though Hotline is said to... Continue reading…

Today, you can fire up an Xbox game console and play Halo with a mouse and keyboard. It’s hard to believe I’m writing those words.Five years ago, I asked a small room of first-party Xbox devs how they felt about supporting mouse and keyboard (now that their boss Phil Spencer had confirmed they were on the way), but they were seriously skeptical. It took two more years for the Xbox One to get even a handful of keyboard and mouse titles in a November 2018 update. Even though games like COD: Warzone and Fortnite have paved the way for controller parity, the industry is still understandably wary about mixing console and keyboard players.But now, keyboard and mouse is a native part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection (including Halo CE,... Continue reading…

Budget-friendly gaming laptops are looking better than ever Alongside the Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition, Dell is also launching a more affordable 15-inch Dell G15 Ryzen Edition gaming laptop. It’s for people who still want to experience AMD’s fast Ryzen 5000 H-series processors, along with an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics chip, but for less. If the M15 R5’s $1,793.98 starting price is too high, the G15’s $899.99 entry-level configuration might be a more reasonable price point for you to jump in.The G15’s speckled design might look familiar to you. That’s because Dell actually launched the Intel-based version of this model already, but in China first. This new Ryzen-based laptop is landing first in China as well, on April 30th, followed by a May 4th release elsewhere around the globe.There’s an... Continue reading…

Alienware has announced the latest revision to its flagship gaming laptop lineup, the 15-inch Alienware M15 R5. It’ll start shipping on April 20th in the US, costing $1,793.98 to start. The company is going big with its messaging that it’ll host AMD’s fast Ryzen 5000 H-series processors (up to the octa-core Ryzen 9 5900HX) and up to Nvidia’s RTX 3070 graphics chip. Dell says this is the first Alienware laptop since 2007 to feature an AMD processor.In case you haven’t noticed, AMD’s processors have been on a tear in the past year, delivering great performance without compromising on efficiency when you aren’t gaming. This is just the latest company to join along the likes of Asus, Lenovo, and even Dell with its G5 15 SE, to name a few.... Continue reading…

Image: Google If you’ve ever wondered where you’d end up if you were to transport directly to the other side of the Earth, Google now has a browser-based AR toy that lets you find out. It calls the site Floom, and the experience is pretty simple: you point your phone’s camera at the ground, tap the little tornado object, and it will show you a hole to the other side of the Earth. Then you can open that location in Google Earth to take a look around.Testing it out was kind of a joy, and I have discovered that, depending on where I am in my house (and how I have my phone angled), I'm directly above either the Middle East, New Zealand, or the Antarctic.

Best Buy is piloting a new paid membership service that would provide exclusive perks, including concierge-style tech support and exclusive pricing. The subscription service, which will cost $200 a year or $180 if you have a Best Buy credit card, bears similarities with Amazon’s Prime subscription as Best Buy looks to expand its services outside the sale of consumer tech products.The new membership, called Best Buy Beta, grants members access to a slew of benefits, including free standard shipping, unlimited Geek Squad technical support, exclusive member pricing, and a 60-day extended return window. Best Buy confirmed that Beta members will also have 24/7 access to a concierge team, which they can contact by phone, email, chat, or... Continue reading…

Image: Netflix Netflix just showed off the first fruits of its deal with Wanted, Kick-Ass, and Kingsman: The Secret Service co-creator Mark Millar. Jupiter’s Legacy is a new live-action TV series based on Millar’s comics of the same name, which seems to be setting up an intergenerational conflict between a team of superheroes and their potentially less heroic children.Jupiter’s Legacy is an original concept from Millar, but it does seem to be playing on some classic superhero imagery. (Note Josh Duhamel’s The Utopian pulling a tractor by hand in what could only be described as a classic Superman move.) The main thrust, though, is the tension between an older generation’s pulpier idea of superheroics and a younger generation who might be more... Continue reading…

Job Simulator, HTC Vive Humble Bundle has launched its latest bundle of games that collects proceeds and sends them to a charity of your choosing. This one’s full of nothing but VR titles, and the minimum contribution required to get everything in the bundle is just $15. Of course, since it’s for charity, spend more if you feel compelled to. The bundle contains the following games, all of which are redeemable on Steam:

Spot was apparently being tested for reconaissance. | Image: Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan / @SaintCyrCoet Spot, the quadruped robot built by US firm Boston Dynamics, has appeared alongside soldiers during military exercises carried out by the French army. The robot was apparently being used for reconnaissance during a two-day training exercise, but the deployment raises questions about how and where Boston Dynamics’ machines will be used in future.Pictures of the exercises were shared on Twitter by France’s foremost military school, the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr. It described the tests as “raising students’ awareness of the challenges of tomorrow,” which include the “robotization of the battlefield.”A report by French newspaper Ouest-France offers more detail, saying that Spot was one of a number of robots being tested by... Continue reading…

The bucket of a drag line unearths phosphate at the Mosaic Co. South Fort Meade phosphate mine in Fort Meade, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, July 9, 2015. | Bloomberg / Contributor via Getty Images Fertilizer’s messy legacy spreads far beyond the disaster at Piney Point Continue reading…

Apple is officially opening up its Find My tracking network to third-party companies (as it had promised last year.) Now, any hardware manufacturer can add software-side support for Apple’s localized network to track missing items — so long as they play by Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFi) accessory rules.The first wave of items that can now be tracked starting today include VanMoof’s S3 and X3 e-bikes, Belkin’s SoundForm Freedom True Wireless Earbuds, and the Chipolo One Spot tracking tag — all of which can now rely on Apple’s crowdsourced Bluetooth network (which encompasses millions of iPhones, iPads, and Macs).Users will be able to add those devices to the updated Find My app starting today and can track them through that app much in... Continue reading…

Good isn’t quite good enough Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Gimlet Media and The Ringer agreed on a three-year union employment contract with Spotify, marking a historic moment for both the tech giant and the podcasting industry. The contracts cover diversity at the company, salary bases, annual raises, and titles. It’s a big step — not just for unionization in podcasting, but also for the tech industry overall, which has been slow to take up unionization and faced union-busting tactics when they do.The Writers Guild of America, East, which represents Gimlet and The Ringer, publicized the contract details today. (Disclosure: Vox Media’s editorial staff, which includes The Verge, is also unionized with WGAE.)Salary minimums begin at $57,000 plus overtime for The Ringer staff and $73,000 for... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitch will now ban users who harass members of its community — even when that harassment takes place off Twitch. The streaming platform announced a major expansion of its off-service misconduct policy today that allows it to take action against users who mistreat people regardless of where it happens, whether it’s offline or on another social platform.The new policy splits misconduct into two categories: category one, which applies to harassment that takes place on and off Twitch, and category two, which applies only to harassment off Twitch. The first category hasn’t changed. If Twitch is reviewing a harassment report about something that happened on-stream, it will take into account related harassment on Facebook.The second... Continue reading…

(Disclaimer: John Legend is a Vox Media board member.) If you want to pull up your favorite Spotify track or playlist without pressing buttons, there is no shortage of voice assistants to help you get those jams, including Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana, and even Bixby. But now, Spotify has its own hands-free wake word: “Hey Spotify” appears to be rolling out on Android and iOS, as tested by GSM Arena, 9to5Mac, and us here at The Verge.Frankly, it’s a little less handy than some of the native voice assistants built into your phone because you need to leave the app open for it to work — it’s not something you’ll launch with your phone asleep or with Spotify simply running in the background.But if you have the app open, you can just say “Hey Spotify” and ask it to play a song; pull... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that it will upgrade all existing postpaid phone plan customers to unlimited plans for free. It’s also announcing a promotion for customers of competing carriers interested in switching to T-Mobile, so AT&T or Verizon plan owners on fixed data plans can trade in their phones for a free Samsung Galaxy A32 5G smartphone and a T-Mobile unlimited plan with 5G access.“Today, 60 million Americans are stuck on limited data plans from Verizon or AT&T … most with limited or no 5G access. With the Great Unlimited Trade-Up, those people can trade up to both unlimited data and full access to T-Mobile’s expansive 5G network — including Ultra Capacity and Extended Range — all at the same or better price than the... Continue reading…

Photo by Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress Uber and Lyft have a driver shortage problem. With the number of US-based drivers for both apps down around 40 percent, the two companies are pledging to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lure people back into the driver seat.Uber announced Wednesday that it was launching a $250 million “stimulus” for drivers in the hopes of speeding their return to the platform.“In 2020, many drivers stopped driving because they couldn’t count on getting enough trips to make it worth their time,” Dennis Cinelli, Uber’s vice president for mobility in the US and Canada, wrote in a blog post. “In 2021, there are more riders requesting trips than there are drivers available to give them—making it a great time to be a driver.”“a great time to be... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google’s I/O developer event is returning this year after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and like many other tech events that have taken place during the pandemic, it will be entirely virtual. The event will take place from May 18th through the 20th and will be free to attend, according to 9to5Google, which revealed the date after solving Google’s cryptic I/O puzzle.Typically, Google uses I/O to show off significant updates to its products, new hardware (in 2019, the company revealed the Pixel 3A and the Nest Hub Max smart display), and occasionally, big initiatives like the AI-powered reservation service Google Duplex. It seems likely that Google will show off more of Android 12 during this year’s conference, but... Continue reading…